The Open - A celebration of tradition | golf | SuperSport

The home of golf, St Andrews, welcomes the world as the Open Championship celebrates its 150th anniversary from 14-17 July, 2022.

The Old Course plays host to the oldest Major for a record extending 30th time and will hold fond memories for the likes of Tiger Woods, Zach Johnson and Louis Oosthuizen, who have all lifted the Claret Jug on these hallowed grounds.

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THE BATTLEFIELD

Links golf is the hallmark of the Open Championship and the Old Course at St Andrews has been used as a benchmark for course design around the world either as an aspiration or as a point of departure.

The course was originally designed with 22 holes, 11 in and 11 out. It was decided though, that some of the holes were too short and thus combined to give rise to the 18-hole layout which would become the standard for golf all over the world.

Featuring 11 double greens and only four single greens made it necessary to use different colour flags for each nine, so as to not cause confusion. White flags signify the front nine while red flags denote the back nine holes, except for the 18th where a white flag is used again so that it can be easily seen in front of the Hamilton Grand building, which is located at the back of the 18th green.

Tom Kidd won the first Open hosted at the Old Course while Zach Johnson was the latest champion in 2015. Only five golfers have managed to win the Open at St Andrews on more than one occasion, - Bob Martin (1876, 1885), J.H. Taylor (1895, 1900), James Braid (1905, 1910), Jack Nicklaus (1970, 1978) - and in 2022 Tiger Woods (2000, 2005) is looking to become the only player to ever win it three times at the Old Course.

THE CONTENDERS

If Tiger Woods is at a tournament, he is a contender. His form doesn’t count, his health or fitness is not a concern because if the Tiger decides to win, he will, no matter the obstacles. Obviously, some fans will mute their expectation, considering what the living legend has been through this last year, but having taken some time between the PGA Championship and this week to prime himself, other fans will be dreaming of Major #16.

Scottie Scheffler is undoubtedly the best player on the planet based on form. He has gone from strength to strength in 2022 and will be out to prove his 2000 Masters triumph was not a once-off. Having failed to make the cut at the PGA Championship and then failing to maintain a final-round push for the title at the US Open Scheffler will surely be on the prowl to add a second Major to his trophy cabinet just to silence any doubters out there.

If there is one man out there that needs a Major victory to silence detractors, it is Rory McIlroy. The four-time Major champ has not won on the grandest stage since 2014. The good news for the 33-year-old is that his last Major title was an Open Championship. Having been brilliant at the Majors in 2022 in bits and pieces we could see the Northern Irishman finally pull his game together for four rounds, playing the type of golf he was brought up playing.

Defending champion Colin Morikawa will be looking for another good Major performance, having finished in the top five at both the Masters and the US Open in 2022. His ball-striking has not been the same since his victory last year and coming off a missed cut at the Scottish Open he will need to hit the ground running at St Andrews if he hopes to contend.

Justin Thomas and Matthew Fitzpatrick will be looking to add to their Major haul in 2022 having won the PGA Championship and US Open respectively. Fitzpatrick comes to the Old Course in better form with a top-10 finish at the Scottish Open while Thomas has some work to do to get ready for the challenge having missed the cut at the Renaissance Club.

NEW WORLD THREAT

While the history and tradition of this iconic tournament and venue will be celebrated to no end, the threat of the new world order has put somewhat of a damper on the mood.

The Saudi-backed LIV Golf series, led by former Open champion Greg Norman, has emerged as a threat to the establishment of golf which is largely controlled by the R&A, who call St Andrews home, as well as the US PGA Tour and DP World Tour. The rift that has emerged has placed the participation of those golfers who have taken up offers by LIV Golf at risk as the DP World Tour and PGA Tour have taken steps to exclude them from their competitions.

Since qualification for the Majors is not controlled by the Tours themselves, the LIV Golfers were still eligible for the 2022 editions of the tournaments but may well see themselves on the outside looking in for 2023.

For the likes of Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, and Patrick Reed, this could be the last chance they have to get their hands on the Claret Jug.

THE 12 SAF-POSTLES

The South African contingent is strong and deep, ranging from former champions to a 17-year-old amateur.

Ernie Els and Louis Oosthuizen will be leading the charge, though the latter is more likely to contend compared to the Big Easy, who is more active on the Champions Tour.

Louis was the best-placed Saffer last year (T3), two shots ahead of Dylan Frittelli who has endured a tough time since then, picking up just one top-10 finish in 28 starts.

In the middle of the pack, with the potential to have a good week but without expectation of contending, are the likes of Erik Van Rooyen, Zander Lombard, Garrick Higgo, Justin Harding, Shaun Norris, and Dean Burmester. Only Harding (T19 in 2021) and Van Rooyen (T20 in 2019) have had any reasonably good showing at the Open and will be looking to go even better in 2022.

Thriston Lawrence will be making his debut, thanks to victory at the Joburg Open and will be joined by amateur Aldrich Potgieter who earned his spot in the field by winning the Amateur Championship earlier this month.