Championship not devalued without Tiger: O'Meara

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

SOUTHPORT (Reuters) - The absence of Tiger Woods from this week's British Open does not diminish the world's oldest major championship, according to fellow American Mark O'Meara.

World number one Woods, a three-times winner of the Open, has been sidelined for the rest of this year while he recovers from reconstructive knee surgery.

"No player, no matter who it is, is bigger than the game itself, not even Tiger," 1998 champion O'Meara told reporters at Birkdale on Monday.

"Even as great as Tiger Woods is and as much of a fan as I am of Tiger's and I know what he's meant to the game over the last 11 years, I think even Tiger would have to admit this.

"We've been blessed to witness something very special that's come along in the game the last 11 years," O'Meara added, referring to the emergence of Woods since he turned professional in late 1996. "He hasn't missed a major since '97.

"He's going to be missed, there's no denying it. But this week, without him here, there's a lot of players that have been playing well and a lot of guys that can win.

"This is a great opportunity for some of the other players to step up now and some other players to move forward. A major is hard no matter what, there's certainly added pressure. At Birkdale this week, we still have a tremendous field."

O'Meara, who won the last Open to be staged at Birkdale in a playoff with compatriot Brian Watts, was a mentor to Woods when the young American first came out on Tour and the pair became very close friends.

When Woods contemplated having knee surgery after winning his 14th major title at last month's U.S. Open, O'Meara was one of the few people who were aware of his intentions.

"I knew how bad it was prior to the U.S. Open, I knew how bad it was at Augusta (National)," said O'Meara, a 16-times winner on the PGA Tour.

"But we (his friends) couldn't really say (anything), even though there were so many different speculations out there and most of the speculation was wrong. He'll be fine. He'll come back as good as or better than ever."

(Editing by Pritha Sarkar)