A SENSE of déjà vu perhaps? Just as he did before the US Masters, and just as he did before the US Open, Tiger Woods finished off his preparations for a major by winning a regular tour event.

Now, having narrowly failed in each of those instances to finish the job when it really mattered, he’ll have to wait to see if it is a case of third time lucky when he heads to Turnberry for next week’s British Open.

As reminders go, though, this was far from gentle. Woods, who claimed the 68th win of his career on the US Tour with victory in the ATT National at Congressional on Sunday with a one-stroke margin over Hunter Mahan, used his third win of the season to confirm his well-being ahead of the test at Turnberry, a course Woods has never played.

It seems the days of preparing by visiting Irish courses are a thing of the past, though this probably has more to do with his increased family commitments.

Instead, Woods intends to travel to the Scottish links on Saturday to get acquainted with the course. But he won’t be waiting until then before practising the type of shots he believes will be required if he is to reclaim the Claret Jug he last won in 2006.

To that end, his coach, Hank Haney, has been summoned to Woods’ home in Florida. What type of shots would they work on?

“Just making sure that you can flight your ball and making sure you can manoeuvre it both ways efficiently, because over there you don’t know what kind of weather you’re going to get,” Woods said.

“You’re going to get years like we had at St Andrews where it’s perfect, or you can get like a Muirfield day or what they had last year at Birkdale. You just don’t know, and you have to be able to be confident in controlling your golf ball and manoeuvring it all around and feel like you can do it efficiently.”

Given his ability to crunch the numbers, the odds must be on Woods getting it right at Turnberry: he finished four strokes behind Angel Cabrera at the Masters and four behind Lucas Glover at the US Open.

As he eyes a 15th major (and you can bet he will be spurred on by Roger Federer’s Wimbledon win, the two being part of an ad campaign where they jest each other about their respective major wins), Woods can take fuel to Turnberry from his inclination – evidenced again at Congressional – to win from the front.

Woods’s latest win on the US Tour, from 245 starts, gives him a strike rate of 27.75 per cent and which moves him to five behind Jack Nicklaus (73) in career wins and 14 behind record holder Sam Snead (82).

More intriguing, perhaps, is the statistic that shows Woods has won 46 of 49 tournaments (94 per cent) when leading or sharing the lead after 54-holes.

Also, the statistics show that Woods has the habit of working his way into a tournament. Of the 22 times he has led or shared the lead of a tournament after the first round, he went on to win on 12 occasions. Of the 36 times he was leading or sharing the lead after the second round, he won 30 times. And, as we’ve seen, he is virtually unbeatable when put into that lead going into the final round.

When asked of how he intimidates other players, Woods quipped: “I’m 6ft 5in, 250 (lbs) . . . You just go about your business. The great thing about golf is you just play your own game. You can’t physically intimidate anybody . . . (if) you hit the ball long, (or) you hit the ball short, you have the same chance to shoot a score.”

While Woods does what he always does the week before a major if he can help it, and that is not to play in a tournament, others will be using the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond as a build-up with 22 of the world’s top-50 in action, among them Geoff Ogilvy and Camilo Villegas.

Rory McIlroy, who played a practice round at Turnberry yesterday, is part of a strong Irish challenge that also features defending champion Graeme McDowell, Paul McGinley, Damien McGrane, Darren Clarke, Peter Lawrie, Shane Lowry, Michael Hoey, Gary Murphy and Gareth Maybin.

McIlroy, coincidentally, has splashed out on a new Ferrari – “I’ve always wanted one,” he said – which he picked up in Birmingham on his week away from tournament play last week.

Pádraig Harrington, the winner of the past two British Opens, won’t be at Loch Lomond as he seeks to find some form from somewhere. Having missed the cut for a fifth straight tournament in the French Open, the 37-year-old Dubliner will hope that a return to a familiar hunting ground at the European Club for the Ladbrokes Irish PGA championship, which starts tomorrow, will prove beneficial.