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'Good karma, I guess' Woods accomplished a feat many greats never acheived
ST ANDREWS, Scotland (Reuters) -- Tiger Woods not only joined the top table of golfing greats by completing his career Grand Slam with victory in the British Open on Sunday, but many believe he takes pride of a place known as the best ever. Not even Jack Nicklaus had won all four majors at the age of 24, let alone the three other men to have reached the sport's holy grail, Gene Sarazen, Gary Player and Ben Hogan. Other golfing superstars such as Arnold Palmer and Sam Snead have spent a lifetime trying for "the Slam" and never made it. Tom Watson is still gunning for it at the age of 50. But Woods confirmed at St Andrews what he showed at Pebble Beach in winning the U.S. Open last month -- that he is the most complete golfer ever to pick up a club and play this most difficult of sports. This week Woods made golf look easy, as if he alone had the key to a puzzle that the rest of the field just could not figure out. "I can promise you, it is not easy out there," he said after his round of 67 on Saturday. But that was not the way it looked to the record crowds as he completed returns of 67-66-67-69 for a St Andrews-best aggregate of 269 -- 19 under par. The rest of the field were left trailing eight shots in his wake, the golf equivalent of a furlong in a horse race or a second in a 100-meter sprint. Apart from his prodigious driving and impeccable short game, Woods' greatest asset is his strategic thinking around a golf course and ability to focus completely on the shot in hand and let the trophies take care of themselves. Afterwards, he was asked when he finally knew he had won the title. "As soon as my final putt had rolled to within an inch of the hole, I knew it was pretty much over," he said. "I wanted four rounds in the 60s and to do that on a course like this was very special. "I have now joined an exclusive group of people like Nicklaus, Player, Hogan and Sarazen. Those are true champions. They've been the cream of the crop, the elite, and to be mentioned in the same breath as those guys makes it special, very special." St Andrews, admittedly in benign weather throughout the four days, has never been treated to such a mauling. Woods conceded just three bogeys all week and the only bunker shots he had to play were during his daily visits to the practice grounds. Rivals such as Ernie Els and David Duval can clearly see years of frustration ahead in the face of this golfing phenomenon. Meanwhile, Woods just plans to keep working on his game and getting better. The win here, he said, had "kicked the door open" for a challenge to Nicklaus' record of 18 majors. "You need to have luck on your side, though," Woods admitted. "I did this week. For instance, I hit a terrible tee shot on Friday and it landed right next to the pot bunker to the right on the 10th. "What did it do? It went past it, I had a perfect lie and made par. If that goes in the bunker I'm probably going to make bogey. "Today on 15, I lose my drive right, it lands pin high with the last pot bunker and skirts it," he said. "David [Duval] flies right into it. Those things happen to you if you are going to win. You've got to have good karma, I guess." So that's the secret. As well as all his other talents, Woods' rivals need to match his karma if they want to present him with a really serious challenge. They have not long to find it, either. The next major, the PGA Championship, starts in a month's time at Valhalla, and Woods has probably already figured out how to play the first hole.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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