Woods excited by dry, fast Carnoustie conditions

The Open
Tiger Woods: All smiles

American golfer Tiger Woods heads to The 147th Open, taking place at Carnoustie this weekend, expecting a challenging few days, due to the hot, dry summer conditions in the UK.

The baked fairways appear to look almost identical to when Woods won the Claret Jug for the third time at Royal Liverpool, 12-years-ago.

What brought Woods success on those fast conditions at Royal Liverpool was the fact that he used his driver very sparingly nailing the fairways 86 per cent of the time to go on and win the title.

The 14-time major winner, who won his last major in 2008, told is a pre-tournament press conference that he is feeling quietly confident having had success on a links course in similar conditions to Carnoustie.

“It’s just about understanding how to play the golf course and how to play in these conditions,” Woods said. “I think trajectory means a lot, but this course can be played so many different ways.

“It is going to be an interesting test of how we are going to manage our way around the course. A couple of days ago, the fairways were faster than the greens.

“There are not a lot of opportunities to hit driver just because the ball is going to be rolling out 80 yards. It’s just hard to keep the ball in play, and even when you’re hitting four or five-irons, they’ve been running 50 to 60 yards.

“It will be interesting to see which clubs we’re using off the tees, and a lot of it is dependent on which way the wind blows. So the whole idea of the practice rounds is to get a good feel for what I’m going to do, and then adjust accordingly based on the wind.”

Woods added: “I’m just really looking forward to the week. This is our oldest championship, and to come back to such a historic site just brings back so many great memories. The course might be a little different to what it was the last couple of times we played it, so it will be a fun challenge.”

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