HOYLAKE, England – From the time they faced each other in the Walker Cup, a couple of 18-year-olds with the world at their feet, Rickie Fowler figured he’d go at it again someday with Rory McIlroy in a major championship.

If only it was a fair fight.

Fowler will be playing in the final group of a major for the second straight time, but he faces a daunting six-stroke deficit heading to Sunday at the British Open.

With a brilliant finish to the third round, McIlroy put himself in prime position to capture his third major championship. Fowler only hopes he can put a bit of pressure on the leader.

Fowler and McIlroy were both rising young stars when they played in the 2007 Walker Cup, one of the top amateur competitions.

HOYLAKE, England – If organizers of the British Open needed any vindication of their historic decision to use a two-tee start at Royal Liverpool on Saturday, it came from Rory McIlroy about 30 minutes after his round.

Torrential rain was pounding the roof of the media tent as McIlroy was holding a news conference, discussing his third-round 68 that inched him closer to a first claret jug.

Asked if The R&A made the correct decision to go off two tees and send the whole field out early, the tournament leader looked up and pointed to the skies.

“It was a great decision,” McIlroy said. “They got it right.”

In a move that riled traditionalists, The R&A looked at the forecast of thunderstorms and heavy rain and decided late Friday to make an unprecedented schedule change. Half of the field was to begin on the 10th hole and all 72 remaining players were to set out within two hours of each other.

Sure enough, the heavy rain arrived – 30 minutes after McIlroy rolled in his eagle 3 at No. 18 to secure a six-shot lead with the last action of the day.

Players finishing their third rounds were generally accepting of the two-tee start.

“We’ve never done it before at the Open Championship,” said 2011 champion Darren Clarke, who was disbelieving when he was told over dinner on Friday. “It’s one of the beauties – you get good tee times, you get bad tee times.

“But they had to do it today, and it looks like they’ve made the perfect call.”

There had been only intermittent outbreaks of rain and barely any wind at Hoylake by the time McIlroy wrapped up the third round shortly before 4 p.m. local time (11 a.m. EDT).

McIlroy’s group finished about three hours earlier than usual on a Saturday at the British Open.

There was thunder and flashes of lightning in parts of the northwest of England overnight, and the forecast of more of the same across the area on Saturday led The R&A to act. A two-tee start had never been done in the tournament’s 154-year history.

Spectators arrived with their rain gear and umbrellas. A sign at the back of the ninth green read: “Be prepared, thunderstorm possible.”

In fact, the main gripe among players and fans was that they were not given enough time to prepare. One spectator was heard complaining that the decision was made too late, because it disrupted his travel plans.

“There’s a lot of surprise (among players) that no one could get their tee time until 10:30 last night,” 2013 U.S. Open champion Justin Rose said. “That’s very tough when you’re trying to prepare for the tournament.”

Swedish player Henrik Stenson said he had gone to bed not knowing his tee time.

“My caddie woke up in the middle of the night and checked it,” Stenson said.

The split tee times also meant that the duties of Ivor Robson, the official starter for the British Open since 1975, were halved. Players getting underway on the 10th were introduced to the crowds by European Tour official Mike Stewart.

“I don’t know what to do now,” Robson told the BBC after calling out his last name for the day at 11:01 a.m. local time (6:01 EDT). “The last two days the tee times have been 6:24 (a.m.) till just past 4 (p.m.). I will watch golf I suppose.”

Montreal – Golf Canada and RBC announced today the final field of competitors set to challenge for the $5.7 million (USD) RBC Canadian Open, July 21-27 at The Royal Montreal Golf Club.

Defending champion Brandt Snedeker will be challenged by a world class field of PGA Tour stars that includes World No. 5 Matt Kuchar, World No. 16 Dustin Johnson, World No. 17 Graeme McDowell, World No. 18 and two-time Canadian Open champion Jim Furyk, World No. 20 Luke Donald, World No. 26 Charl Schwartzel, World No. 46 Hunter Mahan and World No. 58 Ernie Els.

The field of players will also include eleven past champions who will challenge for Canada’s National Open title including Snedeker, Scott Piercy (2012), Sean O’Hair (2011), Carl Pettersson (2010), Nathan Green (2009), Jim Furyk (2006 & 2007), Mark Calcavecchia (2005), Vijay Singh (2004), John Rollins (2002), Billy Andrade (1998) and Dudley Hart (1996).

In all, 156 players will compete for the $5.7 million USD purse next week in Montreal when Canada’s National Open Championship returns to The Royal Montreal Golf Club for the 10th time.

The RBC Canadian Open will once again feature a strong international contingent as 16 countries will be represented including the United States, Scotland, Argentina, Brazil, India, Ireland, New Zealand, South Korea, Venezuela, South Africa, Fiji, Sweden, Australia, England, Colombia and Canada.

Leading the charge for the Canadian contingent are PGA Tour players Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., Brad Fritsch of Manotick, Ont., Stephen Ames of Calgary and Mike Weir of Bright’s Grove, Ont.

Other Canadians set to compete include the Web.com Tour’s Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C. who won the 2014 Web.com Tour’s Chile Classic as well as fellow Web.com Tour player Nick Taylor of Abbottsford, B.C. who was offered an exemption.

In addition, recently crowned 2014 PGA Championship of Canada winner Dave Levesque of Montreal and PGA of Canada Player Rankings leader Billy Walsh of Markham, Ont. will also join the field alongside the 2013 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur champion, Kevin Carrigan of Victoria. PGA Tour Canada’s Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont. and Beon Yeong Lee of Montreal are also set to compete after winning the their regional qualifying sites. Additionally, Team Canada’s Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont. and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C. earned exemptions into Canada’s National Open Championship.

“The field is set and we’re ready to kick off the 105th playing of Canada’s National Open Championship,” said Bill Paul, Tournament Director of the RBC Canadian Open. “The golf course is in tremendous shape and ready to challenge the world’s best golfers for the 10th time. Our team of nearly 1,500 volunteers is ready and there is no doubt that Canadian golf fans will be treated to a terrific showcase next week at The Royal Montreal Golf Club.”

Three additional exemptions will be confirmed on Sunday evening following the conclusion of PGA Tour Canada’s Stall Foundation Open in Thunder Bay, Ont. The top three players on the PGA Tour Canada Order of Merit at the conclusion of the Stall Foundation Open will earn an exemption into the RBC Canadian Open.

Click here to view the full field.

HOYLAKE, England – As his tee shot curled farther and farther away from the 17th fairway, heading toward all sorts of trouble, Tiger Woods simply stuffed his club in the bag.

He appeared to mumble something to himself, but that was about it.

No fiery outburst. No course language. No complaints about someone talking too loud, or being on the phone, or snapping a picture.

Shoulders slumping, Woods looked as though he had accepted his fate.

There won’t be a 15th major championship.

Not at this British Open.

Woods needed a birdie at the final hole – his only one of the day – just to make the cut. He walked off the 18th with a 5-over 77, his worst Open round since that stormy day at Muirfield in 2002, and headed to the weekend a staggering 14 shots behind the leader, Rory McIlroy.

“Not very good,” Woods said.

Indeed, it wasn’t.

Woods made double-bogey at the first hole, a bogey at the second. Just like that, all the good vibes from a 69 in the opening round were wiped away, his score tumbling to even par. From there, it was a grind – 14 pars in a row as McIlroy pulled away.

Then came the 17th, where Woods made such a mess of things, he nearly missed the cut at a major for only the fourth time in his professional career. That aforementioned tee shot sailed out of bounds right of the fairway, though Woods didn’t realize it until he had walked some 150 yards toward his ball.

Back to the tee box he trudged, to hit another after taking a one-stroke penalty. This time, Woods yanked it off in the tall grass to the left, between the 16th and 17th fairways. Four more shots were required to finish off a triple-bogey 7 that nearly finished off his hopes of getting in two more much-needed rounds.

Clearly, Woods is rusty after undergoing back surgery on March 31. He missed the Masters and the U.S. Open, finally returning to action at Congressional three weeks ago. He missed the cut in that event, and his opening round at Hoylake – five birdies in six holes on the back side – was merely an aberration.

There’s a lot of work to do.

“I had some opportunities to make a few birdies along the way to get back to even par for the day, and I just never did,” Woods said. “I just never made anything. I had myself in good positions to make birdies, and I just didn’t do it.”

More distressing for those in the Woods camp, his body language looked more and more defeated as McIlroy kept adding to what was a mere three-shot lead over Woods at the start of the round.

Woods sounded downright delusional when he brought up Paul Lawrie’s comeback from a 10-shot deficit on the final day at Carnoustie in 1999.

That, of course, required Jean Van de Velde to essentially give the tournament away on the 72nd hole.

Hard to see McIlroy making such a blunder – and, even if he did, Woods’ game being in any sort of shape to take advantage of it.

“I’m pretty far back,” Woods conceded. “Luckily I’ve got two rounds to go. And hopefully I can do something like Paul did in `99. He made up, I think, 10 in one day. Hopefully I can play well on the weekend and at least give myself a shot at it going to the back nine on Sunday.”

Actually, Woods’ rehabilitation would seem to be a longer-term project.

He showed flashes of his once-dominant form – that stretch of birdies on Thursday, a testy chip over a pot bunker to set up a 6-footer for birdie at the 18th on Friday – but the consistency just isn’t there. Too many errant drives. Too many iron shots that just weren’t quite close enough to the flag. Too many putts that came up short or slid by the cup.

What made it all the more striking was the performance by McIlroy, usually considered the most likely player to succeed Woods as the face of the game.

The Boy Wonder from Northern Ireland made his second straight 66 look downright easy, barely breaking a sweat on the sticky day.

“He plays pretty aggressively to begin with,” Woods said. “And when he’s going, he can get it going pretty good.”

That’s what they used to say about Woods, who was only 32 when he won his 14th major championship.

Now he’s 38, and still waiting to add another.

Hard to see that changing at Royal Liverpool.

HOYLAKE, England – The British Open once again lived up to its fickle, unpredictable weather reputation, and doesn’t half the field at Royal Liverpool know it.

Ideal weather greeted morning groups Thursday, but the wind picked up in the afternoon. On Friday, those same afternoon golfers got the worst of gusty morning conditions.

By midday Friday, the wind died down, creating similar conditions for the same lucky golfers who benefited from good scoring opportunities Thursday morning.

That left George Coetzee, who shot 69 Friday, as the only player among the leaders who drew the unlucky Thursday afternoon-Friday morning double.

Those guys shouldn’t despair: Padraig Harrington experienced battering wind and rain during his first round at Royal Birkdale in 2008 and shot 74. Three days later, he won his second British Open.

U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer shrugged his shoulders when asked Friday about his unlucky draw over the first two rounds – a 1:38 p.m. start with gusting winds Thursday and even worse conditions Friday when he began play at 8:37 a.m.

“I can’t take care of the weather,” Kaymer said. “I just take it the way it is. That is what The Open is about.”

Darren Clarke, the 2011 champion at Royal St. George’s, was on the lucky side of the draw. He agreed with Kaymer.

“You get good sides, and I’ve been at enough Open Championships where I’ve had the bad side of it as well,” Clarke said. “They all even out.”

Adam Scott, among the few players who were on the leaderboard after playing in the afternoon on Thursday, saw more of the same on Friday. Except worse.

“Today was much tougher out there, just the slight direction change and the gusts,” Scott said. “All of a sudden there were holes where I was hitting 6-iron from in the 140s (yards). That’s when you know it’s pretty windy.”

Justin Rose, who played in Scott’s group, saw the change immediately.

He has just finished his morning round and was doing media interviews when he pointed to a television monitor showing a limp flag at No. 2, and said: “When I was playing the second hole, it was howling.”

Both Scott and Rose play on the U.S.-based PGA Tour, where conditions usually become tougher for the afternoon golfers and the luck of the draw usually isn’t an issue.

The forecast for Saturday? Rain and possible thunderstorms. But at least it should be a near-level playing field for the leaders going off late in the round.

Jason Day, who shot rounds of 74 and who was in Kaymer’s group, says “you take what you can get” when it comes to the weather.

“You can come over and play social rounds and get used to the course this way, but it’s nothing like playing a tournament on links golf,” Day said. “It’s very frustrating, but there’s some luck involved. And obviously it can change in a heartbeat.”

The British Open will use a two-tee start for the first time in the tournament’s 154-year history for Saturday’s third round due to predicted heavy rain and thunderstorms.

Tournament official David Rickman said Friday play is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. (0800 GMT) Saturday off the first and 10th tees. That compressed schedule would allow for up to five hours of delays and enable the round to be completed.

The British Open has always used a one-tee start, but Rickman says the decision to use a second for the 70-plus players in groups of three would allow the tournament to be “in a better place on Sunday.”

The forecast calls for deteriorating weather to begin overnight Friday, with an expected break of up to four hours late Saturday morning.

HOYLAKE, England – Phil Mickelson broke par in a major for the first time since he won last year’s British Open. It was just what he needed Friday at Royal Liverpool to stay in the hunt at this one.

Typical of Mickelson, it wasn’t easy.

He missed a 4-foot birdie putt after one of his best shots of the day, and was so irritated by that it caused him to bogey the next hole. He lost his tee shot on the par-5 10th hole, had to play another tee shot but still made par by getting up-and-down from about 215 yards away with a 2-iron.

A 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole gave Mickelson a 2-under 70, bringing him back to par for the championship.

“Fortunately, I was able to fight hard and get it back on the back nine because I was 1-over par and then hit one out of bounds, essentially,” Mickelson said. “So to get it back to even is good. And, hopefully, the weather is supposed to come in tomorrow. It will be tough for all of us.”

It looked plenty tough for him halfway through the second round.

Mickelson, who opened with a 74, appeared to be hitting his stride after a wild tee shot on No. 4 that flew over the gallery, so far right that it landed in grass that had been tamped down. He hit that to 4 inches for birdie, made eagle on the par-5 fifth hole and looked as if he would get under par when he hit a 5-iron on No. 7, the toughest at Hoylake, to 4 feet.

But he missed the birdie putt and walked quietly to the next tee, shaking his head. Mickelson usually puts blunders behind him quickly, but not this time. And it cost him. Playing aggressively to a pin tucked by a slope on the right side of the green, he went long and into the first cut. A flop shop wasn’t hit hard enough and rolled back off the green. He had to make a 4-footer to escape with bogey.

“I wasn’t patient,” he said. “I tried to get that shot a little close. And what happened is I drew that 8-iron with the wind, and when it’s going downwind, it just doesn’t stop. I should have hit it 30 feet. I thought, `I’m going to try to get one close.’ Hit it over the green, hit a poor chip and made bogey.”

Nothing saved his round quite like the 10th, however.

He never found his tee shot in the gorse and thick bushes and had to play his provisional, meaning he was playing his fourth shot from 215 yards away. He drilled a 2-iron onto the green and holed the short par putt.

Mickelson made it sound routine: “Lost ball, played the provisional in the fairway, hit a 2-iron to 6 feet and made it for par.”

Lefty didn’t drop a shot the rest of the way and closed with a birdie. Whether that’s enough depended on how the leaders fared in the afternoon and how much nasty weather arrives Saturday.

He was four shots out of the lead going into the weekend last year at Muirfield, and still five behind going into the final day. Mickelson closed with a 66, one of the great closing rounds in major championship history. He didn’t break par in a major over his next 11 rounds until Friday.

He has said he has been close at various times this year, though his last victory was at Muirfield.

Mickelson said he made a few adjustments on the back nine, such as extending his swing more toward the target, though his putting has been inconsistent.

“I’m striking it so good,” Mickelson said. “And if I putt the way I putted the last nine holes for the weekend, I’m going to have a good chance.”

That’s more than he can say for the two major champions in his pairing.

Two-time Open champion Ernie Els never recovered from that triple bogey on the opening hole that led to a 79. He shot 73 and will miss the cut at 8-over 152. Masters champion Bubba Watson bogeyed the last hole for a 72. He was at 4-over 148 and will also not play the weekend.

HOYLAKE, England – Ernie Els hit a spectator in the face with his opening tee shot at the British Open on Thursday, shaking up the two-time champion for the rest of his first round at Royal Liverpool.

The man’s injury and Els’ subsequent triple-bogey 7 on the first hole were just the start of his problems. The Big Easy will have a big task trying to stick around for the weekend after carding a 7-over 79, including 42 on the front nine.

Els said he was “quite rattled” after he realized the man, who he estimated was in his 60s, was bleeding profusely from a shot that Els said hit the spectator directly in the face.

“There was blood everywhere,” Els said. “It was like a bullet coming at him. I obviously felt pretty bad about it. It wasn’t nice. I was trying to hit it left, and should have told the starters to move the people back on the left side, but I didn’t do that.”

Els said he would make inquiries about the man’s recovery. Tournament officials said the spectator was not seriously injured.

On the first green, Els missed a bogey putt from about eight inches, bizarrely backhanded the subsequent foot-long putt just past the hole and tapped in for his triple bogey.

“Yeah, I was kind of finished. I started to miss short putts, it was just a nightmare,” he said.

Els said he may have “put the jinx” on his playing partners – defending champion Phil Mickelson shot 74, and Masters winner Bubba Watson had a 76.

Watson said he felt Els was affected by the man’s injury.

“When we got to the green Ernie said he hit somebody right in the jaw and he said it wasn’t good,” Watson said. “And you could tell Ernie was shaken up by it. You’re not trying to hit a bad shot in, but when you hit somebody like that it’s not a good scene, and it’s very heart-breaking. I’m not saying that’s why he struggled on that hole, but I’m pretty sure that’s what it was.”

There was a bit of comic relief on the 18th where Els had to gently prod a frog away from the tee box with his driver, prompting a smile.

Els won his British Open titles 10 years apart – at Muirfield in 2002 and at Royal Lytham in 2012. He also has two U.S. Open trophies. He’s playing his 24th British Open, where he has seven top-five finishes, and has missed the cut just three times.

That total could well be four after Friday.

“I played the front nine in 7-over par, (on) a perfect day, and that’s just unheard of,” Els said. “Hopefully we’ll get it tomorrow.”

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

It means the more things change, the more they stay the same. And in a sense it’s applicable to what has transpired at The Royal Montreal Golf Club and on its famed Blue course since it last held the RBC Canadian Open in 2001.

The historic and picturesque layout, which is set to host this year’s championship July 24-27, has undergone changes since 2001 when the club hosted the championship for the second time in four years. Changes that were part of a major renovation of the Blue course by renowned course designer Rees Jones and completed ahead of the 2007 Presidents Cup which was the first time the biennial match play championship between the International and United States teams was played in Canada.

The course on which American Scott Verplank won for the first time in 2001, a victory which assured him a spot on the U.S. team for that year’s Ryder Cup which ultimately was postponed for a year because of the September 11^th terrorist attacks in the U.S., and the same course where 1997 saw Tiger Woods miss the cut for the first time as a professional, is different in a number of respects from what players will see this time.

The Blue course remains a par 70 in total, but it has been lengthened by nearly 300 yards to 7,153 yards and the most notable change has been the switch of the 12^th and 13^th holes, previously a par 3 and a par 5, respectively. The former is now a par 5 at 570 yards, and the latter a 224-yard par 3.

At the time of this writing only nine of the players in the field for this year’s tournament have a familiarity with the new-look Blue course – Stewart Cink, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Lucas Glover, Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman, Hunter Mahan, Vijay Singh, and Canada’s Mike Weir – because of having played for their respective International and U.S. squads in the Presidents Cup.

“I don’t think the players who were there in 2001 or even in ’97 will really notice the changes,” says RBC Canadian Open tournament director Bill Paul. “There is a little more yardage than in ’01, but I think those who were there then, or even in ’97, or have heard of it, will know how the course played and now plays: an old and traditional style where the course is all right in front of you. That will be the appeal more than anything.

“Obviously the greens will be the biggest change from the previous Canadian Opens in terms of their size and the movement within them,” says Paul. “And the setup for this year’s Open will be a bit more difficult than it was for the Presidents Cup. We’ll have more rough.

“By in large it’s the same kind of course as in 2007, but I think as a player how you play match play and how you play stroke play are two different things.”

Upon completion of the renovation, Jones expressed satisfaction with the changes and felt the players headed to the Presidents Cup would be called upon to create opportunities to score with each swing of the golf club.

“The players will have to make a lot of decisions in the course,” Jones said at the time.

No doubt the same will be true this time for the RBC Canadian Open.

A glance at the Blue course hole by hole:

No. 1 – par 4, 444 yards

It’s a slight uphill dogleg left where a 300-yard plus drive is needed to carry a fairway bunker in the left. The green is kidney-shaped, narrows at the front while the back left slopes away.

No. 2 – par 4, 385 yards

This is a dogleg right that rolls slightly downhill and is driveable from the tee especially with help of the prevailing wind. The green runs perpendicular to the fairway and in addition to being guarded by deep bunker on the left, features several distinct spines and slopes to the right.

No. 3 – par 4, 437 yards

A dogleg to the right, it requires an accurate second shot to an elevated green which slopes to the back and guarded by bunkers on both sides.

No. 4 – par 4, 501 yards

The most difficult hole on the front nine usually plays into the prevailing southwest wind. The dogleg left uphill has a narrow landing area between fairway bunkers and a green protected by bunkers on the left and right front sides.

No. 5 – par 3, 203 yards

Another kidney-shaped and elevated green, there are bunkers left and right.

No. 6 -par 5, 570 yards

The dogleg right has a large green which sits on a plateau and is angled toward the fairway. Deep bunkers guard the front and there is a series of more at the back on this the first of only two par-5s on the entire course.

No. 7 – par 3, 153 yards

It’s the shortest par 3, but the green is small, narrow and protected extremely well.

No. 8 – par 4, 394 yards

It’s a short dogleg left that and usually plays downwind. The green is generous, but not entirely visible from where players hit approach shots.

No. 9 – par 4, 437 yards

Similar to No. 1 as a slight dogleg left although not uphill, a carry of 320 yards off the tee is needed to take a bunker out of play on the left side of the fairway near the landing area. The elevated green is narrow at the front and has deep bunkers on both sides.

No. 10 – par 4, 460 yards

A large pond on the left side starts 160 yards from the green and continues all the way to it. Trees line the right side and the green features a “waterfall style surface” with the height increasing from front to back.

No. 11 – par 4, 476 yards

The drive from the tee is through a column of trees poised like sentries on either side. The hole doglegs slightly to the right and flows uphill to a sneaky green with ridge running down the centre of it.

No. 12 – par 5, 570 yards

The first of two new holes and a dogleg left, it plays downhill but has a generous landing zone bordered by bunkers on either side. The green is perched and protected by a complex of bunkers on the left side.

No. 13 – par 3, 224 yards

It’s the second of the two new holes created during the renovation before the 2007 Presidents Cup. It’s also the longest of four par-3s on the course and plays downhill to another narrow and well-bunkered green.

No. 14 -par 4, 369 yards

Water on the left and extends all the way to the green and trees line the right side of the fairway which narrows into a small landing area bunkered on the right. The approach shot is in to a green that also is narrow, small in the front and bunkered on the right.

No. 15 – par 4, 448 yards

Water again is a factor on the left side of the fairway and in front of and around the green. Bunkers on the right and a pot bunker at the back left between the green and the pond guard a long and narrow putting service.

No. 16 – par 4, 456 yards

Driver off the tee might not be the best option on a hole with a large pond that runs all along the left side. The approach shot is played over water to an elevated green that is protected by a huge bunker.

No. 17 – par 3, 160 yards

The prevailing wind blows across the green toward the pond on the right. The green is narrow and bunkered on the left side.

No. 18 – par 4, 466 yards

The 18th is the most challenging green on the course. Water is in play on the left side off the tee and the landing area where the fairway shifts to left and move slightly uphill to a plateaued green.

This is the hole where Weir in dramatic fashion won his Sunday singles match against Tiger Woods at the 2007 Presidents Cup.

HOYLAKE, England – Even when he’s not the favorite, Tiger Woods is still the show at the British Open.

Woods earned that attention by piling up majors at a faster rate than anyone in history, and the attention is just as great now because his recent past includes back surgery and his immediate future is more uncertain than ever. ESPN plans to show his entire round online Thursday.

Not to be overlooked at golf’s oldest championship, however, is a new generation of stars.

Rickie Fowler and Harris English will be playing ahead of him. Two groups behind will be Jordan Spieth and Hideki Matsuyama. They are among 25 players who share a bond that speaks to the state of golf. Woods has never won a major during their professional careers.

Yes, they saw his dominance on TV. They just never experienced it.

They were not around for the decade when Woods won majors with regularity, sometimes by a record score, sometimes by a record margin. They missed the days that were so Tiger-centric a player couldn’t get through an interview without being asked something about Woods.

“Tiger ruined a lot of guys’ lives,” Charles Howell III, a longtime friend of Woods who lived through those times, said earlier in the year. “He caused a lot of people some sleepless Sunday nights. But he also motivated an entire generation behind him.”

Howell’s point was that while the next generation might have been in awe of Woods, being outside the arena allowed them to study him without getting scarred. They learned from the way he worked. They were more prepared than the generation before them.

The talk at this British Open is that it is more open than ever.

But then, that’s been the case since Woods won his last major six years ago. Since that 2008 U.S. Open, 19 players have won majors, and no one has won more than two. In the 24 majors leading up to his last major, Woods won six, Phil Mickelson won three and no one else won more than one.

“Looking at the different amount of winners in the last five years at the major championships, we’re seeing so many players win,” Henrik Stenson said Wednesday. It’s so competitive. At some point there might have been 20 guys battling out for it. And now it feels like anyone in the field can win if they have a great week. So it’s definitely tighter.”

Stenson, No. 2 in the world and among the favorites this week, will be playing alongside Woods for the opening two days.

“He’s just one of the guys I need to beat if I want to do well this week,” Stenson said. “But it’s a good start if you know you can beat him.”

Woods is playing his first major of the year because of March 31 back surgery. Returning to Royal Liverpool was always the target – he won his third claret jug on these links in 2006 when it was brown and fast, not green and slower as it is this year. Woods came back sooner than he expected, missing the cut at Congressional three weeks ago in what had the feeling of a 36-hole rehab assignment.

He feels healthy. He feels strong. And he still commands a presence.

That much was clear when Woods played only two holes Wednesday as spectators scrambled for a view. He brings energy and excitement to a golf tournament.

Does he bring intimidation?

The Open is his next opportunity to see if he can regain the mystique that a younger generation has yet to experience. Matt Kuchar, who played a practice round with Woods on Sunday, doesn’t think it will take much. He’s not sure Woods ever lost it.

“The kids today grew up idolizing him,” Kuchar said. “He gets back on form again, I don’t think that intimidation factor is gone at all. These are the kids that grew up watching him and wanting to be him.”

Kuchar said it can be intimidating to play alongside, although Patrick Reed sure wasn’t flustered having Woods in the group ahead of him at Doral, and Spieth didn’t looked rattled when he shot 63 at Torrey Pines (the North Course) with Woods in his group.

Is there a difference between watching dominance on TV and seeing it in person?

“You’re saying a different intimidation for the guys who are now just coming up and just watched it on TV as opposed to my generation that were actually losing by 10 to it?” Kuchar said with a laugh. “I’m not sure. If I was to go shoot baskets with Michael Jordan right now, I would be pretty intimidated. So it’s probably similar. The guys that played against him and got scored 40 on probably have a similar feeling to me in the awe that surrounds a guy like that.”

It all unfolds on Thursday, where the only mystery greater than Woods in the English weather. The final day of practice featured sunshine and rain. Hoylake when it’s green is there to be attacked – it’s the only course on the Open rotation with four par 5s. The greens are not severe. The fairways are relatively flat, which makes them more fair.

All eyes will be on Woods, and there’s nothing unusual about that. The difference is that no one is sure what they will see.

HOYLAKE, England – Old Tom Morris would barely recognize the British Open these days.

It’s one thing for golf to evolve from gutta percha to polyurethane, from niblicks to hybrids, from hickory to graphite. Now the British Open is all about LED screens, apps and routers. Yes, there are wireless routers affixed to every grandstand at Royal Liverpool.

Leave it to the Royal & Ancient to be on the cutting edge of digital technology among major championships.

The British Open is believed to be the first major golf event to offer wireless in every grandstand, allowing spectators with mobile phone and tablets to watch the BBC coverage, track their favorite player through GPS, and get details through up-to-the minute scoring updates.

“The experience for our spectators will, I believe, be the best they have ever received,” said Peter Unsworth, chairman of the R&A’s championship committee. “Using their own smartphones and tablets, and our groundbreaking Wi-Fi network which is available in every grandstand, they will be able to enjoy live BBC television and radio coverage, live scoring and get news and updates without leaving their seat.

“The information available to our spectators has never been so readily available.”

And to think this major only three years ago banned cellphones from the golf course. Now they’re telling spectators they’re missing out if they don’t have them.

The R&A last year installed wireless signals as an experiment, with the source of streaming capabilities coming from London. It was so pleased with the result that it now has installed its own fiber optic network at most of the links courses where it holds The Open, starting with Hoylake.

Malcolm Booth, the R&A’s communications director, said the signal is strong enough for as many as 20,000 fans to stream video at the same time.

A popular theme at the R&A over the last two decades has been finding a balance between tradition and technology. R&A chief executive Peter Dawson always thought that would involve only equipment. Now he is trying to grasp a world of live streaming and second-screen channels.

“What it will be 10 years from now I can scarcely imagine,” Dawson said.

Traditions die hard at the oldest golf championship in the world, which dates to 1860. Tom Watson, a five-time champion who played his first British Open before Tiger Woods was even born, couldn’t help notice some of the changes during a practice round Monday.

“What happened to the yellow scoreboards?” he said.

For starters, the scoreboards changed from yellow to green years ago, but point taken. For the longest time, there was a manual scoreboard behind each green that showed the cumulative score of the players on that hole, and the scores of the group next to play.

Those are gone, replaced by LED screens that now give scores, news updates on the championship, and even a rules quiz during the practice rounds.

“They’re in the modern age,” Watson said.

Dawson said former championship committee chairman Jim McArthur was a strong advocate for getting up to speed with digital technology, and it then was turned over to Booth and the communications department.

Booth said it wasn’t a hard sell to the Royal & Ancient, though “there was a lot of explaining to do.”

“There was a need to explain how this could impact on the experience for spectators,” he said. “Having a radio at the Open is not new. People have been doing it for decades. Having a television picture on a hand-held device has been pretty common at big events like the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup. They were aware of these devices. What they weren’t sure about was how easy it was to take that technology and have it on each person’s phones.”

Oddly enough, it was at Royal Liverpool in 2006 when spectators took so many pictures with their phones that mobile devices were banned the following year. The R&A finally relented on that strict policy in 2012 at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.

Now it has Wi-Fi networks, routers, live streaming, geofencing. Is there anything still ancient about the Royal & Ancient?

“Me,” Dawson said with a smile.

He retires next year after 16 years as chief executive, the last few years filled with technology changes he never imagined. He still likes the balance between old and new. The Open still is played on the same turf where Old Tom Morris and Willie Park Sr. vied for championships. The claret jug has been passed around for 86 years.

“But I think in the modern era,” Dawson said, “the way that people now embrace this technology is something that golf also has to embrace.”