Tiger looking for 3 in a row
July 17, 2007
The British Open starts this week at Carnoustie, Scotland, and Tiger Woods is looking to win his third championship in a row.
He rates the open as his favorite event on the tour, and bookmakers have him at 3-1 ahead of Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson.
You can place your bets right throughout the open at Bodog Sportsbook.
'I love playing over here, because it allows you to be creative,'' Woods said.
''Augusta used to be that way. The U.S. Open is obviously not. The PGA is kind of similar to a U.S. Open setup. Over here, you can create shots. You get to use the ground as an ally.''
His 2 iron was his best friend a year ago at Royal Liverpool. After a his first rounds on the long fairways, Woods realized he was better off leaving his driver in the bag. He hit it only once over the four rounds, instead opting for irons short of the fairway bunkers and then long to mid-irons again onto the greens.
His strategy worked perfectly, and he captured the cherished claret jug for a second straight year.
Woods arrives at Carnoustie with a chance to win his third open in a row, something accomplished by only four other players at an event that dates back to 1860. The last to do it was Peter Thomson in 1954-56.
The links courses used at the British Open require brains moreso than power, even a 7,421-yard course like Scotland's Carnoustie. Woods has won twice at the legendary St. Andrews course, where he could power his tee shots beyond the bunkers, and once at Royal Liverpool, where the strategy was to keep it short of the bunkers.
Carnoustie offers a mix of those choices, its fairways peppered with so many bunkers that keeping short of the beach often means risking another hazard.
''On a lot of holes, there's always going to be a bunker you have to avoid,'' Jim Furyk said.
''You're going to have to pick your poison. Do you want to play more conservative or more aggressive? Take it over the short ones or stay wide of the long ones?''
This is what Woods, Furyk, and the rest of the field will have to decide before the British Open starts Thursday.
It will depend a lot on the wind, which can change direction and flare up without notice, just like the favorite at Bodog, with live in round betting.
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