SMALL TURNS OUT BIG FOR WOODS.

Byline: JILL PAINTER GOLF

Tiger Woods put his ego aside and dumped his driver for the British Open. He left it right where it belonged -- in his golf bag.

Woods' game plan was simple yet brilliant, and led to his 11th major and third British Open win, tying Walter Hagen for second on the all-time major victories list.

Just when you think you've seen everything in Woods' impressive arsenal, he shows another side.

He teed off with his 2-iron and kept the ball in the fairway at Royal Liverpool Golf Club. We all know Woods can hit the ball a mile with his driver, but he opted for precision over distance. The 2-iron doesn't generate the ``oohs'' and ``ahhs'' and isn't highlighting his Nike commericals.

He used his driver once in the tournament (and hit the adjacent fairway). But the conservative club was good enough for Woods in this tournament.

Woods was hitting his 2-iron 260 or so yards, but he had control of it. And at Royal Liverpool, the key is keeping the ball in fairways that were rock hard.

Sure, he can hit farther than just about anyone with his driver. This time, golfers were routinely hitting it much farther than Woods, as much 100 yards. It was a strange sight, indeed. It must have irked Woods a bit, but in the end, he was the one kissing the Claret Jug.

Woods was hitting his approach shots from the fairway. Others were in trouble.

Woods didn't decide to use his 2-iron before the British Open. He figured it was a good idea during his first practice round.

``As I was playing the golf course, I would hit a couple of drivers and the drive would go 350-375 yards,'' Woods said after his British Open victory. ``How can you control that? You can't control that. Fairways are hard enough to hit as it is. Then you add driver and it's going that far. Now how hard is it?

``In the end, if you stayed out of the bunkers this entire week and had a decent week on the greens, I felt I'd be in contention on the back nine.''

If you remember, the last time Woods used his driver, he hit the ball all over the place at Winged Foot in the U.S. Open and missed the cut for the first time in his professional career. His critics said he's winning the golf-course war of bomb-and-gouge golf, but that he couldn't win at courses like Royal Liverpool. Many players can hit the ball 300 yards and have enough power to hit a good shot out of the rough.

Woods played a precision game this time.

His late father, Earl Woods, would have loved to have seen this.

It's too bad Phil Mickelson didn't buy into the same gameplan as Woods at the U.S. Open. With a one-shot lead on the 18th hole, he hit driver and it was a disaster. The debacle even caused Mickelson to call himself an ``idiot.'' Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson publicly expressed their disbelief that he used driver.

It was too risky, especially since he'd hit only two of the previous 13 fairways.

Woods proved it's OK to play small ball, and in doing so, paid the ultimate tribute to his father.

Francis seemingly has eye of Tiger

Philip Francis is padding a golf resume that's starting to look an awful lot like the one Tiger Woods compiled as a junior.

Francis won the prestigious U.S. Junior Amateur on Saturday at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club. It's a tournament Tiger won three times. Francis started playing golf at age 2, the same age Woods started.

Already this year, the 17-year-old Francis -- who has verbally committed to attend UCLA in 2008 -- has won three majors on the American Junior Golf Association circuit. He won the Junior World Golf Championships in his age group four times. Woods won six.

Francis is a shoo-in for the AJGA player of the year, which was another goal. And if Francis can continue to pattern his career after Woods, that would be all right by him.

``Obviously, Tiger is the best player in the world and was the best junior in the world,'' Francis said. ``To be compared to him in something is pretty awesome. I look up to what he does on and off the course, physically what he's done with his swing and what he's won in the past.''

Francis, who lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., and is home-schooled, is preparing for amateur tournaments. He'll play in the Western Amateur at Point O'Woods Golf and Country Club in Benton Harbor, Mich., beginning Monday.

Last year, he advanced to the quarterfinals. The winner earns an exemption into the PGA's Western Open.

Francis is grateful for his experiences on the junior circuit.

``Without playing junior golf, I wouldn't have had the experience of playing and learning how to win,'' Francis said. ``That's what people have been getting on Michelle Wie for, for not playing junior golf and learning how to win. You look back at Tiger, and he dates back to playing junior worlds and winning them.''

Francis played 153 holes in six days in soaring temperatures to win the U.S. Junior Amateur. He beat Richard Lee 3 and 2. Lee changed his sweat-soaked shirt three times during the tournament, but Francis never did.

``I didn't really sweat that much,'' Francis said. ``In the winter I have a pretty good workout program with my trainer five or six days a week. I held up better than most kids did.''

Just like Tiger.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 2 boxes

Photo:

(1) Tiger Woods took his driver out only once in 72 holes at the British Open.

Jon Super/Associated Press

(2) Philip Francis kisses the trophy after winning the U.S. Junior Amateur tournament.

Earnie Grafton/Associated Press

Box:

(1) THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

(2) Etc.