As talk of a 59 round continues, find out what the players are saying about the challenges posed by the Old Course at St Andrews - Watch the opening round live on Thursday from 6.30am on Sky Sports The Open
Wednesday 13 July 2022 17:55, UK
Rory McIlroy insists he will be first to congratulate anybody that shoots sub-60 at St Andrews this week as build-up to The 150th Open ponders a potential record score on the Old Course.
The 2014 champion boasts the lowest round (63) in an Open at St Andrews alongside Paul Broadhurst (1990) but has played down the prospect of a 59 on what marks one of the shortest major venues at just 7,297 yards.
South Africa's Branden Grace remains responsible for the lowest round in men's major history thanks to his 62 at Royal Birkdale in 2017, but with heavy winds expected to drop off and a dry course teasing bounce-and-carry there is talk of a landmark weekend in the offing.
"Fifty-nine is 13 under par round this golf course. There are 7,300 yards. It's got greens that are running at 10-and-a-half to 11 (considered medium speed), it's got fairways where the ball is bouncing 50 yards if it's hit and more if it
catches the downslope," said McIlroy.
"I'll tell you what, if someone shoots that (13 under) I will be the first person on the 18th green to shake their hand because they have played outstanding golf."
This week Will Zalatoris recalled shooting low scores in Scotland while playing the Tiger Woods video game as a child growing up, though joked he might not quite break 50 as he did back then.
At the same time, he made note of the mental challenges posed by a course that dares players to target bold lines.
"It's a little bit firmer (than on the game)," said Zalatoris. "There's just so many different ways that you can play holes in the States. And, I guess, really just in modern golf courses, parkland courses, you're trying to basically hit fairways and you're not worried about angles.
"This week, there are a few times where you do have to worry about that. There's some spots where missing it in one spot is great for some pins and it's atrocious for other pins. So being able to figure that out obviously throughout the week has been a great challenge and has been very interesting. But, yeah, going back to Tiger Woods '05, I don't think I'll be shooting 48 this week in 18 holes."
"I saw what Rory (McIlroy) said earlier this week about Tiger, you know, you got to play chess, not checkers. And that's the truth out here. I mean, with the wind, you know, probably about 10 to 20 miles per hour, you know, there's going to be some holes that are very gettable, but nothing out here is a gimme."
Woods himself, a two-time champion at St Andrews, similarly defended the complexity of the course, in particular citing the speed of the fairways.
"Even with the advancements in technology, this golf course still stands the test of time. It's still very difficult, and it's obviously weather dependent. You get the winds like we did today, it's a helluva test.
"On 10, I hit a six-iron from 120 yards. It was blowing so hard. So you just don't get - you just don't have opportunities to hit shots like that anywhere else. Then again, if you get a calm day on this golf course, you can see some players probably have four to five eagle putts. It is weather dependent.
"The fairways, I think right now, are faster than the greens. So it's funny, when you hit some of the chip shots and some of the bump-and-runs, you have to allow more speed early, then play for breaks when they hit the green.
"Again, with the amount of slope that's on these greens, if they get them too fast, it's unplayable when the wind gets up. We saw that when Louis won. We had a wind-out. We don't want that to happen. And it's understandable why they're a little bit on the slower side."
The presence of over 110 bunkers meanwhile adds to the task for players, with defending champion Collin Morikawa echoing Zalatoris and others with regards to the onus on imagination.
"Obviously the bunkers are - you have to stay out of them," Morikawa explained. "With guys hitting it so far and having firm fairways, right? And having not a lot of wind - a lot of the wind this week is going to be crosswinds.
"So we'll go out, one through nine, a lot of wind off the left, then coming back, a lot of wind off the right. With that much crosswind, there's going to be some really short holes.
"You're not hitting driver and then you're hitting 8-iron. You're hitting driver, 60-degree lob wedges. Today I played nine holes, and I think I hit four 60-degrees. It's playing short.
"Pins are definitely going to be tough. They're going to have to, because sometimes when you are 50 yards away, it's not advantageous to be there and you're going to have to play back and almost bring the bunkers into play. There's going to be a lot of thought processing on what to do. Hopefully I don't overthink it. I think that's something out here you can tend to do is overthink rather than keep the game simple."
"It's very strategic and you have to hit the right shot at the right time. You know, there are some holes where you can take some risks, but you want to be strategic and play to certain areas of the golf course where it allows you to have a 20, 30 foot birdie and you make one. Great. If you don't, you know, just make your par and move on."
R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers admitted wind awaited as a leading disruptor to the chances of short holes and rounds, though also highlighted the attention paid towards pin placement ahead of play getting underway on Thursday.
"We've spent three years getting this golf course to where we are today," said Slumbers. "The one thing I've learned in the last seven years is you need two things to be happening Open week.
"One is very skilled green-keeping staff and very hardworking staff, and we're privileged to have that team here, and the second bit is luck, and luck with Mother Nature.
"I think the golf course is exactly where we want it to be. If you go out there today, it's a lot firmer than it was yesterday.
"We've been holding the greens back because we had very hot weather in the early part of this week and we wanted to make sure that the grass was good come Sunday.
"The fairways are firmer than the greens, and they're running really hard and Mother Nature at the moment is not destined to give us any rain and probably not going to give us as much wind as we like.
"But we've got other ways of being able to set up the golf course and my philosophy has always been I want to set up the golf course fair and challenging, and let these guys show us how good they are."
Jordan Spieth, who won The Open at Royal Birkdale in 2017, also joined his counterparts in welcoming the imperfect approaches necessary on the course.
"I think physically I feel more freed up. I feel that - I think they kind of go hand in hand as far as, like, picking out the shot, enjoying the creativity of the shot or putt," he said.
"And then obviously physically, sometimes it's a little more freeing where you just don't have to line it up dead straight and be perfect.
"But instead you're like, okay, I have the wind here, the hill here. I'm going to hit a -- it kind of frees you up to be a little more feel oriented, and I really enjoy that aspect of it."
Sky Sports The Open has over 80 hours of live coverage from the iconic Old Course at St Andrews this week, more than ever before, with live programming every day and a host of bonus extra features available to enjoy.
Live coverage from the opening two rounds will begin at 6.30am - before the opening tee shot - and run through until after play is finished, with wall-to-wall coverage live from 9am on Saturday and 8am for Sunday's final round.
There will be lots of extra action throughout all four days via the red button on Sky Sports The Open, along with Sky Q and Sky Glass, with Featured Groups and Featured Holes available to enjoy as the world's best players tackle the Home of Golf. Two marquee featured groups will feature in each half of the draw on all four days, while Featured Holes tackles the 11th, 12th and 13th, with both feeds available for Sky Sports customers on the Sky Sports website and app.
Watch The 150th Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports' dedicated channel. Live coverage begins on Thursday from 6.30am live on Sky Sports The Open.
