Saturday, May 26, 2001
Woods says he'll focus on driver
in preparation for Open
BEAVERTON, Ore. (AP) — Tiger Woods,
one of the biggest hitters in golf, says he needs to improve his
driving if he's going to have a chance at winning the U.S. Open
next month.
“If you play poorly off the tee, more
than likely you won't have a chance at the U.S. Open. So obviously
I need to work on my drive a little bit more,” Woods said
Friday during an appearance at Nike headquarters.
Woods will be going for his fifth straight
major championship when the U.S. Open begins June 14 at Southern
Hills in Tulsa, Okla.
Woods had to borrow a driver from Australian
Adam Scott to win the Deutsche Bank-SAP Open on Sunday, after
he broke his own driver in mid-swing the day before.
Woods still has no plans to use Nike's brand
of golf clubs anytime soon, however. Rival David Duval used Nike
irons at the Masters, but the clubs aren't yet available in the
open market. Nike isn't pushing Woods to try out the irons.
“He's all about winning, and whatever
helps him win, he uses,” said Mike Kelly, business director
for Nike golf clubs. “We don't want to mess with him.”
Woods, who has a contract with Titleist,
switched from that company's ball to the Nike Tour Accuracy in
June 2000 and went on to win three straight majors last summer.
“Let me ask you this,” he said
to the crowd of employees and athletes gathered at the Nike campus
to watch Woods give a clinic and help dedicate the new research
building named for him. “I don't think there is any other
ball company that can say right now that they own any major, can
they?”
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