VENUE Muirfield Golf Club, North Berwick, Scotland THE COURSE Quirkily, the true name of the club is The Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and it is one of the oldest clubs in the world. The club move to the current venue, overlooking the Firth of Forth and just outside Edinburgh, in 1891. Muirfield is a links course, par 71 of 6576 metres, and the nines intersect each other, meaning the wind direction changes from hole to hole. It is regarded as a great test of golf, having produced Open winners such as Nicklaus, Watson, Trevino, Player and Faldo. HISTORY This is the 142nd Open Championship, a tournament that dates to 1860. Its official name is &aposThe Open Championship&apos but it is often referred to outside of Britain as the &aposBritish Open&apos. Muirfield has hosted the Open 15 times since 1892. Ernie Els won the last Open held at Muirfield in 2002, in a playoff that included Australia&aposs Stuart Appleby and Steve Elkington. RECENT OPEN WINNERS 2012 Ernie Els (South Africa) Royal Lytham 2011 Darren Clarke (Northern Ireland) Royal St Georges 2010 Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa) St Andrews 2009 Stewart Cink (USA) 1, of 6 2008 Padraig Harrington (Ireland) Royal Birkdale 2007 Padraig Harrington (Ireland) Carnoustie 2006 Tiger Woods (USA) Royal Liverpool 2005 Tiger Woods (USA) St Andrews PRIZEMONEY 5.25 million pounds (about A$8.7 million) THE AUSTRALIANS Adam Scott Jason Day Marc Leishman Geoff Ogilvy John Senden Marcus Fraser Brett Rumford Peter Senior Brendan Jones John Wade Steven Jeffress Steve Dartnall TV COVERAGE THURSDAY JULY 18 ROUND 1 FOX SPORTS 3 FROM 6.00PM FRIDAY JULY 19 ROUND 2 FOX SPORTS 3 FROM 6.00PM SATURDAY JULY 20 ROUND 3 FOX SPORTS 1 FROM 10.30PM SUNDAY JULY 21 ROUND 4 FOX SPORTS 3 FROM 8.00PM
Author: Martin Blake / Golf.org.au