Tiger Woods Practices at Turnberry, Says Course Is Tough

You'll hear golf historians complain about the current British Open venue, citing the Royal and Ancient's decision to avoid hosting an Open there since 1994, when, really, most say the complaints have to do with Turnberry's poor location in terms of travel. (The course is accessible by a single road that makes you feel like you're driving down a narrow alleyway). You'll also hear people call Turnberry overrated and too easy, and they'll point to the Duel in the Sun as an example.

Tiger Woods, who has never played Turnberry until this week, wants people to understand something. Turnberry ain't that easy. He even admits it.

"It's a lot more difficult than people are letting on,'' Woods said.

Tiger teed it up at the Ailsa Course on Monday morning, regular protocol for the infamously early-rising Woods. He had 15 clubs in his bag, as he usually does in practice rounds, so he can figure out which club suits the course better, a 5-wood or 2-iron. This is the first time since 2004 that Woods has played a venue he had never seen before, and that ended pretty well at Royal Liverpool, when Woods was left weeping into the arms of Steve Williams after he claimed his first major title since the passing of his father, Earl Woods.

We can all agree that Tiger is the odds-on favorite to take this title and move one step closer to The Record, but the British Open is interesting for a few reasons. Similar to the U.S. Open this year at Bethpage Black, one part of each day is usually haunted by weather. If Tiger gets the bad draw, like he did at Muirfield in 2002, he would be fighting an uphill battle against not only his fellow competitors, but mother nature as well.

Nonetheless, if the wind calms, Tiger will probably take the title. He has three wins this season, no finishes out of the top-10 in a single stroke play event and a peculiar stat you don't see near Woods name very much -- it's the first time since '04 that Tiger hasn't held a single major title.