Jon Rahm hoping to ride Spanish momentum to end drought

Jon Rahm felt like one of the most popular players when he arrived at Royal Troon, even if it had nothing to do with him or with his golf.

Spain is on quite the run at the moment - Carlos Alcaraz won Wimbledon on Sunday for his second Grand Slam title of the year, right before Spain defeated England in the Euros final. It's the latter that made the Scottish fans celebrate the Spaniard.

No one in these parts likes to see England win anything.

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"Played all 18 holes, and I think I got more congratulations for something that I didn’t do than I ever have in my life," Rahm said this week.

"I don’t know what they’ve done, but anytime anybody plays against the English national team, every other country in Europe just unifies against them.

"I think because we’ve heard 'It's Coming Home' so many times the last few years that nobody wants to see it come home at this point."

Throw in Sergio Garcia winning his first LIV Golf event at Valderrama, and Rahm would like nothing more than to extend Spain's run of winners.

Mostly, he needs it for himself.

The major championship season ends with The Open Championship, and Rahm has been a no-show. He was the reigning Masters champion when he left for the Saudi riches of LIV Golf last December and he still hasn't won. His last victory was the Masters some 15 months ago.

He barely made the cut at the Masters. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship, and he didn't even get to play the US Open because of a foot infection.

"Last year from the Masters on I didn't really play my best," Rahm conceded.

"Ryder Cup was the only resemblance to maybe the early part of the year. But Nashville and last week (LIV events), I felt closer to getting to a higher level of golf where maybe there isn't as many thoughts on my process.

"Maybe I’m playing a little bit more freely and seeing the ball flight that I want to see more often.

"I'm getting much closer to what it might have been early last year."

The foot infection, right before the US Open, summed up the frustrating year. Rahm was hopeful of playing Pinehurst No.2 until seeking a specialist, who numbed his foot and thrust a swab into the infection to clean it out.

"Pretty much when I saw that go in I said, 'OK, I'm not playing the (US) Open'," Rahm said.

"Once I accepted the fact I couldn’t play, I think it was quite enjoyable. I think, as much as any other, I kind of enjoyed watching some of the best players in the world struggle."

He can relate to a struggle these days, particularly in the majors.

Rahm hopes he sorted out some issues with his driver by getting a new shaft, which he says has allowed him to swing a little more freely. It was at Valhalla for the PGA Championship that he realised he needed a change.

The foot injury was a setback, but he contended at his next LIV event and then tied for 10th at Valderrama last week. He has top 10s in every LIV event he has played except for Houston, when he withdrew because of the foot injury.

Then again, LIV has the same 54 players every week, and only the top half would be considered among the elite in the game. Going the year without a win can be frustrating, much less the last 15 months.

Now it's down to Royal Troon, a course that typically plays easy on the way out and turns into a beast — and into the wind — on the way back in.

Rahm had planned to only play nine holes in his first practice round on Monday night (AEST), but the weather was probably as glorious as it's going to be all week and he wanted to enjoy it.

Wind or calm, rain or shine, it's avoiding the pot bunkers and the gorse bushes that are key to this British Open.

And after this week, golf gets a little hazy. He still has a LIV calendar to finish out, but Rahm said his wife's pregnancy with their third child is not going well and she is on bed rest.

He doesn't know if he will be able to play the Spanish Open this fall.

And it won't be until next April that Rahm gets a chance to compete against the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele. That's a product of the great divide with LIV Golf. The best players now only come together four times a year in the majors.

"It's the decision I've made," he said of joining LIV.

"Hopefully at some point golf can figure itself out, and we have opportunities to play against each other more often."

How to watch the British Open in Australia?

The Open will be broadcast in Australian on Fox Sports and Kayo from 3.30pm-6am across all four days of the event.

What's the prize money for the British Open?

The Royal & Ancient - effectively the rulemakers of world golf and the sanctioning body of the Open Championship - have confirmed the prize pool is about $25.5 million, a year-on-year increase of 18 per cent.

The champion this year will win about $4.2 million

Where is the British Open being played?

This year's tournament is being played at Royal Troon, on the west coast of Scotland. This will be the 10th time the course has hosted the event.

Next year's Open will be held at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, followed by Royal Birkdale in 2026.

How many Australians are in the field?

There are six Aussies hitting the links this weekend - Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott, amateur Jasper Stubbs, Elvis Smylie, Jason Day and Cameron Smith

Who's favourite to win the British Open?

Odds correct at 3.30pm Wednesday.

1. Scottie Scheffler $6

2. Rory McIlroy $9

3. Xander Schauffele $13

4. Colin Morikawa $16

5. Ludvig Arberg $17

The Aussies

Cameron Smith $51

Adam Scott $61

Min Woo Lee $56

Jason Day $101

Elvis Smylie $501

Jasper Stubbs $1001

What are the British Open tee times in Australia?

First round commencing Thursday/second round commencing Friday. All times are in Australian Eastern Standard time.

(a) denotes amateur, Australians are in bold.

3.35pm/8.26pm: Justin Leonard, Todd Hamilton, Jack McDonald

3.46pm/8.37pm: Alexander Noren, Tom McKibbin, (a) Calum Scott

3.57pm/8.48pm: Jesper Svensson, Vincent Norrman, Michael Hendry

4.08pm/8.59pm: Young-Han Song, Daniel Hillier, Ryosuke Kinoshit

4.19pm/9.10pm: Min Woo Lee (AUS), Ryo Hisatsune, Abraham Ancer

4.30pm/9.21pm: Nicolai Hoejgaard, Adam Scott (AUS), Keita Nakajima

4.41pm/9.32pm: Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose, (a) Jasper Stubbs (AUS)

4.52pm/9.43pm: Justin Thomas, Sung-Jae Im, Matthew Southgate

5.03pm/9.54pm: Nick Taylor, Matt Wallace, Laurie Canter

5.14pm/10.05pm: Sebastian Soderberg, Matteo Manassero, Shubhankar Sharma

5.25pm/10.16pm: Zach Johnson, Austin Eckroat, Thorbjoern Olesen

5.36pm/10.27pm: John Daly, (a) Santiago de la Fuente, Aaron Rai

5.47pm/10.38pm: Stewart Cink, Chris Kirk, (a) Dominic Clemons

6.03pm/11.04pm: Stephan Jaeger, Adam Schenk, Joaquin Niemann

6.14pm/11.15pm: Adam Hadwin, Lucas Glover, Christiaan Bezuidenhout

6.25pm/11.26pm: Tony Finau, Russell Henley, Matthieu Pavon

6.36pm/11.37pm: Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood, Robert MacIntyre

6.47pm/11.48pm: Ludvig Aaberg, Bryson DeChambeau, Joo-Hyung (Tom) Kim

6.58pm/11.59pm: Brian Harman, Viktor Hovland, Sahith Theegala

7.09pm/12.10am: Rory McIlroy, Max Homa, Tyrrell Hatton

7.20pm/12.21am: Keegan Bradley, Will Zalatoris, (a) Gordon Sargent

7.31pm/12.32am: Harris English, Maverick McNealy, Alexander Bjoerk

7.42pm/12.43am: Guido Migliozzi, Sean Crocker, (a) Tommy Morrison

7.53pm/12.54am: David Puig, John Catlin, Gun-Taek Koh

8.04pm/1.05am: Thriston Lawrence, Daniel Bradbury, Elvis Smylie (AUS)

8.15pm/1.16am: Ignacio Elvira, Min-Kyu Kim, Darren Fichardt

8.26pm/1.27am: Mason Andersen, Masahiro Kawamura, Sam Hutsby

8.47pm/3.35pm: Ewen Ferguson, Marcel Siem

8.58pm/3.46pm: Chengtsung Pan, Romain Langasque, Yuto Katsuragawa

9.09pm/3.57pm: Rikuya Hoshino, Angel Hidalgo, Richard Mansell

9.20pm/4.08pm: Corey Conners, Ryan Fox, Jorge Campillo

9.31pm/4.19pm: Ernie Els, Gary Woodland, (a) Altin van der Merwe

9.42pm/4.30pm: Henrik Stenson, Rasmus Hoejgaard, (a) Jacob Olesen

9.53pm/4.41pm: Louis Oosthuizen, Billy Horschel, Victor Perez

10.04pm/4.52pm: Sepp Straka, Brendon Todd, Jordan Smith

10.15pm/5.03pm: Denny McCarthy, Taylor Moore, Adrian Meronk

10.26pm/5.14pm: Jason Day (AUS), Byeong-Hun An, Rickie Fowler

10.37pm/5.25pm: Alex Cejka, Eric Cole, Kurt Kitayama

10.48pm/5.36pm: Darren Clarke, JT Poston, Dean Burmester

11.04pm/5.47pm: Phil Mickelson, Joost Luiten, Dustin Johnson

11.15pm/6.03pm: Padraig Harrington, Davis Thompson, Matthew Jordan

11.26pm/6.14pm: Wyndham Clark, Hideki Matsuyama, Brooks Koepka

11.37pm/6.25pm: Tiger Woods, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay

11.48pm/6.36pm: Collin Morikawa, Sam Burns, Si-Woo Kim

11.59pm/6.47pm: Shane Lowry, Cameron Smith (AUS), Matthew Fitzpatrick

12.10am/6.58pm: Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young

12.21am/7.09pm: Akshay Bhatia, Tom Hoge, Sami Valimaki

12.32am/7.20pm: Emiliano Grillo, Ben Griffin, Mackenzie Hughes

12.43am/7.31pm: Yannik Paul, Joseph Dean, Andy Ogletree

12.54am/7.42pm: Ryan van Velzen, Charlie Lindh, (a) Luis Masaveu

1.05am/7.53pm: Kazuma Kobori, (a) Jaime Montojo, (a) Liam Nolan

1.16am/8.04pm: Daniel Brown, Denwit Boriboonsub, (a) Matthew Dodd-Berry

1.27am/8.15pm: Jeung-Hun Wang, Aguri Iwasaki, Sam Horsfield