Woods was clearly so far ahead of his rivals at the time that the obvious question was where he would be ranked in the sport’s pantheon, with fellow countryman Jack Nicklaus the gold standard.
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McIlroy’s Ryder Cup team-mate Graeme McDowell feels that his withdrawal is a setback for all concerned – adding that he felt the Old Course would have suited McIlory down to the ground.
Now, with a little more than a week until the contenders line up at St. Andrew’s in Scotland, Spieth should stand as the player to beat. “There’s no doubt he has a plan for sure to go on and win three in a row, but we all also have our plan to stop him”. Hogan’s legs were so battered that he stopped playing the PGA Championship, a grueling week of match play, and instead won at Carnoustie in his only British Open appearance.
Spieth has surveyed the prestigious list and called seeing his name on it “cool” and “pretty awesome”. And he is embracing it. No one has ever won all four professional majors in the same year. I’ve certainly played enough Open Championships where that shouldn’t be an excuse but hopefully in the next five or 10 years, I can turn that whole record on its head.
“It’s hugely disappointing, especially with him and Jordan and everything that’s going on”, said McDowell.
Woods has never been one to divulge much on that subject, but he freely shared his secrets with the local teens. With the fun rivalry going on and everything, he’s going to be gutted. If one is to second-guess his John Deere decision, perhaps it should be done only after the 2015 British Open. And it still is.
ESPN’s Curtis odd said Spieth “has a legitimate shot” to win at St. Andrews because, “I think he can handle the pressure”. But for 18 years the Englishman has left a gap next to it where he plans to paste an image of the same golfer, sitting in the same sacred spot, but this time grasping the Claret Jug. Only two other players in the last 43 years have reached the halfway point of the Grand Slam. Taylor (1895, 1900), James Braid (1905, 1910), Jock Hutchison (1921), Bobby Jones (1927), Denny Shute (1933), Dick Burton (1939), Sam Snead (1946), Peter Thomson (1955), Bobby Locke (1957), Kel Nagle (1960), Tony Lema (1964), Jack Nicklaus (1970, 1978), Seve Ballesteros (1984), Nick Faldo (1990), John Daly (1995), Tiger Woods (2000, 2005), Louis Oosthuizen (2010). Watson is 65 years old and as he showed several weeks ago at Del Paso in the U.S. Senior Open, he is still very competitive. The involvement of the two golf courses suddenly meant that there would be a rotation of the British Open between St. Andrews, Muirfield, and Prestwick. Before he knew what hit him, he was on his way to what was then a career-worst 81. Rain and a raging wind off the Firth of Forth helped send him to an 81 and ended his dream.
At least the current Masters and U.S. Open champion tuned up by playing golf, not soccer. I’m going in there with expectations not because of any thoughts of destiny or anything like that.
“I think the only way that that happens is to focus on each individual event in front of me, ” Spieth said.
Woods admitted he would never risk playing tennis or a proper game of basketball during the week of a tournament, but would practise his shooting. And with each major victory, the confidence only grows. “He’s got some qualities that you just can’t see”.
Woods, meanwhile, has become an afterthought. Phil Mickelson took time out from preparing for this week’s Scottish Open to recall his own brush with mortality when he snapped his femur in half in a skiing mishap and had to miss the 1994 Masters.
Woods is among the few who can appreciate what Spieth is facing.
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When it comes to Rose and his home major, there is always the talk of fulfilment, of living up to the promise and all the grand pronouncements of Birkdale, 1998.
