One stat has us wondering if Tiger Woods could contend at British Open

Forgive me for recycling this, because it's already been plastered all over the golf web everywhere, but I've been thinking about this Tiger Woods stat a lot.

One of the most common questions I've been getting on radio hits this week is whether Tiger can find some of that old magic that allowed him to win two British Opens at the Old Course at St. Andrews (2000 and 2005).

I have no idea if Woods is going to be competitive, but I do know the Greenbrier Classic was incredibly encouraging for anyone who still believes Woods has something at the bottom of the barrel.

The reason is as follows. You could make a reasonable argument that Woods had the best ball-striking week of his entire career in West Virginia last week. His entire career! Don't believe me? Take a look at this stat.

That's insane!

Look, I get that it was the Greenbrier and ... yeah ... but St. Andrews is wide open (literally and figuratively with Rory McIlroy out of the field). To score, you have to be precise with your irons and hit a bunch of putts. I'm dubious about Tiger and the flatstick right now, but if he hits it like he did at Greenbrier, who knows?

And isn't that the best part of golf.

Tiger Woods is hiring – Sign up at Harbourside Place in Jupiter

Want to work for Tiger Woods?

The door on the golfer’s future restaurant in Harbourside Placereads “now hiring.”

The restaurant is expected to open in about three weeks, according to Nick Mastroianni, the developer of the  $150 million waterfront entertainment complex opened in the fall.

The restaurant is expected to be 5,900 square feet with outdoor seating, according to the Harbourside Place website.

Woods has signed a lease and plans to open his international headquarters above the Bravo! Cucina Italiana restaurant, according to sources at Harbourside Place, which is located on the northwest corner of U.S. 1 and Indiantown Road.

Tiger Woods plans to open his international headquarters in Harbourside Place in Jupiter. No date has been set.

The company, Tiger Woods Design, designs golf courses, sells merchandise and markets the Tiger Woods name.

Tiger Woods 'too old' to regain invincibility, says top golf coach Peter Cowen

Tiger Woods is too old to ever regain the invincibility he once enjoyed but everybody in golf should be grateful for the contribution the 14-times major champion has made to the game, highly-regarded coach Peter Cowen has told Reuters.

Woods, who will be 40 in December, has been struggling for form heading into next week's British Open at St Andrews, where he won the Claret Jug by eight shots in 2000 and only a slightly less commanding five strokes in 2005.

Those days of dominance are now long gone, however, and Cowen, who has tutored some of Europe's best golfers including Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood, thinks it is too late for the American to ever get them back.

"If there is one important thing that makes any sportsperson look ordinary and that is age," Cowen said at the Scottish Open.

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"You can't do anything about a person's age. That invincibility diminishes with age and it has to. But then once you lose that invincibility how do you get it back?

"In all my years of coaching, I have not seen one player get back that invincibility."

Cowen said that the younger players no longer feared Woods and that the generational shift in golf is taking place more quickly than it did when the turnover at the top of the game happened every two decades or so.

The Rotherham-based Englishman said it should also not be underestimated how much mental toll Woods's long period as the world's best player took on him.

"Everyone ages differently and I am not talking physically but mentally," he added.

"People don't realise that you are in the mix in every single tournament, and years back Tiger was in the mix in every tournament he contested, that mentally is draining.

"I can see when Henrik is in the mix because at the end of the tournament he is absolutely, totally mentally drained and exhausted, and he has not won near as many tournaments as Tiger."

Woods shot his worst round as a professional last month, an 85 at the Memorial tournament, and he also missed the cut at the US Open.

Cowen, however, believes the American has earned the right to a bit of respect for his achievements and the golfing world should be grateful, not critical.

"Don't have a go at Tiger! Do not question Tiger," he said.

"Admit he's been great for golf and say how good Tiger Woods played and how great Tiger Woods performed in winning a particular event.

"We also should not be saying Tiger has made millions from the game but instead everyone should be grateful they played in the Tiger Woods era.

"The great legacy Tiger has given golf is that he's brought more kids into the game and golf, going forward, needs to recognise this and continue introducing the game to younger people."

Rory McIlroy sought advice from Tiger Woods after rupturing ankle

Tiger Woods has revealed Rory McIlroy sought advice from him after the football accident which has prevented the world No1 from defending the Open Championship that starts on Thursday. Woods, in fact, knew of McIlroy’s woe days before it was revealed to the public.

McIlroy ruptured left ankle ligaments during a kickabout with friends on the outskirts of Belfast last Saturday. No timescale has been placed on the 26-year-old’s return to competitive golf but he will be the notable absentee when the 144th Open begins at St Andrews. His ability to defend the US PGA Championship next month is, for now, in doubt.

Woods took to the Old Course on Saturday, where he disclosed McIlroy had been in immediate contact. The 14-times major winner’s career has been hampered by serious injury in the past.

“He sent me a photo the day he did it,” Woods told ESPN.

“We talked about it for a little bit. He said: ‘You’ve been through a lot of injuries over the years.’ So he picked my brain a little bit. We had a good talk.

“He’s doing the right thing, taking care of his body first before he gets back out here. No doubt he’s frustrated that he’s not going to be able to play in the Open Championship, especially here at St Andrews. And how well he’s been playing of late, and this golf course really does set up well for him, too.

“That’s the way it goes. We all get injured at one point in time. Sometimes it’s through the sport or sometimes it’s through fun activities. You just never know.”

Woods insists his own game is well placed to compete for the Claret Jug, despite a major drought which has stretched to more than seven years. Woods has not won an Open since 2006 but other strands of history are on his side; he won by eight and five shots respectively when St Andrews hosted the third major of the year in 2000 and 2005.

“This is my favourite course on earth,” he insisted. “I love it. And just to return here with all the memories I have, it never gets old. I love coming back. All the memories come rushing back.”

This time around, he admitted to surprise over course conditions which are unusual for links in summer. “I was shocked,” Woods explained. “I had seen photos of it a month ago. It was bone dry. It looked like it was going to be one of those dust bowls again; hard, fast, like the years I’ve played St Andrews. It’s changed. They got big rain and a lot of sun. It’s totally changed.

“I’m going to have to do a little bit of feel around the greens, my putting. I wasn’t expecting the firmness to be that soft. We made ball marks on the greens. I don’t ever remember making ball marks around this place.”

Woods spent half an hour offering range advice to, and played the closing three Old Course holes, with a group of five specially selected teenage amateur players.

The golfer’s main sponsor, Nike, was behind the scene which saw a crowd quickly swell to around 300 by the time the group appeared on the 18th.

Afterwards, Woods reaffirmed the confidence he exuded after he closed with a bogey-free 67 at the Greenbrier Classic last Sunday.

Prior to that, his year had been one marked only by struggles, including at the US Open where he missed the cut at an aggregate of 16 over par after rounds of 80 and 76.

“I feel good,” he said. “Sunday at Greenbrier is probably the best I hit it in two years. That was fun.

“It sounds crazy when I told everyone at Greenbrier that I felt close, after the scores I shot at the Memorial and the US Open, I just didn’t quite have the feel yet. I shifted the baseline so much I just didn’t quite have the feel yet.

“I put it together at Greenbrier and hit it really good. [Woods’s coach] Chris [Como] told me it was the first time I led the field in proximity to the hole with my iron game.

“I feel like everything’s coming around. I still need to get a feel for how this golf course is chasing. I wasn’t expecting it to be this soft.

“The shot selections I was working on last week and some of the trajectories I was envisioning on certain holes and certain winds and the ball chasing and what I need to do to make it move on the ground. It’s going to be different. It’s going to be more forced carries than I was expecting coming into the event.”

Tiger too old to regain invincibility - Cowen

GULLANE, Scotland (Reuters) - Tiger Woods is too old to ever regain the invincibility he once enjoyed but everybody in golf should be grateful for the contribution the 14-times major champion has made to the game, highly-regarded coach Peter Cowen has told Reuters.

Woods, who will be 40 in December, has been struggling for form heading into next week's British Open at St Andrews, where he won the Claret Jug by eight shots in 2000 and only a slightly less commanding five strokes in 2005.

Those days of dominance are now long gone, however, and Cowen, who has tutored some of Europe's best golfers including Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood, thinks it is too late for the American to ever get them back.

"If there is one important thing that makes any sportsperson look ordinary and that is age," Cowen told Reuters at the Scottish Open.

"You can't do anything about a person's age. That invincibility diminishes with age and it has to. But then once you lose that invincibility how do you get it back? "In all my years of coaching, I have not seen one player get back that invincibility."

Cowen said that the younger players no longer feared Woods and that the generational shift in golf is taking place more quickly than it did when the turnover at the top of the game happened every two decades or so.

The Rotherham-based Englishman said it should also not be underestimated how much mental toll Woods's long period as the world's best player took on him. "Everyone ages differently and I am not talking physically but mentally," he added.

"People don't realize that you are in the mix in every single tournament, and years back Tiger was in the mix in every tournament he contested, that mentally is draining. "I can see when Henrik is in the mix because at the end of the tournament he is absolutely, totally mentally drained and exhausted, and he has not won near as many tournaments as Tiger." Woods shot his worst round as a professional last month, an 85 at the Memorial tournament, and he also missed the cut at the U.S. Open.

Cowen, however, believes the American has earned the right to a bit of respect for his achievements and the golfing world should be grateful, not critical.

"Don’t have a go at Tiger! Do not question Tiger," he said.

"Admit he’s been great for golf and say how good Tiger Woods played and how great Tiger Woods performed in winning a particular event.

"We also should not be saying Tiger has made millions from the game but instead everyone should be grateful they played in the Tiger Woods era. "The great legacy Tiger has given golf is that he's brought more kids into the game and golf, going forward, needs to recognise this and continue introducing the game to younger people.

TIGER'S GREENBRIER CLASSIC PRESS CONFERENCE: THURSDAY

Galleries flocked to The Old White TPC for a glimpse at Tiger's first round in West Virginia since 2012. (AP)

By Press Conference / ASAP Sports

Q: Great finish today.

TIGER WOODS: Well, 6 wasn't very good, making a double there. I felt like -- I was just telling Joey going down 7, we were playing too well to be at 1-under par. Just trying to get back to 3, and we just happened to pull off a hat trick coming home.TIGER WOODS: Thank you.

Q: What happened on the three birdies in a row?

Q: You said there were a lot of birdies would be necessary today. You had seven, so take away those two holes and it was a pretty good day?

TIGER WOODS: It was a pretty good day. I felt like I left a lot of opportunities out there, too. I hit the ball better than what my score indicates. I gave myself a lot of looks and just didn't make enough. But overall as of right now, I'm only two back. It's going to be a bunched leaderboard come Sunday. Guys are all going to be somewhere up there. This golf course, the nature of this golf course right now, it's soft, and the guys are going to go get it.

Q: You've been saying for a while that you've been playing better than you've been scoring, so what does it feel like to finally get a score that is more representative of how you feel you're hitting it?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think it's, as I said, I wasn't that far off. I knew I made that pattern shift at Memorial, and I wasn't that far off, even though my scores don't indicate it, my swings don't indicate it, but my feels were telling me that I wasn't that far off. I was proving it to myself time and time again away from a tournament site and on the range, but my feel in my hands and my body weren't far off. It was just a matter of just getting into a little bit of the rhythm and the flow of it, and I found that.

Q: Are you relieved a little bit that you can show people everything you've been talking about and improving your swing and improving your game, that it shows in your score?

TIGER WOODS: Relief, no. I'm still only two back. I'm more worried about that. You know, forget you guys and everybody else out there (laughter); it's about winning golf tournaments and putting myself up there consistently, and that's why I've made the changes, to put myself up there consistently.

Q: You seem like you've been in a really good mood since you got here.

TIGER WOODS: The people here are fantastic. They treated me with so much respect and kindness the last time I was here, and even though I missed the cut, the people here are just so friendly, and it was nice to come back and come back to a very friendly place. I mean, these people here really support golf. They love their sport. Everyone seems to be an outdoorsman here, and they come out here and just support the event.

Q: Best shot of the day, No. 7, the approach, the bend around the tree?

TIGER WOODS: That was a good one. That was a good one. I hit a couple good ones on my front nine, the back nine, a couple nice little tee shots I thought I hit out there. Overall I can't really say I hit any great shots, but I hit a lot of good ones.

Q: How important for your confidence was it to get a good start this week?

TIGER WOODS: It's more important because this golf course, everyone is going to go low. It's more important for that. Everyone is going to go low. Everyone is going to shoot under par here it seems like. It's so soft. The par-5s are somewhat reachable with it being soft like this, but overall if you drive the ball well here, you're going to probably have at least seven shots with 9-iron or below into the greens, and you're going to have to capitalize on that, and so far I'm one of those guys who did.

Q: Even though you had that trouble at 6, you acknowledged the crowd, you rebounded nicely. Is that kind of part of the framework of getting this thing back together?

TIGER WOODS: Well, as I said earlier, I was telling Joey that I felt like I was playing so well. I'm not going to lose this round. I'm playing too well to let it go awry. I'm hitting the ball too well, I'm putting well. A lot of my putts are starting online with the correct pace. Let's get back to 3, and bonus was the 4.

Q: Tough lie in the bunker on 6?

TIGER WOODS: No, it was a perfect lie. It was sitting up. I was debating whether or not to use my 56 or 60, and I hadn't practiced my 56 yet all week here on this bunker, and I'm saying, well, this is a long bunker shot to the 60, so I'd better hit it close to the ball, and I did. I hit a nice home run there.

Q: Any reason your putts were falling on the back nine and just missing on the front nine?

TIGER WOODS: I think it's just speed. I was carrying too much speed. The balls weren't breaking as much at the holes as I thought, and I noticed that David and Stricks were doing the same thing, they were missing a lot of putts on the high side, so my lowered my line just a touch, maybe half a ball here and there, and it seemed to pay off, and same with David, as well.

Q: Tiger, heck of a finish there with three straight to wrap up your opening round. How big was that to get in the clubhouse with that momentum?

TIGER WOODS: I played so much better than being 1-under par at the time, after making a stupid double bogey at 6. I was hitting the ball too well, giving myself so many opportunities, capitalizing on hardly anything, but felt like if we could get it back to 3 would be great, and I happened to pull off a hat trick coming in.

Q: And this is your best opening round since BMW Championship a couple years ago. From a big picture standpoint to see positive results like that, what will that do for you going forward?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I felt like I wasn't very far away. I know people think I'm crazy for saying that, but I just felt like I wasn't that far. I just had to make a couple little tweaks, and I felt like I pulled that off.

Q: It looked like in the pro-am on Wednesday, you were hitting the driver great. That had been an issue for you the previous couple months. It carried over to today. What's been clicking for you?

TIGER WOODS: Well, just the overall pattern shift that we made. It started at Memorial, making a big change there, and then it's just finally starting to click in now.

Q: How close do you think you are?

TIGER WOODS: Very close

TIGER SHOOTS 69 IN SECOND ROUND OF THE GREENBRIER CLASSIC

Despite an inconsistent day striking the ball, Tiger shot a 1-under-par 69 the second round at the soggy Old White TPC in White Sulpher Springs, West Virginia. (AP)

By Mark Soltau / TigerWoods.com

For the second consecutive round, Tiger Woods broke par in soggy conditions at the Greenbrier Classic at The Old White TPC at Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia

Overnight and morning rain softened the course, and the moisture in the rough was difficult to negotiate. Still, Woods continued his good ball striking, hitting 14-of-18 greens in regulation. Tiger has found 29 of 36 through the first two rounds.After opening with a 4-under-par 66, he posted a 69 on Friday, making birdie on the final hole for the second day in a row. Tiger has a 36-hole score of 5-under 135 and is tied for 25th, four strokes behind leaders Jhonattan Vegas and Scott Langley.

Tiger's accuracy off the tee wasn't as sharp as it was on Thursday, as he hit only 7-of-14 fairways. As a result, he didn't give himself many good birdie chances and used 32 putts.

A late front-nine starter with Steve Stricker and David Lingmerth, Woods parred the first hole, then birdied the 488-yard, par-4 second. After a 305-yard drive, he flagged his approach shot from 172 yards within two feet of the cup and made the putt.

Tiger parred the next seven holes, two-putting each, to make the turn in 1-under 33. He had two lip-outs from long range.

After a two-putt par at No. 10, Tiger bogeyed the 475-yard, par-4 11th. He hit a 3-wood off the tee into the right rough and came up just short of the green from 209 yards with a 6-iron. Tiger caught his chip shot heavy and left the ball 20 feet short of the hole and two-putted for a bogey.

Woods bounced right back with a 324-yard drive at the 550-yard, par-5 12th. He drilled his second shot 12 feet below the pin and gave his eagle attempt a great run, but the ball hit the center of the cup and bounced out. Tiger settling for an easy birdie.

At the 492-yard, par-4 13th, Tiger caught a good break when he blocked his drive way right. The ball landed out of bounds on a concrete road but bounced left and back in play, settling in tall grass on a hillside. Tiger slashed his second shot back into the fairway and wound up two-putting for a bogey from 20 feet.

Once again, he rebounded quickly. At the 394-yard, par-4 14th, he hit a good drive and then hit a wedge three feet from the hole and converted the short birdie. With more rain beginning to fall, Tiger two-putted the par-3 15th for a par from 19 feet.

Woods hit a poor second shot at the par-4 16th, the ball burying in the left greenside bunker. He did well to muscle it 35 feet past the hole and two-putted for a bogey.

For the second straight day, Tiger blocked his drive at the 597-yard, par-5 17th into the water hazard on the right. After taking a drop and incurring a one-stroke penalty, he hit a good lay-up shot 98 yards short of the green and nearly holed out his fourth shot, the ball almost landing in the cup, then lipping out. Woods tapped in the two-footer to save par.

At the 175-yard par-3 18th, Tiger flushed an 8-iron six feet above the hole and poured in the slick, downhill birdie putt.

The last time Woods recorded back-to-back rounds in the 60s was in the second and third rounds of the Masters this year. On Saturday, he will try to extend it to three straight, something he hasn't accomplished since The Barclays in 2013.

Tiger will begin his third round at 11:10 a.m. on the first hole. His third-round playing partner will be Morgan Hoffmann