As is the case with so many of the world’s top golf courses, Kansas University men’s golf coach Ross Randall knows quite well Royal Liverpool, the site of this year’s British Open, which tees off Thursday morning.

In 2000, Randall was captain of the U.S. team in the Palmer Cup, a Ryder Cup-style event for college players that pits eight U.S. players against eight European players. As part of his duties as honorary captain, Randall spoke to a gathering and talked about a course in Kansas.

On Tuesday, Randall, while standing in the parking lot at Alvamar, the facility named after founder Bob Billings’ parents, Alva and Margaretta, looked back on that speech.

“I said we have a course just like this, and it’s called Prairie Dunes,” Randall said. “They said, ‘We’ve heard of it. We know about it.’

“(Royal Liverpool) is a great golf course on the edge of a bay, sort of a seaside course. It’s so much like Prairie Dunes it’s scary. It just looks like the same landscape. When you see the topography and everything else, you’ll say, ‘Is this Prairie Dunes or is this Royal Liverpool?’ It’s that close. It’s got a few rolling hills and big dunes, and it’s a really good golf course.”

And, as is the case with the famous course in Hutchinson that was the site of the recent U.S. Senior Open, accuracy is at a premium.

“It’s much narrower than some of the more recent British Open sites because there are actually OBs (out-of-bounds) on a few holes, and there normally aren’t in Great Britain,” Randall said. “I would not think it would favor a long hitter too much. It’s (7,258) yards, and it really doesn’t play that long.”

Asked to pick one winner, Randall said, “One? Oh my gosh, that’s impossible. OK … Darren Clarke, if it’s going to be a guy from that side of the pond.”

In Clarke, Randall picked a longshot. In eight PGA tour events this season, Clarke has one top-10 finish (third) and has missed the cut three times, still good enough for $594,231 in earnings.

“If you want a guy from this side of the pond, I’ll go with Jim Furyk,” Randall said of the player who, in 16 events this year, has made 14 cuts, has seven top-10 finishes and has earned $3,784,126.

Randall was the only one among local golf teachers polled who got creative with his pick.

“Tiger, Tiger, Tiger,” Eagle Bend’s John Morris said. “He’s been off, and I think he’s ready to get on.”

“I think this is going to be Tigers’ break-out tournament,” said Jon Zylstra of Lawrence Country Club. “I just think that he’s so competitive that this is going to be his time to prove to the world that he’s still No. 1.”

Alvamar public head pro Alex Eichman, an engaging local ambassador for the game of golf, also went with the chalk.

“Tiger played well at the Western, so I’ve got to go with Tiger,” Eichman said. “I know that’s boring, but his (poor) showing at the U.S. Open, and knowing how well he comes back, I think he’ll be tough.”

Eichman said he never had played in Great Britain, so his knowledge of the courses there came from television.

“The biggest thing is that it’s just a different type of golf,” he said. “Obviously, you don’t see many trees. The grass on TV appears to be extremely brown and almost dead, so it’s very hard, and the ball rolls forever. You see a lot of guys hitting very low shots off the tee and off the fairway and around the green. Sometimes, they’ll putt it from 20 or 30 yards off the green or they’ll hit bump-and-run shots. It’s very rare to see a ball come in very high and spin on the green. It’s a different type of golf.”

In recent years, American players have fared well at the British Open, which doesn’t surprise Eichman.

“My thought on this is these are the top 125 guys on the planet,” Eichman said. “They should be able to adjust their games. There is definitely a period of adjustment, though. That’s why you see guys you’ve never heard of play very well, because they’re typically European tour guys who just happen to get it going that week and they’re used to that type of golf.”

Alvamar private head pro Randy Towner also picked Woods and noted the majors usually brought out the best in elite players.

“Unless the weather is bad,” Towner said. “Then it can be anybody.”

Asked for a tip on another player, in the event Woods already is taken in the office pool, Towner picked Ernie Els, who has a 15-major winless streak.

“He’s due for a good one,” Towner said.