GOLF
Who are the former British Open winners playing at Royal Troon?
The biggest names in the world of golf descend on Royal Troon Golf Club in the west of Scotland for the 2024 Open Championship.
158 players will start round one on Thursday at Royal Troon in Scotland, including 17 LIV golfers with US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and previous major winners Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka leading the way, although a number of Open regulars miss out after leaving the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.
The 2024 Open Championship, which gets underway on Thursday, July 18 and runs through until Sunday, July 21. Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods will draw much of the attention, although any number of players from a star-studded field could realistically claim the Claret Jug.
Key absentees
The star-studded field will nevertheless be missing some big names. While 17 LIV players, including US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and multiple major winners Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka, will be teeing it up in Troon, a number of others have failed to qualify, partly as a result of defecting from the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, which offer world ranking points.
Patrick Reed, Sergio García, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Branden Grace, Talor Gooch and Martin Kaymer are just a handful of the household names from the world of gold who will not be in action in Scotland this weekend.
Former Open winners in action
Many former Open winners will be teeing up in Troon on Thursday with Tiger Woods possibly the highest profile name in action with the veteran player bagging the title three times.
All eyes too will be on Rory McIlroy with the Northern Irish star a Open winner back in 2014. Defending champion Brian Harman, Cameron Smith, Collin Morikawa, Shane Lowry, Francesco Molinari, Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson, Zach Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Darren Clark, Louis Oosthuizen, Stewart Cink, Padraig Harrington, Todd Hamilton, Ben Curtis, David Duval, Paul Lawrie and Justin Leonard are the other handful of former Open winners hoping to lift the famous Claret Jug once again come Sunday evening in the South Ayrshire seaport.