Olympic trial at the British Open Golf Championship

Olympic golf starts today at Royal Troon, the Scottish course that hosts the British Open, the last major of the season (from 7.30 to 21.30 on Movistar Golf). The shine of the Claret Jug inherited by the champion is as powerful as that of the gold of Paris that will be up for grabs from 1 to 4 August on the Le Golf National course (from 7 to 11 August in the women’s competition). The best golfers in the world will battle it out in a tournament full of history while looking ahead to the grand stage of the Games, a catwalk that brought golf back as an Olympic discipline in 2016.

The world number one, the American Scottie Scheffler, is the leading bet on both courses, the Scottish and the French. There is a reason why he has already celebrated six titles this year, including the Masters in Augusta, and has finished among the top 10 of the week in 13 of the 15 competitions he has entered, with a winnings of 27 million dollars, a record that surpasses his own record from last year. Xander Schauffele (gold medalist at the Tokyo Games), Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa will accompany him in Paris among the North American representation, the largest group among the 60 golfers from 33 countries present at the event, a selection made according to the world ranking.

The Spanish double in Paris also starts at Royal Troon: Jon Rahm and David Puig, curiously both players from the Saudi League. The two will make one more stop between this British Open and the Games, the LIV tournament in Rocester (England) next week. It will be a month of competition in a row for them. Rahm is looking to end his longest streak without a victory, since the 2023 Masters, on a unique stage like the British Open or at the Games, after being absent in Tokyo due to a last-minute case of Covid. The Basque, tenth last Sunday at Valderrama, says he is inspired by the recent successes of Spanish sport, Carlos Alcaraz’s Wimbledon, the national team’s Euro Cup and Sergio García’s triumph in that last stop of the Saudi League. “It’s like your friends are having a good time and your father won’t let you go. “I want to get in on the fun and hopefully it will be this week, although I don’t want to get ahead of myself, there is still a long way to go and I need three very good rounds to give myself a chance on Sunday,” said the big man from Barrika in statements to Movistar Golf and Ten Golf. Nacho Elvira, Ángel Hidalgo, Jorge Campillo and the amateurs Luis Masaveu and Jaime Montojo complete the Spanish roster at Royal Troon.

Rory McIlroy also appears on the Scottish course after missing the US Open after a one-metre missed putt on the 18th hole, when he was battling Bryson DeChambeau, the eventual winner, for glory. The Northern Irishman, in the eternal quest for his fifth major 10 years after his last bout, did not play for almost a month after that painful slip, changed his mobile phone number (so he did not receive, for example, a message from Tiger Woods encouraging him) and escaped on a trip to New York. Now he is back among the best golfers on the planet. A British Open and the Olympics are enough to inspire anyone.