| |
|
|
Major havoc Winds finally hit Carnoustie; Players fear the worst
Posted: Wednesday July 14, 1999 02:24 PM
CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (AP) -- Rain fell on the Carnoustie Golf Links and a breeze stiffened as Tiger Woods, fresh off a helicopter ride through the clouds, sat safely inside a tent off the 18th green. The trip from St. Andrews across the Firth of Tay didn't faze him. Neither did the conditions that threaten to make the British Open course as cruel as it is long. "I love it," Woods said. "I've always loved it. I grew up in Southern California where we had good weather every day. So it is always a challenge to play in bad weather." The elements were back in play Tuesday, leaving the warm sunshine that greeted the start of the week as nothing more than a distant memory and reminding players of just how tough Carnoustie promises to be. Woods could be excused for his optimism; he had played only four holes the day earlier and hadn't yet seen the course at its full 7,361-yard self. Others had, though, and it wasn't always a pretty sight. With fairways that seem the width of cart paths, deep rough and long, long par-4s, Carnoustie would be tough under the best weather conditions. And seaside British Opens are rarely played in the best weather conditions. "It's the hardest course I've ever played," Bernhard Langer said. "It's going to make us look foolish if the wind blows real hard," said U.S. Open winner Payne Stewart. That's precisely what happened in the third round last year at Royal Birkdale, when Brian Watts was the only one to break par and Woods shot himself out of serious contention with a 77. Birkdale could pale in comparison, though, to a nasty day on the thin fairways of Carnoustie. "You might as well stick red hazard posts down the fairways," Phil Mickelson said. "I've never seen fairways as penalizing as that for a major championship." In a year when the U.S. Open was played with little rough, the British Open more than makes up for it with tall, spindly grass that seems to grow out of everywhere on the links course. Hitting the fairway is crucial. The problem, the course plays so long that most players will be forced to hit drivers off the tee on most par-4s. That's where Woods and a few others will have an edge. "I will be able to hit say a 2-iron or 3-wood off the tee just as far as some of the guys can hit their drivers," Woods said. "I believe that is a tremendous advantage in any tournament, period." Woods, who has won three of his last four tournaments and was in contention coming down the stretch at the U.S. Open, is the favorite of British oddsmakers to win his first major since the 1997 Masters. His swing has evolved in the last year and he is playing with more consistency and patience. And, he learned a few things from Birkdale last year about the wind that may serve him well here. "It was disappointing, yes, but I learned I needed to control my ball flight a little more and be more efficient at it," Woods said. "I needed to learn how to putt in the wind a little better, different techniques used in the wind. These are things you have to learn." Carnoustie is back in the Open rotation for the first time since Tom Watson beat Jack Newton in an 18-hole playoff in 1975 to win the first of his five British Open titles. The course is longer now and the fairways tighter. Bunkers were mostly all redone, and one was added on No. 6 to keep players from carving shots like Ben Hogan hit on the par-5 in 1953 on his way to a win there. "If we get the wind they are predicting for Thursday, you might see some real tears out there," said Watson, who is back at the age of 49 but not a serious contender this time. "It may separate the field right away to the point where you have 10 or 15 players who will win the tournament out of that first day." And there will be a winner, no matter how hard the wind blows or how high the scores go. "We can complain about it as much as we like or want, but the simple fact is that the golf course is going to be there," said Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal. "It is going to be the same for everybody and someone will win."
| |||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 1999 CNN/SI. A Time Warner Company. Terms under which this service is provided to you.
| |||||||||||||||||
