It's time to go home

Every five years the game of golf makes its pilgrimage back home to St Andrews, for golf's oldest championship, The Open.

The Open Championship (or the British Open to give it its common name!) began way back in 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Eight players took part over three rounds of the 12-hole course to decide the first Open champion, with Willie Park Senior prevailing in a close contest.

How times have changed: when Stewart Cink lifted the Claret Jug at Turnberry last July - a worldwide TV audience of millions tuned in to witness the drama unfolding during the final round on Sunday; Tom Watson bidding to become the oldest winner, Lee Westwood going so close, then the emergence of Cink to eventually break everyone's hearts and deny Watson a fairytale end to one of golf's most memorable stories.

Spectators flocked to the course to witness the action and atmosphere first hand. It is now a global sporting event up there with the best.

This week the event returns to the old links for the 28th time and expectations are high for a home victory. Rarely, if ever, in the 24-year history of the Official World Golf Ranking, have players from Great Britain and Ireland occupied more of the top 10 than players from across the Atlantic, yet as we look forward to the 150th Open Championship, this is the case.

Over the past couple of years, European golf has enjoyed a resurgence. However, it is not only British players like Westwood, Luke Donald, Ian Poulter, Rory McIlroy and Paul Casey who can claim to be serious contenders, in with a good chance of winning a first major championship this week. Strong European challenges could come from Spain, Germany, and France or from Italy in the shape of the Molinari brothers.

Edoardo Molinari held his nerve to claim his first European Tour crown with a three-shot victory in the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond at the weekend. Following his stunning 63 on Saturday, the Italian headed into Sunday's final round with a one-stroke advantage over his closest rival Darren Clarke and a closing 74 proved enough for him to keep his nose in front in much tougher conditions. Fittingly Molinari was playing with younger brother Francesco, as well as Clarke, during the final round as they became the third set of brothers to lift Tour titles after Seve and Manuel Ballesteros and fellow Spaniards Antonio and German Garrido.

It was a welcome return to form for the ever popular Ulsterman Clarke who has had to endure a rapid slide down the rankings, mainly due to a cold putter. It seems like the putts are starting to drop and the form improving. He will be disappointed at finishing runner-up, but there was a handsome consolation as he claimed the one and final place on offer for the Open Championship courtesy of his finish.

So who are the prospective Silver Medallists in 2010? There are seven amateurs that have earned their place in the field, all of them capable, on their day, of stepping up to the plate at the highest level of the game. Two of the seven are Koreans Jin Jeong and Byeong-hun, the current British and US amateur champions.

There is also France's 2009 European amateur champion Victor Dubisson. There is every chance that, by Sunday, one of these names will be familiar to millions of people the world over. The question is, who?

So we are all set for a great week; will Tiger find some form and add to his legend by making it three Open wins at St Andrews or will there be a home triumph? We could have a new world number one come Monday. What surprises will the Old Course give us this year? There is nothing quite like the Open.