91Èȱ¬

They call him the "Big Easy" but the journey for Ernie Els has been anything but simple.

The imposing South African with the silky-smooth swing clinched a dramatic second Open title 10 years after his first after Adam Scott's spectacular late collapse at Royal Lytham on Sunday.

The former world number joined an elite group of players with four major titles and has reaped untold riches from the game as one of the icons of his generation. But professionally there have been disappointments, while, personally, life is not straightforward either.

Els's son Ben was diagnosed with autism five years ago and the 42-year-old admitted he was thinking of him as he came from six shots back to beat Scott by one after the Australian bogeyed the last four holes on a dizzying day on the Fylde coast.

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Pressure will do funny things to a man. Not the real pressure of feeding a family or saving a life but sporting pressure. It's that feeling of being so close and yet so damned far from achieving your dreams. No matter how big or small.

Adam Scott, Brandt Snedeker, Graeme McDowell and Tiger Woods all have a very real chance of lifting the Claret Jug at Royal Lytham on Sunday.

They share the same dream, but they will all feel the pressure differently.

For Scott, the leader by four, there is the realisation that he could finally uncork the potential that has been bottled up for so long.

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Pressure will do funny things to a man. Not the real pressure of feeding a family or saving a life but sporting pressure. It's that feeling of being so close and yet so damned far from achieving your dreams. No matter how big or small.

Adam Scott, Brandt Snedeker, Graeme McDowell and Tiger Woods all have a very real chance of lifting the Claret Jug at Royal Lytham on Sunday.

They share the same dream, but they will all feel the pressure differently.

For Scott, the leader by four, there is the realisation that he could finally uncork the potential that has been bottled up for so long.

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Brandt Snedeker has hit on what he thinks is the perfect formula for the Open Championship; Boring golf, local beer and the voice of Tom Watson in his head.

It is working, because the "happy-go-lucky" American with the sun-bleached hair matched the lowest halfway score in Open history with rounds of 66, 64 over the last two days on the Fylde coast.

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The old adage says you can't win the tournament on the first day but you can lose it.
Lee Westwood is on the brink of testing that out.

The Englishman was feted by many as the Open champion-elect at Royal Lytham this week, given the way he consistently knocks on the door in majors.

Westwood has finished in the top three in seven of the past 16 of golf's big four tournaments, and plenty of pundits think it is only a matter of time he wins, although at 39 time is probably also running out.

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It was a freak show 11 years in the making as David Duval faced the press back at Royal Lytham.

Yet David Duval is no freak. Deep thinking, complicated, honest, articulate, possibly highly strung, yes. But freak? No. And he doesn't want pity. Doesn't think he needs it.

The American, lest you need reminding,

The slump that followed is legendary. From world number one twice in 1999, via the Claret Jug, to a past 1,000. A perfect example of the ephemeral and tenuous nature of confidence and thus ability.

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They say talk is cheap, but it is not if it yields the winner of the Open.

The time for cogitating, pontificating, blustering and plain making stuff up is over.

Here, then, are the learned predictions of golf's finest media brains. Who is going to win at Royal Lytham & St Annes? Read on.

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The Open and iconic moments go hand in hand, and Royal Lytham has had more than its fair share.

The championship returns to the venerable old links for the 11th time this week, but without one of its favourite sons.

It was on the Fylde coast that the legend of Seve Ballesteros was born and later sealed. Sadly, Ballesteros, the only player to have won the Open twice at Lytham, died last May after a battle with a brain tumour.

In 1979, Ballesteros was Europe's brightest young star, having come second in the Open as a 19-year-old three years earlier.

The swashbuckling Spaniard hit the ball to all four corners of Lytham, including that infamous shot from a temporary car park to the right of the 16th in the final round. But he recovered time and again with a combination of iron will, escapology and magic to clinch his first major title. He returned in 1988 to lift a third Claret Jug and a fifth and final major in all to confirm his place among the greats.

91Èȱ¬ golf commentator Ken Brown, a close friend of Ballesteros, had a ringside seat for the first two rounds in 1979. Here, Brown reflects on those days and divulges his idea of the winner:

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Remember Car-nasty? Royal Lytham could become Royal Loathe 'em by the end of this week. The Open is back on the Fylde coast for the first time since David Duval won in 2001, and the early signs are that a monster lies in wait.

The thick rough, made more lush by the soggy British summer, has already been dubbed "unplayable" in parts by Tiger Woods, while defending champion Darren Clarke said players spraying the ball around this week might as well go home now.

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English major winners are rarer than a glorious British summer these days: winners of the Open Championship are even more scarce.

It is now 20 years since Nick Faldo finished his burst of three Open titles. Before the first, in 1987, you have to go back another 18 years, to Tony Jacklin in 1969.

To some, Jacklin will be remembered as the man who helped change the face of the Ryder Cup, captaining four European sides. To others, such as Faldo's generation, he was their early inspiration in the game.

The first of Jacklin's two major titles - he also won the US Open in 1970 - came at Royal Lytham and St Annes, the venue for this week's Open Championship.

Before his win on the Fylde coast, no Englishman - or European for that matter - had won the Open since Max Faulkner triumphed at Royal Portrush in 1951.

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