Grand Vision

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland —  Welcome to the land of thistle and gorse, of Swilcan Burn and Robert Burns, where memories abound of Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris but no mention is made of Teen Tom Morris.

Welcome to the place where wool is the fabric of choice, yet you won’t find any of it in the most important garment here: the raincoat. Welcome to golf’s birthplace and the site of this week’s British Open, to be played on the Old Course, so called to differentiate it from the New Course next door, built in 1895.

Welcome too to Tiger Woods country.

If there is anyone who can make sense of a place where the unexpected is routine, the whimsical commonplace and the obvious never quite what it seems, well, it has to be Tiger.

Because golf absolutely loves its history, it is a wonderful thing that it has Woods along for the 26th Open Championship contested at the world’s most historic course.

Now, just where Woods belongs in this bit of history remains to be seen.

Here is what we know: Tiger is the favorite. If he wins, he will be the youngest, at 24, to have won all four of golf’s major titles, a career grand slam. They have lengthened the Old Course to try to deter him. It won’t matter because Woods still hits the ball farther than anyone else.

Here is what we don’t know: Who can stop him?

“If Tiger Woods doesn’t win the Open, there should be a stewards’ inquiry,” said Sir Michael Bonallack, the recently retired secretary of the Royal & Ancient.

Or a congressional inquiry. Hey, somebody is going to need to look into it. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

Let’s just say that predictions of a victory by Woods are popular.

There is much at stake here at the Firth of Forth, hard by the North Sea, and Woods dominates most of the action--as usual. Since his astonishing 15-shot victory at the U.S. Open last month, he has attracted even more attention than normal, which is just this side of avalanche proportions. The Royal of room in the media tent weeks ago after issuing more than 1,000 credentials.

What the journalists and golf fans worldwide expect to see, naturally, is Woods carve up St. Andrews into little gray pieces, hoist the Claret Jug, and replace Jack Nicklaus in the history books. Nicklaus is the youngest to have won all four majors, capping his slam by winning the British Open in 1966, when he was 26.

That victory at Muirfield was the sixth major title for Nicklaus, who went on to win a total of 18. If Woods wins here this week, he will have four, the others being the 1997 Masters, the ’99 PGA and the recent U.S. Open.

As for money, Woods can do nicely in that category too. He has collected $19,221,724 in 101 tournaments worldwide and a victory here, with its winner’s share of roughly $825,000, would push him past $20 million. In PGA Tour money alone, Woods would surpass $17 million--in not even four full years as a professional.

Woods passed Davis Love III as the all-time tour money leader with his victory at the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. That was five months and about $4 million ago. At the time, Love said he figured the money-leading title would go back and forth between him and Woods for a while. We’re still waiting for Love’s end of the seesaw to tilt back down.

The fact is that golf belongs to Woods. It’s more about what Woods does this week than about the British Open. It could all change, depending on how Woods performs, but the fact is that not since Nicklaus was in his prime has any one player been such a favorite to win every tournament he enters.

Let’s examine the factors at work here.

The Stats Sheet

* Woods has won 12 of his last 23 PGA Tour events and 15 of his last 27 tournaments worldwide.

* He has played in 101 tournaments worldwide since he turned pro. He has won 26 times. He has finished first, second or third 48 times and in the top 10 71 times.

So, roughly, Woods wins 25% of the time, finishes in the top three about 50% of the time and is in the top 10 about 75% of the time.

* Woods hasn’t missed a cut since he withdrew from the 1998 Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, a streak of 51. If he continues on his current scheduling pace of 21 tournaments a year, he will equal Byron Nelson’s record of 113 consecutive cuts made at the 2003 U.S. Open.

* Woods has a history of playing well in the British Open. In his first one, at St. Andrews in 1995 when he was a 19-year-old amateur, he tied for 68th. In 1996 at Royal Lytham, Woods shot a second-round 66, equaling the course record for an amateur, and tied for 22nd. His 281 total also matched the tournament record for an amateur.

At Royal Troon in 1997, Woods’ first British Open after the advent of Tigermania, he shot a third-round 64 and wound up tied for 24th.

Woods was third in 1998 at Royal Birkdale, one shot out of the Mark O’Meara-Brian Watts playoff. And last year at Carnoustie, Woods tied for seventh, four shots out of the Paul Lawrie-Justin Leonard-Jean Van de Velde playoff.

The Golf Course

Since Woods won the Masters by 12 shots in 1997, tournament officials all over the world have taken a rather amusing approach to “Tigerproofing” courses. Usually, they lengthened to offset Woods’ prodigious length off the tee. However, making a course longer hurts which players the most? Could it be the players who don’t hit far?

So how, exactly, does this hurt Woods and close the gap between him and everybody else?

Short of moving the tee box back for Woods and no one else, there are apparently few options.

The Old Course at St. Andrews is a power hitter’s paradise. There isn’t that much trouble and the fairways are generous. As with any links course, the wind causes problems for everyone, but smart players who can keep the ball low are going to thrive, and Woods appears to have learned that.

If the wind is right, Woods might drive five par-four holes: the 397-yard third, the 352-yard ninth, the 379-yard 10th, the 314-yard 12th, and the 357-yard 18th.

Three holes have been lengthened dramatically since, 1995, when John Daly triumphed in a playoff over Costantino Rocca. The third hole, as mentioned, is now 397 yards, up from 371. The 10th is 37 yards longer than previously, and the 15th is 43 yards longer, to 456 yards.

What to Expect

* Tiger puns. Woods is a favorite of headline writers worldwide, but especially in the tabloid-mad United Kingdom. Sadly, “clever” Tiger headlines have been done to triteness. Still, it is a virtual certainty that they will continue to be used.

Examples: Tiger Ready to Pounce, Tiger on the Prowl, Tiger Has Tour Up a Tree, Eye of the Tiger, He’s GRRRRREAT!, Tiger Stripes It, Tiger Earns His Stripes, Tiger in the Lions’ Den, Tiger Tales. (You get the idea.)

* A stripper trying to kiss Woods during tournament play. This is another mortal lock. In fact, the exotic dancer from Aberdeen who gave Woods a smooch last year at Carnoustie has been quoted as saying she plans a return engagement this week at the Old Course.

You may recall that she was hauled off to court last year, where her sentence was banishment from Carnoustie for a year. Many considered that a slap on the wrist. A far more serious penalty would have been sentencing her to remain in Carnoustie for a year.

* Intense speculation by the media about where Woods is staying. This has been an entertaining exercise for the tabloid press since Troon in 1997.

Where was Tiger? In a hotel at Turnberry and taking a helicopter to the course? In Berwick? In St. Andrews?

Actually, Woods was staying in a house just down the road from the course at Troon, a chip shot from the media parking lot.

At the risk of spoiling everyone’s fun this week, Woods is staying at the Old Course Hotel.

The Preparation

Woods played in a charity golf event last week at Limerick Golf Club in Ireland--There once was a golfer named Tiger. . . . never mind--where he won the tournament even though Stuart Appleby had a better score.

Appleby was disqualified for using a range finder, so Woods won about $60,000. That is impressive, but even more impressive is that Woods showed up for nothing. There was no appearance fee involved.

Normally, professional athletes do not walk across the street without getting paid, so, at the very least, Woods should start play this week awash in good will.

So now we move on to the Old Course for golf’s oldest major championship at the game’s historic birthplace. If you’ve been paying attention, everybody has got to know what that means. That’s right, it’s time for Tiger to pounce.

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Most Majors Won

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Golfer Mstr U.S. Brit. PGA Total Jack Nicklaus 6 4 3 5 18 Walter Hagen 0 2 4 5 11 Ben Hogan 2 4 1 2 9 Gary Player 3 1 3 2 9 Tom Watson 2 1 5 0 8 Bobby Jones 0 4 3 0 7 Arnold Palmer 4 1 2 0 7 Gene Sarazen 1 2 1 3 7 Sam Snead 3 0 1 3 7 Harry Vardon 0 1 6 0 7 Nick Faldo 3 0 3 0 6 Lee Trevino 2 2 2 0 6 Seve Ballesteros 2 0 3 0 5 James Braid 0 0 5 0 5 Byron Nelson 2 1 0 2 5 J.H. Taylor 0 0 5 0 5 Peter Thomson 0 0 5 0 5 Willie Anderson 0 0 4 0 4 Jim Barnes 0 1 1 2 4 Ray Floyd 1 1 0 2 4 Bobby Locke 0 0 4 0 4 Tom Morris Sr. 0 0 4 0 4 Tom Morris Jr. 0 0 4 0 4 Willie Park 0 0 4 0 4 Jamie Anderson 0 0 3 0 3 Tommy Armour 0 1 1 1 3 Julius Boros 0 2 0 1 3 Billy Casper 1 2 0 0 3 Henry Cotton 0 0 3 0 3 Jimmy Demaret 3 0 0 0 3 Bob Ferguson 0 0 3 0 3 Ralph Guldahl 1 2 0 0 3 Hale Irwin 0 3 0 0 3 Cary Middlecoff 1 2 0 0 3 Larry Nelson 0 1 0 2 3 Nick Price 0 0 1 2 3 Denny Shute 0 0 1 2 3 Payne Stewart 0 2 0 1 3 Tiger Woods 1 1 0 1 3

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