Week 28 Approach Shots: British Open

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NOT OUT OF THE WOODS: Tiger Woods has never played into July on the PGA TOUR without a win. Though he only has six starts on TOUR this season, Woods is fully aware of his drought.

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"I haven't gone this long into the season without winning a championship," he said. "I think '98 was the longest time, and it was like nine events or something. But again, I'm looking forward to getting out there and playing, and I understand how to play this golf course. It's a matter of going out there and putting it together and putting it together at the right time.

Of his 12 British Open starts, Woods has three wins (2000, 2005 and 2006), the first two coming on the Old Course. Besides those victories, he has four other top 10s, including a third-place finish in 1998, T7 in 1999, T4 in 2003 and T9 in 2004.

"I would like to win no matter what. It would be nice. It really would be nice," he said. "A lot of work ahead of me, but to win here is certainly one of the bigger highlights I've ever had in my career, because it is the home of golf. It's amazing how many great champions have won here, and to be a part of that history is a pretty neat feeling."

With three British Open titles, Woods is among a group of nine players who have picked up three British Open victories.

Others with three wins are James Anderson, Bob Ferguson, Bobby Jones, Henry Cotton, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo. Harry Vardon leads the overall list, with six wins, followed by James Braid, J.H. Taylor, Peter Thomson and Tom Watson, with five each. Tom Morris Sr., Tom Morris Jr., William Park Sr., Walter Hagen and Bobby Locke all won the British Open four times.

TOGETHER AGAIN: No, Stewart Cink wasn't giving Tom Watson a chance to win the Claret Jug back.

Cink and Watson played a practice round together Tuesday, repeating their pairing from last year's playoff at the British Open. This time, though, it was all in good fun.

"Tom asked at the Masters if I wanted to play," Cink said. "He said, 'How's 8 a.m. Tuesday?' I said, '8 a.m. Tuesday, it is."'

Watson's bid to become the oldest major champion at 59 was the feel-good story of the British Open at Turnberry last year. But the five-time British champion missed an 8-foot putt for par on the final hole of regulation, and Cink pulled away in the playoff to win his first major title, breaking the hearts of pretty much everybody outside his own family.

Watson, in fact, might have taken it the best, cracking, "This ain't a funeral, you know," when he walked in for his post-round interview.

Cink and Watson talked often during their round at the Old Course on Tuesday, and clearly enjoyed each other's company. When Watson dropped his driver as he went to sign an autograph, Cink bent over to pick it up. When the rest of their group -- Matt Kuchar and Cameron Percy -- posed for pictures on the famed Swilcan Bridge, Cink and Watson stood next to each other.

The subject of last year's British Open, Cink said, never came up.

"There's no need to go over things. We both know how it went down," Cink said. "And we're friends."

Still, the two will be forever linked because of Turnberry. And that's just fine with Cink.

"He provided a unique aspect to that tournament," Cink said. "It's something for sure that's going to make that tournament special. People will probably think Tom Watson almost won it, and they'll have to think about who actually did. And that's OK with me.

"It won't take me too long to figure it out."

NO. 1 WATCH: Tiger Woods has been No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the last 266 weeks, giving him a total of 608 weeks in his career.

But Phil Mickelson has another chance to take the top spot this week. He would move to No. 1 by winning his first British Open title, and has a few backup options as well.

If Mickelson finishes all alone in second and Woods is lower than fourth, No. 1 goes to Lefty. Same if Mickelson claims third place all to himself and Woods is outside the top 14, or if he finishes at least fourth and Woods misses the cut -- which happened last year at Turnberry.

FEDEXCUP UPDATE: If current FedExCup standings leader Ernie Els were to miss the cut, six players could potentially take over the FedExCup lead with a victory -- Steve Stricker (190 points behind), Justin Rose (209 points), Phil Mickelson (230 points), Jim Furyk (272 points), Tim Clark (471 points) and Ben Crane (529 points).

Predictions: Columnists vs. Interns

PGATOUR.COM's interns are trying to out-predict our expert columnists this summer. We'll keep tabs and see how they do at the end of the season. Here are their picks for the British Open. Columnists Pick Comment Stan AWTREY IAN POULTER: This may be the year for breakouts. Graeme McDowell had his at Pebble Beach and Poulter is ready to have his on golf's grandest international stage. Craig DOLCH DUSTIN JOHNSON: The long-hitting South Carolina native will put his U.S. Open debacle behind him. Melanie HAUSER TIGER WOODS: Will the new Nike Method putter be the fix he needs? Heck, just being at St. Andrews will. Has to go through Lee Westwood to do it, though. Interns Pick Comment Chris DUNHAM LUKE DONALD: This is a gamble pick compared to my usual selections, but I just have a good feeling about Donald this week. He was T5 last year at Turnberry and has been stellar on the European Tour this year. Todd HOSKINS ERNIE ELS: The golfing gods would love nothing more than have the winning Scottish breezes blow throw Rickie Fowler's dreamy hair, but this British Open is Ernie Els' tournament to lose. Ryan PIERCE ERNIE ELS: The Big Easy is 10-for-15 in top 10s at the British Open, including his win in 2002. Enough said.

Columnists vs. Interns Standings

The columnists had their best week of the summer, each picking a top-25 finisher. Their average has climbed to within ten points of the intern's. Columnist's average 235.06 Intern's average 243.78 Melanie Hauser 300.75 Chris Dunham 347.00 Craig Dolch 280.50 Ryan Pierce 296.60 Stan Awtrey 274.00 Todd Hoskins 87.75 John Maginnes 85.00

Bolton's Yahoo! selections

Fantasy columnist Rob Bolton will provide his Yahoo! picks as a starting point for you every week. Use the advice and opinion from his Power Rankings and Fantasy Insider to assist in determining lineups changes throughout each tournament. Group Starters Bench Group A Ernie Els Tiger Woods Group B Retief Goosen, Padraig Harrington Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood Group C Justin Rose Edoardo Molinari

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British Open at the Old Course

The list of courses which have hosted the British Open more than once includes St. Andrews (28 times, including 2010), Prestwick (24), Muirfield (15), Sandwich (13), Hoylake (11), Royal Lytham (10), Royal Birkdale (9), Royal Troon (8), Musselburgh (6), Carnoustie (7), Turnberry (4) and Deal (2).

Heres a look at the winners of British Opens hosted at St. Andrews since 1970:

Year Winner Winning Score 1970 Jack Nicklaus 5-under 283 1978 Jack Nicklaus 7-under 281 1984 Seve Ballesteros 12-under 276 1990 Nick Faldo 18-under 270 1995 John Daly 6-under 282 2000 Tiger Woods 19-under 269 2005 Tiger Woods 14-under 274

Did you know?

Chris Wood (T3 in 2009) finished in the top 5 for the second consecutive year. His fifth-place finish at the 2008 British Open was just the third top-10 finish by an amateur in a major championship since 1970. The others were Justin Rose (T4/Royal Birkdale, 1998) and Jim Simons (T5/U.S. Open, 1971).

What the winner gets

A victory this week at the British Open will earn the following benefits: • 600 FedExCup points (if current PGA TOUR member) • Five-year exempt status through the 2015 season • Exempt at the British Open through age 60 • Five-year exemption for the Masters Tournament • Five-year exemption for the U.S. Open • Five-year exemption for the PGA Championship • Five-year exemption for THE PLAYERS • If not already eligible:    - Invitation to 2011 SBS Championship    - Invitation to 2010 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational    - Invitation to 2010 WGC-HSBC Invitational

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