y night [against England] but having reflected on our performance, I still believe we can get ourselves back into contention in the group, Str

HOYLAKE, England -- Even when hes not the favourite, Tiger Woods is still the show at the British Open. Woods earned that attention by piling up majors at a faster rate than anyone in history, and the attention is just as great now because his recent past includes back surgery and his immediate future is more uncertain than ever. ESPN plans to show his entire round online Thursday. Not to be overlooked at golfs oldest championship, however, is a new generation of stars. Rickie Fowler and Harris English will be playing ahead of him. Two groups behind will be Jordan Spieth and Hideki Matsuyama. They are among 25 players who share a bond that speaks to the state of golf. Woods has never won a major during their professional careers. Yes, they saw his dominance on TV. They just never experienced it. They were not around for the decade when Woods won majors with regularity, sometimes by a record score, sometimes by a record margin. They missed the days that were so Tiger-centric a player couldnt get through an interview without being asked something about Woods. "Tiger ruined a lot of guys lives," Charles Howell III, a longtime friend of Woods who lived through those times, said earlier in the year. "He caused a lot of people some sleepless Sunday nights. But he also motivated an entire generation behind him." Howells point was that while the next generation might have been in awe of Woods, being outside the arena allowed them to study him without getting scarred. They learned from the way he worked. They were more prepared than the generation before them. The talk at this British Open is that it is more open than ever. But then, thats been the case since Woods won his last major six years ago. Since that 2008 U.S. Open, 19 players have won majors, and no one has won more than two. In the 24 majors leading up to his last major, Woods won six, Phil Mickelson won three and no one else won more than one. "Looking at the different amount of winners in the last five years at the major championships, were seeing so many players win," Henrik Stenson said Wednesday. Its so competitive. At some point there might have been 20 guys battling out for it. And now it feels like anyone in the field can win if they have a great week. So its definitely tighter." Stenson, No. 2 in the world and among the favourites this week, will be playing alongside Woods for the opening two days. "Hes just one of the guys I need to beat if I want to do well this week," Stenson said. "But its a good start if you know you can beat him." Woods is playing his first major of the year because of March 31 back surgery. Returning to Royal Liverpool was always the target -- he won his third claret jug on these links in 2006 when it was brown and fast, not green and slower as it is this year. Woods came back sooner than he expected, missing the cut at Congressional three weeks ago in what had the feeling of a 36-hole rehab assignment. He feels healthy. He feels strong. And he still commands a presence. That much was clear when Woods played only two holes Wednesday as spectators scrambled for a view. He brings energy and excitement to a golf tournament. Does he bring intimidation? The Open is his next opportunity to see if he can regain the mystique that a younger generation has yet to experience. Matt Kuchar, who played a practice round with Woods on Sunday, doesnt think it will take much. Hes not sure Woods ever lost it. "The kids today grew up idolizing him," Kuchar said. "He gets back on form again, I dont think that intimidation factor is gone at all. These are the kids that grew up watching him and wanting to be him." Kuchar said it can be intimidating to play alongside, although Patrick Reed sure wasnt flustered having Woods in the group ahead of him at Doral, and Spieth didnt looked rattled when he shot 63 at Torrey Pines (the North Course) with Woods in his group. Is there a difference between watching dominance on TV and seeing it in person? "Youre saying a different intimidation for the guys who are now just coming up and just watched it on TV as opposed to my generation that were actually losing by 10 to it?" Kuchar said with a laugh. "Im not sure. If I was to go shoot baskets with Michael Jordan right now, I would be pretty intimidated. So its probably similar. The guys that played against him and got scored 40 on probably have a similar feeling to me in the awe that surrounds a guy like that." It all unfolds on Thursday, where the only mystery greater than Woods in the English weather. The final day of practice featured sunshine and rain. Hoylake when its green is there to be attacked -- its the only course on the Open rotation with four par 5s. The greens are not severe. The fairways are relatively flat, which makes them more fair. All eyes will be on Woods, and theres nothing unusual about that. The difference is that no one is sure what they will see. Cheap Ray Ban China . -- Kael Mouillierat scored three times and set up one more as the St. Wholesale Ray Ban Sunglasses . - The Green Bay Packers got back to work on Friday without star quarterback Aaron Rodgers. http://www.cheapraybansale.com/. Louis Blues are reportedly taking restricted free agent forward Vladimir Sobotka to arbitration. Cheap Ray Ban Sunglasses Sale . - Pierre-Maxime Poudrier scored twice and added an assist, and Antoine Bibeau made 43 saves as the Val-dOr Foreur downed the Baie-Comeau Drakkar 6-3 on Sunday to force Game 7 in their Quebec Major Junior Hockey League final series. Cheap Wholesale Ray Ban Sunglasses .Ryan Anderson had 14 points for the Pelicans, who trailed 78-63 after three periods before trimming the deficit to 86-83. Jrue Holiday had 13 points and Eric Gordon added 12 for New Orleans.Mike Scott and Jeff Teague each had 11 points for Atlanta.The Scottish FA has confirmed Gordon Strachan will stay on as national team manager following a performance review. The board of the SFA issued a statement confirming they have considered the performance of the Scotland Mens A squad in their World Cup qualifying campaign to date.The statement said: Following the review, the decision has been taken to continue to support Gordon Strachan and his staff. Scotland captain Darren Fletcher and assistant manager Mark McGhee have both voiced their support for Gordon Strachan Stewart Regan, Scottish FA Chief Executive added: The Board have considered the teams performance since the start of the campaign and subsequently discussed the disappointing points total after four matches.Gordon shared the disappointment of the Boaard and, of course, the fans.dddddddddddd He is adamant, however, that we can recover the position and believes a play-off place still to be attainable.The Board are convinced that he still has the hunger for this challenge and we have four home qualifiers in 2017 to rejuvenate our campaign.Scotland have beaten Malta and drawn with Lithuania in the current World Cup qualifying campaign but have been beaten 3-0 by Slovakia and England. Six months half price Upgrade to Sky Sports to watch Man Utd v Arsenal on Saturday and get the first six months half price We were all extremely disappointed with the result on Friday night [against England] but having reflected on our performance, I still believe we can get ourselves back into contention in the group, Strachan said.There are still 18 points to play for and the players, the staff and I, as in previous games, will give everything we have to turn things around.I have said consistently that our fans deserve success and a return to a major tournament finals, he added.Although we have had a difficult start to the campaign, I firmly believe that this group of players, together with our supporters, can maximise our chances of a play-off place, starting with the home match against Slovenia in March.Upgrade to Sky Sports now to watch Man Utd v Arsenal this Saturday and get the first six months half price! Also See: Scotland latest Scotland fixtures Scotland stats Table ' ' '