British Open Figures to Be Hard

By THOMAS BONK

June 20, 2002 12 AM PT

So now the Tiger Woods bandwagon packs up and heads to Scotland, where the third stage of the Tour de Slam takes place at stuffy, straight-laced and hard-as-a-rock Muirfield.

Woods probably is going to play only once before the July 18-21 British Open--the Western Open at Cog Hill near Chicago, two weeks before--and that should give him plenty of time to figure out how to do battle with Muirfield and come out on top again.

The early line on Muirfield is that the weather conditions have been near perfect, which means the Royal and Ancient is going to get the kind of setup it dearly wants: high rough, hard fairways with some run to them and even harder greens.

In other words, just the way Muirfield is supposed to play.

If the fairways are hard, then balls are going to run like crazy and that means they could wind up in the rough or in one of the 148 bunkers. Then if you mix in some wind, it’s easy to see that keeping the ball in play is going to be the biggest task for Woods, and for everyone else, for that matter.

This is the first time the British Open has been played at Muirfield since 1992, when Nick Faldo won his second title there and his third Open Championship in all. Little has changed in the 10 years, although the par-three fourth has been lengthened 33 yards to 213 yards and the par-three 13th is 32 yards longer and now plays 191 yards.

The course measures 7,034 yards with a par of 71.

“I think the players will find the usual perception of Muirfield that is fair,” said Peter Dawson, secretary of the Royal and Ancient.

But is it going to be fairer for Woods? All you really need to know is that it was Jack Nicklaus’ favorite course and, with the same kind of length, domination and focus, Woods is more like Nicklaus in his prime than anyone.

Trevino on Tiger

Meanwhile, the player who stopped Nicklaus at Muirfield in 1972, after Nicklaus won the Masters and the U.S. Open, doesn’t think anyone can stop Woods. Lee Trevino says Woods can adjust to anything.

And don’t tell Trevino that Woods isn’t a shotmaker.

“Evidently they haven’t been watching Tiger hook it around trees and come out of rough and hit high shots and low shots and chip shots and bunker shots. What, are you kidding me? He’s the best shotmaker out there. Name me a player who can hit more shots than Tiger Woods right now. Not a shotmaker? Not his strength? Tiger can hit any shot.”

Muirfield can be handled, Trevino said.

“I don’t think any course is difficult for Tiger, as strong as he is. The one thing that people keep forgetting is how dedicated he is. When you have the most talent and you’re the strongest and you’re the most dedicated, it doesn’t surprise me what he’s done.

“He hits the ball so high, like Nicklaus, it doesn’t matter if the greens are soft or hard. The wind does blow a bit, but I don’t think it will hurt you because the course isn’t right on top of the water.

“If they catch a hard, dry course with a tremendous amount of rough, it’s very dangerous. But the way [Tiger] hits a two-iron, I mean, he can roll it 300 yards. He may not hit any woods there.”

Trevino, who beat Nicklaus by one shot in the 1972 Open at Muirfield, says he never was intimidated by Nicklaus and instead established him as his target.

“Tiger is setting the bar now. Can you reach it? First, you have to jump up and touch it. I could touch it when Jack set it. A lot of these guys can’t touch that bar Tiger is setting right now.”

History Lesson

We know that Nicklaus is the last person to win the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same year, but it’s interesting that when he did it in 1972, he three-putted the final hole at Pebble Beach and won by three shots.

Woods, of course, three-putted the final hole at Bethpage Black and won by three shots. And while Muirfield is next for Woods, it was also next for Nicklaus 30 years ago.

Open Closed

No one can be any more pleased than Woods that the U.S. Open is over. Actually, there were plenty of winners and losers all over the Black Course at Bethpage State Park, so let’s check the final statistics.

Winner: Woods, obviously. He missed a day of practice the week before the tournament and stayed in bed all day in Orlando, Fla. But once he got on the course it was a different story. He led or was tied for the lead the last 67 holes and if that’s not domination, nothing is. At 26, he’s now four years ahead of Nicklaus’ pace of winning an eighth major.

Loser: Sergio Garcia. Subtitled: How to go from hero to chump in two days. Consider how the yells from the crowd changed from “Go, Sergio!” to ‘Hit the damn ball!” If his incessant waggling while he has an iron in his hands wasn’t irritating enough, then the obscene gesture he made to the crowd, his club-tossing and ball-slamming and his childish complaint that Woods gets all the breaks get the nod. Paired with Woods for the final round, he was a nonfactor and got steamrollered.

Winner: NBC. With an 8.9 national Nielsen rating Sunday, the Open was watched by a record 55 million over the weekend.

Loser: NBC. Tampering with the start time of the last group to influence ratings, preferring it to be set at 3:30 p.m. EDT despite a strong likelihood of thunderstorms (which delayed play 49 minutes), the network nearly caused its highest-rated Open not to be completed on Sunday.

Winner: The U.S. Golf Assn. It scored a huge hit playing at a public course and accepted big-time public relations bouquets.

Loser: The USGA. Incredibly, it almost went for a 4 p.m. last-group tee time. Bowing down to broadcast partner NBC and agreeing to a 3:30 p.m. time was a double bogey and nearly a disqualification. NBC has lost the NFL, the NBA and Major League Baseball, so you don’t have to roll over. Who’s running this Open? It would have been nice to ask executive director David Fay, but he was in the NBC tower at the 18th hole.

Winners: Faldo, Scott Hoch, Nick Price, Jay Haas. Face it, there are trees at Bethpage Black that aren’t as old as this foursome. Score one for the AARP Squad. Hoch (46) and Faldo (44) tied for fifth, Price (45) tied for eighth and Haas (48) tied for 12th.

Winner: John Daly. Not only did he make the cut, Daly came back from an 84 with a 74 on Sunday, while playing his round in three hours flat. Next week, you can see Daly paired with Craig Breedlove at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Winners: The par-four 15th, the 459-yard killer to an elevated green fronted by bunkers, was the toughest hole at the Open, playing to a 4.6 average. The 499-yard 12th and the 492-yard 10th--the longest par fours in Open history--were the second and third toughest holes.

Loser: Anybody who believes Tiger would actually sleep in his car to play Bethpage Black, as he said he would. Tiger does not sleep in cars, he sells them.

Cover Up

News item: Sports Illustrated puts U.S. soccer player Landon Donovan, not Woods, on its cover this week.

Reaction: This is no surprise. The magazine did something similar after Woods won the 2000 British Open at St. Andrews (a victory that meant he had won all four major titles, by the way), but William “Refrigerator” Perry was on the cover to tease a where-are-they-now story.

Prediction: If Tiger wins at Muirfield, he’s a cinch for the cover, unless, of course, there’s a big T-ball game that week.

Numbers Game

They must have plenty of time on their hands at Nike Golf, because somebody figured that Woods had walked 282 miles in his swooshed shoes while playing in his 22 professional majors.

X Marks the Spot

Miller Barber, 71, shot a first-round 67 at the BellSouth Senior Classic, to better his age by four shots.

Ciphering

Remember James Mason, the teaching pro from Dillard, Ga., who was a Monday qualifier and won a senior tour event a couple of weeks ago? Mason, a homespun type, says he didn’t really have a favorite subject in college.

Said Mason: “I majored in trying to get a diploma when I was at Auburn. I ended up getting 50 hours in accounting, so I can add and subtract a little bit now.”

Jordan Sighting

And if you’re wondering what Michael Jordan is up to, wonder no more. He’s heading for the golf course to play in next month’s American Century Celebrity Championship at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course.

Jordan, Jason Kidd, John Elway, Mario Lemieux, Chris Webber, Jerry Rice, Marshall Faulk, Warren Sapp and five-time winner Rick Rhoden are all scheduled to play in the tournament, July 19-21.

Birdies, Bogeys, Pars

Orange County businesses will hold a tournament Monday at Pelican Hill. The event benefits senior citizen services. Details: (949) 498-0400.

Curtis Strange, Ray Floyd, Mark O’Meara, Sam Torrance and Faldo have accepted special invitations to play in the UBS Warburg Cup at Sea Island, Ga. The 40-and-up event features two 12-player teams from the United States and the rest of the world in a Ryder Cup type format. The event will be played Nov. 15-17, with Arnold Palmer and Gary Player the captains.

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This Week

*--* PGA TOUR, Greater Hartford Open

*--*

When: Today-Sunday.

Where: TPC at River Highlands (6,820 yards, par 70), Cromwell, Conn

TV: ESPN (Today, noon-3 p.m.; Friday, 1-3 p.m.) and Ch. 7 (Saturday, 1-3; Sunday, noon-3 p.m.).

2001 champion: Phil Mickelson.

*--* LPGA TOUR, Rochester International

*--*

When: Today-Sunday.

Where: Locust Hill Country Club (6,200 yards, par 72), Rochester, N.Y.