HOYLAKE, England — Players take great care setting the table for the British Open, a formal — and for many, foreign — event. For this one week, many will take out and polish off the club that, like a salad fork, is reserved for special occasions. It is the 2-iron, the nearest thing the golfers have in their bag to a repellent for the British links courses’ biggest pest, the pothole bunker.

In 2006, the last time the tournament was held here at Royal Liverpool, Tiger Woods used his long irons to steer clear of the penal fairway bunkers, never finding one on his way to his 11th major title. The other players, including Bubba Watson, the longest hitter on the PGA Tour with a 314.1-yard average drive, took note.

When it came time to pack for this event, Watson, the reigning Masters champion, made a trip to the golf room in his Florida house — the same one Woods called home in 2006 — and retrieved a 2-iron from a storage unit.

“I haven’t used it all year until this week,” Watson said.

For Watson, whose driver is like his security blanket, it is a psychological stretch to stake his fortunes on a seldom-used club.

“I’ve played the last couple of days with it, and I’ve hit it pretty decent,” Watson said Tuesday. “Now, in the pressure of the golf tournament it might not feel the same.”

Phil Mickelson, who today opens defense of the title he earned at Muirfield, is another player who uses his 2-iron only when competing on links courses. The 2-iron is to Mickelson, Watson and others what grass-courts shoes are to the world’s top tennis players: a one-major curio.

“That’s why playing last week was important,” said Justin Rose, who made liberal use of his 2-iron on the way to winning the Scottish Open in his tuneup for the 143rd British Open. “Because it’s all very well to hit it perfectly, but you need to understand with your club what your miss is or what the tendency is for it, if it doesn’t go to plan. I don’t think you only really know that once you get a scorecard in your hand.”

Mickelson, who last year became the first player to win the Scottish Open and British Open in consecutive weeks, said a short practice session on the range was all it took to get reacquainted with his old friend, the 2-iron.

“Maybe a half-hour of practice on the range just to develop the confidence in it,” Mickelson said, adding: “You would think it would take a little bit more time to get used to, but it’s not like it’s a new club. It performs the same as it did last year and the year before.”

Rory McIlroy, who smashed a drive 430 yards downwind in the first round last week at Royal Aberdeen, said he planned to use his 2-iron as much as his driver.

“I think it will be an important club,” he said.

On the lush courses of the PGA Tour, nearly every tee box calls to mind a baseball batting cage, with the players swinging freely at targets at a specific distance because they know the ball, once it lands, typically will not roll very far. On the harder ground of the windswept links courses, the ball can run for several yards.

The advantage of using a long iron as opposed to a wood is that the ball’s trajectory is flatter, so it is less vulnerable to the gusts.

“In links golf it’s not as crucial to know how far a ball flies with any given club,” Rose said. “Because the elements are so drastically different and the bounce is so unpredictable and the calculations that you’re making, it’s not an exact science.”

McIlroy is taking the 5-wood out of his bag to make room for his 2-iron.

“I just think for this terrain and the conditions and the wind, the 2-iron just goes that little bit lower, and there’s a bit of a better flight on it,” he said, “which is obviously better for these conditions.”

Not everyone regards his 2-iron as just a fierce-weather friend. Gary Woodland said he has put a 5-wood in his bag only once in his six years on the PGA Tour, preferring to use his 2-iron.

“The 2-iron’s always been my go-to club,” said Woodland, who is 14th in driving on tour. “That’s why I like this place. Over here I can hit it low and let it run and I don’t feel like I’m losing any distance.”

Woodland, who has made the cut in both British Opens he has played, fell more in love with his 2-iron after walking the course Sunday with Woods. They were supposed to play a practice round together, but Woodland’s clubs did not make his flight to Manchester.

“It was great for me to get out there and walk with Tiger and see the way he strategized around this golf course,” Woodland said. “There were holes where you think of maybe hitting 3-wood or driver, but he was laying back. You can see his strategy.”

One of the more memorable 2-iron shots in British Open history was struck by Tom Watson on the final day of the 1983 tournament at Royal Birkdale. After putting his drive in the fairway, Watson had 213 yards to the pin. He struck his 2-iron to 15 feet.

“Best 2-iron of my life,” he said after a two-putt par gave him a one-stroke victory over Andy Bean and Hale Irwin.

Watson, a five-time British Open champion, said Monday: “There was a left-to-right wind and the ball started just right of the flag and hooked left of the flag. Alfie Fyles, my caddie, said, ‘Stop hooking!’ I said, ‘Alf, don’t worry.’”

Watson, who will play his 37th British Open this week, added: “You practice long irons all the time. That’s where you beat your competitors.”