Weekend Wrap - Back In The Saddle Edition

Nice enough now, but that first blast of 95 degree heat on the jetway at JFK was something....

Gonna ease back into it gracefully....

Dateline: Minneapolis - That was quite the desultory leaderbaord, no?

Well-known names to those who watch far too much golf, but known for not actually being all that good.  The silver lining, to the extent there is one, is found in the cluster at T7, as Mr. Finau may have kept his Roman Holiday alive.  Because this guy is all-in on the Wyndham, as per this from the Tour Confidential panel:

3. Justin Thomas missed the cut at the 3M Open, a tournament he added to aid a late push to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs. He’s still outside the top 70 with one more late addition, the regular-season ending Wyndham Championship, up next. If he fails to qualify,

he won’t have any starts remaining before Ryder Cup auto qualifiers and captain’s picks are finalized. If Thomas has another underwhelming showing at the Wyndham, is there a chance these late additions to his schedule could do more harm to his chances than good?

Colgan: Thomas’ spot on the U.S. team was in a precarious position the second he shot 82 on Thursday at the Open Championship. If he misses the cut in two of the weakest Tour fields of the year to miss out on the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the harm will be entirely self-inflicted. His playing schedule has nothing to do with that.

Melton: Not sure we can point to the schedule as a valid reason for JT’s precarious Ryder Cup position. He’s just been playing flat-out bad golf this year. After the disaster at Hoylake, he pretty much had to add these events to his schedule. His MC last week is just another poor performance in a long list of them in 2023.

Rogers: JT fired an 81 on Friday at LACC and an 82 on Thursday at Royal Liverpool before heading back to the U.S., only to miss the cut at the 3M Open. I’m sad to say I don’t think we’ll be seeing him at the Ryder Cup this year. Then again, I love a good personality hire so wouldn’t hate to see him in Rome.

In the legal profession there's an old saw that suggests that bad cases make bad law.  Here, bad questions make bad answers, and Zephyr Melton is the poster child struggling with the basics of cause and effect.  That "more harm than good" is the culprit, because why does the questioner think JT is playing these two events?  Isn't it most likely that JT has been told that he needs to show Zach some kind of form to stay in the mix?  And he has shown Zach exactly the kind of form our guys usually show for away Ryder Cups, though that's the problem that got us to this point.

Or, yanno, it could just be that half-ass beard....

I do plan on a full Ryder Cup roster analysis, but that won't he today.

Dateline: France - Dispatches from the world of made-up majors:

4. Celine Boutier claimed her first major title and became the first-ever French golfer to win the Evian Championship, lapping the field by six. How did she make this one look so

easy?

Colgan: A little bit of home cooking never hurt. I’m sure playing in front of her countrymen and women was all the boost she needed to outright lap the field, and good on her for it.

Melton: When you’re hot, you’re hot. Brian Harman showed us as much at Royal Liverpool, and Boutier caught some of that lightning in a bottle and took it to France. The good vibes of competing at home didn’t hurt, either.

Rogers: Colgan is right. It was awesome to see hundreds of fans screaming Boutier’s name as she came down the 18th fairway on Sunday, and I think knowing that everyone there was on her side must’ve helped. That plus some insanely good golf.

Wasn't home cooking supposed to carry Tommy Lad across the finish line the prior week?  But this was the odder note from the week:

5. Speaking of the Evian, Carlota Ciganda was disqualified when she refused to sign her scorecard after a slow-play penalty, and she later took to social media to plead her case, saying she was penalized for taking too long on a 10-footer on the final hole (when the group behind wasn’t even on the tee on the par-5). Ciganda, who has been dinged for slow play before, added: “I wish everyone gets treated the same and they don’t pick on the same players all the time!” Should there be some leeway given to players if, like Ciganda said, they aren’t currently holding anyone up? And do you think she has a point about focusing on certain players?

Colgan: When I was growing up, my parents had a favorite saying: “Reputation is earned in drops and lost in buckets.” If Ciganda doesn’t want extra attention for her slow play, I recommend she take a long look in the mirror. And as for the asinine suggestion it isn’t slow play if isn’t holding another player up, let’s not give oxygen to bad ideas.

Melton: I sympathize with Carlota’s frustrations as she’s been on the receiving end of a couple costly slow-play penalties, but it’s about time she does some self reflection. She’s long been known as one of the slowest players on the LPGA Tour, so it’s to be expected she’s under the microscope. It’s unfortunate that her slow play has cost her so dearly, but I’m glad the LPGA is serious about policing pace-of-play issues.

Rogers: Let’s compare the issue of slow play on tour to speeding on the highway. Just because we all do it doesn’t mean you can’t still get pulled over. If you don’t want to get pulled over, don’t speed! Same thing goes for slow play, especially when the player has been dinged before. Also, I think the idea that you shouldn’t be penalized for slow play if you aren’t holding anyone up is a very bad one.

I agree it's an odd one and I'm blissfully unfamiliar with Carlotta's history in the regard, but I'm also about worn out with the entitlement mentality of today's players, including that it's apparently seeped down to a third-rate player on a 4th-rate tour.   Whatever the respective merits of the argument, a ruling had been made and her score on the hole was as the rules official decided.  She therefore willfully signed for a score lower than she actually made, which could be called cheating (I know she was missing the cut in any event), but is really just the petulance of a child.  Let's hope it comes with a sufficiently adult fine.... or, really, it should lead to a suspension.

Dateline: Wales - I wish I had made time to watch more of this (caught an hour of it on tape yesterday), because the old guys got the weather we had been promised in Liverpool:

Sideways rain! 40 mph gales! Alex Cejka emerges as Senior British Open's weathered winner

It is one of British golf’s hoariest clichés, tritely trotted out whenever meteorological conditions veer into something substantially worse than ideal: “The winner this week was the golf course.”

But it is a cliché for a reason. And the reason is Senior British Open weeks like this one at cold, wet and windy (gusts up to 40 miles per hour) Royal Porthcawl on the shores of an endlessly choppy Bristol Channel. In short, this wonderful but often wild Welsh links, aided and abetted by mother nature, kicked some experienced butt.

The winning score is revealing of a tortuous four days. At the end of a final round that began with only one player, Alex Cejka, not already over par, the German eventually emerged as the new champion after closing with a five-over 76 that included a lost ball off the first tee and only three birdies. Cejka’s five-over-par 289 total was matched Padraig Harrington, who somehow got himself around in 75. Four over par after only four holes, the Irishman played the last 14 holes in a remarkable even par.

A great one-word Tweet:

Carnage.#SeniorOpen | #Rolex pic.twitter.com/Zd247FX1wR

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) July 30, 2023

They basically had four days of that weather, so quite the test of survival skills.  Cejka prevailed on the second playoff hole, and has become a force among the senior set.

Dateline: Liverpool - I'm so late to the party on that Jay Monahan memo, that I'll further delay and discussion thereof.  Instead, Alan Shipnuck has one of his mailbags up that is mostly Open Championship leftovers, so let's riff on that:

Why does it feel so different (actually boring) when a guy like Brian Harman dominates as opposed to a Tiger or Rory big win? #AskAlan @AriSlater1978

Because when it’s Woods or McIlroy we know we are witnessing something historic that will be discussed and celebrated for as long as golf is played. Harman has been a good player for years but it’s very likely he had a career week at exactly the right moment and this win will not enjoy historical significance. Nothing wrong with that! He was clearly the best player on a demanding test and Harman deserves all the kudos. But any fan apathy can be traced to the different meaning we apply to a winner based on his standing in the game.

This shoulda come with an irony alert, because those in charge of our tours (as distinct form the organizations that  control the four majors) are actively attempting to avoid such trauma to the viewer.  But when you hold actual golf competitions with legitimate fields, guys like Harman win, and even guys with far lesser resumes win (can you sat Todd Hamilton?).  But we can't have that, can we?

After the numerous shouts of “spicy meatballs” and “shiver me timbers” and the lukewarm response (being nice) that B. Harman received on the weekend, can we finally retire the idea that Open fans as the most “respectful” and most “knowledgeable” fans in the game? @fakePOULTER

Funny thing is that the 2006 Open at Hoylake was the first time I became aware of how intrusive and bothersome cell phones could be at a live sporting event—that tournament was a mess with bleating phones and yahoos taking pictures and other tomfoolery. I think Open galleries have always been overrated, but at the risk of wading into a particularly touchy subject, I have observed that the fans in England skew considerably rowdier than those in Scotland. On the whole I think the typical Open Championship crowd is less obnoxious than a U.S. Open crowd, but the gap is much, much smaller than folks seem to think.

Sounds about right, though I'd speculate that, of the English venues, Liverpool might be the rowdiest of that sunset....

Is it a “thing” in Rory’s head at this point? @TheNo1OGGolfer

Well, over the last nine years he has won numerous national opens and FedEx Cups and Race to Dubais and a Players and gawd knows what else, so clearly McIlroy’s inability to win a major championship is metaphysical. But the more exacting setups of the majors do expose the flaws and inconsistencies in his putting and wedge game. It’s such a repetitive topic, but it continues to fascinate all of us because there is something Shakespearean about a mega-talent who can win everything except the tournaments he wants the most.

Alan is spot-on about the flaws in Rory's game, and I'd just add that Rory benefitted from a run of soft majors back in that 2011-14 time frame, each of his wins being in ridiculously soft conditions, even at Hoylake in 2014.  But what puzzles me is that he never seems to take any heat for failing to address those obvious weaknesses, as well as the boyhood best friend on the bag.  Rory is just soft and seemingly content, so the anti-Tiger, no?

This one is profoundly silly:

If Brian Harman can win a major, Tiger can win another one. Next five years are critical in this discussion, right? @markoGpolo

The only difference is that Harman can walk, and he does not have a fused spine or a surgically repaired Achilles, ACL, lumbar disks or sundry other body parts. Also, Harman is a decade younger. And has not just gone through yet another embarrassing public scandal. And he can work out and practice as much as he wants. In conclusion, I’d say there are pretty substantial differences between these two golfers. Tiger may still have some magic in his hands, and presumably his competitive instincts remain intact, but it’s hard to imagine his broken body will ever let him contend again across four longs days of tournament golf and all the toil it takes to prepare his game for that cauldron.

I can't see it, though I also couldn't see that 2019 Masters....

How does LIV rate this first full season of majors? Obviously, Brooks won the PGA and contended at the Masters but outside of him, no one was ever seriously a threat to win. Maybe guys do need more reps in advance of the big ones? @BreedsMNGolf

Mickelson put a charge into the Masters, Bryson made a strong run at the PGA Championship and Cam Smith played well at the U.S. Open, but point taken. For all of their success on LIV, Dustin Johnson and Talor Gooch were huge disappointments in the majors, and the supporting cast of characters were non-factors. But Koepka’s win changed everything, a thunderbolt that echoed from Riyadh to the Seminole grill room. Overall, I’d give LIV a B+ in the majors.

Fair enough, but absent Brooks being healthy it seems mostly a nothingburger.

To me, Cam Smith is the poster child, as we was really the only ascendant talent signed by the bonecutters, and he did nothing.  Of course, it's a sample size of one, so it means exactly nothing.

It looks like professional golf is really trending in the wrong direction. Even when we finally get weeks with a field containing everyone, nobody seems happy about any of it, from any angle. Just some growing pains? Or is it the new normal? #AskAlan @derekengles

Hmmm, you must be new to Golf Twitter, where, traditionally, no one is happy about anything! And that has only been accentuated in this complicated, divisive era. Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

A wise man predicted at the start of this drama that we'd end up hating them all, and that seems an especially good call...

Any advice for an avid golf fan whose favorite player(s) is someone other than Rory?!?! With most media outlets, the broadcast booth, golf podcasters, journalists, etc. all gushing, covering, and rooting for Rory—should I just convert? Grab a Guinness and learn to enjoy??? @kylelabat

The answer is obvious: Become a die-hard LIV fan and then you can root against McIlroy with gusto.

It's been quite tedious, though I'd think any Sunday with Rory in contention at a major would provide sufficient schadenfreude to satisfy @kylelabat.... It's certainly worked for your humble blogger.

Putting the over/under on career wins for Harman at 4.5. What are you taking? @LoopersProShop

Over! That will only take two more victories. Dude has been a top-10 machine forever and now he’s playing with house money—I think he’ll easily win more than two tournaments.

Recency bias much?  Dude hadn't won since 2017, and now we're assuming he'll be a different guy?  Could happen, but rarely does...

Seriously, how do all the golfers handle so much losing? The hype, the pressure, the criticism. It doesn’t seem like a glamorous job at all. @SusanSSL

Consider Cameron Young: he’s already being billed as a star, he has contended at multiple majors, he might play his way onto this year’s Ryder Cup team, he has already made $11 million at age 26…and dude has never won a tournament in 47 tries! It’s a crazy profession in which success often has to be measured outside of victories; last week, Brian Harman was case in point. But if you learn to manage the hype and pressure and constant losing, greatness might be around the corner. At least, that’s the tantalizing promise that keeps so many golfers going.

Well, they are nicely compensated..... that has to reduce the sting a bit.

Alan, how much could Wyndham Clark and Harman potentially get from LIV in upfront money if they’re looking for a payday? Jimmy Dunne told Congress the PGA Tour was worried as about losing 5-6 top players per year. @KeithKhorton

Your question assumes that the framework agreement falls apart and the PGA Tour and LIV Golf go back to being bitter rivals. In that scenario, the Tour would surely take on billions of dollars in (American) private equity money, its leadership having found religion that a for-profit structure is the only way to cash the checks that Jay Monahan has already written. LIV had a huge recruiting advantage when it was offering $25 million purses and the PGA Tour’s were hovering around $9 million. With the Tour’s elevated events now paying out $20 million, LIV will have to pay even more to attract top talent. I’d say Harman could command $75 million and Clark, 29, at least $125 million.

Ummm, Alan, are familiar with the actual definition of "profit"?  Just because you change your tax status to For Profit doesn't ensure that the enterprise will actually generate a profit?  The insanity of the current moment is that the PGAT Tour has decided to create a compensation system in excess of the economic value of its product, and to be dependent upon an economically irrational contributions from the Saudis.  Alan just blithely assumes that a U.S. private equity firm will do the same, which only serves to confirm that Alan is out of his depth there.

The answer to this one is a simple "Yes!":

Is it more frustrating to be a Rory fan or Spieth fan? @wesleywhamond

Yes. But McIlroy, for sure. Jordan is so flighty and volatile that even when he’s playing well we all know it can’t last, so it’s easier to take joy in the occasional triumphs. Rory has reached a level of incredible consistency, giving himself a chance to win seemingly every time he tees it up. Thus all those tournaments that get away from him, particularly the majors, become more and more maddening. Is this fair? Probably not. But, to quote one of our great thinkers, it is what it is.

How about a Rory-Spieth singles match in Rome?

Without taking anything away from the winner, do lefties play a totally different course to right-handers? @tommywilkinson

No, but the subtle differences can certainly be advantageous. Augusta National is the classic example in which many important drives (2, 5, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14) are dogleg lefts, allowing lefties to play the fades that modern drivers encourage. And the terrifying 12th hole, with its angled green, is much friendlier to left-handers, as a hook that sails long and right can catch the green as easily as a slice that finishes short and left. (Righties are severely punished in either scenario.)

And lastly....

Has there ever been a more forgettable major? @YourBossBill

Ummm, apparently you have forgotten about Trevor Immelman shooting 75 on Sunday and still winning the 2008 Masters by three strokes? And Louis Oosthuizen’s ho-hum 71 in the final round of the 2010 Open… which he still won by seven strokes (below)! Must I go on?

Just admit it! This Open was rubbish…. The course was the best thing. The rest was plonk! @antonmerckoll

The only thing I’m prepared to admit is that plonk is now my new favorite word.

I still think that Matsuyama Masters was pretty dreadful, but to each his won.

Dateline: Pittenweem -  i got a wee bit lazy at the end there, so just a few final notes and (mostly) pictures.

One of my obsession's in prior years has been the bales of hay (barley, more accurately), which I find visual catnip.  As a result of the earlier trip I didn't expect to see any, though they came through for me at the very end, though the photo was from a moving vehicle:

We struck out in our Daily Ballot submissions, going naught for eight.  Very frustrating, though we did head up to St. Andrews on our last day in country:

Respect:

That's Young Tom above, and Dad below:

And Allan Robertson, the forgotten man of Scottish golf:

The bride wants to consider St. Andrews as our base of operation for next year, so we looked at a couple of house from the outside.  Bit of a shock as I find Pittenweem just perfect, though I've been reliably informed that change is good....

Back in Pittenweem, we had ourselves a bit of a haar:

And a couple of scenes from our final after-dinner walk:

No need to blog our last day of golf with Elsie and John, except to note that next year's competition will be ABS.  

Haste Ye Back, as they say.  Or at least we hope they say that....

That's it for today.  The plan is for more tomorrow, including LIV and that Ryder Cup update.  See you then.

Notes From The East Neuk

Our final week in Fife is proceeding wonderfully, as Elsie and John arrived just as we needed a little wind in our sails.

Your humble blogger had quite the Monday.  We had tried to get Ross down to Crail last year (Dace, Seb and he live perhaps an hour Northwest of here), but ran out of days.  Ross's availability is obviously limited by the usual issues of work and family, but in this case we were subject to the whims of the.....checking notes, Royal Navy.  Ross is a Senior First Class Pilot, ferrying cruise ships, oil tankers and the like into various ports on the Firth, in this case the HMS Queen Elizabeth, one of two Royal Navy aircraft carriers.  At the last minute the schedule cleared and Ross and I had a delightful day on the Blacomie.

Ross hits a big ball, so we played from the back white tees, all of 5,867 yards, and he basically reached all three Par-5's in two.  Technically he was a few yards short of the green on No. 12, but still....  Although he pulled a driving iron on Nos. 7 and 9, which I'll grant is prudent and takes those big numbers out of play.

But the best part was later.  Ross had told us that Dace and Seb were going to come down and explore the beach and ice cream options, so we of course included them in the evening BBQ plans, and my day was golf followed by walking into a house filled with some of our very favorite people.  Seb was fascinated by our upstairs balcony, but also found time to mug for the camera:

As well as show us his Spiderman impression:

I like this photo mostly for the credit:

Photo: Sebastian Coupland

I come home and Grillmaster John has the BBQ fired up and matters well in hand, and Theresa had the rest of the meal well in hand, quite the accomplishment given the deficiencies in the kitchen.  Ross and I had a dry day on the links, and we were treated to one of those typical early evening calming, so we moved the festivities out of doors:

Just as the meal was winding down, we got a bit of a spritz that moved the pudding indoors...

Elsie outdid herself, arriving with provisions sufficient to feed the Yangtze Division, including two puddings.  Not just you-know-what for you-know-who, but also a sticky toffee pudding for the bride (though John is also quite the fan).  Delightfully, this was Seb's introduction to banofee pie, and I think we can declare it a success:

 

Ross and family headed home, and the old folk turned in to ensure readiness for the battles to come.  The background is that in our post-Covid travels, John has pretty much had his way with us.  He won both Crail rounds last year and at Dornoch this year, and likely at Dornoch last year, although my bloody hand obscured those results.

We play a Stableford when here, and that's a tad unfamiliar to many Americans.  The system is simple enough, one point for a net bogey, two for a net par, etc.  It does protect the player from those uncontrolled disasters, but it's very much stroke play and to this participant lack the drama (and trash talk) of the more primal match play.  That said, it does work better when there's a wide divergence in handicaps, although frequently one doesn't exactly know where one stands.  I can't contemplate a Stableford without remembering this amusing day at Royal Porthcawl in 2017, when the dispute over the provenance of the Stableford was explained.  If nothing else, click through to hear the pronunciation of a Welsh town name that's rather long on consonents.

I had declared it an ABJ day, anybody but John, and fortunately played quite well.  I actually never expect to win, and we've had some longish conversations as to a Stableford favoring the higher handicaps.  the far simpler explanation is that I post numbers sufficiently large to eliminate winning.  The funny part being that I post those high numbers while playing well, a function of links golf generally and the Balcomie specifically.

As an aside, I've done more bragging than is seemly over my play on Nos. 5 and 13 (and on the former I've now followed that rare birdie with two pars), but the follow-up that I never got to blog is that that, while playing the hard holes well, I made double bogeys at Nos. 9 and 10, two very short and easy Par-4's.  John loves the Balcomie as well he should, because it features long, difficult Par-4's and short, easier ones, but little in between.  It works for him because he has more Par-4's that he can readily reach, and he probably wasn't going to reach the mid-length fours in any event.

I'm happy to report that it wasn't John's day.  I played quite well and posted a 74 that could have been lower, and took the gold with 37 Stableford points.  Everyone had their moments, with Theresa the low score at 31 (though she had the lone birdie), John at 34 and Elsie at 35, although apparently there was quite the row as Elsie and John compared cards, while Theresa and I took a nap.  But everyone in the 30's is quite a strong performance, and John noted that he would typically expect his 34 points to win.  

To be fair, scoring s Stableford is data intensive.  This is John's scorecard at the conclusion of play:

OK, he should have used that left column for the marker's score (which I often miss as well), but there's simply not enough room on a card for a four-player Stableford.  I joked about bringing the iPad today...

Good fun but today will be another day for sure.  I've left the one-pound coins in a stack by the mousepad, assuming that they're be returned to their rightful owners at the conclusion of play today.  

A couple of further notes, and then I'll wrap things up.  First, we had a bit of a wet day out there, little squalls forming, though nothing too heavy, thank God.  The rain gloves came out for a couple of holes and I contemplated my rain pants at one juncture, but that was the worst of it and we had a good, dry run for the second nine.  But when we got home we got pounded with reasonably heavy rain for most of the evening, so we got very lucky indeed.

We had been alerted by Ross that the HMS Queen Elizabeth would be heading down the firth, and sure enough....

I know, a long way away and here's where the camera's might have helped.  If it seems smaller than expected, that is because it is:

These carriers don't feature the catapult and tripwire system, but rather aircraft (all American technology) that takeoff and land vertically.  The UK has only those two carriers (that's the HMS Prince of Wales in the foreground above), so we hope they understand that at least one of the two would be in dry dock at all times.

Amusingly, right after the carrier left our field of vision, an humongous cruise ship presented, which looks far larger, though that might be because it's so much closer:

Cheers for now, as we resume normal vacation activities.  Again, unsure of how much further blogging will occur, as tomorrow morning might be a lie in day.  We head home Friday morning, so regular blogging will resume shortly thereafter.

Weekend Wrap - Final Stretch Edition

This always seems the saddest morning of the golf year.  I actually thought Shack would lede with it, but it's buried at the end just before he goes behind his paywall.  The first bit is actually from a Max Homa quote:

I'm sure Shane Bacon knows how long it is until the next major. It's nice to take that into those next bundle of days.”*

*263 days

That's an eternity until the next meaningful golf shot is struck....though I might agree to an asterisk for the Ryder Cup.

I won't keep you long, but a few wee bits on the Open and then some updates from the 'weem.  What do we make of this header, which seems both incorrect and overly harsh:

British Open 2023: Brian Harman was due, and golf was due for a dud

And that doesn't even include the mandatory one-point deduction for calling it the British.... No, there's no sense in which Harman was due, the man after all has only won twice and not since 2017, so let's not pretend anyone had him on their Bingo card this week.  But, was it a dud?  In many ways it was, though Harman is certainly a more substantial player than a Todd Hamilton or Ben Curtis, and we saw him hold it together when many of those bold-faced names could not.

But at a time when we're being force fed the notion that only the top twenty players matter, I find this a helpful reminder of how endlessly deep the talent pool really is.

British Open 2023: Brian Harman has a bigger selection of golf gloves hanging under his umbrella than your local Dick’s

These Guys Are Good!

I'm just going to do some micro-riffing on the Tour Confidential panel:

Brian Harman was the runaway winner of the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, all but lapping the field with a six-shot victory. Harman, who had previously won just twice on the PGA Tour and not since 2017, was on few pundits’ short lists to prevail this week. How did he do it?

Sean Zak: By not panicking. I think the word grit will be overused when discussing this win, but this golf course was a beast. It was never going to be simple getting for Harman to get through

the final 36 holes after he’d built a five-shot lead, but he handled those moments of potential panic with steel. He never got out ahead of himself. His pace was plodding. He two-putted like a king. All things that keep your train on the tracks when things get dicey.

Jack Hirsh: His putting was outstanding, but I was blown away by his driving. At a course where we knew you couldn’t hit it in the fairway bunkers, he rose to the task. His final tally for the week: no fairway bunkers and two greenside bunkers (he made par from both of them). I’ve rarely seen a reliable 5-10 yard draw like the one he was hitting Sunday. It was almost video game-like.

Josh Sens: The stats help tell the story. So does the psyche. When his third on 18 trickled into a greenside bunker, it was only the second time he’d found the sand all week. He was first in putting. First in fairways hit. That’s a pretty good formula anywhere, but especially Hoylake. So was the chip-on-the-shoulder toughness he showed. Quick bounce-backs after rare bogeys. Early on, it looked like me might start to spiral after a few fanned shots. But, man, was he tough.

Zephyr Melton: Laser precision off the tee and a red-hot putter. It doesn’t matter if you’re at a distance advantage when you pick your spots and make seemingly every putt. Sometimes, it’s just your week.

Jessica Marksbury: My colleagues above are spot-on. Mistakes can and often do happen when you’re dealing with nerves, but Harman didn’t let anything become ruinous. With penal bunkers and internal OB to deal with, he didn’t card anything worse than a double all week — that’s really something.

If you remember what I wrote yesterday, I think that Saturday playing on the lead help greatly.  In fact, did you notice how eerily similar his Sunday was to the prior day?  Two early bogeys giving the boys hope, but then the bounce back resulting in a red number for the day.

As for his putting, I've previously advocated for him for one or more of the team events just based on it, though Shack has his issues:

There will be an understandable focus on Harman’s epic putting performance and the numbers do bear out. It’s all the more incredible given that Harman uses the positively hideous TaylorMade Spider OS CB. I’m having a hard time envisioning it beside J.H. Taylor’s driver or Tiger’s two-iron, but the spaceship-inspired mallet and its user made the difference based on a strokes gained dominance of +11.57.

If you pick up three shots a day on the field, who cares if he gets SiriusXM on it?

In difficult conditions and against a pack of alpha-dog chasers, Harman seemed to barely break a sweat on the weekend. Where does his 13-under effort rank in the pantheon of dominating major performances (non-Tiger 1997 and 2000 division)?

Zak: I’ll quote Jon Rahm here: “He won by six, so there’s nothing really any of us could have done.” When you have the No. 2 player in the world acknowledging your dominance as if it was inevitable, it’s pretty incredible. Put this right next to Martin Kaymer’s eight-shot win at Pinehurst in 2014.

Hirsh: As I alluded to before, Harman played a game that was tailor-made for the course. I actually really like the comparisons to Tiger at Liverpool in 2006 given Harman was hitting his driver the same way Woods hit his 2-iron that week. I agree with Sean, the Kaymer comparison is fair.

Sens: Louis Oosthuizen at the Old Course comes to mind as well. What made it all the more impressive is how long he held that lead for — from early Friday morning on. Tough to do. But it didn’t have the feel of utter domination. Just a steady drip of excellent. Fun to see it done that way. A runaway win that didn’t involve pounding the course into submission.

Melton: I agree with my colleagues in the Kaymer comparison. Harman came out hot early and then strangled the life out of the tournament, much like what we saw at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014. It didn’t make for a very exciting tournament, but it was extremely impressive.

Marksbury: I agree with Josh — although Harman’s lead was consistent throughout the weekend, his victory never seemed like a complete lock. There were some tense moments of uncertainty. I didn’t have the same “this thing is over” feeling watching him as I did with Kaymer and Oosthuizen, though Harman was just as steady in retrospect. Maybe that’s because, until now, he was somewhat untested on the major stage. Given what he accomplished, that won’t be the case if he finds himself in that position again.

Rahm was within three on that front nine, so it didn't feel like a mortal lock to me... But it was clear no one was going to touch him if he kept it around level par.

When I get home a Ryder Cup update is called for, as things are getting quite weird on the U.S. side, and not just because of the one guy:

Justin Thomas’ struggles continued at Royal Liverpool, where he opened with an 11-over 82 and went on to miss the cut by eight. Thomas has now missed the cut in four of his last six starts, a stretch that included a second-round 81 at the U.S. Open. What’s going on?

Zak: To me, it’s the interconnectivity of the game. That putter has been balky all year, and when one aspect of this game becomes all-consuming in its negativity, it tends to bleed into the others. His ball-striking hasn’t been as elite as years past. His driving hasn’t been as good, either. The disappointing finishes push him to get back on the horse and try again. Trouble is, simply playing more doesn’t always lead to the best results, either. It being Ryder Cup crunch time complicates things. As JT said, he may be trying to make that team too hard.

Hirsh: It’s gotta be in his head right? Things started to get out of sync and then the free-flowing nature to his game disappeared as he rushed to make corrections. I honestly think sitting out the playoffs and Ryder Cup might be good for him to reset everything. Take some time off. Look a how well a few weeks off did McIlroy in the spring.

Sens: You know the old saw. It’s 90 percent mental. And 10 percent mental. Maybe it starts as a mechanical flaw, but that’s impossible to disentangle from the loss of confidence that comes with it. And things begin to spiral. No one has ever been immune. Why should Thomas be?

Melton: Golf is just really really hard. Nearly every player goes through peaks and valleys during their career (Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler come to mind), and unfortunately this is a valley for JT. The margin between good and bad in golf is so thin; it’s not easy to get it back on track when things go sideways. He’ll figure it out sooner or later — he’s too talented not to.

Marksbury: It’s concerning that JT is unable to pinpoint what’s going wrong — but also so relatable! Playing the next two weeks will probably be really good for him. He probably just needs to build his confidence back up. Golf is a fickle game.

Jack and Jessica are offering directly contradictory treatment options, so good luck with that, JT.  The man looks completely lost, but Morikawa and Finau are in the same zip code as well.   To think that we thought LIV would be Captain Zach's biggest headache...

There are still several more events on the schedule before Zach Johnson will name his captain’s picks for the U.S. Ryder Cup team, but with the majors behind us, Thomas’ hopes are currently tenuous at best. What does he need to do in the coming weeks to earn a pick, or do you think Johnson takes JT regardless of his form?

Zak: I think JT makes this team not necessarily regardless of form. I think if he misses the cut in Minnesota and then again in North Carolina, it’ll be really tricky for Zach to select him. But that’s the thing: He shouldn’t miss those cuts. They’ll be relatively weaker fields at courses that can be picked apart. Even a lesser version of Thomas should do well enough there to merit a pick. And I think that’s exactly what will happen.

Hirsh: The makeup of this team is so interesting right now. There’s a number of guys (Collin Morikawa, Tony Finau, Cam Young, Sam Burns, JT) who we probably would have said were locks six months ago. Now, it’s unclear. I see about three spots for those guys and maybe a couple of other names. I don’t think JT is more deserving than three of them.

Sens: At this point, it’s hard to imagine Thomas playing on the team. But even harder to imagine him not playing. Awkward position for Zach Johnson. I suspect past performance will win out and Thomas will get the nod. But the pool of worthy candidates runs so deep, it would be great to see someone else get a crack at the team. The Ryder Cup is supposed to be an exhibition. Let’s see some others get a chance to exhibit what they’ve got.

Melton: Making some cuts would be a good place to start, and some top 10s surely wouldn’t hurt. As long as he doesn’t miss every cut for the rest of the season, I think ZJ takes a flier and puts him on the team. Thomas is one of the leaders in that team room, and having him around in Rome would be smart.

Marksbury: Despite his recent drop in form, JT isn’t that far off. It’s not like he’s No. 25 on the ranking, he’s currently 13th. If the team was picked tomorrow, I think he would be on it. He is a guy who rises to the occasion at the Ryder Cup like few others. But since we have some time before the picks are made, the next few weeks will be telling. It would behoove him to show he deserves it.

He's posting scores in the 80's, yet Jess thinks he's close?  The time-space continuum can be so confusing, but all those points were earned months ago, Jess.  lately?  

But does Zach need a babysitter for Jordan?  I do think JT better show something soon, though I'll be a little light on specifics...

Mostly meh, methinks:

Royal Liverpool’s new par-3 17th was a hot talking point all week, with some players praising the hole and others calling its deep bunkers and severely sloped green banks too penal. Matt Fitzpatrick summed up his opinion on the design in two words: “Start again.” Your thoughts?

Zak: I think the hole may need some reconsideration. Perhaps removing that greenside bunker on the right, or lengthening it even, just a touch, while softening the surrounds. Perhaps a bit too much focus was paid to the idea of creating a Sawgrass-esque finishing par-3.

Hirsh: Fantastic hole. I love short iron par-3s that demand you to hit the green. We saw plenty of guys miss the green and still get up-and-down too. This is a major — there are supposed to be trainwrecks!

Sens: Maybe it was the relatively calm winds all week, but it didn’t seem overly penal at all. Fitzpatrick missed where you absolutely can’t miss and he paid the price. Overall, though, 17 didn’t add nearly as much teeth (or drama) as many hoped it would.

Melton: I thought it was a fine hole based on the broadcast, but I would’ve liked a bit more excitement from it. It was a hot talking point coming into the week, but it didn’t live up to the hype, in my opinion. Just a pretty standard par-3.

Marksbury: I understand Fitzpatrick’s criticisms, but he admitted that he hit the worst possible shot.And he birdied the hole in Rounds 1 and 3! I liked it. It added a bit of intrigue to the end of each round, but as Josh and Zephyr noted, not nearly as much as expected, given the outcry.

Seemed mostly boring, though Tommy Lad certainly had no fun there on Sunday... And one last exit Q&A:

The men’s major season is [sniffle] over! What single memory from this year’s crop of tourneys most sticks with you?

Zak: Rory’s exit at LACC. He engenders such support wherever he goes, and lately it’s all just resulted in post-major sympathy. I followed his footsteps through the clubhouse after his second-place finish behind Wyndham Clark and saw the repeated waves of reality rush over him — from his wife, his agent, the LACC membership, even the security guard who flanked him all week. McIlroy will win another major eventually, but it’s impossible to tell when. And each time he leaves the property, it seems to be just as heavy as the last close finish. That must exhaust him to no end.

Hirsh: Jon Rahm’s final hole at the Masters was a beautiful ode to his hero Seve Ballesteros.

Sens: Maybe it’s because I had them both in my office pool, but I can’t shake the memory of Corey Conners and Viktor Hovland making devastating double bogeys in precisely the same bizarre way on consecutive days in the PGA Championship to take themselves out of the running. Both were very much in the mix when they came to the par-4 16th. And both were undone by the same oddball shot — blasting irons from a fairway bunker, directly into a bunker face.

Melton: Brooks Koepka strutting around Oak Hill like the BK of old. There’s no player in the modern game with more swagger than Koepka when he’s feeling himself, so it was fun to see him get back to his dominant ways.

Marksbury: Love the Koepka take, Z! Totally agree. I’ll go a different route: Rickie’s run at the U.S. Open. It really looked like it might finally be his time, but like McIlroy, he came away empty-handed. Both players were still so gracious in defeat, and are two players who I still believe will claim a major sooner rather than later. Bring on the 2024 Masters!

If your two biggest memories are Viktor and Corey, we might have to call the entire major season a dud!  After Rahm's amazing final day at the Masters, there wasn't much to speak of, as Brooks was hard to watch for some of us.

OK, enough Open blogging, let me catch you up on our trip.  Yesterday was not nearly as dreadful as the forecast, but windy and colder still.  Care for a few more quaint Pittenweem scenes?  Oh, that was actually rhetorical....

And, finally, a high tide:

Elsie and John arrive this afternoon, and I will simultaneously be hosting Ross on the Balcomie.  Dace and Sebi will be coming down with Elsie and John, and we'll be hosting all for dinner.

It's quite beautiful right now, though cool:

The Met Office shows some unpleasantness in the middle of the day, right about when Ross and I will be teeing off, and it would be a shame if this is the one they get right...  Kids, why start now?

I don't anticipate a lot of blogging through this final push, but check back early and often to see if anything drives me to the keyboard.  

Hybrid Blogging - Updated With a Crail Connection

Just a few notes and pictures from our Saturday, then perhaps some Open blogging?

As has become the norm, the weather actually experienced was far better than that promised by the Met. Office, you might have noticed the same at Hoylake.  Interestingly, the rain seems to have disappeared from today's prognosis, although the fierce winds, high teens with gusts into the mid-20's remains, at least on paper in pixels.  We'll be using the morning for shopping, Elsie and Johan arrive tomorrow, then hunker down with the Open coverage.

Yesterday we went in search of fish for our dinner, only to find that the fishmonger across the Pittenweem Road is closed on Saturday and Sunday.  Curious that, for a retailer, though we found a guy as we drove into town with a mobile fish van, willing to sell us a couple of fillets:

That's the mobile fish van to the right, which he told us typically sets up shop in places like Dundee, obviously part of that Bowman Industrial Complex we've noted previously.  

Our major activity of the day was a walk to our old haunt of St. Monans, specifically to the St. Monans Auld Kirk (church).  

Probably 1 1/2 miles each way along the Fife Coastal Path, past the Pittenweem Tidal Pool and towards the St. Monans Tidal Pool:

We had a lovely stay in St. Monans in 2019, which is a wee little village even by the standards of Pittenweem.  There are a couple of serious restaurants located there, but no bakery (and, really, how would we get on without those sausage rolls) or market.  We have fun memories of watching the village kids jumping into the water off the pier, though the tides were completely different then.  In fact, one thing missing from our walks and photos is an actual high tide, one where those tidal pools disappear.

The church was our usual post-dinner walk that trip, as it's good fun reading the headstones in the adjoining cemetery:

Most definitely into the wind heading home, and Theresa pointed out the whitecaps in that St. Monans Tidal Pool:

You'll want to stay attuned to our every exciting experience, in this case it was laundry day in the East Neuk:

We've avoided the Arts festival crowds, but the line at the village ice cream shop was, literally, out the door:

The ice cream is allegedly Janetta's of St. Andrews....

We were delighted to seize on a evening calming to have dinner outside, though the leaders were on the 15th hole.  Under the circumstances, rules will be broken:

It was quite enjoyable, though we won't be able to even consider such a thing today.  but, that's as good a segue as any to a little Open blogging, no?

First, the streaming experience has been good.  It's 12 quid per day, so they're not giving it away, but it's worked well enough, except for that outage on Thursday as a result of a blown fuse.  On Thursday-Friday the broadcast from dawn-to-dusk, similar to what folks of a certain age remember of the old timey BBC coverage, the principal difference being commercials.  The commercial load seems far lighter, though you'll be jumping out of your seats to remind me that it's a paid service, and the better question is why there's any commercial load at all.

The only negative is that I'm forced to endure a lead analyst that I thought I'd seen the last of, Sir Mumbles of Montana.  Of all the gin joints in the world.....Argh!

So, just some quick hits and then I'll leave you to enjoy the final round.  First, the Tour Confidential gang takes on the burning question of the day:

Brian Harman is running away with the final major of the year, as he leads the 2023 Open Championship at 12 under, five shots clear of second-place Cameron Young (seven under). Jon Rahm, after a Saturday 63, is six under and six shots back, and there’s also a handful of golfers seven shots behind at five under: Viktor Hovland, Antoine Rozner, Jason Day, Tommy Fleetwood and Sepp Straka. Is the margin too big? Who wins come Sunday at Royal Liverpool?

Jack Hirsh: At first glance, it sure looks like only Harman, Young and Rahm have a chance at winning this thing. But if Young and Rahm have a chance, they’ll either have to go really low or

Harman will have to come back to them. I sense the ladder, especially with the bad weather that was supposed to come all week hopefully coming Sunday. If that happens, then it opens everything up for the guys at five and maybe four under. The last player to lose a five-stroke lead in an Open was Jean van de Velde in 1999. I think the chasers are better this time. I think Rahm shoots 67 and beats Harman in the four-hole playoff.

Sean Zak: The margin is too big.

Josh Sens: If the margin were too big, they’d have the trophy ceremony this evening. As solid as Harman has looked, it doesn’t seem likely but we’ve seen larger leads than this lost in majors before. Young and Rahm are very much still in it. For guys farther back to win, I think we’d need to see a bit of wildness in the weather. If the wind picks up, things could go topsy-turvy quickly.

Alan Bastable: ​​Before the third round, I posted an (unscientific) poll on Twitter, querying folks on whether, if they were placing a bet, they’d take Harman or the field. Only 23% of respondents took Harman, despite the fact that in the last 40 years all eight players who have had a five-shot-or-greater 36-hole major lead have gone on to win. Ye of little faith! Harman appears undaunted by the moment. On Sunday, he will become the ninth member of that group.

Josh Berhow: He’s been playing too well, and five strokes is a lot. I think it really helps him he won’t have an intimidating presence like Jon Rahm in that final group with him — no offense, Cam Young — and he’ll be able to post a score good enough to win. Like I said, he’s got room to make a mistake or two. But maybe not three.

I have two contradictory reactions, neither of which is dispositive:

1. I expect that Harmon should benefit from having slept on the big lead Friday night and his sluggish Saturday start.  he'll know he can turn it around if he has an early hiccup or two, and he'll know that other will likely be overly aggressive.
2. At the same time, there's a cumulative effect to playing with the lead on successive days, with fatigue a primary concern (perhaps more of the mental variety than physical).

One further conclusion is that, while we're all hard-wired to focus on the conclusion, perhaps the most interesting bits will be to see the start of Harman's round.  He could render those finishing holes moot, but that assumes much...

Harman himself is an interesting player to be be so positioned, a guy credited for grit, odd for a guy best known for coming up short.  he's won twice, but nothing of much significance and the last win was in 2017, so the chase pack will not be intimidated...

How far back is too far?  Hard to say when it's only the one guy that's broken out, but I think the guys at -5 (Fleetwood and Viktor, most notably) are in it in only a tenuous sense.  They'd need to do something special even to jump over Rahm and Young, in addition to generous assistance from the leader.

In a Writers Hardest Hit moment, Shack provides an amusing (in an angsty, first world problems sort of way) timeline of the press center reactions to Harman, who apparently can't be forgiven for enjoying hunting:

3:23 p.m. - Jon Rahm birdies seven of his last nine holes en route to a 63 for a new Royal Liverpool course record. The Spanish section lets out an audible cheer, there’s hope for a double major winner in 2023 and a winner this week whose greatest career feats do not include the words “qualify”, “skin to the bone” and “FedExCup.”

3:42 - Third round leader Harman, five clear after Friday’s 65, bogeys the opening hole to cut his lead from four and then to three in a matter of 15 minutes. Golf writers are heard cancelling their Sunday morning tee times at Wallasey to be here early for one last serving of black pudding and a fun Sunday final round.

4:30 - Harman’s lead is down to two after a bogey at the short 4th. The media center buzz gets so loud I have to put on noise cancelling headphones and prepare to scrap all Todd Hamilton references from today’s newsletter.

4:38 - Food lines grow when media digestive tracts relax after it appears we might just have a proper championship. The combo of joy and hungry stomachs gets so out of control that several scribes happily go for the gruesome, pre-made “Mexican bean and avocado sandwich with sweetcorn and salsa picante on granary bread.” Life is good.

6:09 - In a short time Harman’s lead grows back to five strokes following a birdie on 12. I try to offset the news with The Best Is Yet To Come on a headphones loop as a tribute to Tony Bennett, whose passing at least ensures the legendary crooner won’t have to witness a Harman victory walk Sunday. Godspeed Mr. B.

6:38 - Cameron Young makes birdie on 18 from an awkward greenside bunker stance. This keeps the Harman lead at five, setting up a Harman-Young final grouping that should upset NBC execs except that they run so many commercials it’s clear Comcast already has lost interest. Meanwhile, a pungent odor envelopes the press tent. In order of blame: Harman’s lead, the salsa picante, the granary bread and the “avocado” that tastes more like Tofu infused with fescue.

6:58 - Note to self: look into magic mushrooms if the “wee slice mon” wins this major.

7:20 - Harman pars the difficult 16th and 17th. Several writers begin stockpiling Cadbury Double Decker bars for what could be a long night in search of inspiration while sidestepping the urge to invoke the phrase “worst nightmare since” and the names Todd Hamilton, Shaun Micheel or Ben Curtis.

7:24 - Harman drives into the 18th hole rough, avoiding the interior out-of-bounds that, not coincidentally, was taking on real architectural appeal like never before.

7:28 - Sepp Straka (70/-5) bogeys the 18th because I have £10 pounds each way on him at 200-1.

7:31 - Harman wedges out to the fairway and slaps his third shot short of the silly greenside bunkers that need to be raked flat again for Sunday’s final round. You know, to give the world hope until the very, very end.

7:33 - Harman is greeted by a half-empty 18th hole grandstand as writers draw inspiration from knowing fans are already gone and ordering dinner. The best West Kirby eateries may just greet us with open tables and stiff lagers.

7:40 - Semi-local favorite Fleetwood (71/-5) hits a three wood into the home hole grandstand and registers his 16th par of the day. He is all-but-out-of-it after Harman salvages par.

7:43 - A writer returning from media dining is armed with a gin-filled flask and reports that Harman is 100% this week on putts inside 10 feet. Cheers!

8:14 - Harman enters the interview room and discusses the accomplishment he’s most proud of (“12th straight year that I've made the FedExCup Playoffs”), whether he looks like cricket’s Ricky Ponting (“Handsome fella”), and discusses innocent animals he’s stalked all day instead of reading Dostoevsy or The Life And Dogged Times Of Vince Dooley (“some really cool elk hunts out in Colorado, really tough* hunting”). *Especially for the elk.

8:25 - An official request is submitted to media relations asking if the R&A slogan “Forged By Nature” will be forever retired if Harman wins and every tabloid headlines with, Forager Of Nature.

Well, we can't have a Champion Golfer of the Year that doesn't enjoy his Dostoyevsky... Makes me want to root for him even more.  I do understand that almost anyone else on that leaderboard might provide better copy but, given the current LIV-infused zeitgeist, I thought that Geoff would embrace the reminder that golf isn't merely about those top twenty players....

Headlines I thought I'd never see for $100, Art:

Brian Harman, 'The Butcher of Hoylake,' holds 5-stroke lead at 2023 British Open among third-round takeaways

How about this 2018 tweet from a man in a completely different line of work?

I love watching you, Brian. You have it all. You can hit it a mile, and feather it around the greens, but what will win you your majors, the Masters likely being your first, is your easy perfection with the blade. Respect. https://t.co/56pyXshuXQ

— Norm Macdonald (@normmacdonald) March 15, 2018

Good call, though maybe still a titch early.... though I can watch that silky-smooth putting stroke all day.

Remember that famous photo of Rory and Rickie from the 2007 Walker Cup at Royal County Down?

What, you didn't know that Rory had jowls back then?

Here's an old one of Harman and Rickie:

That's from the 2009 NCAA's, and I'll allow the reader to decide whether the backstory might be applicable for what's to come today:

The most legendary story about Harman, however, involves his performance at the 2009 NCAA Championship while competing for Georgia. It was Harman’s senior year, and the first year that the team title was being decided via match play. The Bulldogs were the No. 1 seed of the eight schools that advanced to the match-play bracket at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, but they had to face the team that was ranked No. 1 in the nation, Oklahoma State, in the quarterfinal round. And Harman, as Georgia's top-ranked player, was matched against OSU’s No. 1, Rickie Fowler, in what played out as the deciding match between the two teams.

Impressively, the match lived up to the hype, Fowler taking a 1-up lead through 14 holes as the crowds from the other matches descended on the two future PGA Tour winners. On the 15th, Fowler two-putted for par, forcing Harman to make an eight-footer to halve the hole and stay just 1 down. He drained the putt but noticed that Fowler and his coach, Mike McGraw, had already left the green for the 16th tee, forcing Harman to put the flagstick back in. This minor breach of etiquette proved a major sore point for Harman.

So, how did that play out?

“He jammed the flag in the hole,” said Georgia coach Chris Haack, “and said, ‘This really pisses me off.’”

Shane Ryan, who chronicled the rise of young golfers in the Tiger Woods era in his book Chasing the Tiger, touched on the match in his book and characterized Harman’s thoughts in a little less family-friendly manner.

“You mother***er,” Harman thought to himself. “I’m about to kick that guy in the teeth.”

On the 16th hole, Fowler made a birdie from outside 15 feet, but so did Harman. Then on the 17th, Harman made another birdie while Fowler’s birdie try lipped out.

All square on the 18th hole, Harman found the fairway off the tee. Fowler was first to hit his approach on the par-4 home hole, leaving himself a 30-footer for birdie. Harman proceeded to go flag-hunting, leaving his ball four feet from the hole. Fowler missed, Harman didn’t, and proceeded to end the season for Fowler and Oklahoma State.

They call him gritty, and we're about to see that quality tested to its limit.

Mind if I dump one last overly-long excerpt on you?  Eamon Lynch has a piece up under this header:

Lynch: The Masters? Meh. The Open is golf’s greatest major. Here’s why

 I'll just allow Eamon to wax poetic:

And the Open? It’s defined by a multitude of elements that combine to make it the greatest championship in the game. Why?

Because of the history, for starters. The first shot was struck in the Open three weeks before Abraham Lincoln was elected president and every single great in the annals of the sport has contributed their share since.

Because its the original DNA of a game that morphed into a global sport, essentially unchanged as the unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible over wild contouring land set hard by the sea.

Because the Open doesn’t try to protect players from the capriciousness at the heart of links golf, at least it didn’t until the R&A softened bunkers at Royal Liverpool. Good shots aren’t guaranteed good results and poor shots are often saved by a fortuitous carom off a contour. Vagaries are a virtue, not something to be mitigated.

Because it not only tests execution — which every man in the field has mastered — but also imagination, an asset lacking in many. Forget the video game golf familiar to the professional tours, where balls drop and stop with the precision of drone strikes. Here, routes to the target are foraged along the ground, negating wind and navigating hazards. Even if range finders were permitted, they’d be useless. Raw numbers are as meaningless at the Open as they are in a Russian election; it’s all about how you process them to an acceptable outcome.

Because it presents in abundance the one requirement to make golf interesting: options. Particularly in encouraging a tremendous variety of shotmaking around the greens. Nothing is uniform, which allows competitors to play to their strengths or around their weaknesses, whether lobbing wedges or bunting fairway metals. It’s a beguiling upgrade over the standardized test so prevalent on professional tours these days.

Because the conversation on Sunday night focuses on what might be consumed from the Claret Jug, not on how much honey is in the prize pot.

Because it’s a necessary reminder that golf is an outdoor sport, where the turf is hard and the rain moreso. The other three majors are held in locations and seasons where rain is frequently accompanied by electricity, sending everyone to shelter. It’s a rare Open that doesn’t see wind barrel in from the sea, bringing nasty squalls and taking the dreams of many. Golfers, like livestock, are expected to work in all weather at this major, and there is no better means of separating contenders from pretenders than golf on a filthy day along the British coast.

Because it stands as an annual reminder to golfers, superintendents and greens committees the world over that courses need not be lush lawns and floral extravaganzas, that brown doesn’t equal decay. The motto of the 151st Open — Forged in Nature— ought to be a guiding principle everywhere.

Because of the delightful incongruity between the reputation of the venue and the reality of the surrounding area, usually charmless seaside villages whose luster, such as it was, faded shortly after the Wright Brothers created an alternative for vacations. St. Andrews is the exception that proves the rule, but every Open mixes the stuffy air of an elite club with the faint whiff of fish and chips on the breeze.

Because of the spectators. British golf fans have been progressively deprived of upper-tier golf since the European circuit set out for warmer pastures and despots’ dollars, but the Open has the permanence of Dover’s white cliffs, at least when pandemic insurance payouts aren’t a preferred option. Crowds never disappoint, the number of spectators in shorts inversely correlated to the horridness of the weather. And they possess a deep appreciation for links golf, applauding shots that finish far from the pin because they understand how good that result actually is.

Because of the characters particular to Opens, past and present. Like the longtime first tee starter Ivor Robson, whose advancing years belied bladder control that was marveled at for four days every July. Like retired R&A chief Peter Dawson, who — jaw squared like a navvy shovel — summoned forth the Champion Golfer of the Year with the authority of a field marshal in Arnie’s Army. Like Maurice Flitcroft, the infamous gadfly who gatecrashed Open qualifying five times despite being banned after his first foray, during which he shot 121 (“Does that mean he’s won it?” his mother asked a reporter). Like the gaggle to be seen peering from the clubhouse, white-haired members with teeth like toppled tombstones and dandruff on their lapels, bursting with pride yet faintly irked at the inconvenience of the world’s finest golfers interrupting their weekly four-ball followed by G&Ts.

These are the inseparable components of the Open, each contributing to a potpourri that encapsulates everything that makes up the greatest championship in golf. It’s a list that has remained largely unchanged for most of the century-and-a-half they’ve been playing this thing. Long may it continue.

Yeah, there's a few nits to pick, as I have to believe he could salute the open qualifying into the event without wasting pixels on the abuse thereof....As for those spectators, well there's been more shouting of "Mashed Potatoes" on the Sky broadcast than he'd lead you to believe.

But I do embrace the essence of his argument, typically reverting to describing the experience of links golf as more primal.  As he notes, the nature of the turf and other elements elicit as range of shot-making not required in parkland play, and thereby renders the golf more exciting to watch.  And, I should hardly have to add, more exciting to play.... It's why the bride and I come back each year and are out there in the rain and wind.

Enjoy the final round and whatever it might bring, especially if it annoys those in the press center. 

UPDATE:  Just noticed this in a general e-mail from Crail:

If you are looking for someone other than local hero Michael Stewart (nephew of past M&H

Convener Malcolm) to support in The Open, you can be proud of the Crail connection to current leader Brian Harman.

Brian played Balcomie with Fluff Cowan as part of his preparation for the 2015 Open and shot a 59 over Balcomie. He clearly talented and can cope with links golf, so maybe worth a wee wager even at this stage? He was utterly charming and a delight to host.

On a general note, there was this confirming the wisdom of our rather spontaneous decision to join the Crail Golfing Society on that 2019 trip referenced above:

Waiting List

The waiting list for membership continues to grow, which is a testament to the popularity and allure of the Society. We all hope that the patience of those who may be waiting up to two years to join is rewarded with a rich network of friends and opportunities to play an active part in the fabric of Crail Golfing Society.

 If the draw bridge is to be raised, better I suppose that it happen after we're inside.