World number one Scottie Scheffler has discussed the golf course at Royal Birkdale ahead of the 154th Open Championship.
Royal Birkdale is hosting The Open for the 10th time and the first since Jordan Spieth’s three-shot victory in 2017.
It is a classic links course, and the recent hot weather in England will make it even more challenging for the world’s best players.
Scheffler has shared his first impression of the course after playing a practice round before the tournament begins on Thursday.
What Scottie Scheffler said after playing practice round at Royal Birkdale
Scottie Scheffler immediately praised the “really good” golf course at Royal Birkdale before highlighting something that caught his attention.
Birkdale underwent extensive renovation ahead of The Open, with significant changes to five holes (5th, 7th, 14th, 15th, and 16th).
Scheffler believes those holes look as though they belong to a different course, as it is “pretty obvious” that they have been renovated.
“First impressions were really good,” he said. “The one thing I found interesting is that it’s so obvious which holes had been redone. They look like they’re not even on the same golf course.
“You look at 14, 15, 16, those green complexes and the amount of slope that they have off of them are pretty severe and quite challenging. The 5th hole is kind of like that, and the 7th hole as well.
“It was pretty obvious, ‘Oh, these are the holes that got redone because they look like they’re on a different golf course.’ Those are the things that stood out to me the most.”
Golf fans will be pleased to read that the course will be “challenging”, even for the likes of Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.
Scottie Scheffler explains why Royal Birkdale’s firm fairways change everything
Royal Birkdale is a difficult golf course at any time of year, but the hot and dry English summer has made it even trickier.
The fairways are extremely hard and fast, making it difficult for players to keep the ball out of the rough or bunkers.
With the wind blowing in different directions, depending on the hole, Scottie Scheffler and co. will have their work cut out this week.
Scheffler explained: “The ball’s just going to run for forever, pretty much. Here’s how I would say it: The fairways this week are really tight, so if you get a lot of crosswinds, they can be difficult to hold just because they’re so fast and they’re so firm.
“So there’s a lot of thinking off the tee on whether or not you want to just hit driver up there somewhere and kind of play from the rough most likely, or do you want to start hitting some irons, getting it in some fairways and hitting some longer shots into the greens?
“On each hole there’s a good bit of strategy; there’s a decent amount of thinking. If it wasn’t as firm as it is now, there wouldn’t be as much decision-making, but I think the firmness creates a whole lot more challenges.”
The good news for Scheffler is that he has already proven his ability to handle these conditions, winning last year’s Open at Royal Portrush.
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