5 questions to be answered on Sunday at The Open

It's a stacked leaderboard on the historic Old Course, with Rory McIlroy sharing the top spot heading to the final round of the 150th Open Championship.

Outside of Tiger Woods being involved, things don't get much better than that in golf.

An incredible Sunday at St. Andrews awaits as McIlroy and Viktor Hovland share a four-stroke lead over the field. While there's always the chance of somebody making an outside run, it's likely a head-to-head matchup for the Claret Jug.

Here are five questions that will be answered in the final round.

Is it finally Rory's time?

Woods is still the sport's biggest star, but there's not much debate that Rory McIlroy has been a close second since bursting onto the scene as an 18-year-old in 2007.

With four majors to his name before the end of the 2014 season, McIlroy appeared destined to make a run at the record books. He's earned countless wins worldwide since then, and his career has been a smashing success, but the Ulsterman hasn't added another major trophy to his case over the past eight years.

Despite that drought, McIlroy has regularly played a factor in the majors, with 16 top-10 finishes in that span. This year, we've already seen his incredible Sunday 64 at Augusta to claim solo second in the Masters and two other top-10 finishes at the PGA Championship and U.S. Open.

It feels like everything has been building toward McIlroy getting the job done at St. Andrews. He finished third as a 21-year-old there in 2010, firing a record-tying 63 in the opening round. A freak ankle injury while playing soccer with friends forced him to miss the 2015 event as world No. 1.

It was an incredible scene on Friday between Woods and McIlroy when the 15-time major winner made his emotional walk up the last. Given what transpired, it would be fitting if McIlroy claimed victory Sunday at a course Woods has called his favorite in the world.

Will The Open scoring record be broken?

Unless the wind picks up significantly Sunday, there's a very good chance the scoring record at the Open Championship gets broken. Henrik Stenson's 20-under total of 264 at Royal Troon in 2017 is the current mark, well within the range of the leaders at 16-under this week at St. Andrews.

With Tiger Woods' 19-under mark in 2000 sitting as the lowest number at the Old Course, McIlroy claiming the new record would be a fantastic addition to the endless history at the home of golf.

McIlroy has now played seven rounds in an Open Championship at St. Andrews and has yet to shoot in the 70s. His only round that didn't fall in the 60s was a second-round 80 in treacherous conditions in 2010.

A 4-under 68 will be enough to match the record for either Hovland or McIlroy, with a 67 the number to pass Stenson.

Will a European finally win at St. Andrews?

It's been a steady diet of the stars and stripes at St. Andrews for the past 30 years, with South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen the only Open Champion to come from outside the United States at the historic venue. John Daly, Tiger Woods twice, and Zach Johnson have ensured the Claret Jug went stateside, but it's almost certainly Europe's time to shine Sunday.

McIlroy and Hovland have a chance to become the first European to win The Open at St. Andrews since Nick Faldo in 1990. That was just one year after McIlroy was born and seven years before the Norwegian.

A win by a European would also mark the second straight major for someone on the east side of the Atlantic after Englishman Matthew Fitzpatrick won the U.S. Open last month.

Will youth be served?

Golf has been trending younger by the year, and 2022 could potentially be the biggest proof that youth is served. Should Hovland, or anybody in the top five other than McIlroy, win The Open, it would mark the first time in history that all four majors were claimed by someone under the age of 30 in a calendar year.

Scottie Scheffler, 26, nabbed his first major title at the Masters in June, while Justin Thomas snuck in one more before his 30th birthday next April by winning the PGA Championship. The 27-year-old Fitzpatrick became the latest under-30 champion at last month's U.S. Open.

The 24-year-old Hovland has the best chance to ensure history is made Sunday. The former Oklahoma State star could also join McIlroy and Seve Ballesteros as the only Europeans in the last 100 years to win a major before age 25.

Will someone make a historic run?

Given the history at the Old Course, if someone is going to make a run at either Hovland or McIlroy, it'll be either Cameron Young or Cameron Smith from four shots back.

That stat eliminates names like Scheffler, Si Woo Kim, and Dustin Johnson despite the fact they're all inside the top seven.

While someone winning from more than four shots back would be a new development at St. Andrews, it wouldn't be unprecedented in 2022. Thomas entered the final round of the PGA Championship at Southern Hills eight shots off the lead but prevailed in a playoff.