HOYLAKE, England -- British bookmakers were up to their tricks yesterday by offering some unusual side bets for the British Open. None was more tantalizing than defending champion Tiger Woods and three-time champion Nick Faldo playing in the same group with Shingo Katayama.

William Hill is offering 6-to-4 odds that they will not shake hands on the first tee tomorrow, and 25-to-1 odds that Woods and Faldo will come to blows at some point during the first round. Those odds started at 100-to-1.

Is it all overblown?

Woods and Faldo were never close, and have only played together twice in competition -- the first round of the 1997 Masters, and the first round of the Accenture Match Play Championship, which Woods won handily.

But there has been much focus on Faldo criticizing Woods swing while working for ABC Sports at the 2005 Buick Invitational, and Woods made it clear yesterday that he doesn't expect much social time tomorrow or Friday.

"We don't really talk much," he said. "I've only played with him two times since I've been a pro, and there wasn't a lot of talking there, either."

Both are intense while playing, anyway.

Faldo walks quickly and keeps his head down. Woods generally is the model of concentration.

Woods was asked what his reaction would be if Faldo wants to chat.

"Surprised," he said.

Faldo turned 49 yesterday, and he was asked again about his criticism of Woods at the Buick Invitational last year. Woods was leading by one shot on the final hole when he fanned a 2-iron that narrowly missed the water, and went on to make birdie. "A complete fan and a miss," Faldo said.

"I was just doing what I was paid to do," Faldo said. "If I compliment him, nobody says anything, do they?"

Faldo also said he was surprised the Royal & Ancient would put him in the same group with the defending champion, especially because they are 19 years apart in age and a generation apart in golf.

"I'm surprised he wasn't placed in a younger age group," he said.

Liverpool memories

Three players at the British Open have hoisted trophies at Royal Liverpool, even though it hasn't been part of the British Open rotation since 1967.

Paul Broadhurst won a Pro-Celebrities tour event in the early '90s. Mikko Ilonen of Finland won the 2000 British Amateur.

And then there's Ernie Els.

In a corner hallway of the clubhouse are framed black-and-white photos, including one from the Tillman Trophy in 1988, a junior event. Standing in the middle, tall and gangly with an awkward smile and mussed hair was Els.

"I remember winning that tournament in a playoff, but that's about it. I can't remember the winning score or anything," Els said.

Immelman out

Trevor Immelman, coming off a win at the Western Open, won't get a chance to go for two in a row. This 26-year-old South African dropped out of the British Open after learning that his wife, Carminita, would be undergoing a C-section to deliver the couple's first child.