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Details:

LYTHAM, England - (AP) -- Facts and figures for the British Open golf championship:

Event: 141st British Open

Dates: July 19-22

Site: Royal Lytham & St. Annes

Length: 7,086 yards

Par: 34-36_70

Field: 156 (154 professionals, 2 amateurs).

Prize money: 5 million pounds (about $7.75 million).

Winner's share: 900,000 pounds (about $1.4 million).

Defending champion: Darren Clarke.

Open champions at Royal Lytham & St. Annes: David Duval (2001), Tom Lehman (1996), Seve Ballesteros (1979, 1988), Gary Player (1974), Tony Jacklin (1969), Bob Charles (1963), Peter Thomson (1958), Bobby Locke (1952), Bobby Jones (1926).

The course: Royal Lytham & St. Annes is filled with distinctions. It is the only links on the Open rotation that begins with a par 3 and ends with six successive par 4s. It is the only links with no open views of the sea, protected on three sides by houses. It is the smallest property among links courses on the rotation, and it has more bunkers -- 206 -- that any of the other courses. The club opened in 1866 and hosted its first Open in 1926, won by Bobby Jones. This year, the sixth hole will be played as a par 4, meaning par for the course will be 70 for the first time.

Key statistic: The last 15 majors have been won by 15 players, the second-longest streak since the Masters began in 1934.

Thanks for the great stats.  One less par 5 doesn't help Tiger, and since there already is a large string of first time major winners, it looks like there will be another.  Good, mild weather will help Tiger but this has been a very rainy season in England.

The par 5's have nothing to do with it. Par is just a number.

I would disagree since Tiger plays the par 5s better than the field and has historically been why he wins more events.

Ichibanfan.  If you have a 520 yard par five and you  call it a par 4 the hole remains exactly the same.  Changing  the number on the hole doesn't change the hole. Tiger might play the longer holes better than most. The par #  doesn't mean a thing.

Good points, but only 2 of Tiger's 14 majors have come on Par 70 courses. Is that a coincidence considering par 70s contain the fewest par 5s?

Colt. Two reasons spring to mind. Majors played on par 70 courses are probably not too usual.  Can't win too often on a par 70 if  par 70 courses are seldom used!!

Longer courses might favour Tiger. He is a big hitter. But the actual number par is meaningless. The number of shots in relation to the field is what matters, not the number of shots in relation to par.

While there are fewer par 70 majors, if you do your homework you will find Tiger's winning percentage is only about half of what it is on non-par 70 majors.  Again when you look at when Tiger was winning majors, his tour stroke average on par 5 holes was significantly less than almost all of his competition while very close to his competition on par 4 holes.  Tiger's bread and butters was the par 5s.

I don't think Tiger has been even close to leading in P5 scoring this year but he has been leading in P3 scoring at tourneys when he plays. Tiger can beat you with or w/o P5s. I don't follow stats at all but when they bring it up I try to pay attention. I hope I remembered correctly.