The Open Championship returns to Northern Ireland for the first time in 68 years as the world’s best contest the final Major of the year.
With the new schedule on the PGA Tour meaning there has been a Major each month since April, when Tiger Woods claimed a historic fifth green jacket at The Masters.
Since then, American golfers are on course for a clean sweep of the four titles after Brooks Koepka defended the PGA Championship and Gary Woodland won the US Open.
The European Tour offered a flavour of what can be expected in the oldest Major championship when Jon Rahm won the Irish Open on the links at Lahinch on Ireland’s west coast.
Standard Sport runs you through everything you need to know ahead of the 148th Open Championship…
When is it?
The Open will take place between July 18-21 and, thanks to the change in the PGA Tour schedule from this season, is the final Major of the season.
Where is it?
Northern Ireland’s Royal Portrush plays host to the Open Championship for the first time since 1951, when Englishman Max Faulkner won the Claret Jug.
Royal Portrush, where Graeme McDowell grew up learning to play golf, has two courses, the Dunluce Links and the Valley.
Players will take on the par 72 Dunluce, which has undergone a significant redesign since 2015 in preparation for this year’s Open. Before the redevelopment, the course record of 61 was held by Rory McIlroy, who posted the score aged just 16.
How to follow
Sky Sports will have live coverage of the Open on Sky Sports Golf, with shows from the range and practice rounds Monday-Wednesday before the tournament begins on the Thursday.
The BBC will show daily highlights programmes after each round.
Meanwhile, Standard Sport will have full LIVE coverage running throughout the week.
Odds
| Player | Odds |
| Rory McIlroy | 15/2 |
| Brooks Koepka | 9/1 |
| Dustin Johnson | 14/1 |
| Jon Rahm | 14/1 |
| Tiger Woods | 14/1 |
| Justin Rose | 18/1 |
| Francesco Molinari | 22/1 |
| Xander Schauffele | 22/1 |
| Rickie Folwer | 25/1 |
| Tommy Fleetwood | 25/1 |
| Jordan Spieth | 28/1 |
Odds via Betfair.
Tee times
Tee times will be announced the week of The Open.
Previous winners
| Champion Golfer | Year |
| Francesco Molinari | 2018 |
| Jordan Spieth | 2017 |
| Henrik Stenson | 2016 |
| Zach Johnson | 2015 |
| Rory McIlroy | 2014 |
Prize money
The R&A recently announced that they were upping the purse for The Open by $250,000 to a total of $10.75million (£8.6million), with the winner banking $1,935,000 (£1.5m).
