THE OPEN RELATED STORIES The Open Home Page The Open Scores Round 4: Padraig Harrington wins Open in playoff Round 4: Late bogeys cost Romero The Open Round 4: No final round charge from Tiger Woods Round 4: Richard Green equals course record Round 4: 18th at Carnoustie strikes again Round 3: Sergio Garcia in sight of first major title Round 3: Justin Rose boosted by round of 67 Round 3: Late problems cost Ian Poulter dear Round 3: Tiger Woods shoots 69 but still eight back Round 3: Chris DiMarco back in the mix after a 65 Round 3: Steve Stricker shoots course record Round 2: Sergio Garcia holds on to lead on Friday Round 2: Rory McIlroy claims Silver Medal Round 2: Garcia not bothered when he wins major Round 2: Phil Mickelson struggles and misses cut Round 2: Tiger Woods still in the hunt despite 74 Round 2: Weir jumps into contention with round of 68 Round 1: Sergio Garcia leads with opening 65 Round 1: David Howell happy with eventful 72 Round 1: KJ Choi happy despite late bogeys Round 1: Inspired Michael Campbell shoots 68 Round 1: Ruling overshadows Tiger's round Round 1: Last minute tip helps McGinley to a 67 Round 1: Amateur Rory McIlroy scores a 68 Top 20 favourites for the Open Tiger Woods targets third straight Open title Paul Lawrie returns to site of famous victory Colin Montgomerie backs European winner Draw for first & second rounds Seve Ballesteros retires from golf Jean Van de Velde suffering from unknown illness Wild weather day at Carnoustie Jim Furyk enjoys his low profile Phil Mickelson not worried about driving problems Peter Fowler aims to get career back on track Nick Faldo fears for "nice" Europeans No distractions for Tiger Woods Paul Lawrie still not getting credit for Open win Jose Maria Olazabal withdraws from the Open Rod Pampling seeks to change Carnoustie luck Sergio Garcia unhappy with Scottish weather Weather biggest factor in how Carnoustie will play Gary Player says some players take steriods Justin Rose seeks to break European drought Quotations about the Open Championship Course Guide: Carnoustie 2007 European Tour Schedule 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

Bad weather biggest factor in how Carnoustie will play

Organisers say the bad weather rather than any grand planning on their part has left Carnoustie in "great shape" for the 136th British Open which tees off on Thursday.

Open championship committee chairman Martin Kippax said that every player he had encountered had praised the Scottish links course's condition, in sharp contrast to the brickbats it received when the event was last held there in 1999.

But he denied there had been any concerted plan by the Royal and Ancient (R&A) club to help the 156-strong field after so many struggled with high rough and strong winds eight years ago.

"We don't have any grand plan in relation to what width the fairways would be," he told a news conference.

"Very rarely will an Open championship venue vary to its own members, players and so forth. We don't try to cultivate anything.

"The rough isn't as severe as it has been in the past but that's because of the weather we have had. If you have a warm and wet May and June then you'll have heavy links rough.

"If you don't then you don't get the rough. And the rough is nothing like as heavy as it might possibly be.

"We already have seen it's going to be pretty soft so I expect a pretty low-scoring championship."

Forecasters are expecting a wet finish to the tournament over the weekend with clearer weather for the first two days.

Briton Paul Lawrie won the 1999 edition with a six-over-par 290 total.