The imposing South African with the silky-smooth swing clinched a dramatic second Open title 10 years after his first after Adam Scott's spectacular late collapse at Royal Lytham on Sunday.

The former world number joined an elite group of players with four major titles and has reaped untold riches from the game as one of the icons of his generation. But professionally there have been disappointments, while, personally, life is not straightforward either.

Els's son Ben was diagnosed with autism five years ago and the 42-year-old admitted he was thinking of him as he came from six shots back to beat Scott by one after the Australian bogeyed the last four holes on a dizzying day on the Fylde coast.

Ernie Els said on Saturday that he had a special feeling this week. Photo: Getty

Understandably, Els's focus was elsewhere for a time and his game suffered. It looked like his Muirfield victory in 2002 was the end of his major road. Being admitted to the Hall of Fame - usually reserved for those at the end of their careers - last year must have felt bitter-sweet.

He says he is only just coming to terms with balancing family life, charity life and his golf life.

"I think emotionally or mentally I'm in a better place than I have been in the last couple of years with the whole situation," he said, staring at the Claret Jug in his victory press conference.

Wins still trickled in, but even he admits a year ago he lost the belief he would win another major. That looked a decent prognosis after he missed his first Masters since 1993 having slipped out of the top 50 in the world rankings.

But his form did start to creep back with a more relaxed, positive frame of mind and the help of coach Claude Harmon, long-time caddie Ricci Roberts and a new outlook on putting under Dr Sherylle Calder. He lost a play-off in New Orleans earlier this year and briefly threatened before finishing ninth in last month's US Open.

Els said on Saturday he had a special feeling this week and mentioned it again with the Claret Jug sitting in front of him. The feeling extended to daydreaming while watching cricket on TV on Sunday morning that if he won he would thank Nelson Mandela. Now he has vowed to share a drink from the Jug with the former South African president.

"It's hard to explain," said Els, who, neatly, will defend his title at Muirfield next year. "For some reason I felt something good was going to come out of this.

"I think I've been in such a negative mode for a while, and now that I'm starting to feel more positive, obviously things happen."

Els won the US Open in 1994 and 1997 and topped the world golf rankings briefly in 1997 and 1998. He was lauded as the one to challenge Tiger Woods, but it didn't quite work out that way. He finished runner-up in the first three majors of 2000, two of them to Woods, and seemed to develop Tiger-itis. He has finished runner-up to Woods in more tournaments than to anyone else.

Els also lost the 2004 Open in a play-off to unheralded American Todd Hamilton, months after Phil Mickelson denied him a first Masters title with a birdie on the last.

For someone of his prodigious talent, he was seen as slightly underachieving. Until now, that is, proving careers should only be judged when they are over.

In all, Els has come second in six majors, among 29 top-10 finishes, which is why he can relate to Scott's capitulation at Lytham.

The 32-year-old, who up to then had never quite fulfilled his potential, led by four overnight and had not been challenged all day as nearest rivals Graeme McDowell, Woods and Brandt Snedeker faltered. A first major title was within his grasp and by the 15th tee most observers had awarded him the Jug. Instead, a drip, drip, drip of shots left him needing to hole from eight feet on the last to force a play-off with the waiting Els. He missed, and will forever be lumped with the likes of countryman Greg Norman, Jean van de Velde and Rory McIlroy as men who have blown majors in spectacular fashion.

"Greg was my hero when I was a kid and I thought he was a great role model in victory and defeat," said Scott. "I can't justify anything I've done. I didn't finish the tournament well and I'm obviously very disappointed. Next time - I'm sure there will be a next time - I'll do a better job."

For third-placed Woods, it should go down as a decent Open. Despite a triple-bogey on the sixth, he started the back nine with the flicker of a charge, the trademark from the old days. Eschewing the cautious approach he had adopted all week, he unleashed his driver down the 10th, igniting the huge crowd around the green with a stunning birdie. A long deliberation followed on the adjacent 11th tee, before he unsheathed the driver again. The gallery fizzed in anticipation. But he carved it into the right rough and the electricity spluttered out.

So Woods didn't win a 15th major or first since 2008 but he was back in the hunt. Jack Nicklaus, whose record of 18 majors he is chasing, didn't win every time either as 19 seconds proves.

McDowell has played in the final group in the last two majors and is increasing his chances of adding to his 2010 US Open title. And one half of the much-vaunted English challenge - Luke Donald - gave himself another look at what it takes when he edged into a fifth top five in majors.

But when we look back at the 141st Open Championship, we'll think of just two things: the resurgence of Els and sympathy for Scott.

"Just about everything that can happen in the game of golf, I've gone through," said Els. "I've done what Adam has done. So to sit here with the Claret Jug is crazy. And it comes from a good attitude, being a bit more relaxed and believing in yourself."

They share the same dream, but they will all feel the pressure differently.

For Scott, the leader by four, there is the realisation that he could finally uncork the potential that has been bottled up for so long.

Wil Scott's four-shot lead help calm his nerves as he chases a maiden major? Pic: Getty.

The Australian, who was 32 on Monday, won the prestigious Players Championship, often considered the "fifth major", in 2004 and reached a career-high of third in the world rankings in 2007. But though he continued to win tournaments his career never really kicked on.

"He's carrying a lot of expectation on his shoulders," said three-time Open champion Sir Nick Faldo. "Everybody thought he was going to be the next man to step it up but that was a long time ago now."

Scott's renaissance came in 2011, not unconnected to a switch to a long putter, when he tied for second at the Masters behind Charl Schwartzel.

On the face of it, his four-stroke cushion should help calm the nerves, but that brings with it its own stresses, as Rory McIlroy found out last year at Augusta. A stiff breeze is expected on Sunday, too, which could, as McDowell puts it, waken a sleeping giant in the Lytham course.

"The good part is if I play a solid round of golf it will be very hard for the others to beat me and that's all I'm thinking about," said Scott, who has the added bonus of having Woods's former caddie Steve Williams on the bag. "Obviously there are nerves and there is a finish line out there somewhere but through my career I've been able to handle that situation fairly well."

The Adelaide-born, Swiss-based star will play alongside Northern Ireland's McDowell in the final group. The 2010 US Open champion is keen not only to win the Open for its own sake, but also to move into the next bracket - that of multiple major winners - and thus prove he is no one-major wonder.

The 32-year-old also played in the last pair at the US Open last month and finished runner-up to Webb Simpson.

McDowell, who came from three behind when he won the US Open at Pebble Beach, is also striving to win Northern Ireland's fourth major in three years after his own triumph, Rory McIlroy's US Open win in 2011 and Darren Clarke's Open victory 12 months ago.

"I'm sure Adam and myself will be experiencing slightly different emotions but it will all boil down to the same thing - pressure," he said. "It will boil down to being scared, probably of failing more than winning. But the golf course is the main challenge, not each other."

Brandt Snedeker, 31, sits at seven under alongside McDowell and is also trying to reach the promised land of major champion. The American has had experience of playing in the final group of a major when he partnered eventual champion Trevor Immelman at the 2008 Masters.

On Friday night, having equalled Nick Faldo's 36-hole scoring record at the Open, he spoke of how was hoping to buck the trend of halfway leaders falling away. At four back he still has a very real chance.

And then there's Tiger Woods. The 36-year-old is in a unique position. Only he can know the stress he feels and the pressure he puts on himself to win a 15th major and first since the 2008 US Open. In many ways it would be his greatest achievement after the scandal, injury and controversy that have surrounded him in recent years.

But Woods is five shots back and has never won a major when trailing going into the final round. New career phase, new first, perhaps?

Ernie Els, six adrift, is, at 42, is nearing the end of his career in the real top flight but still has a point to prove having won the last of his three majors at the 2002 Open. Zach Johnson, alongside Els, is another trying to double his major tally.

But everyone's got a back story, so where do we stop on the list? Paul Lawrie came from 10 behind to win the Open at Carnoustie in 1999.

"Strange things can happen," said five-time Open champion Tom Watson. "Five shots back is usually the number [still in contention] but if the wind blows hard a round of golf under 70 could well jump you up the leaderboard a whole number of spots."

Scott still holds all the aces, time will tell whether his Lytham lead is just a house of cards.

It is working, because the "happy-go-lucky" American with the sun-bleached hair matched the lowest halfway score in Open history with rounds of 66, 64 over the last two days on the Fylde coast.

Snedeker, who has won twice on the PGA Tour and is ranked 29th in the world, has never previously shot a round in the 60s at an Open, having played at Royal Birkdale, Turnberry and Royal St George's.

But his policy of aiming to the heart of the green rather than at the flags has yielded spectacular success.

"I call it boring golf," said Snedeker, who has the look of a Johnny Miller-esque 70s throwback.

Snedeker's scorecard is still without a bogey after 36 holes Photo: PA

The Watson connection comes from a practice round Snedeker played with the five-time Open champion at Royal Birkdale in 2008. Watson explained that the first time he came over here he wasn't a fan of links golf but the second time he came he loved it.

He told the Open debutant to embrace the challenge, to accept bad bounces, to expect the worst and hope for the best.

"It helped a bunch playing with him," said Snedeker. "I tried to do it the first three times around here, but unfortunately I was still too used to playing American golf, still too used to trying to play at pins and hit shots I probably shouldn't hit.

"Watching him play British Opens was phenomenal. And talking to him about it, the more I've gotten to know him, he really does embrace this lifestyle. He loves coming over here, loves being around the people, loves eating the food, loves being here."

Snedeker, whose older brother Haymes became the youngest judge in Alabama at age 28, seems to have taken Watson's appreciation of the locale on board.

"I enjoy the local ales, yes. The local beers are very good," he said, having been spotted by some reporters in local pubs earlier this week.

"I was not there late, you can attest to that. Might have been late there the first night, but trying to get over the jet lag.

"I love being over here. I played a British Amateur over here a long time ago when I was in college. I enjoy the lifestyle. I enjoy the golf. It's funny I've never played good, because I like being over here and having a good time with it."

Snedeker admits the rain has led to an "Americanisation" of the Lytham course with softer, more receptive greens than normal. He also likens the pace of the putting surfaces to the poa annua grass he is used to playing on back home, which might explain why, as he puts it, "I'm making every 25fter I look at".

"I've never seen balls spin at a British Open before, and it's spinning this week," he said. "Having said that, it's still a links golf course. You've still got to get your ball around it. I'm sure it's probably going to show some teeth this weekend."

Despite his Open failures, Snedeker has already banked some experience of the business end of majors having played alongside eventual champion Trevor Immelman in the final round of the 2008 Masters. Snedeker shot 77 to end third but says he learned plenty.

"To watch Trevor handle the emotions and play the way he did the last 18 really taught me a lot about what you're going to have to go through. It wasn't an easy day that day at Augusta," he said.

"But I've been in some tight spots in the States and been in some play-offs so I kind of know what pressure feels like."

Having Scott behind him, another player chasing his first major, is one thing. And Scott has gone one closer at the Masters. But having an icon of the game desperate to get his pursuit of immortality back on track is another.

Woods, who has otherwise employed a cautious strategy, hitting his driver just three times in two rounds, sprinkled some of his left-over magic dust in the air on the 18th and promptly splashed out and in from a greenside bunker to promote a trademark fist pump.

It may have been fortuitous for the former world number one - though no more so than a Snedeker snake from 30ft - but it was the sort of spark that turned tournaments in his prime and did so earlier this season when he won at Memorial.

The grin that came with it suggested he knows it. But Woods, so desperate for that 15th major and first since 2008, tied for the lead after two rounds of last month's US Open before blowing it at the weekend.

Snedeker knows, too, that there could be plenty of pitfalls to come.

"It's pretty cool to see your name atop a major leaderboard at any time, let alone at a British Open," he said. "It's a great feeling. A great experience. But it gets you a whole lot of nothing.

"There have been a lot of leads lost after 36 holes. I'm going to try to buck that trend. "

The Englishman was feted by many as the Open champion-elect at Royal Lytham this week, given the way he consistently knocks on the door in majors.

Westwood has finished in the top three in seven of the past 16 of golf's big four tournaments, and plenty of pundits think it is only a matter of time he wins, although at 39 time is probably also running out.

But a first-round 73 in calm, dry conditions that begged to be taken advantage of, left Westwood nine shots off the lead of Adam Scott. The Australian did make Lady Lytham blush and shot a 64 to equal the Lytham course record in an Open.

Westwood has 22 European Tour wins, but is searching for his first major Photo: Reuters

Four bogeys after the turn brought him home in 40, and afterwards he confessed he has been struggling for some time. If only he had told us before we all trooped down the bookies.

"The start was a bit of a lie, really," said the world number three.

"I don't feel in control of the ball at the moment and you get found out pretty quickly around an Open Championship course. I've been working on it for three or four weeks now, since the US Open. I didn't hit it that great there, I got away with a lot."

Straight after his media duties Westwood headed back out to the practice range with coach Pete Cowen. The pair worked through his issues for two-and-a-half hours, before a stint on the chipping green and practice bunker and then a spell on the putting green.

"He's just losing stability in his lower body and leaning into the ball," Cowen told me. "He's losing everything out to the right.

"Everyone reverts to type now and again. It happens. It's just disappointing it should happen now. He'll just have to work hard to get through it.

"He never gets down but it's disappointing because he's been playing great recently."

One man refusing to get too downbeat is BBC commentator Ken Brown, who witnessed - as his playing partner - Seve Ballesteros's wayward route to victory at Lytham in 1979.

"Westwood will have come in here with a lot of expectation and anticipation and he will know he has missed an opportunity," Brown told me.

"He had a good starting time, and there wasn't much breeze about when he played, but still, 73 is right, right in it.

"It's not insurmountable at all. It happens at Lytham. You've got to look at the end of the week. Who knows what the winning score will be but if you finish on 275 - five under - you've got to say 'I've got a chance'. It depends on the breeze and everything but normally around here anyone breaking par has done pretty well.

"So it's not his greatest day but there are miles to go yet. If he shoots three rounds in the 60s, whatever 60s they are, I would say he has a great chance of winning."

The forecast for Friday is dry and calm with winds of less than 5mph in the afternoon (Westwood tees off at 14:21 BST). It is set to get slightly windier on Saturday and there are gusts forecast of up to 30mph on Sunday afternoon.

According to Brown, it is "swings and roundabouts" whether it is easier to chase or defend a lead in windy conditions.

"If you shoot a low score on a windy day obviously you make up a lot of ground, but it's that much harder to do," said Brown.

Of course, Westwood is not alone. Phil Mickelson, runner-up last year, also shot 73, and Justin Rose took 74, while defending champion Darren Clarke finds himself 12 back. Donald is six adrift after a level-par 70.

Rory McIlroy, right in contention at three under, knows only too well how the game works.

His infamous Masters meltdown, and a second-round 80 at St Andrews after a course-record-equalling 63 on day one in the 2010 Open, are testament to how fortunes can change.

"You're just trying to play well and put yourself in position going into Sunday," he said. "It doesn't matter what the leader is on on Thursday."

Westwood et al would also do well to remember that Paul Lawrie, one off Scott's lead at Lytham, came from 10 behind on the final day to win at Carnoustie in 1999.

So you can lose the tournament on day one, but what Westwood has really done is make it a bit more difficult to win.

Yet David Duval is no freak. Deep thinking, complicated, honest, articulate, possibly highly strung, yes. But freak? No. And he doesn't want pity. Doesn't think he needs it.

The American, lest you need reminding, won the Open Championship at Lytham in 2001.

The slump that followed is legendary. From world number one twice in 1999, via the Claret Jug, to a world ranking past 1,000. A perfect example of the ephemeral and tenuous nature of confidence and thus ability.

By then, though, things were already starting to slip.

Plenty of theories have abounded over the years as to the exact nature of Duval's decline. Some point to his older brother Brent rejecting his bone marrow donation and passing away when David was nine.

David Duval is back at Royal Lytham for the first time since winning The Open in 2001. Photo: Getty

Duval, back at Lytham for the first time, dismisses the idea, on the surface at least, and explains he doesn't really remember the life he shared with his brother. "I have a sister, and it's the two of us. That's the kind of life I think of," he says .

Instead, the portly, fidgety 40-year-old reeled off what he called a "laundry list" of injuries.
"I've had tendonitis in both shoulders; I've got it in my elbows; I have bone bruises in my knees right now; I have a back problem that's well documented; had tendonitis in my wrist; I've had vertigo. Is that it?" he said, the panda eyes betraying the sunglasses still clamped to the back of his head.

"That stuff, you know what, frankly, it wrecks golf. It wrecks your golf game."

The back was already an issue before the 2001 Open, but he has in the past described his victory as not quite living up to expectations.

"I fully understood the magnitude of the accomplishment, the height of the mountain, if you will," he said this time. "For me, having had several opportunities to win a major championship before Lytham and having had those not work out and having in those events probably struck the golf ball a fair amount better than I did here, at least feeling better about it, it just all didn't gel. It just didn't quite match up is what I was more than anything trying to convey.

"I certainly expressed that it was a bit of an existential moment."

Shortly afterwards, he split with his girlfriend of eight years and a year later met his now wife, with whom he has two children and three stepchildren. His game, though, continued to go south, barring the odd flicker of recognition from the old days with a second place in the 2009 US Open.

That second place lifted him from 882nd in the world to 142 but Duval is now back up to 775 and playing on exemptions after failing to come through Qualifying School last year.

"Over the last 11 years golf wise, I've had a few good events. It's well documented. I don't necessarily need to, unless you want to, go into it. I've had plenty of injuries and problems, haven't played well. I have an arm brace right now, I've got bone bruises in my knee right now, so I'm still hurting. I don't feel the greatest. I'm playing quite well.

"But enough about the golf.

"My life in general has blown up exponentially in a wonderful way with meeting my wife, having an instant family with stepchildren, having a couple of kids of my own biologically. I've got my oldest boy here. It's kind of funny, I think I'm incredibly blessed in life.

"I'm an incredibly, incredibly wealthy man. I've got a wife that loves me. I love her. The kids are wonderful. You know, they're a pain in the rear like everybody else's kids sometimes, but we have fun. They're high energy. They like to do stuff. I've been lucky."

Not everyone would call him lucky, but that line "enough about the golf" is the key to David Duval.

Invited to rewind and explain, he asked the questioner what he was doing from 3:30pm to 5:30pm on Tuesday.

"Writing an article, maybe?" he inquired, politely. "I was working, too. I was on the range hitting balls, soaked. When I say enough about the golf, it's more, I mean, let's talk about the things that have really happened that are wonderful and important.

"No, I've worked my tail off. Unfortunately for me I've had multiple nagging little injuries.
"The great thing about wonderful athletes, wonderful golfers and football players, whatever it may be, but also the big detriment, is that we're sometimes not smart enough to stop.

"Our egos think that we can just play and get through it. And I continued to play and work through it, and all it did was get worse and worse and wreck my golf game and wreck my confidence, and there you are.

"I should have taken at least a year, maybe more off, just made sure everything kind of got healed, protected my confidence, protected my golf game and moved on and just given away that year and a half, not given away eight years like I did."

If the answer wasn't already sitting in front of us, Duval was asked whether he had changed since 2001.

"No, I'm an entirely different person," he said. "Back then it was all about me and all about golf, just like the majority of people that have marched through here [the media room] this week. I mean, it revolves around them, everything. Their handlers, their trainers, their nutritionists, their managers. It's everything. And I've been fortunate in my life to be able to branch out and understand there's some things that are a little more important than this.

"I'm not one to even imagine the microscope under which Tiger has to live.

"We all have problems. We all make choices, but when all your choices are scrutinised and written about, it's not a comfortable existence. It's not one I want.

"It does not mean I don't love it [golf], don't think I'm really good at it, and don't think I'm going to be really great at it again and don't desire to be. But life has opened up to me and I love it and enjoy it and embrace it."

So, David, can you win this week? "Absolutely. I feel good about what I'm doing."

Winner: Lee Westwood. The course demands straight hitting from the tee and there's no-one better in that regard. There is also no-one more consistent in golf currently at turning up with a game to challenge for a major.

So near yet so far so often - could this be Westwood's major breakthrough? Photo: Getty

Big week: Ian Poulter. He will put his Ryder Cup hopes back on track because he has the ability to thread the ball through the bunkers. He has a stellar short game which every Lytham champion has had and he played well in France in his last outing. He loves the big stage and did well at Royal Birkdale when conditions were pretty similar.

Andrew Cotter, BBC golf commentator

Winner: Graeme McDowell. Lytham is, as McDowell himself, puts it a "threader's course". Length is not a premium; hitting it straight and plotting your way between the vicious rough and the 206 bunkers is, which is his speciality. McDowell is also in great form and has gone well in the majors this year - 12th at the Masters and second at the US Open.

Big week: Ernie Els. On the surface it might seem strange, but his form is certainly coming back. He wasn't far away in the US Open and, although he missed the cut the last two years, his overall record in the Open is outstanding. The slower greens may be kinder to his putting again, and as for his liking of Lytham? Well, he finished second here in 1996 and third in 2001.

Ken Brown, BBC golf commentator

Winner: Luke Donald. If ever a course was made for Luke Donald, this is it. He is tailor-made for Lytham. He can thread the ball between the bunkers, he is the best sand player from around the greens, he holes out well and chips well and is pretty accurate. And tactically he's very sound.

Big week: Lee Westwood. His time is absolutely there. He has got such a good major record, everything about his game lends itself to winning majors. If he has a short game with him I just can't believe one of these majors is not going to fall his way. He is too good for it not to happen.

Eddie Birchenough, head pro, Royal Lytham & St Annes

Winner: Luke Donald. He's got a recovery game par-excellence and everyone will need that at some time in four rounds around here, I can assure you.

Big week: Lee Westwood. He keeps the ball in play better than almost anyone else on tour and will therefore stay out of trouble more than most, which is the key requirement at Lytham.

Jay Townsend, BBC Radio 5 live golf pundit

Winner: Steve Stricker. It is going to be a very open Open - we have had 15 different winners on the bounce. It is going to about sticking the ball on the fairway and putting. I think Stricker is due and he is playing well. Typically, in the last three years he has won the week before in the US, which is never a good sign. He didn't do that this time, so he will win.

Big week: Jeev Milkha Singh. A real outsider, although I don't know how much of an outsider he can be when he won in Scotland on Sunday. But when he plays well, he plays well for a while. He is comfortable on links golf courses and there are going to be difficult conditions this week. He puts the ball in the fairway very well, he is a tough competitor and I think he will have a top-10 finish.

Peter Dixon, The Times

Winner: Lee Westwood. This is his time. The course is not fiery, so his length off the tee and his accuracy will help him because he will be able to thread the bunkers. Tee to green he is flat and the greens here shouldn't be too tricky for him. He struggles on the greens but these are quite big and flat. He has got that look about him, too.

Big week: Tiger Woods. We're going to get a big week from Tiger but he might just fall out of the reckoning at the last minute. He wants to win a major now more than anything. You can see when he wins an ordinary event now, what it means to him because it says 'I'm back'. But he won't truly be back until he wins a major and I think that is what is holding him back at the moment.

Jamie Corrigan, Daily Telegraph

Winner: Rickie Fowler. He has really impressed me the way he has played links golf the last couple of years and it is going to take someone with imagination this week. It was a massive step for him beating Rory McIlroy in a play-off earlier this season.

Big week: Ian Poulter. His season hasn't been as bad as people say and he played well to finish fourth in France recently. He hasn't really backed up his second place at Royal Birkdale in 2008 but the Ryder Cup means so much to him he might even get a top three and seal his place.

Kevin Garside, The Independent

Winner: Rory McIlroy. I've got a sneaking feeling he will do well here. He is in great shape, his mind is focused, he's got the game and the weather will relent. I know it's a different course with a different set of demands but if you look at what he did at St Andrews on the first day and days thee and four in 2010, where he ripped it to shreds. He just had a bad day in the wind on day two, so I'm going with him.

Big week: Dustin Johnson. He has returned from his injury absence and won straight out of the box, we know he has got a fantastic long game, but he is subtle around the greens and he can putt. He played really well last year and chased Darren Clarke home.

Derek Lawrenson, Daily Mail
Winner: Lee Westwood. Hopefully that is not my heart speaking but my head. He is so straight and so consistent and always there or thereabouts. It is time he was there.

Big week: Justin Rose. He is coming into the prime of his career, he is so consistent and seems to have found something with his putting.

Neil Squires, Daily Express

Winner: Padraig Harrington. He is nearly back to his best, though there are still some question marks over his putting maybe. You couldn't get a better man for a wet Open, and I think he has got his confidence back and his mojo. He will be a threat and I think he will be right there this week.

Big week: Graeme McDowell. He is a scrapper who will relish the real tough challenge and conditions. He was brought up on links golf and he enjoyed featuring and coming runner-up at the US Open so he will be a man to watch.

Rob Hodgetts, BBC Sport golf writer

Winner: Tiger Woods. This story has far more to run. The shot-making he displayed in three wins this year has been stunning and if that continues, rather than the ragged form he showed at the Masters, then no-one will be better equipped to tackle Royal Lytham. There is still some magic left in the pot, as we saw when he chipped in en route to the Memorial title, and you wouldn't bet against him sprinkling a bit more around this week. He still knows how to close these things off and I can see him dashing home hopes again.

Big week: Padraig Harrington. He had that mad-eyed stare in his eyes when in contention for the US Open last month and clearly enjoyed the feeling again. With three majors tucked away he won't be scared to do it again and will relish the intellectual challenge of plotting his way around Lytham, dodging the squalls.

The championship returns to the venerable old links for the 11th time this week, but without one of its favourite sons.

It was on the Fylde coast that the legend of Seve Ballesteros was born and later sealed. Sadly, Ballesteros, the only player to have won the Open twice at Lytham, died last May after a battle with a brain tumour.

In 1979, Ballesteros was Europe's brightest young star, having come second in the Open as a 19-year-old three years earlier.

The swashbuckling Spaniard hit the ball to all four corners of Lytham, including that infamous shot from a temporary car park to the right of the 16th in the final round. But he recovered time and again with a combination of iron will, escapology and magic to clinch his first major title. He returned in 1988 to lift a third Claret Jug and a fifth and final major in all to confirm his place among the greats.

BBC golf commentator Ken Brown, a close friend of Ballesteros, had a ringside seat for the first two rounds in 1979. Here, Brown reflects on those days and divulges his idea of the winner:

Ballesteros takes the adulation of the crowd after clinching the 1979 Open Championship. Photo: Getty

"Coming back there this week brings back a lot of happy memories.

"Royal Lytham, for me, is synonymous with Seve and also Tony Jacklin.

"I shall remember how great Seve was there.

"And I'll have fond memories of watching Jacklin win in 1969. He was a big influence on a lot of players and a big boost for those of us coming through, such as Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle. I'll also remember playing in my first Ryder Cup there in 1977.

"I played with Seve and Lee Trevino in the first two rounds in 1979. At that time, from a British golfer's point of view, they were two legends of golf and for me to get drawn with them was very exciting, an absolute joy.

"It was a terrific experience watching Seve bang it all over the place, and I mean all over the place.

"He really wasn't sure where it was going off the tee. He hit one or two straightish ones but more by luck.

"One or two hooks were so wide they missed most of the famous bunkers at Lytham.

"People said he knew where he was aiming but I assure you he had no idea where it was going. He just went and looked for it and hit it again.

"But among all that there was brilliance. He conjured up pars from various different spots with unbelievable guile and short-game skills.

"It was a marvel how poorly he was playing, how bad he was hitting the ball and how well he managed to get around the course. He really grafted.

"It was a real exhibition of how to get the ball around the golf course when you've got no idea where it is going. It was done by sheer guts and belief in yourself. Most players would have gone home after two days, cap in hand.

"Trevino was great, too. He was a hero of mine. He would chitter chatter all day and was always looking for someone to talk to. I always enjoyed his banter. He was a master of keeping the ball in play. He had it under total control, hitting low and high shots.

"Seve and Trevino chatted in Spanish, but Seve was having to fight so hard to keep his own game together there wasn't that much conversation going on from him.

"Until those last four or five holes on Friday we were all about the same, around about level par, before Seve pulled away with a 65. That Friday afternoon set up the title for him.

"It was a defining moment of European golf. As a rising star and a regular member of the European Tour that victory was the catalyst for everyone else.

"The Ryder Cup there in 1977 was, to some extent, a pivotal moment because it was the last featuring Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It was also the last of the old format, with just 10 singles matches, one lot of foursomes and one lot fourballs.

"I played in the fourballs with Mark James and we lost at the last. Mind you, it was a very exciting loss. But to me, the whole thing was massive. I was only 20 and not the greatest golfer in the world and here I was playing in the Ryder Cup. Two-and-a-bit years before I was an assistant pro earning £10 a week.

"When we played Lytham in the 70s and 80s, it was in the top two toughest Open courses. Royal St George's was always tough and Lytham was right there, too.

"Winning scores were never very far under par I don't think they will be this time either.

"It's been toughened up with more bunkers and made narrower, which to some extent makes it more difficult but not necessarily more interesting to play.

"Modern equipment has, to a certain extent, slightly nullified its brutality and stolen a bit of its charm. If you can carry it through the air 280 yards it takes some of the more brutal bunkers out of play.

"What I'd forgotten about Lytham is that because it is so tight there are thin strips of rough beside the fairway and beyond that it is trampled by the crowd. So the motto is, if you're going to miss the fairway, miss the fairway.

"I wouldn't say it is a bombers' course. It is all about tactical nudges - fiddly but nonetheless, quite a challenge.

"Most of all, though, it's very much a short-game course. There are so many bunkers it doesn't matter how good you are or how well you play, you're going to find bunkers, so your sand play has to be on its absolute mettle.

"If ever a course was made for Luke Donald, as long as there is bit of run, this is it. Never has a course been made so perfectly for someone who can thread the ball between its bunkers. He is the best sand player from around the greens, we know he holes out well and chips well and is pretty accurate. And tactically he's very sound.

"So Donald would go in as my favourite, without question. He is tailor-made for Lytham."

The thick rough, made more lush by the soggy British summer, has already been dubbed "unplayable" in parts by Tiger Woods, while defending champion Darren Clarke said players spraying the ball around this week might as well go home now.

Lytham is not long by modern standards - it has been stretched by 181 yards to 7,086 yards and reduced from a par 71 to a par 70. But 206 bunkers scattered over a tight, bouncy seaside links with plenty of subtle undulations makes for a tough test. Playing out sideways or backwards may sometimes be the best way forward. And that is before you factor in a forecast of heavy rain and stiff winds, at least for the first part of the week.

"Before this year it was considered to be up there with Carnoustie as the most difficult of the Open Championship venues," Lytham's head pro of 25 years, Eddie Birchenough told me. "I suspect the fact we've got a few holes lengthened, a new seventh hole and rough up to your armpits, it might just make us the toughest of the lot."

Tiger Woods steers clear of the bunkers at Royal Lytham. Photo: Getty

The likelihood is that up to 200,000 fans will help trample down much of the deep stuff, while the rain will have doused the fire in the fast-running fairways.

BBC golf commentator Ken Brown thinks the rough may just play into Woods's hands, given he has more power than most to escape. Masters champion Bubba Watson says having the right attitude is crucial. "It's whoever can control their mind and not get frustrated about the weather and the situation," he said.

The front nine is where scores will need to be made as the inward holes will offer few opportunities to avenge earlier mistakes.

"The course looks absolutely immaculate but it's a huge challenge," added Birchenough.

"Our former greenkeeper, the late Jimmy MacDonald, used to say on a typical links course you play nine holes out and nine holes back, whereas at Lytham you play 13 out and five back. We've got holes that play to their full length, nothing plays short here.

"If we get a cross wind, with the fairways being only 25 yards wide, it's going to be very hard to hit the fairway and stop the ball on it. They'll have to play a shot to keep it out of the rough, using the wind as a barrier to bounce the ball off."

Birchenough will retire at the end of this year - "to play golf here and travel until I die" - having presided at three previous Opens as the Lytham pro.

The only shot he says he has seen in that time, given work commitments, was Ballesteros's chip onto the 18th on the Monday (after rain washed out Saturday's play) to seal his second Open title ahead of Nick Price and Nick Faldo in 1988.

"Seve loved this place, obviously. He was always very courteous and kind when he was here," said Birchenough.

He also tells a story of Tom Lehman wandering into his pro shop before the 1996 Open, hoping to pick up a few tips on how to play Lytham.

"He asked, 'how do I win here?'" recalls Birchenough. "I said, 'keep it on the short grass." Lehman took the advice on board and duly won the Claret Jug.

"He was a very nice man and very grateful - when he made the official video afterwards he mentioned that," added Birchenough.

"That Open was one of the great moments here. Talk about pride for the club. It was like a vicars' tea party without the church. The media dubbed it the 'friendly Open' and I don't think a club could get a better recommendation than that. The players enjoyed it, the staff enjoyed it, everyone was friendly and helpful and the weather was super. It was a fantastic week."

Five years later, the enigma that is Duval joined the list of Lytham champions, a man who appeared almost robot-like and emotionless before delivering the most humble and gracious of winning speeches. It made the decline that followed all the more cruel for a man who seemed destined to go head-to-head throughout his career with Woods.

"Duval, he was a super fella," said Birchenough. "We had seen this guy on TV for years wandering around hiding behind dark glasses, but once he took them off there was a man underneath. Another superbly courteous southern gentleman. I spent a bit of time with him after he won and he didn't know where he was. He eyes were glazed, he'd just given that wonderful winner's speech and he was just seven miles high."

So with all his experience and thousands of rounds under his belt at Royal Lytham, what sort of player does he think the 2012 Open champion will be?

"I don't think we'll get a winner who just drives well or just putts well or plays his irons well," said Birchenough. "If you look back at the past champions you would think he must be a straight driver, but Seve won here twice so that's not the case. You'd think they must be a long hitter, but Duval or Lehman were not that long.

"It'll be a fine player who goes for four days without going in a bunker. The bunker faces around the greens are very steep so a sand shot that elevates the ball almost vertically is a necessity just to escape.

"You have just got to have all your shots working for you, find the fairways, find the greens. And then putt like God."

Eddie Birchenough's guide to Royal Lytham's infamous final five:

The 14th, par four, 444 yards
A long par four. The prevailing wind (from the south west) is from the left and the fairway slopes left to right with bunkers down the right. The green slopes front to back with out of bounds five paces from the right edge. It's tough.

The 15th, par four, 462 yards
Almost into the prevailing wind with a very tightly bunkered drive area. If you find the fairway you've then got a shot over the line of cross bunkers to a green you can't really see - maybe just the top half of the flag. It's always difficult to be absolutely sure of the yardage.

The 16th, par four, 336 yards
A short par four famous for Seve's "car park" shot in 1979. It's been tightened up a bit and the fairway is very narrow. It will be interesting to see if, with a wind from the south, anyone takes it on with a driver. I've seen it driven, but it is very tightly bunkered and if you get into one you're not guaranteed a three and will probably be very happy with a four.

The 17th, par four, 453 yards
Probably our signature hole. Bobby Jones made it famous when he found the green from a fairway bunker on his way to victory in 1926. It's a dogleg right to left, needing a drive short of the cross bunkers coming from the left. Then it's a semi blind shot over a ridge of dunes to a green where you can only see the top half of the flag. Some trees have been taken down on the left of the fairway, which makes the green look much further left than it is. Visually it is quite a tricky hole to come to terms with. Again, very well bunkered around the green.

The 18th, par four, 413 yards
The graveyard of so many would-be Open champion's hopes. Two successive lines of bunkers run left to right diagonally across the fairway - a formidable final hurdle. I remember Tony Jacklin's drive in 1969 - there was a collective sigh of relief when he found the fairway. The green is long - about 40 yards - so clubbing has to be good for the second shot. It's well bunkered on both sides and is a real amphitheatre which will induce the nerves with 9000 people packed into the stands. A very good finishing hole.

It is now 20 years since Nick Faldo finished his burst of three Open titles. Before the first, in 1987, you have to go back another 18 years, to Tony Jacklin in 1969.

To some, Jacklin will be remembered as the man who helped change the face of the Ryder Cup, captaining four European sides. To others, such as Faldo's generation, he was their early inspiration in the game.

The first of Jacklin's two major titles - he also won the US Open in 1970 - came at Royal Lytham and St Annes, the venue for this week's Open Championship.

Before his win on the Fylde coast, no Englishman - or European for that matter - had won the Open since Max Faulkner triumphed at Royal Portrush in 1951.

Jacklin went on to win the US Open a year after his Royal Lytham triumph. Photo: Getty

And the big topic among the home crowd this week will be whether any other Englishmen, and specifically world number one Luke Donald or third-ranked Lee Westwood, can finally break their major duck. Not much has changed, then.

Back in '69, Jacklin, the son of a Scunthorpe lorry driver, was based full-time in the US and had clinched his breakthrough victory on the PGA Tour at Jacksonville in Florida the previous year.

"I got tremendous support from the British fans," Jacklin said. "In the US I was just another tour player. It was Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus who got all the attention.

"I was at a point in life where I was 25, I'd been playing full-time tournament golf since I was 19, I'd been around the world a few times, I was strong, full of vim and confidence and thought I was immortal like a lot do when they're in their early 20s - it was a good time for me.

"I was strong in mind and body. I just knew the key was maintaining my emotional balance and not rushing."

Jacklin had qualified for the Open at Lytham in 1963 - a year after turning pro - and finished 30th and won the Pringle Tournament there in 1967.

"I really liked it," he said. "Lytham is a very unusual golf course.

"First of all, although it's a links, you don't see the sea. You wouldn't call it a beautiful place - it is surrounded by these red brick houses and a railway trundles through it. You have to make your score on the front nine because the back nine gives you nothing. It is a supreme test and one of my favourite spots, certainly."

Amid a typically blustery Open week, and on colour TV for the first time, Jacklin carded rounds of 68, 70 and 70 to lead by two shots over New Zealander Bob Charles and Ireland's Christy O'Connor Sr going into the final day.

"I got off to a reasonable start and had terrific support from the local galleries as the week went on," he said. "I got more nervous but that's what it's all about, being able to control your emotions. There was a lot of pressure on me in the last round and I was acutely aware of it.

"I vividly remember my mind wanting to wander ahead to what will be happening half an hour from now and giving myself a mental smack in the cheek saying 'that's not your business and get on with the next shot'."

On the 18th tee, Jacklin, in light blue drainpipes and matching sweater, held a two-shot lead over left-hander Charles, who had won the Open at Lytham in 1963.

"It's a very, very demanding drive, the 18th at Lytham," said Jacklin. "There is no way to play safe. There are bunkers crossing the fairway - I couldn't get over if I'd played an iron, you just have to hit a damn good drive.

"I went through that whole mental thing - just thinking 'wide and smooth' as I teed the ball up. Then as I looked up, the ball was flying straight as an arrow down the centre of the fairway. Once that drive was taken care of, I was very close to home."

Jacklin nearly lost his shoe in the stampede to follow the players up the last, but he recovered it, and his composure, to make his par for a final-round 72 to beat Charles by two and earn a cheque for £4,250.

"I remember saying to Nicklaus afterwards 'I never thought I could be that nervous and still play and he said 'I know, isn't it great?'," said Jacklin.

"The British fans were ready. A lot of people make the pilgrimage to see the Open and, of course, Max won over in Northern Ireland, so it was a big deal and a lot of people were very happy, including myself."

The 68-year-old Jacklin, who says modern golf balls travel 20% too far, to the detriment of the game, also remains the last Englishman to clinch the US Open.

He is surprised there haven't been more English major winners over the years, but believes the consistent Westwood can triumph at Lytham if he doesn't try to force it and his putter is on song. Donald, he says, might not be particularly suited to the variable bounces and shot-making required on a testing links.

"Is it determination? Good fortune? I don't know," said Jacklin, who revealed no-one has tapped him up for advice (not that he minds).

"It's all about emotion. It's all mental. They can all play, they're more than capable. It's getting your mind engaged, getting off to a fast start and how you control yourself coming down the stretch.

"I'm a great believer you have to put it in your head you can do it early in your life. Nicklaus said to me many times that 95% don't believe in their hearts they can do it. He always thought majors were the easiest to win.

"Lee Westwood is more than capable of getting it done, but the fact is if you're there often enough you should be figuring it out.

"But it's one thing to go in there with your golf game under control and a perfect mental approach. It still doesn't mean you're going to win. You've got players coming from all over the planet trying to stop you.

"The way Darren Clarke won last year was fantastic. He played through that weather and maintained his composure. It just showed the kind of emotions and the battering you take to win."

That is, after all, what won the Masters for Bubba Watson.

The exuberant American is of the "grip it and rip it" variety. Self-taught, a huge hitter with a wildly unorthodox swing and a liking for nothing more than "goofing around" off the golf course, the 33-year-old snatched his first major title on a tense final afternoon at Augusta.

Everyone expected a left-hander to make a charge, but most thought it would be the other one.

Watson is similar to Phil Mickelson in that he plays through feel and imagination and conjures shots most others don't see.

When it comes off, this approach seems genius. Watson's deliberately hooked second to the heart of the green from behind trees on the 10th, the second hole of a play-off with Louis Oosthuizen, was in this category and set up his victory.

"My caddie has always called it 'Bubba golf'," said Watson. "We always say it walking down fairways. I just play the game, the game that I love. And truthfully, it's like Seve (Ballesteros) played. He hit shots that were unbelievable. Phil Mickelson hits the shot, he goes for it.

"That's what I do. I just play golf. I attack. I always attack. I don't like to go to the centre of the greens. I want to hit the incredible shot; who doesn't? That's why we play the game of golf, to pull off the amazing shot.

"I just play golf, fun-loving Bubba, just try to have fun and goof around."

Watson plays through feel and imagination and conjures shots most others don't see. Photo: Getty

Watson, real name Gerry, is an emotional character and, when the final putt dropped, he fell weeping into the arms of his caddie, mother and fellow PGA Tour players Rickie Fowler and Ben Crane - his "band mates" in the hit internet video the "Golf Boys".

He is known for wearing his heart on his sleeve and also cried as he dedicated the first of his now four PGA Tour wins in 2010 to his father who was battling terminal cancer and died later that year.

Watson, who became a Christian in 2004, again fought back tears as he received the Green Jacket on Easter Sunday and thought of his father and the baby boy back home in Florida that he and wife Angie adopted last month.

"For me, it's just a dream come true. My dad is not here. I hope he's watching in heaven," he said.

The cliche goes that the Masters doesn't begin until the back nine on Sunday. But, for Oosthuizen and Mickelson, the whole complexion of the day, and the tournament, had changed much earlier.

The South African had surged into a sudden two-shot lead with a sensational albatross on the long second - only the fourth in Masters history. If Gene Sarazen's 1935 albatross on 15 en route to victory was "the shot heard around the world", this was possibly the shot heard on the moon. The roars reverberated long around the trees, acting like the reeds in a giant human mouth organ.

Mickelson's natural inclination to gamble, which has served him well at Augusta over the years, proved his downfall this time.

Taking two right-handed hacks to exit a clump of bamboo on the short fourth, the three-time champion ran up a triple-bogey six. Payback, perhaps, for his audacious flop shot that set up a birdie on the 15th on Saturday.

Deep in the heart of Augusta's famous back nine, in Amen Corner, among the towering pines lining the pivotal par-fives, the 13th and 15th, and in the amphitheatre at 16, the crowd tried to urge their favourite back but he had left himself too much to do.

Without Mickelson, the partisan patrons turned their attention to Watson. The biggest boom of the afternoon came when he made a fourth birdie in a row at 16 to join Oosthuizen, who was back in the lead after a dip.

The 29-year-old Oosthuizen, who has struggled with ankle ligament damage since his dominant Open win at St Andrews in 2010, said he found it tough for a few holes after the "double eagle" (as they call albatrosses in America). But he conceded Watson's banana shot in the play-off was the difference.

"It's a hard day, but you know, congrats to Bubba. He did brilliantly," said Oosthuizen, who would have received the Green Jacket from his best friend and defending champion Charl Schwartzel.

At the beginning of a much-hyped week, a Tiger Woods v Rory McIlroy clash was being talked up. But four-time champion Woods was all at sea, a dip in a generally upward curve of late, as he slumped to his worst ever Masters finish of tied 40th.

McIlroy was also off his game. Perhaps the scars of last year and the enormity of his collapse were more raw than he let on. Maybe a year out of contention for the Masters will ultimately be a blessing.

For the English, despite having the world numbers one and three, the hunt for a first major champion since Nick Faldo's third Masters win in 1996 goes on.

Lee Westwood banked another impressive result, sharing third place after making steady progress in a quiet campaign. But, after also finishing second in 2010, he has now had nine top-five finishes in majors without a victory.

Watson has got one, though. And he did it the Bubba way, adding another volume to the Masters' intoxicating back catalogue.

"I don't play the game for fame," said Watson. "It's just me. I'm just Bubba.

"I'm not ready for fame. I don't really want to be famous or anything like that. I just want to be me and play golf."

The electrifying American ignited the famous roars again in what has become something of a Masters tradition, like the par-three contest, pimento sandwiches and veteran Fred Couples having an early run.

The popular left-hander didn't disappoint on Saturday, and has helped set up a scintillating Sunday.

Mickelson's eagle on the 13th to grab a share of the lead prompted the first ground-shaking roars of the weekend. He followed it up with an outrageous high flop shot from behind the 15th green to set up another birdie.

All this from a man who was four over after 10 holes of his first round.
"I just feel really confident in the way I've been playing and the way I've been putting and in this setting and on this golf course," said Mickelson.

"I love it here and I love nothing more than being in the last group on Sunday at the Masters. It's the greatest thing in professional golf."

But if Mickelson laid down the golf glove, Hanson picked it up. The Swede finished with four birdies in five holes for a stunning 65, the low round of the week.

"That was one of those special kind of Masters moments that I've been watching so many times on TV," said Hanson. "You hear the crowd going wild when he [Mickelson] made the eagle. It kind of helped me."

Clearly, Hanson will be a massive underdog. It is hard to look past Mickelson on a course where he is bidding for a fourth Green Jacket in nine years.

Were he to do so, the 41-year-old American would match compatriots Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer, and move within two titles of Masters record-holder Jack Nicklaus. Intriguingly, Palmer won all his titles in even years - 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964 - and so has Mickelson (2004, 2006, 2010).

Two years ago Mickelson's run of eagle-eagle-birdie from the 13th sent the Saturday crowd wild. The following day, he hit what is now considered to be one of the most famous shots in golf when he threaded a six iron between two pine trees to the right of the 13th to set up a six-foot eagle chance. Though he missed the putt, it was the turning point as he went on to see off Lee Westwood by three shots.

But after demonstrating his gamblers' instinct on Saturday, the Californian credited Thursday's gritty fightback to end two over - followed by a 68 on Friday - for his current lofty position.

"I knew I would get a hot hand at some point," said Mickelson, who leads the stats for fewest putts with 77 from Hanson with 79. "I just needed to not be so far back that it didn't move me off the leaderboard."

The Californian has been in the final group each time he has won - shooting 69, 69 and 67 - outscoring his playing partners by 13. He also beat Hanson 4&2 when they went head-to-head in the Ryder Cup singles in 2010.

Hanson, who won twice on the European Tour that year, admitted that trying to sleep ahead of the final round was "going to be tough", but he has at least seen Mickelson close up at Augusta after playing with him in the first two rounds.

"The crowds are so much behind Phil and they love him, and I understand why - the way he plays," he said.

"I'm just going to try to enjoy it. I tried to stay pretty close to him the first couple of days and let it feed off a little bit. It's great playing in front of these fans and it's just an amazing feeling."

But, of course, it's not all about the top two. Nine players are within five shots of the lead - and all have proven credentials.

Louis Oosthuizen (-7) is the 2010 Open champion, Bubba Watson (-6), Matt Kuchar (-5) and world number four Hunter Mahan (-4) have won multiple PGA Tour titles, Padraig Harrington (-4) is a three-time major winner, Lee Westwood (-4) is the world number three and was second in 2010 and Henrik Stenson (-4) has won in Europe and the US.

Even Paul Lawrie at three under has won a major.

Charl Schwartzel fought back from four adrift to win by two last year, while the biggest final-round comeback was in 1956 when Jack Burke recovered from an eight-shot deficit.
That would open it up to another 13 players, although not Rory McIlroy (+1), Tiger Woods (+3) or world number one Luke Donald (+7).

Harrington believes experience will be the key to surviving a possible cavalry charge on Sunday.

"You've got to know the feelings coming down the stretch at the Masters," he said. "That back nine is different [from] any other major tournament, purely because of the risk/reward all the way home. There's a lot more intimidation through the last nine holes and that really does take a lot of experience."

Schwartzel was only playing in his second Masters - as is Hanson - and withstood the heat of a crazy afternoon 12 months ago.

But Mickelson had long played his way out of it. Not this time.

Couples fired a stunning 67 to join fellow American Jason Dufner at the top of the leaderboard, 20 years after claiming the Green Jacket.

With a laid-back, easy-going demeanour, long, smooth swing and an ability to keep performing at the Masters, Couples is a firm crowd favourite.

"He's just cool. I hope I'm that cool when I'm 52," said Rory McIlroy.

Despite being beset by back problems, Couples - nicknamed "Boom Boom" earlier in his career because of his power - is a course specialist at Augusta and went close as recently as 2010 when he finished sixth after leading with a first-round 66.

"He was a huge hitter then and he has maintained that lovely rhythm. It's amazing how far he still hits it which makes him very competitive around Augusta.

American Fred Couples won his last and only Masters in 1992. Photo: Getty

"Playing good golf in your 20s is hard enough but it gets increasingly harder due to flexibility. You've also got to have the resilience to enjoy hard competitive golf, but it appears to be an easy game for him, which allows him to carry on a bit longer.

"The crowd could make a huge impact. Everyone loves Freddie and if he can hold his nerve there could be some huge roars at the weekend."

Couples was also third in 2006 after being paired with eventual winner Phil Mickelson in the final round, and came second behind Mark O'Meara in 1998. And he holds the joint record of 23 consecutive made cuts (from 1983-2007) along with Gary Player.

His 1992 win featured an iconic chip, from just a foot or so above the water of Rae's Creek, after his tee shot to the par-three 12th came up short and defied gravity to lodge on the bank.

There is no reason Couples shouldn't stay in the mix, though, other than fatigue and his back playing up, but should he win again on Sunday, he would become the oldest Masters champion, ahead of Jack Nicklaus, who was 46 when he won in 1986. "I feel like I'm very young when I get here," said Couples, who traded the world number one spot with Nick Faldo in 1992.

"To win it once was truly amazing, and to play well here a lot, I think, is because I really know the golf course.

"I believe I can win."

If he does, he would also be quizzed in the Butler Cabin by CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz, who was his roommate during their time on the University of Houston golf team.

Woods's belief, meanwhile, must have disappeared as quickly as the control of his swing, as the four-time champion pulled a succession of tee shots and hit a host of wayward irons. Cursing, dropping clubs in despair and even kicking one on the 16th tee, the former world number one had the air of a man with terminal frustration and no ideas left.

The pre-tournament favourite is caught between two swings, two philosophies. There are the old moves of ex-coach Hank Haney and the new patterns of Sean Foley. On top of that, Foley's short-game technique is creeping into Woods's long game. All are conflicting. And despite a stunning win a few weeks ago, Woods is struggling to override the problem when it occurs. How ironic, that Couples's long-term caddie and best friend Joe LaCava accepted the offer to work with Woods not so long ago.

But for all his angst, Woods ground out a 75 to make the cut by two in circumstances that might have shattered a lesser man.

"It's amazing the way he keeps grinding even though he is playing like a drain," said Brown.

"It's a testament to his fortitude that he just keeps going."

Commentating on American television, Faldo was less charitable.

"I think we can officially say that Tiger has lost his game - and his mind right now," he said. "He has not got a clue how to get the clubface onto the ball."

Woods maintains he is still in contention, but at eight shots adrift, he will have to equal the record for the biggest halfway comeback, set by Jack Burke in 1956.

Saturday is traditionally "Moving Day", when the field sorts itself out for the final push. And with 23 players under par and within five shots of the lead, there could be some traffic to negotiate.

World number two McIlroy, who looks well-placed just one shot adrift, as does third-ranked Lee Westwood, who led after the first round.

Louis Oosthuizen, Sergio Garcia and Bubba Watson are also four under, while three-time champion Mickelson is two further back.

"There's a lot of guys that will think they have a chance over the next two days," said McIlroy, who led for three rounds last year before collapsing.

"You look at the names on the leaderboard, and there isn't one style of golf.

"There's a lot of different ways to get the ball around the golf course. Some guys can do it with their short game and some guys can do it with their long game. That's Augusta in a nutshell."

Trickling innocently in front of the 12th green and behind the 11th green, the shallow creek is the lowest point on the property, some 160ft below the first tee.

And those in the know, know it tugs silently at every putt on the course.

"If in doubt, every putt goes that way," Paul Casey told me.

"If it looks flat, think about Rae's," added his caddie Craig Connelly.

Larry Mize won the 1987 Masters on a play-off after successfully negotiating the 11th hole. Photo: Getty

The creek, named after Irish landowner John Rae who settled in the area in 1734, originally ran for nearly 11 miles and flowed directly into the Savannah River but now disippates in downtown Augusta's drainage system.

But more than just a simple culvert, the creek has historical significance. To add to its aura, the banks contain artefacts from Native American settlements dating from 3,000 to more than 10,000 years ago.

"There is a pull," three-time Masters champion Nick Faldo told me. "You draw a line off every green towards the 12th and it does affect it.

"On the first green you're thinking, 'how can that be affecting me?' but it does.

"I've only learnt this in the last few years. Jack knew it and probably kept it a secret."
Jack knew all right.

On the way to his landmark 1986 Masters victory at the age of 46, Nicklaus tapped into the source when faced with a 12ft putt for birdie on the 17th to give him sole possession of the lead. The image of his raised putter is an Augusta icon.

"We looked at the putt and [son Jackie, his caddie] said, 'Dad, it's got to go right.' I said, 'I know it's going to go right, Jack, but I think it's going to come back left at the hole.

Rae's Creek is going to have an influence at the end of that putt.' And so I hit the putt. It went up and it just sort of straightened out at the end and goes in. I've putted that putt a thousand times since, and it never broke left again."

The younger generation, with their stats and gizmos and matter-of-factness, will tell you it's obvious. That the whole place slopes that way.

These days the caddie house even has a chart on the wall showing the direction of Rae's on every hole.

Graeme McDowell's bagman Ken Comboy showed me his yardage book with red dots indicating the direction of the 12th from every green. "We use this all the time," he told me.

"Water tends to pull the grain of the grass down the slope so you when you're reading a putt you need to know that when it dies for pace it is going to fall towards Rae's," Ian Poulter told me.

But knowing about it is one thing. Applying it is something else.

"An example would be on 13," said Faldo. "There's a put on the back right corner if you're behind the hole - you'd swear it goes right to left but it actually goes left to right, even though it's only a six footer.

"I mentioned it once and Jack jumped in and I later read he'd said that was the pull of Rae's. Even though it's only 10-15 degrees off back down the fairway it has enough pull. It's there and it makes it really difficult to read.

"You get a right-to-left putt on a left-to-right green, which one is going to win? That's a calculated professional guess. But this is hidden, there is nothing there."

Another stumbling block is assuming that the brook in front of the 13th green is Rae's Creek. That stream is only a tributary, and joins the real Rae's by the 12th green.

The really smart ones know it then tumbles over a weir beyond the 11th green. So maybe the true low point is somewhere just off the course, skewing the pull by another degree or so.

Augusta native Larry Mize, who famously chipped in on the 11th in a play-off with Greg Norman to win the 1987 Masters, is another firm believer.

"It's very important," the 53-year-old told me. "You still have to pay attention to slopes but you have to have Rae's Creek in your head.

"Sometimes a putt breaking away from there will not break as much and sometimes a putt going towards Rae's Creek will break more than you think.

"The slopes still tell you what's going on but if you don't pay attention to it you'll get some breaks that will fool you. They still fool me now after 29 times. You still shake your head and think, 'man that affected it more than I thought it would'.

"On the seventh, going from right to left, Rae's Creek can hold up putts more than you think. I've missed putts on the high side there many times. Even though you know it, it's hard to play it."

Did he have the creek in his head when he canned that chip from the right of the green to break Norman's heart 25 years ago, I wondered?

"Good question," he said. "But it was way too long ago for me to remember. I don't know if I did or not. I knew what the shot was going to do as I had a putt there in regulation so I knew the break."

Winning the Masters requires skill, nerve and a bit of luck. You might also want to make a connection with the Creek. But that's easier said than done.

"On a good day you see it, on a bad day you can't fathom it," said Faldo.