It is the worst scenario that can be imagined and it will strike fear into the hearts of all golfers.

After weeks of pomp and circumstance to mark the 150th Open Championship, it was excruciating for R&A chiefs to see a LIV Golf rebel parade the Claret Jug at the Old Course at St Andrews.

The Open opens on Thursday morning, with the strong scent of gunpowder wafting on the coast breeze along these historic links.

Many serious title contenders have joined the Saudi-backed tour. They are threatening to destroy golf's old order and pander to human-rights smugglers looking to sportswash’ their barbaric regime.

Leading Americans Dustin Johnson and Bryson deChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, and Brooks Koepka are just a few of the rogues in that gallery.

Reed, the Ryder Cup bogeyman was seen proudly practicing here yesterday, with LIV Golf emblazoned across his T-shirt and baseball cap.

Phil Mickelson, the 2013 Open champion, referred to the Saudis as "scary motherf***ers", but then he pluckily overcame that fear in return for a lot of Saudi cash.

The blood money is also used to bathe European Ryder Cup stars like Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood, as well as Ian Poulter.

The next LIV Golf event will be held in two weeks at Bedminster, New Jersey. This course is owned by Donald Trump.

Saudi prize money at a Trump venue? They might ask Darth Vader or Vladimir Putin to hit the first tee shots, and they'll be done.

The LIV circus could be seen at Turnberry next year -- the Scottish course that was tossed off The Open rota due to Trump's ownership.

After legal challenges, the PGA Tour banned rebels indefinitely. However, the European-based DP World Tour had to suspend their three-tournament bans.

Greg Norman, the ex-Open champion and chief executive of LIV, has promised that his Saudi paymasters would cover his players' legal costs.

It is a civil war that has effected all of the country. Today, there will be many loyalists and rebels playing each other's games. Martin Slumbers, chief executive of R&A, came out yesterday with all guns in the air to defend the status quo.

He suggested that the Open at Hoylake could be changed to change entry requirements, making it nearly impossible for LIV rebels.

He claimed that the rebels were "entirely motivated by money" and they could destroy the merit-based path to the top.

Saudi Arabia is under severe threat.

The blazer brigade of the past does not want to be caught with their plus fours down.

Slumbers was less convincing when asked about Saudi human rights atrocities. This was despite the fact that the Saudi International event was a part of the European Tour for three consecutive years.

Yesterday, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods were honored with R&A membership.

Both would be a big winner. Woods would be the miracle man, even though he has only one leg.

He leaves at 3pm, accompanied by Matt Fitzpatrick, the US Open champion from England.

McIlroy hopes to end an eight year wait to add to his four Major titles. He tees off with Collin Morikawa, reigning champion, and Xander Schauffele, one of the favorite bettors.

The Old Course could be too short, flat, and easy for big-hitters. This is especially true with moderate winds forecasted for each day.

There has been talk of a first-ever Major round at 59. This would cut four shots off McIlroy's course record.

Slumbers stated that Mother Nature was not destined to rain on us and likely won't give us as much wind. We have other options for setting up the golf course.

"But 59 is 13 below par around this course.

"There's 7,300 yards. It has greens that run very slowly. You can see fairways that bounce 50 yards, and more if the ball catches on the downslope.

"So 13 underpar around that. . . Let me tell you, if anyone shoots that, I will be first on the 18th fairway to shake their hands because they will have played exceptional golf.

Slumbers claimed, accurately, that there was a post-pandemic boom in golf at grass-roots levels -- and spectator levels are even higher.

For the 290,000.00 tickets that were available throughout the week, there were over 1.3 million applications. The days of the walk-up crowd are gone.

These vast galleries might be tempted by the Saudi rebels to heckle them.
R&A chiefs wouldn't normally approve of such an etiquette violation.
They might make an exception for this week.