Preview Golf: The Open

Liverpool's parched fairways were scorched by the sun and the

relentless control of Tiger Woods on his way to a third Open title. Now

he is back and so are we at Hoylake on the Wirral peninsula for the

143rd Open Championship. Golf's most famous trophy has been in the

possession of Phil Mickelson over the last 12 months after his

brilliant whirlwind round at Muirfield last year. On Monday, the

five times metre champion had to hand it back. -- major champion.

Coming back to the Open Championship as a past champion, it feels so much

better, so different than it did before when the questions were, I do

go to get over the hump and play links golf effectively? Coming back

as a past champion, I have already accomplished the links golf

challenge. But the memories and emotions that were created last year

were so strong and I love reliving it, I love watching the replay is. I

would love nothing more than to create more memories, more emotions,

more experiences like last year. Back-to-back champions include

Padraig Harrington, Arnold Palmer, it would be lovely to join them,

wouldn't it? I am getting way ahead of myself

even saying that, but it would be special, just the fact that I won

this tournament wants. Mickelson's win last year came after

20 years of trying to fully master links golf but no Championship that

includes 90 of the world's best 100 golfers want to take away his title.

-- but now a Championship. No doubt about the inform player

coming to high lake, England's Justin Rose.

Hot from his victory at the Scottish Open at the Royal Aberdeen at the

weekend and before that the Congressional in America.

Two wins in his last two starts, he has no word on that before, and now

he is going for a rare hat-trick. Justin Rose, Open champion favourite

- how does that sound? Yes, it sounds a little surreal. I

have dreamt about playing this tournament as a kid and now I am

coming in here with the billing of the favourite. My view is I would

still rather go out and play golf and try and win it with my golf

clubs than if someone gave me 12-1 rolling the dice. I would still take

my odds with the golf clubs. When you are playing so well, are

you a man who tinkers or do you think, I will just go read there and

do what I did the week before and hopefully that will work?

Every golf course presented different challenge and you have to

understand it. I see this week as a fresh slate, I have to rebuild. You

have to work your way into the week. I wonder how hard it is this week

when everyone is talking about that favourite tag, to just concentrate

on shot number one on Thursday and not think about what might happen at

the weekend. To be honest, being the favourite

does not pan out most of the time for any player, anyway. I will write

it off, to be honest with you. I cannot wait to get to the golf

course, if that makes sense. Hopefully the playing should be easy

part. It has not been a great British

summer - World Cup, Wimbledon, Tour de France, the cricket - can you

sort out the golf for us? I am definitely going to try. It is

special to play an Open in England. The last couple of summers of

British sport have been fantastic. It is all up to me now.

We know that Justin says it has not been a great summer for English

board spent, but does he have enough gas left in the tank to try and

bridge the gap back to Nick Faldo? He comes in with incredible

confidence winning the Congressional, which is a super golf

course in America. He won there, he was the Scottish Open winner, so he

was the Scottish Open winner, Sony has come in with a lot of

confidence. He knows he has the strategy, I see no reason why not.

He is the top English Open, no doubt about that. Hyde fourth as amateur

but no top tens as a professional. He did not play here in 2006, he was

having at lean time of it then. His career has moved on since then,

his game has moved on, he has more confidence. I don't think the pastor

will make any difference to him. Rory McIlroy was on his holiday with

his mum and dad the last time the Open Championship was staged there.

Does the tight links here at Hoylake suit his power game?

It will be very interesting. You often find a power player on the

shortest golf course it can work for them.

It was a little softer this year it was last time we played it in 2006.

It will enable him on occasions to take out his driver and cut a few

doglegs and run through the fairway. He has been a little up and down

with his consistency, played some building brands and hats the odd

poor one, but he is a major winner, a great player and the crowd will be

roaring for him. The bookies are being no doubt, they

have put -- Justin Rose as 14-1 favourite with Rory second

favourite. The bookies like Rory's chancers, but does he?

My first Open was in 2007 at honesty as an amateur. Since then it has

been disappointing. I should do better because I grew up on some of

the best links courses in the world in Northern Ireland. -- at

Carnoustie. I guess I have to adapt a little bit better to this style of

golf. Playing the Scottish Open last week will definitely help that and I

will be more links ready. I feel like my game is in good shape. If I

can string four rounds together it would be nice come it will be

helpful. I feel like I am playing well for three, three and a half

rounds that tournament is these days, just not quite getting on a

stretch of holes that can little bit. If I can just get rid of

that and string four rounds together I should not be far away. Do you

remember the first time you played here at Hoylake?

I do, back in 2003 in the British boys. I did not stay long, I got

beaten in the first round. It is great to be back. It looks in great

shape and it is shaping up to be a great week.

What would it mean to win your third major Championship here this week?

It would mean a lot. I guess it would be three legs of the career of

the land slam, which is very important to me. -- the career grand

slam. Not many players have won four major championships. If I can get

one step closer to that this week it would be huge.

BBC Radio 5 Live's golf correspondent Iain Carter, up with

someone who knows the world number eight very well indeed, the European

Ryder Cup captain for the match in September, Paul McGinlay.

He is getting more experienced, he is becoming more accustomed to

winning major championships, he will grow to love the British Open, that

is for sure. I know he has said he finds it very difficult but he will

grow to love it, we all do. He is very motivated and really enjoys

what he does. The other thing that is so striking

is the number of headlines he makes. All of the hullabaloo around him.

But he seems to cope with it very well.

He is in the spotlight and he knows that. It is important egos and lives

his life. No matter what he does, people comment on it whether it is

good, bad or indifferent. It is important he is happy in itself and

does what he wants to do. Fabulous playing from Rory McIlroy,

magnificent golf. It is good to win a big tournament

again. He has had a bit of a lull, he had a good win in Australia last

year, then to win that flagship event was big boost for him going

forward. I would not surprise -- be surprised to see him picking up a

major before the end of the year. How do you feel preparations are

going for the Ryder Cup? They are going well, looking at the

list of guys qualifying, a lot of them are established guys.

The form in summer is great, the form in September will be what we

are looking for. We can spark off each other, that is what is

important. The competition is helpful.

And the Open Championship going to Portrush, as an Irishman you must be

happy? Yes, it is one of my favourite golf

courses in the world. I used to love playing up there. I played great in

a final price, but I have never won it. I love it, there are no tricks

to it, but tremendous that it is going back to Northern Ireland. It

will be a very worthy host. Yes, the Open going back to Royal

Portrush for the first time since 1951 and we understand it will be

2019 at the earliest. Good news. Also good news, Tiger Woods

confirmed he will be playing here at the Open Championship. The 14 time

major Championship -- major champion had surgery on his back for a

pinched nerve in March and having missed the Masters and the US Open

it is great to see him back here at Hoylake. Remember, he has only

played two rounds into this latest comeback. He has been talking to Dan

Walker. Mr Woods, how nice is it to be in a

place you have seen it, won it, done it before?

It is very nice. It is very different this year. Last time we

played it was hot and dry, almost a dust bowl. It was so much faster

than it is now. We have forecast rain for the weekend.

The conditions of your golf swing, and your life, are very different to

that time eight years ago, are they not question might yes, it was a

very tough period of my life. I lost my father, that was the last

major theatre on replay. I didn't not play well, then I creamed year

and played well. -- then I came here.

And your injury? As I get stronger and out of --

faster I can start getting it at the third again. I am starting to speed

back I am used to. Don't take this the wrong way but there are some

people who don't think you have a chance of winning another Claret

Jug. Is part of your motivation this week

that you can prove a lot people wrong?

I have never looked wrong?

I have always looked that I have a chance of winning I have won 14 of

these things and hopefully I can ever 15. Thank you for talking to

us. And that many tomorrow it will be

fascinating to see him in major action again in the company of Angel

Cabrera and world number two Henrik Stenson.

9:26am is the call time for Rory McIlroy out with Jordan Spieth and

Hideki Matsui Amer. At 2:05pm it is the turn of Phil

Mickelson with Ernie els and a double Masters champion Bubba

Watson. Heavy on talent, that trio. Just

before 2:30pm, another major winning line-up with world number one Adam

Scott, Justin Rose and reigning US PGA Championship Jason Dufner.

Play begins here, 6:25am and it will be David Howell who will have the

honour of getting is underway in the 143rd Open Championship. Now, blown

by mighty winds and breeder of mighty champions. That is how

Bernard Darwin described Hoylake but Andrew Cotter for one was hoping not

to be buffeted by those mighty winds when he took an aerial tour of our

surroundings here on the Wirral the other day.

The first thing you notice when you come up in the air, looking down, is

how much greener the courses than it was in 2006, when it was brown,

yellow and a bit more burned. 1869 is when the club was founded. Two

years later it was given its royal name, Royal Liverpool golf club.

It's a very flat course, built on the site of an old Racecourse. The

first hole as the members play, the third for the professionals, was the

finishing straight of the Racecourse. This is a place of the

origins of golf. 1872 saw the first professional tournament in England.

1845 saw the first amateur Championship. There was a matchplay

between Great Britain and Ireland, and the United States, which would

go on to become the Walker cup. Massey became the first winner and

he named his daughter Hoylake, lovely girl(!) Lets tell you more

about this place. It sits right on the corner of the Wirral, at the

mouth of the street. At the other side, you have the Mersey. The name

of the Wirral comes from the old English word for bog and corner.

It's the Open Championship venue nearest to a major city. It's just

eight miles to Liverpool in the north-east. In 2006 they had over

100,000 for the week. Only St Andrews gets more of a crowd than

Hoylake. That is what it looks like from the

air. This is what it looks like from our studio. Haven't Germany had a

great summer so far? A fourth World Cup in Brazil at the weekend. Their

success story really began with Martin Kaymer's thumping victory at

the US open at Pinehurst. The footballers said how much it

inspired them. It was his second title since May. So, could he

continued Germany's hot streak at Hoylake?

The open, it is one of those weeks where you can play great golf, but

you need luck as well. You need a bit of luck with the bouncers, the

weather. You need to be fortunate once in a while. You need one of

those lower rounds than all of the other guys. When you have one of

those OK days, you need to stay in it. You can only hope that those

things all work out together. Hopefully you have a chance. At the

end of the day, if I have a chance on Sunday, it's all you can ask for.

Players champion, US open champion, all people

Players champion, US open champion, is the World Cup victory. To see

them succeeding, the way they play football and now they have won the

World Cup, it's a big inspiration. I'm very proud to be German and to

be, kind of like, part of it. I see myself as a German athlete. It's

been a good couple of months for Germany. Second major in the summer,

will that get noticed in Germany? I still think I will not become the

athlete of the year, because of what happened with the World Cup. But it

would give me a lot of satisfaction. I think there will be a lot of

recognition. I think there will be very proud there.

Nobody has won back-to-back majors in the men's game since Padre

Carrick some -- Patrick Harrison. Well, he tried to change his swing

and lost his way a little bit. He dropped out of the top 16. The last

year or so, he's gone back to those nice, safe swings. He's been very

predictable off the tee. You're coming with great form and a lot of

confidence. No doubt he will be the man to beat. This course becomes a

little bit more open when it's windy. If it's nice weather, I think

you'll be there. He's one of the top European hopefuls. There are no

fewer than 18 Europeans in the top 50. Iain Carter has been casting his

eye over the best of them. Henrik Stenson is a major winner in

waiting after claiming the PGA play-offs and the race to Dubai.

Last year, the world and that he was second at Muirfield. Sergio Garcia

is still waiting for a major. Last time, he was in the final group but

faded with a closing 73. Luke Donald is struggling for consistency and it

will take an upturn in recent form if he is to improve on his best open

performances, two fifth-place finishes. It is that opens where Ian

Poulter has looked closest to reproducing Ryder Cup heroics,

second in 2008 and he came close again last year with a final day

charge. That was a day when Lee Westwood had led by two going into

the closing round. The nearly man fell short again, recording yet

another major top ten. Still fighting fit at 50, Spain's Jimenez

could become the oldest winner of the Claret jug. The 2010 US open

champion Graeme McDowell heads to Hoylake in fine form after

successfully defending his French Open title. Paul Casey's results

continue to improve. A strong performance here might catch the eye

of the Ryder Cup skipper, Paul McGinley. And Wales's Jamie

Donaldson makes only his fourth appearance, but knows how to win on

the links, having claimed the Irish open at Portrush.

Right at the top of the pile, amongst the top ten, you have four

Europeans. Adam Scott has been tantalisingly

close to the Claret Joke as well. -- Jug. Are you ready for another open

challenge? It's a great time of year, I love The Open. I've been

enjoying getting a good feel for the golf course. That's what I've done

the last couple of years. I've come here and really enjoyed playing some

different styles of golf and embraced it. It's rewarded me with a

couple of chances to win. That's really positive for me. I would like

that to continue this week, and give myself a chance. When you look back,

do you almost feel you need to win it so that you can banish the

memories of what went wrong? To be honest, I don't think about it that

much. I think when the day comes, when I do happen to win the The

Open, it might take my mind off it as the one that really slipped away.

It's a shame, because you don't know if those opportunities are going to

come around like that. But I'm playing really great and I can pop

factor that this week with four good days. US Masters champion last year,

world number one this year, how I view enjoying life at the top of the

tree? I've thoroughly enjoyed the last couple of months as number one,

playing as number one. It is motivating for me to try to play

even better. Hopefully, I can live up to that as well. We have come

inside to the commentary book, Frank is going to be part of our team once

again. Tell us about the Antipodean challenge. It's getting stronger.

World number one, Adam Scott, he had a great summer in Australia. You've

got another links golf course, could have won last year, could have won

the year before, maybe third year that the. Day, many people think his

time is coming. But he had some injury problems? He was my pick to

do something outstanding. But the thumb injury, it's fine now, he took

the appropriate amount of time off. He carries a driving iron, a regular

club in his bag, and that is one that you will need. The Aussies have

echoes of the past, Thomson having won a third in a row at Hoylake. If

it's not going to be New Zealand, who is your pick? We had three

straight 40 somethings. Jim Furyk played well in 2006. I think it's

going to be the younger guys. Jordan Spieth is also on form. Jordan

Spieth, aged 20. I turned pro two years ago. This will be my do you

feel golf, as a sport, really needs a young, vibrant start, right in the

middle? I don't feel any extra pressure outside of I would like to

get another year. I've had a lot of close calls and whenever anybody

else says anything, good or bad, I try to What did you learn out of

that? I was in a position that I've dreamt about, way earlier than I

could have imagined being there. The greater young hope of American golf.

He lives up to his billing. I did a lot of things right and it could

have gone my way as easily as it did . Very field-based golf is what I

group trying to do. Often it comes down to putting? I would say the

Open Championship, more than any other one in the world, is a ball

strikers tournament. If you are striking the ball well, keeping it

on those greens, par is the worst you are going to get. Now, Jordan

Spieth is a rising star. How is he viewed in America? The great hope. A

steady player, he's not sitting on a powder keg like some players when

they go around the golf course. He's very steady, physically he's very

talented. One of four Americans in the top ten. Top is Bubba Watson. A

lot of people think that it will indulge his creativity, but might it

stifle it? He will, Bubba Watson will have to be disciplined. He

reminds you of somebody that is sitting on a powder keg, with the

fuse lit. I think he's going to have to be really discipline to play

well. Who is your pick of the Americans? I like Matt Crutcher

Kuchar. Everybody remembers Tiger hitting off all of the Tees. I think

the players are going to play short of the bunkers, playing to the

strength of the guys like Jim Furyk and Johnson. Where do you stand on

Tiger's state of readiness? He looks good, I've watched him swing. His

swing looks powerful. I don't think he is favouring anything. Other than

the rest, that's a big plus. We'll be looking forward to seeing him and

everybody else. It all kicks off much sooner than you might think. We

will be on air, 9am on BBC Two and we will not be going off until 8pm.

Same is true of Friday. Saturday, 10am start. There are a couple of

channel changers, but we will keep you right. Sunday's decisive fourth

round gets going at 10:30. In 2006, Tiger Woods gave us one of

the greatest displays of open golf ever seen. Over 230,000 people came

to see it at Hoylake. On Sunday night, this gigantic wraparound

grandstand will be full again to welcome Royal Liverpool's 10th open

champion. It could be Tiger, but then it could be anyone of 155 other

open wannabes. See you then. Goodbye for now.

through the clouds for television's most ambitious experiment.

With this, we're going to be able to see the weather from the inside.