Tiger's shot at the Open gone with the wind?
With conditions at this week's Open Championship at St Andrews expected to include whipping winds and driving rain, Tiger Woods' already diminished chances of winning his 15th major may have taken another hit.
Woods' personal problems have affected his game this year. Even if the golfer refuses to admit as much, the lack of a single victory all year for Tiger, not to mention the missed cut at Quail Hollow tell their own story. But if there has been one arena where Woods has looked something like his old self, albeit patchily, it's been at the majors.
Woods has posted fourth-place finishes at both the Masters and the US Open, his performance at Pebble Beach on the Saturday hinting that the Tiger who terrorised fairways over the past decade was not irrevocably lost. And of course, Woods has enjoyed some of his greatest victories at the Old Course, triumphing in both 2000 and 2005.
Crucially however, in both those years the gales and driving rain that can transform St Andrews into a slough of sporting despond stayed away, meaning Woods' progress was impeded only by his own fine standards.
But while each of those visits to St Andrews were strolls in the park for Tiger, this week's tournament is shaping up to be a far more demanding test of character - at a time when Woods could really use a break. Many players are expected to forego practice at the course today, perhaps because the predicted winds of up to 37mph could play havoc not just with their shots, but with their morale for the competition proper.
While such gusty conditions should be less prevalent tomorrow, they are forecast to return as the tournament continues - and in the meantime, rain showers are set to coincide with tomorrow's opening round.
There is one note of respite for the field at the Open this week, however - should strong winds continue to batter the course over the next few days, the planned extension to the difficult 17th, known as the "road hole" (the hole is next to a road - very literal, these golf folk) will be scrapped.
The par four has been lengthened by 40 yards, with a view to making the bunkers on the hole a more dangerous factor, but R&A chief executive Peter Dawson admitted that play could be brought forward to the original tee placing if strong winds were to render the new positions unplayable.
Whatever, the grim weather may prove a ray of sunshine to the home crowd, with rain and wind playing to European, and especially British strengths. Then again, perhaps Woods is better prepared than most for a potential exercise in bedraggled humiliation, since that's been pretty much the golfer's milieu in the past few months.
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