Pick your percentage to suit, but its a well used comment that once you have a swing, golf is played more in the mind than on the course. This is clearly something the new Open Champion, Louis Oosthuizen, has worked on and his approach clearly paid off this week.

He has a very simple approach - a red dot. Using his market pen he drew a red dot on the thumb knuckle of his glove, so that he sees it every time he looks down at his hands, every time he grips the club. That dot reminds him to focus on one shot at a time, something he previously didn't do, allowing him to get ahead of himself, and then ruining those plans by not executing what he needed to with the immediate shot. Clear mind, full heart, and South Africa's golfing Shrek will be hoping this is far from the final chapter.

Open any golf manual, magazine or pro tipsheet and you won't have to read very far before you come across pre-shot routine. Most start from the moment the club is in the player's hands. Approach the ball from the same angle. See the shot. Line up your feet and body. Set up the club face. Make sure the grip is correct. (At this point Louis focuses on the red dot and checks he's focussed on the shot). Waggle/shuffle/final words. Take the club back, and then go through with your natural ingrained swing, without thinking about it any more. And when its a really good one, tag it - tap the club on the floor, wipe the club head, whatever you want to do to mark a good shot and just log it in your subconscious for next time.

I said most start from the moment the club is in the player's hands. However, that routine can be traced back to the preparation for the round - going through the clubs on the range to warm up, hitting the right amount of balls that got you feeling good as when you last played well. The same routine on the putting green. Some go so far as to putting your socks on in the same order, wearing the same cap, getting your cap badge in the same place. The basic idea is the same though - the more you can make this round as good as the last good one you had, the more likely you are to repeat it.

No doubt next year Louis Oosthuizen will look to have the same schedule coming into the Open as this time. And when its next in St Andrews, stay in the same accommodation, maybe even the same hotel room, and try to do everything the same. Of course, with that you don't account for others doing something different and improving their game, but 16 under par in an Open Championship will take some beating.

One man who has gone lower though is a man who currently looks to be struggling to focus, and it takes no guesses to work out why. Eldrick Tont 'Tiger' Woods tamed St Andrews on his previous two visits, and despite his well covered troubles in the last 12 months, it looked like he might just do the same again when he shot a 5 under par 67 on Thursday. Yes he was 4 shots behind leader Rory McIlroy, but he was capable of another similar score, and Rory couldn't repeat that score. Sure enough Rory couldn't, but alas neither could Tiger. The decline wasn't as bad as Rory's 80, but a 73, left him 8 shots off the lead and needing a storming round on Saturday. The Tiger of two years ago you could have seen doing it. But this is a different Tiger now and all he could muster was another 73 and he had an impossible 12 shots to overcome on Sunday. Would it be rash to suggest his routine has been changed?

It was his first visit to St Andrews without his mentor and guide, his father Eldrick. But then he won the Open and the US PGA the same year he passed away and has since picked up another PGA and a US Open. But he is now over 2 years without a major win. Are we yet able to call him the 'former great' Tiger Woods? Well he's still world number one - and has been now for 267 consecutive weeks, and with a still healthy margin over Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood, he will still be so well into 2011. So this is not a Roger Federer situation here. But maybe he needs to get back into his routine that served him so well. There are talks about him splitting with long time caddy Steve Williams, who has been his bagman for 11 years. Maybe it breaks a bad run, but I'd suggest its not around the golf course he needs to look at his preparation, but off it.

Can the media throw any more brickbats at him? He's had a string of affairs, been hounded out the house by his wife, been accused of being on drugs, and anything else that can be dreamed up. Maybe instead of splitting with Williams, he needs to split for good with Elin and get back to what he does best - winning at golf. Prepare how he used to - and if that means coming to the course with a smile put there by a willing cocktail waitress then so be it. If he's got the image of a womaniser with a woman in every port, why not play up to it? It never did George Best any harm. OK he wasn't married when he was at the height of his talents, but he was alleged to have had affairs with other people's wives. Is that any better?

As worldwide zoos have rules and regulations about how a Tiger should be housed, you can't change a Tiger's behaviour, and maybe the golfing equivalent is trying too hard to change the unchangeable. He needs to be true to himself, and then maybe we will see the true Tiger back on the prowl on the fairways. If that means he's on the prowl in hotels and bars around the world then so be it. Then maybe we can see the Tiger take on Louis' red dot and give us an Open finale to remember.