At the same time, Woods is fortunate to have his share of support, including two-time U.S. Open champion Billy Casper, who greeted him with a hug as the nine-time USGA champion entered the Media Center Tuesday morning.
“He’s moving nicely,” said Casper, who rallied to beat Arnold Palmer in a playoff for the 1966 U.S. Open title here at Olympic. “The more difficult the course, the better he’s going to play. I think a veteran is going to win here, and why shouldn’t it be Tiger?”
Many believe that moving the ball and shaping shots is the key to handling The Olympic Club’s Lake Course, and Woods has been relying a great deal on his 2-iron to keep the ball in play. So far this year, Woods has been a lot better than average. Besides ranking third on the PGA Tour with his 69.42 scoring average, he’s seventh in greens in regulation and first in total driving, averaging more than 295 yards off the tee.
But Olympic requires more than brute strength, and Woods knows this from playing here 14 years ago.
“On this golf course, it’s going to be difficult to get the ball close. And I’m going to rely a lot on lag putting and obviously we’re going to have to make those short putts. If you miss the green, a good pitch is going to be anything inside eight feet sometimes. That part I’m not too worried about.
“I think this probably tests the player more than any other championship. We have to shape the ball. We have to hit the ball high. We have to hit the ball low. Our short game’s got to be dialed in.
“The only thing that’s different from U.S. Opens in the past was always miss the green, automatic lob wedge. Now, with some of these runoff areas, we can play bump and runs, we can play skip shots, we could flop if we wanted to. We have different options.”
Which option Woods chooses at Olympic will tell a good deal about the path he’s taking the rest of the year. He has been stuck on 14 major titles since he won the 2008 U.S. Open in a memorable playoff over Rocco Mediate at Torrey Pines.
He can change that this week. There will be plenty of folks watching.
