Colin Murray's Sport on TV: Tiger Woods, athletics and the French Open
"It’s nearly 25 years since anyone has defended this title successfully, so it remains hugely unpredictable"
Tiger’s Major momentum
If I had Tiger Woods over to my house for dinner, I’d cook him a chicken and chorizo paella, washed down with a nice bottle or three of rioja, for the simple reason that I have just about perfected that dish over the past few months and I’d want to impress him.
And if that dinner were to take place on Monday, 17 June, the day after the US Open finishes, I’d tip it to be a bit of a jet-lagged celebration.
The tournament returns to Merion Golf Club for the first time since 1981 and provides the rechristened world number one with his best chance yet of a first Major win since 2008, for myriad reasons.
For starters, he’s prolific in PGA stroke events this year, and when I say prolific, I mean “Tiger Woods prolific”, winning four from six so far. The East Course allows him, if anything, to play within himself. He can afford to take a little off his tee shots, with many of the 18 holes rewarding accuracy over distance. It’s nearly 25 years since anyone has defended this title successfully, so it remains hugely unpredictable.
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Golf: US Open Thu 2pm Sky Sports 2; Fri 2pm Sky Sports 2/7pm Sky Sports 1
=Keep on running
The Diamond League sounds like a criminal conglomerate, hellbent on taking over the world, using precious jewels to create weapons of mass destruction. Thankfully, it’s not.
More than four months of top-drawer athletics action, beginning in Doha and ending in Brussels, and this stop is in Oslo’s famous Bislett stadium that, in its various guises, has hosted many world records, including a couple by Seb Coe in the late 1970s. Romance and running make for compulsive viewing.
International athletics: Diamond League Thu 7pm BBC3/7.30pm 5 Live
Anyone for (endless) tennis?
Tennis is as much part of June’s daily routine as complaining about the rain and pointless football transfer gossip articles, so sit back and enjoy the clay-based climax of the French Open. Then watch it transform into Queen’s grassy precursor to Wimbledon and the burden of expectation on a, hopefully fit, Andy Murray.
Tennis: French Open Sat 12.30pm ITV4/1.30pm ITV/1.30pm Eurosport/2pm 5 Live; Sun 1.30pm ITV/ 1.30pm Eurosport/2pm 5 Live
ATP Queen’s Championships Daily from 1pm BBC2/from 12.15pm Eurosport
