Tiger Woods will “100 per cent” win again, believes Padraig Harrington, and possibly more likely at a major than a regular tournament.
Woods confirmed his entry to the Open at Carnoustie to the R&A this week – it’ll be his first appearance since he missed the cut at St Andrews in 2015 – and Harrington was at the Angus links yesterday, playing the four play-off holes where he triumphed in 2007.
Speaking afterwards, the Irishman said he thought Woods could challenge at the Open in July.
“I actually think his chances of winning are good,” said Harrington. “I think his chances of winning a major are maybe better than winning a regular event.
“There wouldn’t be too many people wanting to come down the stretch against Tiger Woods. There would be a lot of people you’d rather be facing because you know in that situation he’s a person who can get the job done.
“When the pressure is on, Tiger is more likely to reset to `How do I get the golf ball in the hole?’ rather than caring about how his swing is.”
Woods’ Carnoustie record isn’t exceptional by his standards – he was tied 47th in the 1995 Scottish Open, his first experience of links golf, tied 7th in the 1999 Open and and tied 12th in 2007 – but Harrington thinks all elements of his game are there.
“His short game looks like it is coming back very strong and that would have been the questionable part,” he said. “His putting isn’t maybe as good but is still excellent.
“He just needs to have a good week with the long game because when he gets in contention I think that end of his game gets better.
“Two and a half months of playing before he gets to The Open he could be right on form and ready to go in that.
“He is going to win tournaments, 100 per cent yes. And I think majors would be easier for him to win because they are harder for others to win.”
Harrington added that he hadn’t witnessed anything like “the buzz” at the Valspar Championship in Tampa earlier this season when Woods played.
“When Tiger was at his best there was an incredible buzz, and over the last 10 years we’ve had players come and go and there’s a buzz with them, but at Tampa it was amazingly different.
“You had people who had seen Tiger at his best who wanted to see him again. You had young people who had never seen him play, and people who hadn’t seen him play but were anxious to see him play in case they never got another chance.
“You had three sets of people out there, a good bunch of them non-golfers, who wanted to see a great sportsman play with the fear that he could play one event and then say ‘that’s it I’m gone’.”
Both he and Tiger, he added, were far more sociable animals than in their heydays.
“I had a great sporting relationship with him, but he wasn’t a very social person and nor was I in our heydays, it was all about ourselves,” he continued.
“He was the easiest player to play golf with. He’d say ‘good shot’ when you hit a good shot and would have a few small chats but basically you were there to play golf.
“Now he’s more relaxed and he’s wanting to enjoy it. He’s got to that stage where it is a little different, it’s not all business.
“When you meet someone you have competed against back in the day there is a bond. I do believe he will win tournaments. When you get in the heat of the hunt, you know what it’s all about.”
