91Èȱ¬

Tiger Woods's shocked everyone at Turnberry.

The world number one, chasing his 15th major title, was the overwhelming favourite after winning three times in his eight events since returning from knee surgery.

But he looked out-of-sorts and skulked home early after missing only his second cut in 48 majors.

We caught up with 91Èȱ¬ Sport's golf experts to hear their views on Woods:

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Tom Watson and Steve Marino proved there is more than one way to skin a cat.

One is playing in his 32nd Open Championship. The other is playing in his first and has never even been to Britain before.

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Our men Rob Hodgetts and Mark Orlovac give their latest updates from the Open at Turnberry...

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England's Ross Fisher is praying that the moment he's dreamed of for so long doesn't happen. At least for another two days.

The 28-year-old is poised to dash back to Surrey the moment he hears his wife Jo is about to go into labour with their first child.

But Fisher compiled a solid 68 in tough Turnberry conditions to climb into a very promising position at halfway in the 138th Open Championship on Friday.

And he faces an agonising choice should the call come over the weekend.

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The lady had no defence on Thursday but it was that beat off a host of young tyros vying for her modesty.

Turnberry offered as benign a test as she is ever likely to and five-time Open champion Tom Watson took advantage to lead for most of the opening day.

The winner of the famous at Turnberry in 1977 was pipped for the overnight lead late on by Miguel Angel Jimenez, but Watson proved that experience, guile and charm often works better with the ladies than muscles and flash clothes.

Whether the venerable veteran can pull the same trick on Friday is largely dependent on what mood the old girl is in and whether his ageing body can remember the moves.

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Our men Rob Hodgetts and Mark Orlovac give their latest updates from the Open at Turnberry...

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"Today, we're really going to earn our money," whispers one of the special security guards as he watches his man warm up on the range.

after a year out through injury and the crowd is expectant.

The grandstand and surrounds of the first tee are packed well ahead of time. Battalions of photographers line both sides of the fairway near the tee, huge cameras primed for action.

Some lurk in the rough, inquisitive lenses barely poking above the tall grass, like a posse of wildlife photographers who have discovered a new species. Pressmen fill in the gaps, crouching and clutching notebooks.

There is a hum and officials on the tee busy themselves. Everyone knows what's coming, and it isn't Robert Allenby's opening drive.

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It can't go on forever. Or at least, it's very unlikely to, statistically.

As we all know, the British major drought has gone on for 10 years now but there's a distinct feeling in the air that it could be over soon.

There's just too many good British players at the moment for it not to, goes the argument.

Maybe it's just because it's the Open and we are swept up in patriotic fervour.

But with the world number three hailing from England, his countrymen and joint second in the betting for the Open and six Englishmen and two from Northern Ireland in the top 50 in the world rankings, the prospects do look rosy.

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has a new putter, seems to have mended his broken heart and fortunately for him (not that he sees it that way) is still the best player in the world never to have won a major.

Being the best at something is nothing to be sniffed at, especially if you've been struggling.

But this is one honour that has negative connotations and which every incumbent wants to shift on as quickly as possible.

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On the eve of the 138th Open, and with the phoney war coming to an end, we thought it might help to find out who the pundits are picking as the likely champion at Turnberry.

We canvassed a cross-section from the assembled media here in Ayrshire, asking for their idea of the winner and another player who will feature prominently this week.

Here's what they said:

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backers need to ask themselves two questions.

Can he win the Open at Turnberry this week? And can he get in the position to win?

The answer to the first is yes, if he does the second. The answer to the second requires a far more complicated debate.

And that, in a nutshell, is the enigma that is Harrington.

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There's an old saying in these parts: "If ye can see , it's gaun tae rain. If ye canny see it, it's already raining."

The first part is definitely true. It was lovely when we went out and the granite isle was shining in the .

The second, I couldn't tell you. Head bowed, eyes screwed up against the deluge, I was too busy scuttling back off the course to check as it fair belted it down.

" is a magnificent setting," Peter Allis told me last week. "When the weather's nice it's one of the great venues of the world."

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Golf fans, are you excited? You should be, the wait is over. It's Open week again, and this year's takes place at on the west coast of Scotland.

To get in the mood, here's an A-Z guide:

A is for , the region of western Scotland that hosts Turnberry as well as just up the road. It's also for Ailsa Craig, the offshore granite islet which gave its name to Turnberry's Ailsa course. And airfield - Turnberry was used as a RAF base during World War Two and you can still see the runway.

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Mention the words and I drift off to a scene of brilliant blue skies, sun-scorched fairways, rolling sand dunes, the whiff of the sea, and trousers the first time around.

In my mind's eye, the Open is like those memories of childhood summer holidays - perfect weather, permanent excitement and ice creams on tap.

It's not always like that, of course, and the last two years have been especially inclement at times with roaring winds and lashing rain.

There's one Open in particular I'm thinking of, and it just happens to be one of the most iconic Opens ever played.

I am, of course, talking about the 1977 classic, dubbed "", held at Turnberry, venue for this week's 138th Open Championship.

(Not that I saw it at the time - I was only five - but it's since seeped into my sub-conscious).

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