Phil Mickelson, watched by a gallery of around 1,000 in fading sunlight at Royal Liverpool Golf Club yesterday, continued his meticulous preparation for this week's British Open.

Accompanied by his caddie Jim Mackay and short game coach Dave Peltz, the American left-hander hit two balls off every tee and spent ten minutes on every green practising long-range putts from different angles.

Careful preparation has earned Mickelson three major victories in his last ten starts, and almost a fourth had it not been for his final-hole collapse at last month's US Open.

Although still bruised after his double-bogey at Winged Foot effectively handed the title to Australia's Geoff Ogilvy, he is determined not to let that affect his performance at Hoylake.

"Right now, I'm excited about my British Open chances and I really like the golf course," Mickelson said.

"I'm never going to forget what happened at Winged Foot, but I'm not going to let it affect negatively my future performances."

World No 2 Mickelson visited Hoylake for the first time late last month to start mapping out a game plan. He skipped the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond so he could return to Hoylake on Thursday for further reconnaissance.

While Mickelson was the last player out on the course on Sunday, defender Tiger Woods was among the first. The world No 1, who romped to a five-shot victory at St Andrews last year, completed 18 holes in his customary dawn patrol.

Woods, this week's favourite in the eyes of most people despite having played only two tournaments over the last three months, ended his practice with 45 minutes on the putting green.