Royal Liverpool's Last Four Holes (Especially The 17th) All But Guarantee A Phenomenal Finish To The 151st Open Championship
Let's just start cranking through this blazing finish to Royal Liverpool. I've been slowly tweaking my sleep cycle for about a week so I can try to catch as much of the 2023 Open Championship as possible.
It's gonna be EARLY for us in the States, but links golf is among the few things in all of sports that still gets me truly fired up. You don't see this style of golf on the PGA Tour for basically the rest of the calendar year. It's where the game's roots lie. It demands an entirely different brand of shotmaking from the world's best players. I can't get enough of it. MORE, PLEASE.
OK down to business. Hat tip to NBC's Golf Pass for confirmation on the prevailing winds since I'm directionally challenged. The 15th hole is a par 5 that doesn't seem reachable at 620 yards, but if the winds at Royal Liverpool hold true, that will be the first hole has a tail wind since No. 7. A worthwhile long wait for a good scoring opportunity. This course has all kinds of pot bunkers, yet the bombers off the tee can clear that trouble and set up a potential eagle chance.
Then you get to No. 16, which more often than not plays back into the wind. To the point where, as the video breakdown states, players will take less club and leave themselves with an approach shot of 200+ yards. You'll be lucky to escape with a par if conditions are particularly blustery. You need low, heat-seeking rockets like this from Rory McIlroy, Scottish Open winner and prior Champion Golfer of the Year at Hoylake:
...Now the big change and the big controversy of the week. Despite only playing 136 yards, the par-3 17th is about to be an absolute menace.
Players will have a shorter club in their hand. It's just that the margin for error is so slim. Then compound that with the pressure of a major championship on the weekend, and we're bound to see even the greatest golfers gouging their way out of these greenside pot bunkers. Royal Liverpool's links manager James Bledge and whoever had a hand in altering the architecture appeared to go into this finishing stretch with ill intent!
Take a look at Jon Rahm blasting out of the beach. He's a pretty big dude and the face of that sand trap is higher than he is, not to mention well below the level of the putting surface:
Happened to catch some of the press conferences on Golf Channel this morning. Rahm basically said, "Whether the 17th is fair or unfair, that's life. And everyone has to deal with it." Brooks Koepka embraces the challenge, and noted how all the best par 3s in the world, in his opinion, play 165 yards and shorter. Look at Brooks being a student of the game. I thought he didn't give a shit about golf and that it was for lames. KIDDING. Brooks is the man. I think he might win this week. We shall see.
Matthew Fitzpatrick's take on No. 17? One word: "Interesting." Asked to elaborate, he replied, "I'll leave it at that." Or so I recollect.
And finally, we'll close out the discourse on 17 with Padraig Harrington, who's lifted the Claret Jug twice and was the last man to successfully defend that coveted hardware back in 2008:
Alrighty. Now to the finale. ANOTHER par 5. But the 18th is far more challenging than it was back in 2014, when Rory made the second of his eagles in a three-hole stretch on Saturday to more or less put that Open out of reach.
So…the tee is moved back 50 yards. The out of bounds that hugs the right side and gave folks plenty of problems last time around has been pinched in by 20 yards to the left. Twenty-six scores of double bogey or worse back in '14, per PGA Tour Dot Com's Sean Martin. TROUBLE LURKING.
What a roller coaster we're likely in for on Open Championship Sunday. If you're in contention, you get a realistic chance at birdie on No. 15. Then, it's pretty much hanging on for dear life and praying for a par on the 16th. The sphincter only continues to tighten at that dreadful, short gem of a par 3. Adrenaline will be flowing to make such a finesse, shorter tee shot even harder. At the 18th, while an eagle is very much in play, a mere marginal miss to the right with your drive could mean OB and CYA to your Open hopes.
Happy Open Championship Eve to those who celebrate. Don't know if I'll make the 4 a.m. ET call time tomorrow for the opening tee shot, but I will be catching as much of this event as my individual biology will allow. Most important, Sunday's finish should make the unconventionally early hours of consuming golf well worth it.
Check out Dan's awesome preview, and of course keep an eye out for Banks' blogs as the 151st Open Championship unfolds.