Ozarks First Digital Desk: Previewing the 36th Annual Price Cutter Charity Championship and 153rd Open Championship

SPRINGFIELD--The golf world will have its attention split, this week. Beginning EARLY Thursday morning, the 153rd Open Championship kicks off, across the pond, in Northern Ireland at Royal Port Rush. Meanwhile, back here in the Ozarks, the 36th annual Price Cutter Charity Championship also gets underway.

The final major of the PGA Tour season is sure to grab eyeballs around the globe, but, at the same time, every golf fan in Southwest Missouri will turn out to Highlands Springs Country Club to see the future stars of the PGA Tour attempt to win the iconic shopping cart trophy at the P.C.C.C.

David Kocher is the only previous champion in the field at the P.C.C.C. The 2022 winner's 72-hole total of -28 is still the tournament scoring record. However, that mark could be in jeopardy with Korn Ferry Tour rookie, Neal Shipley, playing this week. Shipley and Austin Smotherman are the only two players this season, who've won at least two tournaments. They, along with Johnny Keefer, who's already won one tournament and been runner-up twice this season, could all take advantage of their momentum and optimum scoring conditions.

Another interesting aside heading into the Open Championship is that this year marks the 30th anniversary of John Daly winning the 1995 Open title. Daly was able to defeat Constatino Rocca in a 4-hole aggregate playoff. Rocca famously made a 60 foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to tie Daly at -6 and force the playoff, but lost the playoff by four shots to Daly.

Adding to that drama filled Open was the end of one icon's competitive days and the beginning of another's. Arnold Palmer, the "King" of golf, played his final round across the pond that week. He, like so many other greats of the game, elected St. Andrews, the "Old Course", as the place of his final appearance in the Open Championship. Palmer won two Claret Jugs in his illustrious career.

On the flipside, Tiger Woods took his first go at winning the Claret Jug that week at St. Andrews. Woods, still an amateur, finished in a tie for 68th place, after shooting a four-day total of 295. Woods would end up winning three Open Championships, but the first two would come at the "Old Course" in 2000 and 2005.