Tiger Woods has presented golf enthusiasts with something of a dilemma in the countdown to the 128th British Open, starting at Carnoustie tomorrow. They respect his status as the world's number one, but in this, the post-Nicklaus era, they find it difficult to imagine any player being a worthy 5 to 1 favourite in such an elite field.

For his part, the 23-year-old spoke like an old hand yesterday about the special challenge of links golf. Indeed, he could do so with some authority, relative to this venue, having played six competitive rounds at Carnoustie in the Scottish Open in 1995 and 1996, when he was still an amateur.

But it's not easy being a top professional these days. While stuck in a traffic jam at rush hour, I wonder how many Dublin commuters realise their good fortune in having to concern themselves only with four-wheel power for transport to and from work?

Because of the vagaries of the Scottish weather, Woods and his colleagues have to consider no fewer than three modes of transport to take them from their hotel base in St Andrews, across the Firth of Tay to this celebrated links on the Angus coast. Helicopters, you see, are too unreliable in the infamous Scottish haar (dense fog) which we've had earlier in the week.

"I think the minimum ceiling for the helicopter is 200 feet," said Woods like a true aviator. "But we also have the option of a hovercraft, or to go by road. Obviously it depends on what the conditions are and you have to allow time for backup, too." All of which made me feel decidedly more at ease about my modest hired car, courtesy of the IT.

Still, he is coping admirably, not least because of the delightful sojourn he and his colleagues had in Ireland for most of last week. Woods played Waterville, the Old Head of Kinsale and Portmarnock before rounding off the trip with some fishing at The K Club. "It was great, a lot of great brown trout and we were just demolishing them up there," he enthused.

Regarding the visit to the Old Head, one had to allow for the exaggeration of youth as he described the problems posed by fog, which lifted completely as they reached the 14th green. "The hardest course we played was Old Head where we couldn't see more than 100 yards because of fog," he said.

Then, one suspected for dramatic effect, he added: "The cliffs are great until you walk up close to them, then you see there's a 300-foot drop off. It is not too hard to walk right off a cliff there." Those listeners unfamiliar with the Old Head were suitably impressed.

In more credible vein, he went on to talk about the current form of David Duval, who was with him in Ireland. Indeed, I was particularly taken by the closeness of the pair when, in quiet moments, they could be seen chatting together animatedly and sharing each other's humour.

"I think David was playing the best of us in Ireland," said Woods. "He was hitting the ball really well; controlling his traj (trajectory) really well."

Woods has learned a lot from his rivals, but as he disclosed yesterday, it is only on their terms. "I needed to learn how to putt better in the wind, which requires a different technique, like changing the ball position and your grip pressure," he said. "I knew Mark (O'Meara) developed his own technique for the wind and he was able to share it with me - after he won the Open last year."

Another demanding aspect of links golf is the way conditions can change, almost by the hour. It is one of the great benefits Woods took from the Scottish Open experience and from the Dunhill Cup at St Andrews, other than his involvement in this championship.

In his first look at the course this week, he played only four holes - the first, 16th, 17th and 18th - or the "whisky line", as he described them. But it was enough to convince him about the severity of the rough.

Yet he expressed no great concern about the general conditions, no doubt in the belief that he has been playing well enough this season to take anything Carnoustie can throw at him. In February, he captured the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines, close to his birthplace in Cypress, California, and though he wasn't pleased with an 18th-place finish in the US Masters, he went on to capture the Memorial Tournament in early June.

Then came the US Open at Pinehurst and a share of third place with Vijay Singh, behind Payne Stewart. And on the weekend of the Murphy's Irish Open, he had his third win of the season, taking the Western Open at Cog Hill by three strokes. Which adds up to useful takings of $2,545,990 from 14 tournaments. And it's just mid-July.

Still, those tournaments are somewhat different from the sort of challenge he is likely to be facing this week. But Woods wasn't short of answers. "I love this weather," he said, after coming in from rapidly plummeting temperatures and threatening rain. "I've always loved it.

"I grew up in southern California where we had good weather every day. So it's always a change to play in bad weather."

Sounds like a splendid slogan for Bord Failte by way of anticipating complaints from American visitors on a wet and windy day in Killarney.