TROON, Scotland — You’re watching, right? If you’re not, you really need to ask yourself why. Because even through a screen, the spectacular otherness of Open golf calls every July, and this British Open — this Open No. 152, here at Royal Troon‚ is most Openish. It’s had everything and it will continue to have everything until the last putt does down and the trophy goes up.
There were some odd MCs (Rory McIlroy headlining that unfortunate opening act). There’s been rain in all the popular categories: misting, spitting, drenching. There have been heavy sea winds interrupted by a few spells of early-evening stillness. All the while, a truly great, time-tested links has held its own in the face of driver heads about the size of Little League helmets.
Major champions and who-he pros are in contention, and that adds hugely to the fun. Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Justin Rose (now 43) in the first category. Dan Brown of England, Thirston Lawrence of South Africa and Daniel Hillier of New Zealand in the second. This is an open Open.
The course was gettable (as the fellas say) early Thursday but mostly just very damn hard. But fair. But fair! Part of the difficulty of this particular tournament, and huge part of the fun, is that Troon is nothing like any other course the world’s best players will play all year.
The greens are so slow you have to slug your 20-foot putts to get them to the hole. The faces on the greenside traps are so steep you’re often happy to get your ball to 20 feet. The rough is gnarly, at least in places. It got soaked on Saturday and is likely to stay damp and wet on Sunday, which is expected to be breezy, cool and gray.
Almost any time you make a par you are gaining on the field.
Billy Horschel, quintessential Florida golfer, is leading this ancient tournament, golf’s oldest, by a shot. He’s four under par. SIX guys are a shot behind him.
Maybe you’re thinking what Xander Schauffele, your PGA Championship champion, is thinking, that somebody could get hot and shoot low on Sunday.
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Schauffele finished his round on a gloomy/glorious Saturday night and, perhaps filling in as the evening entertainment, made this comment:
“If someone was even par or a couple over and they shoot seven under, eight under, I’d say that’s a pretty realistic chance of winning.”
That ain’t gonna happen!
There are 24 players at two over or better. So that’s 12 twosomes, going off between 12:30 p.m., local time, and 2:25 p.m.
Here’s a less comical assessment: five under wins, four under plays off. Even par, 71, could be a winning fourth-round score. And with a board this tight, the possibility of a playoff looms large.
Horschel and Lawrence, one of the three underers, make up the final twosome. Let’s say they finish at 6:45ish. Let’s say there’s a tie for the lead. Even on a cloudy night, you can play until almost 10. British Open playoffs are decided by total scores for four holes. If the tie remains, then it goes to sudden death. Yes, there’s a reason this is all being spelled out. Yes, the R&A does golf right.
You will be watching, won’t you?
Saturday was weird. The day’s final twosome featured one golfer, the unflappable Dan Brown, playing in his first major, and another, the flappable Shane Lowry, the Ryder Cup player and 2019 Open winner. When the two golfers, a bearded Englishman and a bearded Irishman, came to the first tee a steady rain was falling . . . and every last seat in the grandstand was occupied. These people have the spirit.
The twosome shot scores of 73 and 77, but here’s the twist. It was the rookie who shot the 73. The man with his name on the jug went for 77.
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Golf does weird as few things do.
As for Sunday, the deepest truth is nobody knows how it will play out, not Xander, not your correspondent, not the oddsmakers. Sport as theater. Isn’t that why we watch?
“I’ve always just embraced the toughness of anything,” Horschel said. He wore his hat backward most of the day, as many guys did. There was rain on TV camera lenses, rain dripping off cap brims, rain watering down beers. “I’m not afraid to fail.”
That is a good attitude for many things, including seaside golf with a big check and a small jug on the line. That is advanced thinking. That and a round of 70 might get his name etched right on it, alongside Justin Leonard and Todd Hamilton and Henrik Stenson (the last three winners here) as well as Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson and Tiger Woods. This is the most major of majors, and this is the most promising Sunday golf has had this year.
In the dusk light on Saturday, the clubhouse was packed with the coat-and-tie crowd. In town, a Ferris wheel was empty and idle. Troon is a good-time holiday town, on long summer nights. This was not one of them. This was a night with golfers on edge. How delicious.
Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com