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Welcome to the last (best?) major championship of the year. The 148th Open Championship will kick off on Thursday at Royal Portrush, and it’s one of the most highly anticipated events in recent memory. Get the coffee ready, it’s go time.
148
The Open Championship has not been held outside of England or Scotland since 1951, the last time Royal Portrush played host. Players from 29 different countries will be in the field this year (and remember: that number would have been 28 without the Boy from Bratislava). Open Championship Tee Times
“He might actually win”
Last year’s Open was one for the books. Francesco Molinari capped off a miraculous summer with his first major championship, Tiger emerged as a serious contender, and Carnoustie showed its teeth on Sunday.
Jordan Spieth, Xander Schauffele, and Kevin Kisner all started Sunday tied for the lead, but the trio got their doors blown off early in the round. Xander and Kisner recovered to finish T-2, but the day belonged to the duo of Tiger Woods and Francesco Molinari. Starting the day four and five strokes back respectively, both played great golf for most of the day. Tiger held the lead as he made the turn, something none of us ever expected to see again. Still, Molinari’s refusal to make a mistake allowed him to prevail. He played the final 37 holes of the event bogey-free and won by two shots.
The golf course
Royal Portrush will be just as much a star as the winner this weekend. The Dunluce Links was originally laid out by Harry Colt in 1929, and while a few alterations have been made to the course, it’s still largely intact.
The agreement for Royal Portrush to host the event involved the addition of two new holes. The 7th and 8th, a par 5 and a par 4, have been added to replace the old 17th and 18th. Ground reports from Portrush indicate that the holes fit into the routing well and are solid additions to a world-class golf course.
If you want to know more, we recommend viewing the hole-by-hole flyovers on The Open’s YouTube channel.
Print of the Week: Lawsonia Links
For the third edition of The Fried Egg’s Print of the Week, we have a shot of the iconic 13th, 14th, and 10th greens at the Langford & Moreau-designed Links Course at Lawsonia. Get yours here.
20% of the proceeds will go to Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund, an organization that gives high school scholarships and educational support to economically disadvantaged Chicago high school students who demonstrate outstanding academic potential, leadership skills, and strong character.
Storylines
Northern Ireland – The 2019 Open Championship is the first at Royal Portrush in more than 50 years and will be a historic moment for the country. Eamon Lynch, a Northern Irishman himself, detailed the importance of the tournament better than we ever could. We urge you to read the article he wrote for Golfweek on Monday. The Open Championship at Portrush may be the only thing Northern Ireland can agree on
Weather – As is customary at Opens, weather may play a role in deciding the tournament. The forecast currently predicts 5-15 mph winds with rain every day of the championship.
Brooksy – In the span of 18 months, Brooks Koepka has gone from relative no-name to a star in every major championship preview. No need to wax poetic about his greatness, but we expect him to be in the mix this week. He has already made headlines with his Tuesday press conference, saying he doesn’t practice for “regular tournaments.”
Rory – It’s homecoming week for everyone’s favorite Northern Irishman. Rory has not won a major since 2014 but has come close many times. Statistically, he is having one of the best seasons of his career. And clearly he should feel comfortable at Royal Portrush, where he famously set the course record of 61 at age 16. What remains to be seen is if the attention and pressure will have an effect on his game. McIlroy will join Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell as the only Northern Irishmen in the field.
Tiger – So what do we think of Tiger this week? He hasn’t played since his T-21 at Pebble Beach, he saw the golf course for the first time on Sunday, and he says his game isn’t sharp. Take all of that with a grain of salt—this is Tiger we’re talking about—but it isn’t encouraging.
Francesco – The defending Open champion has not played great golf since his disappointing final round of the 2019 Masters. Molinari has just one top-40 finish since April and seems to be searching for something in his game. Still, his best beats nearly everyone’s best, and he cannot be discounted this week.
Jon Rahm – Fresh off his Irish Open victory, the Thumb looks primed and ready for Royal Portrush. He has four top 10s in his past seven major starts but has yet to close the deal. At the moment, there’s no doubt he’s on form. And let’s just say one of us at The Fried Egg is a little concerned about ending up on @OldTakesExposed.
Paulie’s Picks
This week at Royal Portrush, Fried Egg fantasy guy Paulie has his eye on tee-to-green monsters. See his fantasy picks for the 2019 Open here.
The Latest
It’s major mailbag time! Andy Johnson answers all your questions about Royal Portrush, links golf, the schedule, Brooksy, and much more. Major championship mailbag
In case you missed it, we have a new series starting on our website: the Eclectic 18 UK. Jaeger Kovich and Clyde Johnson dive into their favorite holes from across the United Kingdom. First up, No. 1 at Prestwick
Northern Ireland is blessed with two of the best courses in the world, Royal Portrush and Royal County Down. Phillip Johnson had the chance to experience both over the past few months and has debated with the locals about the courses. An American in Belfast: Royal Portrush vs. Royal County Down
Fried Egg Podcast: Geoff Ogilvy
Geoff Ogilvy joins Andy to discuss the 2019 Open Championship. Before they get to Royal Portrush and the tournament, Geoff and Andy talk about Matthew Wolff, his swing, and how Trackman has led to more unique motions. Then Andy asks Geoff about improving as a Tour pro and how difficult it is to do so. They close with a discussion of Geoff’s history at the Open, how it differs from other majors, and whom he expects to play well at Portrush. Listen on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify.
Shotgun Start: Why The Open is No. 1, Brooksy’s major prep, and Rosey’s schedule complaints
It’s Open eve and we begin this Wednesday episode full of gratitude and anticipation and a few reasons why each of us has come to hold this major as our favorite on the men’s schedule. Then we drive off the cliff and discuss the Barbasol field for longer than we should before getting back on track and reviewing some fun quotes coming out of the pre-championship press conferences. First we go to Brooks Koepka’s quip that he doesn’t practice for non-majors and that the only time you see him on TV is when he’s playing golf. Then we get into a lengthy discussion on Justin Rose’s comments that the new schedule has failed to “protect” the major championships, choosing instead to prioritize the FedExCup. We then move to some of our favorite tee times for the first couple days at Royal Portrush, from the stars to the hotheads to some of the tough draws. Before we wrap with our one-and-done picks, we discuss Royal Portrush, its stout traits, the weather that may not come, and the concept of internal out-of-bounds. Listen on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify.
Quick hooks
It’s Barbasol Championship time on the PGA Tour. One of the most, um… unconventional fields in golf takes on Keene Trace Golf Club in Kentucky. Tee Times
The Korn Ferry Tour heads to Omaha for the Pinnacle Championship. Tee Times
Team golf! The Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, a team event on the LPGA Tour, starts on Thursday. Tee Times
The U.S. Junior Amateur is underway at Inverness. Defending champion Michael Thorbjornsen and Akshay Bhatia have qualified for the match-play portion. Scoring
Pro Shop
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