Ben Curtis has sights on second Open title

Three years after he pulled off one of the most unexpected victories in British Open history, Ben Curtis has arrived at Hoylake armed with renewed confidence after finally proving himself more than a one-week wonder.

The man who triumphed in his first major appearance has struggled to convince the world that his 2003 victory at Sandwich was not a fluke in which the capricious nature of the Royal St Georges links played the principal role.

But last month, the 29-year-old finally claimed his first victory on the US PGA tour, when he headed the field by five shots at the Booz Allen Classic in Maryland.

That performance certainly could not be labelled lucky and Curtis's relief was reflected in his comment that the win meant as much to him as his astonishing Major debut in Kent.

Encouragingly for Ohio-born Curtis, conditions at Hoylake this week are shaping up to be exactly as they were three years ago.

"It is very similar," he acknowledged. "It's firm and bouncy although the wind has not really picked up yet.

"Some of the greens are a little slow but we have got another two days of sunshine and hopefully it will stay like this all week too and then it'll play as tough as it's going to get.

"Everyone talks about how St Georges was nice and should have been ideal scoring but the course played really tough. This is fairly similar."

Famously, Curtis, then ranked 396 in the world, triumphed in 2003 after spending the best part of two weeks getting intimate with every inch of the course.

After missing the cut in his last two Open appearances, he has changed tack this year and cut back on the preparations in order to stay fresher for the main event.

"All I've done is try and hit some low shots," he said. "Of course you have to chip and putt well but around here the key is your driver and being able to control your iron shots. If you get all that right, you will be up there in contention."

Curtis's compatriot Vaughn Taylor meanwhile admitted he had been shocked by his first sight of a British links course in the middle of an unusually sunny summer.

"I've never seen a course as burnt out and dry as it is," said Taylor, who will be back in Europe in September to play for the United States in the Ryder Cup. "It's definitely in great shape, but it doesn't look like it is."

Vaughn, who only acquired his first passport last year, is on his debut trip to the world's oldest Major and admitted that the required learning curve may be a little too steep for him to make a Curtis-style challenge.

"Some of the shots you have to play, I've never had before," he confessed. "I've been trying to hit chips with my 5-wood and it is going to be difficult to get comfortable with those type of shots before Thursday.

"Anyway, I tend to play better if I just go with the flow and see what happens."

Jim Furyk found himself equally perplexed by the mysteries of Hoylake, which is hosting the tournament for the first time since Argentina's Roberto de Vicenzo got the better of Jack Nicklaus to win in 1967.

"I've been hitting the wrong club off the tee at most of the par fours and fives," he revealed. "It is certainly not the sort of place you want to come to to play for the first time."

Mark Calcavecchia was more fulsome in his praise for the Royal Liverpool layout, perhaps not surprisingly for a man who won his one and only Major at Royal Troon in 1989.

"I really like it," he reported. "It is not as quirky as I was told. There's a couple of holes where you can't see where you are going off the tee but you know where you're going and the fairways aren't insane."

Always one to stand out from the herd of anonymous golfers, Calcavecchia's preparations for this year's Open included two consecutive nights at concerts by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers in London.