Padraig Harrington hopes he has the formula to end a near 60-year drought for Irish golfers at the British Open.

Royal Liverpool's 94 bunkers are uppermost in his mind. Harrington said today that last week when he played at Hoylake, "it scared the life out of me".

After re-assessing the dry and fast-running course, though, Harrington hopes he has found ways of mastering Hoylake.

"I wonder, can a guy get away with booming over the bunkers all week?" Harrington said.

"Then guys will get a lot of run and end up running past all the trouble. A guy who hits it dead straight might do that for three rounds and then all of a sudden hit three or four bunkers on Sunday and they're the penalty.

"And it's questionable if a guy lays up short of the bunkers he's going to start missing greens because they are so firm and fast and drop shots that way.

"But those are the ways of playing the course. I'll either try and carry the trouble or lay up."

Northern Ireland's Fred Daly, the 1947 winner, was the last man from Ireland to lift the Claret Jug.

"Since 1947 we should have thrown up a couple of winners; the longer (the blank run) goes on, the more likely it is going to break," said Harrington.