Tiger loss won’t hurt Hoylake

The world’s best players will notice few changes when the British Open returns to Hoylake for the first time since 2006 this summer.

And championship officials are confident the possible absence of world No 1 Tiger Woods will also mean no major difference in attendance figures from July 17-20.

Hoylake will play just 54 yards longer than when Woods won in 2006 when it stages the Open for the 12th time, the major difference seeing the par-four seventh hole increased from 453 yards to 480. The overall yardage is 7,312.

Eight years ago Woods won his 11th Major title at Hoylake, but the 38-year-old is currently sidelined following back surgery and could miss the trip this time around.

However, Malcolm Booth, the R&A’s director of communications, said: “There’s no doubt that Tiger Woods’ impact on the game of golf is huge and he is still a massive draw, but we’ve had Opens without him before, in 2008 and 2011.

“The Open has always drawn a great crowd and we are sure we will again this year. We saw huge novelty and excitement in 2006 when we returned for the first time since 1967.

“We don’t anticipate the same 230,000 this year, but we expect around 200,000.”