Tiger Woods on British Open prep: “Just need to play some cleaner golf”

Tiger Woods once said he never enters any tournament without expecting to win. This week at the British Open is no different, and on Wednesday he opened up on what he needs to do to earn his 15th major title.

Tiger Woods is ready to play The Open. He saw the course for the first time Sunday, but caddie Joe LaCava was the advance party, arriving in time to walk the course a day earlier. During Woods’ round, they compared notes and worked out strategies.

"“As we’re playing the hole, we start talking about the spots where we want to hit the golf ball, and I would have to say every hole but one, that we’re on the same page, the idea of how to play each hole,” Woods explained. “We’ve got rain coming in right now. That’s definitely going to change a few things, and we might have to alter some of the clubs, but I think the areas that we’re playing to should be about the same.”"

Woods does not see a lot of driver opportunities because the ball is rolling so far in the fairways.

“The ball is going to be rolling 80 yards,” he said. “It’s just hard to keep the ball in play. Even hitting sometimes 4 and 5 irons, they’ve been running 50, 60 yards.”

Woods’ plan has been to test which clubs work off of which tees and then adjust depending on which way the wind is blowing during play.

"“I’m not going to hit that many long clubs off the tees, just because I hit a 3 iron on — what day is today, Wednesday? So on Monday, down 18, I went 333,” he noted. “Obviously, we had a little bit of rain since then, but if it just dries out a little bit and gets to where it was on Monday, then you’re going to see a lot of guys hit the ball a long way with not a lot of club.”"

As a result, he has put a new 2-iron in his bag and tweaked the loft.

“My normal 2-iron is about 20 degrees. I bent this one down about 17,” he explained. “I still carry it about the same. It goes 245, 250 yards in the air, but it gets to its final destination much differently. Obviously, it rolls out whereas mine back home, I’ve generally liked having it 20 degrees because I can hit the ball into the par 5s as an option.”

He added that this 2-iron is more of a “driving club.” The amount of use the club will get depends on conditions.

"“I’m hitting my other irons so far because of the conditions, but if it softens up, it could be a good club,” he added. “If it doesn’t soften up, then I might just add a degree to it and keep it a little softer and not have it so hot.”"

As most who follow Woods know, slow greens have never been his friend, and the greens at most British Opens are typically slower than the PGA Tour.

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“I’ve struggled on slower greens throughout my entire career,” he admitted, adding that the new Ardmore putter helps with that aspect. “Virtually almost every single Open I’ve played in, I would put lead tape on my putter to try to lead it up and get it a little bit heavier and get the ball rolling.”

However, he doesn’t have to do that with the Ardmore, and he said one reason is the grooves. He also noted that he did not add weight when he used the Nike putter.

(Adding lead tape for purposes of adding weight is not illegal under the rules of golf. )

As far as the state of his game, he cited his recent play, noting the adjustments he made in his swing after the west coast made a difference. He mentioned improved putting with the change of putters. And he mentioned that he has been able to get into contention.

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“I think that I’ve made a few adjustments, as you’ve seen so far,” he said. “Just need to play some cleaner golf, and who knows?”

Who knows indeed. With Woods having struggled with the driver this season, keeping it out of play this week may be a benefit.

Interestingly, Woods is now Brandel Chamblee’s pick to win The Open, despite Chamblee’s past comments.

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