Thursday 14 July 2016 09:54, UK
Sir Nick Faldo shares his Royal Troon memories and looks ahead to The 145th Open, live on Sky Sports.
Troon is a special course and a place which holds a lot of memories for me. The strongest of those is me coming here as a 16-year-old and sitting at the back of the range, which was much smaller then.
I was watching the likes of Gary Player, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino and then ran around all day on Sunday watching Tom Weiskopf.
Spending time here was a huge experience for me as I learnt to start mimicking their swings, which I then took back to Welwyn Garden City and practised like a lunatic! It was that which inspired me and made my early practice so much fun.
Those early memories obviously lead to me moving on and going on to play four Opens here, where I managed a couple of decent runs. I came close when I finished tied-fourth in the first one way back in 1982, although I'm not sure I ever really felt like I was in with a shout.
A lot of guys are talking about Branden Grace because he hits it low and so far off the ground. That's going to be a big help and if anyone can do that consistently, then they'll have a good chance.
Troon is a tough course and I hope the weather stays difficult, but not impossible. There are a couple of scary tee shots out there and I'd say there's more tough holes than easy ones after the turn.
When I walked the course on Tuesday, I realised there's a lot going on in that back nine and you've got to be a strong player to play it.
The front nine sets up so well because you can see it and everything's well defined, but as soon as you reach the 10th tee you can't see a thing! The 11th is the same, the 13th and 15th are both very demanding, and then there's the 18th too.
You're going to have to be a strong ball-striker here this week and keep the ball on the right trajectory all day long, as if you start to miss a few then you're going to be in real trouble.
You have to knuckle down all week and have to go out and prove you can do it, regardless of whether you're coming in to the tournament as one of the favourites or not.
If Dustin Johnson can drive like he has been then it's going to be a big help, but I think a few guys can hit knuckle balls here and run it down the fairway.
A fast start will help you bank a few birdies and get a few under par, and then you have to play your heart out coming in.
Obviously the top few in the world all come in to this week playing good and are playing smartly, but I try to look at some of the other guys and some of the darker names are very interesting.
A lot of guys are talking about Branden Grace because he hits it low and so far off the ground. That's going to be a big help and if anyone can do that consistently, then they'll have a good chance.
There are quite a few guys like that and Jason Dufner is another, as he hits it long and can also take advantage of Troon's slow greens.
The superstars obviously will take all the media for the first couple of days, but then there will be a few guys undoubtedly sneaking in in under the radar.
I'll be involved for Sky over the week and I'll be doing a lot for Golf Channel too, so I'll be keeping busy!
Watch The Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports - your new home of The Open. Live tournament coverage begins on Thursday from 6.30am.
