The Open: Rory McIlroy seeks major redemption at Royal Troon after US Open collapse

Men’s golf will draw its major championship season to a close as 158 of the world’s best players head to Royal Troon for the 2024 Open Championship.

The historic Scottish Links golf course will serve as the tournament’s venue for a tenth time and for the first since 2016 when Sweden’s Henrik Stenson pipped Phil Mickelson after a captivating final-day duel.

Brian Harman returns as the defending champion after his unlikely but emphatic win at Hoylake last year but the American will have to be at his best to hold off a star-studded field for a second straight year.

Ahead of Thursday’s opening round, here’s a look at the tournament’s biggest storylines.

In the days after his staggering US Open collapse, Rory McIlroy admitted he spent time simply wandering the streets of New York with his headphones in, attempting to process his latest major championship heartbreak.

Holding a two-shot lead with five holes to play, McIlroy inexplicably missed two short putts on the 16th and 18th hole to finish one shot behind eventual winner Bryson DeChambeau.

Now, having taken time away from the sport to reflect, the Northern Irishman will hope he has banished those demons as he resumes his bid to end his now decade-long major drought.

The 35-year-old finished T4 at last week’s Scottish Open and has competed well at the last two Opens but only time will tell how the World No.2 will fare if he is forced to once again confront the pressures of a major championship battle come the final round on Sunday.

Despite starting this year’s major season with a red-hot win at the Masters, Scottie Scheffler arrives at the Open championship having failed to contend at the two most recent majors.

It has still been a truly dominant season for the World No.1, who has won on five other occasions on either side of his Green Jacket at Augusta National, but the American must surely relish the opportunity to become the first person since Brooks Koepka in 2018 to win two majors in the same calendar year.

At Valhalla, his efforts were thwarted by a scarcely believable mid-tournament run-in with the police, while the US Open at Pinehurst was a rare off-week but, despite that, he still arrives in Scotland as he man to beat.

His record at the Open is far from stellar, with just one top-ten finish in his three starts, but few would bet against Scheffler to bookend this major season with another statement display.

Last year’s Open produced one of the more notable surprise winners in recent memory when 120/1 outsider Harman stormed to a six-shot victory to claim his first major scalp.

The American, one of the game’s shortest hitters, eased clear off a star-studded chasing pack as his precision driving and nerveless putting saw him take apart Royal Liverpool in drizzly conditions.

Returning this year, the odds are stacked against the American to repeat the feat, but that should not rule out the possibility of another outside winner. 

The intricacies and uniqueness of Links golf courses place a far greater premium on accuracy and creativity than a run-of-the-mill PGA Tour track and can therefore allow a more diverse range of golfers to thrive.

Add in the potential of gusty winds off the West Coast and it could prove a tricky test for even the game’s best players.

Tommy Fleetwood carried the hopes of a nation at last year’s Open when the Englishman flirted with Open glory at his local course.

Ultimately, Fleetwood’s challenge would fade over a wet and blustery weekend, but the 33-year-old returns this year still as his nation’s best hope of ending a now 32-year run without an English winner (Nick Faldo, 1992).

The World No.12 showed his quality when piping McIlroy to the Dubai Invitational earlier in the year but has failed to kick on in the remainder of 2024, recording just three top-ten finishes since the victory.

Fleetwood’s chances this week, though, have no doubt been buoyed by the timely return of close friend and long-time caddie Ian Finnis, who was present at last week’s Scottish Open having been action since mid-April before having to undergo open-heart surgery at the end of that month.

In what is only his second appearance at the Open since 2019, Tiger Woods is once again out to defy sporting logic – but is fast running out of time.

The 15-time major champion’s appearance this week will be just his fifth – but also last – start of the season as he continues to struggle with mobility following ankle surgery in 2023.

The legendary American bit back at suggestions that he should retire from the sport when talking to reporters on Tuesday but was also coy on whether this year would be his last visit to the Open Championship, which he has won on three occasions.

A more strategic Links course could favour Woods over the gruelling walks he endured at the US PGA Championship and US Open, but with strong winds and rain forecast throughout the week, the 48-year-old is not expected to be in for an easy ride.

.

.