The 145th Open Championship begins Thursday at Royal Troon, and there are a few talking points to discuss:
1. 1999 Open Champion Paul Lawrie is back with Wilson Staff after playing Titleist clubs for the past year and a half. Lawrie has played the majority of his career with the equipment company that has won more majors than any other iron brand. The 47-year-old Scotsman has struggled this season with his putting, which has lead to a lack of confidence with all other facets of his game. Lawrie has also battled a four-year-old foot injury that will require surgery later this year. Hopefully a change of clubs will give him some optimism for this week.
2. Colin Montgomerie will hit the first tee shot in what is going to be a special moment for the 53-year-old Scot. "Monty" is a member of Royal Troon and learned how to play the game there. His father was the club secretary for 20 years and he still considers it his home course. The current PGA Tour Champions player qualified through one of four 36-hole qualifiers two weeks ago and it would not surprise me at all to see him in contention over the weekend.
3. American Brooks Koepka withdrew from the championship, citing a wrist injury. Koepka was a European Tour member the previous two seasons but gave it up this season. He has a lot of talent and should be a major winner very soon.
4. Look out for Padraig Harrington this week. The two-time Open Champion has played well the past two weeks, finishing T30 in the French Open and T21 in the Scottish Open, respectively. The 44-year-old Irishman seems to always play well on links courses and I really like his chances this week.
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