What a venue for the 150th playing of the Open Championship. St. Andrews will host the Open for the 30th time and the excitement for this major is electric. The Old Course will be playing 7,313 yards and a par 72. Tiger Woods is a 2 time champion at the Old Course winning in 2000 and 2005. He’s got the bad wheel, so it’ll be tough once again for the great champion to emerge victorious, but Tiger has defied the odds before. Some of the fellas on my text group thought this could possibly be Tiger’s last competitive tournament and that he’ll retire if it doesn’t go well at St. Andrews. He’ll be 47 in December, but I won’t go that far. I still think he wants to play in another Masters. He’s just too competitive a guy not to want to. Tiger may be the greatest competitive athlete of all time. I’d put Tiger at 1, Tom Brady at 2, Michael Jordan at 3, Jack Nicklaus at 4, Rafa Nadal at 5, Joe Montana at 6, Larry Bird at 7 and Magic Johnson at 8, Novak Djokovic at 9 and Roger Federer at 10. A lot of great ones, but Tiger stands the tallest in my judgment.

But does he have a shot this weekend? It’ll be tough. He’s hitting it well, but with his banged up leg still bothering him and with his short game not nearly up to his standards, I’m not seeing it. Golf Channel’s Paul McGinley said a top 20 would be excellent and a top 10 superb. I would agree with that. I also loved what Tiger said about the LIV players, that they made their choice and they may not get a shot at playing majors after this season. I really liked Tiger telling it like it is. If you’re going to go for the guaranteed contracts, huge sums of money, then you’re going to have to sacrifice playing for legacy, history and very significant cash as well. So, Tiger won the week with his comments. I loved’em

The defending champion is Collin Morikawa. Morikawa won it at Royal St. George’s last year outlasting Jordan Spieth and Louis Oosthuizen. Morikawa is always a factor. He’s a sensational talent. If he’s putting well, he’ll be right there. U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick is another name to watch. Masters champion Scottie Scheffler and PGA Champion J.T. are certainly in the mix. Rory is the 9/1 favorite, and he’s certainly due since he hasn’t won a major since 2014, at the PGA Championship at Valhalla. Kind of head scratching. But he seems to have his game and his head right where it needs to be.

The key hole on St. Andrews is the historic and highly difficult 17th, ‘The Road Hole.” The drive is over a hotel with a blind tee shot, it’s 495 yards and there are 8 bunkers in the fairways that a player does not want to get in. These 112 bunkers on the Old Course can be catastrophic if you get in them and there will be plenty of players hitting it into the bunkers. The player who can stay relatively clear of the bunkers and have a stellar short game, may well emerge victorious. The road runs behind the 17th green and if a player overcooks his approach, he could be facing a shot off the road. It’s considered the hardest hole on the PGA Tour with the highest stroke average on any hole on tour.

The course is playing as fast as it’s ever been played in the now 30 times the Open has been played at St. Andrews. Golf Channel analysts Brandel Chamblee and McGinley debated what was more important, overpowering the course, or being stellar around and on the greens. Chamblee is convinced the power players will have the advantage and a power player will win it. McGinley likes the short game wizards to win. I agree with both, but I side with McGinley in that the stellar chippers and putters always fare well at majors. Pins could be diabolical, on slopes, behind traps, on nobs. The Royal and Ancient (R&A, the PGA of the European Tour) can make this as tough as they want to. The winds look around 20 each day, but that could change dramatically in Scotland. The weather is dry for the most part with temperatures reaching 70 on the weekend. There are chances of rain on Saturday and Sunday, but overall it looks nice for the competition.

Key tee times with odds on Thursday

2:03 AM CT

Cameron Smith, 25/1, certainly a factor with his outstanding talent. Brooks Koepka, 35/1. Seamus Power, 80/1

2:14 AM CT

Francesco Molinari, 150/1. Tommy Fleetwood, 35/1,.Justin Rose, 50/1

2:36 AM CT

Zach Johnson, champion at St. Andrews in 2015 but not getting much credit from Vegas, 250/1. Billy Horschel, 90/1. Corey Conners, 80/1.

3:58 AM CT

Collin Morikawa, 25/1, Rory, 9/1, Xander Schauffele, last week’s winner at the Scottish and also a winner at the Travelers Championship 3 weeks ago, riding a hot hand, 14/1.

4:09 AM CT

Shane Lowry, the 2019 Open Champion at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, 22/1. JT, you just see him with a good shot every time out these days, 18/1. Viktor Hovland, hasn’t done a lot lately, but a stellar talent, 40/1.

4:20 AM CT

Will Zalatoris, is he ready to knock down the door after losing to JT in a playoff at the PGA and finishing second to Fitzpatrick at the U.S. when he just barely missed a 14 footer that would have sent it into a playoff? 25/1. Hideki Matsuyama, 40/1. Vegas isn’t giving Hideki a great shot, but like Hovland, a terrific talent and the 2021 Masters champion. Tony Finau, 50/1. Certainly has the tools to overpower the course, but can he win a major? He can, but the competition is so fierce.

7:15 AM CT

Dustin Johnson, 35/1, hasn’t played real competitive golf since playing on LIV, but he’s a two time major winner so could step up. Adam Scott, 80/1. A little older now at over 40, but still solid. Marc Leishman. 80/1.

8:59 AM CT

Tiger, 60/1, longshot. Matt Fitzpatrick, 18/1. The U.S. Open champion a shot on his home continent. Max Homa, 50/1. Won twice on tour this season, and an outstanding player.

9:10 AM CT

Jordan Spieth, 16/1. Vegas somewhat bullish on the gunslinger. Can he just keep his head in the game and not lose his cool and focus? If he can, he can win his second Claret Jug. He won in 2017 at Royal Birkdale. Jon Rahm, 14/1. Always has a shot, much like JT. and Rory. Can he keep his wits about him and not lose his cool either? That’s his question mark as well. Harold Varner III 100/1. Longshot, but won in Saudi Arabia in February. He could do well.

9:21 AM

Patrick Cantlay, 25/1. Got the short game for it. If he can stay out of the traps, and if his putter is hot, he certainly could hoist the Claret Jug. Sam Burns, 40/1. Another stellar talent. Went back to back at the Valspar Championship in 2021 and 2022, and also won the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth at the end of May. Mito “Mike” Pereira. 100/1. Had his chance at the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in May before mentally collapsing and double bogeying 18 and letting JT steal it away from him. Not much of a shot.

TV Coverage

Thursday-Friday, 12:30-3 AM CT, Peacock, 3 AM-3 PM CT, USA.

Saturday, 4-6 AM CT, USA, 6 AM-2 PM CT, NBC.

Sunday, 3-6 AM CT, USA, 6 AM-1 PM, NBC.

Winner

I’m going to take the 30 year old from Long Beach, California. by way of UCLA. The 2021 Fed Ex Cup champion has all the tools to win his first major and he finished tied 4th at the Genesis Scottish Open last weekend shooting 69, 67 on Saturday-Sunday, respectively. Give me “Patty Ice”.”

Patrick Cantley

Sleeper

I’m going to take the 35/1, 31 year old from Southport Merseyside, England. I liked him last week as a sleeper at the Scottish, and I like him again this week at St. Andrews.

Tommy Fleetwood

Next Week

The Crimson Tide and the Auburn Tigers will be featured on the blog as SEC Media Days commences in Atlanta next Monday through Thursday. S will be talking on Tuesday first thing, 8:05 AM CT, and Bryan Harsin will speak on Thursday at 8:05 AM CT. The blog will have S, Harsin, their teams, and the rest of the SEC covered. Will check back with you then. The SEC Network will broadcast.

Enjoy the Open. Will be spectacular.