Straight-hitters will prosper on sodden links

R&A chief executive Peter Dawson is confident this week’s British Open will not suffer from the “unprecedented rainfall” the course is currently absorbing.

With the first round of the year’s third Major due to get under way on Thursday morning and more heavy rain forecast for both today and tomorrow’s practice rounds on the Lancashire links course, golf’s leading players are bracing themselves for near unplayable conditions in Royal Lytham’s 206 bunkers and the thick, penal rough outside the fairways.

“We are all very confident that we will be playing golf,” Dawson said yesterday, when rain fell on the Fylde coast almost constantly throughout the day.