Where is Royal St George's? When is the Open Golf Championship 2021?
Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire  Its been a long wait for golf fans, but after two years of no Open Championship, golf's oldest major is set to return after its pandemic enforced hiatus this week. The 149th Open Championship will host up to 32,000 spectators this week as part of a government test event, and sports fans the country over will be keeping a close eyes on events as they look forward to normality ahead of many of the countrys biggest sporting events. Sign up to our daily newsletter The i newsletter cut through the noise Sign up Thanks for signing up! Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The competition was postponed last year, alongside other major sporting events, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but golf fans can now breathe a sigh of relief, as the likes of Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry and tournament favourite Jon Rahm get ready to tee off the delayed championships in the coming days. The 149th Open will get underway July 15. A total of 156 golfers will compete to win the championship, and fans can look forward to warm, dry conditions as they return to back their favourite golfers. Located in Sandwich, Kent, Royal St Georges is the only Open rota golf course found in the South East of England and will host the tournament this year. Nestled on the coast between Ramsgate and Deal. It is the first time the Open will be played here since 2011. Since 1984, the venue has hosted 14 championships and is famously the first club to host the championship outside of Scotland. It has also held the Amateur Championship 13 times. The course measures 7,189 yards and play as a par 70 for the tournament. The first Open winner at Royal St. Georges was Englands J.H. Taylor, who won after rounds 84-80-81-81 in that first championships 127 years ago. Theres been several big names to have graced the course, with Harry Vardon and Walter Hagen winning twice Royal St. Georges. Sir Henry Cotton, Bobby Locke and Greg Norman have also been victorious at the venue. However, the two previous winners have came as a surprise, with American Ben Curtis and Northern Irelands Darren Clarke both pulling off major shocks. The tournament begins on Thursday July 16 and will run until July 18, with 48-year-old English golfer Richard Bland will be the first to tee off. The winner is set set to take home just under 1.5m, while the runner up will pick up just over 860,000. Thursday July 16  Sky Sports Golf / Main Event from 6:30am  Friday July 17  Sky Sports Golf / Main Event from 6:30am  Saturday July 18  Sky Sports Golf / Main Event from 9am  Sunday 18 July  Sky Sports Golf / Main Event from 8am  A message from the Editor:  Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.