The Open - Phriday With Phil

The Open Championship is the most difficult to blog, as they insist on playing it during daylight hours in the U.K.  Wassup with that?

So, I gather that this Phil guy had a day:

History was on the line in the opening round of the 145th Open Championship at Royal

Troon. 

And then it lipped out. 

Phil Mickelson came thisclose to draining a birdie putt on the 18th green for a 62, which would have been the lowest round ever recorded in major championship history. He settled instead for a 63, becoming the 26th player to go that low on so grand a stage.

After luckily skirting the pot bunkers left of the fairway with his drive on 18, Mickelson knocked his approach onto the center of the putting surface, 18 feet right of the hole. While walking up the fairway on a flawless day on the rumpled linksland, Ernie Els, one of Mickelson’s playing partners, offered encouragement.

“Come on buddy, you gotta make this putt for a 62. A lot of guys have tried,” Els said.

“Absolutely,” Mickelson said.

OK, a couple of notes here.  First, I didn't actually see any of Phil's round.  Despite a rigorous attention to the programming of my DVR, Cablevision wagged its finger at me and said, at the 7:30 minute mark, "I think you've watched enough golf for today."  But, I stammered to no avail, I want to see DJ and Phil....

Second, and I've no interest in raining on his parade, but it wasn't really THAT close:

The putt Phil Mickelson had to shoot a history-making 62 at Royal Troon’s 18th hole on Thursday -- about 18 feet -- couldn’t have been closer to going in. 

The speed was on, the read was quite good. It just stayed out on the right side. You need to see it to believe it because Phil and everybody around the 18th green thought they were seeing history.

This tweeter captured the moment, in that charming juvenile delinquent kind of way:

It definitely caught a little lip, but that's all....Though Phil's looper took it kind of hard:

As I watch the live broadcast (Whatcha gonna do about THAT, Cablevision?), Phil just made his first bogey of the week on No. 12, after, going out in 33 I believe.  If you haven't seen it, do catch his tee ball on No. 8 (video here), which had me saying to the TV, "Well now you're just showing off".

The weather has thus far been manageable, wet but calm for the early Friday groups... But the flags are beginning to flap, though they now seem to think the afternoon will dry out.  It reamins unclear at this point which side of the draw, if any, will have the advantage....

Have you caught any of the play from the 11th, the Railway Hole?  By the way, there's a rich tradition of railway holes in links golf, at neighboring Prestwick it's the opener...  not quite as ubiquitous as trailer parks, but close....

In playing Troon in 2009 I made our caddie take us to the Open tee box, from whence this is the view:

That dark green where one would normally find the landing area is gorse, an evil, prickly bush that's the rabbit of the plant world.  The guys are barely carrying the gorse as I watch the live broadcast, and it's playing downwind today....

Shack does the math on how hard it's playing:

There should be little surprise Royal Troon’s 11th is causing trouble during the opening round of the Open Championship. But as much scoring difficulty as any hole since 1995 in a major? On a day with just a light northwest breeze and brilliant sunshine? Without Royal Troon playing fast and firm? 

Granted, this is the hole where Jack Nicklaus famously made 10 in his initial Open appearance and that Arnold Palmer branded as “the most dangerous he’d ever seen.”

Certainly, “The Railway” perennially plays the toughest at Troon. Still, the 482-yard par 4 hugging the train line boundary was tracking a full stroke over par well into Thursday’s play until a midday run of pars, bringing the average just under a full stroke over par. The 11th’s 4.91 scoring average would put it in the company of the all time highest (5.030, Shinnecock Hills’ 10th hole, 2004 U.S. Open, final round; 4.929, Royal St. George’s third, 2011 British Open, third round).

Got that?  For mush of yesterday it was a full shot over par in the best scoring conditions we'll see....and when Jack made that ten in '62, it was a Par-5.

 Yesterday's best "That's so links golf" moment had to be Bubba on the Postage Stamp.... He had simply pummeled the place for seven holes, driving it past the pin on one of the alleged two-shotters, then....well, welcome to Scotland:

After a red-hot start placed the two-time Masters atop the early leader boardat the 145th Open Championship, he came crashing down at Royal Troon's famed "Postage Stamp" -- more specifically, the hole's "coffin bunker." Standing on the tee at five under through six holes, Watson pushed his tee shot on the 123-yard hole into the sand and wound up with this terrible lie.

That sound you hear is Harvey "Take dead aim" Penick spinning in his grave.

The texture of the sand in Scotland is always difficult to explain to those that haven't been.  It's almost the texture of talcum powder, so balls that come in steeply will plug.... but lest you think that it should therefore be easy to get your club through it, think again....

The Tour Confidential panel was asked to cite the second most surprising thing from Thursday after Phil's 63, and perhaps it's time for this guy to move on:

Gary Van Sickle: The biggest surprise was that the USGA wasn't somehow able to figure out a way to slap Phil with a two-shot penalty and ruin a great opening round of the Open.

Never let a good segue be wasted, a wise man once said, so did you catch the Martin "Golden" Slumbers presser earlier in the week?  Do you take this as I do, a passive-aggressive slam at his Far Hills brethren?

MARTIN SLUMBERS: Yeah, this is just throughout the process, the team here have been thinking about how to respond and monitor any sort of chain of command around rules for over ten years now. And about ten years ago a fundamental change was made by the team here, which I think makes a big difference in the way we would deal with any situation that arises in the next four days, which is that the chief referee doesn't leave this compound here. He has access to video replays in his office, and in addition to that, either Peter or I are also always here. 

So we are very focused on -- rules are complex. This is a big, big animal out there being played on. All sorts of things can happen, we know that, and generally do happen in this game. It is the speed and the clarity with which we respond, which is something that we're very focused on, have been for a number of years. And I think it's that function of us sitting here, just about 50 yards away, being able to respond and provide instructions back to the referees, is the difference in how we would deal with it.

I thought Slumbers presented well, in his first Open appearance.  But then again, he hadn't hit the swing juice like his U.S. counterpart....

But it's kind of naive how unprepared the USGA was for video review....  Every other sport has dedicated rules officials sitting in front of video screens, whereas our guys have to come in from the far corners of the golf course.  And it being a USGA event, I assume it's walking only....

Rory kept himself on the fringe of contention with his 69, though it should have been 2-3 strokes better... He's still missing short putts badly, and when they're for bogey that stings.  Nick Faldo had some thoughts on his puzzling inconsistency:

Six-time major champion Nick Faldo fears Rory McIlroy has gone weak at the knees ahead of The Open at Royal Troon

Knees?  Head?  Whatever...... In his post-round presser, Rory did himself a little good in walking back his prior comments:

Yeah, I think I would have elaborated a little bit on the grow-the-game comment. Obviously I feel like I do my bit to grow the game. It’s not as if I’m uninterested. I feel like golf is a great vehicle to -- I don’t want to force golf on anyone. But I feel like golf is a great vehicle to instill values in kids. I’m an ambassador for the PGA Junior League, I do some stuff for the First Tee in the States, and I feel like I’ve used my success in golf in a very positive way in the community. 

Look, again, the next generation can play golf if they want or they don’t. It won’t make me any less happy. But if I can somehow make a positive change in the world by what I do on the golf course, so whether that means raise money for charity or give kids more of a chance in life growing up, I’ve been very fortunate to do what I’ve done in golf, and I feel like I’ve used that success in a positive way.

That's better< Rory.... Now, was that so hard?  Anything else you want to add?

Yeah, I still don’t think I’m the only one. Look, it’s my opinion. I think my opinion’s shared by a few people, but some people may think it’s wrong and that’s fine. But I’ve spent seven years trying to please everyone, and I figured out that I can’t really do that, so I may as well be true to myself.

 Thud!  Passive-aggressive much, Rors?  I never realized how much it sucks to be you....

The life of a professional golfer isn't all glamour, and I'm the first to acknowledge that Rory's unique national identity added a layer of complexity to the whole Olympic mess....  But doesn't he have any sense of how people will react to his pity party?

There were some bizarre fashion notes from yesterday's play...  First the obligatory John Daly citation, wearing a fruit indigenous to the Ayrshire coast:

Then there was our hero Phil, with a paper clip on his hat:

There have been any number of times when a constricted flow of oxygen to his brain (Winged-cough-Foot) is the only possible explanation, but yesterday didn't seem to be the case.

And does anyone know why Hidecki Matsuyama was wearing a black brassiere mansiere  over his yellow sweater?

Admittedly, that's not the best photo, but if you saw it from the front you'd see my point....

Enjoy the golf, as I don't know when we'll speak next....