Twenty-nine years have passed since an Australian last returned to The Open as its defending champion.

It has been 67 years since an Australian last successfully defended their Open Championship crown and retained possession of the Claret Jug.

If 2022 Champion Golfer of the Year Cameron Smith is looking for omens, Peter Thomson too won at St Andrews in 1955 before winning a third straight Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake.

On Monday, Smith returned golf’s most glorious trophy to its custodians at the R&A and admitted to the sweet sorrow that overcame him when the pair were parted.

“I thought I was going to do all right, but I was actually holding back some tears,” Smith admitted.

“A bit of a moment, I guess, that crept up on me.

“I’ve been saying to all my mates, it’ll only be a week and we’ll be drinking out of it again.

“You never know, sometimes you can play your best golf at major championships and you can run fourth or fifth.

“Hopefully it’s another week like last year and I’m back with the trophy.”

Commonly called ‘Hoylake’ for the suburb within Liverpool in which it sits, Royal Liverpool spent almost four decades on the outer of the Open rota, returning in glorious fashion when Tiger Woods tamed a fiery and baked-out course in 2006.

It has been almost 10 years since Rory McIlroy was victorious at Hoylake in 2014, making Adam Scott and Jason Day the only two Australians in the field this week with previous Open experience at Royal Liverpool.

Five of the 10 Australians in the field – Travis Smyth, David Micheluzzi, Haydn Barron, Connor McKinney and amateur Harrison Crowe – are making their Open championship debuts. For Smyth, Barron and McKinney it is their first appearance in a major championship.

Rounding out the Australasian influence are Kiwi pair Ryan Fox and Daniel Hillier.

Fox arrives at Royal Liverpool on the back of a tie for 12th at the Genesis Scottish Open while Hillier earned his maiden DP World Tour victory just a few weeks ago at the Betfred British Masters, his win securing his place at The Open for a second time.

Live TV coverage

• Wednesday

  • 10pm-4am Live From The Open (Fox Sports 505/Kayo)

• Thursday

  • 3.30pm-5am Round 1 (Fox Sports 505/Kayo)

• Friday

  • 5am-7am Live From The Open (Fox Sports 505/Kayo)

  • 3.30pm-5am Round 2 (Fox Sports 505/Kayo)

• Saturday

  • 5am-7am Live From The Open (Fox Sports 505/Kayo)

  • 7pm – 5am Round 3 (Fox Sports 505/Kayo)

• Sunday

  • 5am-7am Live From The Open (Fox Sports 505/Kayo)

  • Final Round 6pm – 4am (Fox Sports 505/Kayo)

• Monday

  • 4am-6am Live From The Open (Fox Sports 505/Kayo)

Australasian Profiles

• Cameron Smith

  • Age: 29

  • World ranking: 7

  • Best finish in 2023: Won LIV Golf London

  • Past Open appearances: 5

  • Best finish at The Open: Won in 2022 (St Andrews)

  • How he qualified: The Open Champions aged 60 or under on 23 July 2023

• Jason Day

  • Age: 35

  • World ranking: 27

  • Best finish in 2023: Won AT&T Byron Nelson

  • Past Open appearances: 10

  • Best finish at The Open: T4 in 2015 (St Andrews)

  • How he qualified: The first 50 players on the OWGR for Week 21, 2023

• Adam Scott

  • Age: 43

  • World ranking: 39

  • Best finish in 2023: T5 at Wells Fargo Championship

  • Past Open appearances: 22

  • Best finish at The Open: 2nd in 2012 (Royal Lytham & St Anne’s)

  • How he qualified: Top 30 players from the Final 2022 FedEx Cup Points List

• Ryan Fox (NZ)

  • Age: 36

  • World ranking: 42

  • Best finish in 2023: T11 at Ras Al Khaimah Championship

  • Past Open appearances: 6

  • Best finish at The Open: T16 in 2019 (Royal Portrush)

  • How he qualified: First 30 in the Final Race to Dubai Rankings for 2022

• Min Woo Lee

  • Age: 24

  • World ranking: 47

  • Best finish in 2023: T2 at Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship

  • Past Open appearances: 2

  • Best finish at The Open: T21 in 2022 (St Andrews)

  • How he qualified: Open Qualifying Series (3rd at Australian Open)

• Lucas Herbert

  • Age: 27

  • World ranking: 56

  • Best finish in 2023: Won ISPS HANDA Championship

  • Past Open appearances: 3

  • Best finish at The Open: T15 in 2022 (St Andrews)

  • How he qualified: The first 50 players on the OWGR for Week 21, 2023

• Daniel Hillier (NZ)

  • Age: 24

  • World ranking: 137

  • Best finish in 2023: Won Betfred British Masters

  • Past Open appearances: 1

  • Best finish at The Open: MC in 2021 (Royal St George’s)

  • How he qualified: Open Qualifying Series (Won British Masters)

• Travis Smyth

  • Age: 28

  • World ranking: 310

  • Best finish in 2023: 3rd at World City Championship, Hong Kong

  • Past Open appearances: 0

  • Best finish at The Open: First appearance

  • How he qualified: Open Qualifying Series (3rd at World City Championship, Hong Kong)

• David Micheluzzi

  • Age: 26

  • World ranking: 363

  • Best finish in 2023: Won Play Today NSW Open, TPS Sydney

  • Past Open appearances: 0

    • Best finish at The Open: First appearance

  • How he qualified: Won ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit

• Harrison Crowe (a)

  • Age: 21

  • World amateur ranking: 35

  • Best finish in 2023: 2nd at NSW Amateur

  • Past Open appearances: 0

  • Best finish at The Open: First appearance

  • How he qualified: Won the 2022 Asia-Pacific Amateur

• Haydn Barron

  • Age: 27

  • World ranking: 937

  • Best finish in 2023: T15 at Vic Open

  • Past Open appearances: 0

  • Best finish at The Open: First appearance

  • How he qualified: Open Qualifying Series (T4 at Australian Open)

• Connor McKinney

  • Age: 21

  • World ranking: 1,140

  • Best finish in 2023: T5 at Kaskada Golf Challenge

  • Past Open appearances: 0

  • Best finish at The Open: First appearance

  • How he qualified: Final Qualifying at Dundonald Links

Australian winners of The Open

• Peter Thomson (1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1965)

• Kel Nagle (1960)

• Greg Norman (1986, 1993)

• Ian Baker-Finch (1991)

• Cameron Smith (2022)

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