The Open is here, golf’s most storied championship, rich with tradition and drama. With the world’s best at Royal Portrush, here are six things we think you’re bound to see on your TV screens as the tournament goes on.
From that treacherous 1st hole, the LIV Golf contingent being real contenders, to Sky Sports offering wall-to-wall coverage. Add in a few excitable American pundits ramping up the hyperbole, Rory McIlroy soaking up the attention, and a passionate Irish crowd roaring on their home hopes, and you’ve got a week packed with intrigue, tension and unforgettable moments.
On The NCG Golf Podcast, Tom Irwin and Matt Chivers discussed six things you are sure to see on your television screens from The Open as the week unfolds.
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An Open ruined at the first?
It’s fair to say Tom Irwin isn’t a fan of the out of bounds either side of the first hole at Royal Portrush.
“I’ve been out onto the golf course today and wandered across to meet a few people and been to an industry lunch. I had to cross the 1st to get there. It’s notorious, right?
“It’s got out of bounds on both sides. It was made famous in the 2019 iteration of The Open here, when Rory McIlroy hit his first tee shot out of bounds, made a quad and it threw him right off kilter.
“He did nearly stage the comeback of comebacks on Friday to almost make the cut, but that 1st tee shot divides opinion.
“I’ve chatted to people in the galleries who think it’s fair enough and that they’re good enough golfers so can cope with it.
“I’ve chatted to other people who just think it’s just silly. My prediction is that out of bounds on both sides will ruin someone’s Open.”
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Tour Editor Matt Chivers agreed: “It’s wider than I thought it would be, but that’s easy to say when you’re not on the 1st tee and your hands are shaking. I imagine it comes it looks a lot more narrow once you’ve got a driver in your hands. Or maybe you might even try to hit an iron down there. I think McIlroy did try and hit an iron down there on the first day the last time, and still hit out of bounds. But I’d struggle to disagree. I think it’s just inevitable, isn’t it, when you’ve got out of bounds on each side?”
Irwin added: “I think someone should make the decision to get rid of those out of bounds. Just get people away and get people started. It may well be a big name, and it’s no fun, is it? It’s like the leading batsman getting out for a duck in a test match, or the star striker getting injured in the first minute, or someone getting a red card in a cup final.”
Hyperbolic Americans
“It strikes me every year how excited Americans get about being at The Open and being at a links golf course,” Irwin said. “I think there’s two types of Open that sends them into the stratosphere of hyperbole.
“One is a St Andrews Open, and the other is an Irish Open, where they’re all so happy to be digging out their old Irish relatives. They’ll be having their first ever sip of Guinness, pretending they’ve invented fire and links golf.”
Perhaps a bit more understanding to the American point of view, Chivers said: “I love all the questions in the press conferences, ‘what’s different about links golf?’, ‘you’re gonna have to play a bump and run’, and ‘you’re gonna have to do this and to do that’.
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“I don’t know if this sounds arrogant, or if we’re patronising those from across the pond because we’re lucky enough to have played plenty of links golf. We’re sort of used to the conditions.”
A REAL challenge from LIV Golfers at The Open
“There’s no getting away from the fact the LIV Golf challenge is real,” Irwin said. “That is something I’m confident you will see this week. You will see multiple LIV Golf players high up the leaderboard.
“One name mentioned by an industry colleague of mine is Dean Burmester. Now bear with me on this one, there’s no need for sniggering. So obviously not all LIV golfers are allowed to play. So when poor old Dean’s allowed to play in The Open, he actually does very well. He can claim two top 20s in his last four open starts.
“Not only that, he has won on LIV in the last 12 months. So that is my outside tip. More seriously, you only have to flick through the leaderboards of the last few majors to see how many times people like Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau, as well as Tyrrell Hatton, have contended.
“These players are turning up to win these events. We hear these sort of jaded lines about how it’s not competitive, they’re not going to be dialled in and they’re not playing 72 holes each week. Obviously if they have a bad score on a Sunday, that’s because they’re tired. But frankly, I think that’s rubbish.
“We’ve had two, if not three LIV major winners since that League was formed, which is an unbelievably high percentage. I’ll be so surprised if one of those names isn’t up there this week.”
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Chivers added: “Patrick Reed is another name off the top my head. Actually, he’s played quite well in the majors this year and was very close to winning the Masters.
“But, I agree. I think, mostly, it’s Rahm and Hatton that I’ve sort of have seen most betting tipsters put up. Those two selections make sense. Hatton’s major record isn’t amazing until this year, where he a bit of bad fortune which cost him the US Open. Rahm has showed good form this year.”
Rory revelling in the attention
Irwin believes us and the media can expect to see a lot of Rory McIlroy this week, which hasn’t always been the case recently. He has been guilty of missing a press conference or two of late. “He will speak to the media a lot.
“He’s obviously gone through this kind of Post Masters slump. I think one of the most relatable things he’s ever said was where he’s climbed this mountain of winning the Grand Slam and it turns out he still has the same insecurities and angst.
“In the last couple of months, he’s had the hump with the media about the the illegal driver stuff and he’s skipped a few press conferences, and then said this very curmudgeonly line about, ‘I think I’ve earned the right’ to miss the press conferences.
“But he will speak to the media this week, because he’s saying he’s embracing the whole thing with open arms.”
“Well, the focus is on him. Regardless of whether he’s playing an Open in his home country, he will not be able to get away from it,” Chivers said.
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He added: “He’s been emotionally available more than anyone, arguably, in the last few years. Obviously, it’s well documented. He’s gone into bat many times for the PGA Tour.
“Because it’s his home, and hopefully he doesn’t feel as much pressure after winning the Masters, we’ll see more of him. It is that sort of top of the mountain syndrome thing, if that’s a thing.”
Ludicrous Irish crowds cheering on the home favourites
“The crowds for the home favourites this week are going to be off the charts,” Irwin said. “McIlroy was playing the 3rd during practice as we were going in for lunch, and it was like Sunday. I’ve never seen anything like it.
“I think it’s ramped up this week because Lowry is the defending champion around Portrush. It’s ramped up because McIlroy is the number one or two golfer in the world, and he’s a Grand Slam winner. But, on top of that, you’ve also got people like Padraig Harrington.
‘The Irish turnout for the Irish, don’t they? So the crowds following these lads are going to be mental. And I was looking at Rory’s 1st round tee time and thought it would take hours for him to get round. It’s going to be backed up for the end of the day.”
The joyous cliché of Sky’s coverage of The Open
“The access nowadays is just absolutely unparalleled,” said Irwin. “So maybe your championship coverage was six hours of dry BBC coverage – two cameras basically on nine holes -and now it’s just wall-to-wall.
“You worry it will get to a point of being too saturated. I couldn’t believe it when we got here and we were watching Bryson’s practice round on his YouTube channel.
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“I thought that was absolutely amazing, and that’s almost quite jarring. ‘What is happening here? What is going on?’ But it’s an incredible bit of access, an incredible bit of insight, and an absolute privilege to be able to watch that.
“That is what will take golf to new audiences and people who can’t get here to watch it, who can’t afford the Sky subscription. Let’s face it, there are people who wouldn’t sit through four days of blanket Sky Sports coverage but are quite happy to watch their YouTube idol Bryson mess around during his practice round.”
“The coverage and the accessibility is amazing,” Chivers added. “Sky Sports Golf essentially becomes Sky Sports The Open. You can watch the driving range, if you want. When you’re here, you can scan a barcode and you can get driving range data.”
- NOW READ: There is so much more to Northern Ireland than Royal Portrush – it is a golfing paradise