Tiger To Take Mulligans, Too

You know, I've never much been a fan of the British Open. Like many American golf fans, I just don't see the appeal. Windy, overcast conditions, boring holes, greens the size of Texas, nothing pretty about any of the holes, etc.

However, the game was indeed invented there and it's a tourney that's revered by the players and it's a place where the countrymen truly appreciate their golf.

What's amazing about it is the fact that sometimes being over par is plenty to win, or at least be in contention. Sure, this happens at the U.S. Open sometimes, too, but that's mainly because they make the course an asinine length or let the "rough" grow to shoe-swallowing size.

In Great Britain, it's usually the wind. If you took St. Andrews, for example, and plopped it in Arizona, pros could shoot in the 50s. No joke.

So it's funny -- but understandable -- to me to see Tiger potentially not even using a driver this week at the British Open. This is something we weekend hackers do. I play with a guy on a regular basis who rarely uses his driver anymore. Our home course is 6600 yards from the blue tees -- pretty damn respectable (126 slope, for those interested). And yet this guy doesn't need a driver. He hits his 3-wood about 260+ as a rule and I've seen him crank it up to 300. Insane. But he sprays the driver everywhere. Solution: don't use it.

But to see a professional -- perhaps the greatest professional -- tamed so thoroughly by the conditions of the golf course that he's planning not to use the big dog... well, I'll tell you -- it reminds me of how humbling golf is, even for the greatest among us. And that's cool.