Tiger Chases the Treble

Tiger Woods will be chasing a rare treble if he tees up in the 2007 Open Championship at Carnoustie on July 19th to 22nd.

Tiger is willing to skip the British Open to be with his wife, Elin, for the birth of their first child which is due to be born in July. He made it clear the birth would take precedence over the tournament.

The world’s No. 1 has won the title in each of the last two years, and hopes to become the first man since Peter Thomson (1954 - ‘56) to win the world’s oldest Championship three times in-a row.

Woods started his winning sequence when he put together rounds of 66, 67, 71 and 70 to win the 134th Open Championship at the Old Course, St. Andrews, and he secured his third Open title 12 months later when he closed with a majestic 67 to finish two shots ahead of the field over the Royal Liverpool Golf Club at Hoylake. That impressive victory set him up with the chance to go for the hat-trick at Carnoustie and it has already intensified interest in this year’s Championship.

Woods hopes to become the fourth man to achieve three successive Open Championship victories. Tom Morris Jnr (1868-’70) was the first man to achieve the feat eventually going one better, winning the title for a fourth time in-a-row in 1872 (there was no Championship in 1871). Since then, two other golfers have also won the Open Championship on three successive occasions, Jamie Anderson (1877 - ‘79) and the aforementioned Thomson (1954-’56).