Tiger ‘excited’ to be back at St. Andrews
Regardless of what happens this week in the 144th Open Championship at the famed Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland, Tiger Woods has no plans to back away from professional golf.
“Retirement?” he said during a jam-packed, 25-minute, pre-tournament press conference Tuesday morning. “I don’t have my AARP card yet, so I’m a ways from that.”
A three-time Open champion, including in 2000 and 2005 at the Old Course, Woods owns 79 PGA TOUR wins — second all-time to Sam Snead’s 82 — and has captured 14 major titles. The latter trails only Jack Nicklaus with 18, and Tiger feels the latter remains within reach.
“I’m not 40 yet,” said the 39-year-old Woods. “I know some of you guys think I’m buried and done, but I’m still right here in front of you. I love playing. I love competing, and I love playing these events.”
The Old Course is hosting the Open Championship for the 29th time, and Tiger has long considered it his favorite course. He enjoys the tradition, history, creativity and strategy involved, especially dealing with the ever-changing conditions that links golf demands.
“I’m very excited to be back here at the home of golf,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed this golf course — from the first time I played it back in ’95 — so it’s just something special about it. It’s nice to go out there on the course and see it and feel it again, to be able to hit all those shots.”
Woods enters the tournament after tying for 32nd at the Greenbrier Classic two weeks ago. It marked the first time in two years that he recorded three rounds in the 60s.
“The best I’ve hit it in probably two years,” he said. “That was a very, very good sign.”
Tiger was particularly pleased with his iron play. He led the field in proximity to the hole at 23 feet, 11 inches, his best showing since the PGA TOUR began keeping track of the statistic in 2003.
Woods will look to improve his putting this week. He recently adjusted his setup and re-gripped his putter for the first time in 1 1/2 years.
Given the enormous size of the greens and undulations at St. Andrews, good putting is essential to contending this week.
“You just can’t get it close to the hole,” Tiger said. “To be able to lag those putts stone dead is very key.”
When Woods arrived at St. Andrews on Saturday to do a Nike youth training clinic, he was surprised how green the course was. While it remains firm overall, the greens are softer than usual, which has forced many players to alter their game plans. Depending on the wind, Tiger expects to fly more shots to the hole as opposed to hitting knockdown shots and running the ball onto the putting surfaces.
Many are predicting good scoring because the rough is light.
There have been several changes to the Old Course since 2010, most notably the back-left portion of the green at the 174-yard, par-3 11th hole, where additional pin locations have been created, and the enlargement of the Hell Bunker fronting the green at the par-4 17th hole. Fifty of the 110 strategically placed bunkers on the course have been rebuilt.
In 2000, Tiger did not find a single bunker and won by eight strokes. When Tiger won in 2005, he hit only five bunkers.
After playing practice rounds Sunday and Monday, Woods had a long practice session on the range and chipped and putted Tuesday. He begins first-round play Thursday at 4:55 a.m. ET with Louis Oosthuizen and Jason Day. They are scheduled to begin second-round play Friday at 9:56 a.m. ET.
