PLAY LIKE TIGER TO CONQUER HILLS

Tiger Woods set the blueprint for Southern Hills and the player who follows it will win the US PGA later this week.

Former pro and Sky Sports presenter Nick Dougherty has cast his eye over the revamped Tulsa course in Oklahoma, which has been branded one of the toughest on the circuit.

Dougherty was part of the field when Woods stormed to victory in 2007. And despite £9million of alterations, he insists the road to glory remains the same. He said: “What Tiger showed back then is you cannot just get away with hitting it where you want off the tee, which is quite often the case at PGA Tour events.

“There, the name of the game is hit it as far as you can, as often as you can. Here, you must put it in the right place. If you don’t, you will struggle.

“The blueprint is clear – put the ball into play off the tee and those with the strongest iron games will come to the fore. That’s exactly what Tiger did.

As for world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Dougherty “can’t see a world where he’s not in contention” while Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm are also in the mix.

But he said: “One guy I’m looking at closely is Jordan Spieth. If he triumphs, he’ll beat Rory McIlroy to the Grand Slam and it would be a monumental story.

“Why? He’s just won the Heritage and he did that putting poorly. Spieth’s driving has improved so much.”

Meanwhile, Kiwi Ryan Fox is one shot clear with 18 holes to play in his bid to win a second DP World Tour title of the season at the Soudal Open in Antwerp.

A five-under 66 sent him to 11 under. Grant Forrest (68) is the top Scot in tied 15th on six under.

Round-the-clock coverage from Southern Hills will be exclusively live on Sky Sports Golf with the opening round live from Thursday 1pm.