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Mcilroy Trying to Master Open Fears
Donald, Westwood Carry Home Hopes at Open
Will Tiger Be Toothless Or Claws Bared at Open?
Mcilroy Trying to Master Open Fears
Lytham, England, July 13, 2012 (AFP) - Rory McIlroy will be looking to eat his own words when he tees off in the British Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes next Thursday.
It was a year ago that he moodily stomped off after a final round of 73 at Royal St George's saying that links golf, and especially British weather, were not to his liking.
"My game is suited for basically every golf course and most conditions, but these conditions I just don't enjoy playing in really. That's the bottom line," was how McIlroy described his feelings then about finishing well down the field.
"I'd rather play when it's 80 degrees and sunny and not much wind.
"I'm not a fan of golf tournaments that the outcome is predicted so much by the weather. It's not my sort of golf," he said.
"I'm looking forward to getting back to America, playing in Akron, and obviously the PGA and the Irish Open is a big one for us, as well. It's a week that I sort of enjoy."
McIlroy's comments took some by surprise but many others understood, in the knowledge that the then 22-year-old Ulsterman had still to master the art of curbing his attacking instincts when the wind is blowing and the rain is falling.
He promptly bounced back to top form with a string of top 10 finishes and had another title win in Hong Kong en route to becoming the second youngest-ever world No.1, behind only Tiger Woods, in March.
Since then though his form has oddly deserted him with a run of missed cuts ending in failing to make it through to the weekend when defending his US Open crown in San Francisco last month.
Some have said that the celebrity status that has come McIlroy's way since his runaway win in the US Open last year might have gone to his head.
The lad from Holywood, Northern Ireland in quick succession has given swing tips to President Barack Obama during a state banquet at the White House, met the Queen at Newbury races, played tennis with Maria Sharapova at a Madison Square Garden exhibition and thrown the opening pitch at a San Francisco Giants Major League baseball game.
He also features regularly in the pages of the top gossip magazines through his romance with former tennis world no.1 Caroline Wozniacki.
McIlroy took some time off after his US Open flop, reappearing at the Irish Open where, armed with a new driver, he began his preparations for the British Open in suitably wet weather conditions.
It would, he said, be good experience for Lytham.
"I want to try to become a better wind player and better bad weather player, and the only way to do that is by playing in it," he said.
"Definitely in the past, if things haven't gone my way, the fight goes out of me pretty quickly, and that's something I'm working on and something that I'm trying to get better at."
In McIlroy's favour is the fact that he knows Royal Lytham reasonably well, having played there regularly as an amateur.
"Lytham is a course I like. It's very fair," he said.
"You have to hit good shots around there, and it really punishes you; the fairway bunkers are so punishing. If you hit it in, there's no chance of getting to the greens.
"It's a great course and I'm looking forward to it being on the rota, and I think a lot of guys are."
Donald, Westwood Carry Home Hopes at Open
Lytham, England, July 13, 2012 (AFP) - More than ever the pressure will be on Englishmen Luke Donald and Lee Westwood when the British Open gets underway at Royal Lytham and St Annes next Thursday. 
The world No.1 and world No.3 have yet to win a single Major title between them and both are increasingly burdened with their failures as each of the year's four Grand Slam tournaments pass them by.
This time they head to the classic Lancashire links course south of Blackpool in the knowledge that no Englishman has won the Open since Nick Faldo at Muirfield, Scotland in 1992.
No Englishman has won the Open on English soil since Tony Jacklin at Lytham in 1969.
So the pressure is there and Donald for one believes that if he wants to get over that final hurdle he needs to deal with the stress, relax and try to enjoy himself.
Talking of his approach to the Majors he said: "I've realized that I do get a little bit more anxious, a little bit more uptight and I've gotta try and control that, and that's going to kind of be the priority, go out there and try to play with a little bit more freedom, a little bit more fun, and hopefully that's the key to getting off to a better start.
"And once I get off to a better start, I feel like I'm going to be there and have a chance."
So far this year, despite being ranked first in the world for most of the time, Donald's chances at the Majors have been non-existent finishing in a tie for 32nd at The Masters and missing the cut at the US Open.
The same cannot be said for Westwood who came agonisingly close to a first Major title yet again with a tie for third at The Masters and a tie for 10th at the US Open. He now has eight top 10 finishes in the last 12 Majors.
Westwood's chances looked to have taken a blow at the French Open last week when he strained knee and groin muscles while slipping on the way to tee off in the third round.
He was not entered for this week's Scottish Open at Castle Stuart where Donald is the defending champion, seeking help from his physio instead.
The English challenge to match Faldo will also come from in-form world No.9 Justin Rose and Ian Poulter who was runner-up to Padraig Harrington at nearby Royal Birkdale in 2008.
The opposition though will be formidable.
From Ireland come defending champion Darren Clarke, winner in 2007 and 2008 Harrington, world No.2 Rory McIlroy and 2010 US Open winner Graeme McDowell.
South Africa have 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and 2002 Open champion Ernie Els.
Els has been showing signs of getting back to near his best in recent weeks, including a late run at the US Open in San Francisco and at 42 he knows that time is beginning to count against him.
"I was only talking with my caddy the other day that it's been 10 years since I won at Muirfield, and it's been unbelievable," said Els at Castle Stuart.
"I've had chances with '04 coming to mind, also '06 and '07.
"But then there were times I doubted that I would get back to winning another Major. I played well in last month's US Open (finished 9th) and I felt very in control and calm, and I just let my game do the work and like I used to.
"So that's the positive I'm talking about that I really felt mentally and physically very at ease for once, which I haven't felt that way for months."
Then of course there will be the US challenge with Americans having won the last two times the Open was held at Lytham through Tom Lehman in 1996 and David Duval in 2001.
Tiger Woods will once again be the bookies favourite to win what would be for him a fourth British Open after St Andrews (2000 and 2005) and Hoylake (2006), the latter being a course close to and similar to Lytham.
US veterans Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker will also be closely watched as will be the young brigade of Rickie Fowler, Keegan Bradley, Bubba Watson, Hunter Mahan and Matt Kuchnar.
There will, however be no US/British Open double as Webb Simpson, who won at San Francisco's Olympic Club in June has opted out to be with his wife who is expecting the couple's second child.
Will Tiger Be Toothless Or Claws Bared at Open?
Lytham, England, July 13, 2012 (AFP) - Tiger Woods has produced tantalyzing glimpses of the form that made him a 14-time major champion, but no definite sign that he is prepared to add to that title haul at next week's British Open.
Woods won his third US PGA event of the year on July 1 at the National, following triumphs at the Memorial in June and Arnold Palmer Invitational back in March to snap a 17-month win drought following his infamous sex scandal.
"I remember there was a time when people were saying I could never win again," Woods said. "Here we are."
But Woods has also missed the cut for only the eighth and ninth times in his 17-year pro career, failing to make the weekend at Charlotte in May and last week's Greenbrier Classic.
And Woods has had disappointing results in the majors this year, sharing 40th at the Masters and 21st at the US Open, where he excited fans by leading after 36 holes only to falter in the final rounds.
While he leads the US PGA money list with $4.2 million and is the top-ranked American player in the world at fourth, Woods has not shown he has the game to once again capture a major title as he prepares to face Royal Lytham.
"It's something I've done over the years, I've won major championships, and I haven't done it since '08," Woods said. "We all go through periods where that doesn't happen. Some periods are entire careers.
"But I understand how to win major championships. The key is giving yourself opportunities on the back nine on Sunday every time. You're not going to win them all but if you're there, a lot chances are you're going to win your share."
Woods, chasing the all-time record of 18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus, has won the same events this year that he had at the start of 2009, another year in which he was coming off a serious leg injury just as he suffered in 2011.
"I had a good year that year. I won six times," Woods said. "It would be nice if I could get the same total with a couple of majors in there."
Woods has not won a major since the 2008 US Open and has not been the man to beat on Sunday in a major since 2009 when South Korean Yang Yong-Eun outplayed him down the stretch to win the PGA Championship.
But Woods took a big confidence boost from his victory two weeks ago at Congressional Country Club, his 74th career triumph moving him within eight of matching Sam Snead's US PGA career record.
Woods says his work-in-progress swing changes in working with coach Sean Foley are finally nearing their payoff.
"It was just a matter of time," Woods said. "I could see the pieces coming together. We can see the consistency. If you look at my ball-striking this year it has gotten more and more consistent.
"There are times I revert back but it's happening less and less. Give me a little time and I feel like this (winning) is what I can do."
In 16 majors since his 2008 US Open victory, Woods has missed four with injuries, finished outside the top 20 four times, twice missed the cut and finished in the top six in six events.
US veteran Steve Stricker is among those who has proclaimed Woods is back on form only to scratch his head when the former World No. 1 stumbles in his next outing, still struggling to regain the consistency that was once his hallmark.
"I guess lately we don't know what to expect from him," Stricker said. "When he wins, we're all eager to look ahead and think that he's going to be back to where he was in the early 2000s or whenever he was at the top of his game."
Woods, a three-time British Open champion, was the low amateur and shared 22nd place at Royal Lytham at the 1996 Open and he shared 25th on the same course in 2001.