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

Draw for first & second rounds

Tiger Woods sets out on his quest for a third successive Open title at 9.09am on Thursday morning with Paul Lawrie, the winner of the Championship when it was last played at Carnoustie in 1999. Third man in the group is Justin Rose.

Woods has had 11 major victories, including three Open Championships, at St Andrews in 2000 and 2005 and at Hoylake last year. Not since Peter Thomson from 1954-56 has a player won the title three years in a row.

The first ball of the Championship will be struck at 6.30am by American Joe Durant and play will continue in three-balls until the final group start out at 4.21pm.

The man who finished second to Woods last year, Chris DiMarco, is an early starter in company with Michael Campbell, the New Zealand winner of the US Open last year, and Darren Clarke, displaying a welcome return to form. They tee off at 7.58am.

They are followed by Retief Goosen, twice a winner of the US Open, Justin Leonard, the champion at Royal Troon in 1997 who lost in the play-off here two years later, and Thomas Bjorn, whose hopes of victory at Royal St George's in 2003 came to grief in a bunker at the short 16th.

Geoff Ogilvy, a former winner of the US Open, plays with Anthony Wall and the 2004 winner at Royal Troon, Todd Hamilton at 8.20am, with three-time champion Nick Faldo teeing off at 8.42am with Trevor Immelman and Carl Pettersson.

Another big crowd can be expected at the first tee at 9.31 when Colin Montgomerie takes the stage with Toshi Izawa of Japan and Stewart Cink of the USA.

Ernie Els bids for a second Open title following his play-off victory at Muirfield in 2002 and his loss to Todd Hamilton in another play-off two years later, He plays at 12.36pm in company with Sweden's Robert Karlsson and Lucas Glover of America.

British challenger Luke Donald plays with Charles Howell III and amateur Llewellyn Matthews at 12.58pm.

Following on from his triumph in the US Open, Angel Cabrera of Argentina will be looking for an Open double when he sets out at 1.09pm with Rory Sabbatini and Sean O'Hair.

Nick Dougherty features in an attractive group at 1.31pm when he plays with Jim Furyk, the current world number two, and Niclas Fasth.

Vijay Singh tees off at 1.53pm with Aaron Oberholser and Brian Davis and at 2.09 they are followed by the last man other than Tiger Woods to win the Championship, Ben Curtis, who plays with Australia's Aaron Baddeley and British amateur Paul Waring.

There's a powerful three-ball at 2.20 when Phil Mickelson plays with a resurgent Lee Westwood and Japan's Toru Taniguchi.

Former champions Tony Jacklin and Mark O'Meara are paired togther towards the end of the day at 3.04pm with Loren Roberts.