Only Daly on the US Tour can outdrive Tiger

Although Daly and a few others - including European players Emanuele Canonica and Adam Scott - can drive as impressively as Woods, nobody can match the world number one's all-round game.

Woods' complete game is reflected in his stroke average, a stunning 67.84. This is almost two and a half shots better per round than Lee Westwood, the world number five and the player with the best stroke average in Europe this year.

All-round athlete

But it is his immense 400-yard drives that draw the crowds, and provide the basis for his consistent low scoring. So how does he do it?

Faldo is one of few more accurate than Tiger

England's Jamie Spence, a regular contributor to the BBC's golf coverage and a qualifier for this year's Open, has seen Woods at close quarters.

"He has a very athletic build, very similar to someone like Carl Lewis. He may look slight but I wouldn't want to be hit by him!" said Spence.

"His strength gives him great leverage and he generates incredible club speed, which is a combination of hand speed, leg speed, flexibility and the power in his back.

"Although his swing is not especially beautiful - when you compare it to the flowing swing of someone like Sam Snead for instance - it is technically correct.

"So when you add those elements to the modern equipment we use now, the stiffer club shafts in particular, you have someone who can hit the ball a long way."

Serial winner

After turning professional in 1996, Woods has won 26 tournaments in 100 starts - with 15 of those victories coming in his last 27 appearances.

Spence: Woods is a great athlete

The high-point of this incredible run came last month when he demolished the world's finest golfers to claim his third major, the US Open, by a staggering 15 strokes.

With this in mind it is perhaps understandable to see why bookmakers make Woods a 15-8 favourite despite the 156-strong field.

Three-time Open winner Nick Faldo is in no doubt about the American's ability to dominate at St Andrews.

Faldo, who described the Old Course as "seriously dry", chatted to Woods' caddie Steve Williams during practice on Monday.

"He was out walking the course and with the way the wind was blowing we worked out that he (Woods) can drive six of the greens (at par fours) and get on the (568-yard) fifth with a driver and wedge," said Faldo, who won The Open here in 1990.

"I hit a couple of drives 360-380 yards, so Tiger will be hitting them 450. He is phenomenal and obviously the man to beat."

Complete package

Zimbabwe's Nick Price, a former world number one, is another left wondering how the Tiger can be tamed.

Woods raises the US Open trophy

"We've all felt for a long time that someone was going to come along who could drive 300 yards and putt like (Ben) Crenshaw," Price said.

"Well this guy drives the ball better than anyone I've ever seen and putts better than Crenshaw.

"There are some courses that when he plays his best it's almost impossible to beat him," he said.

Whether St Andrews is such a course remains to be seen, but it should be remembered that the last time The Open was staged here the longest driver of them all, John Daly, was the victor.

Golf's big hitters will all fancy their chances of taking the famous Claret Jug this weekend, but as Woods will be keen to impress on them, power is nothing without control.