Mark O'Meara, Birkdale's last Open champion, was today counting on America's Ryder Cup hopefuls to start asserting their quality and demonstrate to their European opponents that a US squad minus Tiger Woods can still wrest back the trophy in Louisville after their leanest years.

As he prepared to set out on his 24th Open sojourn here, the 1998 champion was not about to hide that the absence of his great pal Woods from the event in September was bound to harm the US's chances of regaining the trophy after losing five of the last six editions.

Yet the five-times Ryder Cup veteran - and nailed-on future captain - is counting on the likely US line-up, with nine of the top 10 in the cup standings on view here apart from stay-at-home Kenny Perry, to use this event as a platform to show the Europeans they will be up for the fight.

"Tiger's absence is going to hurt the American team but it gives them the opportunity to say, listen, we don't have the man so now we've got to step up," said the 51-year-old. "This year is going to be very important for the US team because Europe have dominated over the past six tournaments. I think the European team have much greater strength in depth and confidence is a big thing too.

"They know they can beat the Americans but Anthony Kim - he's the best young player I've seen come along besides Tiger Woods - and some of these other up-and-coming young players have loads of talent."

"For the cup itself, it would be a better thing if they could ensure it was a closer match again and maybe for the US to win it again."