The oldest swinger in Troon

It might be windy, wet and wild but The Open Championship is golf's original major and there's nothing else quite like it on Planet Sport

- JIM BLACK

IT'S the greatest show on Earth. For one week every year, The Open Championship holds centre stage on planet sport.

Nothing else in golf quite compares with the oldest major - not the Masters, the US Open or the PGA Championship.

So, what makes The Open so special? Why are upwards of 250,000 spectators prepared to deal with travel misery, trudge miles round a golf course with restricted views - often soaked to the skin for hours on endand pay grossly inflated prices.

for food, drink and keepsakes? Once you've paid your entry fee of £25 for Sunday practice, building to £110 on the final day, at £7.50 a pint, £8 for a glass of wine, £7 for a whisky and six quid for a gin, booze doesn't come cheap.

Neither does the grub, with prices ranging from £13 to £15 for a cheeseburger and chips, fish and chips or pizza.

It takes an army of bar and kitchen staff to keep the masses fed and watered.

They will down at least. 180,000 pints and consume around 150,000 burgers, fish and chips and hot dogs.

Add to that 30,000 hot drinks and 13,000 breakfast baps and it isn't difficult to work out exactly why The Open has morphed into a money-making machine.

The Open is also good news for the local economy with the event expected to generate in the region of £180million.

No trip to The Open would be complete without a visit to the merchandise tent, an Aladdin's Cave of grossly overpriced golf gear, paintings, antiquary and trinkets of all shapes and sizes.

But at £30 for a baseball cap or T-shirt and upwards of £130 for a Boss polo shirt, there is no such thing as a cheap day out at The Open.