The 150th Open Championship gets underway on the Old Course at St Andrews on Thursday.
Three Scots will be in the field, including former champion golfer Paul Lawrie.
Joining Lawrie is Scotland’s current number 1 golfer Robert MacIntyre, and first time major golfer David Law.
Get to know the three Scottish golfers in this week’s field who will be hoping to ensure the Claret Jug doesn’t stray too far from St Andrews.
Paul Lawrie
Former champion Paul Lawrie will have the honour of hitting the first tee shot at the 150th Open Championship.
The 53-year-old, winner in 1999 at Carnoustie and originally given the honour of starting the Open at St Andrews 12 years ago, is first off at the Old Course on Thursday with a tee time around 6.30am.
While that occasionally interrupts some players’ normal routines Lawrie said he would not have any issue waking up in plenty of time.
”I’m 53 so I’m wide awake at 4.30-5am having a pee so it shouldn’t be a problem,” he joked.
“I’m always nervous on the first tee, no matter what tournament I’m playing in, but obviously there will be a little bit more (pressure) as it’s The Open and the 150th,” he added.
Lawrie will tee off at 6.35am on Thursday.
Robert MacIntyre
Robert MacIntyre admits he got goosebumps arriving in St Andrews ahead of this week’s Open.
The 25-year-old has played in the last two editions of the championship but to feature in one at the home of golf is a dream come true.
“When I was driving in on Sunday, that’s the first time I’ve ever had goosebumps coming to St Andrews,” said MacIntyre, who hails from Oban.
“I always drove into town, and it’s like, ‘oh, we’re in St Andrews’ – but when I came in from above the town I actually had goosebumps. I was like, ‘wow, this is just different’.
“If I was ever to play just one Open Championship, it would have been here. It’s the biggest golf tournament that you can play in.”
The left-hander finished in a tie for sixth on his Open debut at Portrush in 2019 and was joint-eighth at St George’s last year.
He was a winner on what is now the DP World Tour in 2020 and, although currently ranked 105 in the world, he has previously been as high as 42.
MacIntyre will tee off at 8.25am on Thursday.
David Law
David Law will tee it up in his first major at St Andrews after claiming one of the three places on offer to players not already exempt who finished in the top 10 of the Horizon Irish Open at the start of the month.
Fellow Scot Paul Lawrie heaped praise on Law.
“Hopefully we’re going to get a practice round together next week and have a chat on the way round – not that he needs much of my advice,” the former champion golfer said.
“He just needs to enjoy it. It’s difficult, he’s a Tour pro and he’s got a job to do so you can’t be enjoying it too much, but you just need to soak it all in, enjoy the experience.
“His first major is only going to happen once and it’s a huge week for him. He’s playing lovely so he’s just got to get his head down, treat it like a normal tournament and see what happens.”
Law will tee off at 2.15pm on Thursday.
