THOMAS BJORN’S KILLER FIVE HOLES
THE key five holes when the Open is at Royal St George’s? Given what happened to me there in 2003, I was tempted to respond: 16, 16, 16, 16 and 16! Leading by two shots with three holes to play, I needed three strokes to get out of the nasty greenside bunker at that tricky par three and the rest I’ve had to live with.
Royal St George’s might be one of the least-heralded courses on the Open rota but it’s still a great course. It’s a bit different from the rest, with unusual bumps on many of the fairways. On some
Open courses you can put yourself in bad positions and get away with it but not often at Sandwich. For me, it really starts on the 14th tee. 14th
545 yards par five You can’t fiddle the tee shot. You have to stand up and commit because there’s an out of bounds running close down the right and you want to be playing your second from the fairway. Most par fives allow you a breather. Not this one. 15th
496 yards par four This is a challenging hole where you’re happy to walk off with a par. It’s the longest parfour and maybe the toughest. Another tee shot that needs to be long and straight. Missing the green left leaves a tricky pitch. 16th
162 yards par three Do we have to discuss this one? It’s a nothing hole if the flag is on the left but when it’s on the right, as it will be for at least two and maybe three of the four days, it’s a different proposition. The bunker on the right, where I had all my problems, is a place you cannot go but you can’t play too safe to the left either because it
leaves a difficult two-putt. 17th
426 yards par four This has one of those rumpled fairways that can throw a perfectly good drive into the thick hay and gives St George’s a bad reputation. From the tee, it looks like a lunar landscape. You cannot be too aggressive with the drive or approach and you may need a bit of luck. 18th
450 yards par four With the exception of St Andrews, all the Open rota courses have a daunting closing hole and this one at Sandwich is up there with the toughest of them. If you need a par to win the Claret Jug, you’ll have to work for it. The drive isn’t easy and two tricky bunkers add to the difficulty of the shot. Then finding the green has never been a straightforward task.