Defending champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland eats ice cream during a practice for the British Open at the Royal Birkdale golf course yesterday. The Open starts today. - AP
SOUTHPORT, England (AP):
LEE WESTWOOD and Sergio Garcia are still without a major title to their names, and have spent a decade watching Tiger Woods dominate golf.
That could change come Sunday afternoon at the most openly contested British Open in years.
Woods, who would have been the heavy favourite as usual, is sidelined after undergoing knee surgery, and defending champion Padraig Harrington is nursing a wrist problem.
That means the winner of the 137th British Open at wind-swept Royal Birkdale could come from anywhere, and the name of a new major winner could be engraved on to the trophy on Sunday.
It could well be Westwood, who has shed many pounds (kilograms) and rediscovered the consistency that made him the fourth-ranked player in the world back in 2000 when he won six tournaments and appeared a strong contender in all the big tournaments.
His form nosedived, however, and he went four years without a single triumph before regaining his form.
A third-place finisher at last month's US Open, Westwood hopes to become the first Englishman to win the British Open title since Nick Faldo captured his third in 1992 at Muirfield. If he is contention on the final afternoon, he should ride a wave of support from the local fans.
"I don't mind being regarded as the best British hope," he said. "It's good for the ego and confidence. I can feed off it. The crowd can be the 15th club in my bag."
Garcia, runner-up after losing a play-off to Harrington at Carnoustie a year ago, is chasing a first, long overdue major, having promised much but delivered little for over a decade.
'El Niņo'
The Spaniard, nicknamed 'El Niņo' after his spectacular rise as a teenager, has finished in the top five in the last three Opens and was runner-up in his last tournament, the European Open two weeks ago.
Garcia has gained a reputation, however, of being unable to carry his good form through to the final stages of competitions. That's why he has only won 17 tournaments, and no majors.
Despite that, Garcia goes into this championship as one of the leading contenders.
"I know that I've got to be the favourite myself, in me," he said. "It doesn't matter what anybody else says. I have to go out there and do what I know how to do, believe in my ability to do it and then give myself a chance of winning. I still have to go out there and perform and give myself a shot at winning the trophy."
The field of 151 pros and five amateurs will set out today in conditions made tougher by heavy rain in the days leading up to the tournament and strong winds blowing across the Birkdale links off the Irish Sea.
The rain has made it tougher to get out of the deep rough and the wind makes it far more difficult for players to find the narrow fairways.
"You want it to be tough because that's going to sort the best from the rest," said Masters champion Trevor Immelman. "A lot of times the courses can get set up so difficult anyway that, once the conditions get tougher on top of that, some times it can push it right to the limit.
"In my opinion this is the toughest golf course I've played on the Open rota. It's very demanding off the tee and part of the reason is that a lot of the tee shots are partially blind. You can only see a sliver of fairway."
Although Immelman holds the prestigious Masters title, the South African is not considered among the leading contenders here.
Since that triumph at Augusta, he has missed three cuts in six tournaments, although he lost a play-off to Justin Leonard at the Stanford St. Jude Championship in Memphis in early June.
Wrist injury
Likewise, Harrington has not won a title since his triumph at Carnoustie a year ago, and a wrist injury looks like it could prevent him from repeating Woods' back-to-back triumphs at St Andrew's and Royal Liverpool in 2005-06.
The Irishman injured his right wrist while practising on Saturday and has been forced to restrict his pre-championship work. He broke off after two holes yesterday but went back out again.
Among the other big names hoping to add to their past major triumphs are Ernie Els, who won the British Open at Muirfield six years ago, and Phil Mickelson, the two-time Masters champion whose best finish at an Open was third at Troon in 2004.
Els has also been a three-time runner up at the Open, which makes him one of the favourites. But he missed the cut at the Masters and never got into close contention at the US Open, where he tied for 14th.
The absence of Woods, who has won three Opens among his 14 majors, has left the field wide open as far as the bookmakers are concerned.
They list Garcia and Els as the 10-1 favourites ahead of Westwood (14-1), Mickelson (16-1), Miguel Angel Jimenez and Harrington (all 20-1), Vijay Singh, Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy and Jim Furyk (all 25-1).
