Tiger gives time to homework

"Tinkering" is how Tiger Woods described it

"Tinkering" is how Tiger Woods described it. He was referring to the visits he and his rivals have been making to the various equipment caravans here on the Old Course, so that implements will be suitably fine-tuned for one of the fastest-running championship venues of recent years.

"Even for the British Open, this is different," said the runaway favourite. "I'm not the only one saying this, but it is weird to have the fairways faster than the greens. You go out there and hit a putt 40 yards from the green and it slows down when it reaches the putting surface.

"A lot of the guys are changing some of their wedges, trying for a little less bounce by getting the blade underneath the ball for a bit. You've got to find the right equipment."

No wonder Bernhard Langer seemed to be even more painstaking than usual during practice yesterday afternoon. And he must have been surprised to see the build-up of spectators along the right side of the 17th fairway, without knowing that they were there to watch the drive of John Daly, in the group behind the German.

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As it happened, their wait was in vain; after pushing his drive into the left rough, the 1995 champion decided he had had enough and headed for the locker-room. But they were not nearly as disappointed as a photographer who, with splendid sensitivity, had conceived the perfect picture for the occasion - a shot of Daly with the gable-end of "The Jigger Inn" in the background.

The talking-point of practice on Monday was that Big John drove the green at the 412-yard sixth, having reduced the 568-yard fifth to a drive and a wedge. Yesterday, with the gentlest breeze brushing the course from the sea, he drove the ninth (353 yards), 10th (379 yards) and the 12th (314 yards). But he could get only to within 40 yards of the sixth, while the fifth had become a one iron followed by a five iron.

Woods failed to produce the same level of spectacle, largely, one suspected, because his preparation was a lot more thorough. Not for him the reliance on golfing instincts which saw compatriot Tony Lema make a late arrival here in 1964 and capture the title without a practice round.

The 24-year-old Woods played here as an amateur in 1995 when he shot a closing 78 for a share of 68th place on his Open debut. And he also played in the US Dunhill Cup team of 1998 when he was 14 under par for four rounds. But he is still leaving nothing to chance.

In watching the tapes of 1995 and 1990, he noted where the pins had been placed - "towards the middle of the greens as protection against a big wind". And had he delved further back than that? "Sure," came the reply. How far back? "How far back would you like to go? Yeah, I've seen tapes from the sixties and from the Dunhill Cup as well."

It was good to hear the world's number one make such admissions, if only to prove to us mortals that even accomplished practitioners still have to do their homework.

Woods believes that driving will be a key factor in his ambition to become the youngest winner of all four professional majors - the Masters, US Open, British Open and the USGA Championship. Jack Nicklaus, who set the benchmark for this and other achievements, was 26 when completing the so-called Grand Slam through his British Open victory at Muirfield in 1966.

Displaying a remarkably keen sense of tradition for a player of his years, Woods went on: "If there were to be two specific courses where you would want to win specific championships, it would be the US Open at Pebble Beach and the British Open at St Andrews. It's ironic that they should come together in the same year and that I should get the chance to complete the slam at the most historic golf course ever designed. It is a wonderful opportunity.

"And I hope the wind blows because that's the tradition of the British Open. You have to have the weather a little windy, a little rainy and a little cool. In think that's what we all look forward to playing in when we come here."

All of which explains the usefulness of last week in Ireland. There was a period of acclimatisation to a change of time-zone in the JP McManus Invitational Pro-Am at Limerick on Monday and Tuesday. Then, later in the week, he savoured the links terrain of Portmarnock and Royal Co Down while using The K Club as a base.

Woods appears to have left nothing to chance. That's a measure of how much he respects a game which he has so enriched in a remarkably short time.

British Open champion Paul Lawrie suffered an injury scare yesterday morning just two days before launching the defence of his title.

The 31-year-old Scot was giving a lesson to a group of disabled youngsters when one of them struck him on the left wrist with a club during his back-swing. Lawrie was forced to cancel his practice round as a result, but is not believed to be in danger of missing the Open.

"It was painful at the time but I'm not in doubt for Thursday," he said.