An Open at St Andrews is all about history and following in the footsteps of the greats

Are we ready? More than ready. The shifting of the golfing calendar for the Majors in recent years has worked out quite splendidly in that the original of the species is each year now the final of those most coveted championships. And, as if to hammer home that point, this 150th Open at the Home of Golf – over the Old Course at St Andrews – is a historic moment in time, a milestone for the ages.

The Masters, the US PGA and the US Open have come and gone and left the stage for the latest contest for the Claret Jug, a prized possession for whoever has managed to lift it.

Tiger Woods, a three-time winner and also a player who has embraced the sport’s history, remarked of how holding it casts a spell of its own, “[you] look at the names and you just go right back through time, it’s like a time warp; and just how they put the names on, and they started at the bottom and they added the top and they added the bases, just those little things.

“And everyone who won that championship, they know how hard it was and, looking at some of the scores, I’m thinking, even with a gutta percha [ball], ‘how did they shoot those scores?’ It’s awfully impressive and to have won the Open Championship and for me specifically to have won at the home of golf is even more special.”

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Of all the links on the rota, the Old Course seeps history. Here nostalgia is a very good thing. The Swilcan Bridge, originally built some 700 years ago to enable shepherds move sheep across the burn, has become an iconic photo opportunity for those of us fortunate to have played the course, but even more so for those bidding their farewells. Think Arnold Palmer. Think Jack Nicklaus. Think Tom Watson.

There’s a special tradition of a champions dinner which only takes place when The Open is staged at St Andrews, nowhere else. It is held on a Tuesday evening and at that dinner ahead of his final appearance Palmer told his fellow champions: “To have come here in 1960 and played this championship and to see what I saw then and to see what I have seen over the years has been a fantastic pleasure. The championship is one that I came to because I thought it was the most revered championship in the world. I still think that.”

In the book The 150th Open: Celebrating Golf’s Defining Championship author Iain Carter interviewed Tony Adamson, his predecessor as golf correspondent of BBC Radio Sport who had commentated on Palmer’s final goodbye. Palmer was 66 years old but, thanks to a tweaking of the eligibility rules for that year in 1995, the golfer who had done most to popularise the championship among players in the United States got to make a 23rd appearance in The Open.

“I will always remember interviewing Arnold after that last round. I was trying to capture what Arnold Palmer meant to The Open but what I got was how much it meant to him,” recalled Adamson of that emotional day, which set a gold standard in bidding adieu and which has since been replicated by Nicklaus and Watson.

Woods, indeed, was there that day as a young amateur. Palmer’s farewell appearance came on a Friday, the championship’s second round, and Woods was on the way to the range when Palmer and Ian Baker Finch – who the previous day had hooked his tee shot out-of-bounds down by Rusacks Hotel – were preparing to get under way.

“For me, as a youngster, knowing the short history of The Open Championship and to watch Arnold play, tee off in his last Open Championship, that was awesome...that follow-through of his is one of a kind. People were so thankful. I’m probably at least seven holes behind him and as he’s making the turn on the way home after the loop, just to head the appreciation and crescendo growing, it was getting louder and louder, even though we’re further away, it’s getting louder and louder, that’s what makes it so special,” remembered Woods of getting to witness history.

Nicklaus has a saying, that a career isn’t complete unless it has included winning an Open at the home of golf. It was easy for Nicklaus to take that view,given that two of his three Claret Jug wins came over the Old Course (in 1970 and 1978).

Nicklaus, like Palmer and Watson and Woods too, embraced the history of St Andrews through his career and since. Still does.

Indeed, Nicklaus will on Tuesday be made an honorary citizen of the Royal Burgh of St Andrews at a ceremony in Younger Hall, adding to previous awards that include being made an honorary member of St Andrews Golf Club following his win in 1978 and an honorary doctorate he received from the University of St Andrews in 1984. In 1990 he was also made an honorary member of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St Andrews.

There is a wee back story to Nicklaus’s latest honour. Such a proposal for freedom of the city was first made back in 2005 – when the 18-time Major champion put his left foot on the bricks of the Swilcan Bridge and raised his right arm in recognition of the acclaim from the crowds on the 18th – after his last appearance in the championship but it didn’t get sufficient support in the St Andrews Community Council.

However, the proposal for honorary citizenship was revisited and agreed three years ago, with the pandemic delaying the honouring until this week: “I retired in 2005 and I had great memories and I didn’t want to go back to St Andrews. And then they wrote and asked me if I would accept being an honorary citizen. I couldn’t turn that down. There’s no way in the world I could turn that down, not with Bobby Jones and Benjamin Franklin the only other two Americans who had done it. So, I’m going back,” said Nicklaus, speaking at the Memorial tournament last month, of accepting the honour.

Like Palmer, Nicklaus chose St Andrews to bring a close to his stellar career. “It’s been a long walk, a long time, a lot of years, a lot of great things. I just felt like (St Andrews) was the place I wanted to end my golfing career.”

For Tom Watson there was an unscheduled farewell in 2015 in fading light due to weather delays.

Those who made history continue to make history, and it is that spellbinding presence of the golf course and the town of St Andrews that continues to win over the hearts and minds of players with grand designs.

“I don’t think there’s a higher honour in golf than to be able to win an Open Championship at St Andrews, no matter what edition it is. I think it’s going to be a very special one for all of us,” remarked Jon Rahm, who will be playing an Open at the Old Course for the first time. Rahm’s first experience of playing the links came in the Dunhill championship in 2018. He expects an different experience.

As the Spaniard put it, “being aware of where you are, that first tee and what it is, and what it represents, I’ve been aware of it my whole life. Being able to experience it in person is very different and to be able to do it in an Open I bet is going to be a lot more impactful.”

In truth there is nothing in golf like an Open at St Andrews, following in the footsteps of greatness. Of history.

“I always say the Masters is the most special tournament, or one of the most special tournaments. But I think The Open in St Andrews is more special than any tournament in the world. The big stands. The town. Everything about the place is pretty cool,” said Shane Lowry, whose name was engraved on the famous trophy in 2019. “Obviously it goes without saying I’d love to win The Open in St Andrews. Would it top what I did in Portrush? It would definitely be on a par with it.”

What makes this one more special than most is that it is the 150th Open. More history.

Open facts

The winner of the 150th Open at St Andrews will claim a record high payday of €2,465,000 for lifting the Claret Jug, with the runner-up receiving €1.43 million.

The R&A announced that the total prize fund for the championship will be €13.8 million, an increase of 22 per cent on 2021.

Martin Slumbers, the chief executive of the R&A, said: “There have been significant changes in prize money over the last year. We have, therefore, increased the prize fund by 22 per cent which means that the prize money is increased by more than 60 per cent since 2016. We have made this substantial investment while balancing our wider commitments to developing golf at all levels around the world and to continuing to elevate the AIG Women’s Open.”

FIVE TO WATCH

Rory McIlroy

Odds: 15-2

Formline: 19-5-1-18-8

An obvious pick even with such tight odds in the market. This is the one that McIlroy has had his sights on ever since leaving Augusta National with a runner-up finish. It’s on a course he loves – he shot 63 in the first round in 2010 (forget the 83 second round!!) – and with good weather forecast McIlroy should be in his element. Has worked on tweaking a 3-wood in recent weeks with an eye on the Old Course. Will need his wedge play to be dialled in.

Will Zalatoris

Odds: 20-1

Formline: 2-5-MC-2-MC

Yet to win, but has a remarkable record in the Majors in his short career with six top-10 finishes (including two runners-up). Was forced to withdraw injured from last year’s championship at Sandwich, so this will be his first genuine effort at lifting the Claret Jug. Has a great game tee-to-green, strong off the tee and on approach; the big question mark hangs over his putting, which has improved and the slower greens might actually benefit him.

Justin Thomas

Odds: 16-1

Formline: 37-3-MC-1-5

One of the best wedge players in the game which should make the Old Course right up his street in his bid to end what has been a rather dismal record in the Open so far in his career, yet to make a top-10 in five appearances. Enjoyed a pre-Open visit to play links courses in Ireland around the JP McManus Pro-Am.

Corey Conners

Odds: 66-1

Formline: MC-6-13-MC-21

The Canadian blows hot and cold and has missed the cut in both the US PGA and the US Open so far this season . . . . and yet, there is reason to keep an eye on him. He has three top-10s on the PGA Tour this year (including a sixth placed finish in the Masters) and his tour statistics point to having a good game for St Andrews: sixth in strokes gained off the tee and fifth in greens-in-regulation.

David Carey

Odds: 300-1

Formline: 12-30-MC-16-14

Okay, this is one from left-field but for a reason. The Dubliner’s route through qualifying to earn an exemption into the field for the 150th Open exemplifies the complete openness of the championship. Carey competes on the developmental Alps Tour where he is noted for his long driving. He is also known as Mr57, having recorded a 57 en route to winning the Cervino Open in 2019 which remains the lowest recorded round in any professional tournament offering world ranking points.