WHEN THE Open Championship last came to Royal Birkdale the winner of the US Masters that year, Mark O’Meara, made it a major double, writes Eric Nicolson.

This year’s Green Jacket holder, Trevor Immelman, is now hoping that 10 years on, history will repeat itself.

“That’s definitely inspiration for me,” he admitted yesterday.

“But it’s a pretty tall order, I have to say. Mark was a seriously accomplished golfer back in 1998 at the peak of his game and by that point he had a great record at the course.

“I’ll certainly be giving it my best shot to do what he did, there’s no doubt about that.

“Since winning the Masters I’ve learned a lot about myself. Mentally I probably went awol for a couple of months, but I’ve started to get my perspective back and I now feel my game’s in pretty good shape coming into this championship.

“Hopefully, I can keep that going through the early rounds of the tournament and give myself a chance on the weekend. That’s always when I’ve found myself at my most comfortable— when I have a chance to do well.”

As well as drawing on his own experience of winning a major, which is still fresh in the mind, the South African has also taken advice from European Ryder Cup captain and three-time Open champion Nick Faldo.

He said, “I’ve had a lot of opportunities to speak to Nick and to pick his brains and I’ve learned a lot from him.

“One of the most important things he said about The Open is that you have to be patient and disciplined.

“The sort of conditions we are likely to face this week can take a lot of people out of contention and there are certain shots that you don’t try to take on. You can’t always attack in conditions this trying. Sometimes it’s about just hanging in there.”

And hanging in there is exactly what Immelman expects to have to do this week.

He observed, “In my opinion, this is the toughest Open course on the rota that I have played on.

“It is very demanding off the tee. Part of the reason for that is because a lot of the tee shots are partially blind and you can only see a sliver of fairway.

“Then the other thing is there isn’t much intermediate rough—it goes straight from fairway to the thick stuff.

“You will really have to drive the ball well as there are a lot of crosswinds. Every hole has a demanding shot and poses an interesting challenge.

“It’s an interesting course because you have to hit a lot of long second shots, and I don’t think I’ve played another championship course where there are no par fives on the front nine.

“This will be a great test, especially with the weather that’s been forecast, and the guy who wins on Sunday will be a very deserving champion, that’s for sure.”

Asked which hole he would choose to settle at for the most thrills and spills were he a spectator, Immelman replied, “Somewhere between 1 and 18! The public can park themselves anywhere this week and they’ll see some very interesting golf. This golf course gives you everything you want.

“You could set yourself down and watch some incredible golf. It’s going to be awesome.”