(Photo by Stuart Kerr\/R&A\/R&A via Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nGiven the weather forecast, it wouldn\u2019t be a shock to see someone shoot 63. The forecast is for generally good weather and only light wind. In 2015, the last time the Open was played over the Old Course, the wind got so severe at times that play had to be suspended because on some greens the balls kept oscillating. As Jordan Spieth, the 2017 champion, said last week: \u201cEven a nice 10- to 15-mile an hour wind would show something. It doesn\u2019t look like we are going to get any rain so I think the defence could be how fast it plays.\u201d Spieth is generally quoted at around 20-1 to win with most bookmakers. McIlroy is the 10-1 favourite. Second favourite, at 14-1, is Jon Rahm, last year\u2019s US Open champion. The Spaniard makes no secret that the late Seve Ballesteros is a hugely inspirational figure to him. Seve won the Open at St Andrews in 1984 at the age of 27. Rahm goes there this week\u2026 aged 27. Destino?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Away from the golf course, one imagines that with the great and good of the game all in attendance to celebrate this special anniversary of golf\u2019s oldest championship – and after Greg Norman being denied an invitation to an R&A function that he would ordinarily have been expecting to attend as a past Open champion – there will be at least the odd meeting to attempt to reach some kind of co-ordinated strategy regarding how the game should react to the recent emergence of the Saudi-backed golf series. When Willie Park won the first Open, in 1860, the live debate in the game was over the respective merits of the feathery golf ball versus the upstart gutta percha model.<\/a> Today the LIV debate is about the potentially distorting effects of tournaments which offer $4 million first prizes. It\u2019s progress, I guess.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
You can follow Robert Green on Twitter @robrtgreen and enjoy his other blog\u00a0f-factors.com<\/a> plus you can read more by him on golf at robertgreengolf.com<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
30th Open to be contested at the Old Course<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":221327,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9324],"tags":[60,1393,65,68,117,105,76,72,77,73,95],"class_list":["post-231159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-150th-open","tag-blog","tag-golf-major","tag-july-2022","tag-robert-green","tag-rory-mcilroy","tag-scotland","tag-st-andrews","tag-the-old-course","tag-the-open-championship","tag-tiger-woods"],"yoast_head":"\n150th Open - St. Andrews - A date with destiny and history - Golf Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"150th Open - St. Andrews - This will be the 30th Open Championship to be contested over the Old Course at St Andrews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/150th-open-championship-st-andrews-a-date-with-destiny-and-history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A date with destiny and history\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"150th Open - St. Andrews - This will be the 30th Open Championship to be contested over the Old Course at St Andrews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/150th-open-championship-st-andrews-a-date-with-destiny-and-history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Golf Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-11T14:28:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-17T09:03:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/The-150th-Open-Previews3-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Robert Green\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Robert Green\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/150th-open-championship-st-andrews-a-date-with-destiny-and-history\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/150th-open-championship-st-andrews-a-date-with-destiny-and-history\/\",\"name\":\"150th Open - St. Andrews - A date with destiny and history - Golf Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/150th-open-championship-st-andrews-a-date-with-destiny-and-history\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/150th-open-championship-st-andrews-a-date-with-destiny-and-history\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/The-150th-Open-Previews3-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-11T14:28:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-17T09:03:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/d078c054b641020d284ec35935d374b3\"},\"description\":\"150th Open - St. Andrews - This will be the 30th Open Championship to be contested over the Old Course at St Andrews\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/150th-open-championship-st-andrews-a-date-with-destiny-and-history\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/150th-open-championship-st-andrews-a-date-with-destiny-and-history\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/150th-open-championship-st-andrews-a-date-with-destiny-and-history\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/The-150th-Open-Previews3-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/The-150th-Open-Previews3-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683,\"caption\":\"ST ANDREWS, SCOTLAND - JULY 10: A flag is displayed during a practice round prior to The 150th Open at St Andrews Old Course on July 10, 2022 in St Andrews, Scotland. 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