Royal Birkdale Awaits 156 Golfers With Firm, Fast Open Test as Dry Week Reshapes Strategy
Updated
Updated · ESPN · Jul 14
Royal Birkdale Awaits 156 Golfers With Firm, Fast Open Test as Dry Week Reshapes Strategy
3 articles · Updated · ESPN · Jul 14
Summary
156 players arriving for Thursday's 154th Open at Royal Birkdale said the course is unusually firm and fast, setting up a markedly different test from the soft, wet 2017 championship won by Jordan Spieth.
Weeks of unseasonably warm weather and a forecast with little to no rain through all four rounds have hardened the links, with Scottie Scheffler saying he cannot recall an Open week forecast showing no rain.
Scheffler and Jon Rahm said the conditions will force more calculation off the tee, especially after narrower fairways from a 2024 renovation and winds that Rahm said could send a 6-iron as far as 280 yards.
Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose said the same dryness has also burned out some rough, potentially rewarding more aggressive lines and creating multiple viable strategies on holes with elevated greens and steep run-offs.
That mix of speed, wind and reduced rough leaves the championship balancing punishment and opportunity, with Scheffler chasing the first successful Open title defense since Padraig Harrington in 2008-09.