The Open Championship 2018

First topic message reminder :

The Open Championship thread.

Here’s a preview by some of the players.
https://mobile.twitter.com/ConorSketches/status/1018880460888428545/video/1

And Rory right back in it!

And then he goes and makes an Eagle to go joint lead, omg this is mental!

Be_the_ball wrote:It was terrible from McIlroy Slippy,

Yep - should have a one shot lead now. His performances over the last few years in majors suggest he’ll probably play the last 4 about +2 but hope he can hold it together.

Molinari looks like he will get to -7 at 14. Now favourite I would say.

Butch surprised that The Open takes place at roughly the same time each year.

Rose should now set the clubhouse mark at -6. Get the feeling that will be at least one short but amazing display from +4 after 35 holes.

Born Slippy wrote:Molinari looks like he will get to -7 at 14. Now favourite I would say.

Would expect Spieth and Xander to, at least, join him after 14.

wiretapper wrote:Butch surprised that The Open takes place at roughly the same time each year.

That reminds me of the time some Japanese spectators asked while at a rain soaked Open, "why don't they host it in the summer?"

Brilliant from Franny, all down to Schauffele now

Interesting grip employed by Schauffele, looks like the club is very much in the palm of his left hand, effective all the same. Hope Franny gets it over the line!

owen10ozzy wrote:Story of the Europeans towards the top starting the day bottling it and the americans in and around them bringing their A game except for Zach. If I was a European I'd be considering whether to take up a Ryder Cup spot because as it stands we are in for an absolute trouncing!!

Rory & Fleetwood had disastrous days when others around them put it together, seems to be a theme with the former when entering the weekend. Be it a Saturday or a Sunday one day sees his scoring look like hes stuck in the mud while others around him are shooting low.

Great to see Woods firing on all cyclinders, agreed with the SKY train of thought that should he have been a little more offensive around the course then he may well have found himself a couple of shots better off.

What can you say about Spieth that hasn't already been said....seems to bring his A Game when it really matters. Others say he gets the lucky breaks a lot (he certainly had a few over the first two rounds) but what he does is capitalise on them better than probably anyone in the game.

Honourable mentions also to Xander who continues to show his talent, of which he has an abundance and also to Wood and Rose who at least gave the Brits something to shout about out their.

Sadly I don't see as many in contention as either the pundits or some of the fans seem to think. Anyone 5 under and below can wave goodbye to this years Open, even Molinari and Chappell's chances are low.

One of the leading 3 will take this, 95% certain it will Spieth. He will only need to shoot -3 under I think. Think Kisner & Xander will fold given the lack of experience on this grand a stage, one will likely have a collapse and the other possible shoot -1/-2 and fall short.

As an aside...listened to a lot of the media in the build up to this years open. Of the oft spoken about big 4 golfers (Woods,Spieth,Rory,Johnson) I found it fascinating to listen to them talk about winning and the mentality heading into these. For anyone wondering why Rory seems to have fallen off a cliff when it comes to Majors, his mindset in comparison to those around him is a big indicator as to why he can longer find the success he did years ago.

Any thoughts owen?

Great championship, so many stories. Frankies win, was it a surprise? Clearly in red hot form, not long ago talk was of him keeping his card in America. Things change quickly!

Great to see Tiger challenging, its really good for golf that the arguably the best ever is back on his game at a major.

Good playing by Rory and Rose.

What happened to the Yankee challenge? Spieth fell apart, xander struggled but just about clung on.

Shame it was not watched by more people!

Thought the tournament was wonderful, challenging conditions some of the time but nothing too extreme.

Fantastic Franny, but hugely impressed by Shauffele too.
Plus, say what anyone likes about Rory, the last 5 Opens have seen him finish:
2nd, 1st, DNP, 5th, 2nd.
Notching Major Top tens at something like a 45% clip, pretty bl00dy tasty.

Exactly the right approach and round from Molinari, fair play. Am sure it wil do wonders for Italian golf, unfortunately I couldn't give a toss about Italian golf. Great final day, good Open on a course that was fair but testing.

I obviously cursed the Yanks last night.....fell by the way side when the going got tough. That was anyones to win in the end and quite an incredible Open.

Hope you were watching PGA, the British establishment showing that you need not mess with a winning recipe when it comes to golf courses. If anyone was still wondering why I hated the US Open go back and watch all 4 days of this.

It was tough, every day played different and no one ran away with it but the scores were still respectable. Had absolutely everything IMO and huge well done to the R&A.

Despite the red hot form, I don't think anyone gun to head would have picked Franny to come away with the win today. Testement to his steady and unwavering belief in the way he plays. Hasn't changed much about his game whether he is winning or losing. Huge victory and well deserved for the guy who has been the best golfer over the past 2 months.

What can you say about the big boys, Rory/Woods/Speith...they will all walk away knowing the threw that away at various points. Every one of them played an enormously costly shot today and dropped either a double bogey or two needless bogeys (in Rory's case).

For Woods its a case of knowing he is now capable of challenging for Majors, he had his days at the US Open but this was Tiger of old and the more reps he gets in and more comfortable he becomes on the driver then the more likely we see him win multiple events again.

Spieth will have now have The Open to add to the Masters for memories of a final day collapses. Given he was so out of form coming into the tournament it isnt a bad result..but when your -9 under and have been putting lights out going into the final day and that happens, questions will be asked.

Rory once again gets close but fails to capitalise at key moments, can't remember the holes but twice yesterday and twice more today he drove the ball to within 90 yards...yet left himself 20+ft short....your not winning tournaments let alone majors like that. I will be personally tweeting him later to tell him to stick the driver in the bag and leave it their..spend 6 months using Irons and Wedges only because he is useless with them.

Plenty of others deserve a mention; Rose plugged away and almost got back into, Xander fell apart but recovered to come close, Fleetwood & Perez combined to do more in 2 days for making flowing locks on a man cool than has ever been done before.

For all the Tiger bashing, of which their is an embarassing amount on here, his return to form and presence at the front of this major was a welcome site. The media may very well over do it with the coverage of him and constant talk but fans would do well to remember where the game was 10-15 years ago at his peak and where its gone to while he was away...hidden away on subscription channels and online broadcast streaming services.

Great tournament...great four days and I look forward to seeing it live in person next year!

Absolutely fantastic final day, possibly the best major Sunday I can remember. Basically every plot line from every memorable major was there: the unlikely early clubhouse leader Eddie Pep, the front nine charge from Tiger, the dramatic late charges with memorable moments (Rose and Rory’s eagles), the Faldoesque slow and steady mistake-free move through the field from the eventual winner. And the two elements that needed to come good to make the entertainment happen, struggles from the final two groups. Always felt like that was going to be a possibility: the two Kevins aren’t seasoned winners yet, Schauffele will win majors but hadn’t yet been here before, and Spieth, for a 24yo three time major winner, has had his share of hiccups down the stretch before. Two man duels like him and Kuch last year, Henrik and Phil before, are great fun but there’s nothing to beat a Sunday back nine where a dozen or more players can realistically win.

Where is Mac to tell us about Woods bottling it?

This is why you need a course like Carnoustie.

Glad to see a European win a major after a sustained period of American domination. I thought Rory would do it but he's still flaky at times. Congrats to Francesco, he's done Italy proud

As great as Speith is and could go on to become, I make it four majors that have passed him by now. Whilst he might counter he's already got 3 by the age of 24, you never know what's around the corner and these missed opportunities might be the difference between catching Jack or catching Tiger

If I was Pepperel's sponsors I would void the contract...
Seriously being hungover on the final day of a Major?

wiretapper wrote:I think Molinari was mental to play here.

His tour status is secure so didn't need to play and now with travelling and jet-lag most of Monday will be a write-off giving him two days to prepare for an Open Championship he has a realistic chance of winning.

Denis Pugh was playing down the lack of prep time on the TV last night but I think it an opportunity lost (watch him cruise to victory now )

Nailed it

AlciG wrote:If I was Pepperel's sponsors I would void the contract...
Seriously being hungover on the final day of a Major?

And putting your round of the week in to be clubhouse leader for quite a chunk of the day? Oh for more of them to be honest and human. He wasn't out in a nightclub sh1tfaced until 5 am, he had a couple of glasses of wine with his coach after not playing well enough. Whilst I don't recommend it for a professional, it's hardly crime of the century and at least he was honest about it.

AlciG wrote:If I was Pepperel's sponsors I would void the contract...
Seriously being hungover on the final day of a Major?

Seriously.... Shooting one of the rounds of the day. 




Super 

I'm on holiday and the golf is behind a pay wall. So only managed to follow on twitter and BBC stream. You are lucky I couldn't watch because the board would have been rammed with Tiger fanboidom.

Roller_Coaster wrote:

AlciG wrote:If I was Pepperel's sponsors I would void the contract...
Seriously being hungover on the final day of a Major?

And putting your round of the week in to be clubhouse leader for quite a chunk of the day? Oh for more of them to be honest and human. He wasn't out in a nightclub sh1tfaced until 5 am, he had a couple of glasses of wine with his coach after not playing well enough. Whilst I don't recommend it for a professional, it's hardly crime of the century and at least he was honest about it.

I agree. I find Eddie’s attitude and honesty refreshing and a change from the bland and characterless players we get to see most of the time. As he admitted in his interview, he’s a lightweight when it comes to alcohol so a couple of glasses with his coach was probably all he had and was more than enough. He still had the round of the day! What was super athlete Woods’ excuse?

McLaren wrote:

AlciG wrote:If I was Pepperel's sponsors I would void the contract...
Seriously being hungover on the final day of a Major?

Seriously.... Shooting one of the rounds of the day. 




Super 

I'm on holiday and the golf is behind a pay wall. So only managed to follow on twitter and BBC stream. You are lucky I couldn't watch because the board would have been rammed with Tiger fanboidom.

Interesting to note the amount of double dippers up the top of the leaderboard eh Mac??

Overall the tournament and the venue didn’t disappoint did it? Nature helped obviously providing a good variety of conditions each day. For me the fascination was the contrast between the plotters and the bombers. In the end accuracy prevailed over power (over simplification perhaps but true nevertheless). Who would have thought after day 1 that the winning score would only be -8.

I know it’ll never happen but for me Carnoustie is much more worthy of an “every 5 years” than St Andrews.

LadyPutt wrote:I find Eddie’s attitude and honesty refreshing and a change from the bland and characterless players we get to see most of the time.

Ok enough about Kisner please....

Diggers wrote:Just to clarify, personality and charisma...not the same thing...2 different abstract nouns...different meanings. The same way moobs and pecs are different things, another one you struggle with.

best post of the year!

The whole tournament was one of the most interesting I can remember. Good, bad and ugly. Smart play rewarded, and punished by the gods(/spaghetti monsters) of luck and vice versa. Bunkering to be feared and avoided in the main rather than being the bail out area of choice. Course winning, losing, winning and I think ultimately getting at least a half against the best in the world. Rose scraping in to the weekend with his last putt on Friday to his 4th birdie down 18 on Sunday sitting him atop the pile with a reasonable chance of winning. Woods will he won't he? He has to, oh he hasn't. Kisner's 22 putts on day 1. 22. For an entire round. Spieth finding his touch only to have to find his ball (and that includes the football at the "frat" house that ended up 2 gardens away - "please sir can I have my ball back?"). Rory's he won't. He could. He has. He hasn't. And finally, Molinari the metronome. Tick, tock, click, flop, putt, drop. Incredible.

Golf was the winner this week. And how.

4putt wrote:All 71 shots of Woods televised.

I know - Wasn't it great! Fantastic to have Tiger back.

Roller_Coaster wrote:The whole tournament was one of the most interesting I can remember. Good, bad and ugly. Smart play rewarded, and punished by the gods(/spaghetti monsters) of luck and vice versa. Bunkering to be feared and avoided in the main rather than being the bail out area of choice. Course winning, losing, winning and I think ultimately getting at least a half against the best in the world. Rose scraping in to the weekend with his last putt on Friday to his 4th birdie down 18 on Sunday sitting him atop the pile with a reasonable chance of winning. Woods will he won't he? He has to, oh he hasn't. Kisner's 22 putts on day 1. 22. For an entire round. Spieth finding his touch only to have to find his ball (and that includes the football at the "frat" house that ended up 2 gardens away - "please sir can I have my ball back?"). Rory's he won't. He could. He has. He hasn't. And finally, Molinari the metronome. Tick, tock, click, flop, putt, drop. Incredible.

Golf was the winner this week. And how.

I'd echo a lot of this. Really compelling tournament, the course took everybody out of their comfort zone, but offered something for the plotters and something for the bombers.

Rory's driving though... it won't win him any majors but just incredible to watch

LadyPutt wrote:

Roller_Coaster wrote:

AlciG wrote:If I was Pepperel's sponsors I would void the contract...
Seriously being hungover on the final day of a Major?

And putting your round of the week in to be clubhouse leader for quite a chunk of the day? Oh for more of them to be honest and human. He wasn't out in a nightclub sh1tfaced until 5 am, he had a couple of glasses of wine with his coach after not playing well enough. Whilst I don't recommend it for a professional, it's hardly crime of the century and at least he was honest about it.

I agree. I find Eddie’s attitude and honesty refreshing and a change from the bland and characterless players we get to see most of the time. As he admitted in his interview, he’s a lightweight when it comes to alcohol so a couple of glasses with his coach was probably all he had and was more than enough. He still had the round of the day! What was super athlete Woods’ excuse?

I really don't care... Everybody can have a bad day at the office.
I guess its just me but I find it very disrespectful to arrive at your job hungover, regardless if you end up doing a good job or not.

Daft thing is to broadcast that you're hungover . . . . . . doesn't seem like he had a skinful, sure hundreds/thousands of others have been there, done that, just kept it to themselves.
Eddie Pep's next blog may be enlightening though! Also, perhaps he's really morphing in to a top player.


Very cool pics on the Golf Channel of Eduardo playing the Masters, paired with Woods, with Francesco caddying.

The Open social media round-up

The course - hard but fair
Sunday - great entertainment

Molinari - Steady as a rock, a worthy winner
Rose - What a comeback
Woods - Great to see him back in major contention
Schaffelle - A future major winner
Spieth - Game didn't suit Sunday conditions
McIlroy - Choked in a major again...

AlciG wrote:

LadyPutt wrote:

Roller_Coaster wrote:

AlciG wrote:If I was Pepperel's sponsors I would void the contract...
Seriously being hungover on the final day of a Major?

And putting your round of the week in to be clubhouse leader for quite a chunk of the day? Oh for more of them to be honest and human. He wasn't out in a nightclub sh1tfaced until 5 am, he had a couple of glasses of wine with his coach after not playing well enough. Whilst I don't recommend it for a professional, it's hardly crime of the century and at least he was honest about it.

I agree. I find Eddie’s attitude and honesty refreshing and a change from the bland and characterless players we get to see most of the time. As he admitted in his interview, he’s a lightweight when it comes to alcohol so a couple of glasses with his coach was probably all he had and was more than enough. He still had the round of the day! What was super athlete Woods’ excuse?

I really don't care... Everybody can have a bad day at the office.
I guess its just me but I find it very disrespectful to arrive at your job hungover, regardless if you end up doing a good job or not.

Can you say, with hand on heart, that you've never arrived at work hungover, because I certainly can't.    Unless, of course, you are teetotal.

Work is the curse of the drinking classes.
When I read about the evils of drink I nearly gave up reading

Worst thing is, coming back from lunch with a hangover . . . . . . .only kidding! Sort of.

dynamark wrote:Work is the curse of the drinking classes.
When I read about the evils of drink I nearly gave up reading

kwinigolfer wrote:Worst thing is, coming back from lunch with a hangover . . . . . . .only kidding! Sort of.

Haha

On form today lads!

kwinigolfer wrote:

owen10ozzy wrote:Story of the Europeans towards the top starting the day bottling it and the americans in and around them bringing their A game except for Zach. If I was a European I'd be considering whether to take up a Ryder Cup spot because as it stands we are in for an absolute trouncing!!

Rory & Fleetwood had disastrous days when others around them put it together, seems to be a theme with the former when entering the weekend. Be it a Saturday or a Sunday one day sees his scoring look like hes stuck in the mud while others around him are shooting low.

Great to see Woods firing on all cyclinders, agreed with the SKY train of thought that should he have been a little more offensive around the course then he may well have found himself a couple of shots better off.

What can you say about Spieth that hasn't already been said....seems to bring his A Game when it really matters. Others say he gets the lucky breaks a lot (he certainly had a few over the first two rounds) but what he does is capitalise on them better than probably anyone in the game.

Honourable mentions also to Xander who continues to show his talent, of which he has an abundance and also to Wood and Rose who at least gave the Brits something to shout about out their.

Sadly I don't see as many in contention as either the pundits or some of the fans seem to think. Anyone 5 under and below can wave goodbye to this years Open, even Molinari and Chappell's chances are low.

One of the leading 3 will take this, 95% certain it will Spieth. He will only need to shoot -3 under I think. Think Kisner & Xander will fold given the lack of experience on this grand a stage, one will likely have a collapse and the other possible shoot -1/-2 and fall short.

As an aside...listened to a lot of the media in the build up to this years open. Of the oft spoken about big 4 golfers (Woods,Spieth,Rory,Johnson) I found it fascinating to listen to them talk about winning and the mentality heading into these. For anyone wondering why Rory seems to have fallen off a cliff when it comes to Majors, his mindset in comparison to those around him is a big indicator as to why he can longer find the success he did years ago.

Any thoughts owen?

Just what I was thinking of posting .

I’m not a golf expert but I watch most of the bigger tournaments. Is it fair to say that the main difference between the current McIlroy and the one who looked the dominant player for years to come is in his short irons?

He still seems to have freakish length off the tee combined with accuracy and his putting was always slightly streaky. However, my memory is he used to constantly be flag-hunting with towering irons in his younger days. Now, particularly when it really matters, it seems he rarely gets it within 25 feet, with a propensity to miss the green inexplicably frequently at shortish range. Is this a technical issue he has developed or is it purely down to the mental side of the game?

Tiger cracks the Top 50, and gets into the B-Stone next week. without points from the 2016 and 2017 Hero World Challenge, he would be ranked #59 and not playing the B-Stone.

LadyPutt wrote:Can you say, with hand on heart, that you've never arrived at work hungover, because I certainly can't.    Unless, of course, you are teetotal.

Sorry, I don't know what teetotal means, but I can honestly say I have never arrived at work hungover.

AlciG wrote:

LadyPutt wrote:Can you say, with hand on heart, that you've never arrived at work hungover, because I certainly can't.    Unless, of course, you are teetotal.

Sorry, I don't know what teetotal means, but I can honestly say I have never arrived at work hungover.

I try to arrive drunk.

AlciG wrote:

LadyPutt wrote:Can you say, with hand on heart, that you've never arrived at work hungover, because I certainly can't.    Unless, of course, you are teetotal.

Sorry, I don't know what teetotal means, but I can honestly say I have never arrived at work hungover.

Teetotal means you wake up in the morning knowing that's the best you're going to feel all day.

When I started teaching I thought drinking the night before a school day was impossible, I now realise it’s a necessity.

AlciG wrote:

LadyPutt wrote:Can you say, with hand on heart, that you've never arrived at work hungover, because I certainly can't.    Unless, of course, you are teetotal.

Sorry, I don't know what teetotal means, but I can honestly say I have never arrived at work hungover.

Obviously unemployed. Or too young to drink if you don't know what teetotal means.

Or both

I always drink in the morning. Before I get sober.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever arrived at work hungover in fairness. I try to time it so the hangover doesn’t kick in until an hour or so after I’ve got there.

Born Slippy wrote:I’m not a golf expert but I watch most of the bigger tournaments. Is it fair to say that the main difference between the current McIlroy and the one who looked the dominant player for years to come is in his short irons?

He still seems to have freakish length off the tee combined with accuracy and his putting was always slightly streaky. However, my memory is he used to constantly be flag-hunting with towering irons in his younger days. Now, particularly when it really matters, it seems he rarely gets it within 25 feet, with a propensity to miss the green inexplicably frequently at shortish range. Is this a technical issue he has developed or is it purely down to the mental side of the game?

I don't think it's anything technical. It may be mental, but I suspect he's much more comfortable with dartboard golf. Like a lot of players, he's so conditioned to hitting shots to receptive greens on the PGA Tour that he struggles to adapt when it bounces on. The two things that stood out for me at Carnoustie were that (more than any other player) Molinari was in the right position on the fairway to give himself the easiest (or least difficult) shot to the pin, and that downwind, a shot of 100 to 120 yards was far easier to stop than a chip from 50 or 60. Rory seemed to be too close to the green on numerous occasions.

Jeez, I've stumbled into work without having slept on a few occasions. Caffeine is your best friend on those days