7 storylines that will shape the 149th Open Championship

The final major of the season is here, finally ending a two-year wait for golf fans.

The 149th Open Championship begins Thursday at Royal St. George's Golf Club. A field of 156 hopefuls will take on the links course in Sandwich, England, for a chance to win the prestigious Claret Jug.

Here are seven storylines that will shape the 149th edition of golf's oldest major:

Rahm's opportunity

Jon Rahm has a rare opportunity to join an exclusive club by going back-to-back at the U.S. Open and Open Championship. Only Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, and Tiger Woods have completed the Open-Open double since World War II, with Woods the last to do so in 2000.

Rahm is heavily favored to win, too. Oddsmakers are placing the Spaniard around +800, nearly twice as short as his closest competitor, Brooks Koepka.

A victory would signal that the flood gates at major championships are truly open for Rahm. He took a little longer than some expected to earn his first, but few believe he won't win another.

Bryson vs. links golf

The wait is almost over. Golf fans will soon have the opportunity to witness Bryson DeChambeau and his immense power on a links-style golf course for the first time.

Fans were robbed of the spectacle last year when DeChambeau's distance was at its peak, but there's no doubt he'll still try to overpower Royal St. George's regardless of windy conditions or quirky bounces.

Love him or hate him, there's no denying the intrigue surrounding DeChambeau this week. But it may not be his driver that ultimately decides his fate. The 2020 U.S. Open champ will need to scramble as he did at Winged Foot to have any chance at the Claret Jug.

Is Spieth actually back?

There's no doubt Jordan Spieth has found something in 2021 to lift him to a place in the game that he hasn't occupied since 2017. He enters as one of the betting favorites to win at Royal St. George's after playing extremely well this year.

But is it really time to declare the three-time major winner "back" with only a Texas Open victory to prove it? That April win likely matters very little to Spieth if he can't translate his solid play to major championships.

Spieth has a great opportunity this week to prove himself worthy of consideration as one of the best players in the world. Links golf fits his creativity perfectly, which is why he's gained the most strokes of anyone in the field over the last five Opens. The 27-year-old is expected to contend, and anything other than a late tee time Sunday will be a disappointment.

Rory's drought

It's Rory McIlroy. It's a major. It's the Open Championship.

All eyes will be on the Northern Irishman as he looks to track down his second Claret Jug. He's only five starts removed from winning at Quail Hollow and gave himself a solid chance to win the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

"I think if I played like I did at the U.S. Open, I'd take my chances. But I feel like I can play better," McIlroy said Tuesday, according to ASAP Sports.

In his last four starts at The Open, McIlroy has missed the cut at Royal Portrush and finished inside the top five three times. He has more experience playing links golf than any of the other top players in the world, which should give him an advantage.

But if he can't walk away with the title Sunday, it will mark seven full years since McIlroy's last major victory.

Another dark horse?

The last two times Royal St. George's hosted the Open Championship, it produced two champions no one saw coming: Ben Curtis, who had odds around 500-1, Darren Clarke, who was then 42.

Could another extreme dark-horse winner be in the cards? It's not out of the question.

The Open is often considered more wide-open than the other majors due to the nature of links golf, with luck heavily involved in the outcome. In fact, there have been four winners since 2000 not ranked inside the top 50 in the world:

Having a 500-1 long shot pull off the victory is still highly unlikely. But players like 48-year-old Richard Bland, who contended at the U.S. Open, and Stewart Cink, a former Open champion with two PGA TOUR wins this season, are golfers to watch.

Bring on the wind

Whenever golf's best players travel overseas to compete for the Claret Jug, fans almost expect nasty weather to play a significant role in the outcome. It's the Open Championship, after all. If the wind isn't howling or the rain isn't pouring down, the test becomes far easier - and no one wants that.

Unfortunately, it appears the rain will avoid southeast England this week. But there will be wind. And with the course situated right on the coastline, the weather can change on a dime. Either way, golfers appear to be in line for an extremely difficult test, which should make fans very happy.

Young vs. old

The Open Championship has been very kind to "older" golfers and tends to demand a good deal of experience. That's clear when comparing the average age of Open winners since 2011 to those of other major championships:

Recent winners like Clarke, Shane Lowry, Francesco Molinari, Henrik Stenson, Zach Johnson, Phil Mickelson, and Ernie Els underscore the point that veterans can - and do - win The Open.

The last nine champions also averaged 12 appearances at The Open before finally claiming the Claret Jug.

Will this trend continue? Perhaps.

But never before has there been such an elite crop of young talent set to take on Royal St. George's, with many rising stars making their Open Championship debuts.

Collin Morikawa - the highest-ranked debutant in the history of The Open - leads an elite group of first-timers looking to make history. If one of Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Will Zalatoris, Scottie Scheffler, or another of their fellow youngsters can hoist the Claret Jug, they'll be the first to win in their debut since Ben Curtis in 2003 - who also did so at the Sandwich, England venue.

There are other serious young contenders, too. Rahm, Spieth, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, and Patrick Cantlay are all still in their 20s and well under the average age of recent winners.

Come Sunday, the question of who has the upper hand - the young guns or the seasoned veterans - will be answered.