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Rory McIlroy sat as an enthralled and hunched figure in what have become increasingly familiar surroundings for the 2011 US Open champion.

He was in the players' box at Wimbledon supporting girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki as she played her first round match of the women's tennis at the Olympics.

The Olympic spirit in the broadcasting world can best be summed up as all hands to the pump. For me that means a return to covering tennis a decade on from leaving the sport to report on golf.

McIlroy was a rare familiar face in the Centre Court crowd. The inescapable thought was that four years hence he is likely to be an Olympian rather than a mere member of a competitor's entourage.

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While Ernie Els celebrates his second Open title Adam Scott must wonder how he will recover from the collapse that helped hand the Championship to the big South African.

Scott's failure to convert a four-stroke lead down the closing stretch of holes into his first major title threatens to haunt the popular Australian for the rest of his career.

The pain is made all the more acute because Scott falls into the category of "major champion in waiting" having won at every level of the game below the elite four championships.

It will take enormous mental strength from the 32-year-old to overcome this disappointment and Scott's task may be made all the harder by future rule changes over putters.

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Darren Clarke is living proof that anything could happen in this week's Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes.

Twelve months ago, the Northern Ireland star turned up for his 20th crack at trying to land the game's oldest and most prestigious title. He was a 150-1 shot and his spirits were low after a poor finish at the previous week's Scottish Open.

Clarke had started the spring of 2011 with victory in the Iberdrola Open, but in the five tournaments that followed he failed to make the top 40 and was a miserable 66th at Castle Stuart.

"I was hitting the ball well but not scoring particularly well," Clarke recalled. He arrived at Royal St George's probably more in hope than expectation and promptly set about curing his ills on the greens.

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Someone, somewhere is getting it right. Either by design or by accident, one golfer this week will arrive upon a formula to win the

What form and circumstance it takes is as big a question as the identity of the player who finds it. We can theorise all we like on how best to prepare for an Open, but there is no definitive answer.

Some golfers like to play themselves into form the week before a major; others like to take themselves out of the competitive mix and hone their games at secluded ranges far from the madding crowds.

In years past the choice of playing the Scottish Open on a wet parkland course like Loch Lomond seemed to make little sense. "I just want to feel the heat of competition, I can adjust my game later" was the usual explanation from the top pros.

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The needle on the gauge has oscillated all season. One week it aims firmly at the point that says "he's back" and the next it veers to an area that suggests "he's not".

Call it the Tigerometre and golf's current barometric conditions mean the indicator shows he has emphatically returned to the "back" phase.

This is because Tiger Woods has won again. After his triumph in his own PGA Tour event at Congressional last Sunday he is the only player with three victories to his name in 2012.

His previous two wins came in his final outings before the opening pair of majors this season. He claimed the Bay Hill title ahead of the Masters and the Memorial in his build up to the US Open.

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