​The Open Championship has produced more indelible images than any other major, and the best of them feel like golf’s version of folklore.The sport’s oldest major dates to 1860 in Scotland, the birthplace of golf. The unique seaside links settings feature undulating terrain, firm fairways and deep pot bunkers.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOne thing remains clear about the Open: chaos, creativity and resilience usually matter more than textbook ball striking. The championship keeps rewarding players who can improvise, survive bad bounces and keep swinging when the wind, the bunkers and the pressure turn against them.The 154th edition of The Open Championship begins early in the morning stateside on Thursday, July 16, at Royal Birkdale. Streaming coverage begins at 1:30 a.m. ET on Peacock. USA Network offers TV coverage from 4 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET.MORE: 8 reasons Royal Birkdale turns ordinary golf fans into Open Championship diehardsDefending champion Scottie Scheffler and 2014 winner Rory McIlroy are the favorites in a stacked 156-player field. European contenders Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm are nipping at their heels.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe big names are primed to produce another unforgettable week of links golf.MORE: The Open vs. every other major: Why Royal Birkdale’s week is golf’s purest testWhen the wind starts kicking up over the dunes and a leaderboard full of stars and complete unknowns starts to wobble, you know you are watching something that is going to live on in grainy highlight packages forever.Here are 11 of those memorable moments, the ones that still define what this championship is all about.The 150th Open at St. Andrews in 2022 had the feel of a Rory McIlroy homecoming story until Cameron Smith rewrote the script over the back nine. McIlroy started Sunday tied for the lead, controlled off the tee and in position to end his major drought at the place that carries more weight than any other in this championship.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWhile McIlroy played smart and mostly conservative golf, Smith went out in 34 and came home in a flurry, ripping off a run of birdies that included a nervy make on the Road Hole and a closing birdie at the 18th. His putter turned red hot at the exact moment the Old Course started asking the hardest questions, and McIlroy could not find a way to answer.The 2015 Open at St. Andrews seemed destined to end in a Jordan Spieth coronation, but instead turned into Zach Johnson’s moment. In a Monday finish after heavy wind delays, Johnson posted a clutch final-round 66 that got him into a three-man playoff with Marc Leishman and Louis Oosthuizen.In the four-hole aggregate, Johnson mixed steady pars with a timely birdie and let the Old Course handle the rest. He emerged with a second major and a claret jug that few would have predicted for him at the start of the week, showing again how the Open can reward patience and ball striking as muc