The 146th Open Championship Preview
The Open Championship began in 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Willie Park Sr. topped a field of just 8 players, beating Old Tom Morris by 2 strokes and earning the Challenge Belt (yes, the original prize was a red leather belt; after Young Tom Morris won The Open three consecutive times, they said fuck it and just gave him the belt to keep in 1870).
In 1871, they then had no trophy, so there was no tournament.
After Young Tom Morris won his 4th Open in a row in 1872, the Claret Jug was created. Here it is at Prestwick in 1925 (the last Open ever played there).
Here it is with Mr. Palmer at Royal Birkdale in 1961.
Here it is with Henrik Stenson last year.
Here it is with the boys this year.
The Open was first played at St. Andrews in 1873, which has now hosted the most with 29.
Harry Vardon has won the most Opens, taking down 6 from 1896-1914. Tom Watson, Peter Thomson, JH Taylor and James Braid each won it 5 times.
Old Tom Morris won the 1862 Open by 12 shots, the current Open record for margin of victory, and the major championship record until Tiger won at Pebble Beach in 2000 by 15.
Jack Nicklaus finished runner-up a record 7 times; these were his finishes from ’63 to ’80.
The Track
Royal Birkdale is hosting its 10th Open. It’s a second-shot golf course, as the layout prevents distance from serving as much of a factor. Basically the whole field will be playing approach shots from the same spots, as guys are forced to keep it short of brutal fairway bunkers and doglegs.
Dustin Johnson said yesterday that he’ll hit around 4 drivers per round, depending on wind. Phil didn’t even bring a driver.
Although his 3-wood is very strong.
Despite all of this, no player has finished under par at a Royal Birkdale Open since 1991 (2008, Paddy, +3; 1998, O’Meara, Even).
Let’s hope this trend continues; we love carnage.
Notable Holes
1st, 448 yards, par 4
That’s your first tee look, ladies and gentlemen. The first typically plays as one of the tougher holes on the course, and kicks off a 3-hole stretch of par 4s to open up your round. Not easy!
4th, 200 yards, par 3
At 200 yards, the 4th is the longest par 3 on the course. Its green doesn’t love holding balls. Its tee’s some 30 feet of elevation doesn’t help in the wind. And its 4 green-side bunkers don’t help imperfect shots find desirable spots.
Great hole.
6th, 499 yards, par 4
The 6th played as a par 5 in 2008, but will be a 499-yard par 4 this year.
This is one of the holes where Dustin Johnson said, depending on wind, he might hit driver this week.
7th, 177 yards, par 3
Included the 7th mostly because it’s got that cool ass bunker. Love that thing.
15th, 542 yards, par 5
The first par 5 doesn’t fall until the 15th. And it’s an interesting one, with 15 bunkers (mostly painting the fairway). The key here — like much of the course — is keeping it out of those bunkers.
17th, 567 yards, par 5
The 17th hole is a par 5. That is noteworthy. Prolly going to need to give yourself some looks for bird here to win this thing.
Paddy did this 9 years ago to lock up the jug.
18th, 473 yards, par 4
A lot of drama has unfolded here, but perhaps nothing more famous than Justin Rose as an amateur in 1998.
The 18th has the characteristics of a classic Open Rota finishing hole; a straightforward, tough par 4. Hit it in the fairway. Hit it on the green. Try to make a putt. Nothing fancy. Nothing tricky. Nothing quirky.
Good luck.
Clubhouse
Very peculiar clubhouse situation at Royal Birkdale. Thing looks like a modern art museum or maybe the new science center at some small university, yet it’s the damn clubhouse at historic Royal Birkdale. Weird.
I like it. Royal Birkdale Clubhouse grade = 7.8.
Weather
Let’s get those MPH’s up baby! And rain! Miserable weather for the win!
The Field
It’s a major so everybody’s here. Except Tiger who’s not here nor does he appear to be “here.” The gist here is, as mentioned, it’s a ball-striker’s course. The putting isn’t life or death. An average or even kinda shitty putter can hold his own and roll some in here.
Many like Hideki and Adam Scott. And Jon Rahm. And Justin Rose.
Rory’s been struggling, but for a pure ball-striker and streaky/inconsistent/just not that great putter, Royal Birkdale should appeal to him.
Brooks Koepka’s coming off a dominant U.S. Open win.
Paddy Harrington won the last Open here.
Predictions
Winning Score
I wanted to guess something decently low, but the weather’s looking worse and worse. Which is great.
These guys are good though. Very good. I think 6-under gets it done.
Winner
Look, Sergio Garcia is going to win an Open Championship before he’s done. I believe that. He’s just too good of a ball-striker and the tournament favors the shit out of ball-striking. The greens aren’t that difficult. They aren’t that fast.
Mark O’Meara won his first and second majors at the 1998 Masters and Open Championship. I think Sergio does the same in 2017.
The Steven Bowditch Memorial DFL Award
Kent Bulle. Kent won the Argentina Open; he will not win THE Open.
Dark Horse
Is it crazy to like Duf Daddy at 125/1 this week? He’s not a great putter and not a big distance guy, which seem to be two things largely evened out by Royal Birkdale. He sandwiched a win at the Memorial in between two missed cuts, so who the fuck knows where he’s at right now.
I’m taking Duf at 125/1.
Here are your betting odds.
Coverage
Thursday & Friday: Golf Channel 1:30 AM – 4 PM ET
Saturday: Golf Channel 4:30 – 7 AM; NBC 7AM – 3 PM ET
Sunday: Golf Channel 4 – 7 AM; NBC 7 AM – 2 PM ET
Final Thoughts
We included in this week’s hour-long chat with Brandel Chamblee a decent amount of Open preview talk. He also details how he prepares for covering a major, tells some stories about Rory, rules controversies, and much, MUCH more.
It’s my favorite episode we’ve done to date.
Enjoy The Open, folks. One of the coolest weeks of the year for golf fans across the globe.