Bet Viktor Hovland & Louis Oosthuizen at Royal Liverpool

Not long after Rory McIlroy’s victory at the Genesis Scottish Open on Sunday, there was an exchange with a fan which would soon go viral on social media.

Fan: Rory, you won me 300 pounds.

McIlroy: I won a wee bit more.

It was the type of informal interaction between player and bettor which should warm the hearts of those who make weekly golf investments. This wasn’t a fan who yelled in another competitor’s backswing to help his personal wager or one who trolled a player on Twitter for “losing” him money.

Maybe the tradition-rich practice of betting on golf in the U.K. helped this remain casual; maybe the observer just struck the right tone at the right time, or Rory’s own congenial response kept it lighthearted.

Whatever the case, there are going to be plenty of bettors hoping to thank McIlroy for winning them some money at the conclusion of this week’s 151^st Open Championship.

I hope you didn’t blink over the last three-and-a-half months because mixed into the usual Senate subcommittee hearings and mergers that aren’t really mergers, we’re on the verge of contesting the fourth and final major championship of yet another surreal year filled with as much off-course golf news as anything taking place inside the ropes.

For perhaps the first time at a major this year, the news in the days leading up to the opening round might revolve more around actual golf than its impending future, though there’s a nonzero chance that by the time you’re reading this, another massive disruption will hit the news cycle, and we’ll be left focusing elsewhere again.

Until then, McIlroy remains the biggest storyline, fresh off his first win since January and heading to familiar territory at Royal Liverpool, site of his lone Open Championship victory nine years ago.

Depending on the book, he’s either this week’s pre-tournament favorite or co-favorite (alongside Scottie Scheffler) and has already canceled his previously scheduled Tuesday press conference, only adding to the intrigue of this event’s build-up.

If you’re finding it difficult to look beyond the chalk, take a number and stand in line.

In addition to the preview you’re reading right now, I’ll have a top-25 ranking later this week, but don’t expect too many surprises. If we’ve learned anything in recent years, it’s that the cream rises on those bright yellow leaderboards.

Let’s take a look at the last four of ‘em, starting in 2018:

Though a half-decade later he’s a shell of the player he once was, Francesco Molinari was one of the world’s best at this point in his career. So, too, to a degree, was Kevin Kisner, while the other three should hardly need any explanation.

Next 2019:

Once again, you might not have picked Shane Lowry to win that week at Royal Portrush, but…