DEFENDING CHAMPION: Brian Harman (USA)

PRIZEMONEY: $US17 million

LIVE SCORES: https://www.theopen.com/leaderboard

TV COVERAGE: The Open Championship is live on Fox Sports, available on Foxtel and Kayo.

*All times AEST.

Round 1: Thursday 3:30pm – Friday 5:30am (Fox Sports 503/Kayo)

Round 2: Friday 3:30pm – Saturday 5:30am (Fox Sports 503/Kayo)

Round 3: Saturday 7pm–8:15am (Fox Sports 507/Kayo), Saturday 9pm–10pm (Fox Sports 505/Kayo), Saturday 10:30pm – Sunday 5am (Fox Sports 503/Kayo)

Final Round: Sunday 6pm – Monday 4am (Fox Sports 503/Kayo)

AUSTRALASIAN PLAYER PROFILES

JASON DAY

Age: 36

The lowdown: Playing in his 12th Open Championship, former world No.1 Day will be hoping to go one better at Royal Troon than he did a year ago at Royal Liverpool. Finishing in a tie for second behind Brian Harman last year was Day’s best finish in The Open, a result which marked a comeback of sorts.

When The Open was last held at Troon, Day finished in a tie for 22nd, which was incredibly his worst result in a major that year.

Day has showed glimpses of his electrifying 2015 form – his PGA Championship victory the pinnacle – but will need more than a glimpse to become a two-time major winner this week.

Although having some encouraging results in 2024, a win has eluded the world No.30, Day’s most recent win coming at the 2023 AT&T Byron Nelson more than 12 months ago.

Having played his way onto the Australian Olympic team for the Paris Games in August, The Open marks the start of a big couple of weeks of golf for Day.

RYAN FOX

Age: 37

The lowdown: Since topping the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit in 2019, New Zealander Ryan Fox has never looked back, and will this week tee it up in his eighth Open Championship.

With four DP World Tour wins under his belt, Fox is now making waves on the PGA TOUR. His biggest career win came late last year at the BMW PGA Championship in England, where his raw power off the tee was in full flight.

Fox did not play in the 2016 Royal Troon Open and has had a mixed bag of results in the championship. His best finish at The Open came in 2019 at Royal Portrush, a T16 marred only by a disappointing second round.

Although currently ranked 64 in the world, a major win would not look out of place on Fox’s already impressive resume.

MICHAEL HENDRY

Age: 44

The lowdown: Granted a medical exemption to Royal Troon after a diagnosis of leukaemia last April prevented him playing at Royal Liverpool last year, New Zealander Hendry’s comeback to golf has been nothing short of inspirational.

Having qualified last year in the World City Championship in Hong Kong as part of the Open Qualifying Series, Hendry was forced to give up the game for seven months.

Returning through last season’s Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, Hendry finally gets his chance to take up his well-earned spot.

His return has been highlighted by a win at the For The Players By The Players event on the Japan Golf Tour in May, Hendry reminding everyone that he is a force when his game is on. This will be the New Zealander’s third Open Championship, having played in both 2017 and 2018.

Having missed the cut in his previous two attempts, Hendry will be striving to play all four days at Troon.

DANIEL HILLIER

Age: 25

The lowdown: Plying his trade almost exclusively on the DP World Tour, New Zealander Hillier will be playing in his third Open Championship at Royal Troon.

Hillier’s biggest career win came at last year’s Betfred British Masters, which earned him a spot in the 2023 Open Championship at the final hour.

This season has been relatively lean for Hillier, however a T46 at the Genesis Scottish Open last week spelled a positive bounce-back after a couple of consecutive missed cuts.

KAZUMA KOBORI

Age: 22

The lowdown: Kobori’s fairytale rookie year as a professional continues this week, his spot at Royal Troon thanks to topping last season’s Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit.

It will not be the New Zealander’s first major appearance however, Kobori extended an invite to this year’s US PGA Championship, where he unfortunately missed the cut.

Becoming a three-time winner on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia months after turning professional, Kobori burst onto the scene and quickly showed the world that he is there to win every time he pegs it up.

With Troon playing long this week, Kobori will have to lean on his famed short game to gain shots on the field.

MIN WOO LEE

Age: 25

The lowdown: Playing in his fourth consecutive Open Championship, Lee is playing some of the best golf of his life right now.

The world No.31 has made an immediate impression in his first year on the PGA TOUR, with two runner-up finishes, the most recent only weeks ago behind fellow Australian Cam Davis at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Having had success in Scotland before – Lee won the 2021 Genesis Scottish Open – and taking into consideration his current hot form, Lee may well be Australia’s best hope this week at Royal Troon.

Lee will also be joining Day on the Australian Olympic team headed to Paris the following week.

ADAM SCOTT

Age: 44

The lowdown: Scott’s unbelievable major championship streak continues this week, where he will tee it up in his astonishing 24th Open Championship.

A streak that begun at the 2001 Open Championship, this will be Scott’s 93rd major championship in a row and, remarkably, he comes in playing some of the best golf he has in a long time.

An unbelievable finish from Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre denied Scott victory at last week’s Genesis Scottish Open by a single shot, the runner-up finish the Queenslander’s best this year.

The 2013 Masters Champion has finished just about everywhere on The Open Championship leaderboard except the very top. His best chance came at the 2012 Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes where he gave up a strong lead down the stretch to finish runner-up to Ernie Els agonisingly by one shot.

Scott boasts five career top-10s at The Open, and his playing last week at The Renaissance Club shows he may add to that tally, or perhaps go one better and add a Claret Jug to go with his green jacket.

CAMERON SMITH

Age: 30

The lowdown: The only Australasian past champion in the field, 2022 Open winner Smith showed the world two years ago at St Andrews that he had not only had the game, but the fight to take down the world’s best golfers on the biggest stage of all.

Since hunting down Rory McIlroy and hoisting the Claret Jug, Queenslander Smith has established himself in that group of the world’s best and is always one to watch come major championship time.

Having joined the LIV Golf League following his Open Championship victory, much of Smith’s recent success has come on that circuit. With multiple individual and team wins, including his Ripper GC’s triumph at LIV Adelaide earlier this year, Smith has been keeping up his form for when he returns to the majors.

Smith had a strong week at The Masters this year finishing T6 but failed to ruffle many feathers at the PGA Championship and US Open. The rest of the field have learned to never count Smith out and he should be a strong feature come Sunday.

ELVIS SMYLIE

Age: 22

The lowdown: Having earned his spot in this year’s Open Championship through Final Qualifying, up and coming Queenslander Smylie will make his major championship debut at Royal Troon.

Although making his Open debut, then 14-year-old Smylie was at Royal Troon in 2016 to watch Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson put on a showdown for the ages.

Leaning on his long-time mentor Mike Clayton, Smylie has been informed on some of the intricacies of Royal Troon, former tour professional and course architect Clayton having played the course in the 1989 Open Championship.

While still chasing his first professional win, Smylie has already proved in his young career in Australia that he has the ability to go super low, and his playing at Final Qualifying demonstrates that this ability translates to links golf, too.

JASPER STUBBS (a)

Age: 22

The lowdown: A spot in The Open Championship at Royal Troon was one half of the incredible prize that awaited the winner of the 2023 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship. Having outlasted China’s Wenyi Ding in the playoff at Royal Melbourne, Stubbs secured that prize.

The other half came in April when Stubbs teed it up at The Masters, his week at Augusta one that he will cherish for a lifetime.

The Victorian’s approach to his second major has been slightly different to The Masters. Arriving in Europe more than a month ago, Stubbs has been playing in a number of prestigious amateur events. He qualified for the matchplay section of The Amateur Championship and has been sharpening his game and getting used to British links conditions.

Having missed the cut at The Masters, that is Stubbs’ primary goal for this week. Ahead of that he has his eyes set on low amateur honours, and beyond that, the Claret Jug.

THE COURSE

Originally designed by George Strath and Willie Fernie in 1888, Royal Troon’s Old Course was later redesigned and lengthened by James Braid in 1923. Martin Ebert was also brought in to make slight changes to Troon specifically for this year’s Open.

The first six holes follow the sea, the course sitting on the West Coast of Scotland. Often played downwind, this opening offers players the best chance to score.

Turning inland from the seventh hole onwards, this part of the course is where Royal Troon earns its name as one of the toughest tests of golf on The Open rota.

The eighth hole at Royal Troon is one of the most famous holes in the world. The shortest hole The Open Championship visits, “Postage Stamp” is a stout 112 metres, however its skinny and heavily sloped green protects it well.

The 11th hole, “The Railway”, is also famous at Troon for both its beauty and difficulty. With a railway line marking out-of-bounds all down the right, players face a blind tee-shot to a relatively narrow fairway. Beyond that, a lengthy second shot into a small green awaits.

Since its most recent hosting in 2016, where Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson were able to post scores of 17-under and 20-under respectively, Royal Troon has been significantly lengthened.

Now stretching to 7,385 yards (6,753 metres), Royal Troon will be playing incredibly long, and scoring will be largely dictated by the ferocity of the wind.

AUSSIE TEE TIMES IN AEST

4.19 Min Woo Lee (Aus), Ryo Hisatsune (Jpn), Abraham Ancer (Mex)

4.30 Nicolai Hojgaard (Den), Adam Scott (Aus), Keita Nakajima (Jpn)

4.41 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Justin Rose (Eng), Jasper Stubbs (Aus)

8.04 Thriston Lawrence (Rsa), Daniel Bradbury (Eng), Elvis Smylie (Aus)

10.26 Jason Day (Aus), Byeong Hun An (Kor), Rickie Fowler

11.59 Shane Lowry (Irl), Cameron Smith (Aus), Matt Fitzpatrick (Eng)

11.37 Tiger Woods, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay

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