Els and rivals prepare for strong Birkdale winds

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

SOUTHPORT (Reuters) - Former champion Ernie Els predicted a battle for survival in this week's British Open at Royal Birkdale where strong winds are likely to be a major factor.

Gusts of more than 50-kph (30-mph) have been forecast for Thursday's opening round, easing to around 40-kph for the next three days.

"That's going to be a big factor this week," South African Els told reporters in the build-up to the third major of the year.

"In many ways it will be a survival test. There are a lot of doglegs on the course and you've got to position your tee shots. The second shots are really going to be the scoring shots this week.

"If you can get four or five hours of play where you feel you can get lucky with the weather, you've got to take your break," added the 2002 champion at Muirfield.

"That's one of the big things at the Open, the luck of the draw, especially the first couple of rounds before all the leaders start playing together over the weekend. It's going to be tough this week."

Peter Dawson, chief executive of tournament organizers the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, was not concerned that conditions would be too brutal for the players.

NO MONSTER

"The course is not a monster in terms of length," he said of the par-70, 7,173-yard layout. "They'll be able to position the ball on the fairways, I'm sure, and play it.

"It'll be like every championship we have; there will be a number of players playing extremely well and scoring very well, and some will struggle. We'll just have to wait and see who they are.

"I'm not worried it'll be too hard. We're not looking at 45-mph winds, then it would be tough. We're looking at 20, 25."

Although Birkdale's rough is lush after unseasonably heavy rain over the last two months, Dawson was delighted by the overall condition of the links course.

"The course has stayed pretty firm throughout and is now drying out very rapidly and speeding up out there," he said. "All the players seem to think the course is in good shape."

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(Editing by Tony Jimenez)