The Royal Portrush course, host venue for the 153rd Open Championship.
THE 153rd edition of the Open Championship gets underway at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland for just the third time in the championship’s history that dates back to 1860.
The Open was first played at Royal Portrush in 1951. That year, a crowd of 8000 watched Englishman Max Faulkner lift the Claret Jug.
In 2019, Irishman Shane Lowry lifted the trophy at Royal Portrush.
Australians have always been competitive at the Open irrespective of where it was played.
Peter Thomson became the first Australian to win the Open in 1954 and he went on to claim a further four victories
Kel Nagle, Greg Norman, Ian Baker-Finch and Cameron Smith joined Thommo as an Open champion. The Shark won it twice – at Royal St George’s and Turnberry.
The field will be made up of 156 players. If there is a tie for the lead after 72 holes, a three-hole aggregate playoff is held; followed by sudden-death if the lead is still tied.
Founded in 1888, Royal Portrush boasts one of the best and most challenging links golf courses in the world. It’s demanding, long and has tight and narrow fairways.
Royal Portrush is well known for a number of spectacular holes. One is the fifth hole, aptly named White Rock, requires two of the most exhilarating two shots in golf.
American Xander Schauffele will be the defending champion at Royal Portrush.
It’s a shortish 382 yards (350m) par-4 off the back tee block with an undulating fairway that runs up to the tricky seaside green with the chalk cliff as a backdrop. The Atlantic Ocean will swallow approach shots hit too long.
Then there’s the 236-yard (216m) par-3 16th hole named Calamity Corner.
It runs along the ridge of a deep chasm, leaving only a modest space to bail out to the left of the green, which became known as “Bobby Locke’s Hollow”.
In the 1951 Open, the South African and four-time Open champion played to this spot each round preferring to chip his second shot rather than risk disaster from the tee.
It’s going to be fun to watch.
Aussies at the ’25 Open
CAMERON Smith will look to recapture the form which saw him outduel Rory McIlroy at St Andrews to become the ‘Champion Golfer’ of 2022, while a handful of Australians had qualified to join him at Royal Portrush in the event which tees off from July 17 to 20.
Adam Scott, who first played the Open in 2001 and will make his 97th consecutive major championship appearance at Portrush, will be joined by Jason Day, Min Woo Lee and Elvis Smylie, with Marc Leishman, Curtis Luck, along with American Ryggs Johnston, also exempt due to their placings at the 2024 Australian Open.
Cameron Smith, the ‘Champion Golfer’ in 2022, will be looking to recapture the form that saw him win the Open Championship at St Andrews.
The Australian Open, played at Victoria and Kingston Heath, doubled as an Open Championship qualifying event. Johnston was the unlikely winner, with Leishman and Luck the next highest finishers not already in the Open field.
Final qualifying will also take place at four sites in the UK in the lead up to the Open in affording players a last opportunity to play at Royal Portrush.
Chief writer David Newbery has been living, breathing and writing and editing golf for more than 30 years. His extensive knowledge of the game comes from covering golf around the world. Hired by Inside Golf in 2009, David previously worked as the editor of The Golfer for 25 years and before that worked for numerous daily newspapers in Australia and overseas. The Brisbane-based journalist describes his golf game as “a work in progress”, but has had the privilege of playing golf with some of the game’s best players including nine-time major winner Gary Player. David enjoys travelling, reading, music, photography and spending time with family and friends – on and off the golf course. 
