6 early Open observations from Day 1 at Royal Portrush

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — The 153rd Open is upon us! Every heavy hitter — and plenty of tiny hitters, too — has made it to Northern Ireland’s northern coast for the second modern Open at Royal Portrush. 

Here’s what’s happening on the ground so far. 

1. Forget about last week

For so many reasons, what happened at the Scottish Open is better kept on another island. Firm conditions are firm conditions, but the weather at Portrush will differ greatly, with chillier temps and plenty of showers in the forecast. The greens at Portrush are in fantastic shape, compared to their scrubby cousins in East Lothian. Numerous players and caddies moaned about the bumpiness of the greens in Scotland. That won’t be an issue here. Elsewhere, the grass is a bit more lush at Portrush, too, particularly in the rough, which, in some spots can be as thin and playable as Renaissance Club, but in others is, well, take a look below.

I think it is best described as a “thicket.” There’s a golf ball in there if you can find it. 

2. The bunkers seem a perfect(?) test

Rory McIlroy was our first press conference of the week, and while he may not have enough experience to speak for Royal Portrush — he’s played just two competitive rounds on the modern routing — his take on the bunkers really hit home. 

“I have a real appreciation for how well bunkered it is off the tee,” McIlroy said. “It’s like, OK, well, I can hit a 2-iron off the tee, but that brings this bunker into play. But then if I hit driver, it’ll bring this bunker — so you have to take on the shot.”

He admitted that some Open courses, the bunkers pinch the fairway in a very specific landing zone, so you either stay short or you bomb it long. “Here, there’s always one bunker or another bunker in play, so I think off the tee it provides a very, very good test.”

I couldn’t agree more. If you need a good example, you can watch tee balls on the 8th, 10th and 15th holes this week, to name just a few. I leaned in as Tommy Fleetwood and his caddie, Ian Finnis, debated the right club choice on 8. Driver would bring the far bunker into play. Mini driver would bring the next-shortest bunker into play. (This was with the wind in and off the right, as it’s expected to be for Thursday.) Were you best to hit either club? Or neither? Tommy lashed at his 5-wood and hit a perfect one that drew into a little hollow along the left side. But how many times can he repeat that shot — while losing some major distance to the field? That’s the battle McIlroy is talking about. 

3. They’re also soft! 

We’ve seen the way bunkers have been raked become a hot-button topic at recent Opens. Remember how they were too shallow at Hoylake? Players moaned, and suddenly the R&A changed their raking strategy. Well, the bunkers at Portrush are more soft than anything else. Beachy, even. There’s a good bit of sand in them, which is fine, but certainly different than Hoylake. Deal with it! 

Only, those bunkers with all that sand is a bit different than what American caddies are used to on Tour. Plus, these rakes! Golf clubs in this part of the world often employ the wide-toothed variety, which just means moving the sand around takes a different kind of care. 

“These are some of the worst rakes I’ve ever seen,” Matt McCarty’s caddie said as he and his pro moved around the greenside traps on the par-3 13th. 

“They’re so soft,” McCarty replied. It was a simple exchange, but when I hear soft bunkers with a good bit of sand in a windy part of the world, I think about poorly struck shots resulting in half-plugged lies. 

4. No. 5 is the electric factory 

Fleetwood played most of the front nine with two Danes, John Axelson and Niklas Norgaard. That was until the rain arrived and stopped them in their tracks on the 8th green. No bother, though, because we already saw them play the most exciting hole on the property — the drivable par-4 5th. 

It’s the most scenic hole, too, bringing you straight toward the Atlantic Ocean. But with its two-tiered, infinity green, this is exactly where I’d sit and watch tee-balls all day long. It’s a brilliant risk-reward, with Monday’s hole cut on the front portion. Fleetwood wiped at a driver and left it in the bunker short right. Norgaard — who hits it farther than anyone I’ve ever seen — nudged a low, smooth, bulleted driver that bounded from the front and nearly ran off the back and out of bounds. Axelson came next, knifing a drive that was headed right for it. My eyes aren’t good enough to watch from afar, but Fleetwood’s are. 

“Oh, go in the hole,” he said. The ball ran by and up the slope of a greenside knob. 

“You might get another chance at it,” Fleetwood said, making everyone pause. The ball got caught up on the fringe, unfortunately. But if the hole-setting rascals want to get after it this week, we might see a par-4 ace.

5. Swales, swales, swales

Walk around Royal Portrush and the dunes catch your eye. The greens that cut into them, too. But there’s a cheeky buffer between the greens that is easy to miss, but seem to be everywhere. The swales. 

With how elevated and slopey a lot of these greens are — abnormally so for most links courses — the run-off areas tend to get more attention during practice rounds. Take the 11th green, pictured below, for example. It feels like the entire surrounds are just these soft, rolling waves that catch balls and deposit them in a trough. They’re subtle, but they’re kind of everywhere, harsher in some spots than others. Players will be putting from a lot of them, like Adam Scott did in that picture. The winner might just do that, like, really well.

6. This event is gonna be BIG 

Open officials are anticipating more than 270,000 spectators to visit the grounds this week, making it the biggest non-St. Andrews Open in the history of the event. This Open is being billed as the biggest-ever sporting event in Northern Ireland, and I think that’s going to hold up. Based on conversations with various marshals — many who worked here in 2019 — there was a surprisingly big amount of fans on-site Sunday, even while Wimbledon and the Scottish Open were being played in Great Britain. 

The only problem? Not many pros showed up! Sunday can be a big major-prep day for pros — easing their way into things, getting the first sneak peak — but only a handful were out. Tony Finau, Patrick Cantlay and Rickie Fowler were among them. Thankfully, we’ve got another six days after this one.