Royal Troon gave players hell over the first two days at The Open Championship.
Justin Thomas, Adam Scott, others rocket up Open leaderboard, take advantage of benign conditions
Royal Troon eased up on Saturday morning, so plenty of big names and major winners soared up the leaderboard.
Jack Milko has been playing golf since he was five years old. He has yet to record a hole-in-one, but he did secure an M.A. in Sports Journalism from St. Bonaventure University.
The course could have been re-named Royal Trouble, as dozens of top players struggled. Ten of the top 20 golfers in the world missed the cut, proof that Troon played like a beast.
“It’s really just the wind. It blew the first two days, not in the prevailing direction. Most courses are built for a prevailing wind. When it blows the other way, nothing really matches up very nicely,” Adam Scott said about what makes Royal Troon so hard.
“Even the first day, it seemed fairly calm out there. There was a bit of rain early. I played, I felt like, in fairly good conditions, but it was still hard to really get a score going. It [blowing] across on every hole, on every hole it felt like. Then [Friday] was just fierce. If you didn’t start the ball on your intended line, it was going so far offline it was very hard to hit a fairway, let alone hit a green. I don’t know. I didn’t hit many greens yesterday.”
Twenty-five to 30-mile-per-hour gusts blew out of the south on Thursday and Friday, wreaking havoc on the field. But those winds completely subsided on Saturday morning, leading to an excellent opportunity for players far down the leaderboard.
Dozens took advantage.
“It’s significantly easier,” explained Max Homa, who made the cut on the number.
“You still need to hit great shots, and you still need to be good off the tee, but it is significantly easier [Saturday. The winds died down more than when we started, and it wasn’t much when we played. It’ll be quite a bit easier if you can avoid the bunkers.”
Justin Thomas waltzed around Royal Troon and played beautifully in the good conditions. After shooting a 9-over 45 on the front nine on Friday, Thomas rebounded with a terrific 5-under 31 on that same side on Saturday. He ultimately shot a 4-under 67 to climb back up to even for the championship.
“It was a great Saturday. I played really, really well, and made some great putts,” Thomas said.
“You know it can be gettable sometimes. With the wind being calmer, I felt good enough about my game where I could be aggressive off the tees like I was, but I also capitalized on them. So it was nice.”
Scott also played terrific, shooting one stroke better than Thomas. The Aussie, of course, finished runner-up to Robert MacIntyre last week at the Genesis Scottish Open.
“You can’t really complain about 66, but when you’re so far back, you kind of need everyone possible [to stumble],” Scott said.
“I think I got what I deserved out there. I played some fairly good golf and didn’t make too many errors.”
But the beauty of playing links golf on the Scottish coast is that the weather can change instantly. The morning wave on Saturday saw beautiful scoring conditions, while the afternoon contenders have had to battle a stronger wind and an absolute downpour. The mix of wind and rain leads to only one certainty: unpredictability, so who knows how far back Scott and Thomas will be by day’s end.
Plenty of others soared up the leaderboard, too.
South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence rocketed up the leaderboard, going out with a 6-under 30 on the front nine. He then birdied the brutal par-4 11th but dropped a shot on 13 and ultimately shot a 6-under 65.
Sam Burns, who played on the Ryder Cup team last fall, also signed for a 6-under 65, as he and Lawrence sit at 3-under-par in the clubhouse.
“I think any time you shoot under par on this golf course, it’s always good,” Burns said.
“I think I knew going out, the front nine would be somewhat gettable. Most of the holes are downwind. Then, once you make the turn, just strap in and buckle the chinstrap because you know it’s going to be difficult [on the back nine]. Overall, a really solid day.”
That perfectly summarizes Royal Troon’s calling card: easy going out, brutal coming in.
But the players who went out early Saturday can now sit back, relax, and watch the contenders battle the elements on Saturday afternoon.
Eighteen players signed for under-par scores on Saturday already, and ten others are in red figures out on the course. Troon has yielded more birdies on day three, as plenty of players moved up the leaderboard on moving day.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
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