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American Morning

Tiger Woods: Can Anyone Stop Him?

Aired June 12, 2001 - 09:49   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LAURA OKMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think I can come up with the answer pretty quickly because: the question of the week? Can anyone derail the out-of-control locomotive known as the "Tiger Express"?

Tiger heads into the U.S. Open as the only golfer to hold all four major professional titles all at once. But this is Tiger we're talking about, so come one, why stop there? Woods arrived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, yesterday with one mission: adding a fifth straight major to his collection.

CNN's Johnny Phelps is on the Tiger beat.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNNY PHELPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To refresh your memory, Woods' run of majors began at Pebble Beach a year ago with a record 15-shot victory at 12 under par. Make no mistake: Tiger is the man to beat this week. And everybody knows it.

ERNIE ELS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: It's going to be a really, really difficult for us to win another major. It seems like he's on a role and he wants to keep it that way.

TIGER WOODS, GOLFER: I think that I have surprised myself from the standpoint that I've been able to have the good fortune that I've been able to have. I know that I can play at a high level. I just know it because of one of my practice sessions.

PHELPS: The USGA has done its best to Tigerize the Southern Hills Country Club course, admitting it's extended the par-70 layout to the max. Although it will measure under 7,000 yards, it'll feature a par four of 491 yards, longest ever in the Open, and a par five set to play 462 yards, which can be stressed to 655.

Southern Hills has not hosted the Open since Hubert Green won in 1977, but was the scene of a '94 PGA Championship, won by Nick Price, and hosted the Tour Championship in '96, where Tom Lehman won by six shots at 12 under par.

TOM LEHMAN, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: It's one of those courses where every hole is a good hole. There's usually no letup anywhere on the golf course.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, NBC) (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

DICK ENBERG, NBC ANNOUNCER: Payne Stewart as the 1999 U.S. Open Champion. Oh, my!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHELPS: Phil Mickelson's best opportunity to win a Grand Slam event was his runner-up finish in the '99 Open. And the world's No. 2 ranked player is once again anxious to shed that never-having-won-a- major label.

PHIL MICKELSON, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: I feel as though this is going to be a good opportunity for me. And I've been working hard to hit the shots that I'm going to be needing at Southern Hills.

WOODS: I enjoy playing our nationals -- I'm sorry, our nation's championship. At the junior level, it was the ultimate championship. At the amateur level, it was the ultimate championship. And now as a pro, the U.S. Open is the ultimate championship. And to win your nation's title, it's very special.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKMIN: Well, the last time Tiger was at Southern Pines (sic) golf course: 1996. That was two months after turning pro. He was a rookie and his father was in the hospital with heart problems. Knowing that, he went on to have his worst score as a professional: eight over par 78. Said Tiger, "My game is a little bit better than it was then."

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: That's putting it mildly.

OKMIN: Yes. It's not arrogant if it's true, I guess.

HARRIS: You got that right.

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