Return to the home of golf

Central to the American love of baseball, basketball and football is the fact that, by and large, Americans still reign supreme in those sports. Plus, we invented them.

Golf, on the other hand, is as American as haggis with neeps and tatties. If steak and potatoes are considered comfort food in the U.S., haggis (sheep's offal, encased in sheep intestine, then boiled), neeps (turnips) and tatties (mashed potatoes) are the equivalent in Scotland.

OK, so the thought of eating a balloon full of mystery meat isn't so appealing. But the Scots also get credit for inventing golf, and for that we'll give them a pass on their peculiar cuisine.

Starting Thursday, the best golfers in the world return to the cradle of golf, St. Andrews on the east coast of Scotland, for the 150th British Open. Since 1754, St. Andrews has been the home of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, which along with the United States Golf Association sets the standards for the sport. If you're counting, that's 22 years before a single-minded band of men of mostly European descent signed the Declaration of Independence.

Scots have been playing golf since around 1400, about as long as they've had the University of St. Andrews, Scotland's oldest higher institution, founded in 1413. That's about 75 years before an Italian (Columbus) sailing under the Spanish flag made land in what is now the Bahamas.

In short, it's got some history. The Scots are serious about their golf; to them, the sport is akin to religion. And you don't raise your voice in church, meaning that if you watch any of the British Open coverage this week, you shouldn't expect to hear the drunken fan's howl ("You da man!") that demeans the game and has become so prevalent in America. Add that bit of bloviation to the USA's UAS (Ugly American Syndrome).

The Scots, to their credit, have not only supported their lads, they've also embraced great golfers from other countries. Especially the great Americans.

They cheered for Arnold Palmer in 1960, when he came to St. Andrews after winning the year's first two major championships, the Masters and U.S. Open, but fell a shot short of Kel Nagle in the British Open. Palmer would return to Royal Birkdale in 1961 and Royal Troon in 1962, and win both years.

They cheered for Jack Nicklaus, who won the British Open in 1966, 1970 and 1978, the last two at St. Andrews, and for Lee Trevino when he won the British Open in 1971 and 1972.

They cheered for Tom Watson, the gap-toothed "wee mon" (he's 5-foot-9), who won the British Open five times on five different golf courses, four of them in Scotland. Alas, none at St. Andrews.

And they cheered for Tiger Woods when he won the British Open in 2000, 2005 and 2006, the first two times at St. Andrews.

Great golfers have been coming to Scotland and the British Isles for a century and a half. The first British Open, which in most places outside the U.S. is just called The Open, predates by a year the start of the U.S. Civil War.