Tiger comes out of the shade at sunny Lytham

The Open began yesterday with less of a bang and more of a whimper.

A warm day with little or no wind made it ideal for the players to take advantage of a soft course. And so it proved with many of the world’s best players easily negotiating a course with fearsome rough and some 206 bunkers.

With little wind forecast for the first three days, this may well turn out to be a birdie-fest and already Lee Westwood, who started so promisingly, may find his chances to win this championship are more or less over after a disappointing opening round of 72.

The cream of world golf have risen to the top of the leaderboard. Adam Scott, Zach Johnson, Bubba Watson, Graeme McDowell, Paul Lawrie and Tiger Woods just in the morning groups alone are all six or more shots better than Westwood. They will only be thinking of pushing on from here loading the pressure even more on poor old Westwood’s shoulders.

Tiger’s presence at the top of the leaderboard is ominous. For those playing yesterday afternoon, he had already set a high target and there is no better front runner in the world of golf. With three victories already on the PGA Tour this year, he demonstrated his comfort with his game and will set the alarm bells ringing for everyone in the field.

Tiger is the player of his generation, the ultimate competitor. He has won 74 official PGA Tour events, second only to date to Sam Snead, and one ahead of Jack Nicklaus with 73 wins. That’s a staggering winning ratio of 27.2% (74 out of 272). He has the lowest career scoring average in PGA Tour history and is the only player to have won all four professional major championships in a row.

Tiger intimidates like no other athlete in modern day. He knows the formula for major success: get the lead going into Sunday and play safe. He pressurises other contenders by forcing them into aggressive play, most often with catastrophic results.

His success is partly due to his ability to relish the challenge of competition, thereby never allowing his nerves get the better of him. He thrives on the pressure of major championships and raises his game to match the occasion. In his prime, he dictated if guys had chances to win major championships, but long before his body broke down and personal life crumbled, he was inadvertently causing future headaches for himself by making golf cool, enticing more gifted and dedicated athletes to the sport.

If Tiger is beatable this week, then the trick is to get in ahead of him before the final round, forcing him out of his comfort zone. Playing catch-up in a major is an art even Tiger has failed to master. When he isn’t leading on a major Sunday morning, he doesn’t threaten.

Of even greater consolation to the players this week is the fact he has not won a major in 15 starts. He has been stuck on 14 majors since limping away with the 2008 US Open, his anterior cruciate ligament ruptured and his left leg broken. PGA tour victories have come since then but even for someone of Tiger’s stature, getting back on the major championships victory trail has proven difficult and the longer it goes on, the tougher it will get.

Today, there is more talent out there who believe they have a chance to win majors and that will continue to be the case but only on Woods’ terms if he has his way.