Royal Troon in Scotland plays host to its 10th Open Championship and the 152nd edition. The last time the Open was played at Troon, Henrik Stenson out-dueled Phil Mickelson to capture the 145th playing of the Championship and capture the coveted Claret Jug.
This is the fourth and final major of the season. Scottie Scheffler was a winner at Augusta National in April. Scheffler has won 6 tournaments this season, though he hasn’t played since the Travelers Championship in late June in Connecticut where he was victorious. Xander Schauffele won the PGA Championship at Valhalla, and Bryson DeChambeau won a scintillating U.S, Open at Pinehurst. Schauffele’s victory over DeChambeau at the PGA was pretty spectacular as well, but not on the level of DeChambeau’s at Pinehurst
Brian Harman, the now 37 year old from Savannah, GA. by way of the University of Georgia, is the defending Open champion having won the 151st at Royal Liverpool in England in 2023. Harmon was 36 at the time. He told Golf Channel that his 65 on Friday last year was the key to winning the Claret Jug. He ended up winning by six shots over Tom Kim, Jason Day, Jon Rahm and Sepp Straka. Interestingly, Harman is a spectacular hunter and is huge on bow hunting for deer. Excellent training for finding targets on the golf course.
Rory McIlory will try to recover from his devastating meltdown at Pinehurst as he missed a 2 foot 9 inch putt on 16 for par, and missed a 3 foot 8 inch putt on 18 for par basically giving DeChambeau the championship, though DeChambeau brought back the 1999 Pinehurst image of Payne Stewart on 18 with an iconic up and down from 55 yards to capture the championship. Payne defeated Phil with an 18 foot par putt to capture the U.S. that year before his tragic passing in a plane crash in October of ‘99 at age 42.
Rory is trying to win his first major since 2014. He’s now 35 years old and the clock is ticking a little. DeChambeau is the most interesting player on tour right now at age 30. He’s a powerhouse with the long game, and his chipping and putting were dynamic in the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open. There are several golfers who can capture this championship. Here are the details for this epic 152nd version.
Weather
Thursday, 63, light rain. 68%, wind S 16 MPH.
Friday, 68, cloudy, 22% wind S 17
Saturday, 61 rain, 89%, SW 9.
Sunday, Partly cloudy, 20% rain, WSW 12
The weather, the 98 bunkers on the course and the out of bounds areas on the backside are the main defenses at Royal Troon. This weather is subject to change every 30 minutes in Scotland, so that’s a rough sketch.
TV, All times Central
Thursday-Friday, 12:30-3 AM, Peacock; 3 AM-2 PM, USA. 2-3:15 PM Peacock.
Saturday, 4-6 AM, USA; 6 AM-2 PM, NBC.
Sunday, 3-6 AM, USA; 6 AM-1 PM, NBC.
Key holes
No.8 The “Postage Stamp” hole. Par 3, 123 yards. This short par 3 was kind of the inspiration for the Island Hole, No.17 at TPC Sawgrass at the Players. It’s an elevated tee to a small green with two bunkers right and two left and one back right. One of the bunkers on the left is the famous or infamous if you’re a player, “Coffin Bunker.” It’s shaped like a coffin and highly difficult to get out of and make par. For a short hole, this gem is “dangerous” as Val Kilmer said to Tom Cruise in Top Gun. Kilmer told Cruise he was a dangerous pilot and Rory, Scottie and DeChambeau among others face a dangerous hole.
No.6, Par 5, 623. It’s the longest hole in Open history. With the wind behind the players they can make birdie on this hole. But the green is small and wayward approaches make for daunting up and down attempts for birdie, par or bogey.
No.17 Par 3, 242. With the wind up, this could even be a 4 iron or 5 iron for DeChambeau or Rory. Hitting the green is at a premium on Sunday here. The pressure will be at full bore, and a par here is highly acceptable.
No. 18, Par 4, 458. A lot of bunkers off the tee that could be costly. The bunkers are deep and highly penalizing. The green has several bunkers short and right. Anything short of the green or to the right can lead to a costly bogey. Drama awaits on Sunday.
Scheffler is the favorite at 5/1. Rory is next at 8/1. Schauffele is 13/1. Collin Morikawa, who’s been on the verge of winning lately, is 13/1. Ludvig Aberg is 14/1. DeChambeau is 16/1. Tommy Fleetwood is 22/1. Tyrrell Hatton is 25/1. Jon Rahm is 25/1. Viktor Hovland is 30/1. Brooks Kopeka is 33/1. Tony Finau is 35/1. . Patrick Cantlay is 40/1. Robert McIntyre, Bob, the winner last week at the Genesis Scottish Open, is 45/1 in his home country. He might still be drunk from last Sunday’s victory by the sounds of what he said after he won last week. Shane Lowry is 45/1. Tom Kim is 45/1. Cam Smith is 50/1. Sahith Theegala is 55/1. Joaquin NIemann is 55/1. Hideki Matsuyama is 50/1. Aaron Rai is 66/1. Adam Scott is 66/1.
Winner
DeChambeau
Sleeper
I’ll go with the 44 year old from Adelaide, Australia who would have been in a playoff last Sunday at the Scottish, had Bob not sunk a spectacular 18 foot birdie putt on 18 to capture his coveted home country championship.
Adam Derek Scott
SEC Media Days in Dallas
Been taking copious notes on SEC Media Days and will have several previews of SEC teams and national contenders in the upcoming weeks. Really liked what I heard from Coach DeBoar. He embraces Coach Saban’s illustrious career in Tuscaloosa, but he’s his own man. Ray Perkins tried to totally bury Bear Bryant’s legacy at Alabama and that was costly to him as he never had a lot of success. DeBoar has reverence for Coach Saban, but will run his own program. I like several pieces on this team. If the secondary can put it together and Jalen can keep “matriculating” and become the elite quarterback he showed in the last half of 2023, the 12 team playoff is probable. The running back and wide receiver rooms look stellar and the o line has size and physicality . Kadyn Proctor is back at left tackle and Tyler Booker is the leader at left guard. Good linebackers in Deontae Lawson and Jihaad Campbell and the d line has size and physicality. Kane Wommack is the new defensive coordinator after spending 3 years as head coach at South Alabama. He brings good toughness to the D.
Hugh will speak to the media tomorrow. I watched and took notes on the Auburn spring game, and there’s good talent, but still trying to wrap my head around Payton Thorne at quarterback. Hugh likes him and Hugh knows QBs, so I want to do some more thinking on this. He’s prone to throw interceptions, but he’s very athletic. Could be a 7 win year for the Tigers. Eight is possible but will be tough. But if they stay healthy and get some breaks in games, you never know. I’ll have more on the Tigers in the next week or so.
Sarkisian sounded good for Texas and Kirby did well for Georgia. They’re the media favorites to make the SEC Championship game, but there’s a lot of ball to play, so I’m not there yet. Talk soon.