O'Meara: Woods a major loss

Former champion Mark O’Meara believes Tiger Woods will be “sorely missed” in this week’s Open Championship at Royal Birkdale – but insists a victory in his absence will not be downgraded.

Woods has been ruled out of action for the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery following his amazing US Open victory at Torrey Pines.

That has led to much discussion over the relative value of winning a major without the world number one in the field, but Woods’ close friend O’Meara insisted: “As great as Tiger Woods is, and as much of a fan as I am of Tiger’s, even Tiger would have to admit this: No player is bigger than the game itself, not even Tiger.

“We’ve been blessed to witness something very special that’s come along in the game in the last 11 years. He hasn’t missed a major since the 1996 USPGA.”

O’Meara, who won the Open the last time it was stage at Birkdale in 1998 – and also the Masters that year aged 41 – added: “A lot of friends, myself included, have known over the last three years how bad his knee was. I knew how bad it was prior to the US Open, I knew how bad it was at Augusta, but we couldn’t really say.

“He’s going to be sorely missed, there’s no denying it. I know how badly he wants to be playing. He can work out a little bit but he’s got to be careful.

“As long as he does what the doctors tell him to do, he’ll be fine. He’ll come back as good or better than ever.”