Woods making British Open titles a habit

HOYLAKE, England — Jack Nicklaus might have been right about Tiger Woods, even if he was looking at the wrong place.

Nicklaus cranked up the hype about Woods on the eve of the 1996 Masters, after he and Arnold Palmer played a practice round with the 20-year-old amateur. Nicklaus called him "absolutely the most fundamentally sound golfer that I've seen at almost any age."

Combine the Masters victories of those two legends — that's 10 green jackets — and Nicklaus said the kid should win more than that.

But imagine if that practice round had been in 1995 at St. Andrews instead of a year later at Augusta National.

The conversation might have been different.

"This kid is absolutely the most creative shotmaker that I've seen at almost any age," Nicklaus might have said. "Take my three British Opens and the five won by Tom Watson, and he should win more than that."

It could happen.

By the end of his career, Woods might be identified more by the silver claret jug than the green jacket.

The Masters was thought to be Woods' domain ever since he set the course record (18-under 270) and won by a record 12 shots in 1997. Woods now has four green jackets, not quite halfway there to Nicklaus' prediction.

Augusta National is all about power, and Woods no longer holds exclusive rights in this game.

The British Open is about imagination, and he showed Sunday at Royal Liverpool he has no peer.

Woods was whisked away to the clubhouse late in the evening to sip champagne with the Royal & Ancient, where he regaled committee members with the shots he played — only one of them with a driver out of his 270 strokes — on his way to a two-shot victory over Chris DiMarco.

In his previous tournament, a tie for second at the Western Open, Woods had what swing coach Hank Haney described as his best week with the driver in five years. But after one trip around the firm, fast links of Hoylake, Woods realized he was better off playing it safe.

"One of the most fascinating things of the week was to see the different strategies employed by different players," R&A chief executive Peter Dawson said Monday morning. "The vast majority of players hit far more drivers than Tiger did. He chose to play his way, and it actually resulted in him playing a longer golf course than he does most weeks.

"Tiger found the way to suit his game."