THE OPEN RELATED STORIES The Open Home Page The Open Scores Round 4: Tiger Woods seals two shot victory Round 4: Emotional Tiger Woods thanks late father Round 4: Players give Hoylake top marks Round 4: Ernie Els continues impressive Open run Round 4: Marius Thorp wins Silver Medal Round 4: Sergio Garcia takes positives from Open Round 4: Chris DiMarco consoled by second place Round 4: Tiger Woods edges ahead of field Round 3: Sergio Garcia in sight of first major title Round 3: Ernie Els happy to still be in the mix Round 3: Putting problems keep Woods back Round 3: Chris DiMarco counts on experience Round 2: Woods and Els set for showdown Round 2: Singh & Monty amongst cut casualties Round 2: Ernie Els relishes being in contention Round 2: David Duval frustrated again Round 2: Phil Mickelson well off the pace Round 2: Poor showing by Ryder Cup hopefuls Round 1: Woods makes move with eagle on 18th Round 1: Clarke to take break to care for wife Round 1: Seve Ballesteros happy with opening 74 Round 1: Ernie Els finds putting touch again Round 1: Garcia amongst early front runners Leading contenders for the British Open Tiger Woods ready for Open defence Geoff Ogilvy enjoying life as a champion Weather set fair at Hoylake Phil Mickelson in confident mood Tiger Woods & Nick Faldo fued simmers Trevor Immelman pulls out of Open Players expecting to score low at Hoylake Ben Curtis has sights on second Open title Montgomerie still optimistic about breaking duck Rest of the World catching the Americans Hoylake ready for a new chapter Europeans seeking a Major turnaround Trevor Immelman celebrates birth of first child Tiger Woods is bookmakers favourite Hot, dry and fast Hoylake awaits players Nick Faldo & Tiger Woods row diffused Hoylake a mystery to the whole field John Daly plays "The Cavern" Retief Goosen not confident heading into Open John Senden joins record number of Australians Woods starts Open defence with Faldo The Open Preview Course Guide: Hoylake - Royal Liverpool 2006 European Tour Schedule GOLF TODAY TOP STORIES Colin Montgomerie plays down Ryder Cup talk Top players absent from Tigers' event Opportunities abound without Tiger playing Olazabal & Clarke miss out on Open Kenny Perry moves back in to World Top 20 Tiger Woods unsure of when he'll return GREAT GIFTS FOR GOLFERS Golf Breaks to Portugal & Ireland Half Price Golf Vouchers InstructaCard - your portable pro! The Father & Son Golf Ch'ship Golf Insurance

Tiger Woods is bookmakers favourite

Twice champion Tiger Woods has been made a 5-1 favourite to win this week's British Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club by British bookmaker William Hill.

The world number one, who romped to a five-shot victory at St. Andrews last year, lifted the Claret Jug for the first time at the same venue in 2000.

Masters champion Phil Mickelson, whose best Open finish was third at Royal Troon in 2004, has been backed as second favourite at 10-1.

Latest odds offered by William Hill for the 135th British Open which starts on Thursday:

5-1 favourite Tiger Woods

10-1 Phil Mickelson

16-1 Vijay Singh, Ernie Els

20-1 Padraig Harrington, Luke Donald

25-1 Retief Goosen  

28-1 Colin Montgomerie

33-1 Jim Furyk, Darren Clarke

40-1 Adam Scott, David Howell Sergio Garcia, Tim Clark, Thomas Bjorn

Selected others:

50-1 Geoff Ogilvy

100-1 Davis Love III

125-1 Paul Lawrie, Fred Couples

150-1 Bernhard Langer, John Daly, Ben Curtis

200-1 David Duval