 THE biggest mystery of The Open has finally been solved after a Wirral estate agent revealed how he provided the "Tiger's lair" for the duration of his visit to Merseyside. Rumours that the world's number one golfer was in the Isle of Man, or staying at the North Wales home of former Liverpool footballer Michael Owen, have proved unfounded. Instead, local estate agent Paul Lea has finally admitted he rented out his own Caldy home to Tiger Woods. Mr Lea, of estate agents Bradshaw Farnham and Lea, had met British golfer Colin Montgomerie last year while staying at his holiday home in Gleneagles. Yesterday, he revealed his home at the bottom of Caldy Hill had been Tiger Woods's secret hideaway during the tournament. Mr Lea said: "I kept reading all these things in the press about where he might be staying and some people even offering money for tips about it. But no one seemed to realise. I met up with him last night after the Open had finished, and he was saying to me what a lucky house this is, and he wants to rent it again when the Open returns to Hoylake. "He is a very private fellow. I went round there a few times and he was always working out. He is a complete athlete." Tiger Woods had arrived the Saturday before the practice began for the tournament after coming into Liverpool on a private jet, and left early yesterday from Manchester. He had stayed at the house with his wife Elin, caddie Steve Williams, as well as his cook. His coach arrived later in the week. Mr Lea, who shared a bottle of champagne with the newlycrowned Open champion after his triumph, said he had been impressed by how focused Tiger Woods was. He said: "The guy is totally fitness oriented, and he borrowed our mountain bikes and was cycling along the Wirral Way at 5am last week." The estate agent said he had rented his four-bedroom home to Tiger Woods "for a five-figure sum". Last year, he told the Daily Post: "We managed to get a five-figure sum for our house because it is in an extremely private location and the person we rented it to was specifically looking for privacy. "It is set back from the road in an acre of ground." While Tiger Woods was enjoying his house, Mr Lea stayed in a flat he owns in West Kirby during the tournament while his wife Sandra, 35, took the couple's children to their holiday home in Scotland. Mr Lea admitted he had rented out a number of houses to other golfers, including the second-placed Chris DiMarco who stayed at a house on Queens Road in Hoylake. liammurphy@dailypost.co.uk | 
