Scotland always puts on a show for The Open but this really is a bit special - Martin Dempster

Events that get big build ups sometimes disappoint. Not this one, though.

The opening day of the 150th Open at St Andrews delivered exactly what everyone was looking for.

Former winner Paul Lawrie, victor in 1999 at Carnoustie, got the Championship under way at 6.35am yesterday.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The event has changed a fair bit since the days of Willie Park, winner of the inaugural staging at Prestwick in 1860, Old Tom Morris and other early pioneers of the game.

England's Ian Poulter putts on the 16th green during day one of The Open at the Old Course, St Andrews.England's Ian Poulter putts on the 16th green during day one of The Open at the Old Course, St Andrews.
England's Ian Poulter putts on the 16th green during day one of The Open at the Old Course, St Andrews.

The infrastructure of a modern day Open is huge, to such an extent, in fact, that it almost seems that a pop-up town has been created on and around the Old Course.

Lots of players these days also wear hoodies, which, of course, makes them more appealing to youngsters either attending in person or watching the action from home.

The build up to this week’s milestone event had been overshadowed a bit by a breakaway circuit that is being funded by Saudi Arabia.

Having signed up for that, Phil Mickelson, Ian Poulter and Patrick Reed were the target of some boos when they headed out in the opening round.

But, for the majority of people, talk about that has been put on the back burner for the time being and rightly so.

It is every golfer’s dream to become a Champion Golfer of the Year.

For someone to forever be remembered as the winner of the 150th Open is probably going to be as good as it gets.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A record attendance of 290,000 is set to attend the tournament over the course of the week and fans with first-day tickets were like kids let loose in a sweetie shop as they ventured out to get a glimpse of the world’s top players.

Lots of those spectators looked as though they were seasoned Open campaigners and not just from the sport’s cradle or elsewhere in the UK.

But, at the same time, the fairways were also flanked by youngsters who, as part of the R&A’s bid to grow the game, were enjoying free admission.

Scotland always puts on a show when The Open comes here, but this one really is something special and credit to The R&A for teeing it up to perfection.

Comments

 0 comments

Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.