MAGAZINE 2024-25
Having played the course last summer and come a cropper in one of the impossibly deep bunkers below the level of the tiny, upturned-saucer green, I want to park myself in the dunes behind the pin and watch how the world’s best take it on. To me, and to many chasing the Claret Jug on these famous links, it’s the stuff of golfing nightmares. In fact, much of the front nine was a struggle, thanks to the sand.
There are nine bunkers on the first, eleven on the second, five on the third and so on…My strategy for the day was to avoid them at all costs; in the middle of the second fairway, I was pulling my sand wedge for the third time.
During the 2016 Open, 2003 Champion Ben Curtis found three bunkers on the par 4 3rd. He took 10 strokes and afterwards said he wanted to “jump in the ocean.”
Last year at Royal Liverpool, Champion Brian Harman played the kind of game I was hoping for. In completing his 6 shot victory, he found only two bunkers, one of those on the 72nd hole when the Claret Jug was already his. He mastered the course and the elements – the essential ingredients in the recipe for success. If he can do it again, he’ll be the first Open Champion to successfully defend the title since Padraig Harrington in 2007/08. Denied a spot in a playoff for the Players by one putt at the last at TPC Sawgrass, he looks to have rediscovered some of that Hoylake form just as majors season gets underway.
The last time The Open was held at Troon in 2016 saw one of the greatest final days in championship history. Henrick Stenson and Phil Mickelson duelled around the famous links, going blow for blow. The fourth round was played in relatively benign conditions after a chilly, blustery first three days – and Stenson made the most of it, shooting a final-round record-tying 63 to beat Mickelson by three. The pair played sublime golf, finding fairways and greens while others fell foul of the bunkers and thorny rough.
He took 10 strokes and afterwards said he wanted to “jump in the ocean.”
World number one Scottie Scheffler leads the current PGA stats tee-to-green and on approach. Could he add the Claret Jug to the Masters title he won in 2022? His dominance in the rankings deserves more than just the one major title, surely. But being the world’s best player can be a burden at The Open. Tiger Woods is the only world number one to win the Claret Jug this century. Scheffler, though, is emerging as a rare talent, in the mould of Woods. His dominance in all aspects of the game has already delivered him a slice of history, as the first to win back-to-back Players Championships. And now he looks to have mastered his new putter, so a first victory on British soil might not be far away.
After all, Open Championships are always won with the flat stick. Cam Smith’s putter snatched the Claret Jug from under Rory McIlroy’s nose at the 150th Open at St Andrews with a magical stroke over the lip of the Road Hole bunker. Cameron Young was runner up that day, if we’re sticking to the subject of Camerons. He finished in the top ten at Royal Liverpool last year too. Not bad for his first two Open Championship starts. Maybe it’ll be third time lucky.
Jon Rahm shared second spot last year alongside Tom Kim, Jason Day, and Sepp Straka – with whom I squelched around the final 18 holes in the pouring rain.
Tiger Woods is the only world number one to win the Claret Jug this century.
What’s going to make the 152nd Open so intriguing, is that for all those names I’ve mentioned, bar Jason Day, it’ll be a first professional visit to Royal Troon. Day finished in a tie for 22nd back in 2016; Tom Kim was only 13 when Henrik Stenson won. Scheffler played his first Open Championship in 2021 – finishing in a tie for 8th at Royal St Georges, his best effort so far at The Open. The stars of the game are young, and play most of their golf on the lush, manicured courses of the PGA Tour.
So how about the relative old-timers? Those accustomed to the Scottish elements and the myriad other challenges of links golf? Shane Lowry missed the cut in 2016, but triumphed on Irish soil in the rain at Portrush three years later. Tommy Fleetwood was second to Lowry that day, and came close to a fairytale finish at Royal Liverpool last year. Hoylake’s 2014 hero Rory McIlroy will, as usual, be under the spotlight. As for the American challenge, Tony Finau, Patrick Cantlay and Justin Thomas all have great records if the wind blows.
And the eventual winner is likely to come from the United States. Stenson’s win in 2016 was the first non-American victory at Troon since 1962. They’re also likely to have challenged for titles in the run up to The Open. Shane Lowry, Collin Morikawa and Brian Harman all had second-place finishes in the weeks before their big wins. And they’ll be somewhere around 33 years old – the average age for an Open winner.
So who’s my bet for the 152nd Open? Golf is always pointless to predict. The weather, the course and the weight of history itself play too great a part. But put your money on an American in their thirties who’s been playing well lately.
You can thank me for the tip when I see you at the Postage Stamp.
