Tiger Woods concerned about slow greens at the Open Championship



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CARNOUSTIE, Scotland – The golf course is fast and spirited, the golf ball rolls forever, and Carnoustie promises to make unique strategy decisions this week during The Open.

This is true for Tiger Woods, who returns to the tournament for the first time since 2015 and for his fourth tournament – and third Open – around what is generally considered the most difficult place of the rotation of the tournament.

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For Woods, however, putting is "To be honest with you, I've struggled over the slower greens throughout my career," Woods said Tuesday at the time. a press conference at Carnoustie that preceded an afternoon training tour.

Open courses generally offer slower putting surfaces than regular PGA Tour venues. Weather conditions are usually the reason. With the wind often a factor on the sea courses, fast greens would become unplayable if allowed to be so fast, with balls at rest influenced.

This happened in 2015 in St. Andrews, where much of the third lap was delayed in windy conditions; Woods said he was struggling to adapt to slower speeds over the years.

Three weeks ago, at Woods Quicken Loans, Woods went to a new putter, a model TaylorMade that looks like a mallet and has grooves on the face. The idea was to get him out of a crisis, but he also made the change by watching The Open.

"There is a little more swing," said Woods. "This putter has grooves, so it rolls around a little faster and a little bit more true, and it 's a bit warmer, it' s going to help me on those greens, that 's it. is safe, normally when I came here and almost all the Open I played, I would put lead tape on my putters to try to get a little more weight and run the ball. "

Woods said Sunday that" fairways are faster than greens, "a testament to the firmness and toughness of the course due to an unusually hot and dry British summer.

Already, there are many stories about the distance traveled by the ball in the fairways. Woods said Monday that he hit a 3 iron on the 18th tee that went 333 yards. If he had hit a pilot, he would have risked the ball in the water (known as Barry Burn) facing the green.

The old problems with the traditionally slow greens of the Open Championship are in the spirit of Tiger Woods. First round of Thursday. Peter Muhly / Getty Images

On Sunday, Woods played the fourth hole by 4 by hitting a 7-iron on the tee to avoid well placed bunkers. This club, which he normally hits at 180 yards, saw the ball roll at 215 yards.

"You're going to see a lot of guys hitting the ball a long way without a lot of club," Woods said. 19659002] Maybe this strategy will work well for Woods, who won the 2006 Open at a Royal Liverpool burned and cooked. For the week, Woods hit a single driver, choosing to play irons for the positioning and wear of the field with an incredible game of iron on the greens.

"No one could have tried to play golf like he did." Said Padraig Harrington, who won The Open at Carnoustie in 2007. "I guess that's # He could not play this way now, he is certainly able to win this week, his game is pretty good, I do not know if it's this week's strategy to go back that far. "[19659002] It's possible that Woods and the others have no choice – unless they want to blaster the drivers for

Whatever the case may be, it probably boils down to putting Woods, who gained some confidence on the greens at the Quicken Loans, where he tied for fourth in the

feeling, "he said." I am very confident with the way I roll the golf ball, but the greens were a bit slower yesterday and I am sure that they will be a bit slower today with a little bit of moisture. Woods spends a bit of time trying to get a rhythm for that.

Woods made his 12th start in 2018 after returning from his fourth backstroke. He finished three times in the top five and five in the top 12, but he finished five strokes from the winner once – his second finalist in front of Paul Casey at the Valspar Championship.

A 14-time winner, Woods played two previous Opens at Carnoustie, seventh in 1999 and tied for twelfth in 2007. He plays the first two rounds with Russell Knox and Hideki Matsuyama. They leave at 10:21 am and Thursday.

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