The Open Championship returns this week to the home of golf, on the east coast of Scotland at St Andrews, for the 28th time as the tournament marks the 150th anniversary of its first staging, at Prestwick in 1860
Many of the most famous names in golf have triumphed over the Old Course since Scotland's Tom Kidd won the first tournament staged there in 1873
Scottish golfers went on to win the first seven Opens at St Andrews before England's John Henry Taylor (left) won two of his five Opens in 1895 and 1900, a feat matched by Scotland's James Braid (right) in 1905 and 1910
America's Bobby Jones criticised the Old Course on his first visit to the Open in 1921 and picked his ball out of the Strath bunker on the 11th to disqualify himself. He returned in 1927 to conquer the course though
In 1939 Sale golf club's Richard Burton became the last club professional to win the Open. He returned the Claret Jug to St Andrews in 1946 when the Open resumed after a seven-year hiatus for World War II
Sam Snead won that first tournament after the war in his first Open, but only played in three others. He returned to St Andrews in 2000 at the age of 88 for a four-hole tournament of past winners
Australia's Peter Thomson won the second of his five Opens at the Old Course in 1955, while South Africa's first major winner Bobby Locke won his fourth and final Claret Jug two years later
Arnold Palmer arrived at St Andrews in 1960 for his first Open chasing the grand slam after winning the Masters and US Open earlier in the year, but was beaten into second by little-known Australian Kel Nagle
In 1970, America's Doug Sanders looked set to ditch his nearly man tag, after three second-place finishes in previous majors, but he missed a three-foot par putt on the 18th to win
Sanders' miss put him in an 18-hole play-off with his American compatriot Jack Nicklaus and the Golden Bear went on to win his first Open at St Andrews and second overall
Nicklaus returned in 1978 and played, by his own admission, the best four days of tee-to-green golf of his life to become the first man to win all four majors three times. It was the 15th of his 18 major victories
Five of Tom Watson's major wins have come in the Open but the American is yet to win at St Andrews. He came close in 1984 but, while in a tie for the lead, he bogeyed 17 after over-shooting the green and finished second
Crowd favourite Seve Ballesteros took the title in 1984. He parred the tough 17th before sinking a 15-foot birdie putt on the last to beat Watson and Germany's Bernhard Langer
Nick Faldo became the third, and last, Englishman to win the Open at St Andrews when he triumphed by six shots in 1990 to record the fourth of his six career majors
The 1995 Open provided a dramatic end when Constantino Rocca, needing a birdie to force a play-off, duffed his approach to the 18th, but the Italian holed the 60-foot birdie putt and fell to his knees beating the floor
However, Rocca's joy was short-lived as his hopes of winning the four-hole play-off disappeared when he took three to get out of the greenside road bunker on the 17th
Rocca's misfortune paved the way for big-hitting American John Daly, who had shown good touch round the greens and played solidly all week, to wrap up his second major win
Out with the old, in with the new: The 1995 Open saw Palmer's (left) last visit to the Open at the Old Course, while a 19-year-old amateur by the name of Tiger Woods made his debut
Woods, who fell in love with the Old Course the first time he played there, returned in 2000 to tame it. He stayed out of the 112 bunkers as he shot a major record 19 under par to win by eight shots
The importance of staying out of the sand was emphasised when David Duval took four shots to get out of the road hole bunker on the 17th in his final round that year to crash out of contention
Notah Begay also deserves a special mention for electing to play out of the Swilcan Burn, usually a hazard on the first hole, en route to a triple-bogey seven on the 17th in his first round in 2000
"If a golfer is to be remembered he must win the Open at St Andrews," said Nicklaus, who twice won over the Old Course. He finished in the top 10 every year from 1966 to 1980 and played his last Open there in 2005
2005 was the year that home favourite Colin Montgomerie came closest to winning the Open. He briefly threatened the leader in the final round to the delight of a partisan crowd but could only finish second
It was Woods who emerged victorious again, this time by five shots, as he won his second Open at St Andrews. If he wins this week, he will become the first man to win three Opens at the Old Course
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