137th Open Championship

The 137th Open Championship — known as the British Open on this side of the pond — tees off at The Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England, on the island’s northwest coast on Thursday morning.

This will be the eighth time that Royal Birkdale has hosted the Open Championship, on what is now a 7,180-yard, Par-71 links layout designed to put 156 of the world’s finest players to the test.

Royal Birkdale hosted its first Open Championship in 1954, with Peter Tomson claiming his first Open Championship title. In 1961, Arnold Palmer fought through wind and rain to hoist the Claret Jug. In 1965, Thomson won his fifth and final Open Championship at the site of his first victory.

In 1976, Johnny Miller took a six-shot victory over Jack Nicklaus and a 19-year-old Seve Ballesteros. In 1983, Tom Watson capitalized on a costly tap-in error by Hale Irwin for a one-shot win. In 1991, Ian Baker-Finch defeated fellow Australian Mike Harwood by two strokes. And in 1998, Mark O’Meara needed a playoff victory over Brian Watts to earn his second major (U.S. Open) of the season.

The Open Championship tradition started at Prestwick in 1860, with either a Park or Morris winning 13 of the first 15 events. Willie Park won in 1860, ’63, ’66 and ’75, while brother Mungo Park was the victor in 1874. The father-son duo of Old Tom Morris (1861-62, ’64, ’67) and Young Tom Morris (1868-70, ’72) were even more dominant.

Although Tom Jr. was technically the first to win the Claret Jug in 1872, the actual trophy was not presented to the tournament’s winner until 1873, when Tom Kidd raised the silver jug in victory. Prior to the introduction of the Claret Jug, the Open Championship winner was presented with “a wide belt of rich red morocco leather embellished with silver buckle and emblems.”

The original Claret Jug from 1873 now resides at the Royal & Ancient Golf Club. Since 1928, a replica of the original has been engraved and handed down through the generations in a style reminiscent of the NHL’s Stanley Cup, oftentimes with champagne flowing from golf’s oldest trophy. But after one year, the champion must give the real Claret Jug back in exchange for a smaller version that may be kept permanently.

This year’s defending champ, Ireland’s Padraig Harrington, will be dealing with a sore wrist when he hands back the Claret Jug. The Dubliner injured his right wrist while hitting an impact bag last weekend and is currently being treated with anti-inflammatory medicine, new-age laser light therapy and old-fashioned ice.

Harrington was forced to cut his Wednesday practice round short, saying there is a 75 percent chance that he will tee off on Thursday but only a 50-50 shot at finishing all 18 holes in the first round. If this were not the Open Championship, the Irish shotmaker would “be at home right now.” Instead, Harrington will attempt to win despite the pain.

“I’ll be apprehensive hitting any shot,” said Harrington. “I’ll certainly be apprehensive hitting it in the rough. It might be a situation now of trying to manage the pain. If the stability in the wrist is strong, it’s really dealing with the pain.

“The pain itself is not a problem, but the anticipation of flinching for the pain, that could be a problem. I’ve got to somehow manage that.”

Although Harrington is the reigning champ, the injury spotlight is squarely on three-time Open Championship winner and the No. 1 ranked player in the world, Tiger Woods — who has kissed the Claret Jug following wins in 2006 at Hoylake, 2005 at St. Andrews and 2000 at St. Andrews.

Woods opted for season-ending knee surgery after limping to a dramatic U.S. Open victory at Torrey Pines — Tiger’s 14th career major championship. Now, Woods’ primary focus is rehabilitating his left knee.

“As far as the procedure, it was an ACL reconstruction of my left knee. They did take a graft, basically a tendon out of my right hamstring, and implemented it into my left knee and made it to my new ACL and they fixed a little bit of cartilage damage I had in there. And that was about it,” said Tiger, of his knee surgery.

Without this generation’s most dominant player and one of history’s greatest champions in the field this week, many pundits are suggesting that the 137th Open Championship will be “easier” to win without Tiger on the links course; but just as many players are insulted by the suggestion.

“I am working hard to get my game ready for this week, and I’ve practiced hard. I’ve developed a good game plan for this event,” said Phil Mickelson, who refused to speak directly on the topic of Tiger's absence.

“I am excited to compete against whoever is in the field.”

Mickelson is less concerned with Woods and more focused on the Open Championship, where he has experienced little success. Since 2000, Mickelson has just one top 10 finish (3rd in 2004), to go with an 11th in 2000, 22nd in 2006, 30th in 2001, 59th in 2003, 60th in 2005, 66th in 2002 and a missed cut last year.

While Lefty appeared to feel disrespected by Woods-related questions, other players were able to joke about the Tiger-less tournament and the perception that somehow this year’s quest — battling the links, wind, rain and pressure — for the Claret Jug will be any easier than previous Open Championships have been.

“I just hope they’ve taught the engraver how to put an asterisk on the (Claret Jug),” joked Geoff Ogilvy, who is one of the odds-on favorites this week.

Veteran players like Mickelson, 2002 Open champ Ernie Els, Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh will have a chance to add another major championship without contending with Tiger. That does not make the task any less difficult, however.

Meanwhile, the next generation of young guns — like Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Andres Romero or Anthony Kim — could potentially break through the first-major barrier without Tiger in the field, gaining the experience and confidence needed to challenge on Sunday when Woods does return.

All eyes will be on Garcia, who lost to Harrington in a playoff at Carnoustie in last year’s Open Championship. As the wire-to-wire leader, Garcia was expected to win his first major championship, but the “Car-nasty” course in Scotland had other plans. “El Nino” missed a potential tournament-winning par putt on No. 18, sending the Open to a four-hole playoff. From there, Garcia could not hold on; but Sergio refuses to dwell on the recent past.

“It’s really not a big deal,” said Garcia. “There are a lot worse things than losing an Open in a playoff. There were a lot more positives coming out of that week than negatives.”

Since the disappointing defeat, the 28-year-old Garcia has gone on to win THE PLAYERS Championship — which is generally regarded as the next-best tournament outside of the four majors, and often referred to as the PGA Tour's "fifth major." After handling the playoff pressure at the infamous island green on No. 17 at Sawgrass, this could be Garcia's year at the Open Championship.

A pair of locals, England’s own Justin Rose and Lee Westwood, are also contenders and sure to be fan favorites. Rose, in particular, has a history at Royal Birkdale — finishing fourth as the low amateur in 1998.

The 137th Open Championship will be televised by TNT — on Thursday (6:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. ET), Friday (7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. ET), Saturday (7:00 – 9:00 a.m. ET) and Sunday (6:00 – 8:00 a.m. ET) — before ABC takes over weekend coverage — on Saturday (9:00 a.m. ET – End of play) and Sunday (8:00 a.m. ET – End of play).