| AP Sports Headlines |
Thursday, July 18, 2002
By GLENN SHEELEY
Cox News Service
GULLANE, Scotland - Tiger Woods has mastered the Masters. He has closed the door at the U.S. Open. Is there any reason not to see more at Muirfield?
As Woods continues his Grand Slam march today at the 131st British Open, he will have to negotiate knee-high rough and winds that can bend flagsticks, making rounds in the 80s acceptable.
But will it make any difference?
Even with Muirfield demanding more precision than power and bringing more players into the field, oddsmakers still see Woods in his traditional red shirt kissing another Claret Jug on Sunday evening.
"Obviously, if Tiger plays well, everybody's playing for second," said Curtis Strange, a two-time U.S. Open champion.
"I quit betting against Tiger a long time ago," PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said.
Because Woods has won seven of the past 11 majors, his challengers are starting to doubt if he is beatable. Woods has not played competitively for 31 days, since winning the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, but his game appears sharp.
"We hope Tiger doesn't perform," Colin Montgomerie said, "and then we can all have an opportunity. .... But if he plays the way he has been and is doing, we all believe that the opportunity won't arise."
Winning four majors in a calendar year has been the media focus, but Woods, 26, says his incentive here is to win major No. 9 and stand halfway to Jack Nicklaus' record of 18.
Praise pours in from Nicklaus
Nicklaus, who discounts the "calendar year" stipulation, thinks Woods is going for a second Grand Slam. Woods won four consecutive majors - the "Tiger Slam" - during the 2000-2001 seasons.
"He's done it already and you (the media) don't want to give him credit for it," Nicklaus said. "Whether he does it all in one year I think is insignificant. If he did it, it basically would be two of them. That's not only unbelievable. It's super unbelievable."
Nicklaus never accomplished the feat, winning the first two majors in 1972, then failing at Muirfield in a one-stroke loss to Lee Trevino. Ben Hogan won the Masters and U.S. Open in 1953, then passed up the PGA to sail overseas to qualify for, and win, the British Open.
Woods thinks his "Tiger Slam" was more difficult because of the time span between the 2000 PGA and the 2001 season.
"The hardest thing to do when I won all four in a row is to wait seven months or whatever it is between tournaments and be asked that question for seven straight months," Woods said. "At least this year it happens month after month after month, and it's a lot easier to deal with."
Was there an inspirational photo on Woods' bedroom wall of Atlanta's Bobby Jones winning the Grand Slam in 1930, when it was composed of the U.S. Open, British Open, U.S. Amateur and British Amateur? No, just the timeline of Nicklaus' 18 majors and a spot for Woods to pencil in his name through the years.
"As a kid, I just wanted to win a major championship," Woods said. "You never want to look at winning a Grand Slam; just get out on tour, first of all, get your card and compete, and then hopefully win major championships from there."
Plenty of chances to come
Even if Woods fails in this year's Grand Slam attempt, he is expected to make similar bids in the coming years. The only issue seems to be whether Woods will win majors for as long as Nicklaus did, into his mid-40s. Odds are that Woods will retire from full-time play by then.
"I think he handles the golf club and hits shots that nobody else has ever been able to hit, but I think he still has to prove himself as the No. 1 winner of all time," Strange said.
"I think my record (of 18 majors) is going to be pretty meager after he's won two Grand Slams," Nicklaus said.
Woods spent much of the week defending his rivals, who have been criticized for not putting up more of a fight.
"They've played well," he said. "It's just that I've played well at the right times and made the right putts and got the good breaks at the right times, and that's what you need to have happen. ... It's not like they're shooting 80s in the final round."
Sergio Garcia understands that to upset Woods' historic run, a key putt or break will have to come his way.
"There's no doubt that there's a lot of good players out there who can win and who can beat him," Garcia said. "He just manages to hang in there and hang in there and not make many mistakes. That probably puts a little bit extra pressure on the other guys thinking, 'Well, he's not going to make mistakes, so we have to try harder.'"
Everyone agrees Woods has no equal as a shot-maker.
"As far as hitting the golf ball and playing the game, I think he's arguably the best," Strange said. "I've heard that Nicklaus has told people, `He does things that I could never do.'"
Glenn Sheeley writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. E-mail: gsheeley@ajc.com
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