Royal Birkdale에서 정통의 Open Championship이 펼쳐진다. 경기장은 건조하고 단단하며, 링크스 골프의 본질을 그대로 보여주고 있다. 볼이 착지 후 30피트까지 튀어오르고, 아이언 샷이 50야드 롤아웃되며, 범프 앤 런이 살아있다.
01Rory McIlroy의 어프로치 재점검
McIlroy는 지난주 Genesis Scottish Open에서 만족스럽지 못한 경기를 보냈다. 어프로치 플레이가 악화되었고, 시즌 내내 그를 괴롭혀온 좌우 이동 문제가 다시 나타났다.
왼쪽에서 오른쪽으로 부는 바람이 있을 때 같은 문제예요. 페이스와 패스의 간격이 커져요. 페이스가 패스보다 왼쪽을 향하고 왼쪽으로 날아가는 샷을 친다.Rory McIlroy
McIlroy는 연습에서 스윙이 나아졌다고 말했지만, 경기에서 이것이 작동할지가 관건이다. 링크스는 좌우 이동, 다양한 탄도를 요구한다. McIlroy가 자신의 공 구사에 완전히 자신하지 못한다면, 고생할 것이다.
02영국 선수들의 57년 드라우트
Open Championship은 영국 선수들에게 Masters가 미국 선수들에게 그런 것처럼 최고의 대회다. 그러나 영국 선수의 Open 우승은 1992년 Nick Faldo(Scottish soil, Muirfield)가 마지막이고, 영국 땅에서의 우승은 1969년 Tony Jacklin(Royal Lytham and St. Annes)까지 거슬러 올라간다.
이번이 57년 드라우트를 끝낼 기회다. 여러 영국 선수들이 경쟁 중이다.
Tommy Fleetwood는 Royal Birkdale 근처에서 자라났고, 현장 팬들의 압도적 지지를 받고 있다. Matt Fitzpatrick은 Player of the Year 후보 중 첫 번째고, 올해 3승 4개의 톱5를 기록했다. Aaron Rai는 5월 PGA Championship 우승자이고, Justin Rose는 1998년 Royal Birkdale에서 아마추어로 4위를 기록한 역사가 있다.
03Scottie Scheffler의 메이저 기회
Modern era에서 3년 연속 메이저를 우승한 선수는 Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka 단 3명이다. Scheffler도 그 4번째가 될까?
올해 Scheffler는 1월 중순 이후 단 1승만 했지만, 4번의 준우승과 높은 일관성을 유지 중이다. The Open은 그의 마지막 메이저 기회다. Data Golf에 따르면 Scheffler는 1983년 이후 12번째 최고의 Strokes Gained 시즌을 기록 중이다. Tiger Woods의 8개 시즌, Greg Norman의 1개, 그리고 Scheffler 자신의 2개만 더 좋다.
많은 토너먼트를 우승하려면 정말 샤프해야 합니다. 저는 좀 둔했던 것 같습니다.Scottie Scheffler
하지만 '둔한' Scheffler도 위험하다. 그는 FedExCup을 주도하고 최저 스코어 평균을 기록 중이다. 이곳에서의 우승은 비평가들을 잠재우고 엘리트 영역으로 나아갈 기회다.
04Jordan Spieth의 쌍승 기회
Spieth는 2017년 이곳에서 우승한 적이 있고, 이번이 쌍승의 기회다. 하지만 두 가지 장애물이 있다.
첫째, 제1차 세계대전 이후 같은 장소에서 Open을 두 번 우승한 선수는 6명뿐이다: Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, Jack Nicklaus, Peter Thomson, Ben Hogan. 둘째, Spieth는 14개월 동안 어떤 토너먼트도 톱10을 기록하지 못했다.
결과에 좌절합니다. 제 게임은 4-5년 전보다 낫고, 그때는 월드 랭킹 톱10도 했어요. 분명 지금이 낫지만, 결과가 안 나와요.Jordan Spieth
05Royal Birkdale의 변화
2017년 Spieth의 15번 홀 50피트 이글 퍼트는 Open 역사 속 명장면이 되었다. 하지만 그 홀은 이제 없다. 실제로 Royal Birkdale의 18홀 모두가 9년 전과 다르다.
5, 14, 15번 홀이 완전히 바뀌었다. 새 15번은 긴 파3로 클래식 Redan 홀이고, 이전 14번 땅을 사용한다. 새 14번은 이전 15번 땅에 있고, 파5 그린이 축소되고 60야드 더 길어졌다. 5번은 완전 리디자인으로 현재는 드라이버블 파4가 되었다.
06Original (English) — PGA TOUR
SOUTHPORT, England – We're in store for a proper installment of The Open Championship.
How do we know?
Royal Birkdale is playing firm and fast, exuding the best features of links golf and the test ahead. Balls are bouncing 30 feet in the air after landing, iron shots are rolling out an extra 50 yards, and the bump-and-run is alive and well around the greens.
Add in juicy storylines like Tommy Fleetwood's quest to win his home major, Jordan Spieth's return to his craziest major victory and the continued major race between Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy and this Open has all the makings of a classic.
What should you be watching as the golf begins Thursday? Here are five trends to track.
McIlroy wasn't a happy camper last weekend at the Genesis Scottish Open. His approach play deteriorated throughout the tournament, and he fell into bad habits that have hindered him at times this season, including at the U.S. Open last month.
With McIlroy's limited schedule, it's difficult to amass a large sample size to learn from, but he's lost strokes on approach in his two most recent starts and flagged it as an issue after his final round at The Renaissance Club.
"It's the same thing that I get a lot when I start hitting balls in a left-to-right wind as it has been over the weekend," McIlroy said. "My path and my face just get too far apart, in terms of like my face is just the further left than my path is and I start hitting these left shots."
McIlroy said Tuesday that the swing has felt improved on the range and in practice rounds. Will it translate when competition begins? Links golf forces players to hit all types of shots, moving the ball both directions with different trajectories to navigate the terrain and the elements. With anything less than full confidence in his ball-striking, McIlroy will suffer.
We're not talking weather here, though this area of Northwest England has experienced very little rain, resulting in browned-out conditions that will persist all week.
No, we're discussing the struggle of Englishmen to win their major championship. For Americans, the Masters is often the pinnacle of tournament golf, but for Europeans, particularly the English, The Open Championship stands above the rest.
Yet an Englishman hasn't won The Open since Nick Faldo in 1992. But he did it on Scottish soil at Muirfield. The last time an Englishman won an Open hosted on English soil was Tony Jacklin in 1969 at Royal Lytham and St. Annes.
Is this the year that the 57-year drought ends? There is as good a chance as any year, with a plethora of contenders.
Tommy Fleetwood grew up just down the road from Royal Birkdale and will be the overwhelming favorite for fans on the ground. His galleries were massive on Monday and Tuesday, larger than any on the golf course, with the hometown fans hoping to will their man to the claret jug.
Matt Fitzpatrick is the frontrunner for Player of the Year and boasts the type of game that should succeed here: long and accurate off the tee with the ability to be creative and hit different shots. Fitzpatrick has already won three times on TOUR this season, with four other top fives. Three of those top fives have come in his last four starts.
There's also Aaron Rai, the most recent Englishman to win a major. He unexpectedly won the PGA Championship in May with an incredible Sunday performance at Aronimink Golf Club. Rai has been a bit sporadic since his win, but his finish was a T11 at the U.S. Open, backing up his first major championship with another solid performance.
Then, of course, there's Justin Rose. Rose broke out as an amateur during the 1998 Open at Royal Birkdale, finishing fourth as an amateur. What a bookend it would be to return to Birkdale and capture his first Open title in the waning years of his career.
Only three players in the modern era have won at least one major championship in three consecutive seasons: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka.
Could Scheffler be the fourth?
The Open is Scheffler's last opportunity to win a major this year, and it would go a long way in changing the narrative of his season. Stuck on one win since mid-January, Scheffler has continued to play at a high level. He just hasn't been able to get over the line. He has four runners-up this season.
"For me to be winning a lot of tournaments, you've got to just be really, really sharp. I feel like maybe I've just been a touch dull," Scheffler said.
Even a dull Scheffler is a dangerous one. According to Data Golf, Scheffler is amassing the 12th-best Strokes Gained season on TOUR since 1983. Only eight Woods seasons, one Greg Norman season and two of Scheffler's own were better. Scheffler also leads the FedExCup and holds the low scoring average.
The win total often drowns out those nuances, the end-all, be-all in many minds. A win this week in Birkdale would silence those critics and put Scheffler in elite territory.
There are two trends that Spieth will need to overcome if he wants to win the claret jug for a second time at Royal Birkdale.
First, only six players since World War I have won multiple Opens at the same venue. Tiger Woods (St Andrews), Nick Faldo (Muirfield), Seve Ballesteros (Royal Lytham and St Annes), Jack Nicklaus (St Andrews), Peter Thomson (Royal Birkdale) and Ben Hogan (Royal St. Georges).
Then, there's the more pressing issue. Spieth has not finished inside the top-10 of any tournament in 14 months. But he feels much better than that stat would suggest.
"I'm quite frustrated with the results considering I know where my game is at. It's better than it was four or five years ago when I got back to top 10 in the world," Spieth said. "It's without a doubt better than it was then; it's just not quite showing up in results."
Speaking of Spieth, one of the most famous shots he hit at that Open in 2017 was a 50-foot eagle putt he rolled in at the 15th. If you don't remember the putt, you likely remember the celebration. Spieth looked at his caddie, Michael Greller, pointed at the hole, and shouted, "Go get that."
That hole doesn't exist anymore. In fact, none of Royal Birkdale's 18 holes are exactly the same as they were nine years ago. The club has undergone changes, some subtle and some extensive, that add intrigue to this classic Open rota course.
The fifth, 14th and 15th are completely different holes. The 15th is a lengthy par-3 and a take on a classic redan hole, using the land of the old 14th.
The new 14th hole is on the land of the old 15th. The green for the par-5 was moved and reduced in size. The hole is also 60 yards longer.
The par-4 fifth hole is a complete redesign and is now drivable depending on the conditions and tee location.
