MANILA, Philippines – Filipino Justin delos Santos sets out for his first major championship with mixed feelings, drawing Tokyo Olympian Sepp Straka of Austria and American Luke List in the opener of the British Open at St. Andrews’ Old course in Scotland Thursday (Friday, Manila time).
The world’s elite headline the 72-hole championship, including No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Cameron Smith, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland and Matt Fitzpatrick. Two-time champion Tiger Woods likewise joins the hunt in a rare major appearance after pulling out in the third round of the PGA Championship last May and withdrawing from the US Open last month.
But a slew of lesser lights are out to make an impact, including delos Santos, who hopes to make the most of his first crack at one of the world’s four premier championships.
“It’s an incredible opportunity for me. This will be my first time playing in a major,” said the 26-year-old delos Santos, who punched a ticket to the sport’s oldest championship by rallying to finish in the Mizuno Open in Okayama, Japan last May.
He tees off at 4:14 a.m.
“I am so happy and it should be fun,” he said. “St. Andrews is a special place with a lot of history.”
Also in the fold are Korean Kim Joo Hyung and Japanese Yuto Katsuragawa, who nailed their spots as early as last January when they finished joint second to Thai Sadom Kaewkanjana in the Singapore Open.
Kim, the 2020-21 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion who honed his skills and talent at Riviera where he reigned as the Philippine amateur champion in 2018, launches his drive at 2:41 a.m. with two of the PGA Tour’s top guns — Patrick Reed and Tom Hoge.
Katsuragawa, a former mainstay, together with Kim, of the Manila Southwoods team in various club tournaments, slugs it out with Abraham Ancer and Emiliano Grillo at 9:26 a.m.
Meanwhile, Scheffler faces Joaquin Niemann and Tyrell Hatton at 8:26 a.m., while McIlroy mixes it up with Morikawa and Schauffele in two of the featured flights in the first two days.
Woods, for his part, will play alongside Fitzpatrick and Homa at 9:59 a.m.