Tiger Woods switches putters in effort to get up to speed

ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND -- Tiger Woods's traditional pre-championship meeting with the media Tuesday -- anticipated because of the personal questions likely to come from an aggressive British media corps -- yielded an unexpected bit of news. Woods will play this year's British Open at the Old Course here with a new putter, ditching the blade he has used since 1999, at least for this week.

Woods said he switched to a new Nike model, and benched his usual Scotty Cameron Titleist, because the ball comes off the blade more quickly, which could help with St. Andrews's slow greens.

"I've always struggled on slower greens," Woods said. "I've always putted well on faster greens. This putter does come off faster. . . . It rolls the ball better and rolls it faster. So these greens, I've had to make very little adjustment in how hard I'm hitting it compared to if I had my older putter."

Woods won 13 of his 14 majors with his old putter, including his two Open championships at St. Andrews in 2000 and 2005. But he said he and caddie Steve Williams had occasionally discussed swapping out the club on slower greens.

"I've always experimented with other putters throughout the years," he said, "but I've never put one in play until now."

Woods's news conference, in which he was asked several times about his public image and his family life, otherwise provided no new information. He avoided a question about his marriage to Elin Nordegren when it was first broached, and when he was asked about whether his divorce has been finalized, he said, "I'm not going to go into that."

Westwood in pain

Lee Westwood could have joined Tom Watson and Stewart Cink in a playoff in last year's Open at Turnberry had he not three-putted the 72nd hole. He was a contender at this year's Masters, where he was the leader after 54 holes before Phil Mickelson beat him Sunday, and he has seemed -- as the third-ranked player in the world -- on the verge of winning his first major championship for the past few years.

But Westwood arrives here not in top physical shape, having ruptured a muscle near his ankle that has caused significant swelling, and forced him to rest for seven days prior to his arrival here, which he said was "fairly boring."

"It's just a case of managing it this week, strapping it up, trying to keep the swelling from getting any worse, and playing as well as I can," Westwood said.

Missing Seve

Wednesday afternoon, 25 former Open champions will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Open by participating in the Champions' Challenge, a team, best-ball event staged over the first, second, 17th and 18th holes at the Old Course.

And there will be one glaring absence.

"I wish Seve was there," Mickelson said. "I think we all do."

Seve Ballesteros won three British Opens, the second at St. Andrews. He is now 53 and battling a brain tumor that has prevented him from traveling here from his native Spain.

"Seve has been a very inspirational golfer for me and, I think, many people," Mickelson said. "His style of play is compelling. His charisma draws you to watch him play, and the way he would win tournaments was just so exciting to watch."