YOU CAN’T escape it, it’s almost as if you’re engulfed by a mystical presence. Even Phil Mickelson, a player who has struggled to master the nuances of links golf, gets it. “It’s a spiritual place,” he remarked of the Old Course.
On this 150th anniversary of the first staging of the British Open, there is a sense that something special is in store at St Andrews as the world’s top players are asked to demonstrate fortitude in the forecast poor weather and also to use their shot-making skills and imagination to conquer the famed links.
Yesterday, a wicked wind accompanied by heavy rain made the Old Course a miserable place. It was so bad that the Champions’ Challenge was abandoned – as common sense prevailed, and old and young bones were kept dry – and the conditions served to focus the minds of those tasked with challenging for the Claret Jug.
As Graeme McDowell put it, “I’ve got all kinds of wet gear, cashmere, woolly hats and mittens – we’re ready for anything the course is going to throw at us.”
For sure, the seven Irish players – which equals the contingent at Carnoustie in 2007 – represent a strong challenge in what is truly a golden generation for Irish golf. McDowell, for one, proved his major credentials in winning the US Open at Pebble Beach barely a month ago, while Rory McIlroy, the world number nine, hasn’t been shy about expressing his desire to win here on a course for which his aggressive game is seemingly tailor-made.
And, of course, there is Pádraig Harrington. The Dubliner – winner of two of the past three British Opens – is, according to his coach Bob Torrance, swinging the club better than at any time in his career. “If he is in focus, I think he’ll win it,” said Torrance, adding that such a belief had nothing to do with sentiment. Harrington, more than anyone, knows that a return to the winner’s enclosure is overdue.
Harrington wants another major title for his CV. “I’ve won three, and it is all about, ‘just one more’. That’s human nature,” he said, adding – on the basis that he’d been trying too hard for that elusive win in a drought that stretches back to the US PGA in 2008 – that he planned to take a “more balanced attitude out to the golf course – relaxing, enjoying, all of those clichés you hear about golf. I’ll just let it happen.”
But, then, a number of other players will also believe that victory, especially of the major variety, is overdue.
Tiger Woods has yet to win this year – even allowing for the fact that golf became very much a secondary matter for much of his truncated season – and, as the champion here in 2000 and 2005, there is no other place that the world number one would rather chose to announce he is well and truly back.
As always in a British Open on the Old Course, players will be required to use all facets of the game. No club will be left unused in the bag. Although many of the bigger hitters can bomb their way over the trouble, there is also a requirement to stay out of the course’s 112 bunkers – something Woods did for all 72 holes in his 2000 triumph – and distance control with iron approach shots is also important.
However, the biggest challenge is likely to be with the putter, and particularly with lag putting on these huge greens.
Also, the weather is set to be a factor with the RA’s Peter Dawson claiming it was “pretty good for links golf, I think we’re pretty pleased with getting winds from a number of different directions”.
Still, the championship committee has reserved the right to use the forward tee on the 17th hole – a par four which plays 495 yards off the new tee box – should a strong wind play directly into players’ faces. Mickelson’s mindset for the 17th is to treat it as if it were a par five. “It’ll play to a 4.8, 4.9 (average), and possibly over five. It might even play to a 5.1. So, you have to look at it as a par five even though the card might say par five,” he said.
Given the anticipated challenge, players will be required to show discipline.
“You’ve got to have patience, grit and determination and to have the peace of mind to realise that par is a great score on most holes,” said McDowell, while Ernie Els claimed that the links “just throws surprises at you all the time . . . as an architect, you want to come here and play this course and see everything that they’ve done. You can incorporate it into almost any golf course you build anywhere.”
From the first round, though, Els’ mind – and that of everybody else – will be focused not on the subtleties of golf course design but rather on inveigling a way to conquer the links and claim the precious silver trophy.
It’s a task that should provide intrigue and, no doubt, plenty of surprises along the way.
One thing which wouldn’t surprise, though, is if one of the Irish septet managed to lay claim to the Claret Jug. Who? Now, that’s the hard part. But perhaps Harrington’s time is due, again.
Today's Tee-Times
On Tv: Bbc 2 (9am-8pm); Setanta Ireland (9am-7.30pm)
Irish in bold
* denotes amateurs
6.30: Levet, Paul Lawrie, Marino
6.41: Roberts, Goggin, Siem
6.52: Rock, Senden, Haas
7.03: Dufner, Dyson, S Hansen
7.14: Hamilton, R Oda, Noren
7.25: Coltart, Daly, Seung-yul Noh
7.36: Faldo, Laird, Kjeldsen
7.47: Duval, McGowan, Immelman
7.58: Moore, F-Castano, Schwartzel
8.09: Allenby, Watney, O Wilson
8.20: Glover, McIlroy, T Clark
8.31: Bjorn, Mahan, Sonoda
8.42: Poulter, Els, Cink
8.58: Ikeda, O’Hair, R Fisher
9.09: Woods, Rose, Villegas
9.20: Harrington, Ishikawa, T Watson 9.31: Jeong, Stenson, Kuchar
9.42: J Day, Wood, Perry
9.53: Clarke, Weir, Love
10.04: Andersson Hed, Jaidee, Holmes
10.15: O’Meara, * B-Hun An, Gallacher
10.26: Sim, Canizares, Havret
10.37: Scotland, Pernice, * Abbott
10.48: Van Pelt, Archer, Porter
10.59: Percy, Goya, Kyung-Tae Kim
11.10: Tiley, Haastrup, Whitehouse
11.41: Senior, Calcavecchia, A Hansen
11.52: Oosthuizen, Overton, Moriarty
12.03: Garrido, Miyase, Lowry
12.14: Na, Lehman, Leishman
12.25: Lyle, Dredge, K Oda
12.36: Singh, Khan, Verplank
12.47: Yang, Donald, R Barnes
12.58: Taniguchi, Karlsson, D Johnson
13.09: Kelly, Quiros, Miyamoto
13.20: Hanson, Molinari, Curtis
13.31: Casey, Cabrera, Fowler
13.42: Jimenez, Westwood, Scott
13.53: McDowell, Furyk, Ogilvy
14.09: Stricker, Fujita, Garcia
14.20: Montgomerie, Mickelson, Goosen 14.31: E Molinari, Davies, Leonard
14.42: Z Johnson, M Kaymer, * Chun
14.53: Choi, B Watson, * Dubuisson
15.04: Crane, R S Johnson, Aiken
15.15: Bohn, K Barnes, * Canter
15.26: Lara, Fichardt, Slocum
15.37: Streeter, Gay, Maybin
15.48: Goydos, Petrovic, Hugo
15.59: G Clark, Points, Chia
16.10: G Day, Cunliffe, * Hatton
16.21: Jae-bum Park, McNeill, Edwards
