St. Andrews is hosting it’s 26th Open Championship
Highlights:
- 26th staging of The Open at St Andrews
- Purse raised 22% from US$ 11.75mn to US$ 14mn this year.
- Tiger Woods expected to play
- Sahith Theegala, an Indian origin American in the field
- No other Indian players able to qualify
- Greg Norman uninvited from past Champions Parade
The 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews, Scotland, the home of golf, tees off this Thursday with a field comprising of the world’s top 100 ranked players and more.
The last time the Open Championship was played at St. Andrews, 2015, American Zach Johnson defeated Australian Marc Leishman and South African Louis Oosthuizen in a playoff.
Among the betting favourites to win the event are Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler. Since they are the top three golfers in the world rankings, that comes as no surprise. Scheffler and McIlroy have both won multiple times this season, with Scheffler winning the Masters earlier this year. Collin Morikawa is the defending champion but he has been struggling with his game of late and has not won since claiming the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai last November.
Tiger Woods will be seen at The Open for the first time since 2019 and in his first appearance since The Masters in early April. Woods has won two of his three Open titles at the Old Course and it is one of his favourite places to play.
Unfortunately for Indian fans, Anirban Lahiri and Shubhankar Sharma failed to qualify for the Open. However, Sahith Theegala, an Indian-American, enjoying a hugely successful first season on the PGA Tour, earned a place in the field after Daniel Berger withdrew. The last Indian to play in the British Open was Sharma in 2019, when he finished 51st. The best finish by an Indian is Lahiri’s 30th place finish at St. Andrews in 2015, a memorable event when he featured on leaderboards right upto the final day.
The tournament is being played in the shadow of the controversy sparked by the LIV Series, which has divided golf players and administrators alike. As a result, the R&A chose not to invite Greg Norman, the 1986 and 1993 British Open champion, for the past champions celebrations as he is the CEO of the LIV tour.
Credits:-
Photo – Mastercard