Graphic: the Open factfile

Graphic: anything you can do, Roger

Naturally, Tiger Woods is a strong favourite to win this week’s Open Championship and notch his 15th major title. His game is in ominous shape, while most of those who would normally be considered his chief rivals are in disarray. At the very tough Congressional course last week, Woods won his third US PGA tournament since his return from knee surgery. He won by only a shot and pocketed a mere $1,080,000 for his four days’ work but he was in command.

Phil Mickelson, who had a brave tilt at the US Open in June, finishing second for the fifth time in that championship, has announced he will stay at home with his wife Amy and mother Mary, both of whom have been diagnosed with breast cancer, rather than go to Turnberry. Padraig Harrington, the defending champion, completed his now customary Open build-up by comfortably winning the Irish PGA Championship yesterday, but he missed five cuts before that tournament and is in the throes of changes to his swing.

Ernie Els is not the force he was; Sergio Garcia seems condemned to self-harm on the greens, and those with the gifts of youth, such as Rory McIlroy, may not be quite ready for the rigours of majors.

The Turnberry precedents augur well for Woods. Only three Opens have been played on the Ailsa course and all three have been won by the man generally considered to be the No 1 in the world at the time: Tom Watson in 1977, Greg Norman in 1986 and Nick Price in 1994. Woods is clearly the best golfer in the world. He has never played Turnberry but has been watching DVDs of all three Turnberry Opens. He will have learnt some lessons, not least that every Open at Turnberry has been gripping and memorable.

The duel in the sun, 1977

One of the greatest Opens. The sun shone, the grass was scorched and two of the game’s finest players were locked in combat. Watson and Jack Nicklaus even played their practice rounds together. In the first round, both shot 68; in the second 70; in the third 65. By then they were so far ahead that the rest of the field was irrelevant. Hubert Green, who eventually finished third, 10 strokes behind, claimed to have “won The Open — those two were playing some other tournament”.

On the final day, Watson and Nicklaus played together. Nicklaus struck first with a birdie at the second, Watson bogeying it. Another birdie from Nicklaus at the fourth gave him a three-stroke lead. But Watson, who had beaten Nicklaus in a tight finish for The Masters earlier that year, was a formidable links player and a deadly putter. He birdied three out of four holes to level the match — for that was what it had become. Nicklaus retaliated to go two up and Watson won the 13th to lie one stroke behind. On the 14th tee, his glance met that of Nicklaus. “This is what it’s all about, isn’t it Jack?” Watson said.

“You’re darn right,” Nicklaus replied.

Perhaps the decisive blow came at the par-three 15th. Watson pulled his four iron well to the left of the green. Nicklaus was safely on, 20 feet from the hole. Watson’s ball was on a bare mound well above the level of the green, at least 50 feet from the hole. Getting down in two was improbable. He didn’t. Choosing to putt the ball, he got down in one, his ball smacking the flag-stick before descending out of sight.

Nicklaus missed his putt and they were back on level terms.