Weather-beaten Open around the corner

Oldest golfing major starts next week with top players in contention.


Afp July 11, 2014

PARIS: The Open Championship returns to Royal Liverpool Golf club next week for the first time in eight years with Tiger Woods looking for a remake of 2006 and hopes running high that an Englishman can win on home soil for the first time in 45 years.

The last English player to capture an Open title in England was Tony Jacklin at Royal Lytham and St Annes in 1969.

It’s a conundrum that has left many in the golfing world scratching their heads and one that some see as a consequence of golf having gone truly global.

That means picture-perfect golf courses and superb warm-weather playing conditions in the US and Asia, a world away from the howling wind and lashing rain that often turn the British Open into a dire battle against the elements.

Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, whose Open record is abysmal apart from a tie for third at St Andrews in 2010, has opted to change his schedule this year by teeing off in the Scottish Open in Aberdeen.

“You’ve got to relish the challenge,” said McIlroy. “Back when I was 15, 16, 17, playing links golf all the time and putting on your wet gear to play wasn’t a big deal.

“Now we’re spoiled playing in great conditions. Any time there’s a bit of rain in the US, it’s a thunderstorm so you go in any way. It’s nice to get back and play in some conditions like this.”

McIlroy refuses to downplay Woods threat

Bad weather and foul conditions is likely not what Woods has in mind as he plays in just his second tournament in several months following back surgery.

His emotional win at Hoylake in 2006, just months after the death of his father Earl, came in one of the hottest and most becalmed Opens in years with the fairways burnished brown and the course playing very short.

Many doubt he can compete at Hoylake, but McIlroy for one refuses to write him off.

“We have all witnessed what Woods has been able to do over his career, whether that’s come back from injury and win, come back from any sort of off-course stuff and win,” said McIlroy.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 12th, 2014.

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