HOYLAKE, England – Those big brown eyes, the ones so steely in the heat of battle, were filled with tears.
Tiger Woods stood there, clinging to his caddie, Steve Williams, as he struggled to regain his composure after tapping in for par and successfully defending his title at the 135th Open Championship. His shoulders shook as he sobbed in his wife Elin’s arms.
Given the death of Woods’ father Earl, his best friend and mentor, just over two months ago, some emotion was to be expected. What unfolded on the 18th hole at Royal Liverpool Sunday evening, though, was raw, revealing and totally unprecedented.
Even Woods was surprised by his the ferocity of his reaction.
“I’ve never done that,” he would say later. “You know me. I guess with all the things that we’re gone through of late, and I guess I am the one who bottles things up a little and moves on, tries to deal with things in my own way.
“But at that moment, it just came pouring out and of all the things that my father has meant to me and the game of golf. I just wish he could have seen it one more time.”
Woods had hoped the Masters, where he was bidding to win his fifth Green Jacket, would be that time. His father was dying, and the devoted son knew that would be the last major championship Earl Woods would ever see.
“So that hurt a little bit,” Woods said, his voice softening. “And finally to get this one, it’s just unfortunate that he wasn’t here to see it.”
And, most of all, to hug the “champion golfer of the year.”
Earl Woods would have been enormously proud of his son Sunday as he won his third Open Championship and 11th major title. He’s tied with Walter Hagen now, and only Jack Nicklaus, the man whose records Woods covets, has more with 18.
Woods did what his father -- the man who used to test his son’s focus by jingling change in his pocket while he was putting – always taught him to do. He thought his way around a challenging golf course that hadn’t hosted an Open Championship in 39 years.
“He would have been very proud, very proud,” Woods said. “He was always on my case about thinking my way around the golf course and not letting emotions get the better of you because it is so easy to do in this sport.
“Just use your mind to plot your way around the golf course, and if you had to deviate from the game plan make sure it is the right decision to do that. He was very adamant I play like that my entire playing career.”
So when Woods realized some of his drives were traveling 375 yards on the sun-baked fairways in practice rounds, he decided to throttle back. Royal Liverpool’s well-placed bunkers and wispy fescue rough made it imperative that he be able to control where that ball would run.
“The fairways are hard enough to hit as it is, and you add driver and they go that far, now how hard is it to hit,” Woods explained. “I just felt in the end if you stayed out of the bunkers this entire week, and had a decent week on the greens, I felt that I would be in contention on the back nine.”
So in 72 holes of competition, Woods only hit a driver off the tee once. Ernie Els, who challenged early and finished third, said he wasn’t sure the strategy was prudent because with his length Woods could have had some very short irons into the greens.
“But he stuck to his plan and it worked,” the affable South African said. “I have to give him credit for that. … He knows how to win these things, and it’s going to be tough to beat him now.”
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| Tiger Woods shot a 5-under 67 Sunday for the win. (WireImage) |
DiMarco paid tribute to the winner’s “uncanny ability, when somebody gets close to him, to just turn it up another level.” But Woods, while appreciative of the compliment, says that switch actually goes on with his opening tee shot.
“You don’t try any harder on each and every shot,” he explained. “You have to have the same effort level. You give it everything you have on every shot.”
What actually sets Woods apart on the closing holes when he’s in the hunt is the success the 49-time PGA TOUR champion has had in the past. On Sunday, he was secure in the knowledge that, among the contenders, only he and Els had ever won the Claret Jug.
“For some reason in my past, I’ve seemed to pull things off at the end and I think that’s due (to the fact) I feel comfortable being there,” Woods said. “I just think there’s a certain calmness that comes with being able to say with honesty that I’ve done this before.
“And that’s (what I felt) coming down the stretch.”
The tears had already started to form as Woods walked up to the 18h green serenaded by raucous cheers. This one meant more than the other two Open Championships, both of which came at St. Andrews, the first by a major championship record score of 19 under he nearly tied on Sunday afternoon.
“No doubt about it,” Woods said. “Absolutely no doubt about it. Basically to win your first tournament after my father had passed away and for it to be a major championship, it makes it that much more special.
“And Mom was watching. I’m sure she was bawling her eyes out, like she can. So it’s going to be an awful lot of fun for me to go back home and see Mom and share this with her.”
Just like he shared a bit of himself with all of us on this emotional Sunday afternoon.
