Woods could lose Word No.1 spot this week

Tiger Woods tees up for the first round of the British Open later on Thursday with his status as the world's finest player under threat for the first time in the 21st century.

The American will lose his number one world ranking after 257 weeks at the summit if he can finish no better than 17th and South African Ernie Els triumphs at Royal Troon.

Several of the top players in the 156-strong field in Scotland believe Woods has lost his aura of invincibility after failing to win a major since collecting his eighth at the U.S. Open in 2002.

That includes 2002 British Open champion Els. "Four or five yeas ago we were in another, lower league to Tiger," he told a news conference.

"Where Tiger was and where he is now is another world. A lot of the players feel that we can compete with him now at the highest level.

"At his height, I felt that he was going to shoot 67 or something better. It was difficult for the rest of us to believe that we could play our game and be good enough.

"Right now it's different. I feel that when he plays really well he's going to shoot a 67. But if I play really well, I can shoot that score as well and I can keep doing that for three or four days."

For once, Woods is only second-favourite at 8-1 for his second Open title -- he won at St Andrews in 2000 -- with British bookmaker Ladbrokes quoting Els as 6-1 favourite.

The 156-strong field tees off from 0530 GMT on the 7,175-yard, par-71 Scottish links for one of the most "open" of Opens in recent years.

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