Newsday (N.Y.): Watson hopes to challenge again after near-miss in '09

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- For Tom Watson, the Open Championship inevitably evolves into the past, even if he doesn't want it to.

Either someone is asking about what might have been a year ago or that missed opportunity here on the hallowed golfing ground of the Old Course 26 years ago.

Strange how it is in sports. No matter how many championships you earn, and Watson has five Opens, only one fewer than the century-old record of Harry Vardon, the questions are always about the championships lost.

Such as the 2009 Open, when Watson, age 59, led for 71 holes at Turnberry before a bogey on 18 led to a tie and playoff loss to Stewart Cink.

Such as the 1984 Open here when Watson came to the 17th, the Road Hole, "the hardest hole in golf," tied with Seve Ballesteros and hit a 2-iron onto the road near a stone wall. The bogey dropped him to second.

It was a nostalgic but forward-looking Watson who showed up in the media tent Wednesday, 24 hours before the start of the 139th Open.

"St. Andrews is a hard course to understand," said Watson, when asked his chances. "You have to re-learn it every day."

This will be his seventh and most likely his last Open at St. Andrews, a course on which Jack Nicklaus said "all great Open champions must win," but a course where Watson has only one top-10 finish, that runnerup.

The disappointment of a year past, when Watson was a stroke from becoming the sports story of the year, has not lingered.

"It tore my guts out," said Watson of the final-hole failure at Turnberry, "but I've had my guts torn up before in this game. But it hasn't made any impact.

"People of our age come up to me and say they couldn't stop watching. They say. 'I'm 60 years old, and I've given up on the game or given up on something else, and you've given me hope.'"
The hope for Watson is in 2010 after an 18th place in the Masters and a 29th in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, "It would be a great triumvirate if I did well here at age 60."

Ballesteros is not doing well. He is home in Spain, after undergoing multiple surgeries for a brain tumor. At the Champions dinner, held only when the Open is at St. Andrews, Ballesteros sent a brief video.

"He said I wish I had energy to be there," Watson said. "It was sad to see him. But seeing him I remembered the cheer that went up before I tried to make my par putt at 17 [in '84]. I looked at 18, and there he was [indicating an arm pump.] I said. 'Uh, oh, I have to make it now.' But I didn't."

Watson and several others, including Arnold Palmer, received honorary doctorates from the University of St. Andrews.

"I told Arnold, 'You've always been my idol,'" Watson said. "When I grew up I was a member of Arnie's Army. Then Jack came along and beat Arnie, and I couldn't stand it. I told Arnie, 'The only reason I beat Nicklaus all those times is because he beat you.' He got a laugh out of that."

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Copyright © 2010 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Newsday (N.Y.): Tiger reveals new putter, little else, at British Open

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- They pick at him, but it's hopeless. Tiger Woods' shell is much too hard, his advisers much too heady. There is a change in putters, for the first time in 11 years, but the determination to keep us out of his life remains unchanged.

It's the week of the Open Championship, the 139th, this year at the home of golf, the Old Course at St. Andrews. It's the week Woods returns with his triumphs (winning here in 2000 and 2005) and his troubles.

It's the week the British press gets its chance to dig and confront and ask about infidelity and irresponsibility.

It's the week Tiger gets his chance to prove not only can he lag a putt but he can avoid an accusation.

There were some 20 minutes of Tiger Tuesday, two days before the Open's first round on the Old Course at St. Andrews, and it was educational, if not at all enlightening.

Tiger did say for the first time since 1999 -- and 13 of his 14 majors -- he'll swap his Scotty Cameron by Titleist putter for a Nike model he believes will be more effective on greens slow by championship standards.

And, oh yes, the most important thing in his life is family. The children, that is. Any mention of estranged wife Elin was virtually ignored by Woods.

There's little new to ask Woods, now some nine months after the accident which opened Tiger's life. Divorce? Image? Public support? Tom Watson's (now figuratively ancient) remark Woods needed to clean up his act?

That was essence of the questions, although there was one query about the remaking (and some pros say, the ruination) of the famed Road Hole, the 17th.

"I know they wanted us to hit more club into that particular green,'' said Woods, a response which typified his well-practiced art of saying nothing when he says something.

"I'm pretty neutral on it.''

To the question about Watson's admonishment, Tiger offered more contrition than neutrality. "I'm trying to become a better player,'' he said, "and yes, a better person.''

And to whether he'll ever be able to resurrect his image, Woods added, "I don't know. I don't know. As I said, that's all that really matters. I have two beautiful children, and I'm trying to be the best dad I can possibly be, and that's the most important thing of all.''

The English pro Ian Poulter told The Times of London that Tiger carries in his cell phone a video of his 17-month-old son, Charlie, swinging a cut-down golf club. "You wouldn't believe it,'' said Poulter. "When he's 15, he'll probably have won Augusta by 25 shots.''

The shots the British press fired missed the mark. Asked if the divorce between him and Elin had been finalized -- the papers here say she will receive $100 million -- Woods said, "I'm not going to go into that.''

He did go into the misconceived idea his image would have an impact on his week at St. Andrews.

"It doesn't impact it all,'' he said. "I'm here to play the Open Championship at St. Andrews. I mean this is as good as it gets.''

British journalists, seeking the lurid and juicy, hardly would agree.

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http://www.newsday.com/sports/golf/tiger-reveals-new-putter-little-else-at-british-open-1.2102739
Copyright © 2010 Newsday. All rights reserved.

RealClearSports: Golf Needs Tiger and Tiger Needs Golf

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- Peter Dawson, the man from the Royal & Ancient, the organization which rules golf outside the United States, the organization which runs the Open Championship, cut through the posturing and self-righteousness.

Golf, said the R&A's chief executive, isn't golf without Tiger Woods. And whatever we think about Woods' moral standards, about his impending divorce, about his infidelity, the observation is undeniable.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2010

SF Examiner: Tiger not letting media mauling ruin his focus

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND — He went to Stanford, didn’t he? The Brits should have figured out by now what that means. That even in his most difficult of times, Tiger Woods still is going to battle them, word for word, phrase for phrase, thought for thought.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company

Global Golf Post: Almost A Special Win For The 'Nearly Man'

By Art Spander
For GlobalGolfPost.com

The missed putt. That's what everyone remembers. That's what Doug Sanders can't forget.

There went the 28-incher sliding past the cup. There went the 1970 Open Championship. There went the late Pat-Ward Thomas, the esteemed and critical British golf writer, to his knees, peering across the 18th green at St. Andrews and later saying, "A subtle break he didn't see."

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2010 Global Golf Post