Open Friday

The weather in Southport has only delivered half the goods.... Enough wind to make things difficult for the boys, but still dry.  For now....

Golf Channel had an interesting graphic during my first cup of coffee.... It showed DJ on the tee of the Par-3 7th, with a comparison of Thursday's wind, strength and direction, with Friday's.  Onlsing was the clubs he hit, but well played guys.

It turns out that Jordan can walk and chew gum at the same time:

SOUTHPORT, England — Jordan Spieth, all smiles, chomped a piece of gum as he answered the media's questions. 

Hours earlier, he'd started this 146th British Open with a stellar round — "a nine [out of 10] across the board," he declared — and he couldn't risk removing the gum. Like most athletes, golfers can be a superstitious bunch, especially when something is working. 

For Spieth, everything clicked on Thursday.

How can he be playing well after skipping the Deere?  He knew best in '15, and I'm not letting go....

This header said it all:

No rust for the rested: Jordan Spieth grabs co-lead at British Open

Even more so for Brooks Koepka, who hasn't touched a club since Erin Hills...

The Golf.com gang is taking advantage of time zones with a daily confab:

Some big-time talents went low, a handful of major-less players are in good position and a couple of favorites are in rough shape after Day 1 of the British Open at Royal Birkdale. Which player’s performance most surprised you Thursday and why?

Josh Berhow: Rory surprised me the most, and he did so twice. I was shocked by the way he stumbled early, and he could have packed it in on the back nine with a woe-is-me waltz to the clubhouse. But then I was equally surprised by his comeback. He's right there in the thick of things, and you could tell he knew it with his fist-pump after making birdie on 18. If he gets a good draw of the weather tomorrow he could be right back in it, despite that start. Crazy.

At the time I wasn't especially surprised by the start, as it was of a piece with his recent play.  More on that change of fortune in a sec.

Jeff Ritter: Brooks Koepka's life changed after winning at Erin Hills, and he appeared to celebrate as hard as any major-winner who came before him. To share the lead after touching a club only a couple of times before this week? Didn't see that one coming.

Agreed, though I'm not liking his chances in the weather forecasted for this afternoon....

Alan Bastable: Tommy Fleetwood's 76. Playing on his home turf, the plucky Fleetwood was a trendy pick to become the first Brit to win the Open since — all together now — Sir Nick 25 years ago. So much for the hometown boy making good.

Those media narratives die hard...  By this afternoon we'll find out that he was in Donald, Jr.'s meeting with the Russians.

No love for Rickie, guys?  or did you write him off as soon as you heard that I had picked him?

Shall we deal with Rory?  As you might recall, I've been pretty critical of his looper, J.P. Fitzgerald in recent times.  Apparently J.P. has read by thoughtful criticism and taken it to heart:

McIlroy was five over through six holes on Thursday at the 146th British Open,

including a four-hole ride on the bogey train from Nos. 3-6. So what turned things around for the four-time major champ? Better tee shots? Sure. Better putting? Of course. But first and foremost, McIlroy credited his caddie, J.P. Fitzgerald for giving him a pep talk. 

"He reminded me who I was, basically," said McIlroy, who shot four under on the back nine for a one-over-par 71. "He said, 'You're Rory McIlroy, what are you doing? What the-- are you doing?'"

McIlroy said he got the stern talk from Fitzgerald on the sixth tee box. Although he bogeyed that hole, his caddie's candid words got him out of the "nervous" and "timid" mode he started the round with. And it's not the first time.

Was J.P. not on the bag at Erin Hills?  Portstewart?  Dundonald?  I got more....

Maybe there's more to the guy than I've seen, but his players seems to go walkabout too often for my taste... Including watching Rors absorb stupid penalties.  

But Rory's turnaround is continuing this morning, and if he can get it to the clubhouse and the afternoon gets ugly he's got a chance....

Jeff Ritter is feeling the Bern..... Errr, excuse me, he's got five burning questions:

2. Will there be a “lucky” side of the draw? We know the weather will be terrible, but often at the Open, one side of the tee sheet catches a calm spell, piles up the birdies and leaves the other side of the draw in the dust. It could happen again Friday. Among the leaders, Kuchar, Paul Casey and Charl Schwartzel will tee off in the morning. Spieth, Koepka and Ian Poulter get the afternoon.

It certainly smells like it as I peck at my keyboard.  And this possibly-related item:

5. Is it finally Kooch's time? At age 39, Matt Kuchar has banked more than $39 million on Tour. He has eight major-championship top-10s but no titles. On Thursday he stormed to a front-nine 29, flashing an array of stellar irons and pouring in a few putts.

Kooch projects as the major beneficiary of the weather, as he was the one leader that played in yesterdays calmer afternoon conditions.  He's just gotten it to -6 by making birdie on No. 15, and if he can post at that number the afternoon might be a demolition derby.

Another nod to Golf Channel, as Bones just did a brief bit with John Wood, Kooch's looper.  The latter emptied his bag showing all of the weather-related paraphernalia packed for the possible weather...  Better yet, it now looks like they'll be indoors before any of it might be needed.

Wassup with this?

British Open 2017: Jon Rahm again escapes sticky rules situation without penalty

 He's making this a regular feature, isn't he?

On Royal Birkdale's 17th hole, the 22-year-old pulled a vine away from his ball, a move that caught playing partner Lee Westwood's eye. 

“I got there and I thought it was a loose impediment because it looked dead, so I just moved it to the side,” Rahm said. “And that’s when Lee came and he realized it was attached."

A rules official came over and asked if Rahm had improved his lie, with the Spaniard asserting he had not. The official did not give Rahm the all-clear signal, however, and was tentatively assessed a two-stroke penalty, with the final decision coming after the round. 

"That's what we agreed on, Rahm said. "He said we were going to go on. And then we just discussed it. Basically the discussion was, was it an improvement of the lie or not? That's it. I explained my version of what happened. Unfortunately for me I was the only one who saw it. There were no cameras to back me up. That's what happened. And it was never on my lie. It was never in my line, never on my swing path. It was not going to bother me anyway."

So then, why did you move it? 

Rahm seems to have figured out what the rules officials want to hear, no small feat in a second language.  This now becomes the "How-to" guide for the rest of the Tour....  whether that's a good thing is highly debatable....

Any guesses how I'll react to this?

People began the day at the British Open talking about what Justin Thomas was wearing. 

They’ll end it talking about the way he played. 

“It’s nice definitely to get people to stop talking about that,” said Thomas, who shot 3-under 67 while sporting a navy tie as part of his Polo Golf/Ralph Lauren scripting for Thursday’s opening round. “Obviously, I knew it was probably going to get a lot of publicity and be out there, but I didn’t come here to dress well.” 

No, Thomas came to Royal Birkdale to play well. And through 18 holes, he’s succeeded.

If you don't want them talking about your outfit...  Oh, why do I bother?  But I'll give him a pass if he wears the tie in this afternoon's rain.

The Extra Spin gang pulls together memorable quotes, of which this has garnered the most attention:

Justin Rose on his memorable hole-out at Birkdale in 1998: When your final shot is made into a Lego scene, as it was, by somebody very creative, that was the moment when you can show your children, my kids are 5 and 8 and my nephew is 3. You see them watch it and see them now impressed, and now it's a Lego scene, that's how you know it was a cool achievement.

Good stuff!  That's why I never had kids....

I missed this one, a nice memory of a guy we all miss:

Matt Kuchar on his memories of the 1998 Open at Birkdale: I remember playing a practice round with Paul Azinger and Payne Stewart. I remember I was close to turning pro after the British Open. And most of the Tour players that I had picked their brain and said, "Matt, you seem like you're ready to go pro. You seem like your game is ready. Probably a good time to strike while the iron a hot." Payne said, "Matt, stay in school. You only have four years to be a college kid. The PGA Tour is going to be here for the next hundred years. Don't be a veteran that's been out here ten, 20 years, and wishing, 'I had those two years back to be a college kid.'"

Good advice.

Did you watch any of the coverage?  Of course you did, over breakfast as well as lunch....  Martin Kaufmann has some granularity to his hits and misses, including this:

‘Playing Through’ returns

The “Playing Through” feature is back, providing side-by-side coverage of the tournament during some commercial breaks. I made this point last year: I find myself paying more attention than usual to the commercials, probably because the continuing golf coverage keeps me focused on the TV as opposed to pushing the mute button. So that’s a positive. 

Here’s the downside: A mini-leaderboard stays on the screen during “Playing Through.” There also are two lines of text – “Golf Playing Through” and “The Open” – at the top of the screen. The result is that the coverage gets squeezed. If we’re being precise, the tournament coverage was reduced to 21.8 percent of my 880-square-inch TV screen (192 square inches) during the “Playing Through” commercial segments. I appreciate the idea of “Playing Through,” but question the execution.

You've told them what they need to know, which is that their advertisers might be getting a return on their investment.

Some curious choices as well:

‘Bones’ makes debut

I’ll have more in tomorrow’s blog on NBC’s newest announcer, Jim “Bones” Mackay. One thing that did surprise me is that NBC introduced him about 10 hours into the coverage – mid-morning on the East Coast. 

I’m sure NBC thinks it is making a splash with Mackay, but I would have expected the network to get him involved early in the coverage, in the wee hours on the East Coast. That would have allowed him to get acclimated with a smaller audience watching.

In all fairness, there were about six people watching at that point...  In this regard, this header gets it about right:

In on-course reporting debut, Jim 'Bones' Mackay delivers a solid, if safe, performance

To be expected....  The risk, as always, is whether he'll be able to dig deeper and, as the kids like to say, keep it fresh.  

Do read his take on His Montyness in the booth:

It’s become as much a part of the immutable Colin Montgomerie charm as the harrumphing, jowly scowl that he displays when he’s not playing well. 

Monty, now making a nice living working for two major TV networks when he isn’t hauling cash on the PGA Tour Champions circuit, has the unique gift of saying something with such conviction that listeners truly want to believe it.

No matter how preposterous it might sound.

That's part and parcel of the job description....Elling has more:

There might never be a more melodic sound in golf than when Monty says something that’s right on the border of credible and absurd. No question, he has a FootJoy planted on either side of that line at times. For instance, early in the day, before sunrise in the States, Ian Poulter rolled in a 15-footer for par that sent Montgomerie into a lengthy riff on the shot’s perceived importance. 

“This is the classic major [championship] momentum putt,” Montgomerie said. “It might well be the sixth hole – you never know; we’ll sit here on Sunday and discuss it – but that could be the winning putt. He could go back and say, ‘The sixth hole Thursday that went in, that gave me the extra confidence, that boost to keep going, that momentum.’ ” 

It seems doubtful, but he might be correct. It keeps viewers engaged, and therein lies the beauty of Monty. As my mom used to say when discussing active imaginations, there’s a fine line between fertile and fertilizer. Monty, as in Python, keeps both in balance.

Sure it's doubtful, but that's only because it's Poulter... I don't see a microphone in his face on Sunday, but if Darren Clarke can win this thing....  

Monty is very good, and I've been saying this for quite some time.  I'd trade him for Sir Nick even up, and I'd even throw in Gleyber Torres.... That's inside baseball, literally.

Shack links to this David Owen blog post on the iconic clubhouse:

The clubhouse at Royal Birkdale Golf Club, where the Open is being held this week, was designed to look like an ocean liner cruising through a sea of fescue. Here’s the original conception, in a watercolor sketch that was submitted to the club in the early 1930s by the Liverpool architect George Tonge. (The painting is on display in the clubhouse):

The club has monkeyed with the building since it was built, by removing a number of the original Art Deco details and adding boxlike extensions, but the basic idea is intact. The building’s design influenced other architecture in the region, including this house, which is just up the road from the club:

A sea of fescue?  But this is the curious part:

The Birkdale clubhouse also very directly influenced the design, by Alfred Ernest Shennan, of the clubhouse at Childwall Golf Club, in Liverpool, twenty-five miles to the south. The Childwall clubhouse, which was built in 1938, actually retains some features that were later removed from the Birkdale clubhouse, including its nautical-looking decks and railings.

Why would they remove those?  As David notes, you can see the clubhouse from many of the other local links, here's my photo of it from the 11th tee at Hillside:

Enjoy.  Not sure when I'll see you next, but it should be interesting....