For a while Woods appeared to be in denial. He split from his long-time coach, Butch Harmon, and worked on swing changes, possibly to deal with the effect of an injury to his knee that required surgery, and to help protect his back from the strain imposed by violent torque.Taking this year's form into account it was no surprise when Woods was quoted as the 5-2 favourite - the odds came into 5-4 after his opening round of 66 - to win at St Andrews this week. As I write, there are strategies being organised that would do justice to a military campaign."OK, we'll follow Ernie as far as the fourth green, then stay until Tiger comes through, then cross to the 15th tee until Vijay arrives, then grab a spot of lunch in the tented village, then double back on ourselves and hit the Boche when they're least expecting it."The other strategy is to head straight for where you expect the drama to occur. But, by God, I'm glad I was there.b.viner independent.co.uk. Ever since Tiger Woods collected his fourth Green Jacket at Augusta in April, going on to finish second behind Michael Campbell in the US Open - a tournament he would have won but for some uncharacteristic putting errors over the last nine holes - people have sensed a resurgence of the form which in 2000-01 prompted Jack Nicklaus to remark it was golf with which he was not familiar. That's what I did at the 1984 Open, but it meant sitting for at least three hours in the stand by the 17th green before play even got there I would have been far better off watching on telly. And the anticipation of his post-match meat and potato pie grips him no less than the anticipation of a home win.Cricket matches, and golf and tennis tournaments, are different because they take so much longer.
Like Proust with his madeleines, I get whisked back to childhood by the first whiff of exhaust fumes on Kennington Park Road.Ultimately, I suppose, and at risk of stating the bleeding obvious, spectating is fashioned by the spectacle. For example, because a Premiership football match only lasts 90-odd minutes, getting to and from the ground becomes an integral part of the experience. When I take my 10-year-old son to Goodison Park, he is just as excited by the number of Everton shirts we spot at Crewe Station, often inhabited by men of startling corpulence, as he is by the Everton shirts worn by rather leaner specimens as the players run on to the pitch. Or maybe it's just me; it was the ground at which I first watched a Test match, between England and Australia in 1972, and I remember that day being a huge and at times slightly alarming adventure. Clearly that has something to do with postcodes; SE11 is so much more raffish than NW8.
But there is also a striking difference between The Oval and the other Test venues. While Edgbaston, Trent Bridge, Old Trafford and to a lesser extent Headingley exude solid provincial respectability, there is something rather dangerously urban about The Oval.Maybe it's something to do with the old gasometer. To watch on the telly is to get a perfect view, the expertise of commentators, the action replay, and moreover the opportunity to sit in comfort within arm's length of a cashew nut and the next beer. To be there in person offers different pleasures; the sun on your face, the wind in your hair, the thrill of being part of a live audience, the satisfaction of saying "I was there". All of which applied merely to the queue for the loo at St Andrews in 1995.
