The 151st Open Championship concluded yesterday. The final major of the year. Here are some of my thoughts from this year’s tournament.
I love watching links golf. The uniqueness of the golf courses with the riveted bunkers and rolling, quirky fairways and greens. Tall fescue or worse, gorse, await the errant tee shot. Sometimes a perfect looking shot can take a strange bounce off a knob or hill in the fairway and end up in a pot bunker. The ground itself serves as the design for the course. The wind can blow, and rain can pelt challenging golfers and spectators alike.
Royal Liverpool hosted this year’s Open Championship. Not one of the more notable courses used in the Open rotation. It doesn’t carry the fame of St. Andrews or the name recognition of Carnoustie. But it is well liked by the players as a difficult but fair test of major championship golf. It presents the same type of bunkers and uniqueness as the other Open courses. And something different not seen in major championship golf, internal out of bounds on the golf course. There are public courses I’ve played with internal out of bounds, but none of those courses are major championship quality.
Royal Liverpool did something else which sets it apart in combatting the power of the modern professional. The normal response to the modern power game is to lengthen the course. I have two problems with this: first, it plays right into the power players hands allowing them to attack with driver, and second, it eliminates the precision player almost entirely. I believe lengthening the course is a lazy response and not a solution. Royal Liverpool approached the problem the way I believe it should be handled. Bunkers were placed in areas where the modern player hits driver. The big hitters couldn’t just reach for driver. They needed to think. Either challenge those bunkers or play short of them into places the course was originally designed to be played from. In other words, play the course the way it was meant to be played.
The new par 3 17th hole was a huge success. Not a massive 250-yard beast, but a short, brutal par 3 with disaster lurking for the poorly struck shot. Short does not necessarily mean easy. The 17th hole certainly proved to be no push over.
There was still the 500-yard par 4, a normal occurrence in major championship golf now days. But in today’s game it is the equivalent of a 450-yard par 4 thirty years ago. Players hit the ball so much farther today, even the shorter hitters. I don’t have an issue with those holes in general.
In the end, the Open produced a worthy champion. Brian Harman, a pro known for precision and not prodigious length, won the tournament. Controlling his golf ball, hitting precise wedges and great putting all led to the victory. The long hitters were there, but Harman cruised to the victory in the harsh Sunday weather. Harman will never be mistaken for the linebacker like Brooks Koepka, or the freakishly athletic Dustin Johnson. As Paul Azinger accurately pointed out, Harman does not look the part of the modern PGA Tour player. Lee Trevino, one of my all-time favorite golfers, commented on how much he loved Harman and his game. Trevino likened Harman to himself, a precision player with a grind it out mentality. While Harman doesn’t have the personality of Trevino, I agree he has the same kind of game.
The diminutive Harman was a student of the late Jack Lumpkin, one of the best teachers of his generation. Lumpkin saw the talent in Harman and influenced Harman as a coach and mentor. Harman delivered the eulogy at Lumpkin’s funeral. During the eulogy, Harman announced his wife was pregnant with their third child, a boy. In a tribute to his mentor, Harman announced they would name their son Jack.
Royal Liverpool delivered with its design changes the type of fair championship it sought, where the precision player was not eliminated before the tournament began.
Sunday of the Open Championship was the 63rd anniversary of Jack and Barbara Nicklaus. Happy Anniversary, Jack and Barbara!
As always, be thankful and grateful when you get out to play. It is an honor and privilege to play this crazy game. Enjoy it, even when you aren’t playing your best. Appreciate it and treat it with respect. Now, get out there and go golf.
If you like this post, please subscribe. I post every Monday morning. The subscription is free. If you already subscribe, thank you. Feel free to share on social media or refer friends and family who love golf.