Are They Playing Royal Troon or Royal Trouble?

The sky is the color of motor oil, the wind is blowing hard and there’s enough mud around here to make a swamp jealous.

It must be time to play the British Open, the oldest major title in golf that is being played for the 126th time beginning today at Royal Troon on the shore of the Firth of Clyde on the western Scottish coast.

There is no clear tournament favorite, which fits because there has been no clear sky either since the players showed up at this 118-year-old course to prepare for the year’s third major championship.

But as a group, the players held in the highest regard look about as shiny as the gloss on the silver Claret Jug trophy. Masters champion Tiger Woods may lead the class, but the roll call is long and includes Nick Faldo, U.S. Open champion Ernie Els, Colin Montgomerie, Greg Norman, Tom Lehman and Nick Price.

The leading money winner on the PGA Tour and with four victories in only 13 tournaments this year, the 21-year-old Woods may be visiting Europe at the best time.

At the very least, Mark O’Meara said it wouldn’t be too smart to overlook Woods.

“I mean, in his short history, he’s always backed up what he does,” O’Meara said. “When he plays well, he always comes back and wins again. He’s not one of those guys who drops off after he wins.”

Els should consider whether such a remark pertains to him as well. The 27-year-old South African won the U.S. Open at Congressional and then won again at the Buick Classic the next week.

But we know that Troon has a strange way of treating U.S. Open champions. In 1962, 22-year-old Jack Nicklaus was the U.S. Open champion and intent on supplanting Arnold Palmer as the world’s top golfer when he showed up at Troon for the Open.

Nicklaus opened with an 80, closed with a 79 and finished 29 shots behind the victorious Palmer.

That was a long time ago, though, and conditions were far, far away from what this Royal Troon has become. For one thing, a sophisticated watering system has created more rough, although recent rain has removed the need for anything other than a natural watering system.

But with taller rough combined with smaller greens, narrow fairways and a back nine usually played into the wind, Troon isn’t exactly a gentle little stroll.

Jose Maria Olazabal said Troon can be a daunting experience, depending on which way the wind blows.

“You’d better get the score going on the front nine,” he said. “Otherwise you are going to struggle.”

And that’s not all. You’d better hit it straight or you are liable to rip your pants on the needle-like plants that wait to gobble golf balls that roll astray.

The stuff is called gorse, and of course it’s poor place to hit your ball.

“I haven’t seen many worse,” Lehman said. “You can’t play out of it. That ball is gone once you hit it in there.”

However misery-inducing it may be, gorse is not alone in the field of rough. It is joined by such bad things as whin, fescue, heather and harram, which can be found only on the right side of the outgoing nine as it runs along the water.

The best plan is to avoid this vegetation entirely and keep the ball in the fairway. Because the course is so damp, it’s going to play longer than normal. If that condition is combined with wind blowing in their faces, there is a high probability of a very difficult four days for the golfers.

Woods has tinkered with his swing, under the eye of coach Butch Harmon. During his practice round Wednesday, Harmon watched every shot from a few steps behind Woods.

Woods said he is encouraged by his play.

“My ball flight is good,” he said. “I have worked on it. My swing plane is better. I should be OK if my swing stays like it is.”

O’Meara agreed. He said Woods hits the ball so far that many of the normal danger spots on the course don’t come into play.

“He wouldn’t even notice if there was a guy lying in there dead as he walked by, you know . . . 250 yards, I mean, are you kidding?” O’Meara said. “He can probably hit over there with a three-iron.”

Two holes at Troon will probably get a lot of attention. The first is the 126-yard No. 8, known as “Postage Stamp.” The other is No. 11, “The Railway,” that has been shortened from 481 yards to 463 yards and gone from a par five to a par four.

Troon plays to a par of 71 and measures 7,079 yards, 3,650 yards on the back nine, where the par is 35.

Lehman said he hopes he still is playing well on Sunday, but he is also hoping that he will be joined by Norman and Woods and Montgomerie and Els and the rest.

“That would be exciting if all the best players are on top of their games,” he said. “This really doesn’t happen very often, all the best players playing well at the same time . . . a shootout.”

That ought to raise the temperature around here little bit, which wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

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THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP / British Open Golf Championship

Royal Troon Golf Club, Troon, Scotland Today-Sunday

The British Open Championship has also been played at Troon in 1923, 1950, 1962, 1973, 1982, and 1989. Boasting both the longest hole of any Open championship course, No. 6 at 577 yards, and the shortest, the world renowned No. 8, watchers at Ryal Troon will hope that this year’s finish can match that of its last Open in 1989, when Mark Calcavecchia won so after a playoff with Greg Norman and Wayne Grady.

Past Champions

*--*

Year Winner Site 1996 Tom Lehman Royal Lytham and St. Annes, England 1995 John Daly* St. Andrews, Scotland 1994 Nick Price Turnberry, Scotland 1993 Gene Norman Royal St. George’s, England 1992 Nick Faldo Muirfield, Scotland 1991 Ian Baker-Finch Royal Birkdale, England 1990 Nick Faldo St. Andrews, Scotland 1989 Mark Calcavecchia* Royal Troon, Scotland 1988 Steve Ballesteros Royal Lytham, England 1987 Nick Faldo Muirfield, Scotland

*--*

* Won in playoff

Total purse: $2,200,000

Source: 1997 Viewers Guide To Professional Golf

The Facts

* Where: Troon, Scotland.

* When: Today through Sunday.

* Course: Royal Troon Golf Club (7,079 yards, par 71).

* Purse: $2.7 million.

* Winner’s Share: $422,500.

* TV: ESPN (Today-Friday, 6-11 a.m.) and ABC (Saturday, 7-11 a.m.; Sunday, 6:30-10:30 a.m.)

* Last year: Tom Lehman won his first major title at Royal Lytham and St. Annes, shooting 67-67-64-73 for a 13-under 271 total. Ernie Els, winner of last month’s U.S. Open, and Mark McCumber tied for second.

* It’s a fact: Lehman is trying to become the first repeat winner since five-time champion Tom Watson in 1983. Watson won the 1982 tournament at Troon. . . . Jack Nicklaus, 57, a three-time winner, is making his 151st consecutive start in a major championship for which he has been eligible. . . . The 1998 tournament will be played at Royal Birkdale, followed by Carnoustie in 1999 and St. Andrews in 2000. . . . Tiger Woods is making his first pro start in the tournament. The Masters champion made two appearances as an amateur, tying for 68th in 1995 at St. Andrews and tying for 22nd last year at Royal Lytham.