DID YOU KNOW – FACTS ABOUT ST ANDREWS AND THE 144th OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
• The Old Course at St Andrews will be staging its 29th Open Championship. The first was in 1873 and won by Tom Kidd. The last winner was Louis Oosthuizen in 2010.
• Louis Oosthuizen will be aiming to become the first player to win The Open Championship twice at St Andrews since Tiger Woods, won in 2000 and 2005.
• In 2010 Rory McIlroy opened with a 63 (-9) in 2010. This was the lowest opening round in Open Championship history.
• In 1990 England’s Paul Broadhurst shot the first 63 in Open Championship history at St Andrews in round three, en route to finishing tied 12th. (To date there have been eight rounds of 63 in Open history).
• Americans’ have a fine record at St Andrews. Since 1964, players from the United States have won six of the last ten Opens’, at The Old Course, since the Centenary Open in 1960.
• Tony Lema won The Open Championship at St Andrews in 1964 on his first Open appearance. He is one of ten players to win The Open on their debut.
• Tom Watson is playing in final Open at St Andrews. The Old Course is the only one of the current Scottish Open venues the American has not won at. He was tied second alongside Bernhard Langer in 1984, behind Seve Ballesteros.
• Sandy Lyle, champion in 1985, will be making his 40th Open Championship appearance in 2015. He has played 37 previous Opens’ as a professional and two as an amateur. He first played in 1974 as a 16 year old. His second appearance as an amateur was in 1977. He first played in the paid ranks in 1978. The Scot has played in every Open Championship since 1977.
