Hoylake, England – A certain something is required to become a major champion, or, given the sketchy résumés of some of the winners of golf’s biggest events, that should be amended to “win multiple majors.”
For the longest time, there never was any question that Tiger Woods possessed that special quality. The winner of 10 majors, two of them coming after undergoing an almost complete swing reconstruction, Woods seemed to own a legendary stranglehold over everyone in the game – until Phil Mickelson managed to step up his oft-sporadic play in the majors by winning not only the 2004 Masters, but also the 2005 PGA Championship and then another green jacket this spring.
After that win, golf fans expected the two to duel each other down the stretch everywhere from Winged Foot to Pebble Beach and back again to Augusta. But right out of the box, the fireworks fizzled at last month’s U.S. Open. Woods, in his first tournament back following the May death of his father, missed the cut in a major for the first time as a pro. Perhaps even more shocking, given his recent level of play, Mickelson collapsed on the 72nd hole, turning almost certain victory into a devastating second-place finish when he bowed out with a double bogey.
Now Woods and Mickelson find themselves linked again, albeit for reasons neither man would especially relish.
Although they didn’t arrive hat-in-hand, Woods and Mickelson were as contrite as two multimillion-dollar, golf club-swinging conglomerates could be when they met the media Tuesday to talk about the British Open, which begins Thursday.
Not that either would confess to being down. As has been his wont of late, Mickelson had his self-deprecating, “aw-shucks, golly-gee” patois out in full force. Woods, on the other hand, went on the attack as if someone had the temerity to suggest that his place in the game had been lessened.
At one point during his pretournament news conference, Woods was asked if his British Open-record score of “18 under par,” set in 2000 at St. Andrews, might be threatened on a Royal Liverpool course that is playing so firm with such release that its 7,258 yards, Colin Montgomerie said, “is about 5,500 in real terms.”
Woods cast a sideways glance at the questioner, hesitating before speaking.
“Wasn’t it 19-under?” he eventually said. “Give me a little credit. I think it obviously can be done, but will it be done is obviously a different story.”
Earlier in the session, there was another query about Woods’ pairing for the opening two rounds, specifically about the level of conversation that may take place between himself and Nick Faldo, who criticized Woods’ swing a couple of years ago in his job as an analyst with ABC.
“We really don’t talk much,” Woods said curtly.
So there won’t be much more than that on Thursday and Friday?
“I’ve only played with him two times since I’ve been a pro, and there wasn’t a lot of talking there either.”
So if he wants to talk, what will be your reaction?
“Surprise.”
Woods said his second- place finish at the Western Open two weeks ago enabled him to return to the competitive mode necessary to win. Mickelson, who finished in a tie for 65th in suburban Chicago, said he used his final two rounds there to begin his preparations for the British Open. He also made multiple trips to England to familiarize himself with the nuances of the course.
Mickelson is attempting to overcome a history of poor showings at the British Open. While he was third in 2004, that was the only time in the past five years he finished better than a tie for 30th.
“It wasn’t until 2004 that I really understood the technique of hitting the ball properly into the wind,” he said. “I was just swinging hard, just like I normally do, and I wasn’t able to get that low, penetrating shot. It just took me a lot longer to trust that 50-100 yards of roll that we get … a while to learn how to trust the little knock-down chip shots that travel a couple hundred yards because of the hard fairways.”
As for his collapse at Winged Foot, Mickelson said, “You know, there was a long time where I wasn’t really proud of my performance in the majors, but the last couple of years I’m pretty proud of that. So one bad hole isn’t going to change the way I look at that.”
Staff writer Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
