Old Course promises new twist, plenty of drama

It doesn't get much better than this. The 139th British Open will start today on the hallowed grounds where the game was born, St. Andrews, and the once seemingly invincible Tiger Woods will try to regain his lost groove at the site of his 2000 and 2005 triumphs.

Forecasts are calling for some nasty weather and that figures to add an extra edge to this year's tournament. It also could produce some unexpected results. Last year at Turnberry five-time British Open champion Tom Watson, at age 60, came within a playoff loss to Stewart Cink of winning the Claret Jug for the sixth time. That's a pretty tough act to follow, but considering how well Watson has played in foul weather over the years, it isn't beyond the realm of possibility.

Winning at St. Andrews is a big deal. In the 27 times that St. Andrews has acted as host to the British Open as part of the rotation, it has always produced memorable champions. Since World War II, every champion from St. Andrews has been a Hall of Famer except for Tony Lema and John Daly. The names of J.H. Taylor, James Braid, Bobby Jones, Bobby Locke, Denny Shute, Sam Snead, Peter Thomson, Kel Nagle, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and Woods are all etched on golf's most coveted trophy and to have pulled it off the Old Course, no doubt, made their victories even sweeter.

Oddly, enough, the powers to be at St. Andrews couldn't leave well enough alone this year and had to do some tinkering with what was already probably the hardest hole in golf. A controversial new tee on the famous 17th hole has a lot of the players talking and already fretting a confrontation with The Road Hole. The last time the Open was held at St. Andrews in 2005 the par-4 17th played to an average of 4.63. In 2000, it played to a 4.71. So this year the Royal & Ancient mind trust created a new tee 40 yards back of the old ones, so far back that in 2005 the area would have been out of bounds.

Now the tee shot has to be played over a hotel to a very small fairway, leading to a second shot on a 495-yard hole to a green set at a 30 degree left angle of the fairway. Players hitting into the green have to worry about a bunker that is 6 feet deep with a sodden wall. The bunker protects the middle of the green and prompts many to lay-up near the right front of the green. From 40 yards farther back this year, that may be more difficult to do, and shots hit too far to the right side of the green can roll through a paved road which as the end has a wall.

Truth be told, the Old Course, with the exception of No. 17, isn't all that difficult and the wet weather expected for the first couple of rounds might be the only thing preventing someone from going real low. Avoiding bunkers is always part of a winning formula at St. Andrews, where 112 bunkers are strategically placed and you can only see about half them while playing a shot. Woods won in 2000 without hitting into a single bunker.

A big news item entering today's first round was the fact that Woods will be using a new putter -- switching from a Scotty Cameron to a Nike -- for the first time since the 1999 Byron Nelson Classic. Will it help him snap out of his current funk and enable him to nail down his 15th major title? We'll have to watch and see what should be a memorable championship. The tournament will be televised by ESPN (today: 4-6 p.m., 7-10 p.m.; Friday: 4-6 p.m., 7-10 p.m.; Saturday: 7 a.m-2:30 p.m.; Sunday: 6 a.m.-1:30 p.m.), Golf Channel (today: 4-7 p.m.; Friday: 4-7 p.m.; Saturday: 4-7 p.m.; Sunday: 1-4 p.m., 4-7 p.m.) and ABC (Saturday: 3-6 p.m.; Sunday: 3-6 p.m.).

Information from PGATOUR.com and GolfObserver.com contributed to this post.