Royal Birkdale is bathed in glorious sunshine ahead of the 137th Open Championship, which gets under way at 0630 BST on Thursday The 156-strong field will battle it out to succeed 2007 winner Padraig Harrington and have their name inscribed on the famous Claret Jug Among those teeing off on Thursday morning is England's Ian Poulter, who looks in typically relaxed mood ahead of his 23rd major Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez sits his cigar in a golf ball-shaped holder before getting down to business on the range Sergio Garcia arrives as the bookmakers' favourite and he will hope to add an Open triumph to Spain's glorious year of sporting success Harrington, troubled by an injury to his right wrist, is forced to abort his practice round on Wednesday after just two shots Colin Montgomerie looks in determined mood ahead of a tournament which could go some way to determining his Ryder Cup aspirations Two-time winner Greg Norman shares a joke with his fellow Australian Adam Scott, who is now ranked number four in the world A tie for second in 2003 was Vijay Singh's best Open finish and the Fijian heads out at 0820 BST in his bid for a first major since 2004 Can John Daly emulate his 1995 feat, when he edged out Costantino Rocca at St Andrews to lift the Claret Jug?
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