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| July 15, 2006 | Saturday | Jumadi-ul-Sani 18, 1427 |
Golf: Tiger Woods not bothered by unknown territory
LOS ANGELES, July 14: Tiger Woods believes three or four practice rounds will complete his preparations for next week's British Open at a venue he has never previously played.
Royal Liverpool Golf Club at Hoylake, north-west England, last staged the world's oldest golf championship in 1967 when Argentina's Roberto de Vicenzo triumphed by two shots over Jack Nicklaus.
“We play around the world and learn different golf courses in a day or two,” the 30-year-old Woods said in his monthly newsletter issued on Friday. “It's part of playing golf.
“I honestly don't know anything about Royal Liverpool, but I'll play three or four practice rounds and that should be enough time to prepare.
“The key is to make sure you do your homework and find out what the golf course will allow you to do.
“It was the same with Royal Birkdale, Royal Lytham & St. Annes, Carnoustie and St. Andrews. It's not like I haven't done it before.
“I think people are making too big a deal out of the fact that the tournament hasn't been played at Hoylake since 1967.”
Defender Woods will be hunting his third British Open title at the July 20-23 championship, having romped to a five-stroke victory at St Andrews last year.
He is confident about his game, despite playing in only two events over the last three months.
After taking a nine-week break to deal with the illness and death of his father Earl, he missed the cut in last month's U.S.
Open at Winged Foot before finishing joint second at the Western Open on Sunday.
“Obviously, I haven't played very much this year and my game is rusty,” Woods said. “But I put in a lot of time on the practice range with (swing coach) Hank Haney and we're starting to piece some things together.
“The good news is that I'm feeling more comfortable with my swing and hitting more solid shots.
“Plus, it was fun to get my juices flowing again and be in the hunt Sunday on the back nine.”
The 10-times major champion mounted a last-day charge at Cog Hill, reeling off four birdies after the turn before finishing two shots behind winner Trevor Immelman of South Africa.
Boosted by his fifth top-10 in just nine PGA Tour starts this season, Woods has his sights firmly fixed on a major he won for the first time at St Andrews in 2000.
“I love the British Open,” he said. “Any time you win that championship, it's pretty special. It's the oldest one in our sport.”—Reuters
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