All the facts, figures and stats from the 150th Open

Cameron Smith holds the lead at the halfway stage of The 2022 Open

Can’t get enough of this year’s Championship at St Andrews? These are the key numbers that stood out after the first round…

Today’s Golfer’s 2022 Major coverage is brought to you in association with TaylorMade.

The Open 2022: Friday – Round 2

– Life is pretty good for Cameron Smith right now. He’s been binge-watching Peaky Blinders on Netflix in the evenings and going birdie mad on the Old Course in the mornings. So far he hasn’t even had a three putt yet, a frankly absurd statistic which is bettered only by the 250+ft worth of putts he made on day two. His 13-under, 131 total falls two shy of The Open’s lowest-ever opening 36-hole score, though it is the lowest in an Open Championship on the Old Course and gives him a two-shot lead heading into the weekend. Did we also mention that he hasn’t had a bogey in his last 25 holes?

RELATED: What’s in the bag: Cameron Smith

– Rory kept alive his hopes of ending an eight year wait for a major victory with a four-under 68, 10-under for the week so far. He was also one of just four past champions who made the cut. The other 14 made an early exit, including Mark Calcavecchia – the oldest man in the field at 62 – who finished dead last on 21-over in his final Open appearance. 

OPEN 2022: Live leaderboard and highlights

– By his own high standards, Collin Morikawa hasn’t had the greatest summer and his indifferent run of form continued as he became the first defending champion to miss the cut since Darren Clarke in 2012. The World No.5 has now got as many missed cuts as top-10 finishes in stroke play events this season, including three in his last four starts.

– After failing to muster the miraculous fightback everyone hoped for, Tiger Woods won’t play the weekend for only the fourth time in 22 Open starts. He still has more wins in majors (15) than missed cuts (14), but his best finish since winning the Masters for a fifth time is a tie for 21st at the 2019 US Open. However, he did confirm after his round that he has no plans to quit while he’s ahead. Not yet anyway.

RELATED: Things you may have missed from the 150th Open at St Andrews

– Thirty three of the previous 35 major champions in the men’s game have been inside the top 10 through two rounds. If you focus just on St Andrews, each of the past seven champions there have been tied for fourth or better at the halfway stage. In other words, the history books are telling you to cash out bets on everyone other than Cameron Smith, Cameron Young, Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland and Dustin Johnson.

– Like Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland has failed to live up to his potential in major championships so far. Incredibly, he’s still waiting for his first top 10 but he enters the weekend just three off the lead, thanks in part to holing out for eagle on the 15th. His well-documented short game struggles still appear to be affecting him – he has only got up and down twice from six attempts so far this week – but he does lead the way in putts per green in regulation alongside Smith.

– World No.1 Scottie Scheffler is lurking only five shots back from the lead and he tends to save his best for the weekend of the majors. Since the beginning of 2020, the World No.1 is 17-under-par for rounds three and four, the best of any player during that time. He is also trying to become the first man since Tiger in 2005 to complete the Open and Masters double in the same calendar year.

– Dustin Johnson might be winning the LIV Golf mini league on nine-under-par, but 12 of the 23 representatives playing this week made an early exit. Among the notable names to miss out include Phil Mickelson, 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and Brooks Koepka, who snapped a streak of eight consecutive years with at least one top-10 in a major championship. Koepka’s aggregate score across the big four this season stands at 30-over-par.

RELATED: Everything you need to know about LIV Golf

– Sergio Garcia hasn’t been getting much air time this week, but he did make the biggest jump up the leaderboard during the second round, rising 83 places into a tie for 36th on three-under-par. The biggest loser was Padraig Harrington, who played the last 16 holes in eight-over-par and finished three shots outside the cutline on three-over-par.

– If players want to make a move on Saturday, they will need to do it early. The front nine is currently playing half a stroke easier than the back, primarily due to the 13th and 17th being jointly ranked as the two hardest holes on the course. The most eagles have also come on the par-5 5th and the short par-4 9th, though players risk losing almost half a stroke on the field if they fail to birdie the 18th.

– From what Jon Rahm and Tiger intimidated in their post-round press conferences, the next Open at St Andrews won’t take place until 2030. If true, it will represent the third longest break from St Andrews in Open history, behind the 11-year gap from 1910 to 1921, which incorporated the first World War, and the nine-year wait between 1946-1955.

The Open 2022: Thursday – Round 1

– There wasn’t much for Tiger to cheer on his return to St Andrews. He was one of only four players to double bogey the 1st hole. He also finished behind 145 other players on the leaderboard and lost balls in the Barry Burn and Valley of Sin. The only crumb of comfort was that he managed to hit the longest tee shot of the day on the 14th, a beastly 412 yards. At least the power is still there.

– If you wanted an illustration of what a stress-free round of golf looks like, first round leader Cameron Young delivered it by hitting all 18 greens in regulation for the first time in a PGA Tour round. It’s the easiest 64 he’ll ever shoot. The hard bit is backing it up. He’s yet to get over the finishing line this year, having finished runner-up three times on the PGA Tour in his rookie season. He does have a new caddie this week, having drafted in veteran looper Chad Reynolds who has worked for Vijay Singh and Keegan Bradley.

– Rory McIlroy’s putting often gets a bad rap but Brad Faxon reckons it’s been the biggest difference maker in his recent run of form. He lent heavily on it during the first round at St Andrews and took just 28 putts despite hitting 14 greens in regulation. He also overtook Will Zalatoris in the race for the best aggregate score in men’s majors this year. Rory’s total now stands at 17-under-par while Zalatoris sits five back. Whatever happens this week, topping that leaderboard is a win of sorts, right?

– Whisper it quietly but the LIV Golf brigade actually did a lot better than many people predicted. Of the 23 rebels in the field, 14 of them finished level par or better. Lee Westwood, Dustin Johnson and Talor Gooch tied the LIV Golf mini league on four-under-par.

– Bad news Collin Morikawa fans. Each of the previous 16 major winners has opened his week with a round under par, the last exception being Koepka at Shinnecock in the 2018 U.S. Open.

THE OPEN 2022: Tee times and groups

– You often hear players talk about getting on the right side of the draw, and there was a noticeable difference in scores between the first and second waves. The first 28 groups had a scoring average of 71.98, nearly a stroke and a half lower than their later counterparts (73.41). Of the 26 rounds in the 60s on day one, 17 of them were shot by players in the first half of the draw. 

– Despite how fearsome its reputation is, the 17th wasn’t actually the hardest hole on the course. That honour went to the par-4 13th, which gave up just two birdies. It was also responsible for 58 bogeys and 12 double bogeys or worse. By contrast, the 18th reasserted its status as the easiest hole in major championship golf. Almost every player tried to drive it, which also explains why only two of them failed to make par or better. The total score to par was 73-under.

2022 OPEN: Live leaderboard and highlights

– Remember when Zach Johnson won The Open at St Andrews in 2015 by hitting almost every fairway all week? Well, he was at it again in the first round on Thursday, hitting 87.5% of them and grounding out a level par round of 72. The only snag is that he is already six shots worse off than he was seven years ago. 

– Thomas Detry has got a pretty rotten record in Majors. In five previous starts, the Belgian has missed the cut in four of them. But he found his groove at St Andrews by employing a fairly simple strategy: Smashing the ball as far as possible. His average driving distance of 391 yards was over 20 yards farther than the next best, Tommy Fleetwood. He will enter the second round just four back of the lead as he chases down his first victory since the World Cup of Golf in 2018.

MORE FROM THE 150TH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

Who is playing and how did they qualify?

The weather forecast for The Open

The Open’s defining moments

What does the champion win?

Exclusive: Jack Nicklaus on The Open

Rory: “I wish every Open was at St Andrews”

Which golf courses host The Open and why?