The Ailsa course at Turnberry will offer a degree of difficulty worthy of a major championship, world number one Tiger Woods tells CNN as he bids to win his fourth British Open at the Scottish links.
Woods had never played Turnberry before arriving for the third major of the season and after three practice rounds is fully aware of the challenge it presents, particularly if the wind blows. “Turnberry is a golf course where you have got to hit the ball well and hit the ball on the fairway,” he said.. “And the second shot as well, you have to hit your second shots well.” Tiger said that the quality of the three previous winners at Turnberry, Tom Watson in 1977 after an epic duel with Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman in 1986 and Nick Price in 1994 proved it rewarded the best golfers. “This is a golf course where you can’t fake it,” he said.
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“You really have to position your ball, a lot depends on the weather because if the wind does not blow you can shoot some good scores around here. “But if it comes up with a lot of the holes being crosswinds it’s going to be quite a challenge,” he added. Woods is in the unusual position of not having a major title to defend after near misses in the Masters and U.S. Open, having returned to competitive golf following knee surgery last year.
“I’ve been in position (to win) in the first two but unfortunately I didn’t get it done, but hopefully I can do it this week,” he said. After his win at the AT&T tournament on the PGA Tour in the buildup to Turnberry, Woods starts as a short-priced favorite when he tees off on Thursday morning with Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa and England’s Lee Westwood.
