Els goes on Tiger hunt for world's No 1 spot.

Byline: By Mark Garrod

Ernie Els will take on Tiger Woods at Royal Troon this week not only for the Open title they both cherish, but also for the world No 1 spot.

If Els can repeat his triumph of Muirfield two years ago then Woods, winner at St Andrews in 2000, will have to be 17th or better to stay top of the rankings.

Vijay Singh, though, is narrowly too far behind to have the same added incentive as Els on this occasion.

Woods has been No 1 on and off since June 1997 and continuously since August 1999. And if he is there for another month he will have headed the rankings for longer than anybody else since they were introduced in 1986.

But there is not the same certainty about that any more. Woods has undoubtedly lost his aura ( or "aroma" as defending champion Ben Curtis put it on a chat show after his shock win ( of invincibility.

Having won seven of the previous 11 majors, Woods has not won one for over two years. And, perhaps even more worringly for him, he has not won any stroke play event since last October.

The gap has been narrowing as his drives have been widening. The 28-year-old ranks an astonishing 155th in accuracy on the US Tour this season and nobody's swing has come under closer scrutiny.

Woods was out working on it at the crack of dawn yesterday ( as he usually is. He teed off with close friend and 1998 winner Mark O'Meara at 6.30am and had completed the 18 holes before most of the crowd had arrived.

Els, on the other hand, was more low-key, resting up a bit following his third place finish in the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond.

Troon is where the South African made his Open debut as a 19-year-old amateur in 1989. It is also where Woods had the lowest round of his major championship career, a 64 in the third round seven years ago.

That, though, was his only sub-par round of the week and Woods, three months after winning the Masters (his first major as a pro) by a record 12 strokes and with a record 18 under par score, finished a disappointing 24th.

"If the prevailing wind is blowing, it's a perfect links course," he said yesterday. "Every hazard is right in front of you. The pot bunkers are very penal and you just have the hit the ball well. I remember that it seemed like everybody was two, three or four under par on the outward nine and almost everybody backed up coming in.

"There are some tough holes coming in, especially the 490-yard par four 11th, 431-yard 12th and 472-yard 13th. That's a brutal stretch and will separate a lot of players.

"I also remember how difficult the 222-yard 17th is and how tough it is to hit the fairway at the 457-yard 18th. It seems like there are bunkers everywhere and they are almost impossible to miss."

Woods has already watched some videos from 1997 so he could visualise the holes before flying in. Meanwhile, Woods has rung former coach Butch Harmon ( not to ask him to help him out, but to clear the air after critical words from Harmon on TV.

"For Tiger to stand there in every interview and say he's getting close and he feels really good about what he's doing, I think he's in denial," commented Harmon, to which Woods responded: "For him to go off and say things like that, I don't understand where's he coming from.

"It doesn't do himself or anyone any good to do that. I mean, friends say that face-to-face."

When Woods' words were relayed to him, Harmon said: "If I was Tiger Woods I'd probably be upset, but it's my job to give an opinion and I didn't say anything that the players on the practice tee haven't been saying. His swing has totally changed."

Now the two are reportedly back on good terms. But they are not back working together and if Woods does lose the No 1 position, the state of his game will be even more under the microscope.