The home of golf, the Old St Andrews Course, is ready to celebrate the 150th edition of The Open, the oldest tournament of any sports discipline, with 162 years of history. The celebration could not fall on another field other than the eight where this sensational Open rotates every year.
St Andrews has been, is and will forever be the home of all golfers in the world. This sport was consolidated there, the rules were created and from there it also spread to the rest of the planet.
It is the one that has hosted the most times, 29 (the first, in 1873, and the last, in 2015) and the greatest golfers of all time have paraded through it. The greatest fan of all time, three-time British winner Bobby Jones once told Jack Nicklaus: “A player must win at St Andrews to be considered great.”
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Jones knew what he was talking about: he won three British wins, one of them at St Andrews in 1927. Nicklaus welcomed the heritage: two of his three wins (1970 and 1978) came on that course. And then, he passed it on to Tiger Woods, who has three wins at The Open, in 2000, 2005 and 2006. The first two were at the Old Course.
The tributes in the middle of the celebration of the 150 years
The R&A has thrown the house out the window, a big celebration. They started with a ‘Celebration of Champions’ tournament: 10 teams playing holes 1, 2, 17 and 18, Nick Faldo, Louis Oosthuizen, John Daly and Zach Johnson were the winners.
For his part, Nicklaus received the distinction of Honorary Citizen of St Andrews, an honor only held by two Americans: Bobby Jones and Benjamin Franklin. “I retired in 2005 and I didn’t want to come back so that it would lose its meaning, but I find it difficult not to accept this invitation,” he stated.
Also Nicklaus, in the company of José María Olazabal, Lee Trevino and the Scottish Catriona Matthew, received an honorary doctorate from the long-standing University of St Andrews, founded in 1413.
Not everything is a party: the crisis becomes manifest
Despite the celebration, the professional golf crisis manifested itself in the Open: the R&A did not invite, despite having all the merits to do so, the Australian Greg Norman, winner in 1986 and 1993 and today head of LIV Golf, the Arab circuit that defies the scheme of the PGA Tour and its partner, the DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour). A decision that caused a tremendous stir.
The R&A issued a statement in this regard: “The 150th edition of The Open is a very important moment for golf and we want to ensure that the focus is on the celebration of the tournament and its legacy. Unfortunately we don’t think that would be the case if Greg comes.”
Norman could not hide his bitterness at what happened: “I am disappointed. I believed that the R&A would be above this given its position in the world of golf,” he stated.
While Tiger agreed with the Royal statement, Nicklaus showed his lordship and why he is the greatest, and stated: “I am a friend of Greg and I will continue to be, even if I do not agree with the way he is going now and I will not say anything else. Greg is a golf icon.”
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The fact that players who are eligible to play the Open and play the LIV were accepted leaves a bad taste with what happened with Norman and only deepens the gap that exists in professional golf today. For many, a great opportunity to iron out rough edges and begin to make approaches for the benefit of golf was lost.
Game time: the field and the favorites
Speaking of the tournament, it will be played on an unpredictable field, in which nature will prevail in the difficulties. If the wind appears, it becomes a beast and, as always, avoiding its bunkers is a fundamental test.
Three-time Open winner Nick Faldo said: “The strategy of this course is to respect the bunkers”. On the 14th hole there is one called ‘Hell’ and next to it there is one called the ‘pulpit’. Why? Because you can see hell from there…
The favorites, the usual ones: Rory Mclroy, winner there in 2014 and with two wins this year; Xander Schauffele, second in the 2018 Open and three wins on the season, and Scottie Scheffler, winner of the Masters this year. However, the Open usually gives surprises and everyone can get to lift the most beautiful trophy that exists in golf: the Jar of Claret.
Tiger as always, is the feeling. He didn’t play the US Open to prepare for this British one. And he put the cards on the table: “I want to be in dispute on Sunday.”
Colombia will have its representative in this historic event, Sebastián Muñoz, who, despite not having won, has had a good season: 21 tournaments and only 6 failed cuts. He will play the Open for the second time, after missing the cut last year. He comes with much more experience.
Golf is pleased: 150 years is quite a story in our wonderful sport.
Getting to the green
German Street
For the time
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