On Thursday this week 156 golfers from all over the world will start their campaign to become the latest Champion Golfer of the Year by winning the 150th British Open Golf Championship.
This year’s tournament takes place on the most hallowed turf of all for golfers, the famous Royal and Ancient home of St. Andrews Old Course, which has hosted the Open Championship a record 29 times previously.
With this year’s Open Championship being a landmark event, the build-up to the tournament has seen some special events, such as the Tournament of Champions, which has featured a host of past champions of different Open Championships (amateur, men’s, women’s and disabled) competing in a special four-hole team competition.
However, it is the fourth and final Major of the golf season that has most fans excited and punters are already deciding who in the field they are going to back to follow last year’s winner Collin Morikawa into the history books as the Open Champion of 2022.
Bet365 Sport is offering a wide range of bets on the tournament including Group Betting, the odds on a player to make a hole in one, whether an Albatross will be scored in the tournament and much more alongside its popular Outright Winner market.
It’s worth noting that bet365 is also paying out the top eight places and ties each way at 1/5 of the odds, which can often be the best value bet you will find on golf tournaments depending on the odds for your selection.
The site has also been running a special casino golf sweepstake promotion the past month too, which many of you may have taken part in.
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Let’s now learn a little more about the history of this famous event, the oldest of all golf tournaments on the calendar, and also about the famous St Andrews course before we then focus in on the tournament itself.
The British Open – History
Not just the oldest Major, the British Open is the oldest golf tournament in the world and it is the only Major tournament that does not take place within the United States each year.
The tournament has always been a Links Golf tournament, viewed by many as the purest form of the sport, and a total of 14 courses over the years have hosted the event, although now only ten remain on the Open Rotation of venues.
The fourteen courses that have hosted The Open are, starting with the 10 currently part of the active roster.
St Andrews (Scotland)Muirfield (Scotland)Royal Troon (Scotland)Carnoustie (Scotland)Turnberry (Scotland)*Royal St Georges (England)Royal Liverpool (England)Royal Lytham & St Annes (England)Royal Birkdale (England)Royal Portrush (Northern Ireland)
The four that have hosted it previously, but no longer do so are:
Royal Cinque Ports (England)Prince’s (England)Prestwick (Scotland)Musselburgh (Scotland)
*The R&A have stated that due to the fact Donald Trump owns Turnberry Golf Course and his influence in the Washington Capitol Riots in 2021, they are not willing to host the open at Turnberry for the “foreseeable future”.
St. Andrews has hosted the most Open Championships with 29 and this year will be the 30th event to be contested on the famous home of golf.
After hosting the event this year, St Andrews will likely host the event next in 2030 and after then it may revert back to being host every five years as it has done so since 1990.
Royal Liverpool has been named the host of the 2023 tournament while Royal Troon will host in 2024 and then Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland will host the 2025 tournament.
The Famous Claret Jug Trophy
Originally, the British Open Champion won a specially designed belt, but in 1870, Young Tom Morris won the event for the third time in a row, meaning that according to the rules, he would get to keep the belt.
No tournament was held in 1871 and in 1872, a gold medal was presented to the winner, once again Young Tom Morris, a tradition which has remained since.
By then a trophy had been commissioned by three golf courses, who agreed to rotate the tournament between them each year. The trophy was the Claret Jug and although it was not made quickly enough to present to Young Tom Morris in 1872, his name was the first engraved upon it.
The original Claret Jug is on display in the Royal and Ancient Clubhouse, with players receiving a replica if the trophy which they keep for a year and which has their name engraved upon it before they are presented with the trophy.
British Open Facts
Oldest Winner – Old Tom Morris (46 years, 102 days) 1867Youngest Winner – Young Tom Morris (17 years, 156 days) 1868Most Wins – Harry Vardon – 6 (1896, 1898, 1899, 1903, 1911, 1914)Lowest Winning Score – 264 – Henrik Stenson (2016)Recent Past Winners – Collin Morikawa (2021), Shane Lowry (2019), Francesco Molinari (2018), Jordan Spieth (2017), Henrik Stenson (2016), Zach Johnson (2015), Rory McIlroy (2014), Phil Mickelson (2013), Ernie Els (2012), Darren Clarke (2011) and Louis Oosthuizen (2010).Famous Winners Of The Open At St.Andrews – Tiger Woods (2000, 2005), Jack Nicklaus (1970, 1978), Bobby Jones (1927), Sam Snead (1946), Peter Thompson (1955), Bobby Locke (1957), Seve Ballesteros (1984), Nick Faldo (1990), John Daly (1995), Louis Oosthuizen (2000) and Zach Johnson (2015)Prize Pool for 2022 – $14,000,000 with $2,500,000 paid to the winner.Field – 156 playersCut – After 36 holes – Top 70 golfers and ties make the cut.
St. Andrews Old Course – The Home Of Golf
One of the most famous courses in the world, St. Andrews is for many the home of golf, the course was established in the 15th century and has undergone many changes and redesigns since then, but it has retained a great deal of what made the original course revered by so many.
Famous features on the course include the Spectacles bunker on 14th, the Swilken Burn and Bridge which are located on the first and 18th fairways and the infamous Road Hole 17th, which features the Road Hole Bunker and a road and wall at the back of the green which has led to some of the most unusually creative shots seen in a Major tournament over the years.
The size of the greens at St. Andrews are considerably larger than most courses, with a number of greens shared between two holes.
Who Will Win This Year’s British Open Tournament?
This year’s Open Championship is going to be an interesting one, not least because it is the final Major of the season but also because of the current divide in golf between those on the LIV Golf Tour and those that have remained with the DP World Tour and US PGA Tour.
That provides a somewhat unusual backdrop to this event but the bookmakers have gone with the formbook with Rory McIlroy the 10/1 favourite with bet365.
McIlroy has a somewhat chequered past with St. Andrews, famously calling the Old Course a “pitch and putt’ course a few years back, an opinion which he has changed since and his good form sees him as the clear favourite here.
To back for the outright win McIlroy is a very good shout. He hasn’t won a Major this year but he has been inside the top ten in each of the other three Majors this year, his form is excellent and his consistency is much improved. He will certainly be close to the action at the top of the leaderboard on Sunday I feel.
However, as I mentioned earlier, with bet365 offering each way down to the top eight and ties at 1/5 of the stated odds, I do like a couple of players for this each way betting market.
Louis Oosthuizen (50/1) is one to consider. He won his only Open Championship at St Andrews back in 2010 by a considerable margin and also has won one of the LIV Golf Tour invitational tournaments recently.
I also think the big-hitting Bryson DeChambeau could be a consideration here at 125/1. His length off the tee means that he may be able to drive some of the par four greens on the course and that could give him a significant advantage.
Finally, Will Zalatoris (30/1) has gone close in a number of Majors of late without landing the win and it seems likely that he will be in contention once again if he can find that sort of form.
The action begins early Thursday morning with the first tee shots, so don’t forget to get your bets on before then!
