Fiery test awaits Open field at toasty Birkdale
Tom Kim seals win in Scottish; 'Cut' streaks analyzed; LIV teases layoffs
Royal Birkdale’s toasted brown links will present a firm and fast Open challenge (Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images)
SOUTHPORT, England — A good bit of Europe has been enduring a summer heatwave. Amid your own misery at home in the states, you might have heard of some of the struggles over here, especially in England.
Nobody is going to feel sorry for big-time professional golfers having to ply their trade under a hot summer sun, even if there might be a smidge of compassion for those forced to carry on this week without air conditioning or enough ice.
But undoubtedly, the warm temperatures — expected to be push into the 80s for a majority of the week — will be a storyline for players and spectators alike this week at Royal Birkdale for the 154th staging of the Open Championship, where a brush fire is seemingly around every corner.
A first look at the course on Sunday illustrated the summer stress. There is plenty of brown and not a lot of green. A good crowd of spectators showed up to see the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Rickie Fowler, Harris English, Joaquin Niemann, Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka and others getting a look at the parched links a day before Open practice rounds officially get under way.
Augusta National, it is not.
Nor should it be. One of the beautiful aspects to links golf is the powers that be typically let Mother Nature dictate the conditions. If it is hot and dry, so be it.
Also in today’s DD …
This week in golf delivers Tom Kim, Haeran Ryu (again)
Open field adds three more high Scottish finishers; last-chance spot remains
End of Scottie Scheffler’s “cut” streak prompts semantic debate about merits
LIV Golf warns staff that potential downsizing is on the horizon
How to watch the Open Championship
Adam Scott, who played three straight days here last week to prepare for the Open, said the grounds staff was doing all it could do to keep the course “lush,” but clearly the rough has not grown to the thickness and deepness that it would under a normal rainy spring. “It won’t take much for it to be fiery,” Scott said.
That will undoubtedly be true, and a firm, fast links has the chance to be something special. But if there is little wind, rendering the course defenseless, we are in for a bevy of scores under par.
Pádraig Harrington, who won the second of consecutive Opens when he retained the Claret Jug at Royal Birkdale in 2008, played the course recently and raved about its
