BY the standards of his halcyon days, an aggregate of 287 would have been of little significance to Jack Nicklaus. But that it came to the 56-year-old in the US Open at Oakland Hills earlier this month was sufficient to convince him to compete in next month's British Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes.

So yesterday's not-unexpected announcement that the great man would be making his 139th successive major championship appearance on July 18th to 21st was immensely welcome given the enormous contribution Nicklaus has made to the golf's premier event since he finished in a tie for 34th place on his debut at Royal Troon in 1962.

Apart from winning the title three times - at Muirfield in 1966 and at St Andrews in 1970 and 1978 - he was runner-up on no fewer than seven occasions. And, on those occasions when the event was staged at Lytham, he was third behind Bob Charles in 1963; tied sixth behind Tony Jacklin in 1969; third behind Gary Player in 1974; tied second behind Seve Ballesteros in 1979 and tied 25th, again behind the Spaniard, in 1988.

His decision met with a resounding endorsement from a great rival who had some thrilling tussles with him on both sides of the Atlantic. "When I discussed the major championships recently with Jack, he said, `You know, if you look at it realistically, you only have a handful of players to beat'," said Tom Watson. "And Jack was always the best at figuring out the situation and winning golf championships."

Watson went on: "Having played with Jack in practice at Oakland Hills, I could see that he still wants to compete, to play well. He gets upset when he's not playing well. But he had a fine tournament in the US Open and I'm not surprised he's going to Lytham.

As it happened, in the last British Open there in 1988, Watson was actually outstripped by Nicklaus, finishing three positions behind him in a share of 28th place.

The Royal and Ancient have also confirmed that 12 former champions will be among the 93 exempt players in a field of 156. They are headed by the defending champion, John Daly, who captured the trophy in a play-off with Costantino Rocca at St Andrews last year. But sadly, they don't include the notable, British winner at Lytham in 1969, Tony Jacklin.

The other champions in this year's line-up are: Charles (1963), Player (1959, 1968 and 1974), Watson (1975, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1983), Ballesteros (1979, 1984, 1988), Greg Norman (1986, 1993), Sandy Lyle (1985), Nick Faldo (1987, 1990, 1992), Mark Calcavecchia (1989), Ian BakerFinch (1991) and Nick Price (1994).

Ballesteros will be attempting to become the first player to win the event on at least three occasions at the same venue since Young Tom Morris gained a third successive victory at Prestwick in 1870. Indeed, Young Tom went on to win for a fourth time at the same venue two years later.

The event will also be notable for the inclusion of the gifted, 16-year-old Spaniard, Sergio Garcia, who becomes the youngest player to compete in the British Open since Ronan Rafferty at Muirfield in 1980. Rafferty was also 16.

Michael Bonallack, the secretary of the Royal and Ancient, is satisfied with the overall quality of the entry, and he made special mention of the fact that Player will be competing in his 42nd successive championship.

Steve Jones, surprise winner of the US Open at Oakland Hills, is also travelling. This will be only his fourth appearance in the championship. He missed the cut at Royal Troon in 1989; was tied 16th behind Faldo at St Andrews the following year and was tied 64th behind Baker-Finch at Royal Birkdale in 1991.

Meanwhile, the conditions which prevailed at the US Open are particularly relevant to next week's staging of the Murphy's Irish Open at Druids Glen. Having visited there earlier this week, when the greens staff were applying the final, preparatory touches to the course, it was clear that it will be much more difficult than the normal, European Tour venue.

This is being achieved through the growth of punishing fringes around the greens and also through the denseness of the rough throughout the remainder of the course.

I think it will be a fair test," said Pat Ruddy, co-designer of the course with Tom Craddock. "There has been no attempt at gimmickry in an effort at making it more difficult. Frankly, I like what I see and am immensely proud of the fact that the Irish Open is being staged there."

Ruddy went on to predict that an aggregate of 272 - 12 under par - would be highly acceptable to the leading challengers. "It may be that somebody really on top of his game might shoot lower than that and if he does, he's likely to be out on his own," he added.

A powder of top-dressing was applied to the greens this week. Then, by this weekend, the blades of the mowers will be lowered and cutting will be intensified with a view to bringing the speed of the greens up to 10 or 11 on the Stimpmeter. Given that the greens don't contain any severe slopes, as was the case at Oakland Hills, these would be quite acceptable speeds both to players and officials.

The graded rough, with an average height of two-and-a-half to three inches, will be testing rather than punishing. Indeed it was apparent that it had been cut down appreciably during the last few weeks from the forbidding heights it had reached earlier in the year. US Open influence is unquestionably there, but to a much more sane and less penal degree.