It's back.
24 months on from when Shane Lowry tapped in on the 18th green at a rain-soaked, wind-swept Royal Portrush to win by six strokes in front of raucous Irish fans, The Open returns this week.
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Just one week on from England's run to the final at the European Championships, which saw huge crowds in attendance at the latter stages, Royal St. George's will allow over 30,000 fans on to the grounds per day at golf's oldest and most prestigious major championship.
Last Year
I'm sure you don't need reminding, but last year's Open Championship was cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns, so instead we'll take you back to those incredible scenes in 2019 when Shane Lowry picked up his first major title when The Open made it's way to Royal Portrush...
The Course
Royal St. George's is located in Sandwich, Kent, and is hosting The Open for the fifteenth time this week, with the last playing in 2011 seeing Darren Clarke complete an emotional maiden major victory at the age of 42.
Image Credit: The Open
A Par 70 which stretches out to just under 7,200 yards, the course is well-known for it's bumpy fairways which can send the ball bouncing off in unpredictable directions, wooden huts with straw roofs which indicate the age of the course, and the fact that Ian Fleming used the golf course as the basis for 'Royal St. Marks' in the James Bond novel Goldfinger.
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The course borders Royal Cinque Ports and Prince's Golf Club, both previous hosts of The Open, making this stretch of coastline one of the go-to destinations in the UK for classic links golf despite the fact that is tucked away in a relatively remote part of the country.
When the course played host in 2011, players hit only 48% of the fairways for the entire week due to the quirky bumps and hollows which can throw even a good drive into the rough, as well as a number of blind shots which make visualisation difficult.
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In the past few years, work has been done to restore some of the cross bunkers in the fairways, as well as working to give some of the waste areas and the famous Himalayas bunker a more natural look.
The course will feature two long par 3s stretching out to almost 240 yards during Open Week, much longer than their usual yardage for members and visitors, with the 3rd hole being the only hole without a bunker and the only hole with a tree on the entire golf course.
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Traditionally the most difficult hole since The Open has been played here is the par 4 8th, aptly known as 'Hades'.
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Measuring 450 yards, players must play left of the two fairway bunkers off the tee, before hitting approaches into a green which is guarded by rough and bunkers which nullify any chances of running an approach up towards the putting surface.
The Field
156 players will tee it up come Thursday morning, and whilst fields of this size are often subject to a few changes at late notice, this week's event has already seen a whopping 17 withdrawals as of Monday.
The reasons for this vary from Covid issues (Bubba Watson, Hideki Matsuyama) to scheduling and travel issues (Sungjae Im, Kevin Na).
30 golfers in the field also competed in the event in 2011, including the likes of Ian Poulter, Louis Oosthuizen (who finished as runner up in both the US Open and PGA Championship) and World Number One Dustin Johnson, who's form has been inconsistent so far this year but may be a serious factor if conditions are benign.
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The clear favourite for the week is Spaniard Jon Rahm, who won his first major at the US Open before contending again at the Scottish Open despite having a slightly cold putter. His record at The Open has been a little underwhelming so far but he's a good links player with seemingly no weaknesses. Could he go back-to-back in the majors?
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Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth have all won events in 2021 and are world-class major winners who all have pretty good records in links conditions, although the forecast is set pretty fair for the week which may improve scoring.
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The British effort will as usual be led by Rory McIlroy, who's game appears to be a work in progress after recently teaming up with Pete Cowen, whilst Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood and Bob MacIntyre are excellent links players who have a great chance of contending.
Could the older guard - the likes of Poulter, Westwood, Rose or Casey - emulate Darren Clarke in 2011 and make a run at the Claret Jug as they move towards the latter stages of their career? A win for any of these players is bound to be very popular in their home country.
Watch Out For...
James Bond References
As previously mentioned, the course was the inspiration for the famous golf match between James Bond and Goldfinger in the book of the same name. So don't be surprised if you hear it mentioned a few times during the broadcast this week - let's just hope there aren't too many cliches...
The Deepest Bunker In Major Golf
The fourth hole at Royal St. George's features the Himalaya fairway bunker which is 40 feet deep, making it the deepest in major championship history.
It requires a tee shot to carry around 260 yards to get over it, which can be no mean feat when the wind starts to blow. If a player goes in there, they'll have their work cut out to escape with a par.
Golfalot Betting Tips
Brooks Koepka @ 18/1
It's not often that you'll get such good odds at a major for the man who has won four of them, and finished T2 and T4 in the PGA Championship and US Open. He has struggled a little with injury but he's about the most dangerous player in the field when he gets going and should have the game to suit links golf.
Dustin Johnson @ 22/1
Finished as runner up in 2011 when a double bogey at the par 5 14th derailed his chances, and has had four other top ten finishes at The Open. Conditions look like being relatively straightforward so the winning score may be a little lower than expected, and you have to think that this will suit the big-hitting American.
Rickie Fowler @ 80/1
Just one missed cut in ten starts at The Open and four top 15s prove that Fowler is an excellent links player thanks to his creativity with iron shots and solid short game. The American has really struggled in the last 12 months or so but things have started to pick up, with good results at the PGA Championship, Memorial and Rocket Mortgage Classic in recent weeks.
Robert MacIntyre @ 80/1
The popular Scotsman finished T6 at Royal Portrush and has shown that he is more than capable of competing against the biggest players in the game over the last couple of years, despite the fact that he has won just once on the European Tour so far. Could be great value for money to place at 80/1 and is in good form, with four top 20s in his last seven starts.