GOLF - ROYAL BIRKDALE IN FOCUS: Philip Reidprofiles the scene of this week's British Open, a course which has produced some great champions.

BEFORE THEY knew HE - the world's greatest golfer - wouldn't be here, the decision had already been made that Royal Birkdale didn't need to be made into a tiger. In short, it already had enough bite. So, although 16 of the 18 holes have been altered since Mark O'Meara's win here a decade ago, the impact is as much to do with aesthetics and moving with the times rather than making it a beast that will cause players to buckle at the knees and to crawl off the 18th green.

If there is any area that has been toughened, it is in the bunkering. Some 22 bunkers have been added and a further 27 redesigned but additional length - so often the first resort of design teams attempting to thwart modern-day players - has been kept to a minimum, with just 155 yards added, making it a course of 7,173 yards playing to a par of 70.

The most significant change in the work carried out by designer Martin Hawtree - responsible for the upgrading of Lahinch and Royal Dublin among recent projects - is probably the introduction of a new green on the 17th, a Par 5 of 572-yards that has been designed to be as elusive as a slippery eel.

Here, a shelf separates the front from the back of the green and even the RA's chief executive, Peter Dawson, admits it could cause controversy once the championship gets under way on Thursday.

"We're aware that it is a green that could get away from us if we're not careful," admitted Dawson. "We will be using conservative pin positions and taking great care with green speed . . . if we weren't aware of that, we could get into trouble. But we are aware, and we won't. We will be monitoring the situation very closely. We're aware it is controversial and we'll see how it goes."

In the main, and this still holds true, Birkdale has the reputation of being arguably the fairest course on the British Open rota. The changes, while toughening the course to take into account advances in equipment and ball technology, have not changed its character. It remains, like the conscientious teacher, a course that asks the questions and only rewards intelligent answers.

As Dawson opined, "Royal Birkdale is a strong Open venue and we felt that by introducing these changes its challenge would be maintained. The brief was to tighten up the course without resorting to excessive increase in length . . . we paid particular attention to the introduction of tee shots that give the players a number of strategic options. In addition, through tighter bunkering and the re-contouring of the greens' surrounds, we also intend to make players play more imaginative recovery shots."

The principal changes have been made to the mounding around the green and the tightening up of the bunkering in to the green, all designed to make the approach shot into the green more demanding than before. The only hole on the front nine that has not had any alterations to the bunkering is the 178 Yards Par 3 seventh hole, considered so good it didn't need fixing in any shape or form.

On the homeward run, the 12th and 16th holes are the only two holes to have escaped any changes to the bunkering complexes, while new tees have been built for the third, sixth, 10th, 11th, 15th and 16th holes and a large number of trees were removed on the back nine to, as Dawson puts it, "open up the links aspect of the golf course."

All in all, the changes are designed to retain Birkdale's old character, a course that traditionally has posed questions and had them answered by a succession of champions that came in all shapes and sizes, from those finishing history - with Peter Thomson and Tom Watson each winning a fifth British Open - to those who would never again feel the joy of being a major champion, as in the case of Ian Baker Finch who never reached such lofty heights again.

BIRKDALE'S CHAMPIONS: FROM THOMPSON TO O'MEARA

1954 - PETER THOMSON (Australia) 72-71-69-71 283

IN THE absence of Ben Hogan, the 1953 champion, favourites for the title included South African Bobby Locke, Americans Jimmy Demaret and Jim Turnesa and the previous year's runner-up Peter Thomson. "I'd been second twice in the two years before I got to Birkdale, so I felt as though I not only could win an Open but that I knew how to win it. I just had to beat the last bloke," recalled Thomson.

Going into the final round, Thomson was very much in the hunt . . . and a final round 71 for 282, which included a par save from a greenside bunker on the last, gave him a one stroke win over a trio that included Locke. Thomson was also to retain the Claret Jug in 1955 and 1956.

1961 - ARNOLD PALMER (US) 70-73-69-72 284

FROM 1933 up to Arnold Palmer's win in 1961, only two Americans - Sam Snead and Ben Hogan - had won the British Open in that period. Palmer's first success in the championship also signalled its renaissance as the most cherished major of them all.

It was a wet and miserable championship, though, with winds gusting at 70 mph and the RA considered abandoning the event. They didn't, and Palmer went on to win by a shot with the most memorable moment of his title victory coming in the third round on the 15th where he played a shot from the middle of a bush. He won from Dai Rees.

1965 - PETER THOMSON (Australia) 74-68-72-71 285

WHEN PETER Thomson opened with a 74, his chances of a fifth Open title seemed remote. On that first day, Tony Lema had shot a 68, while Christy O'Connor signed for a 69 and amateur Joe Carr and Arnold Palmer had 70s . . . by the final round, things had changed: Thomson entered with the lead, and the early clubhouse target was established by O'Connor who finished with a 71 for 287.

Of those who started in contention, only Brian Huggett managed to match O'Connor's total until Thomson, came in with a 71 for 285 that gave him a two -shot winning margin.

1971 - LEE TREVINO (USA) 69-70-69-70 278

WITH THE US Open title claimed the previous month, Lee Trevino arrived at Birkdale with confidence . . . and he was to live up to it, effectively turning the final round into a head-to-head with the unheralded Taiwan player Liang Huan Lu known simply as "Mr Lu" - who, as it turned out, was very well known to the American. It transpired the two had golfed together when Trevino, a Marine lance corporal, was stationed on Okinawa. In the final round, standing on the 18th tee, Trevino's lead had been cut to one. Lu's unfortunate second shot at the last hit a spectator but he still managed to claim a birdie four. It wasn't enough, as Trevino (left) - who had hit his drive straight down the middle - also birdied, to win by one.

1976 - JOHNNY MILLER (USA) 72-68-73-66 279

ALTHOUGH CHRISTY O'Connor Jr, Norio Suzuki of Japan and the 19-year-old Spaniard Severiano Ballesteros had the best scores of 69 in the first round, this championship turned out to be a head-to-head between Johnny Miller and Ballesteros by the final round.

Ballesteros actually went three ahead after the first hole, but immediately lost two strokes at the second after a wild tee shot and, then, disaster struck at the sixth when Seve took a double-bogey six . . . Miller went out in 33 to Ballesteros's 38 and, after the Spaniard ran up a triple bogey seven on the 11th, the American cruised to a finishing 66 that gave him a six-stroke margin over Ballesteros and Jack Nicklaus.

1983 - TOM WATSON (USA) 67-68-70-70 275

IF THE man known as the "Walrus", aka Craig Stadler, held the first and second round leads, it was Tom Watson - who claimed his fifth Claret Jug, but first win outside of Scotland - who finished the job.

It wasn't easy, however. Graham Marsh shot a final round 64 to set the clubhouse target on 277, only for Andy Bean and Hale Irwin to pass him, each shooting 67s for 276, eight-under. With three holes to play, Watson was also on eight-under and, on the 16th, sank a 20-footer for birdie that was to prove decisive. It was to be his fifth and last British Open title.

1991 - IAN BAKER FINCH (Australia) 71-71-64-66 272

THIS WAS to be a year of surprises, and the first round merely hinted at what would unfold. Chip Beck, Santiago Luna and Martin Gates shot opening rounds of 67 to lead the championship . . . but the major surprise was reserved until the end, when Australian Ian Baker-Finch got his hands on the claret jug. In the third round, Baker-Finch shot an inspired 64 to assume the 54-hole lead (a shot ahead of Eamonn Darcy) but it was the Aussie's play on the final day, shooting an outward 29 on the way to a closing 66, that enabled him to finish with a two-stroke advantage.

1998 - MARK O'MEARA (USA) 72-68-72-68 280

IF DAY one brought a sense of the new kid on the block, with Tiger Woods firing an opening salvo of 65, it was to end with his mentor, Mark O'Meara (left), claiming major kudos for the second time in three months. The US Masters champion didn't get it all his own way, however. To claim the Claret Jug, O'Meara was forced to win in a play-off, against the little known Brian Watts, who had played much of his professional golf in Japan. Watts had reached the turn in the final round two shots clear of O'Meara, but had needed a magnificent par save from the bunker on the 18th to force a play-off. In that four hole play-off, O'Meara started with a birdie to gain the initiative and eventually won by two shots.