Tiger Woods needs a sun-drenched week at Hoylake

Tiger unlikely to challenge at Hoylake but you still can’t write him off!

The R&A will have breathed a sigh of relief when Tiger Woods declared himself fit to play at The Open.

With the World Cup and Wimbledon out of the way and the Commonwealth Games not far off, this is golf’s week in the spotlight. So the sport needs its biggest star to provide that box-office appeal.

We’ll be delighted to see him but this is a big ask to expect him to play well at Hoylake in just his second tournament after back surgery.

It wasn’t a surprise he missed the cut at Congressional on his return but now he’s coming to a place with lots of happy memories.

When he won here in 2006, he only used his driver once and finished 18-under. But I spoke to the pro at Royal Liverpool last week and he told me the course is a bit softer and the rough is thicker.

Tiger will have to get his driver out more often and that’ll be the barometer for his game.

For normal golfers, making the cut after a long absence would constitute a good week but this is Tiger Woods and he’ll expect more.

Tiger needs a sun-drenched week, though, like we had in 2006. Wearing sweaters and waterproofs would not be good for someone trying to protect his back.

All of his main rivals have won in his absence and it’s hard to imagine him beating battle-hardened competitors. But this is Tiger Woods, and I’m reluctant to write off his chances completely.

Of the others, Martin Kaymer played superbly to win the US Open at Pinehurst by eight shots, while World No.1 Adam Scott must want to make up for throwing The Open away at Royal Lytham.

Rory McIlroy finally broke his duck in Europe with victory at Wentworth in May, but he has never really figured at The Open.

If he doesn’t at least put himself in contention, then he’ll have had a disappointing week. But I’m expecting big things from Justin Rose. He missed the cut last year at Muirfield but that was understandable after his US Open success.

This time, he had the perfect confidence boost with victory at Congressional two weeks ago, on the toughest course in America.

Justin thrives on challenges like that. He’s a straight hitter and he can hole putts under pressure. He was inside the top 15 at The Masters and the US Open, which shows me he can tailor his game to peaking at the Majors.

Rose wants to win multiple Majors, so it would be great to put a Claret Jug on his CV.