HOYLAKE, England, July 18 (Reuters) Players are speculating that the hard and fast-running Royal Liverpool course staging the British Open from Thursday might not favour competitors used to U S Tour conditions.

The parched north-west of England course, burned by recent high temperatures, is bound to provide a stern test with unpredictable bounces.

That is likely to favour those with plenty of experience of links conditions, rather than those more used to 'flop and stop' golf.

World number one Tiger Woods said today: ''On links courses you have to use your imagination to create shots. In the States we don't get a chance to do that very often because it's always soft and the balls are plugging.'' U S Open champion Geoff Ogilvy echoed Woods's sentiments: ''You'd never see a course as firm as this in the States. Their idea of firm is no mud on a ball running five yards.'' Ogilvy suggested that only one third of the field of 156 would have any experience of this week's conditions. Padraig Harrington said, however, that American players were too canny to be put at a great disadvantage.

''It's not the ability to play the shots, it's more the ability to react to good and bad bounces,'' said Harrington. ''I believe that the experienced U S players will have no problem.'' Reuters DH VV1740