THE Open Championship is the only one of golf's four majors not to have a place name in its title. The US Masters, US Open and US PGA are all intrinsically tied to the United States, but the Open's historical roots mean it is not influenced by matters of geography.

It is not the British Open and, this year, that's probably just as well because there is likely to be very little British about the four days of competition that will get under way at Royal Troon this morning.

By Sunday evening the leaderboard is likely to be a multi-national affair.

There could be Americans and Australians, or Fijians and Frenchmen, but British involvement is likely to be restricted to the volunteers changing the giant name plates out on the course.

British sport has already taken something of a battering this summer, but the bad news is that things could be about to get even worse.

Paul Lawrie was the last British winner of a major when he took advantage of Jean Van de Velde's ill-fated dip to win the Open at Carnoustie in 1999.

The barren run now extends to 19 events, and there is nothing to suggest that it will be halted on Scotland's west coast.

The old guard, that once promised so much, have passed their peak.

Nick Faldo can at least claim to have lifted the Claret Jug on three separate occasions but, despite a marked improvement over the last two seasons, his powers have waned since the last of his triumphs at Muirfield some 12 years ago.

The veteran would love to roll back the years this week, but his sights are set on one last hurrah in September's Ryder Cup and the Open is chiefly another stepping stone to that end.

Colin Montgomerie cannot call on the memories of major success. The Scotsman spent years being described as "the best player never to win a major".

But he is now more likely to be called "the best player not to make the cut".

His impending divorce from wife Eimear has done untold mental damage to his game.

While his father was once secretary at Troon and his family lived in the town when he was three, a winning return would be a fairytale too far.

At least Montgomerie will be competing at Troon though. Ian Woosnam won't be for the first time since 1981 after failing to qualify from the final round of the Scottish Open.

And Woosnam isn't alone after Justin Rose, supposedly at the vanguard of the next generation of British stars, also failed to make the grade for this week's event.

Despite leading for the first 36 holes of this year's US Masters, Rose's world ranking has slipped to the point where he has been unable to qualify for the Open.

Indeed, British golf's stock has fallen so low that the nation can now boast just two members of the world's top 50. Paul Casey comes in at number 29 and, while the young Englishman showed commendable maturity to finish sixth in April's Masters, he cannot be expected to lead the domestic charge at Troon.

Instead, the weight of home expectancy will rest on the broad shoulders of world number 15, Darren Clarke.

The Northern Irishman has twice come close to breaking his major duck at the Open, when finishing joint second in 1997 and tying for third in 2001.

The first of those close shaves came at Troon, and Clarke's big-hitting game is ideally suited to a course that offers plenty of goodies on the front nine before snatching them back as soon as the players turn for home.

Clarke has undergone an intensive training regime that saw him shed two and a half stones at the start of the year but, while he has lost some of his bulk, he has been unable to shake off the inconsistencies that have prevented him from breaking into the very top tier of the game.

"My good is good, but my bad is bad," he admitted.

"I am working hard at putting it right.

"Golfers know they will endure difficult spells and I've missed the cut in the first two majors of the season.

"But my game isn't in bad shape and I'm in good shape, so I feel it's only a matter of time before things start going my way."

Clarke will be guaranteed to cause a stir if he dons the same garish red and white trousers that he unveiled at Augusta, but most trained eyes will be focused on Tiger Woods as he aims to end a run of eight majors without success.

Talk of a slump in form must be taken with a pinch of salt when it comes to Woods - he has still banked nearly £2m from his 11 events this year - but the fact that some bookmakers do not make him favourite suggests his air of invincibility has been well and truly shattered.

The American can never be written off ahead of a major championship, but his driving remains erratic and his record of hitting fairways will have to improve if he is to flourish on Troon's unforgiving links.

Fellow countryman Phil Mickelson could be a better bet now that he has finally entered the pantheon of major champions by winning at Augusta.

But the left-hander has never looked comfortable in a links environment and the vagaries of the English summer could prove his downfall again.

Ernie Els has shown that he can handle British conditions in the past and the world number two enters this week's competition at the peak of his form.

The South African has the swing and the temperament to handle Troon and his immaculate bunker play could prove critical on a course characterised by the depth and difficulty of its sand traps.

Australian Adam Scott is due a big run in a major and this could be his year.

And at odds of 80-1, Charles Howell III's reliability make him a lively outsider.