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Will Tiger Need His Driver at the British Open?

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Will Tiger Need His Driver at the British Open? -
justmytwocents Reputation:96 Level:Superstar Since:Feb 9, 2007
	May 1, 2008 12:11 am Score: 93
	The course at Royal Birkdale, home of this year's British Open, has been lengthened by 155 yards, to a (whopping) 7,173 yards (pardon the sarcasm). In all, 5 holes have been lengthened: 4 by moving back the tees, and one by moving back the green. This comes to an average of 31 yards per hole for those five holes. Considering that Tiger won the British Open at nearby Hoylake 2 years ago and only used driver once, is this 31 yards really going to make a big difference on a course that is already fairly short for a major championship. They also say that the course is being prepared to play hard and fast, something that should add quite a bit of extra roll on tee shots, so my guess is, that Tiger will not need his driver, and figure that if it worked last time, it will work this time. Unless they have a lot of wind, I doubt the driver will be a very big factor, at least not for Tiger. Of course, most other golfers will have to use the driver, resulting, I think, in an advantage for Tiger, and a very good chance to pick up another major championship. Now that the talk of a grand slam is gone, I think if Tiger's knee is 100% for the US Open, he's going to win that and the PGA, another course very favorable to his game, and that he's going to have a good shot at capturing another Tiger Slam if he can pick up next year's Masters. Lot of "ifs" here, but I think he's going to have something to prove when he comes back from this knee surgery, and what better way of doing that than to put all four trophies on his mantelpiece again.
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Will Tiger Need His Driver at the British Open? -
justmytwocents Reputation:96 Level:Superstar Since:Feb 9, 2007
	May 1, 2008 12:21 am Score: 94
	One thing I forgot to mention: the Hoylake course where they played the British Open in 2006 is 7,258 yards in length, so even with the lengthening of Royal Birkdale, the Hoylake course is still longer. One more reason I can't see Tiger needing his driver this year.
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Will Tiger Need His Driver at the British Open? -
I love golf Reputation:96 Level:Superstar Since:Aug 19, 2007
	May 1, 2008 12:35 am Score: 91
	justmytwocents, He can win without it, so why take the chance of using the driver,( which he can't always control), especially if the fairways are narrow and tree lined. But I don't think the course is that way. Go for the win, not with the driver!
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Will Tiger Need His Driver at the British Open? -
Mister 1 Iron Reputation:85 Level:All-Star Since:Jan 27, 2008
	May 1, 2008 3:43 am Score: 76
	to: Just My Two Cents, (you write): "Of course, most other golfers will have to use the driver". Using 2008 Shot Link data, there are 145 professionals on the PGATour and the Euro Tour combined who hit it longer than Tiger Woods. Further, there are another 73 professionals from the combined tours who hit it within 5 yards of Tiger. Some of the former are listed below, and of the 218 total, many will be playing The Open at Royal Birkdale in July. Finally, dare I say that if percentages hold true, 163 (75%) of the 218 probably drive it more accurately than Tiger, too boot. So given this, why the imperative that they, "will have to use the driver"? No biggie . . just asking. No. - Tour . . - Yards - . . Name 1 - PGATour - 310.6 - Bubba Watson 2 - EuroPGA - 310.3 - Christian NILSSON 3 - EuroPGA - 309.9 - Joakim BÄCKSTRÖM 4 - EuroPGA - 309.1 - Alvaro QUIROS GARCIA 5 - EuroPGA - 308.4 - Daniel CHOPRA 6 - EuroPGA - 307.5 - Mattias ELIASSON 7 - EuroPGA - 307.2 - Anton HAIG 8 - EuroPGA - 306.3 - Paolo TERRENI 9 - PGATour - 305.7 - J.B. Holmes 10 - EuroPGA - 305.5 - Paul WARING 22 - EuroPGA - 301.0 - Ernie ELS 23 - PGATour - 300.9 - Brett Wetterich 25 - PGATour - 300.2 - Fred Couples 27 - PGATour - 299.8 - Anthony Kim 33 - PGATour - 297.7 - Adam Scott 40 - EuroPGA - 296.6 - Retief GOOSEN 41 - PGATour - 296.3 - Harrison Frazar 43 - EuroPGA - 296.2 - Lee WESTWOOD 45 - EuroPGA - 296.0 - Sergio GARCIA 53 - EuroPGA - 294.5 - Jeev Milkha SINGH 59 - PGATour - 293.8 - Kenny Perry 61 - PGATour - 293.6 - Andres Romero 62 - PGATour - 293.6 - Bill Haas 68 - PGATour - 293.0 - Charles Warren 69 - EuroPGA - 293.0 - Padraig HARRINGTON 70 - PGATour - 293.0 - Phil Mickelson 78 - PGATour - 292.4 - Mathew Goggin 84 - PGATour - 292.0 - Nick Watney 85 - EuroPGA - 291.9 - Henrik STENSON 90 - PGATour - 291.4 - Lucas Glover 91 - EuroPGA - 291.3 - Darren CLARKE 100 - PGATour - 290.7 - Stewart Cink 103 - PGATour - 290.5 - Steve Marino 106 - EuroPGA - 290.3 - Martin KAYMER 108 - EuroPGA - 290.2 - Robert KARLSSON 111 - PGATour - 290.0 - Camilo Villegas 114 - PGATour - 289.8 - Davis Love III 116 - PGATour - 289.7 - Bo Van Pelt 117 - EuroPGA - 289.6 - Nick DOUGHERTY 118 - PGATour - 289.6 - Trevor Immelman 119 - PGATour - 289.5 - Charley Hoffman 122 - PGATour - 289.5 - Rory Sabbatini 123 - PGATour - 289.5 - Stuart Appleby 127 - PGATour - 289.3 - Vijay Singh 130 - PGATour - 289.0 - Sean O'Hair 131 - PGATour - 288.9 - J.J. Henry 132 - PGATour - 288.9 - Kevin Stadler 134 - PGATour - 288.7 - Paul Casey 145 - PGATour - 287.9 - Angel Cabrera 146 - PGATour - 287.7 - Tiger Woods P.S. – "I Love Golf" / Royal Birkdale is a links-style golf course on the west coast of England, north of Liverpool and south of Blackpool. It is NOT at all similar to the "tree lined" parkland golf courses common throughout the States. Rather, Royal Birkdale features large sand hills covered with low growing vegetation, often of the variety called yellow flower prickly gorse. Look for wind coming off the Irish Sea.
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Will Tiger Need His Driver at the British Open? -
ConnGator Reputation:95 Level:Superstar Since:Apr 6, 2008
	May 1, 2008 9:43 am Score: 43
	Mr. 1 iron, the driving stat is very disceptive because it includes all drives on par 4 and 5 holes REGARLESS of what club is used off the tee. Some guys will use driver almost all the time (example V.J. Singh) and some will seldom use the driver because they put a premium on keeting the ball in the short grass. Tiger would rank much higher on the list if that won him more tournaments, but the PGA still has that silly rule about low score being the ultimate yardstick. However it would be interesting to see the reasults if all the top pros were in a long drive contest using their normal drivers. I think Tiger would be pretty close to the top.
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Will Tiger Need His Driver at the British Open? -
I love golf Reputation:96 Level:Superstar Since:Aug 19, 2007
	May 1, 2008 11:04 am Score: 91
	Mister 1 iron, Thank you for the description of the course> With no trees to get in his way, and the open field in which to drive, TW might just as well use the driver. He does a excellent job getting out the rough. ConGator, If they had a long drive contest using their normal drivers, the rule should be you had to stay in the fairways. If that rule applied, I doubt if TW would be at the top. There are many others golfers who can hit the fairways more consistantly than Tiger does with their driver.
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Will Tiger Need His Driver at the British Open? -
ConnGator Reputation:95 Level:Superstar Since:Apr 6, 2008