The Open 2012: Tuesday Round-Up

Tiger and Rory discuss the par-3 first, whilst Clarke hands back the Jug 

Tough start: The 205-yard par-3 first at Royal Lytham & St Annes has got the world’s top players talking

One of the things that set Royal Lytham & St Annes apart from other venues on the Open Rota is the fact it opens with a par-3. Not just any old par-3, either. A 205-yard par-3, with nine bunkers and which can play anything from a 3-iron to an 8-iron for the game’s top pros depending on the speed and direction of the wind that day.

It is, in layman’s terms, a hugely tough start to your Open Championship challenge.

Tiger Woods, winner of three Claret Jugs and 14 majors in all, agrees. “It’s different, there’s no doubt about that,” said the world No.4, who can jump back to the top of the rankings for the first time since October 2010 with a win this week. “We have to be precise straight out of the gate and hit a specific number. Normally, it’s an iron, hybrid or whatever off the first tee and you can get it basically any distance you want to set yourself up for the second shot. But this is totally different.

“Even psychologically it’s different because you have to be on your game right away. You can’t just hit a ball in the fairway any distance you want. You have to hit the ball a precise number and that is different to what we experience week in, week out.”

Rory McIlroy, however, doesn’t share Tiger’s view. The 2011 US Open champion said: “I think it’s not a bad thing because you’ve got a perfect lie. It’s just like if you start on a par-4 and you hit the fairway. You’re just playing from a perfect lie onto the green. I don’t approach it any differently.”

Phil Mickelson said that starting on a par-3 in his practice round on Tuesday (he was joined by fellow runner-up from last year, Dustin Johnson) had got him thinking of other major venues that start with a short hole.

“The only other one I can think of is Westchester in the New York area where we don’t play anymore,” said the three-time Masters champion. “It’s unique and I think it’s pretty cool to have a par-3 opening hole. It’s different from many courses that we see.”

Incidentally, another of Royal Lytham’s par-3s – the 12th – ranks as the most difficult hole of its kind at the Open between 1982 and 2011. Players competing in the 1988 championship averaged 3.45 shots on it.

CONTINUES BELOW…

Silver service: Darren Clarke hands the Claret Jug back to the chief executive of the R&A, Peter Dawson

Darren Clarke reluctantly handed back the Claret Jug to R&A chief executive Peter Dawson when he arrived at Royal Lytham & St Annes this week – but the 2011 ‘Champion Golfer of the Year’ admitted the old trophy wasn’t in the best of nick after a year in his hands, writes Robin Barwick.

“It’s not quite in as good a condition as when I received it,” admitted Clarke.  “It’s been here, there and everywhere, but Mr. Dawson looked at it and said, oh, we can fix that, we can fix this, so it’s not too bad.”

The Northern Irishman finally won his first major at the age of 42 at Royal St George’s last year and he said it was a wrench to give back the trophy.

“I didn’t really want to give it back,” started Clarke, who became the Open champion at the age of 42 at Royal St. George’s. “The year has gone amazingly fast.  It’s been an honour for me to represent the R&A and bring the Claret Jug all over the world, and to a few countries where it had never been before. It is one of those iconic trophies that people hardly ever actually, physically get to see, but a lot of people have had pictures with it, and they enjoyed the Claret Jug as much as I did.”

(* Story courtesy of Mercedes-Benz, patron of the 2012 Open Championship)

Ian Woosnam is backing Scotland’s Paul Lawrie to win a second Open title at Royal Lytham & St Annes this week, writes Robin Barwick.

Woosie, whose own hopes of being an Open champion went up in smoke at Lytham in 2001 when his caddie famously forgot to remove an extra club from his bag, reckons the Aberdonian is worth a flutter to do the business this week, 13 years on from his famous win at Carnoustie.

Woosie, also backing Luke Donald, said: “If it is windy, here is a name out of the blue: Paul Lawrie. He is playing well this year, he loves the wind, he loves links golf and he putts really well on links courses. That is the secret to competing in majors – you have got to putt well. Lawrie is a good outside bet.”

(* Story courtesy of Mercedes-Benz, patron of the 2012 Open Championship)