Lee Today

 Former Nova Southeastern men's golf alumni Richard Mansell got his feet wet a year ago after competing in his first career Open Championship – and first career major for that matter. Back for his second dose of The Open in 2022, the 27-year old is now about to experience an even bigger moment as the season's final major heads to The Home of Golf with the opening round of the 150th Open Championship set to tee off Thursday morning at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland.

Mansell's opening-round tee time is scheduled for 6:04 a.m. ET.

The Staffordshire, England native earned a spot in The Open for the second straight time after shooting rounds of 73 and 70 at a qualifier in Holinwell, which served as one of four venues for Final Qualifying. To add icing on the cake, Mansell will also check off a bucket list item - competing in the same tournament as his "hero" Tiger Woods.  

"Obviously, when we qualified for the U.S. Open, we were really hoping Tiger was going to be there just to play an event with him," Mansell said after qualifying a few weeks ago. "He's kind of said that he's going to be at St Andrews, so even just to do that, you're hopeful you're just in the same event as your hero."

Woods has confirmed he will be playing this week. Mansell will also be back at The Open, where he hopes to build upon his strong showing in his major debut in 2021 when he posted rounds of 72 and 69 to make the cut before finishing tied for 74th – ahead of names like Phil Mickelson and Patrick Cantlay.

"Royal St George's (the site of last year's event) was a great experience - to play in my first major and make the cut," Mansell said in a previous interview. "So it was a goal of mine this year to get to The 150th Open at St Andrews. It's what you dream of growing up, what you work so hard for."

Mansell's game has been in solid form this season, as the 2017 NSU graduate has earned three Top-10 finishes on the DP World Tour along with an appearance at the U.S. Open in mid-June. He currently ranks 76th on the DP World Tour and 297th in the world overall.

"The 150th Open at St. Andrews is going to be an amazing experience for Richard," said NSU head coach Joey Marino, who served as an assistant on the staff in Mansell's final two seasons with the program. "I am looking forward to watching him compete. He has had an awesome season this year on the DP World Tour, and hope he continues that this week. Richard is still very connected to the Shark program and we wish him nothing but the best!"

Mansell finished his three-year career with the Sharks as the one of the most illustrious players in program history, making an instant impact since his arrival on campus in the fall of 2014. In his first season alone, Mansell collected First Team All-America honors and finished as the No.3 player in NCAA Division II all while guiding the Sharks to the program's second-ever National Championship. Mansell would eventually become a three-time, All-Sunshine State Conference selection and a three-time All-American. He once again ranked among the nation's Top-10 in 2016 following an individual berth to the National Championship before wrapping up his career by representing Team Europe at the 2017 Arnold Palmer Cup, in addition to being named a finalist for the Jack Nicklaus Division II Player of the Year award. His five career wins rank tied for second-most in program history.

HOW TO WATCH

NBC and USA will share TV coverage of the 2022 Open Championship. USA will air an exclusive telecast on Thursday and Friday, as well as early morning coverage on the weekend. NBC takes the reins for the heart of the third and final rounds on Saturday and Sunday.

Here's the complete 2022 Open Championship TV schedule for the week (all times ET):

Thursday, July 14: 4 a.m.-3 p.m. (USA)

Friday, July 15: 4 a.m.-3 p.m. (USA)

Saturday, July 16: 5-7 a.m. ET (USA); 7 a.m.-3 p.m. (NBC)

Sunday, July 17: 4-7 a.m. ET (USA); 7 a.m.-2 p.m. (NBC)

Fans can also stream the entire 2022 Open Championship via Peacock, including exclusive early coverage on the first two days, Featured Group and Featured Hole coverage for all four days of the tournament and more. Fans can also stream the Featured Group and Featured Hole coverage on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app.

Original source can be found here.