Nearly 70 years ago, the Royal and Ancient took the Open Championship to Royal Portrush, a great links in the north of Ireland. It never returned—until now. This week, the British Open will be played on one of golf’s great courses, Royal Portrush. The course is located in a small town in a remote area of Ireland that was long considered too far out of the way for the Open Championship. But now, with a couple of new holes, Portrush will see the best in the world compete for the Open Championship.

Odds-on favourites

Vegas oddsmakers have already picked the players they expect to excel at the British Open, and those names don’t come as a surprise. At the top of the list is Tiger Woods. Tiger has won the British Open three times and made a run at the title last year at Carnoustie. He’s healthy and coming off a solid U.S. Open performance. Expect him to be in the mix.

Of course, Rory McIlroy, Ireland’s favourite son, will return to Portrush, where he shot 61 at the age of 16. Though many think McIlroy’s high ball flight could hurt him at the British Open, his experience at the course could be the difference. That said, no one should discount Brooks Koepka, whose dominating run at the majors is almost unparalleled. However, the one major championship he’s not had much success at is the British Open. Can he change that this week?

Local knowledge

If you were going to pick one feel-good story for the week, it would have to be the return of Graeme McDowell to the British Open on the courses on which he grew up playing. McDowell’s home course was actually The Valley Course, the other course at Portrush, but he played hundreds of rounds at the Dunluce, which hosts the British Open this week. He qualified into the tournament through his play at the RBC Canadian Open, and if there’s one story everyone would like to see play out, it is the scrappy Irishman in contention come Sunday.

The Canadians

Only two Canadians are in the field this week—Adam Hadwin, who qualified through his performance at the RBC Canadian Open, and Corey Conners, who is playing his first British Open. Hadwin tied for 35^th at Carnoustie last year and is having another strong season. For Conners, there could be a steep learning curve as he tries to adapt to links golf, but the PGA Tour winner is one of the game’s best ball strikers and should grow comfortable with Royal Portrush pretty quickly.

Mr. Major

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Mr. Major – Brooks Koepka as an odds on favourite. The four time major champion’s worst finish in his last 10 majors was actually last year’s Open Championship, where he finished T39. But you can’t ignore the fact that in his last four major starts, he’s won twice and finished runner-up twice. Talk about consistent.