Listen to Rich Beem, Andrew Coltart, Michael McEwan and host Josh Antmann on the latest Sky Sports Golf Podcast on Spotify; Watch The 150th Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports' dedicated channel. Live coverage begins on Thursday from 6.30am live on Sky Sports The Open.
Wednesday 13 July 2022 17:57, UK
Rich Beem discusses the need for players to be "brave" as they tackle the St Andrews course at The 150th Open this week and assesses the chances of a Tiger Woods victory...
How many players in this day and age have the imagination to hit the shots that are required around St Andrews? It's really cool because if we talk about the past champions round here, the likes of Seve Ballesteros and Sir Nick Faldo, you had two different guys that picked apart this golf course in different ways.
Seve picked it apart with his imagination and his ability to make it up on the fly. Nick did it by knowing precisely where he wanted to hit in whatever wind direction - it could change all four days and he had a game plan for every single day.
Seve woke up in the morning and went 'okay, let's go' and I just think there are very few players in the game today that have the ability to make it up on the fly. Whatever game plan you have today, this golf can change dramatically even during the round - how many players are willing and brave enough to change it up mid-round? I can think of a handful.
I was walking around the course yesterday and there was a player that had 115 yards. It was screaming left to right and they took out a 50 degree wedge and put it back in their stance, the first one rode the wind and missed it miles right, the second one came up 20 yards short. I'm going 'it's a nine-iron!' and they didn't see that, they had no idea.
It comes down to the bravery, because you're in an element where you have to risk looking silly in order to pull off a shot. I think that's why the greats of the game have all won here, because they're all comfortable in their own skin. You aren't going to see a guy that is 90th in the world win here. You have to be willing to accept bad shots when you're trying something you may not know how you're going to pull off.
You're going to hit shots around this golf course that you've never tried in your life, but you know what it's the right shot and you better be confident and better have some fun with it, but you better be willing to accept the consequences when you mess it up.
Here's the thing about Tiger. I think he can win, but I'll tell you why he won't. You don't need to overpower the golf course, you need to understand how to play it and he is probably as astute a player, understands this golf course as good as anybody.
He's taken his time over the last week and taken 20 minutes per green and done his homework. The problem is though, as we've seen at the Masters and the PGA, the legs go out. Even though this is the flattest golf course of all the majors, now you have the added element of the wind. And what do you need to have solid in the wind? Your legs.
What's going to happen is, unfortunately, is the more the wind blows the legs are going to go out, so if he does make it to the weekend, sorry, when he makes it to the weekend, you've got to lean on your lower body and when your lower body goes everything else starts shaking.
When you don't have any legs underneath you, you can get away with tee shots and second shots, but to stand there and stabilise yourself when your legs aren't there, everything else starts shaking, it's quivering and you can't do that around here, it's impossible.
It's just the conditions mother nature will throw at him, not the golf course. If it was not blowing a breath of air I'd put all my wife's inheritance money on him winning.
To me it's probably the most remarkable asset he has, is his pain endurance and willingness to put his mind through that when he doesn't need to. He could have ridden off into the sunset years ago.
But there's something inside of him that every day he wakes up says 'I've got to do this', now granted because of that same trait that's also hurt him over the years I think because you need to take a break. For him to even attempt the things he's done, when he tried to become a Navy Seal those years ago, holy smokes.
The one thing I haven't figured out is why he hasn't splayed his left foot open a little more and put a little more weight on his left foot, shortened his back-swing, if you want to call it stack-and-tilt call it that, but you talk about a guy with the best hands in the game, why not do that? I think part of it is being stubborn, and he just doesn't want it to look goofy.
Whatever anybody does in this game, Tiger's name always comes into the story. Scottie Scheffler won four times this year, but already they're talking about Tiger Woods. Every single thing anybody accomplishes in this game, Tiger's name comes up.
I truly hope he comes out and has a great week. We don't care how he finishes, just that he hopefully plays 72 holes then goes back to Florida and gets his body right. He will then have another eight months until Augusta.
I never expected to see what I saw in 2019, I wrote him off. I truly believe he's going to figure something out again, to go to the ends of the world to get the body right to where he's actually able to compete.
Sky Sports The Open will show over 80 hours of live coverage from the iconic Old Course at St Andrews, more than ever before, with live programming on all seven days of tournament week and a host of bonus extra features available to enjoy.
Live coverage from the opening two rounds will begin at 6.30am - before the opening tee shot - and run through until after play is finished, with wall-to-wall coverage live from 9am on Saturday and 8am for Sunday's final round.
There will be lots of extra action throughout all four days via the red button on Sky Sports The Open, along with Sky Q and Sky Glass, with Featured Groups and Featured Holes available to enjoy as the world's best players tackle the Home of Golf.
Watch The 150th Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports' dedicated channel. Live coverage begins on Thursday from 6.30am live on Sky Sports The Open.
