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A32 sports
Diahuebs 15 Juli 2021

British Open is back, along with the quirks of links golf

(AP) — Danny Willett
shrugged his shoulders,
grabbed his tee, and re-
turned to his caddie beside
the fourth tee at Royal St.
George’s.

He’d just hit what he thought
was the ideal drive during his
final practice round at the
British Open, only for one
of the bumps on the course’s
lunar-like landscape to throw
it offline and into the rough.

“Kicked left,” Willett said,
before smiling. “Never asked
for it!”
Expect the unexpected will
be the motto for the world’s
best golfers this week as they
get a crack at links golf for the
first time in two years in this
picturesque corner of south-
east England.

In some respects, this Brit-
ish Open will feel as though
golf has returned to normal.
There will be some 30,000
fans roaming the Sandwich a close contact of a positive at Royal St. George’s, disre- Bryson DeChambeau said of
links daily from Thursday, chief executive Martin Slum- case. spected by some and unloved rough he described Tuesday
bers said.
the biggest golf crowd at a by many more for being un- as “diabolical.”
major since the pandemic. Then again, this week During a practice round on fair. Balls can be propelled al-
One man was wearing a drag- most sideways by the undu- “And that’s including for ev-
on onesie next to the ropes couldn’t be more different. Monday, Phil Mickelson ap- lations on the fairways, some erybody.”
Players are being kept in a peared concerned he was get-
on the sixth hole Wednesday, strict bubble to comply with ting too close to spectators. of which can be unhittable
having been cruelly fooled by COVID-19 restrictions de- “He was like, ‘Can you just especially in dry and fast con- Lee Westwood said he’d been
a group of friends into wear- vised by the R&A and are at give me some space, I don’t ditions. informed by Slumbers that
ing a costume.
risk of disqualification for know who you are,’” said the fairways would be wa-
breaching rules. English qualifier Nick Pop- The fairways on the first and tered later in the week to stop
Those ooohs and aaahs and pleton, who played alongside 17th holes promise to be par- them from drying up and
rumbling roars from a dis- “It’s probably inevitable that Mickelson. ticularly tough, not to men- maintain their softness, given
tance are all part of Open we will have some problems,” tion the one on the fourth, as the thickness of the rough.
lore, and they’ll return. How said Slumbers, who has al- On Wednesday, a spectator Willett can attest.
golf missed them last year, ready seen Masters cham- threw a ball to Mickelson for Royal St. George’s, it seems,
when its oldest champion- pion Hideki Matsuyama and him to sign. The PGA cham- “It’s not my favorite of the will give and take this week.
ship was canceled for the first Zach Johnson, the 2015 Brit- pion immediately threw it (Open) rotation,” Brooks But if the wind picks up like
time since 1945 because of ish Open champion, with- back, without signing it, and Koepka said of a course once it did on Wednesday, it will be
the coronavirus outbreak.
draw after testing positive for wiped his hands with a towel. described to American golfer a mighty challenge.
the virus and Bubba Watson Charles Howell III as “the
“Big-time sporting events forced to pull out for being And then there’s the course world’s largest pinball ma- Connor Worsdall, a 23-year-
need big-time crowds,” R&A chine.” old Englishman playing in
his first Open, had the privi-
Helping the players this week lege of being joined for the
is the rain that has lashed final two holes of his practice
down on the course — the round Wednesday by No.
southernmost of the 10 on 1 Dustin Johnson and De-
the rotation — which has Chambeau.
made it green and soft. On
the 17th hole Wednesday, Clearly thrilled, he said at the
a drive by Garrick Higgo back of the 18th green that
plopped up upon landing on it was the best surprise he
a side-slope, taking the pace could have received before
out of the ball as it dribbled his opening round and that
toward the semi rough. Some Johnson and DeChambeau
fairways also have been wid- briefly spoke to him before
ened. leaving the course.
Against that, the rough is “They just gave me some ad-
knee high in places and is vice,” Worsdall said, “to just
thick and lush rather than treat it like a normal 18 holes
wispy. as much as you can.”

“There’s certain lies out there At Royal St. George’s that
it’s going to be a pitch back might just be impossible.
to the fairway,” big-hitting