Tiger Woods: You Have To Have A Game Plan

Tiger Woods warned the British press that he’s not done yet, he’s feeling good and has the experience it takes to conquer The Old Course at St. Andrews.

“I don’t have my AARP card yet,” Woods quipped on Tuesday after his prep time on the course.

Woods, the winner of the Claret Jug at St. Andrews in 2000 and 2005, was all smiles for a change. “You have to have a game plan then you have to execute and trust it,” Woods said when asked what it takes to win at The Old Course. “I am excited every time I come here,” he told everyone.

“You have to change trajectories, you have to flight the ball differently at times, you have to know how to play the course and adjust when the wind changes directions, that’s big,” Woods said.

Woods will play his first 36 holes with Jason Day and Louie Oosthuizen. It was Oosthuizen who played the first two days with Woods at Chambers Bay. After a miserable start, Oosthuizen made a run at the U.S. Open over the final three rounds, eventually finishing in a tie for second with Dustin Johnson. “On the second day, Louie started making everything, so no, it didn’t surprise me he played well the rest of the way (at Chambers Bay),” Woods recalled.

Woods and the rest of the field are finding a different St. Andrews this week. Instead of brown, firm and fast, it is green, a bit lush and slower by Old Course standards. “And that can change how you play here,” Woods said. “The last time I saw it like this was the Dunhill Links Cup in 1998 Woods recalled. “I’ve never backed up a wedge shot here and today I did. The greens are always slower here and this week they’ll be slower, especially after the rain we’re supposed to get on Friday.”

Woods the pointed out that one of the key ingredients to victory this week is great lag putting. “You have to lag putt really well in the wind. There are times when a good shot will still leave you 60 or 70 feet away. You have to be able to lag it close from those distances.”

Woods was peppered with questions about Jordan Spieth the same way top players used to get questions about Woods when he was dominating the world of golf.

“I won the first two, came to Muirfield and got myself in position after the first two rounds, then I caught a bad day,” Woods said, referring to the winds and rain that ended his hopes for a third-straight major at Muirfield when he shot 81.

Woods sounded confident, looked confident and of all the venues this year, the familiar, hallowed grounds of St. Andrews may give him his best chance to win another major title.

Woods then gave everyone something he’s thought about since he first came to St. Andrews in 1995.

“Just once before I die,” Woods said, “I want to play it (St. Andrews) backwards.”

Starting Thursday, he’ll have to play it forward once again.