No one has been more successful at The Open Championship over the last 40 years than Sir Nick Faldo, with the Englishman lifting the Claret Jug three times during his career.
Faldo won half of his six major titles on British soil. He won his first major championship at Muirfield in 1987, famously making 18 pars in the final round.
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Muirfield would also prove to be the site of his third Open Championship triumph in 1992. Faldo clinched victory at St Andrews two years earlier.
So there are not many better players for amateurs to learn from when it comes to some of the skills required to play links golf.
Sir Nick Faldo shares how to hit a knockdown iron shot
There will be plenty of golfers who attempt a knockdown shot over the coming days at Royal Birkdale.
The knockdown shot is designed to send the ball on a lower trajectory in the hope of preventing it being impacted by the wind.
And speaking in a video on his own YouTube channel as he tackled Birkdale himself, Faldo explained what amateurs should be attempting to do if they want to produce a punchy shot.
“Seventh hole, par three, a lot of changes. The old tee is way over there, 100 yards, completely different direction. It was flat before. Now they’ve decided to come up the hill, the green is completely brand new. They’ve lifted the green. And obviously all these roll-offs, and look at the size of it. And of course, being up here on top of the hill, really exposed. This is going to be fun,” he said.
“So I am now going to demonstrate how you play a little knockdown shot. It’s 140 adjusted to 135, so that would be a nine iron for me. So you grab an eight, one club more.
“You’re going to put your right thumb in your right ear [at the top of the backswing], keep the right knee really solid. Soft arms, almost feel like you break them, Harry Vardon, collect the ball, and do the same going through. Right thumb into your left ear.”
It should be noted that Faldo hit a sublime shot to just short of the pin. So he has definitely not lost his incredible touch.
The current weather forecast for the opening two rounds of The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale
A lot will be said about the draw for the opening two rounds in Southport this coming week.
The draw can have a big say in deciding who wins the Claret Jug on Sunday. Wyndham Clark certainly benefitted at Shinnecock Hills from kicking off his US Open late on Thursday.
But perhaps that will not be as much of a factor at Royal Birkdale. Of course, the United Kingdom is currently experiencing another heatwave.
As shown by the Met Office, the weather for Thursday is set to be fairly consistent, though it will be considerably cooler for those in the morning wave.
The winds, meanwhile, are set to be no stronger than 10 miles per hour.
And Friday is set to be a similar story. So it appears that Birkdale is going to provide about as fair a test as links golf can.
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