Tiger Woods will try his best to win a fourth Open but the reality is the generation he inspired will be battling for the title come Sunday, writes Iain Carter.
Tiger Woods is playing his third Open since finishing joint sixth in 2018, he missed the cut in the other twoAs Tiger Woods climbed the steep slope from the seventh green it was a great, iconic figure arriving on one of golf’s most famous stages - the teeing ground for the hole they call the 'Postage Stamp'.
It will be his 23rd Open and 95th major. He will insist he can contend even though compelling evidence suggests otherwise and crowds will continue to flock to follow the 48-year-old.There is still magic in the hands that have held 15 major trophies. From the elevated teeing ground on Troon’s renowned eighth hole, an area surrounded by a grandstand running the length of The Open’s shortest hole, he swings in carefree fashion.
At the ninth he loses a ball in the right rough. In places the grasses are punishingly thick for this Open, but as fearsome as it looks, the rough has browned off, it is more brittle than juicy and therefore potentially playable. Rory McIlroy is the player closest to Scheffler in the world rankings and comes here having squandered a glorious chance to end a barren run at the majors that will stretch beyond a decade if he does not win this week.
But Tommy Fleetwood is another to consider in that bracket. The runner-up to Shane Lowry in 2019 at Royal Portrush has the ball-striking attributes for a course lengthened by nearly 200 yards from the last time the Open was here in 2016. He was also in the mix at the US Open before familiar final day fade struck again to leave him 14th. And on Sunday he briefly flickered at the Scottish Open before finishing joint fourth alongside McIlroy. His aim must be to sustain his 54-hole form for the full distance.
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