Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Sunday Morning

Tiger Woods Will Not Win British Open

Aired July 21, 2002 - 07:37   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: So much for all that grand slam talk. The final round of the British Open finds Tiger Woods way, way, way off the leader board.

Joining us now from the open, Patrick Snell of CNN Sports.

You know, Patrick, you know, Tiger always talks about bringing his A game. What was that, his B game, E game?

PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Miles, it was something that he would rather forget. I mean, it was a career where it surrounded 81 in his professional career. But that's all forgotten. He's put it behind him and he's responded like a true champion. He's come back. He's completed his British Open for this year as Tiger Woods. And he shot a 6 underpar today, Sunday. That's at 65. And that leaves him at level par for this tournament. So he has responded magnificently. The conditions have been a lot better.

So he ends the tournament at level par, which is obviously a good deal better than yesterday's 6 over. Now he has a feel as to wait, just to see where he will end up in this British Open championship, because many of the leaders are yet to go out. But certainly Tiger has salvaged a lot of pride today, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Well, that is the true mark of a champion, to come off that terrible round of golf. I love the mock triumphant arms extended, as he finished his putt yesterday. He seemed to handle all this all with great aplomb. What do you think it is? Is he just not -- the weather doesn't treat him well? Did he give any insights to reporters there as to why he had such a bad round?

SNELL: He was very frank. He was very open. He said that on the whole for this championship, he's played well. He's played beautifully was the word he used, but he just caught out by freak conditions on the third day, which affected not just him, but many, many other golfers. And yes, he didn't handle those conditions well. But you know, I suppose he is entitled to the odd bad round. Unfortunately, it has cost him a major. And it has cost him his dream of this unprecedented grand slam of majors in one calendar year.

But Tiger is a very strong character, who's a very strong mentally. And he will now be totally focused on winning the year's final grand slam. That's the U.S. PGA coming up in August, Miles. O'BRIEN: Well, lest we forget, he still is a very young man and has a long career ahead. The grand slam, I'm sure, lies on the horizon. Patrick Snell with CNN Sports, I'm glad the weather has improved there. You have a good day there in Scotland, where a cloudy day is a good day.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com