Mark McGowan at Royal Portrush
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry both paid tribute to the strategic questions asked by Royal Portrush off the tee in particular in their individual press conferences prior to the 153rd Open Championship.
As has been well publicised, McIlroy went around Royal Portrush in a course-record breaking 61 strokes in the North of Ireland Championship as a 16-year-old, but since turning pro in 2007, he’s only played two competitive events here – the 2012 Irish Open, and the 2019 Open Championship.
That record no longer stands, since the golf course underwent significant change in the years between those two appearances, but he still has a tendency to remember the course as it was rather than as it is.
“It’s weird the way the original 17th and 18th have been taken out of this golf course and the new seventh and eighth have been put in,” he explained, “but Harry and I were talking about the course last week, and he’s like, on the 12th hole — I’m like, that’s the 10th hole. He’s like, no, that’s the 12th. Even now I still remember this course the way it was and not the way it is for The Open.
“I played the Irish Open in 2012 but it was still the original golf course, so I’ve really only played two competitive rounds on this new golf course. It’s a little bit different.
“I think when I shot that 61 when I was 16, I had a little bit of a clue of what I was doing, but I certainly didn’t have as much of an understanding of the game or of my game as I do now.”
While McIlroy opted to play the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club, Lowry spent the past fortnight fine-tuning his links game with rounds at Portmarnock, The Island, Baltray and Waterville, among others, so he is well versed on links golf setups and, was able to compare Royal Portrush to the courses he’s played and to the version of Royal Portrush he tamed in 2019.
“Yeah, I think it’s a little bit firmer than it was,” Lowry said of the turf this week, “but we’re going to have a little bit of rain over the next few days. I don’t know if that rain will have a massive effect on the course, depending on how heavy it is. I don’t really plan to approach the course any differently.
“I think the course is — I forgot how well-bunkered it is. There’s a lot of options off tees. You just have to go with what you feel. You’re going to see a lot of people hitting different clubs off different tees, playing the golf course differently.
“But I wouldn’t be able to sit here now and tell you now what the winning score is going to be. I know a good score on a day like today with that breeze blowing is probably under par, but winning score, I have no idea. But it is going to play a little bit tough, I reckon.”
The bunker placement is also something that caught McIlroy’s eye and he told the media as much having completed an 18-hole practice round early on Monday morning.
“I think the two things I noticed about this golf course today when I played is I have a real appreciation for how well bunkered it is off the tee. It’s like, okay, well, I can hit a 2-iron off the tee, but that brings this bunker into play. But then if I hit driver, it’ll bring this bunker — so you have to take on the shot.
“You have to say, ‘okay, I’m going to commit to hitting this shot and I just know I’m going to have to avoid’ — like some courses that we go to in the Open rota you can just take the bunkers out of play. You can lay up short of them or go beyond them. Here, there’s always one bunker or another bunker in play, so I think off the tee it provides a very, very good test.”
The second thing that caught his eye – and this was more of a refresher than a revelation – was how much of a part the undulations on the greens will play.
“I’m always surprised when I come here how much movement there is on the greens,” he said. “The greens are quite slopey here for a links golf course. You compare that to even Renaissance last week where I had a lot of putts that were like right edge, left edge, not a lot of putts that were really outside the hole that much. You get here, you’re having to play two feet of break, or it’s a little bit different than maybe what you face on some other links golf courses.
“So they’re the two things that I sort of noticed today.”
Leave a comment