Woods, Donald, Westwood primed for 141st British Open

Spectators watch as Tiger Woods of the U.S. hits shots on the practice green during a practice round ahead of the British Open golf championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes, northern England July 18, 2012.

LYTHAM ST ANNES, England (Reuters) - Tiger Woods will start as favourite to win his 15th major title while Luke Donald and Lee Westwood spearhead the home challenge in the 141st British Open starting later on Thursday.

Briton Barry Lane will hit the first shot at 0630 (0530 GMT) local time under what should be clear skies following a sudden break in the wet weather which has left the links course drenched in water and even more difficult than usual.

Woods will be among the early starters, going out at 0942 with England's Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia of Spain.

Westwood begins his latest bid for a first major title in the company of U.S. Masters champion Bubba Watson and Japan's Yoshinori Fujimoto at 0920.

World number one Donald must wait until 1443 before setting out with four-times major champion Phil Mickelson and Australian Geoff Ogilvy.

Defending champion Darren Clarke is also going out early, alongside former winner Ernie Els of South Africa and American Zach Johnson at 0909.

(Editing by Tony Jimenez)