Tiger seeks right bounce
Even though four policemen accompanied Woods and close friend Mark O'Meara around the links for the four hours they took to complete a practice round that began at 6am, they had their eye off the ball when the incident happened. Woods was clearly annoyed, but apparently chose not to make an official complaint. R&A secretary Peter Dawson said: "I was unaware of the incident but we will now take steps to ensure there is not a repeat."
Woods has always been concerned about his personal security while the amount of protection he is afforded wherever he goes rankles with many of the other big names who believe there should be a similar arrangement for everybody. And there were red faces among Kent police last night at having allowed something like this to happen in front of four of their men.
Nevertheless Woods has a reasonable record on links courses although he has won the Open only once. That victory came at St Andrews in 2000 when he managed to avoid the bunkers in every round, something still spoken of in awe at the home of golf. He knows full well it may be even more difficult to repeat that on this occasion given the bouncy state of the course and the humps and hollows that abound on every fairway.
"Mark and I talked about this today," Woods said. "It comes down to getting the right bounce and a guy getting a bit of luck on the golf course. I think everyone who has won here can attest to that. You have to get the right bounces because with all the mounding in the fairways, you get a bad hop and the ball ends up in the rough or in a bunker."
The talk of a 'Tiger Slump', quite understandably irks Woods greatly. After all, he has won four times in the States already this year and surely it is only a matter of hitting the right week for the inevitable ninth major to fall his way. He certainly thinks so.
"I would just like to play more consistently, if I do that I'll give myself a chance to win," he declared. "You're not going to win every one but at least you can give yourself a chance coming down the stretch on Sunday. That's one of the things I've been unable to do. The first two days at Augusta, I played well in spurts and it was the same at Olympia Fields. But it's starting to come together and I played well at the Western Open."
Woods won by five that week and comes here on a serious high, as does holder and second favourite Ernie Els. He had the same margin to spare at Loch Lomond on Sunday when his game appeared to have regained the level that saw him to four wins at the beginning of the year. However, Els was quick to stress golf on the bonny, bonny banks and in this part of Kent could hardly be further removed.
"I played nine holes yesterday evening and 18 today and it's totally different," Els said. "But it's nice. I like links golf. I've always enjoyed it. Winning in Scotland helps my confidence this week. I'm hitting the ball well and putting quite nicely. I played here in '93 and it was very similar then. My swing technically feels good right now. I had a few weeks off with the family and I needed that and I just felt refreshed when I started playing again."
Political correctness is part and parcel of being a modern pro but Els suggested "it's nice for once that Tiger hasn't got a Grand Slam tournament," before quickly adding: "In saying that, I don't think he has changed much. I think he's still playing at the highest level, it's just he hasn't put everything together in the majors.
"A lot of other players have broken through, have broken the ice in their own minds and games; guys like Mike Weir and Jim Furyk. Myself same thing. I'm just trying to get better and I think I'm getting there. Players are getting better but Tiger is still there.
"I just want to enjoy my Open. I enjoy the golf course, I want to stay focused and the other stuff will look after itself.
"The public has been anticipating a showdown between Tiger and myself since January and this might be the week. He's playing well and all the press he's getting about not winning a major this year is ridiculous. I think he's going to try and prove something this week. I'm playing well also so hopefully it'll happen. Who knows?"
