Having had time to review the British Open that finished on Sunday, I wondered to myself whether the tournament had missed the presence of the injured Tiger Woods. Undoubtedly the best player in the world, a lot of the build up surrounding the tournament was about his absence rather than the players that would be fighting for the title.
That’s inevitable I guess – Tiger Woods is one of the biggest names in sport and any tournament that he doesn’t appear in will lack ‘the Tiger factor’. A phrase which is normally used in reference to the massive following he has around a golf course because of his phenomenal talent.
In the few days leading up to the tournament, there was doubts over defending Champion Padraig Harrington’s fitness. The Irishman had a wrist injury and was very close to pulling out. Luckily for him and the tournament as a whole, he pulled through. A Major Championship without the best golfer in the World or the defending champion certainly wouldn’t have seemed the same.
Something the absence of Woods and the uncertainty over Harrington’s injury did do was open up the field for a new champion, a new hero. Many golf bets were being placed on the highest ranked player competing Phil Mickelson, the man who lost to Harrington in a play-off last year Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood who was in good form after finishing 3rd in the US Open.
However, this years British Open was perhaps more unpredictable than ever. Perhaps the absence of Woods contributes to this, who knows. It certainly makes other players believe they have more of a chance to emerge victorious.
If in the build up to the tournament, Woods’ injury was continuously highlighted; it was put to the back of everyone’s mind when play began. Golf is a fantastic sport and can throw up all sorts of stories in just a few days and the Open Championships at Birkdale this year were no different.
First up, the weather. There were truly awful conditions, with the wind and the rain resulting in the type of environment that golfers have nightmares about. It even led to Sandy Lyle withdrawing from the tournament. Something I have to say I am disappointed about – everybody should go until the end unless they are injured. No-one should be allowed to simply throw in the towel because things aren’t going there way.
Anyway, after that weather influenced first day there was a man among the leaders that created one of the main talking points of this years’ tournament – Greg Norman. The 53-year-old was among the leaders but in all honesty, in terms of golf betting, no-one fancied him to still be there when Sunday came around. However, providing one of the finest fairytale stories of recent years, Norman led after the first three rounds and was in with a chance of becoming the oldest major championship winner of all time.
It wasn’t quite to be though – he lost ground in the final round and eventually finished in third position. The fact that it wasn’t the veteran winning meant that someone else had stepped up – who was it to be? Well, capping off a fabulous tournament and providing another fascinating story, defending Champion Padgraig Harrington – who battled with an injury throughout – finished on three over par to record back to back titles.
The Irishman showed tremendous character and was, in the end, the deserved winner. His title came under threat briefly from Ian Poulter who finished in second position, but a six-foot eagle putt on the 17th sealed the title for Harrington.
So, did the British Open miss Tiger Woods? I would say that it did in the build up – everyone loves talking about Tiger after all. However, once the golf was underway there were enough stories and entertainment to suggest that he wasn’t missed. There was the gruelling weather, a legend of the game coming from nowhere and the fight back of a partially injured defending champion. All in all, it was an awesome few days of golf that I enjoyed to the maximum – even without Mr Woods.
Thomas Rooney - Freelance Sports Journalist
