The 151st Open Championship takes place at Royal Liverpool for the first time since 2014, when Rory McIlroy claimed his 3rd career major victory.
QUICK FACTS
Field: 156 players (150 professionals, 6 amateurs)
Cut: Top 70 scores & ties
Venue: Royal Liverpool (7,383 yards | Par 71)
Purse: $16.5M | $3M winner’s share
Defending champion: Cameron Smith (-20)
THE COURSE AND TEE TIMES
Royal Liverpool, located in the small town of Hoylake in England, is hosting its 13th Open Championship. The first was held in 1897 and the last in 2014.
Tiger Woods, Bobby Jones, and Walter Hagen are the only players representing the United States to win The Open at Royal Liverpool.
Royal Liverpool is one of three courses at which multiple players have earned their 5th major victory, as McIlroy is trying to do. The others are Augusta National (Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson) and Muirfield (Nick Faldo, Phil Mickelson).
You are going to have to get up pretty early for the first two days of this tournament. Here is a complete list of times and pairings for the first two days.
OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER TRENDS
A 28-year-old Cameron Smith won The Open in 2022, and a 24-year-old Collin Morikawa won in 2021. The last time 3 straight Open Championships were won by players under 30 was from 1975-77, when Tom Watson won twice and Johnny Miller once.
The last time three straight Opens were won by different players under 30 was from 1895-97, when J.H. Taylor, Harry Vardon, and Harold Hilton won, respectively.
The last four Open Champions have represented four different countries: Cameron Smith, Australia | Collin Morikawa, United States | Shane Lowry, Ireland | Francesco Molinari, Italy. A streak of five straight would tie the longest in Open Championship history, last done from 1985-89 (Scotland, Australia, England, Spain, United States).
We will have more on all of this on Shemon and Sheppard the rest of the week. Below is a list for some of the favorites and a few nuggets.