Tiger trials leaves door Open

By Frank Malley, Chief Writer, Press Association Sport Last updated: 12th July 2010

There was a time when you could put your house on Tiger Woods flying into the home of golf and leaving with the Claret Jug.

St Andrews was his course. Big and wide. And he just ate it up.

He won by eight shots in 2000 as a 24-year-old. He led from start to finish in 2005 - the last time the Open was contested at St Andrews - to win by five shots from Colin Montgomerie.

This year is different.

Woods doubtless will still be the favourite. But this year, when St Andrews celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Open, all eyes and ears will be on the 34-year-old for quite different reasons.

Woods is no longer merely the supreme golfer chasing Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 majors.

He is the serial love cheat, the man whose world of deceit was shattered when he crashed his car into a fire hydrant outside his Florida home on November 27 last year, the incident sparking a series of revelations about his private life which led him to admit he had "had affairs and cheated".

He has answered some of the questions. He has apologised. But there are some who will never forget or forgive for the way they perceive him to have let down the game of golf.

It is why, while the Scottish galleries have always afforded Woods a courteous reception, the Royal and Ancient have seen fit to announce they will eject anyone who heckles Woods during the championship.

So can he win at the Old Course he describes as his "favourite" course in the world? Can someone even with the renowned mental toughness of Woods shrug aside the uncertainties in his life and dominate the sport once more?

It is possible, of course it is. Woods remains one of sport's most talented figures. But his game since he returned from his five months' exile following his infidelities has been inconsistent.

A fourth-place finish in the US Masters was encouraging. But he missed the cut for just the sixth time in his career at the Quail Hollow Championship at the end of April, shooting his second-worst round as a professional with a seven-over-par 79 during the second round.

Woods then withdrew from The Players Championship during the fourth round, citing a neck injury. The mind and the body are not what they once were.

He showed up well at the US Open but then looked a fading force in the final round - outplayed by Frenchman Gregory Havret and never threatening winner Graeme McDowell.

But his problems are only half the story. The fact is, that while he has been losing his aura, others have been closing the gap.

His biggest rival, Phil Mickelson, for a start. The world number two won the US Masters this year, but his best placing in The Open is fourth in 2005.

Mickelson will be keen to enhance his legend by winning a major outside America.

Britain's Lee Westwood, too, has been on the charge, finishing second in the Masters and fourth in The Players Championship and climbing his way to the elite echelons of the world rankings.

It could be Westwood's year. But then, just a few short months from the Ryder Cup, you could say the same about so many Europeans.

Could Ireland's Padraig Harrington, a two-time Open champion, make it three in four years? Is it time for the precocious game of Rory McIlroy to burst through on the major stage?

Do not write off Ian Poulter, Paul Casey or Spain's Sergio Garcia - the latter of whom needs a big win to reignite his career.

Then there is South Africa's Ernie Els, who is not the force he was but remains capable of adding to his major tally.

That is the beauty of the Open. It is just that, wide open - at least it is now Woods has fallen off his mantle of dominance and joined the real world of sport.

Back in 2000, Woods was seen as the perfect role model. The golfer who was packing youngsters into driving ranges. The man who was rapidly becoming sport's greatest ambassador and the player on his way to amassing the first one billion dollar fortune in sport.

Ten years later he is sill a wonderful golfer. He still might win for a third time at St Andrews.

But no-one should put their mortgage on it.

Frank Malley, Chief Writer, Press Association Sport