2016 British Open at Royal Troon Discussion Thread

[ChrisP]

1 hour ago, RandallT said:

I haven't read much yet this year (and bad on me, I don't tend to remember details of each course in the rota), but I caught David Duval saying that he expects the long hitters to have multiple eagle putts in the first 7 holes at Troon. Is that right? Multiple eagle putts in the first 7??? Maybe I misheard what he said.

Nope there are two reachable par-4s and two reachable par-5s in the first 6 holes. That's why I truly believe that a 62 is definitely out there if they catch a day without some wind. Watching some of these practice rounds, it's very soft. They've had a wet summer there.

[b101]

1 hour ago, RandallT said:

I haven't read much yet this year (and bad on me, I don't tend to remember details of each course in the rota), but I caught David Duval saying that he expects the long hitters to have multiple eagle putts in the first 7 holes at Troon. Is that right? Multiple eagle putts in the first 7??? Maybe I misheard what he said.

Nope, could well be right. First is just about driveable (370) with a decent tailwind, 3rd is 379, assuming one could carry the burn at 285, 4th and 6th are very reachable par 5s - albeit 6 is a bit longer. Dunno why they keep saying first 7 as I don't think 7 is reachable, but it's not long by any means. Could make for some fun scoring early on, but it's very much a course where you make your score on the front nine before holding onto it on the back.

[Missouri Swede]

1 hour ago, ChrisP said:

So I'm going to be on the road the next few days. Will The Open be streaming live on the NBC "Golf Live Extra" App? That's where all the Golf Channel shows stream live.

Some of it will also be on the golf channel live extra app, it looks like. And  theopen.com has its own app that will provide some video coverage.

From the pgatour website:

Quote

 

Tournament: The Open Championship

 

Channel	Coverage	Airtimes
GOLF Channel Simulcast	Watch GOLF Channel coverage online (*) You will be asked to login to your cable provider. Launch video player	• Thu: 1:30 a.m.-4 p.m. ET • Fri: 1:30 a.m.-4 p.m. ET • Sat: 4-7 a.m. ET • Sun: 4-7 a.m. ET
NBC Sports Simulcast	Watch NBC Sports coverage online (*) You will be asked to login to your cable provider. Launch video player

 

[Chilli Dipper]

The Scottish journalists ask outstanding questions during the press conferences; the Japanese journalists still only ask the players how great Matsuyama is.

[rehmwa]

I'd like to see Rory and Sergio make a good run at it.  (with a nod to DJ if he's on game still)

 

What?  no yearly grumble that the thread title says "British" Open instead of "The" Open?  I'm very disappointed at the curmudgeons for not bringing it up by the 5th page of the thread.

[ChrisP]

For those betters out there, a couple good bargains with the scoring. Really like the +150 price for a 64 or under. Also +120 for a winning score of -12 or better. Course is very soft and it doesn't look like wind gonna be much of a factor this week, and what wind there is won't be the difficult wind. I think this is setup for good scoring this week, and also setup for a grest ball striker who can stick shots.

Edited July 14, 2016 by ChrisP

[Golfingdad]

T minus 30 minutes!!!

[b101]

8 hours ago, rehmwa said:

What?  no yearly grumble that the thread title says "British" Open instead of "The" Open?  I'm very disappointed at the curmudgeons for not bringing it up by the 5th page of the thread.

To be honest, it shouldn't bother anyone unless the US Open suddenly gets called 'The' Open instead. I might have an issue with that .

In other news, I'm delighted that my body woke itself up in time for the first tee off. Really looking forward to this and hope the championship produces a similar level of drama to last year.

10 hours ago, b101 said:

Nope, could well be right. First is just about driveable (370) with a decent tailwind, 3rd is 379, assuming one could carry the burn at 285, 4th and 6th are very reachable par 5s - albeit 6 is a bit longer. Dunno why they keep saying first 7 as I don't think 7 is reachable, but it's not long by any means. Could make for some fun scoring early on, but it's very much a course where you make your score on the front nine before holding onto it on the back.

That said, looking at the bunkers around the first, you'd be mad to go for the green. Sad not to hear Ivor starting things off 

[RJH999]

lol Montgomerie

[b101]

2 minutes ago, RJH999 said:

lol Montgomerie

and he's missed the second fairway left as well... could get ugly. 

[Chilli Dipper]

5 minutes ago, RJH999 said:

lol Montgomerie

God bless the Scottish fans. They love their Monty so much, they'll give him a cheer after he hits a shot backwards!

[Golfingdad]

Monty in the top 10!

[b101]

Loving this picture doing the rounds:

[b101]

Fair play, he's really pulled it back after that nightmare first hole. You have to feel that one of the top 4 guys will shoot very low today if Monty's managing 5 birdies on the front nine.

[RandallT]

At the moment, every hole on the back nine is playing over par. Every hole except #2 on the front nine is playing under par (and #2 barely over par). So far, that matches what you've told me @b101: get your score on the front, hold on for the back.

Note: it just changed to be slightly different than that, but it's close.

http://www.theopen.com/HoleStatistics#!/overall

 

 

[b101]

Just now, RandallT said:

At the moment, every hole on the back nine is playing over par. Every hole except #2 on the front nine is playing under par (and #2 barely over par). So far, that matches what you've told me @b101: get your score on the front, hold on for the back.

Note: it just changed to be slightly different than that, but it's close.

Standard out and back links . I'm still not totally sure why so many are taking driver on the first if it looks like it brings the greenside bunkers into play - certainly McIlroy and Bubba could have reached had they hit the fairway. 3 wood seems the obvious play to me... Good leaderboard so far - if Bubba was actually holing out a bit more, he'd be on 62 watch for sure!

[RandallT]

12 minutes ago, b101 said:

Standard out and back links . I'm still not totally sure why so many are taking driver on the first if it looks like it brings the greenside bunkers into play - certainly McIlroy and Bubba could have reached had they hit the fairway. 3 wood seems the obvious play to me... Good leaderboard so far - if Bubba was actually holing out a bit more, he'd be on 62 watch for sure!

Bubba has a drive of 387 on the front. This pic below is from The Open official site: http://www.theopen.com/PlayerStats#!/all/2 (you have to select "Longest Drives") from the drop down.

I have a question though. Aren't the 5th and 14th par 3's????Am I reading the scorecard wrong?

But regardless, it appears that the longest drivers are hitting the ball 100yds further on the front 9 than on the back 9- if this below is correct.

Update: Bubba just triple-bogeyed the postage stamp. Ouch.

 

[b101]

10 minutes ago, RandallT said:

I have a question though. Aren't the 5th and 14th par 3's????Am I reading the scorecard wrong?

Yep - 5th is 209 yards and 14th is 178 yards. Why do you ask?