Event Primer: Open Championship

By Bryan Douglass

The Open Championship 2010 (The British Open)


St. Andrews Links @ Fife, Scotland
- Dates: Thursday, July 15 - Sunday, July 18
- 2010 Purse: $7,000,000 (Winning Share: $1,500,000)
- FedEx Cup Points: 750 (Winning Share)


Televised Tournament Schedule

(All Times Listed in EST)

July 15/Thursday
6:30am - 7:00am TNT (introduction special)
7:00am - 7:00pm TNT (live coverage)

July 16/Friday
7:00am - 7:00pm TNT (live coverage)

July 17/Saturday
7:00am - 9:00am TNT (live coverage)
9:00am - 2:30pm ABC (live coverage)

July 18/Sunday
6:00am - 8:00am TNT (live coverage)
8:00am - 1:30pm ABC (live coverage)


The Open Championship Links



Rather than transcribing the history of the Open Championship (a.k.a. the British Open), it seems a more efficient use of our space and time to provide some of the links put forth by the folks that make it all happen.

The Open Championship is owned and operated by the R&A - the Royal & Ancient Golf Club - golf's governing body based in St. Andrews, Scotland. The organization counts over 2,400 members worldwide, tasked with the governance of the game as well as an outstanding grassroots effort to promote golf around the globe.

You can find more information on the R&A at http://www.randa.org/ .

Among the useful links of note:

The Open Championship

(http://www.opengolf.com/en.aspx)
This is the site dedicated to this event, constructed by the R&A. It is loaded with pertinent information as well as historical articles, news, spectator information, and various bells and whistles to help you follow the Open Championship in style.

The Open Championship: The PGA Site
(http://www.pga.com/openchampionship/2010/)
The Professional Golfers' Association has their own site dedicated to promoting this week's event, and while it is not nearly as deep as the R&A offerings, there is a ton of stuff you will find useful in following this event.

The Open Championship: News

(http://www.opengolf.com/en/News.aspx)
This page contains various news stories as well as a collection of blogs filed by various R&A officials, including David Hill (R&A Director of Championship), Grant Moir (R&A Director), Peter Dawson (R&A Chief Executive), and Peter Thompson (five-time Open Champion).

The History of the Open Championship
(http://www.opengolf.com/en/History/PreviousOpens.aspx?eventid=2009055&view=)
This is one of the most powerful pages on the site, giving you full access to the game's most illustrious and historical event. The folks at the R&A have done an outstanding job of making this page user friendly as patrons can change various aspects and factors in searching through the Open Championship history. You can read historical perspectives based on the year of the event as well as the various venues, all enhanced with pictures, video, and interactive leaderboards.

The Open Championship: The Field
(http://www.opengolf.com/en/Players/PlayerProfiles.aspx)
Another outstanding offering from the R&A, this page is fully interactive and allows the user to search through this year's field with a wide variety of interactive variables. Past Champions, a full list of this year's field, a list of this year's amateur invitees... all are covered with images, interactive menus and statistics, and introspective bios.

The Open Championship Venues
(http://www.opengolf.com/en/History/OpenVenues.aspx)
The R&A employs a 14-course rotation for the Open Championship and fans can access a wealth of information on that rotation and each of its components on this page. An interactive map showing the locations, dates, and other informational listings for each venue is adjoined by an interactive menu of each course, as well as a full tour of the the links associated with each.

The Open Championship Blog
(http://www.opengolf.com/en/News.aspx?selectedItem={0902DD22-1E74-4F20-BD05-0E17BF98B48E})
New updates, course conditions, weather, and other factual offerings concerning the event with information you may find useful in planning fantasy rosters.

The Open Championship iPhone Application
(http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=321239454&mt=8&uo=6)
Have an iPhone? Love golf? You'll be happy with this.


The Course


The Old Course at St. Andrews
Course Par Value: 72
Course Yardage: 7,305


Per the R&A website:

When The Open Championship gets under way on July 15 the greatest players in the modern game, armed with the latest high-tech clubs and balls, will face the challenge of the Old Course at St Andrews, a stretch of natural linksland where golf has been played for 600 years. The world's oldest and most revered course, the very home of golf, hosts the game's longest-running major championship for the 28th time since The Open was first played in 1860. Tiger Woods has won the last two Championships at St Andrews, setting a record score of 19-under-par with rounds of 67-66-67-69 to win by eight shots in 2000, joining a list of St Andrews winners from James Braid to Bobby Jones, Sam Snead to Peter Thomson and Bobby Locke, and from Jack Nicklaus to Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo. The challenge faced by today's outstanding international stars is set out here in a detailed hole-by-hole examination.

For more information including Course Facts, a Hole-by-Hole Difficulty Ranking, and the full Tournament Course History, visit the R&A's Course Review:

http://www.opengolf.com/en/TheCourse.aspx


~ Hole-by-Hole Preview ~


Normally we would launch into a full-scale listing of each hole with yardage, par, and description. This year we are blessed as the R&A have constructed a most impressive Course Review. You can start at Hole 1 here:

http://www.opengolf.com/en/TheCourse.aspx?hole=1

You will find...
- Hole statistics (par, yardage)
- Hole description
- An overhead view of the hole.
- An interactive fly-over video of the hole adjoined by commentary.
- A "Hole Strategy" as written by Mr. Richard Hall, the Turnberry Head Professional.


Past Results & Leaderboards



2009 Results (@ Turnberry, par 70)
PLACE PLAYER FINAL

1 Stewart Cink -2 (278)
2 Tom Watson -2 (278)
T3 Chris Wood -1 (279)
T3 Lee Westwood -1 (279)
T5 Luke Donald E (280)
T5 Retief Goosen E (280)
T5 Mathew Goggin E (280)
T8 Soren Hansen +1 (281)
T8 Ernie Els +1 (281)
T8 Justin Leonard +1 (281)
T8 Thomas Aiken +1 (281)
T8 Richard S Johnson +1 (281)
T13 Jeff Overton +2 (282)
T13 Andres Romero +2 (282)
T13 Miguel Angel Jimenez +2 (282)
T13 Matteo Manassero +2 (282)
T13 Camilo Villegas +2 (282)
T13 Justin Rose +2 (282)
T13 Francesco Molinari +2 (282)
T13 Henrik Stenson +2 (282)
T13 Boo Weekley +2 (282)
T13 Thongchai Jaidee +2 (282)
T13 Ross Fisher +2 (282)

2008 Results (@ Royal Birkdale, par 71)
PLACE PLAYER FINAL

1 Padraig Harrington -1 (283)
2 Ian Poulter +3 (287)
T3 Greg Norman +5 (289)
T3 Henrik Stenson +5 (289)
T5 Jim Furyk +6 (290)
T5 Chris Wood (A) +6 (290)
T7 Robert Allenby +8 (292)
T7 Stephen Ames +8 (292)
T7 Paul Casey +8 (292)
T7 Ben Curtis +8 (292)
T7 Ernie Els +8 (292)
T7 David Howell +8 (292)
T7 Robert Karlsson +8 (292)
T7 Anthony Kim +8 (292)
T7 Steve Stricker +8 (292)
T16 K.J. Choi +9 (293)
T16 Justin Leonard +9 (293)
T16 Adam Scott +9 (293)

2007 Results (@ Carnoustie, par 71)
PLACE PLAYER FINAL

1 Padraig Harrington -7 (277)
2 Sergio Garcia -7 (277)
3 Andres Romero -6 (278)
T4 Ernie Els -5 (279)
T4 Richard Green -5 (279)
T6 Stewart Cink -4 (280)
T6 Hunter Mahan -4 (280)
T8 K.J. Choi -3 (281)
T8 Ben Curtis -3 (281)
T8 Steve Stricker -3 (281)
T8 Mike Weir -3 (281)
T12 Markus Brier -2 (282)
T12 Paul Broadhurst -2 (282)
T12 Pelle Edberg -2 (282)
T12 Jim Furyk -2 (282)
T12 Miguel Angel Jimenez -2 (282)
T12 Justin Rose -2 (282)
T12 Tiger Woods -2 (282)

2006 Results (@ Hoylake, par 70)
PLACE PLAYER FINAL

1 Tiger Woods -10 (270)
2 Chris DiMarco -8 (272)
3 Ernie Els -5(275)
4 Jim Furyk -4 (276)
T5 Sergio Garcia -3 (277)
T5 Hideto Tanihara -3 (277)
7 Angel Cabrera -2 (278)
T8 Carl Pettersson -1 (279)
T8 Andres Romero -1 (279)
T8 Adam Scott -1 (279)
T11 Ben Crane E (280)
T11 S.K. Ho E (280)
T11 Anthony Wall E (280)
T14 Retief Goosen +1 (281)
T14 Sean O'Hair +1 (281)

2005 Results (@ St. Andrews, par 72)
PLACE PLAYER FINAL

1 Tiger Woods -14 (274)
2 Colin Montgomerie -9 (279)
T3 Fred Couples -8 (280)
T3 Jose Maria Olazabal -8 (280)
T5 Michael Campbell -7 (281)
T5 Sergio Garcia -7 (281)
T5 Retief Goosen -7 (281)
T5 Bernhard Langer -7 (281)
T5 Geoff Ogilvy -7 (281)
T5 Vijay Singh -7 (281)
T11 Sir Nick Faldo -6 (282)
T11 Graeme McDowell -6 (282)
T11 Kenny Perry -6 (282)
T11 Ian Poulter -6 (282)
T15 Darren Clarke -5 (283)
T15 John Daly -5 (283)
T15 David Frost -5 (283)
T15 Mark Hensby -5 (283)
T15 Trevor Immelman -5 (283)
T15 Sean O'Hair -5 (283)
T15 Nick O'Hern -5 (283)
T15 Lloyd Saltman (A) -5 (283)

2004 Results (@ Royal Troon, par 71)
PLACE PLAYER FINAL

1 Todd Hamilton -10 (274)
2 Ernie Els -10 (274)
3 Phil Mickelson -9 (275)
4 Lee Westwood -6 (278)
T5 Thomas Levet -5 (279)
T5 Davis Love III -5 (279)
T7 Retief Goosen -4 (280)
T7 Scott Verplank -4 (280)
T9 Mike Weir -3 (281)
T9 Tiger Woods -3 (281)
T11 Mark Calcavecchia -2 (282)
T11 Darren Clarke -2 (282)
T11 Skip Kendall -2 (282)
T14 Stewart Cink -1 (283)
T14 Barry Lane -1 (283)

2003 Results (@ Royal St. George, par 71)
PLACE PLAYER FINAL

1 Ben Curtis -1 (283)
T2 Thomas Bjorn E (284)
T2 Vijay Singh E (284)
T4 Davis Love III +1 (285)
T4 Tiger Woods +1 (285)
T6 Brian Davis +2 (286)
T6 Fredrik Jacobson +2 (286)
T8 Sir Nick Faldo +3 (287)
T8 Kenny Perry +3 (287)
T10 Gary Evans +4 (288)
T10 Sergio Garcia +4 (288)
T10 Retief Goosen +4 (288)
T10 Hennie Otto +4 (288)
T10 Phillip Price +4 (288)
T15 Stuart Appleby +5 (289)
T15 Chad Campbell +5 (289)
T15 Pierre Fulke +5 (289)

2002 Results (@ Muirfield, par 71)
PLACE PLAYER FINAL

1 Ernie Els -6 (278)
T2 Stuart Appleby -6 (278)
T2 Steve Elkington -6 (278)
T2 Thomas Levet -6 (278)
T5 Gary Evans -6 (278)
T5 Padraig Harrington -5 (279)
T5 Shigeki Maruyama -5 (279)
T8 Thomas Bjorn -4 (280)
T8 Sergio Garcia -4 (280)
T8 Retief Goosen -4 (280)
T8 Soren Hansen -4 (280)
T8 Scott Hoch -4 (280)
T8 Peter O'Malley -4 (280)
T14 Justin Leonard -3 (281)
T14 Peter Lonard -3 (281)
T14 Davis Love III -3 (281)
T14 Nick Price -2 (281)


2010 Tournament Invitees



The following is the list of means that may be used to qualify for the Open Championship. The R&A recognizes three methods of qualification, including...

Overview
http://www.opengolf.com/en/Qualification.aspx

International Final Qualifying
http://www.opengolf.com/en/Qualification/InternationalFinalQualifying.aspx

Regional Qualifying
http://www.opengolf.com/en/Qualification/RegionalQualifying.aspx

Local Final Qualifying
http://www.opengolf.com/en/Qualification/LocalFinalQualifying.aspx

NOTE: Our Event Primer is in going to be submitted before the field is finalized.

NOTE: Tee Times will be announced late on Sunday evening or early on Monday morning.