TROON, Scotland - None of it can be quantified. How can you do such a thing?

But players in professional golf know that Tiger Woods had it, has lost it, and will probably get some of it back. How much, they're not sure.

The aura, that is.

The feeling "that whenever he teed it up, he was going to shoot a 67 or something better," said Ernie Els. "In majors, in normal Tour events, any event. That's the way I felt. That's how good he was playing. At the end of the week, that's 20 under par."

Which, players will tell you, made for the almost unbeatable formula that they had to deal with for about three-plus years. That stretch of 11 majors, for instance? The one from the PGA Championship of 1999 to the US Open of 2002? Woods won seven of them.

When Woods got a lead, players resigned themselves to being unable to catch him, which has a lot to do with the fact that Woods is 8-0 with the 54-hole lead in major championships. "You would also look around and expect him to do something great," said Brad Faxon. "You almost expected things to go his way."

No more. No, sir. Today, the day when the 133rd playing of the British Open will commence at Royal Troon here on the southwest coast of a country where golf was pretty much invented, Woods is no longer saturated in the aura that once defined him.

Talent? He's got loads of it.

But aura? Just as surely as it once overflowed, it now is hard to find.

"The way he's played, he's certainly allowed a lot of people to catch up to him or get past him - depending on how you want to look at it," said Nick Price. "Ernie (Els)? he's gained two-fold in the last two years. (Phil) Mickelson has matured and is playing as good a golf as anyone."

From August 1999, when Woods won his second major at the PGA Championship to ignite an incredible run, to the end of 2003, his hold on the top spot in the world rankings was as constant as the Aisla Craig, the huge rock that dominates the view off the right side of the first hole at Royal Troon.

He did it with talent, yes; but he also did it by mentally defeating players, by using his outrageous talents to get into the heads of his colleagues, most of whom usually melted whenever a little Woods heat was tossed their way.

Did Mickelson ever feel like Els felt, that when Woods was at his best he was virtually unbeatable? Was he glad it didn't seem to be like that anymore?

"I don't know if I entered a tournament like that or not," said the lefthander. "That's a tough one to answer. I don't have an answer for you, sorry."

None of Mickelson's colleagues are looking for apologies. They just seem genuinely thankful that for whatever reason - his breakup with longtime coach Butch Harmon, his search for a swing that enables him to draw the ball more consistently, his lack of comfort with a driver - Woods is not dominating like he was.

Much of that is plain to see. There is the much-ballyhooed fact that he has failed to win any of the last eight major championships and, even further, that he has truly competed in just two of them. His last stroke-play win came more than nine months ago. After winning 18 straight times with the 36-hole lead, twice in a month he squandered such opportunities. He has failed to break 70 in any of the first rounds of the last eight majors, and his woes with finding the fairway with his drives has been well chronicled.

But beyond the obvious, there are the intangible things that cannot quite be explained. Players can't quite say why, but whereas they used to keep one eye on the scoreboard to see what Woods was doing, they now feel as if they have control.

"Right now, it's different," said Els. "I feel that when he plays really well he's going to shoot a 67. But if I play well, I can shoot that score as well and I can keep doing that for three or four days."

For his part, Woods downplays the situation and refuses to provide fuel for the skeptics.

It is golf, he'll tell you, and the competition on the PGA Tour is deeper than ever. What's more, this is part of the sacrifice he has made to commit to a new swing that he believes in.

"If you're trying to work a couple of things out, then you need time," he said. "It takes time to develop some of your new swing thoughts and your swing keys."

As far as Price is concerned, Woods has earned the right to not be questioned. "If Tiger gets his game in shape, he'll start winning again. There's no doubt. I mean, the way he shot that 73 at Shinnecock (the third round of the US Open). He hit four fairways," said Price. "Some people ask me, `Has he lost interest?' I say, `Well, if he's lost interest, he would have shot 78 and missed the cut and gone home.

"But he showed how much fortitude he's got. He's got this will to really succeed. Fortitude, self-being. That's what you need when you're going through bad times, not when you're going through good times. The good times are easy to handle; the tough times are harder. And I think Tiger's handling it great. He's going to come out of it." Whether or not the aura returns, too, remains to be seen.

British Open Facts & Figures

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Event:133rd British Open golf championship

Begins: Today at Royal Troon Golf Club

Length: 7,175 yards

Par: 71

Purse: $7.44 million (4 million British pounds).

Winner's share: $1,338,340 (720,000 British pounds).

Defending champion: Ben Curtis

Last year: Ben Curtis shocked the world when he closed with a 2-under 69 for a one-shot victory over Thomas Bjorn and Vijay Singh, with Tiger Woods and Davis Love III another shot behind.

Open champions at Royal Troon:Arthur Havers (1923), Bobby Locke (1950), Arnold Palmer (1962), Tom Weiskopf (1973), Tom Watson (1982), Mark Calcavecchia (1989), Justin Leonard (1997).

Noteworthy: Americans have won the last five British Opens held at Royal Troon, the longest streak at any of the links in the rotation.

Quoteworthy: "You take a whip or a cane and you beat them with it. There's a judge in the ring and you just try to keep them in the middle portion of the ring and let the judge do the rest." - Ben Curtis on how he used to show pigs at fairs in Ohio.

Television (all times EDT): Today-Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., TNT Sports. Saturday, 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., TNT Sports; 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., ABC Sports. Sunday, 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., TNT Sports; 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., ABC Sports.