Tiger's First Look At Royal Portrush: Angles, Complicated, Decisions

Words that are music to any golf architect’s ear and likely to mean Tiger Woods will be a happy camper if he’s forced to push so many buttons.

Having walked a few holes with his practice pairing alongside Patrick Reed, Tiger was understandably jet-weary from an overnight flight and easing into the round Sunday, but by day’s end appeared to be striking the ball as well as he has lately, with only a couple of quack push-shots. But Tiger Woods otherwise seemed ready and willing to see what he could learn in three days about Royal Portrush, as Steve DiMeglio reports for Golfweek.

Tiger’s attitude toward the course is a good starting place:

“A lot of movement,” Woods said of his initial reaction of the course hard by the North Atlantic in the northern-most tip of the country. “A lot of decisions off the tees, with all the angles. Now, with the wind switching coming out of the south in the future, a lot of these shots we hit today are useless. So we’re trying to figure out what lines to take on and what lines not to take on. And these green complexes are so complicated, you have to miss in the right spot.”

Phil Hits Control-Alt-Delete With Fasting Diet, Loses 15 Lbs For The Open

Putting the “funny Phireside” chats on hold, going on a retreat and living off water and a special coffee blend—really all the same things Willie Park Jr. did before the 1878 Open—Phil Mickelson has posted this missive from the hills above Royal Portrush. One thing he did not do: get a haircut.

View this post on Instagram

Let’s get real for a minute. I haven’t been my best and I’m doing all I can to get it right. I’ll have more Phireside chats soon as well as a fun new series too. Until then, HIT 💣’s

A post shared by Phil Mickelson (@philmickelson) on Jul 14, 2019 at 8:32am PDT

Video: Royal Portrush's Fifteenth And Sixteenth Holes

The par-4 15th begins a home stretch that could play very different from day to day all depending on wind. Downwind, the 15th and 17th will play very short, but into the breeze those two will become more challenging while the 16th and 18th might be neutral for the world’s best.

The flyover of the 418-yard 15th does not capture the difficulty of land forms here or the exposure of the green, but does give you an idea that another right-to-left shaped tee shot seems in order.

Calamity in all its glory, at 236 yards, is a stunning-looking par-3 though I don’t know how much the 75-foot falloff will come into play for the world’s best golfers.

Adam Scott Has Already Spent Six Days At Royal Portrush: "It’s so penal off the tee, no matter what you hit"

One player who immediately comes to mind reading the Forecaddie’s first look assessment of Royal Portrush is Adam Scott.

Ballstrikers course, mostly quiet greens and a real examination of all shot shapes. Throw in how few players know the course and his six-day deep dive into the 2019 Open venue makes him a very attractive 30-1 shot.

From Doug Ferguson’s AP story, that includes Darren Clarke’s (slightly predictable) suggestion for Scott to sample local whiskey.

“I was a bit surprised, my first look, at how demanding a golf course it is,” Scott said. “Sometimes on a links you can get away with wide shots. Here, you don’t. It’s so penal off the tee, no matter what you hit. If you start spraying it, there’s going to be reloading a lot. If the wind doesn’t blow, there will be less of that. It is a very, very strong golf course.”

Rory Happy With Scottish Open Play, Heads To Portrush The Betting Favorite

The punters have Rory McIlroy at 8-1 or so, the only single-digit price on the current OddsChecker board totaling all of the UK betting houses.

And while he wasn’t ashamed of his 67-67-68-69, the pushover that Renaissance Club proved wasn’t quite the exacting links test some might have wanted. Though McIlroy says he just wanted “a scorecard in his hand” and while it was unsaid, he surely wanted to arrive at Portrush late enough to cut down on the amount of “Rory” screams he will hear all week (with the best intent of course).

From Alistair Tait’s Golfweek report:

“All I wanted to do was get a scorecard in my hand,” McIlroy said. “Doesn’t matter if the winning score is 20 under or 10 under or whatever. I just wanted to play four rounds of competitive golf. I’m going to do that this week and at least have a better idea of where my game is at heading into next week, instead of having a few weeks off and trying to figure it out once I get there.

Feherty: Hatton's Violent Club "Throw A Better Swing"

Good to see David Feherty and friends are in fine form heading into next week’s Open coverage on NBC/Golf Channel, with some fantastic commentary on Tyrell Hatton’s splendid club hurl.

And as a few Twitter-posters noted, wait for the delayed vocal hurl if you’d like to be haunted by Hatton’s rage! Lovely consideration for his playing partner.

Video: Royal Portrush's Thirteenth And Fourteenth Holes

There isn’t much mystery to the 191-yard par-3 13th at Royal Portrush (view flyover here). It’s the most heavily-bunkered green here and features some nice wings for hole locations—at least they are nice if you aren’t trying to play to them in The Open.

The 470-yard 14th plays back toward the sea, with a fairway filled with bumps and pits to make it one of the most challenging tee shots on the course. Another elevated green awaits, with a steep fall-off left and a slight swale right.

Portrush's 1951 Open Championship: So Much To Savor In Reading About Max Faulkner's Win

Carve out a few minutes to read John Fischer’s look back at Max Faulkner and the 1951 Open win at Royal Portrush. Fischer covers so much of note about a fascinating character from the past who was rightlyfully remembered as an eccentric who lived an extraordinary existence.

Here is just one of many tidbits of note:

Faulkner had a major weakness: putting. His idol, Locke, seemed to make every putt, but Faulkner missed too many, and he continually changed putters, sometimes even making his own. His most unusual putter had a shaft made from a billiard cue and a head made from a piece of driftwood that Faulkner had found on the beach. He got good press about the odd putter, but it wasn’t that often in his bag.

Here is the official Open site’s write-up of the ‘51 event where hometown man Fred Daly was the favorite son.

There is also this cartoon—yes—recreating the greatest shot final round playing partner Frank Stranahan had ever seen, documented in Fisher’s piece.

Peter Alliss on Faulkner and the 1951 Open. He’s a bit more frail and yet as elegant as ever.

And the old film:

New 3M Open Takes A Ratings Dip Over Comparable Week, Perhaps Fueled By AT&T Dispute

It was an auspicious kick off to the new 3M Open with a thrilling final round headlined by Matthew Wolff’s last hole eagle to top Bryson DeChambeau’s last hole eagle, but some reported affiliates signing off as the event ran long. Others noted an AT&T satellite dispute with that meant coverage on at all for many.

Paulsen at Sports Media Watch compares ratings with last year’s 2018 Greenbrier Classic, now a fall event. He also notes pretty steady early round numbers and a nice increase over the 2019 Rocket Mortgage event’s ratings.

Video: Royal Portrush's Eleventh And Twelfth Holes

The 475-yard par-4 11th—viewable in this flyover by clicking on the link—poses the most daunting drive if the wind is up. A left-to-right shaped shot is called for but some of the trickiest dunes and vegetation await the wayward. Another green complex with only one bunker and a fall-off to the side.

The hole is named for the club’s first professional.

The par-5 12th plays straight away with pits off the tee to easily catch a slight miss. The par-5 narrows gradually as it plays through dunes and finishes at a small green fronted by a deep swale and fall-offs on all sides. Dhu Varren is the local railway station.

Coverage Reminder: Scottish Open From East Lothian

I’m overseas now and seeing some Sky coverage, but for those in the U.S. the Scottish Open accelerates the run-up to The Open. This year from the Renaissance Club, where architect Tom Doak and Sam Torrance are scheduled to make booth visits today.

Martin Dempster sets the table for The Scotsman, where the focus is understandably on Rory McIlroy. He’s kind of big over here in Ireland too, just based on the 14 questions I’ve gotten at customs, the taxi, the bartender, the…

Anyway, your Golf Channel Scottish Open coverage details that include network coverage on NBC during the weekend…

Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open

Dates: July 11-14

Venue: The Renaissance Club, North Berwick, Scotland

Tournament Airtimes on GOLF Channel (Eastern):

Thursday         5:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (Live)

Friday              5:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (Live)

Saturday          10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (Live) 

Sunday            10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (Live)  

Tournament Airtimes on NBC (Eastern)

Saturday          12:30-3 p.m. (Live)

Sunday            12:30-3 p.m. (Live)

Broadcast Notes:

New venue: The Renaissance Club is hosting the event for the first time, and also will stage next month’s Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open.

Final opportunity to earn a spot in The 148TH Open: The event will present the final opportunity (for those not already in the field) to gain entry into next week’s 148TH Open. The top-three finishers inside the top-10 (not already qualified) will earn a spot into the field.

Stone defends: Brandon Stone finished four shots ahead of Eddie Pepperell to claim his third European Tour victory.

Headlining the field: Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar, Kevin Kisner, Graeme McDowell, Si Woo Kim, Martin Kaymer, Matt Wallace, Henrik Stenson and Ernie Els.

NBC Sports Broadcast Team:

Play by Play: Rich Lerner

Analyst: David Feherty

Tower: Curt Byrum / Tom Abbott / Matt Adams

On-Course: Jim “Bones” Mackay / Warren Humphreys

Interviews: Damon Hack

Video: Royal Portrush's Ninth and Tenth Holes

The ninth at Royal Portrush will be a brute with any wind at all, as a right-to-left tee shot is needed with firm ground to offset the ground tilt and small bunkers awaiting drives not turned over. But turn it over too much and the trouble left appears to be of the pitch-out variety.

Playing through a beautiful dunescape, the 432-yard par-4 finishes with an uphill second shot to a deep, bunkerless green with a fall-off to the right, sideboard left. With two bunkers well short of the green, judging distance may be tricky here.

After a distinctive right-to-left bend to the previous par-4’s, the 10th turns things around and asks for a left-to-right shot shape to shorten its 456 yards. Maybe.

Playing through the Himalaya-like dunescape for which the 10th is named, the optimum view of this long, slender green set amidst dunes comes from the left side of the fairway, otherwise the sightline into the green is likely to be obstructed.

Will Tiger Woods Be Open Ready?

It’s the question on many minds as Tiger returns to the major he nearly won last year and where his creativity, shot shaping and wind-management give him an edge over less-seasoned players.

But as he goes from Pebble Beach to The Open without a start, it’s reasonable to wonder if just waking up at 1 am is enough to get ready. David Feherty thinks so, sort of. Pat Ralph at Golf.com with Feherty’s comments.

“He sticks to a plan,” Feherty said. “I think a good deal of it will depend upon the weather, which I suspect being from there may not be great. We may get some real Open Championship weather. Personally, I kind of hope we do. There’s something traditional or special about playing golf in bad weather. And Tiger typically is not renowned as a bad weather player. I don’t know what sort of shape his back is in for that kind of thing, but I know Freddy [Couples] suffered with it over the years. But the only mistake I’ve ever made about Tiger Woods is underestimating him. He’s an unknown quantity at the moment.”

Bob Harig takes a deeper look into the numbers and considers Tiger’s chances at Portrush for ESPN.com, noting that Woods has never played the week before The Open as a professional. There was this headline-grabber last week from Padraig Harrington:

"I personally think if you're serious about winning The Open, you've got to be playing tournament golf at least before it," two-time Open champion Padraig Harrington said before last week's Irish Open. "You'd rather be playing links golf and being in a tournament than just [playing] on your own, so if you're serious about trying to win the Open, you should be playing at least one, if not two, of the events running into it.

"I was always mightily impressed when Tiger Woods would play in a major without playing the week before. I'd be a basket case if I didn't play the week before."

It should be noted that even when Woods went over early and hung out in Ireland, he was usually playing golf at an inland course and not on a links buddies trip.

Video: Royal Portrush's Seventh And Eighth Holes; Rory McIlroy Explains How To Play Them

We’ve arrived at the two new holes created to make this Open a reality. You’ll see much coverage on this, including a Golf Channel feature I hope you’ll enjoy early in the week, with a special emphasis on architect Martin Ebert. (As with the previous flyovers, I can’t embed, so hit the links and enjoy.)

The new par-5 7th measures 590 yards and features a tribute to Nellie (hit link to see the flyover), the huge fairway bunker at the old 17th hole where the tented village will sit this year. What will be done with the old 17th has yet to be officially announced. But in the meantime, we will see if Ebert’s fairway bunker poses the same risk/reward threat as Nellie. From there the 7th winds through steep dunes that used to be part of Valley course holes before a fairly simple looking green, with some fall off left and in front. Note the exposure of sand in the dunes.

From there Ebert created a dogleg left par-4 8th that looks pretty stunning. The tees sit atop dunes and the 430-yarder bends around a ridge line except for one open sand pit that still looks a bit raw and new in this flyover. There are two small bunkers on the outside of the dogleg to catch drives not turning the corner.

This green complex looks much livelier than the 7th and similar to many at Portrush, with plenty of trouble for the missed approach.

Here are two R&A-produced videos with Rory McIlroy playing the new holes and giving his endorsement.

Geography Based: R&A Goes To Three-Hole Aggregate At Portrush

Good to see the R&A is simply looking at the holes before them at Royal Portrush to reduce their normal four-hole aggregate Open playoff to three, as Doug Ferguson reports here.

The mind immediately goes to (A) St. Andrews and its perfect four-hole rotation of 1-2-17-18 and (B) a possible caving to the demands of other majors to shorten the Open Championship playoff. (The Masters is silly sudden death, while the U.S. Open is two holes and the PGA Championship three holes).