The most important major in a generation starts Thursday at the home of a sport that stands at a crossroads. But for four days we can look forward to all the good things about the game Royal and Ancient.
From the awe and grandeur of the setting to a challenge that requires prodigious feats of feat and imagination, the 150th Open promises to live up to its stature.
But a wrong turn from Monday, leading to a further descent into the arms of greed, and who knows what state the game will be in, the next big one at Augusta National in eight long months?
Jordan Spieth Will Lead a Star-Studded Group of American Players Trying to Win The Open
All eyes will be on the awesome Tiger Woods (center) on Thursday when the action kicks off
However, let’s park that thought where it’s supposed to be — in the back of your mind.
Let’s focus on the good of golf and 72 holes that will be played under mostly blue, blessed skies.
Get ready for some lavish televised footage of glorious St Andrews Bay, where just the sight of the R&A clubhouse in the distance hints at what’s happening amid crumpled acres on the other side of the dunes.
There is no question who will be the center of attention on Thursday.
Just adding to the expectation is the fact that the action will be nearly nine hours old by the time it reaches the first tee. The older he gets and the more he looks, the more it means to have 46-year-old Tiger Woods in the field.
We know the window is now short for the 15-time major champion who played the game better than it’s ever been played, including here in St Andrews in 2000 when he avoided the ball so cleanly that he hit all 112 bunkers all four days. avoided.
What a thrill to hear him champion golf at his press conference on Tuesday, when he exposed the greedy defectors who back the disastrous Saudi LIV project. He comfortably remains the most important, authoritative voice of them all.
The 15-time Major champ isn’t a favorite to win it, but he’ll still grab all the attention
Woods has played 58 holes leading up to this Open and if he can run four more rounds well enough – a huge if, admittedly – expect to surprise one or two of those who think he’s here mainly walking for his picture. about the Swilcan Burn.
This is the weather and setup that is just perfect for the master strategist. Remember that near-immaculate exhibit he put on the similarly polished fairways at Hoylake in 2006, when he took the bunkers out of play and hit one clinical iron after another off the tee?
We’ve seen enough in training this week to know he can still play. His swing may be better now than in his prime. The only question is can he walk the walk.
Whatever happens to Matt Fitzpatrick walking alongside him, befitting his newfound status as US Open champion, he will get an invaluable demonstration of left golf that will be hugely beneficial.
Mind you, the 27-year-old from Sheffield has been playing so well for so long that it will be a surprise if he falters. He is another who should enjoy this kind of challenge.
He will stand alongside US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, who can continue his form here
Fitzpatrick has the game to thrive and he seemed relaxed in St Andrews on Wednesday
By the time Woods gets on the court shortly before 3 p.m., Rory McIlroy has signed on to his first-round scorecard. We’ll know if his quest was sabotaged by demons or passed a remarkable test.
McIlroy was always one of the more popular players, but his fierce campaign against LIV, which saw him turn over £500 million from the Saudis, is the material from which statues are built.
However, it was here in 2015 that things started to go wrong for him in the majors when he sat out his title defense due to a freak ankle injury sustained while playing football. What a story it would be if it was here where everything would go well again.
However, the odds are in favor of an American winner. Seven of the last 10 Opens in St Andrews have been won by players from the land of the stars and stripes.
This time, they travel with perhaps the most formidable collection of players to date to cross the Atlantic. Eight of the top 13 golfers in the world are American and, surprisingly, they are all 30 or younger.
Colin Morikawa, who won this event last year, will go in as another early favorite to win it
The Old Course is supposed to favor experience, but so was Royal St George’s last year and the Open was won by Collin Morikawa, then 24, making his debut.
The man leading the way this time is Jordan Spieth, last year’s runner-up at the Open, who returned to the track where his hopes of winning a third Grand Slam title in a row in 2015 faltered when he took the penultimate Sunday. hole and failed to convert a six-foot putt.
At the time it was a shock to see him missing. He never missed. But short-putting has become the bane of his life, which could be a problem on these huge, largely double greens, where any player will encounter plenty of that sort of range.
As for the home challenge, will Fitzpatrick’s stunning win over Brookline prove to be a spark or an anomaly?
Saudi LIV rebel Dustin Johnson is another in the formidable group of Americans in the field
It’s now been 30 years since an Englishman won the Open, when Sir Nick Faldo claimed the last of his three Claret Jugs, all in Scotland, including here in 1990.
As always with this event, it’s really open. A greater contrast to the monopoly of the big three in tennis is hardly imaginable. The last 13 editions have been won by 13 different players. However, no one had the importance of this Open.
“Everything has led to this,” is the evocative slogan of the R&A. Let’s hope the 150th delivers one for eternity and leads the game down the road to sanity.