Royal Portrush Suffers R&A Setback

Royal & Ancient chief executive Peter Dawson has played down the prospects of the Open Championship making a quick return to Royal Portrush.

The successful staging of the recent Irish Open at Portrush raised hopes that the Open could return to the venue for the first time since 1951.

But the R&A chief said such a move was not "imminent".

"There would be much work to do for an Open ever to go to Portrush [again]," added Dawson.

"We have been there before. It's always, to an extent, been on our radar and our championship committee, I'm sure, will continue to evaluate it.

"But don't expect anything imminent - that's for sure."

Speaking at a news conference a day ahead of the start of this year's event at Royal Lytham, Dawson described Portrush as a "great personal favourite".

However, this initial comment was followed by a series of less favourable comments about the Northern Ireland course's Open Championship feasibility.

"If you were at the Irish Open and compare it to what we're doing here, we're talking 20,000 grandstand seats here. I doubt if there were 2,000 at the Irish Open.

"You're talking about a tented village here that I would estimate is 10 or more times the size than it was at the Irish Open.

"The crowd size at the Irish Open, while it was very, very good, was only as good as perhaps the lowest we would expect at an Open venue, ie Turnberry.

"Where would you put the big grandstand complex? The practice ground at Portrush would [also] need a lot of work, in my estimation.

"[And] We don't have a finishing hole that would have the grandstands around it."

Dawson added that a "great deal of money would need to be spent, in my estimation, to make Royal Portrush a sensible choice".

"It's not a criticism of Royal Portrush. It's a wonderful golf course. But the commercial aspects of it are quite onerous."

Padraig Believes Open Time is Vital

Padraig Harrington has come up with a novel theory to explain why there have been 15 different winners in the last 15 Majors.

The 2007 and 2008 Open champion believes it is all to do with the fact modern young professionals no longer believe they have to serve an apprenticeship before winning Majors and so play much more aggressively as a result.

“I think golfers are evolving,” he said this afternoon after a practice round on the Lytham course where he finished tied 37th behind America’s David Duval in 2001 and cites Keegan Bradley who won on his first start in a Major at last year’s USPGA Championship as a classic example.

“When I came out on Tour in ’96 everybody felt they had to learn to win and maybe lose a few tournaments before they were allowed a win.

“That has all gone now. Now everybody seems to believe they can win every time they tee up and that has gradually seeped into the Majors as well.

“Golf has become a sprint rather than a marathon. Guys are now turning up trying to shoot 20 under par and believe that if it’s their week they are going to win no matter what event they are playing in.

“Most weeks there are probably 100 guys who are charging for the finishing line thinking they have a chance to win. This week there a probably 50 people in this field who believe they can win if they hit form and they are quite happy to keep charging and not back out.

“Dominating like Tiger is hard to do nowadays because there are too many aggressive players about.”

Against that backdrop the Irishman was wary about discussing his chances this week at Lytham but a tie for 8th in The Masters and a share of 4th place at the US Open suggest he is almost back to his best.

“I’m playing solidly and putting better,” he said. “That’s essentially it. It’s interesting. I’d say a lot of areas of my game are better but I’m still not winning.

“Golf is a strange game,” he added. “You can play better and still not win. That’s where I am at the moment but if I can keep playing solidly hopefully it will be good enough this week.”

Rory Opts for Low Key Open Approach

Rory McIlroy is hoping to keep under the radar as he starts out on his quest to win his first Open Championship this week at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

That would be in stark contrast to 12 months ago when home expectations were at their height after the Northern Ireland star had won the US Open at Congressional Country Club.

“Last year it was complete mayhem so this week it has been lovely just to be able to go about my business and prepare the way I wanted to,” he said.

“I have tried to keep it as low key as possible. I wanted to go about my business as quietly as possible and I felt that I have done that pretty well.”

The 23-year-old from Holywood admitted that in hindsight it had probably been wrong to take three weeks off before last year’s Open after capturing his first Major at the US national championship.

“It probably did affect my performance (at Royal St George’s) a little bit. I did plan on playing in the French Open but I knew my mind wouldn’t fully on it so that’s why I didn’t go in the end.

“But, obviously, that meant that by the time I got to Sandwich there were so many requests coming in, and so many things to do, I just didn’t play well enough to figure in the tournament.”

McIlroy also put his much-publicised comments about not being able to adapt to links golf down purely to his inability to live up to his own expectations that particular week.

“Those comments were just pure frustration,” he admitted. “I had really high expectations coming off a Major win. I really wanted to play well but (I didn’t and) I ended up blaming the weather, blaming the draw, blaming my luck, basically. Looking back on it a year later, I just didn’t play well enough to get into contention and didn’t handle the conditions as best as I could have.

The good news for fans of the young Irish player is that this year he arrived in Lytham with an altogether different attitude.

“I’m going to knuckle down, focus and keep fighting,” he said. “I will stay tough and try to shoot a low score even if the conditions are bad.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he added. “I feel like I’m hitting the ball great. I think it’s the best I have swung the club all year. It’s going to be all about keeping the ball in play, keeping it out of the bunkers and, if I can do that, I think I have a great chance.”

Royal Lytham Rough Brutal - Darren Clarke

Defending Open champion Darren Clarke described the rough at Royal Lytham as "brutal", adding: "If you start spraying the ball around this week, you might as well go home."

Clarke added: "There could be some lost balls in there, even with spotters and everything.

"There's a really huge premium on accuracy this week. There's no chance coming out of this rough at all."

And Royal Lytham professional Eddie Birchenough admitted that the rough on the championship course was "just brutal", warning "you could lose your feet in there, not just the ball."

Woods, whose most recent of 14 major titles was the 2008 US Open, insists that the course is "fair" and that good scores are still possible.

The 36-year-old admitted though that the potential round-wrecking consequences of straying from the fairway, combined with forecast showers on Thursday, could prompt him to go on attack.

"I like the layout. It's fair. They don't have to trick it up. They don't have to do anything with it. They can play it as the members play it and it would still be difficult," he added

"If it's calm, we can shoot some good scores. If it's wet, lush, you've got to be more aggressive."

Woods' fellow American Keegan Bradley is also adjusting to the demands of links golf.

"I tried not to hit any out of the rough today but I will for the rest of the week," said the 2011 USPGA champion.

"It's very spotty. One foot to the left, you are hitting in to the green; another foot and you are chipping out to the fairway. It's a flip of the coin whether you're going to get a good lie or not."

Birchenough explained that the unusually wet summer had contributed to the testing conditions.

"The last two Opens we have had here the weather has been absolutely benign and the ball has been running miles and we have not had much rough," he said.

"This year with the recent wet weather we have a course that is playing a little softer and therefore a little wider, but should you go a little wider than that the rough is just brutal."

The Royal & Ancient blamed unprecedented weather conditions for hampering preparations over the last few months.

But the Championship organisers claim they have canvassed opinion from several professionals who are satisfied with the course.

"A large number of players have expressed how pleased they are with the course set-up, which seems to be very positive," said R&A communications director Malcolm Booth.

"The weather we have had, unprecedented in this country, means there has been a lot of moisture and rain which, combined with at least some summer heat, has led the rough to be very thick in places."

The depth of the rough at the Open has caused controversy before with Carnoustie, dubbed 'Car-Nasty' on its return to the rota in 1999

The Open 2012: Tiger Woods finds Lytham rough 'almost unplayable' | Sport | The Guardian

The Open 2012: Tiger Woods finds Lytham rough 'almost unplayable' | Sport | The Guardian