British Open; Woods stays focused amid life changes

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland — So, all together now: What's up with Tiger?

It's obviously a pertinent question, since the best golfer of his era has managed to finish only second in the first two majors of the season. After winning the last two last year. Which, at the ripe old age of 31, merely left him with a dozen for his career. Or a half-dozen shy of Jack Nicklaus' once-unapproachable mountaintop.

Woods held at least a share of the lead on the front nine of the closing 18 holes at the Masters in April and again at last month's U.S. Open. There was a time when that meant it was history. Yet somehow, he found a way to end up two shots behind Zach Johnson at Augusta, and one behind Angel Cabrera at Oakmont. It happens, even if it never had happened to him before.

And just like that, well, you know how this stuff works.

Should we mention that at Oakmont, Woods played the final round knowing his wife, Elin, was about to deliver their first child a few weeks early? He never said a word about it until after their daughter, Sam, came into this world the next day.

We'll never know what he would have done, had Elin gone into labor 24 hours earlier. Or if he had been able to force a Monday playoff. We only know how he handled the moment.

"It all depended on the situation with Elin and how everything was going," Tiger said Tuesday at Carnoustie Golf Links, where, beginning today, the two-time reigning British Open champion will try to become the first man in a little more than a half-century to threepeat at any major. "Doctors assured me that everything was OK for the time being. And it was what it was. It worked out.

"It was harder than normal to stay focused all day, but you have to do it. Time to play. You go out and concentrate and give it all you've got. The doctors assured me and she assured me she was doing fine. They said, 'There's nothing you can do here, so just go win the Open.' Well, I didn't quite do that. Win or lose the Open, in the end seeing Sam born was the greatest thing ever."

Still, it hasn't kept certain precincts from whispering.

"Well, they have been saying that [I'm vulnerable] a lot," he said with a smile. "First it was getting engaged, and then it was getting married. And now having a child. It's always something."

And he always has provided an appropriate response. Even when he lost his father, Earl, to cancer 14 months ago. After missing the cut at the U.S. Open in his first start back, he successfully defended his British Open crown at Hoylake. Four weeks later, he added a third PGA Championship.

Even though some wonder whether fatherhood somehow will bring his game back to the posse.

"I don't see how it can be negative," he insisted.

Maybe he doesn't look quite as bulletproof as he did just last August. He's still the best there is. The bookmakers over here, where wagering is not only legal but highly encouraged, have him listed as the 3-1 favorite. The next two names on the board, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els, are 12-1. Nobody else is lower than 20. That doesn't mean Tiger will win. But he remains the one to beat.

"All I know is that I feel good about my preparation so far," he said. "My chances? If I continue doing the things that I'm doing, I like the way I'm swinging, I like the way my short game is, I like the way my speed is on the greens so far. I just have to carry that into the tournament."

Last July, he put on a clinic. Left his driver in the bag and hit long-iron approaches like nobody's business. He thought it out. Then he executed the game plan. And hoisted another Claret Jug.

When the Open was last held at Carnoustie in 1999, he tied for seventh, despite never shooting lower than 72. The winning score was 6-over-par, on a course that was set up to create a disaster.

It promises to be more user-friendly this week, though that's a relative phrase. As always on these links, a lot depends on Mother Nature.

"So far in three practice rounds, I've played in three different winds," said Woods, who went on to win five of the six majors following the last Open here. "I've never heard anyone say Carnoustie was easy. If the wind is into you coming home, it's all you want on the golf course."