Rory McIlroy spent last night alone with his father playing 9 holes at Royal County Down. He has dispelled those who question why he hasn't played a competitive round in 3 weeks since he demolished the field at the US Open by saying he has got all the requests he received out of the way, and has followed the practice routine he is comfortable with leading into a major..“ I played nine holes and he walked around and it was a really nice moment. We did the exact same thing last year going into St Andrews. It brought back a lot of memories, playing with my dad on long summer nights, getting in at nine o’clock
Here are his thoughts on Royal St Georges and how to play it..
“This course is firm and it’s fast and with the wind you are going to have to keep the ball low. But sometimes it’s hard to run the ball into these greens because they’re so undulating and you can catch the wrong side of a slope and finish 20-30 yards away from the green. You are going to really need a very strong ball flight, especially if the wind picks up the way it is.
“With the rough not being up I think this golf course is going to be all about the second shot and making sure that you get the ball in the right position on the greens because they are so slopey that you’re going to have 25-30-footers all day"
Martin Kaymer the reigning USPGA champion thinks making the 6 footers for par will be the key this week..“You need to avoid the bunkers, because that’s always a penalty, you just need to chip out and go from there. But the key shots this week are going to be those six-10-footers for par. You will miss the greens and you will have some long putts with a lot of slopes between you and the hole. It’s very tough to hit them to a foot or two, so that’s why I think there will be plenty of tricky putts that you have to save for par.”
“The greens are very slopey and some approaches seem to be impossible, but that’s fine. It’s a big challenge and we are the best players in the world, so it should be tough.”
Phil Mickelson has had little success at the Open, one third place in 17 attempts. so he is trying a fresh approach this year....“I’m entering this year kind of like a fresh start. I’m not going to worry about past performances and I’m going to try to learn and enjoy the challenge of playing links golf. I don’t want to look back on past performances that haven’t been what I expect. But I feel excited and kind of reinvigorated to try to learn this style of golf and play it effectively.” He admitted that during today’s practice round he had played terribly. “But I really enjoyed it,” he insisted.
The rough is not as heavy this year as it was in 2003 and he thinks that will add to the test they face this week..."To me the subtleties of this golf course come through now that we’re able to keep playing and not having to wedge back to the fairway. The first hole is a great example of what I see throughout the rest of the golf course. There are three bunkers in front of the green that you have to clear and the front of the green is pitched away pretty severely so you have to be in the fairway to get the ball stopped. If you’re coming out of the rough and it doesn’t have any spin, there’s no way you’ll stop the ball on the green"
Young American star Nick Watney was 7th last year at St Andrews and has already won twice on the PGA Tour this year had these thoughts..It’s very difficult,” he said. “I think if the wind blows like this, and they keep the tees back, you could see some extremely high scores. I think it’s very challenging, but I’m looking forward to trying to tame it a little, hopefully"
“I really like links golf,” he admitted. “I’m a low ball hitter so I’d like to think that it suits my game. I really enjoy the different style to the game we see in America. I love the fact you have so many options on different shots. There’s a lot that goes into every shot, and I think that’s really fun.”
Every Open Championship is at the mercy of the weather, so here is the complete forecast for the next 4 days, and it contains a bit of everything..
The Met Office is predicting some turbulent weather over the course of the four days of this year’s Open Championship and, if its forecast proves correct, it could favour the golfers who tee off late on Thursday and early the following day.
The outlook for the Championship includes a combination of sunshine, showers and wind, with the wind predicted to gust up to 30 mph come Friday evening.
Thursday is forecast to be dry with variable amounts of cloud but also some sunny intervals. The wind will be north-westerly, 10 to 15 mph, with gusts of 20-25 mph, with isolated gusts of 30 mph in the morning.
Friday, will be dry and sunny at first, but with cloud gradually increasing during the day and there might be a possibility of patchy rain come the close of play. The wind will be calm at first, becoming south-westerly then southerly gradually increasing to 15-20 mph, possibly 30 mph when the late starters are completing their rounds.
The forecast for the weekend remains mixed.
Once overnight rain clears, there should be a fine start to the day on Saturday but cloud will quickly increase and rain, possibly heavy, will arrive by late morning before clearing by mid-afternoon to leave sunshine and heavy showers. The wind will be south to south-westerly, with gusts up to 25-30 mph at first, decreasing to 10-15 mph later on.
Sunday, it will be dry and bright at first, with sunny periods. However, it is anticipated scattered showers will develop later and some of them might be heavy. The wind will be south-westerly, 10-15 mph at first but increasing to 15-20 mph and with gusts up to 25-30 mph.
They tee it up at this 140th edition of the Open Championship at 1.30am EST tomorrow morning and I will be reporting on it here all weekend. It's always a great event, my favourite after the Ryder Cup and with the wind blowing there will be many twists and turns before the Claret Jug is hoisted Sunday around noon our time..
Your comments are always welcome..
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles
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