AN OPEN 'OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP'.

With the start of the 141st Open Championship at Royal Lytham, 'home player' mania is under way again. However, unlike tennis, in golf the home nations do have real hope of success, with many of the world's top players hailing from these islands.

Not that many years ago golf was a sport utterly dominated by the Americans with truly great names such as Nicklaus and Watson being the men to beat in every 'Major'. More recently, Woods and Mickelson have been serious powers in the games, but with an assortment of others, such as Els and Goosen, as challengers. Along the way we had the genius of Ballasteros but British and Irish winners were generally notable for their absence after Tony Jacklin's exploits of 1969 and 1970; only Nick Faldo made real inroads into golfing history although Ian Woosnam and Sandy Lyle did have their moments. 

Remarkably, as American superiority has faded, the British and Irish have come to the fore once more. For many years, Colin Montgomery promised more than he delivered and in 1998 it looked as though a new star had been born in the shape of the then amateur, Justin Rose, who finished 4th in the Open at the age of 17, but major success has so far eluded him; the following year had Paul Lawrie handed the Open by the insane actions of Jean van der Velde, but this also proved to be a flash in the pan. Finally, in 2007, Padraig Harrington, a southern Irishman but one who is easily adopted by all inhabitants of the British Isles, won the Open and followed it up by retaining his prize in 2008 and adding the US PGA for good measure. Since then Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlry and Darren Clarke have all won Majors, while the prestige of being World Number 1 ahs been a battle fought out mostly between Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and McIlroy. Added to this list of top players, we've now got Justin Rose and Paul Lawrie reappearing as contenders, Paul Casy, Ian Poulter, and one or two more who all have realistic chances of challenging for Major honours.

Who will win this year's Open Championship is, of course, anyone's guess and the tournament does have a habit of throwing up a surprise champion. Nonetheless, several home players have a genuine chance although they will all have to be wary of the egregious Tiger Woods.