The weather, the pot bunkers, the passionate British crowds, the links golf we are starved of throughout the regular season.
The element of chance is always there in this great sport. But get to the Scottish coastline, the wind howling off the Irish Sea at an Open Championship, and some parts of the game can become a roll of the dice.
Let’s look at the last time the Open rota fell on Royal Troon. The luck of the draw was paramount, actually extreme. Every player inside the top 14 on the leaderboard before the balls went in the air on Saturday morning played on the same side of the draw. The players who played late on Thursday and early on Friday got the rub of the green. Essentially, nobody on the opposing side of the draw contended.
Unfortunate? Yeah, it is. But it’s swings and roundabouts. The best players understand that this is not only golf, but this is Open Championship golf. It happens, and it is the player who can ride the rollercoaster, roll with the punches and maybe get some rub of the green along the way who will generally go very close to drinking a couple of tins out of the Claret Jug on Sunday afternoon.
McIlroy got the tough draw last time The Open was at Troon, but that is just golf according to him, and this scribe. PHOTO: Getty Images
Rory McIlroy knows that. Following his second round 71 in 2016 at Troon he said “it’s the Open Championship. Some draws go your way, and some draws don’t.
“The last Open I played, I got the good end of the draw and good things happened that week. Then, this year, it’s not so much. But I just said out there, I’m not going to let being on the wrong side ruin my mood or ruin my week,” McIlroy said.
Rickie Fowler echoed his colleague’s sentiments. “I think it’s pretty clear which side of the draw was better for scoring, but that’s The Open. I’m not going to complain about it. I’ve been on the good side; I’ve been on the bad side,” Fowler said.
Shane Lowry combatted tough conditions at Royal Portrush in 2019. PHOTO: Getty Images.
That’s The Open. These guys get it. Chance is a factor, fair or unfair.
It’s part of the reason that the Open, in this writer’s opinion, is the best event on the calendar.
These guys are the best of the best, but it doesn’t matter how good you are if you blow one into a pot bunker and are against the lip, while your playing partner does the same thing and draws a perfect lie. There are always going to be opportunities to score and, equally, the opportunity for your competitors to falter.
You don’t know what is coming; Mother Nature – who is almost certainly Scottish – could throw anything at you, and let’s be honest, with the equipment that is floating around in 2024, I certainly don’t have any sympathy for some intense conditions. Boys, you have the tools to combat whatever is thrown your way.
There aren’t many as creative as the late Seve Ballesteros was. PHOTO: Getty Images.
Chance is one thing. Using imagination as your 15th club is another. There is something poetic about delving into the archives to watch some of the more imaginative shots at The Open. Tiger’s 2-irons around Hoylake, Seve’s brilliance around the greens, and who could forget Cam Smith’s up and down on the Road Hole in 2022.
The Open provides an entirely different examination of skill, imagination and creativity. The latter is a trait we see so scarcely at most tour venues in the U.S where we see too much point A to point B golf. Players have to play the hand they are dealt, rough breaks or great breaks, and think their way out of trouble. And if the course and the great element of chance grit its teeth. Whoever is prepared to lock horns with the golfing devil will likely reap the rewards.
The theme of this column has been chance, which has seen some surprise packages win the tag of champion golfer of the year. I mean, who had Brian Harman on their bet slips last year? Todd Hamilton anyone? Ben bloody Curtis?
But, as a general rule, the creative type, the virtuoso, has emerged to the top. Smith, Shane Lowry, and Jordan Spieth have all claimed the Claret Jug in the last seven years. And with Royal Troon as their canvas, who will be the lucky son of a… artist in 2024?
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