RETURN TO ROYAL PORTRUSH
Graeme McDowell winning the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in 2010 was a source of pride for Northern Ireland. Rory McIlroy winning the U.S. Open at Congressional a year later was a source of hope. And a month after that, Darren Clarke became the first Ulsterman in 64 years to hoist the claret jug. In a span of six majors, three champions came from a tiny country in the United Kingdom known for its castles, coastal links and three decades of nationalistic violence known as “The Troubles.”
The question became a drumbeat — Why not a return to Royal Portrush for the British Open? — until the Royal & Ancient Golf Club found a way to make it work. The response to Royal Portrush hosting golf ’s oldest championship for the first time in 68 years has been a combination of excitement and mystery. The championship sold out its 200,000 tickets 11 months ahead of time, and the R&A decided to provide an additional 15,000 tickets for tournament days. Those were snatched up quickly, bringing the total to 215,000 spectators expected on July 18-21 for the 148th edition of the British Open. That should come as no surprise. The Irish Open was held at Portrush in 2012 and 112,000 fans over four days, a European Tour record. They will be watching 156 players, most of whom have no idea what to expect. The defending champion is Francesco Molinari, one of 21 players in the field who played the Irish Open at Portrush seven years ago. The oldest player is 60-year-old Tom Lehman, born eight years after the only other British Open at Portrush in 1951, won by Max Faulkner of England. This is the longest a links course has gone between Opens, smashing the previous mark of 39 years between trips to Royal Liverpool. So what to expect? The mystery goes beyond a links course that has gone seven decades since it last hosted the British Open. Tiger Woods won the Masters, a big surprise considering he had gone 11 years and five surgeries since his last major. Since then, Woods has played only three tournaments. Brooks Koepka won the PGA Championship, giving him two majors and two runner-up finishes in the last four. He can’t seem to lose. Dustin Johnson, a runner-up at the Masters and the PGA Championship, still has only one major. That’s as many as Gary Woodland, who won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach over Koepka — him again. All eyes figure to be on Rory McIlroy, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour this year, the brightest of the major champions from Northern Ireland. McIlroy still holds the course record at Royal Portrush, a 61 as a 16-year-old in the North of Ireland Amateur. He hasn’t won a major in five years, but he hasn’t finished out of the top 5 at the Open dating to his 2014 victory at Hoylake. “It’s the same golf course I’ve grown up playing my whole life, and it’s the same tournament that I haven’t finished outside the top 5 for the last few years. They are two pretty good factors. Just keep reminding myself of that,” he said. It’s a slightly different course, with two holes altered for the magnitude of the British Open. Yes, it’s a major he knows well. But he’s playing for glory at home, something he never would have imagined, and what Northern Ireland never imagined having a chance to see.
THE COURSE
The R&A at first was skeptical Royal Portrush had enough room to host such a major sporting event that will see some 50,000 fans on the property. The solution was to build two new holes — Nos. 7 and 8 — from land on the adjacent Valley Links. And old 17th and 18th holes are now used for the tented village. The work was done by European golf architect Martin Ebert. “It’s hard to argue that this will be the finest piece of links land which The Open Championship is played,” he said. “No other venue I don’t think, has such pure links undulations throughout its 18 holes.”
TOUR OF TIGER
For the second time this year, Woods goes into a major championship without having played for a month. This is the new world of Woods, now 43 and having to watch his fused back closer than he did when he was winning three claret jugs in a span of seven years. He was off for a month before the PGA Championship and missed the cut. This time, he was on holiday in Thailand and returned to steamy Florida to get ready for links golf. He has played just 10 rounds in three tournaments since winning the Masters.
AMERICAN SWEEP
Tiger Woods at the Masters. Brooks Koepka at the PGA Championship. Gary Woodland at the U.S. Open. All the Americans need now is a victory in the British Open for their first sweep of the majors since 1982. That year, it was Craig Stadler at the Masters, Tom Watson at the U.S. Open and British Open, and Raymond Floyd at the PGA. The Americans have had three chances at a sweep since 1982, only for Jason Day of Australia (2015), Vijay Singh of Fiji (1998) and Steve Elkington of Australia (1995) to win the PGA Championship.
GLORY’S LAST SHOT?
The PGA Championship for years used “Glory’s Last Shot” as its slogan because it was the final chance for someone to win a major. Now that falls to the British Open. When the claret jug is handed out on July 21, it will be 263 days until the opening tee shot at the Masters. The last time the British Open was the final major of the year was in 1971, when the PGA Championship was held in Florida and played in February.