Conquering Lytham

The gauntlet has been thrown down to the 156 golfers whose ambition today is to become British Open champion at Royal Lytham & St Annes on Sunday evening — play it straight or you are in trouble.

As the jet stream that has hammered Britain and Ireland this summer was forecast to dump rain on the already sodden links on England’s north-west coast until 4am, championship officials admitted to concerns about “half a dozen” of the course’s 206 bunkers but were unapologetic about the thickness of the rough that threatens to consume any errant strokes.

“The course is at the moment perfectly playable,” R&A Championship Committee chairman Jim McArthur said yesterday.