Who'd bet against him? The new arrival into the Woods household - a little bundle of joy called Sam - may be his new obsession, and yesterday the merest mention of his daughter and of his status as a father brought an instant Colgate smile to light up the media interview room, but the world's number one has an older passion pulling at his heartstrings here at Carnoustie, on Scotland's east coast.

For Tiger Woods, that obsession is for collecting major titles, something he has accomplished with more success than anyone in the modern game. Only Jack Nicklaus, with 18, has more majors than Woods, with 12.

Yet Woods is a one-step-at-a-time sort of guy, never getting ahead of himself and chasing down Nicklaus's record total with the same due diligence a corporate lawyer would put into a takeover bid.

Back in 1995, Woods played links golf for the first time and was immediately smitten. That Carnoustie - followed the next week by St Andrews - should provide that introduction to seaside golf is somewhat appropriate, as he seeks a third straight claret jug.

"My first two experiences on links golf were probably as good as they get," recalled Woods yesterday, ahead of his latest major quest.

Woods, a winner at St Andrews in 2005 and Hoylake last year in his last two appearances in the Open, is an avowed admirer of this particular brand of golf.

"I love playing links golf," he said, "because you have to be creative. Augusta used to be that way. The US Open is obviously not, and the (US) PGA is kind of similar to a US Open set-up . . . over here, you can create shots. You can use the ground as your ally. I think that's one of the great things about playing over here."

Indeed, Woods has always embraced links golf. For a player who grew up playing on kikuyu grass, as alien to links as you can get, Woods fell for the creativity required: "I immediately just loved it and I just wish I could play more golf on it . . . but you only get one time a year, basically."

Up to yesterday, when he again undertook another early-morning reconnaissance mission over the links, Woods had played three practice rounds since arriving on Sunday.

"I've played in three different winds, which was good," he said.

Carnoustie is a links that appeals to Woods, especially this year's set-up compared to the animal that was unleashed on the players on the last occasion the championship was played here.

"It's extremely fair, not like it was in 99. But if you have any kind of wind on this course, it becomes more difficult than you think. You really have to hit the ball well here. The greens are extremely subtle, just like all links courses, and they're hard to read."

Woods's liking for links golf comes from how he would work different shots into his game as a youngsters growing up: "I always enjoyed playing different shots, manoeuvring the golf ball and being able to do something with the golf ball. I wouldn't just hit normal shots. I like to manoeuvre it, to do something with it, and that was always an enjoyable part of the game of golf.

"Coming over here (to play links) enhanced that . . . a lot of guys just get into a mode where they hit one normal golf shot at a time and I just think that if you're limited to hitting one shot, and that shot goes awry for the day, you have no shots to go back on.

"If you understand you hit multiples of different golf shots, you can always play something else to get you through."

To be sure, Woods's focus since his daughter's arrival on the day after his second-place finish to Angel Cabrera in the US Open at Oakmont hasn't been distracted from his golf, even though he has been getting much advice from other fathers in the players' locker-room.

"One thing I've noticed is that each and everyone that tells you the experience with their child, even though they're the kind of weird ones, have a smile on their face. You can see how people just light up when they talk about their child when they're infants.

"As far as the good and the bad, the bad is probably getting a little less sleep. I don't get a whole lot of sleep to begin with, but it is even less now . . . it is nice to come over here and get some rest. Obviously, when I go home, it will be a little bit different. But it's been great, I wouldn't trade it for the world."

Last year, his win at Hoylake was dedicated to his late father, Earl. This time, he'd love nothing more than to dedicate a win to his new daughter, Sam. Who'd bet against him?