Tiger Woods

History is never far away at The Open.

Royal Troon is decorated with billboards, infographics and videos on a loop, celebrating the great Champions of the past.

Tiger Woods, the three-time Champion Golfer of the Year, of course features prominently, his St Andrews double and Royal Liverpool masterclass among the greatest performances ever seen.

Yet the American great is not ready to be consigned to history just yet and, as he prepares for his 23rd Open appearance, believes he can still conjure some of the old magic and write another glorious chapter in this Championship’s never-ending treasure trove of legendary tales.

At 48 and his body still coping with the fall-out of a serious car crash in 2021, Woods admits he struggles to compete with the game’s longest hitters day in, day out.

But at The Open, where the experience of age can trump the energy of youth, he cannot be counted out.

He said: “I'll play as long as I can play and I feel like I can still win the event.

“The older you get the less you can carry the golf ball but over here, you can run the golf ball 100 yards if you get the right wind and the right trajectory.

“I think that’s one of the reasons why you see older Champions up there on the board because they’re not forced to have to carry the ball 320 yards any more.

“I’ve been training a lot better. We’ve been busting it pretty hard in the gym, which has been good.

“The body has been feeling better to be able to do such things, and it translates [into] being able to hit the ball better.

“I can't quite stay out there during a practice session as long as I'd like, but I'm able to do some things that I haven't done all year, which is nice.”

Woods has certainly been putting the hours in so far this week. While many players were at the Genesis Scottish Open on Sunday, Woods was at Royal Troon, practising alongside Justin Thomas.

He played again on Monday and was back out on the range on Tuesday, in the wind and the rain. Woods knows he needs it.

He did not play when The Open was last here in 2016, with injury forcing him to watch from the sidelines, making it 20 years since his last round here.

He finished tied ninth, seven shots off Champion Todd Hamilton, while he also finished T24 in 1997.

“I've always loved playing here,” he said.

“I've only played here twice. I played in 1997 and in 2004. I loved them both. I got a chance to play with Tom Weiskopf in his last practice round.

“That was neat for him to take me back to some of his holes and how he played them, and I obviously gave him some stick, and he's giving me stick, like we always do. We had a wonderful time playing just a wonderful practice round.”

Woods’ enthusiasm for links golf is obvious. He loves the challenge each Open course brings, the firmness of the greens, contours of the fairways, the depth of the bunkers – and the unpredictable weather.

It’s what keeps him coming back.

“Anytime I get a chance to play, not just in Scotland, but in the UK in general, it's different golf,” he said.

“Links golf is very different. The heaviness of the air is just different. The ball doesn't travel as far.

"You're using the ground sometimes as an ally, sometimes as a deterrent. And these pots are unlike any bunkers we see at home. They're penalty areas. You go in them, you're probably going sideways or backwards or somewhere not very far. So it's imperative to stay out of them.”

That’s perhaps most important at the iconic Postage Stamp, the 123-yard par-3 8th hole that is among the most famous holes in the world.

“It's just a simple,” said Woods.

“Just hit the ball on the green. That's it. Green good, miss green bad. It doesn't get any more simple than that.”

If only it was. Few golfers have made golf look so simple, and Woods is undoubtedly one of them.

Winning this week will be anything but. Yet, as history reminds us around here, he cannot be discounted.