While the French are busy celebrating Bastille Day where a French rider will undoubtedly go on the attack to entertain rapturous crowds, a very different affair is playing out in Scotland. The 150th Open Championship is underway on the Old Course at St. Andrews.
The Open has produced some of the greatest moments that golf has ever seen. Seve Ballesteros fist pumping in 1984, Faldo holing in from off the green on the 18th in 1990, Tiger Woods decimating the field in 2000 & 2005 - all of them will go down in history.
Of the Old Course, players will need to be at the peak of their powers to join the list of those who have lifted the Claret Jug. Putting accuracy will be at a premium and wayward shots off the tee will carry heavy penalties.
Players will be tested with some of the longest putts they are ever likely to face. The putter will not stay in the bag until the green's either as putting from well off the greens is a regular occurrence.
The course is unique from most any other in the sense that very few holes have their own putting green. The 1st, 9th, 17th and 18th holes have single greens but every other hole shares a putting surface with another hole.
Jack Nicklaus said of the putting at the Old Course that "Although every golf tournament is to some degree a putting contest, the premium on the short stick at St. Andrews is greater than anywhere else in the championship game.”
Aside from the finishing that's needed to succeed, the approach to the monstrous greens is challenging in itself. 11 bunkers dot the land around the Old Course, Pockmarked like the surface of the moon, the hazards are an "Open" invite for a wayward shot. The unshielded surroundings mean the wind can whip and swirl, changing direction on a dime. One day a player will see a bunker and wonder why it was placed in such an unlikely spot, only to find out the hard way a day later when the wind has suddenly changed direction.
The 150th Open will mark the 30th time that the Old Course has hosted, but slightly more off the radar is the fact that Waterford's own Seamus Power is playing at the event for the first time in his career. It's been a year to remember so far for the Touraneena man. He's played at every major so far in 2022 and picked up a T9 finish at the PGA Championship. His recent Irish Open outing ended all too early with an unfortunate implosion during his third round.
This weekend, the West Waterford man comes to the weekend in Scotland ranked 37th in the world hoping that he can make some history, "That's one of the things growing up you just dream of. That's the goal - obviously to win the 150th in St. Andrews would make it something for the ages."
Seamus will have to fancy his chances considering the performances he has notched so far this year. Elsewhere for the Irish interests, Shane Lowry will be looking to win his second Open, as will Rory McIlroy. While Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke could also become two-time winners at slightly wider odds.
