British Open Wide Open Without Woods

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For the 156 players set to tee off Thursday in the 137th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, now is not the time to be tentative.

With Tiger Woods sidelined by knee surgery and the most formidable obstacle to claiming the Claret Jug removed, the tournament is completely up for grabs.

The competitors will now merely have to overcome their own demons, the demands of links-style golf and that dastardly British Isles weather that can go from a sunny summer day to an overcast wind-driven downpour in the course of two holes.

This year Birkdale, in Southport, England, has the honor of hosting golf's oldest major, commonly known Stateside as the British Open. Eight times previously, Birkdale has played home to the Open. On five of those occasions, including the last, the gold medal was won by an American -- most recently Mark O'Meara in 1998.

The course, at 7,173 yards, has been set up to play 155 yards longer than it did last time, though that will be a nonissue to the pros. Par is 70, and the layout features only two par 5s, both on the back nine.

New mounds on the course, more demanding bunkers and revised lines of play pose the biggest challenges. The weather, of course, will be the wild card, as it always is in Great Britain in July. If it cooperates, players can go under par. If not, level or possibly over par is likely to be the winning score.

One of the most popular picks for the upcoming tournament is Spain's Sergio Garcia, who has played well in past Opens -- particularly in 2007, when he finished runner-up in a playoff to Ireland's Padraig Harrington. "El Nino," who has never won a major, is widely considered to have the skills necessary to do so, but his balky putter has too often failed to back his outstanding iron play.