WOODS IS NO LONGER THE TIGER, TIGER BURNIING BRIGHT
On his error-strewn journey through Saturday's hazy midsummer’s evening, Tiger Woods, the three-time Open champion advanced not one stroke beyond his halfway total of six under par as he watched Adam Scott sail further into the Lancashire sunset.
Where once Woods could be relied upon to make an irresistible charge at this juncture, now he is more likely to fall backwards. Indeed, he has not broken 70 on a Saturday in the majors since his 66 at Pebble Beach in 2010, and rarely looked ready to buck that trend at Royal Lytham on Saturday.
He sticks almost slavishly to his strategy of conservatism at all costs, refusing to swap his long irons for the driver as he resisted flirtation with Lytham’s 206 bunkers, but the approach succeeded only in increasing the deficit to Scott, the more enterprising Australian.
Why did Tiger not take a few gambles? Why would he not try to intimidate Scott with his power-hitting? The questions were left hanging in the air on Saturday night, answerable only by Woods’s apparent assumption that Scott, still a flaky performer in the type of stiff winds forecast on Sunday, could yet falter.
BOLD SUPPOSITION
For a man five shots off the pace, though, that seems a bold supposition.
BOLD SUPPOSITION
For a man five shots off the pace, though, that seems a bold supposition.
The old ruthlessness is not what it was. Woods, hunting down such untested front-runners as Scott and Brandt Snedeker, had a chance to impose an authority borne of his impressive first two rounds at this championship and his record in capitalising on such a fine start.
As he surveyed his scorecard after a par at the 18th, Woods’s dejection was manifest. He only narrowly outdid Thorbjorn Olesen, his unheralded young playing partner from Denmark, by the single shot.
“I was just trying to cut into the lead,” Woods reflected. “Even par is about right. I’m five back. Adam is in a great spot right now.”
Woods’ distance control was awry, as he fired his tee-shot to the par-three first through the back of the green en route to a dropped shot. He miscued again at the third, falling 20 yards short with a nine-iron.
Strangely, his short-iron play has been off-key throughout the tournament, denying him a clutch of extra birdie opportunities. The flaw was the result of 'de-lofting’: an effect produced by an excessively steep angle of attack and from standing too close, and one that has only developed recently during his swing adjustments under coach Sean Foley.
LONG IRONS OFF TEE
The cautiousness of Woods’s course management was also shown up. Where Scott took on the par-fives with aggression, marmalising drivers down the centre of the fairway, the 14-time major winner was sticking fast to long-irons off the tee. And for the second day in succession Woods failed to take advantage at the long 11th, overdoing his second shot and then taking three from the edge of the green.
His restraint would have been easier to understand had he been plundering birdies, but it was a mentality that made no inroads into Scott’s advantage at the top.
No one ought to second-guess Woods’s understanding of Lytham’s vicissitudes. He was the low amateur here in 1996 and has acquired a mental map of each of the links’ 206 bunkers, resolving to steer clear of them at all costs.
Even when he did find one late on Friday evening at the 18th, he holed out. As a man in pursuit of a fourth Claret Jug, he has learned the benefits of applying consistent approach. But to what end on Saturday?
Again Woods found himself 10 yards short with his errant wedge at the 13th, and was putting so much pressure on his long game that he faced a four-iron for his second at the 14th, a par-four.
A heavy contact ensued, and with a botched attempt at an up-and-down he slipped another shot further adrift. Tiger in his defensive incarnation was proving a toothless beast.
In contrast, the composure of Olesen, Woods’s playing partner, was striking. How easily the 22 year-old could have been all aflutter at Saturday’s pairing, considering the young man once regarded Woods as a semi-deity. But this prodigious young talent from Copenhagen matched his idol at every stage to consolidate his position at five under.
A double bogey at the 14th briefly derailed Olesen’s progress, but Woods was floundering, too. He has argued all week that Lytham is a layout that can be tackled in a multiplicity of ways, but time and again he chose the wrong option. He set up a glorious birdie chance at the 16th but wafted weakly at the putt from 15 feet, not even grazing the hole.
He tried with every fibre of his being to sink his putt at the last but the ball also rolled up short, eliciting a sneer of contempt. Just 24 hours earlier he had been exultant beside the 18th green, having drained a shot for an improbable birdie.
But Tiger's mask of dejection on Saturday night spoke of a glorious opportunity spurned.
“I was just trying to cut into the lead,” Woods reflected. “Even par is about right. I’m five back. Adam is in a great spot right now.”
Woods’ distance control was awry, as he fired his tee-shot to the par-three first through the back of the green en route to a dropped shot. He miscued again at the third, falling 20 yards short with a nine-iron.
Strangely, his short-iron play has been off-key throughout the tournament, denying him a clutch of extra birdie opportunities. The flaw was the result of 'de-lofting’: an effect produced by an excessively steep angle of attack and from standing too close, and one that has only developed recently during his swing adjustments under coach Sean Foley.
LONG IRONS OFF TEE
The cautiousness of Woods’s course management was also shown up. Where Scott took on the par-fives with aggression, marmalising drivers down the centre of the fairway, the 14-time major winner was sticking fast to long-irons off the tee. And for the second day in succession Woods failed to take advantage at the long 11th, overdoing his second shot and then taking three from the edge of the green.
His restraint would have been easier to understand had he been plundering birdies, but it was a mentality that made no inroads into Scott’s advantage at the top.
No one ought to second-guess Woods’s understanding of Lytham’s vicissitudes. He was the low amateur here in 1996 and has acquired a mental map of each of the links’ 206 bunkers, resolving to steer clear of them at all costs.
Even when he did find one late on Friday evening at the 18th, he holed out. As a man in pursuit of a fourth Claret Jug, he has learned the benefits of applying consistent approach. But to what end on Saturday?
Again Woods found himself 10 yards short with his errant wedge at the 13th, and was putting so much pressure on his long game that he faced a four-iron for his second at the 14th, a par-four.
A heavy contact ensued, and with a botched attempt at an up-and-down he slipped another shot further adrift. Tiger in his defensive incarnation was proving a toothless beast.
In contrast, the composure of Olesen, Woods’s playing partner, was striking. How easily the 22 year-old could have been all aflutter at Saturday’s pairing, considering the young man once regarded Woods as a semi-deity. But this prodigious young talent from Copenhagen matched his idol at every stage to consolidate his position at five under.
A double bogey at the 14th briefly derailed Olesen’s progress, but Woods was floundering, too. He has argued all week that Lytham is a layout that can be tackled in a multiplicity of ways, but time and again he chose the wrong option. He set up a glorious birdie chance at the 16th but wafted weakly at the putt from 15 feet, not even grazing the hole.
He tried with every fibre of his being to sink his putt at the last but the ball also rolled up short, eliciting a sneer of contempt. Just 24 hours earlier he had been exultant beside the 18th green, having drained a shot for an improbable birdie.
But Tiger's mask of dejection on Saturday night spoke of a glorious opportunity spurned.
Labels: OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Sunday, July 22, 2012
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