From Donald andwestwood

from me,” he stressed, when asked if he was taking an psychological advice.

“I have just been getting too uptight and anxious, and that’s normal, you want this kind of tournament so much more.

“For me it’s about controlling that feeling, predetermining how I want to feel, and sticking to it.”

Donald’s peerless short game means that many think Lytham is where he can come good at last, given the succession of winners here blessed in that department. Which should rule out Westwood.

Lee obviously reads his press, because he seemed piqued about references to his apparent weakness.

“People have said that the previous winners have all got great short games and apparently I haven’t,” he said.

“I don’t think you can get to number one in the world without much of a short game, so that criticism is fairly easy to answer.”

He says rather than get agitated and anxious at majors, he’s relaxed more.

“I’ve just sort of played and I don’t find myself pressing hard,” he said.

You can’t deny that Westwood’s near misses have been on a variety of courses requiring an examination of different elements.

And he clearly seems to be among the category of players assessed by Padraig Harrington yesterday.

The double Open champion played 35 majors before making the breakthrough and said that he needed to do that, and specifically to twice have been in position to win – at Muirfield in the 2002 Open and Winged Foot in the 2006 US Open – when his failure to get two pars to win was overshadowed by Phil Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie’s similar travails.

If Harrington’s right, then Westwood is more hardened to it than most, and that first win is surely not far off. IS TIGER Woods surprised that he can return to world number one by winningThe Open for a fourth time this week?

“No,” he said, followed with a long pause. “Help you out?”

That last phrase seems have replaced “it is what it is” as Tiger’s favourite way to tease those who ask him questions he doesn’t want to answer, but the initial oneword reply perhaps was designed as a statement of his attitude.

However, he couldn’t explain the variations in form that have seen him win three tournaments this year yet miss cuts and slump in both majors.

“If I knew the answer I’d tell you, but I don’t,” he said.

“I just keep trying to work and keep trying to get better.

“I’ve had a few wins this year, which is good, but also I’ve had a few poor performances.

“So I’m just trying to get better, get more consistent.”

In the meantime, he concedes the challenge from his peers is far greater.

“There are simply more guys now have a chance to win major championships than ever before, and I think that will just continue to be that way,” he said. “What do we have now, 15 different guys (winning majors) in a row?

“The cut is no longer 13-14 shots off the lead – it’s sometimes under 10 shots”

That being said, is he anxious, or impatient, to win his first major since 2008?

“No, I’m just trying to put myself there. I think that if I continue putting myself there enough times then I’ll win,” he said.

“I had to go through that whole process of just getting healthy again.

“Being banged up and missing major championships because of that in a stretch wasn’t a whole lot of fun.

“I think I missed four majors there just because I was injured.

“I figure if I’m healthy then I can prepare properly for major championships and I can get myself there.”

Lytham was where Tiger first realised he could properly compete in the professional game the way he wanted, when he won the silver medal for top amateur in 1996.

“I think I made seven birdies on an 11 or 12-hole stretch there on the second round and posted 66 that day,” he recalled.

“I was still kind of iffy about whether I should turn pro or go back to college, but that gave me so much confidence that I could do it at a high level, I could shoot those scores and I could play against the top players in the world on a very dif- ficult track – it made the decision for me.”

That was very different Lytham that year, with 80-90 degree temperatures baking the course, but all this rain and more forecast today means it won’t get close to that again.

“This is my third time here, and the two previous times we didn’t see it like this,” he said.

“The rough is lush, the fairways are softer, the ball is not chasing as much. “This is very different.” There are signs this is a more relaxed Woods, signing autographs for a change this week, and, contrary to his usual disregard for the crowds, he says he enjoys the enclosed atmosphere.

“I know this is probably – I think – the smallest piece of property we have in The Open rotation.

“Maybe not as many people, but it feels they’re a little bit closer to you.

“It’s quite an intimate atmosphere, and I think that’s fantastic for us as players.”

Luke Donald pauses for thought during a press conference.

Tiger Woods fires off a drive yesterday.