The Open Championship
Well golf fans the moment has come. We have reached the 6th and final major of the 2020-2021 PGA Tour golf season. This week The Open Championship is back after two years. Now as we all know last year's Open was cancelled due to Covid-19 for the first time since World War II. With that being said, this year’s Open is extremely important to the R&A, the group that runs the event much like The USGA runs the U.S. Open, the fans in Europe and lastly the players themselves. Although with the return of The Open there have been some issues surrounding the event.
As we all know this year the R&A is allowing 32,000 fans to attend each day, more than any other event this year so far. This is huge for sports as a whole, and gives people more faith in the fact that the worst is ultimately behind us. However there is a catch, while there will be 32,000 fans in the attendance the R&A has put some extremely strict and unfair rules and guidelines on the players and their team personnel. Among those strict restrictions are mandatory five days of negative Covid-19 whether you are vaccinated or not, no more than four people allowed in each bubble, and each player's house and or hotel needs to be examined and approved by the R&A. To be completely honest this is complete overkill and incredibly hypocritical. The R&A can allow 32,000 people and pad their pockets in one breath and then in the next breathe make the players restrictions so strict that they can’t even eat a meal with a fellow competitor. To me all of this just seems backwards, but it’s a major and the players need to abide by even these restrictions whether they are warranted or not because in reality they are playing for a trophy that will etch their names in history.
Aside from the restrictions, the course The Open is being played at this year is breathtaking. This year The Open heads to Royal St. George Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent, England. Now originally The Open was supposed to be held at Royal St. George last year and St. Andrews this year so everything will be pushed back one year. I’m a huge fan of this place because it carries a lot of Open Championship history. Rewind some 130 years ago The Open was only played in Scotland. That all changed in 1894 with Royal St. George. This club was the first club to host The Open outside of Scotland. Since that time Royal St. George has hosted 14 Open Championship, the most out of any host course outside of Scotland. I think that’s why I love The Open so much because it’s filled with history that dates back over 100 years ago. Another fine attribute about The Open is the true links style golf that will be played. Unlike the typical golf we see in the United States featuring trees, water hazards and thick rough, in Europe the golf is much different. At Royal St. George the golf course offers zero trees, long high fescue which can grow 3-5 feet high, and slick undulating greens. On top of that, the weather in England is absolutely awful. It will most definitely rain at least one day, and winds between 20-30 mph and honestly all that sounds incredible to watch. Nevertheless major championship golf is so fun to watch because as we’ve seen, especially this past year we are in for yet another star studded fully loaded week. (Mike)
One thing I wanted to touch on outside of The Open is how great it is to see Jim Furyk playing at such a high level on the Champions Tour. He claimed the Senior US Open at Omaha Country Club in rather impressive fashion. With someone who has such a unique swing, it sure is fun to watch him make it work. Also, Omaha Country Club looked absolutely remarkable before the severe storms rolled through. Even after the storms the course still looked remarkable on TV. There are many great courses like OCC that do not get the recognition they deserve. Here is to hoping we see more lesser known courses on different tours in the coming years.
How great it is to have The Open Championship back? One of the finest championships in all of sports. I was devastated last year that the great event had to be postponed, but it is back and life is seemingly making sense again in the golf world. Links style golf is easily my favorite so getting to see the pros battle the wind and the unique challenges the course will provide will be an absolute treat. I wish we saw more links courses on the Tour, but I will take what I can get. Should be a great week with lots of fans out there. I also love The Open because it starts so early in the morning here in The States. Waking up and already having major golf on is one of the finer things in life. I am excited for this week and am hopeful someone rather unknown lifts the Claret Jug on Sunday afternoon.
This week begins the point count for next year's President’s Cup, which is another reminder that the Ryder Cup is very near. This also means that the weeks to get points to automatically qualify for the team are numbered. There are a ton of fascinating story lines to follow as the weeks dwindle down. The captain’s picks are always a hot topic and this year will have plenty of spirited debates. One of the stories I am tracking is that of Patrick Reed. Does he get a captain’s pick if he does not qualify? I do not think so. Team chemistry matters and it seems like most of the US team does not like him so I think he would need to automatically qualify to make the team this year. (Tyler)
Pick’s of the week:
Mike: Once again I’ve found myself in the picks of the week section. Picking golf is difficult, but picking a major championship winner is down right impossible. It’s so difficult because to win a major it takes a special week. With that being said this week my winning pick goes to Jordan Spieth. Jordan knows a thing or two about winning The Open Championship having won it already in 2017. Now that’s not the only reason I like his chances. For starters he’s a phenomenal putter especially on those quick greens Royal St. George is providing. However my only issue is with Jordan’s tee shots. He’s known for his errant tee shots and the fescue is known to eat up balls pretty quick. Bottom line as long as Jordan drives the ball well he will be very much in contention.
My notable to miss the cut this week is Tony Finau. I’m a huge Tony fan but man has he been struggling as of late. Missing cuts left and right and not even sniffing major championships. I just don’t think Tony’s game is where it needs to be to get the big win.
Lastly my sleeper pick of the week goes to my man Tommy Fleetwood. Tommy is still looking for that big breakout win. I feel good about him this week, he’s playing a style of golf that he’s familiar with, he’s a great driver of the golf ball and his wedges are extremely sharp. Those two key qualities will really prove to be beneficial this week.
Tyler: Feeling really good about my pick’s this week. I think links golf will be a huge advantage to some and a massive disadvantage to others. My pick for the week is Patrick Reed at 33-1. I have picked him multiple times recently, but I just think he is going to get a win here soon. You need great hands around the greens to win The Open Championship and he certainly has those. He has had success on links style courses before so I expect him to replicate that success this week.
My darkhorse is actually two guys this week. I really like Rickie Fowler and Robert MacIntyre at 66-1. Rickie has had some more encouraging performances lately and is always a guy who seems to play well in the UK. After not getting to play in The US Open I think Rickie comes out firing this week. Additionally, Robert MacIntyre is a guy who has been playing some great golf and is a guy that grew up playing links golf. Like I said, I think that will be an advantage to some and I think it is certainly an advantage for Mr. MacIntyre.
However playing on the links style will be a disadvantage for others. I think Scottie Scheffler misses the cut this week. He has been tremendous in the last few majors, holding the lowest score to par over the previous four majors going into the US Open last month. I think links style gets the best of him this week and puts his great run on pause.