Throwing caution to the wind

Nature's invisible element has them all concerned. Mark O'Meara, the US Masters champion, smacks his lips and leaves a sense of awe hanging in the air. "Your know, Tiger can hit a nine-iron 157 yards pretty easily with no wind," he remarked, and not even a judge on the bench would doubt that Mr Woods can perform such a feat.

But O'Meara is only teasing, wasting a few seconds to reach the point, finally shaking his head to emphasise the threat that the omnipresent wind on the Royal Birkdale links will hold for anyone with designs on claiming this week's British Open.

"On the seventh hole today, he needed a full three-iron and hit it 152 yards," said O'Meara, and again no-one doubts that what he says is true.

The wind, as much as the tigerish rough which has flourished in the summer rain, is likely to play devilish tricks with the finely-honed and rhythmic swings. It'll demand great course management, and great patience. And, rather than use himself as a guide, O'Meara preferred to use his friend Tiger Woods's power-hitting game to demonstrate how much a factor the wind will be in the season's third major.

On Monday, for instance, Woods stood on the eighth tee-box and pulled out a new driver which the Titleist people wanted him to try. "I hit a one-iron off the tee and we measured it at 338 yards," recalled O'Meara. "Then, Tiger hit a driver that went 457 yards." The sense of awe returned.

"I hit it up in the wind, 440 yards, whatever it was," said Woods. "It was something out there for fun, see how far I can hit it and see what happens. Will I hit driver in the championship? It all depends on the wind as well as how I'm swinging."

The wind can play hellish tricks. Last week, when playing Waterville, Woods hit a drive and sand wedge to the second hole. "I thought it was the easiest hole in the world," said Woods. The next day, he went out and hit driver and three-wood and didn't even make the green. "The wind just turned in the opposite direction, a full 180 degrees."

Woods and O'Meara know what the wind can do, and sometimes the brain rather than power-hitting is the way to beat it. As O'Meara added: "If the wind blows here (in Birkdale) you are going to see some difficult scoring conditions."