Major to minor hopes

As Rory McIlroy and Pádraig Harrington, like so many others around them, faded out of contention for the Open Championship yesterday, I was left wondering how they would interpret their day.

Naturally, they said all the right things to the reporters but as Major champions both would have fully understood that this was a day to take advantage of the good weather conditions, a day to force their way up the leaderboard and in the process hopefully intimidate some of the later starters with their scores.

The fact that they failed to achieve such ambitions can be put down to bad luck or some unfortunate breaks during the round. But isn’t that what major championships are all about?

Major championship courses are set up to challenge every aspect of a player’s game. They would have known that Lytham this week has been set up to frustrate them and take them out of their comfort zone.

Much like a mouse trap, the bait was set and both were unceremoniously caught.

For McIlroy, this week will have been particularly frustrating most especially because the benign weather conditions and a soft course should have suited his game.

He is swinging the club well but once again the question will be asked about his ability to execute a proper gameplan under pressure and, more importantly, his ability to hang in there, to dig deep when the going gets tough. McIlroy, will of course learn from these mistakes, but one could argue that perhaps he should be competing on a far more regular basis is in order to make his game sharper during the Major championships.

I really liked Harrington’s chances this week but he is surely too far back now to seriously challenge come tomorrow afternoon.

That said, he has shown remarkable resolve over the year and hopefully if he can get his putting back to its very best, another tournament victory won’t be too far away. McIlroy and Harrington will be playing together today and hopefully both men can inspire each other. Of even greater importance to Rory is perhaps the opportunity to talk to Pádraig (one of the greatest minds in the game) in terms of understanding his mental preparation and approach to the Majors.

And what about Brandt Snedeker? Those of you who watch golf from the US on Sky Sports will know he is quite an accomplished player on the PGA Tour, but I still feel that it will be a remarkable achievement if he were to hold on to win the Claret Jug.

He has a solid game but the last time he was in a position to win a Major championship (the US Masters in 2008) he slumped to a final round of 77.

With winds forecast over the weekend at Lytham, the course is going to change quite radically and if there is any uncertainty in his game at all it could be ruthlessly exposed. That said, it was very refreshing yesterday to see him take on the course (while others around him were fretting) and post a wonderful 64. For a man who has never made a cut before in an Open Championship it was a testament to his belief in himself and hopefully he will continue to show that refreshing attitude over the weekend, especially down the closing stretch when it will matter most.

There is a long way to go in this championship and no one will know that better than Snedeker. He can take heart from the fact that American players currently hold all of the other Major titles and that there have been 15 different winners of the last 15 Majors but he just needs to keep playing! He has already proved there are plenty of birdies to be had if you keep the ball in the fairway.