Is there a bigger spectacle in British sport than The Open Championship golf major taking place on the Old Course at St Andrews? To quote golfing icon Jack Nicklaus: “When the British Open is in Scotland, there’s something special about it. And when it’s at St Andrews, it’s even greater.”
“History alone” sets The Open apart from the other majors, said Doug Ferguson on Golf Channel. And at St Andrews it becomes “a celebration” as much as a championship. “More than 500 years of legend and lore never gets old.”
This year’s championship is the 150th edition and it returns to the home of golf for its milestone anniversary. It’s also the 30th time that St Andrews has hosted The Open. Most recently, in 2015, Zach Johnson won a three-man play-off against Marc Leishman and Louis Oosthuizen. Other notable past champions at the Old Course include Sam Snead (1946), Peter Thomson (1955), Nicklaus (1970 and 1978), Seve Ballesteros (1984), Nick Faldo (1990) and Tiger Woods (2000 and 2005).
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The world’s greatest golfers will head to Fife for the final major of the 2022 season and there will be 156 players battling it out at St Andrews. Players such as defending champion Collin Morikawa, three-time Open winner Woods and 2014 champion Rory McIlroy will be among those vying to lift the iconic Claret Jug.
“Fast and firm”, the Old Course “is in shape to play at its best”, said BBC golf correspondent Iain Carter. It will be “a running game, exploiting contours, avoiding bunkers” kind of week. “Just as it was when golf was first played in these parts centuries ago.”
Here we take a look at the main talking points ahead of the 150th Open, plus the pundit predictions and first-round tee times.
1. The 150th Open: dates and UK TV coverage
The first round of The Open will be held on Thursday 14 July, with the fourth and final round on Sunday 17 July. In the UK Sky Sports will present “round-the-clock” coverage from St Andrews, with more than 80 hours of live golf on its dedicated channel, Sky Sports The Open. All times below are BST.
Thursday 14 July
6.30am-8.30pm: The Open first round live
7.30am-10.30am and 12pm-3pm: Live From The Range (red button)
8am-8pm: Featured Groups and Featured Holes (red button)
8.30pm-9.30pm: The Open Verdict
Friday 15 July
6.30am-8.30pm: The Open second round live
7.30am-10.30am and 12pm-3pm: Live From The Range (red button)
8am-8pm: Featured Groups and Featured Holes (red button)
8.30pm-9.30pm: The Open Verdict
Saturday 16 July
9am-8pm: The Open third round live
9am-12pm: Saturday at The Open (live on Sky Sports Mix, Sky Showcase and Sky Sports Golf YouTube channel)
11am-4pm: Live From The Range (red button)
10am-7pm: Featured Groups and Featured Holes (red button)
8pm-9pm: The Open Verdict
Sunday 17 July
8am-7.30pm: The Open fourth round live
8am-11am: Sunday at The Open (live on Sky Sports Mix, Sky Showcase and Sky Sports Golf YouTube channel)
9am-7pm: Featured Groups and Featured Holes (red button)
10am-3pm: Live From The Range (red button)
7.30pm-8pm: The Open Verdict
2. Players to watch and talking points
Tiger Woods won The Open in 2000, 2005 and 2006
(Image credit: John D McHugh/AFP/Getty Images)
Tiger Woods
Fifteen-time major champion Tiger Woods is making his first 22nd start in The Open. He has won The Open three times (2000, 2005, 2006), with the first two coming at St Andrews. With a win at St Andrews Woods would set the PGA Tour record for most career wins (83), breaking a tie with Sam Snead. He would also move within two of Jack Nicklaus’ record 18 major championship titles. After sustaining life-threatening injuries in a serious car accident in February 2021 Woods revealed in December that he had one big goal for 2022: playing the 150th Open at St Andrews. He is grouped with Matt Fitzpatrick and Max Homa in Thursday’s first round.
Collin Morikawa
Defending champion Morikawa’s most recent victory on the PGA Tour came at the 2021 Open. Morikawa, a five-time PGA Tour winner, is winless in his last 19 starts, the longest drought of his career. The last player to successfully defend a title in a major was Brooks Koepka at the 2019 PGA Championship, while the last player to do so at The Open was Padraig Harrington in 2008. Morikawa is grouped with Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele.
Matt Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick, winner of last month’s US Open, has made six career starts in The Open Championship. His best result was tied-20th in 2019. The Englishman plays in an Open at St Andrews for the first time.
Rory McIlroy
Four-time major champion McIlroy has not won a major since the start of 2015. He won the final two majors of 2014 (The Open Championship and PGA Championship) and has 16 top-tens in majors since then, the most of any player in that span. McIlroy recently moved into a tie for 31st on the all-time PGA Tour wins list with his 21st career title at the 2022 RBC Canadian Open.
Xander Schauffele
American Schauffele comes into the 150th Open having won on his previous two PGA Tour starts: the Travelers Championship and last week’s Genesis Scottish Open. Schauffele has six top-five finishes in major championships.
Scottie Scheffler
The world No.1 has four wins this season, including his first career major championship title at the Masters.
3.10pm: Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, Harold Varner III
3. Predictions and betting odds
Four-time major champion Rory McIlroy won The Open in 2014
(Image credit: Getty Images)
South African golf legend Gary Player has backed Rory McIlroy to end his eight-year major drought. Player, 86, won three of his nine majors at The Open and he has tipped McIlroy to lift the Claret Jug for a second time. “I think that the lightbulb will be switched on and McIlroy will win The Open,” he told Sky Sports. “St Andrews is a wide-open golf course and with his length, it’s going to be an advantage. He is the most talented golfer in the world today.”
The Analyst’s FRACAS model picked McIlroy to win the US Open in June – and “not much has changed”, said Kyle Cunningham-Rhoads. “McIlroy still sits at the top of the FRACAS leaderboard and is once again our pick to become the Open champion.”
Golf Digest has put together its expert picks for The Open and it’s McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Will Zalatoris and Jordan Spieth who are backed. McIlroy is the “rightful” favourite, but Schauffele “might just keep this heater rolling” after winning the Scottish Open, said the Anonymous Caddie. “You’re getting the most confident player in the field who has won on all types of courses over the past month-plus.”
Spieth has had “an interesting year”, one that “may appear underwhelming or disappointing at first glance”, but “not one that should stop us from backing him at the Old Course”, said Chris Gregory on Covers.com. “If at his best this week, the final product will be of him once again hoisting the Claret Jug.”
With his back-to-back wins on the Old Course at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in 2016 and 2017, Tyrrell Hatton is “one we’ve got our eyes on”, said The Sun. “If he can keep his temper down he can certainly challenge in this one.”
One of the best bets for The Open is Justin Thomas, said Tom Lunn on talkSPORT. “As soon as he sorts the putter out, Thomas is ready to explode.” The 2022 PGA Championship winner hasn’t finished outside the top 22 since 2017 at the Masters and “remains a solid chance in Scotland on that form”.
In his “sleeper” picks to win at St Andrews, CBS Sports’s Patrick McDonald said he can see Max Homa “seriously contending” in his second Open. “It was reassuring to see Homa play well at the Scottish Open, and by all accounts, he appears to be up to the challenge of golf in Scotland.”
A good bet for a top-20 finish is Tony Finau, said Nick Hennion of Action Network. “Don’t look now, but top-10 Tony appears to be back in fine form.” The majors “haven’t necessarily gone his way this year”, but this track “should fit his game well”.
Mike Starling is the former digital features editor at The Week. He started his career in 2001 in Gloucestershire as a sports reporter and sub-editor and has held various roles as a writer and editor at news, travel and B2B publications. He has spoken at a number of sports business conferences and also worked as a consultant creating sports travel content for tourism boards. International experience includes spells living and working in Dubai, UAE; Brisbane, Australia; and Beirut, Lebanon.
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