![]() Jordan had to jam his club into the face of the bunker and hope for the best. Check out the preposterous position amateur Christo Lamprecht found himself in during his opening round this morning. That’s why Max Homa spent part of his practice time this week working on all sorts of unorthodox sand shots-kneeling outside the bunker, putting one leg inside it and even swinging backward with one hand. As Harrington explained on Twitter, organizers have flattened the bottoms of the bunkers, so a ball that rolls into the trap will not filter down into the center of it-it’ll stay right there on the edge of it. Speaking of bunkers, sand shots are shaping up to be perhaps the most compelling part of this tournament. This video of Padraig Harrington examining the hole on the Open’s YouTube channel illustrates how a tee shot hit on the right side of the green can easily roll into a difficult bunker. It’s crested like a turtle’s shell, meaning tee shots are liable to land on the green and roll off into the danger areas. And the green plays even smaller than it looks. It measures 136 yards, with a green roughly half the size of Royal Liverpool’s average putting surface. Gabrielle Herzig has a breakdown of the new hole. The new layout has players hitting toward the water into a small green surrounded by imposing bunkers. 15 and was oriented along the shoreline toward the clubhouse. The crown jewel of the redesign is the par-3 17th. But in the years since, the course has undergone a major overhaul, being redesigned from a par-72 to a par-71. Last time here, in 2014, Rory McIlroy won the Open. This year’s tournament is at Royal Liverpool (also known as Hoylake, after the town where it’s located), which is hosting for the 13th time. When you come play links for the first time, it’s a bit of a change.” “Where I grew up in Spain, it’s usually colder, wet, soft, no roll out, no release, none of that. “I think it takes quite a bit to figure out,” Jon Rahm explained. As Bob Harig points out in his story about the vagaries of links golf, the sandy soil drains water very well, which can lead to firm and fast conditions. These courses feature treacherously deep bunkers and gnarly rough that punish errant shots. Volatile seaside weather can dramatically alter the conditions from day to day or hour to hour. The links-style courses that host the Open aren’t like the courses Tour players spend the rest of the season playing. The Open Championship might be my favorite of the four majors, mostly because it forces American players to play a style of golf they’re not accustomed to playing, which leads to unpredictable results. But it’s a four-day tournament, so there’s still plenty left to preview. Heck, if you stayed up late enough, you could have watched the first group (Matthew Jordan, Richie Ramsay and Branden Grace) tee off at 1:35 a.m. The British Open is already well underway at Royal Liverpool. If you're reading this on SI.com, you can sign up to get this free newsletter in your inbox each weekday at SI.com/newsletters. Today’s one of those days where you have golf on in the background during the whole work day.
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