2016 Open Championship Preview

The oldest and most respected major championship in golf begins this week at the Royal Troon Golf Club, on the west coast of Scotland in the town of Troon, which is near no place you’ve ever heard of unless you live in Scotland. But that’s what Google Maps is for, so do look it up.

See the official Open Championship website.

This the 145th Open Championship, and the 9th at Troon. The last three winners here have been unexpected champions, Todd Hamilton in 2004, Justin Leonard in 1997, and Mark Calcavecchia in 1989. Tom Watson and Tom Weiskopf won before that, but Arnold Palmer defending his title here in 1962 played a large role in elevating the status of the tournament such that American players began to regard this trip abroad in July as a requirement.

The links course will play at 7,190 yards to par 71. It is designed in an out and in style, with the 9th green and the 10th tee located at the farthest points on the course from the clubhouse.

The 6th hole, at 601 yards, is the longest hole in Open championship golf. Two holes later comes one of the shortest, the par-3 8th, called “Postage Stamp,” because of the very small green, at a mere 123 yards.

Like the 8th at Pebble Beach, the 12th at Augusta, and the 17th at TPC Sawgrass, this hole is a simple short iron in length, but watch that landing! Deep bunkers surround the tiny green, and shots that are a hair off will roll into one. It would take no effort at all to walk off the green with a 5 without having hit a bad shot -- just not enough good ones.

8th Hole -- Postage Stamp

Overall, the first three holes are unchallenging, providing players with a comfortable warm-up. The next three holes feature two par fives surrounding a demanding par 3. Holes 7 and 10 run through a series of sandhills, and then begins the test. From 11 to the finish, excepting perhaps the 12th, a golfer is taken to the limits of his or her technical skills and composure.

The course was, without coincidence, built next to a rail line. Expect to see trains race by as players play the front nine, with the 2nd and 4th tees right next to the track.

Separated from the Firth of Clyde by only the rail line and sand dunes, the wind plays a prominent role, coming generally from the northwest. It will be behind the players going out, and against them coming in.

Who will win? It’s easy to pick the popular stars, but I’m going with Branden Grace. He has won twice this year, once on the European Tour and once on the PGA tour. He has three top five finishes in major championships since 2015. A victory here should not be a surprise.

Because of the Olympic Games, the PGA Championship will be played only two weeks after this one, at Baltusrol Golf Club on New Jersey. A golfer who gets hot and stays hot could win both!

2016 Masters Preview

Every time I write about the Masters I get in trouble. One time at The Sand Trap I tried to defend my contention that the Masters does not deserve to be considered as a major championship. After politely brushing aside one irrelevant invective after another, the forum owner locked down the thread.

Last year, when I wrote in this space that Augusta could become obsolete within a decade or so, people at The Hackers Paradise responded as if I were advocating kicking stray dogs and knocking down old ladies.

I just don’t get it. For so many people this tournament sits at the right hand of their supreme being of choice. So if I haven’t stepped in a big enough cow pies already, let me move onto this year’s tournament and try to offend people in newer ways.

Right off the top, it does no good to predict a winner. Bubba Watson is halfway though Arnold Palmer’s run of winning four times in consecutive even-numbered years, but Bubba has too much competition now. And Bubba is not Arnold Palmer.

Jason Day? Probably not, especially if the tournament committee has the cajones to give him slow play penalties like they did to some kid from Asia three years ago.

But since they didn’t flinch when Tiger Woods took an illegal drop on the 15th hole several years ago, Jason can take all the time he wants to visualize his shot.

Jordan Spieth? He’s enough off his game right now that he can contend, but not quite get there.

Rickie Fowler? Really.

How about Phil? Will Tiger show up and try to play? Arnie won’t make a ceremonial first tee shot. Gary will hit one and then do 400 crunches on the spot. Jack will split the fairway without even trying hard.

But what I really want to talk about is the thuggery that lurks behind The Perfect Tournament.

We all know that the Committee puts up with no nonsense. Gary McCord and Jack Whitaker were bounced from the premises permanently after using phrases like “bikini wax” and “mob” on the air.

Then there is the tournament’s own brand of Sharia law.


Golf writer John Hawkins said he was almost removed from the premises once when he stood on a golf cart to try to see above the mob. Sorry, gathering of fans. Sorry, patrons. What he was removed from, physically, was the golf cart.

This month’s Golf Digest has a column by The Undercover Pro about all this. About players. Cell phones on the practice tee? “...it’s not worth the potential aggravation.”

His coach took a video of TUP’s swing with a Blackberry and spent the rest of the day enjoying the sights of downtown Augusta.

To make a long story short, TUP’s Dad tried to use his phone on premises to check on a credit card that had been declined. “...two guards [!] grab him by the shoulders and usher him out...into a small room and I have to go and get him...there’s no sense of sorry for any misunderstanding.”

Then there’s the killer finish. “Tons of players have stories just like mine, I’m sure. Nobody talks about them because life’s easier when those stories don’t get out.”

As long as I’m digging myself a hole here, I might as well dig all the way. I would love to see the numbers on how many people attending the tournament are ejected and for what transgressions. But that’s a more closely guarded secret than which Tour players have been fined for profanity.

What I would also like to see is, just once, for the USGA to set up the course in U.S. Open style and see how it would hold up. I mean, it no longer plays as it was designed, so why not? You know. Rough? Narrow fairways? Pins you don’t dare shoot at?

As for me, I’ll watch the final few hours of the broadcast on Sunday afternoon. Something historical could happen. But on the other days, I’m going to worship at the golf course of my choice, and it ain’t Augusta.

Can’t hardly wait for the U.S. Open in June.

2015 Open Championship Preview

The oldest championship in golf begins this Thursday on the Old Course St. Andrews (“Sinandrews”, to the locals).

The first Open Championship played here was in 1873, and won by Tom Kidd, who shot 91-88 to win by one. Twenty-six competitors teed up for the tournament that was done in one day.

The last time the OC was played here, Louis Oosthuizen won in a walk over Paul Casey.

This aerial photograph shows the first green just beyond Swilcan Burn (lower right), with the 17th green just to to the left. The course runs between the white boundary lines that head toward the upper left of the photo.

Golfing fans have seen this course so many times, it is about as familiar as Augusta National. There are a few things you might not know about it, however.

There are seven double greens, 2/16 through 8/10. They are so large that it takes a truly awful shot to encroach the oncoming group. They can also present a golfer with the longest approach putts he will ever face.

Pay special attention to the 7/11 green, fronted by the Strath bunker, which is in play on the tee shot from #11. It is easy to get into and hard to get out of.

The primary defenses of the course are its bunkers and the wind. Many of the bunkers cannot be seen until you find your ball in them.

The wind can change direction at any time. A wind in your face on the outgoing nine can easily turn around and be in your face coming home. The wind can also carry your ball onto the green, or lead it to one of the infuriating bunkers.

The place to make a score is the Loop, where the course hooks and turns back around, the 8th through the 11th holes. 8 and 11 are little par 3s, and the 9th and 10th are drivable par 4s. The short par-4 12th can be had, too.

Odd note: The course was designed to play in the reverse order from how it‘s played now, viz., 1st tee to 17th green, 18th tee to 16th green, etc. Someone said, the placement of the bunkers seems odd, but when you play the course “backward”, they all make perfect sense. Every year on the first Wednesday in September, the original routing is followed. See here for a fascinating analysis of the reverse course.

Personal note: I played this course in 1968, when you could walk right up to the starter’s shack, pay your fees, and wait for the group on the first to tee to go off and then it was your turn.

How did I do? I kind of got eaten alive, but had loads of fun.

On the first hole, I played a run-up into the green, an obvious shot just by looking at it. As I walked up the fairway, I saw this crack in the ground that gradually got wider. That didn’t give me a good feeling. Sure enough, my ball was in the Burn. “Now I know,” was small consolation.

I did, however, birdie the 17th, the Road Hole -- 3-wood over the hotel, 3-iron onto the green, 20-footer. I thought at the time the hard shot was the tee shot. I didn’t know anything about the Road Hole bunker (and look how close it was to the pin that day!). I guess the Golf Gods didn’t want my ignorance to hurt me twice.

I’ve given up predicting winners or even taking about who the front-runners are. Just enjoy the broadcast and be sure to set your clocks to wake up early on Sunday.

Oh, yes. Word is out that this could be the final OC for legendary starter Ivor Robinson.

2015 Masters Preview

I have to tell you right off I am not a fan of the Masters. I don't see it as a major championship. It's a good tournament played on a beautiful course. But it is surviving on hype and history right now.

My preview this year is a reprint of a post I put up last year after the tournament was over. Because of that timing, what I had to say might not have gotten the attention it deserved. So here it is again: Augusta National is obsolete.

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Augusta National is a Depression-era course built when 250 yards was a respectable professional distance off the tee. Steel shafts were just being introduced and golf ball technology was still rudimentary. For decades, Augusta was a strategic test that matched the capabilities of the day’s best golfers.



Cracks started appearing when Jack Nicklaus arrived. He played 420-yard holes with a driver and a pitching wedge, not a driver and a 6-iron.

When Tiger Woods came along thirty years later, the course had to be “Tiger-proofed,” because his length overpowered the cozy design. Now, everyone hits the ball as far as he did fifteen years ago.

The latest insult was Bubba Watson, whose length mocks August’s most difficult holes. He plays the 485-yard 13th (pictured above) with a driver and a wedge. In ten years, there will be fistfuls of players who hit the ball as long as he does. What then?

The Augusta membership is proud of its course. It's unique in the world and one of the world’s most challenging. The Masters has always been played there; it was meant to be played there. The Masters and August National are one and the same. This puts the membership in a trap. There is no other place where their Masters can be held.

The USGA is rotating its championship to newer courses built to challenge today’s golfers, Merion East in 2013 notwithstanding. That course was tricked up beyond belief in order to stand up.

The R&A is doing its best to keep its legendary courses in the Open rotation, but cracks are showing up in that strategy, too. The Old Course at St. Andrews is nearing the same fate as Augusta -- too short, and running out of room to add length for the sake for length, not for the sake of strategy.

The table has been turned on these ancient courses. Instead of challenging golfers, they are now being challenged by the golfers. Professional golfers will soon be dominating them no matter what is done.

It could easily be the case that in fifteen years Augusta National will have no more slack to give. Its only defenses would be the pin locations on its forbidding greens. The tournament could be won the by the golfer who has the fewest three-putt greens over the four days of competition. Tee to green strategy would be irrelevant. A sad fate.

At this point in the essay, I am supposed to present my proposal for a way out of this jam: how to salvage a seemingly lost situation. I don't think there is a fix. The hard fact is that Augusta National was designed to play at about 6,800 - 7,000 yards. It has been stretched beyond that about as far as it will go. When its current 7,400 yards is no longer enough, the course might have to be retired.

Retirement happens to everyone and everything. We have our heyday, we have our glory. The time comes when we are overtaken, and we must take a seat on the sideline for the next generation. The question is, will the Augusta membership be able to retire their course with dignity when the time comes, which it surely will?

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Tiger Woods announced he will play in this year's Masters. I don't expect him to be a factor, but I hope he doesn't fall on his face. There are easier courses on which to start a comeback than August National.

2014 Open Championship Preview

We go back to Hoylake this year, formally known as Royal Liverpool. The Open Championship has been played here eleven times before, with these winners:

1897 - Harold Hilton
1902 - Sandy Herd
1907 - Arnaud Massy
1913 - J. H.Taylor
1924 - Walter Hagen
1930 - Bobby Jones
1936 - Alf Padgham
1947 - Fred Daly
1956 - Peter Thompson
1967 - Roberto De Vicenzo
2006 - Tiger Woods

The British Amateur has been played there eighteen times, most recently in 2000. Royal Liverpool hosted a British Women’s Open for the first time in 2012, won by Jiyai Shin.

The course appears flat and featureless at first glance, but subtlety is its middle name. It will seem like the wind is always coming from the wrong direction. Gentle mounds, called cops, line the fairways of several holes. They are meant to keep rolling balls from going out of bounds, but will not aid a poorly hit shot.

In the traditional course routing, hole 1 is the dogleg right that lines the driving range, which is lined by one of the cops. Going over the cops into the range is out of bounds. Golfers trying to cut the corner had better win the bet. The cop runs all the way past the green and is hard to the right of it, so hitting two balls OB on one hole is not unimaginable.

This hole will be played as number 3 for the Open, so the concluding hole can be the 551-yard 16th. The traditional 17th and 18th, being played this week as 1 and 2, are too tame to be concluding holes for an event of this caliber.

Every hole deserves its due in this blog, but of special note is the par-3 ninth (new routing), lined by a cops on the backside. Over the cops, OB.

The course winds out to the sea from 10-14, heading back inland on the short 15th (pictured). Then the test begins. Three long finishing holes, with par of 5, 4, 5, do the sorting out. Number 16 is easily reachable in two, but pot bunkers on the left front and tall grass ringing the rest of the green require a supremely accurate second to get on in two, with the wind likely to against you.

Number 17 grazes the practice ground again (OB, remember?). Number 18 runs along the practice ground, turning right just beyond the landing area. A direct line to the pin flirts with OB. This hole could induce a contending golfer to attempt a dramatic all-or-nothing gamble in a last-chance effort to make up strokes. Roberto De Vicenzo did just that in 1967 to beat Jack Nicklaus for the title.

While the USGA loves drivable par 4s, there will be none at Hoylake. Also, the course is well-watered and lush. The strategy of teeing off with a 2-iron, which Tiger Woods used to such advantage in 2006 on a dried-out course, won't work this year.

The players? Forget about Tiger. His decision to enter is questionable, both for his recovery from spine surgery, and for his re-entry into competitive golf. There is no question of him winning or even contending.

Most eyes are on Martin Kaymer, and that’s not just front-running. He has returned to the fade that worked so well for him, and his two victories in high-profile tournaments this year demonstrate his mental toughness.

But winning another big one is asking a lot from him. Consider the other golfers who have been playing well this year and are lurking around the victory stand.

Rickie Fowler has a first-class record in majors this year, finishing 5th at the Masters and 2nd at the U.S. Open. Keep an eye on Adam Scott, Henrik Stenson, Jimmy Walker, Jordan Spieth, and Justin Rose. Angel Cabrera just won a Tour event, and he knows how to win major titles, too.

For me, the U.S. Open and the Open Championship rank 1 and 1A. I never can decide which one is which, though. If these were the only two tournaments I was allowed to watch on television all year, I would be content.

2014 U.S. Open Preview

The greatest tournament in golf is upon us this week. One hundred fifty-six qualifiers will tee it up at Pinehurst No. 2 in Pinehurst, North Carolina. As usual, the U.S. Open is all about the course. This year, the course is very different from any one in recent memory. Why? There will be no rough. None of the famous U.S. Open rough will be anywhere in sight.



Golf course architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw restored the course in 2010 to the original Donald Ross design. They took out what rough there was and put back the original sandy waste areas bordering generous fairways. Wire grass that grows here and there will add to the difficulties presented by unpredictable lies.

Note to Dustin Johnson: read the rules sheet!

In addition, each hole is lined with trees that serve to isolate it from the rest of the course. The feeling is that where you are in all there is, isolated from the the rest of golf, maybe even the rest of the world. However. Errant tee shots running through the waste areas will end surrounded by trees, which will cause serious problems getting out with much more than a sideways chip.

The strength of the course is its greens, which have landing areas that could fit in a thimble. Shots mishit slightly will roll off the green to collection areas difficult to chip from. Subtle breaks in the greens mean getting down in two putts won’t be a walk in the park.

There are no holes in particular that stand out. Each one requires careful planning and precise play. One change that was made for this tournament is switching par on the fourth and fifth holes. The fourth, a short par five, is a long par 4 for the Open. The fifth, a long par four, the green of which is not receptive to a long second shot, has been lengthened to a 576-yard par 5.

Who will win? Phil Mickelson! The winner will need to be able to get up and down A LOT, and whose short game is better? If Phil can play to reasonable form from the tee and fairway, that might be all he needs to win the one he has just missed so often, and complete a career major slam.

The USGA always has fun with the groupings in the first two rounds. Here are a few of the notable ones:

Mickelson, Rose, Fitzpatrick - the traditional pairing of the reigning British Open, U.S. Open, and U.S. Amateur champions

Watson, Scott, Scharwtzel - recent Masters champions

McIlroy, Simpson, McDowell - recent U.S. Open champions

Els, Clarke, Oosthuizen - recent British Open champions

Dufner, Bradley, Kaymer - recent PGA champions

Goosen, Ogilvy, Glover - former Open champions who haven’t won much since

Stenson, Kuchar, Westwood - the best players never to have won a major

De Jonge, Stadler, Lowry - really fat guys

Donald, Casey, English - the first two are English, while the third isn’t, but . . .

Spieth, Matsuyama, Fowler - really good young guys

Holmes, Woodland, De Laet - this year’s Bombs Away group

2012 PGA Championship Preview

Three of the four major championships of golf are played on old, familiar courses. The Masters is always played at Augusta National, of course. Traditional courses are getting the U.S. Open once more, and the British Open has a set rotation of venerable links and parkland courses. It takes the PGA Championship to break new ground.

The PGA will be played this year at the Ocean Course on Kiawah Island in South Carolina, near Charleston. The black tees stretch out to 7,873 yards, but the PGA will be played from 7,676. You won't find the short par 4s that the USGA loves so much anywhere in sight here (maybe).

In fact, let's just be up front about it. This is a really, really hard course. Really hard.

2012 British Open Preview

The British Open will be played at Royal Lytham & St. Annes this week, for the tenth time. Set on the west coast of England in the city of Blackpool, the course is a blend of seaside and urban settings. The ocean is only a half mile away, so it will not be seen from the site, but winds off the Irish Sea still affect play. The course is surrounded by domestic housing and is bordered on its south side by a British Railway line.

Royal Lytham & St. Annes has left behind some of the most finishes in Open history. Bobby Jones's flawless shot from a fairway bunker on 17 in 1926 put his ball on the green inside Al Watrous's approach. Watrous went from thinking he had Jones beaten to three-putting and handing Jones the title. A plaque now marks the spot of Jones's shot.

2012 U.S.Open Preview

For the fifth time, the U.S. Open will be played at the Lake Course of the Olympic Club in San Francisco, but it will be a much different course than before. A devastating disease that stuck eight years go killed hundreds of Monterrey pines that lined the fairways. While that opens up the fairways, it might make things harder, not easier, because that will let in the nearby ocean wind.

  Eighth green

You might not know that Olympic was founded as an athletic club, not as a golf club. Olympic trained, well, naturally, Olympic athletes, who won medals in the early part of the 20th century. In that era as well, Olympic fielded its own football team, which played, and occasionally beat, California and Stanford. Golf came into the picture in 1918, with the Lake Course being built in 1924. As much as I enjoy the Open just for what it is, I enjoy it even more when the course is nice to look at. I can't think of one that is prettier in itself and in the views of its surroundings than this one.