SANDWICH, England (AP) — Facts and figures for the British Open golf championship:
Event: 149th Open Championship.
Dates: July 15-18.
Site: Royal St. George’s.
Length: 7,189 yards.
Par: 70.
The course: Royal St. George’s is located in southeast England about 15 miles from the Strait of Dover. It was founded in 1887 by William Laidlaw Purves, and it was the first links in England to host the British Open. The fairways have been described as a lunar landscape because of its many humps and hollows. This will be the 15th time it has held the British Open.
Field: 156 players.
Playoff (if necessary): 3 holes, aggregate score.
Prize money: $11.5 million.
Winner’s share: $2,070,000.
Defending champion: Shane Lowry.
Last year: The British Open was canceled for the first time since World War II because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last time: Shane Lowry of Ireland captured his first major at Royal Portrush in the first British Open in Northern Ireland in 68 years. He closed with a 1-over 72 for a six-shot victory over Tommy Fleetwod. The final round featured such rough weather that no one from the last 12 groups broke par.
Last time at Royal St. George’s: Darren Clarke, who had gone 10 years without even contending in the majors, closed with an even-par 70 for a three-shot victory over Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson.
British Open champions at Royal St. George’s: J.H. Taylor (1894), Harry Vardon (1899, 1911), Jack White (1904), Walter Hagen (1922, 1928), Henry Cotton (1934), Reg Whitcombe (1938), Bobby Locke (1949), Bill Rogers (1981), Sandy Lyle (1985), Greg Norman (1993), Ben Curtis (2003), Darren Clarke (2011).
COVID-19 restrictions: The R&A is limiting players to a “buddy bubble” of no more than four people and they cannot share houses with other players or mix with the general public. The R&A also is allowing 32,000 fans a day, the most of any major.
Olympic conflict: Sungjae Im and Siwoo Kim of South Korea and Juvic Pugansan of The Philippines have withdrawn to concentrate on the Tokyo Olympics, which start 11 days after the British Open ends.
Key statistic: Bryson DeChambeau is the only player from the top 10 in the world who has yet to finish in the top 20 at a major this year.
Noteworthy: Major champions this year have come from Asia (Hideki Matsuyama), North America (Phil Mickelson) and Europe (Jon Rahm). Dating to the creation of the Masters in 1934, the four majors have never been won by players from four continents in the same year.
Quoteworthy: “Look, it’s one week. It’s a major championship and let’s just do what it takes to be able to compete.” — Phil Mickelson, on the COVID-19 protocols in place for players at Royal St. George’s.
Television (all times EDT): Thursday-Friday, 1:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. (Golf Channel), 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, 2:30 a.m. to 6 a.m. (Golf Channel), 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. (NBC).
