Rough! Players Told To Quit Their Whinging

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The Telegraph's James Corrigan on Tony Jacklin holding court Monday and suggesting that the players need to quit the their whinging/whingeing (definition for Yanks here).

“You really don’t get the guys in with a shot complaining about the golf course,” said Jacklin, the last Englishman to win an Open Championship on home soil. “It’s controlling the golf ball that wins you majors. If you don’t drive well here you’ve got no chance.”

“Golf courses are to be played. The rough was high at Muirfield in 1966 when Nicklaus won – they had two stewards on the left and right of every hole. He drove with a one-iron all week. Tiger [Woods] won at Hoylake with a one-iron all week. You cannot get out of the fact that it’s controlling the golf ball that wins you major championships and that’s the examination.”

Ewen Murray of The Guardian quotes Peter Dawson, who is chalking the rough up to the weather and nothing more.

Dawson, however, delivered a firm "no" when asked if conditions are unfair. "The rough is up but the course is reasonably generous on width and most of the players seem happy with it, at least those I have spoken to, maybe 20 or so," he said.

"It's nature. We are not starting bailing rough on seaside courses. It grows in the month before the championship. Some years we have a dry summer [and] you get wispy rough; in wetter warmish conditions you get thick rough and a softer course. We don't cut the rough other than the first and second cut."

Meanwhile this was odd, but I'm going to chalk it up to Ian being out at a strange hour and perhaps the greenkeeping crew washing away some clippings.

"When I was out there at 4.50am this morning I did see them watering the rough. I can't even remember on what hole but I was scratching the top of my head thinking‚ 'Wow.'"

Claret Jug Believed To Be Resting Comfortably Awaiting Surgery At An Undisclosed Blackpool Trophy Shop

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From Paul Newberry's story on defending champion Darren Clarke returning the Claret Jug in slightly worse condition than he found it last year after winning at Royal St. George's.

"It's not quite in as good a condition as I received it in," Clarke said. "It's been here, there and everywhere. But Mr. Dawson looked at it and said, 'Oh, we can fix that, we can fix this.' So it's not too bad."

He was a bit vague on the details of the damage.

"I didn't drop it," Clarke said. "Not in my possession. I shall say no more. It was nothing to do with me. (But) it's not that bad."

Ogilvy On Lytham: "It is a sort of 'non-seaside' links."

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Geoff Ogilvy on playing Lytham in 2001 and other memories of the place he first saw in 1996.

Still, while the first nine at Lytham is no pushover, it is the back nine that sticks in the memory. The six-hole string of par 4s heading home, after the potentially card-wrecking par-3 12th, is a stretch any golfer will be glad to play even par if the prevailing breeze is blowing. I know that to be true. In 2001 I was back at Lytham, this time to play in the Open. I missed the cut, but I recall enjoying the challenges presented by that tough inward half.

Gary Player Interrupts His Memories Of Lytham To Advocate Spending Money On Kids Instead Of Changing Golf Courses

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Gary Player files a lovely Observer remembrance of his win at Lytham, though it is short on details about nearly losing his ball on 18--that is peppered with anecdotes and tips on playing the course.

Included is this nice little sidetrack of a rant.

They have made deeper and more riveted bunkers on the 2nd and other holes at Lytham, although the fact they have to do that concerns me on a wider scale. Lytham is hosting the greatest golf tournament on earth and they have to change the golf course.

It is happening everywhere, at the cost of hundreds of millions of pounds. And why? All that needs to happen is that the ball needs to be slowed down in the professional game. They shouldn't have to make changes to these great golf courses; money wasted on that should be spent on youth, the trustees of prosperity.

Tiger Ably Describes Rough "Almost Unplayable" In Spots; UK Papers Declare His Shock, Horror And Sadness!

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Last night I read but could not post Bob Harig's story catching up with Tiger Woods following his Sunday practice round at Lytham.

Tiger described what he saw:

Woods noted that the rough is more difficult than he remembered it at Lytham, likely due to the prolific rain the area has seen. "In some places, it is almost unplayable,'' he said.

Nonetheless, Woods was thankful to see the course on a relatively nice day, with the sun shining and the wind blowing.

Yet The Guardian described Woods as "shocked," the Daily Mail says Woods "fears" the hay, the BBC says he is "questioning" the tall stuff, the Mirror says he was less than "polite," while the Telegraph offered the more modest suggestion that Tiger is "keen to avoid" the rough.