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Welcome to The Open Championship week at Royal Troon.
This is the fourth and final major of the 2024 men’s golf season, and if the first three tournaments are anything to go by, we should see some great play this week.
Who knows what will happen in this final major tournament, whether it’s Scottie Scheffler winning his second green jacket, Xander Schauffele breaking his major drought or Bryson DeChambeau winning his second U.S. Open.
Since it’s Monday, let me briefly talk about this week and this area, and as the week progresses I’ll dig deeper into this event and its history.
So, brew some coffee, have some breakfast, settle in and get ready for the oldest major championship week.
This year’s Open Championship course
Royal Troon is the host of the 152nd British Open. This coastal course offers a true links golf challenge to the world’s best players.
Photo credit: Stuart Carr/R&A/R&A via Getty Images
Established in 1878, the course originally consisted of six holes but in 1888 was expanded to 18 holes.
This year marks the 10th time in the history of the British Open.
The last time the British Open was held here was in 2016, when Henrik Stenson beat Phil Mickelson to win. The course is sure to provide a tough test for the players, so we can expect to see some more brawls.
2024 British Open field list
This year’s tournament will feature every Champions Golfer of the Year winner since 2004, including three-time winner Tiger Woods, bringing the total to 19 winners, the most since 2015.
Stenson is returning to the place where he once won, as is Todd Hamilton, who won at this venue 20 years ago.
Two-time Claret Jug winners Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington will be putting their skills to the test against this talented field.
Of those 19 players, 16 have won their only Open title.
Defending champion Brian Harman is seeking to become the first player to win back-to-back titles since Harrington did so in 2007 and 2008.
Scottie Scheffler is looking to win his third major championship and add the Claret Jug to his collection, while Rory McIlroy is fresh off a tied fourth place finish at the Scottish Open and looking to bounce back from a disappointing loss on the second hole at Pinehurst.
Reigning U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau will be looking to win consecutive major championships.
There are 49 golfers ranked in the top 50 of the World Golf Rankings.
Thirty-seven players will be making their British Open debut, including world number four Ludvig Aaberg. Another notable player making his debut this week is Davis Thompson, who dominated the John Deere Classic.
Akshay Bhatia, Eric Cole, Austin Eckroth, Gordon Sargent and David Puig are other rookies to watch.
This week, the world’s best golfers will compete to win the most historic major tournament. Who will win?
Top news in professional golf
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Savannah Lee Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow us for more golf articles. Follow You can follow us on all major social platforms. You can also follow us on Twitter Follow Her Instagram account is @golf_girl_sl.
