Wednesday 13 July 2016 00:10, UK
Ewen Murray explains his love for Royal Troon and The Open, some newcomers to the Sky commentary box and where the likely winner will come from...
I look forward to every Tour event and treat them the same way as I will do the Open Championship, but Troon is a wonderful place to visit.
After driving down from Inverness, I walked the course late on Monday night, when there was nobody there other than me by the time I left around 10 o'clock. I found it in perfect condition, with it looking green and rather firm.
The beauty of the game right now is that there's any one of maybe 40 players who can win around here.
The back nine here at Troon is special, from the minute you turn back into the prevailing wind towards the Isle of Arran. There's a run of serious par fours at 13, 14 and 15 before the 16th presents one of the best par fives you'll ever see.
That stretch offers a great balance towards the finish, as you then have the par three before what may be in my eyes the best closing hole we have in Open golf.
We have a couple of extra faces in the Sky Sports commentary box this week and to have Sir Nick Faldo in there is a big bonus. As a three-time winner of this Championship, he will be able to provide a great insight to what's going on as we head towards the week.
One of my great pals, Ian Poulter, is with us too for the opening couple of days and I think he will be a sensation in the booth for us.
He's the type of person who will commit to everything he does and to the very best of his ability. He has been in the box before and enjoys it, so I have no doubt he will make a fantastic job of his time with us.
Our very own Colin Montgomerie tees off not long after 6.30am and that could be very good for him, but then he won't get the front nine downwind and then he may get a breeze in the back nine.
The weather will play a huge factor, especially over the first two days of The Open where you have a huge field playing off one tee.
I think someone will get off to a very fast start and I can see someone five or six under after six at some point during the week. The back nine here is wonderful, but if you get it at the wrong time and you're into the strong wind then you're going to struggle.
Whoever is going to win on Sunday is at some stage going to be asked to play that back nine into the breeze. How well they play it will determine how high they finish.
Rory McIlroy hasn't performed to his optimum when it has been windy, but if he gets the right side of the draw and it is calm conditions then I think he could be very difficult to beat.
Dustin Johnson comes to Scotland on a hot run of form, while Jason Day's strike rate is incredible over the past 20 tournaments. That's not forgetting two-time major winner Jordan Spieth, who has yet to come to the boil this year.
We saw Jack Nicklaus dominate for a long time and then we saw Tiger Woods have total domination for a long time, but the beauty of the game right now is that there's any one of maybe 40 players who can win around here.
I would expect the winner though to come from the top 15 in the world rankings, simply because of the good golf this course demands. Who will that winner be? I just don't know.
Watch The Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports - your new home of The Open. Live tournament coverage begins on Thursday from 6.30am.
