SOUTHPORT, MERSEYSIDE, ENGLAND – They are, perhaps, the two biggest names in the game right now, and both are chasing even more glory at the 154th Open Championship, held this week at quintessentially English venue Royal Birkdale. Scheffler, winner of last year’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush seeks back-to-back Claret Jugs and a fifth major victory. Rory seeks bookend majors this season after winning his second consecutive Green Jacket at this year’s Masters. And both of them seek to keep re-writing their names in the record books.
Repeat? Scheffler was asked, That would be nice was the obvious response, of course. But the sizzling temperatures and dry, fast, firm conditions will dominate the headlines and dictate strategy.
“This will be a firmer golf course. This is the first forecast I remember seeing it had no rain in it for the week. If it holds, it should continue to firm up, and we’ve got some warm weather as well,” he explained. “On each hole there’s a good bit of strategy; there’s a decent amount of thinking. If it wasn’t as firm as it is now, there wouldn’t be as much decision-making, but I think with the firmness, it creates a whole lot more challenges, I think, for us as players, just to try and control your ball and figure out where it’s going to end up.”
Scheffler is coming off his worst performance in years, his first missed cut in 79 tries last week at the Scottish Open, always a critical un up to the Open. Several golfers have won both back-to-back. But Scheffler came to Birkdale early after crashing out at Tom Doak’s Renaissance Club last week
“Yeah, you never want to have a weekend off, going into a tournament when you’re defending…[but] I got down here a bit earlier, just getting used to the course and getting some extra rest. In a week where there’s some more demands on your time isn’t the worst thing, even though quite frustrating,” he confessed. “I don’t think it hurts as much as coming close to winning and finishing second. I felt like coming in second at Travelers hurt more than missing the cut, but missing the cut is significantly more frustrating is how I would describe it.”
As for the course setup and changes authored by golf architect Tom Mackenzie, Scheffler was non-plussed.
“One thing I found interesting is it’s so obvious as to which holes had been redone. They look like they’re not even on the same golf course. You look at 14, 15, 16, those green complexes and the amount of slope that they have off of them are pretty severe and quite challenging. The 5th hole is kind of like that, 7th hole as well,” he asserted. Then he lowered his voice slightly as if giving a warning. “There’s some very, very challenging holes, especially the par-3s. The fairways this week are really tight, so you get a lot of cross-winds. They can be difficult to hold just because they’re so fast and they’re so firm. So, there’s a lot of thinking off the tee on whether or not you want to just hit driver up there somewhere and kind of play from the rough most likely, or do you want to start hitting some irons, getting it in some fairways and hitting some longer shots into the greens?”
Rory McIlroy focused on exactly the same point. With weeks of heat and dry weather, the golfers are hitting 300 yard 5-irons…and that’s not because they are stronger. It’s the almost trampoline effect of the turf.
“The big thing, especially off the tee here, is the fairway bunkers and avoiding those. You might see some guys being more aggressive off the tee, taking driver, trying to take the fairway bunkers out of play. Okay, it might be in the rough, but it’s not that penal, so you get a wedge in your hand and you can figure it out from there,” he revealed. “I think it’s a double-edged sword. I think all this dry weather and sun and a little bit of wind is obviously great for the course in one way, but when I was here a couple weeks ago, the rough was a lot more penal than it’s going to be this week. It’s definitely burnt out a lot.”
Unlike Scheffler, Rory was complimentary of the changes. Whether that’s because he’s being the positive influence and not wanting to make waves or whether he actually likes them probably remains to be seen depending on how he plays them. But his assessment was instructive.
“I think most of the changes are very good. I really like the 5th hole…[and] 7th. Some of the greens are maybe a little unnatural with the runoffs and sort of what they’ve tried to do with the mounding. But it creates a good challenge, and it creates options for if you do miss the green, whether it’s a putter, a bump-and-run, some guys might choose lob wedge,” he noted wisely. “And I think what we all know, even going back to Shinnecock a few weeks ago, when you give professional golfers options and you can create a little bit of doubt in their minds in terms of should I play this shot or that shot, that’s when things start to get fun, especially for the viewer. Not so much for us but…That to me is the sign of a good championship test.”
Both players are searching a bit as they enter the Open. Scheffler because he’s been so close to the Winner’s Circle, but just missed out, especially in the season’s first three majors. And Rory saw his game deteriorate – as he put it – after two strong days. He also played 30 holes on Sunday.
“I’ve had a very solid year, but like I said, frustrating at times because I’ve been close and I haven’t been able to get it done like I have been in years past,” Scheffler stated honestly. “And I’m excited to try and defend my title this week. For me, I was always trying to get out, play, get the most out of myself.”
McIlroy agreed, claiming he’s trending in the right direction after extra Trackman practice sessions over the last few days. And judging from the way he was striping on the range, he’s right. Better still, his past history here and his love of this links give him a leg up.
“I think one of the common things you hear about Birkdale is it’s very fair for a links golf course. The fairways aren’t overly undulating, so when you land the ball in the fairway here, it seems like it stays on the fairway. There’s not a ton of blind shots, which I’ve never really had a problem with, but…it’s quite a common thing,” he said candidly. “But I’ve always liked this course. I first played here in the Amateur Championship and then played an Open back here in 2017 and did okay. Certainly, if you were to poll every player in the field, I’d say it would be up there in terms of being everyone’s favourite Open venues to play for sure.”
The Open begins Thursday morning at 7 am local time.
