huhhello and welcome to Telegraph Sport’s coverage of The Open in St Andrews – a tournament you’re not soulful of if you can’t get excited about it.
The best golfers in the world playing for the Claret Jug, home to golf, simply breathe tradition, history and, if you’re like me, a level of excitement for kids on Christmas Eve.
As if to add to the almost mythical levels of anticipation, Rory McIlroy says winning an Open Championship at St Andrews is golf’s “holy grail”. Three-time Open champion Bobby Jones once said that an elite player’s career would not be complete without lifting the Claret Jug on the Old Course.
“I don’t know if a golfer’s career isn’t complete if you don’t, but I think it’s the holy grail of our sport,” McIlroy replied when asked about the quote. But a roll call from those who have lifted the Claret Jug into the home of golf certainly indicates that it has a reputation for crowning some of the most distinguished names to have played the game – Jones, Sam Snead, Peter Thomson, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods have all tasted glory in St Andrews (although the last two winners of the Open here, Louis Oosthuizen and Zach Johnson, good as they are, aren’t exactly the best of all time…).
McIlroy starts the tournament as a favourite, and having missed that opportunity to defend his 2014 Open win when the major was last played on the sacred fairways in Fife in 2015 (thanks to a football injury, of all things…), he would like his name on the list of all time greats who lifted the Claret Jug in St Andrews.
“I’m playing well. I’m in good shape. My confidence in my game is as strong as it has been in a long time,” said McIlroy, who finished second in the Masters, eighth in the US PGA and fifth in the US Open. i can’t go in here thinking maybe this is my time i just need to get out and play a really good tournament i need to string together four good rounds and hopefully by the end of the week that will be good enough to to win.
“I’m happy where everything is, and I just can’t get ahead of things. I just have to make sure that I prepare well in the coming days and get in the right mood for Thursday.”
A concern around this edition of the oldest golf tournament is whether current technology and big hitters can make the “Old Lady” of St Andrews obsolete. Faldo has speculated that if conditions calm down over the next four days, we could see the first 59 in a major.
McIlroy does not predict a bird feast, however. The favorite thinks the winning score could be low, but not close to 20-under.
“I don’t think we’re going to see it,” McIlroy said of fears the course could be overpowered. “You can bomb it and get close to the greens, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to make birdies.
“I see it (the winning total) is low, but I don’t see anything in the 20 under range. Everyone has seen how firm and fast the fairways are and it’s going to get pretty tricky by the end of the week.”
Stay here all day for all the action from the house of golf.