The Open needs overdue fireworks to stave off summer sport overload
Rory McIlroy on the 16th green during a practice day ahead of The Open at Royal Troon
The Open Championship can encounter problems in years such as this. Even dedicated sports fans suffer exhaustion when a European Championship and Olympic Games bookend the summer. The Open – like Wimbledon or Test matches – can feel as if it is jammed somewhere in the middle of frenzy.
Against this backdrop, Royal Troon comes under pressure to provide something special. A repeat of last year, when Brian Harman coasted to victory under ugly skies at Hoylake, will not do. History is on this wonderful Ayrshire venue’s side; Henrik Stenson’s epic joust with Phil Mickelson here, eight years ago, was on the last properly compelling Open Sunday.
That the R&A want no repeat of Stenson’s 20 under par aggregate is apparent with one glance at the rough. Players could lose their caddies in there, never mind their golf balls.
Scottie Scheffler’s outstanding touch in 2024 renders him the man to beat. Scheffler’s dominance on the PGA Tour has conjured memories of Tiger Woods in his prime. Even a tie for eighth at the US PGA Championship in May was remarkable given Scheffler spent Thursday morning in a police cell. Scheffler has won six times this year; the last player to do that by July was Arnold Palmer, who duly added the 1962 Troon Open to his CV.
The Open is, however, a code Scheffler has thus far been unable to crack. A share of eighth in 2021 was followed up by ties for 21st and 23rd. Crosswinds could present Scheffler with problems but his record to date speaks for itself. He is an entirely legitimate tournament favourite.
“He’s the best player in the world and as far as fellow players, he’s great for us in terms of somebody that we want to catch up to,” said Tommy Fleetwood. “We watch him and are motivated by what he’s doing.
“He’s having the most incredible season, winning six times as well as being up there in contention as many times as he has been, as consistently as he has been over the last two years, is phenomenal golf in a game that is as unpredictable as it gets.
“The standard is getting higher and higher and the margins are getting smaller and smaller and smaller. To be up there all the time, and on top of that, to go on a win streak the way he has is incredible really. It’s amazing.”
Fleetwood has a great chance here. So, too, does the 2021 champion, Collin Morikawa. Bryson DeChambeau is worthy of huge respect after victory at the US Open. Rory McIlroy’s demeanour is of a man who has recovered psychologically from implosion at the same tournament in North Carolina.
We can, though, only properly assess McIlroy’s state of mind when he is in pole position to win that fifth major once again. What is clear is there would be no more popular recipient of the Claret Jug. Tom Kim and Alex Noren look lively outsiders. The Open has not produced a back-to-back winner since 2008.
This will be the last Open under the watch of Martin Slumbers as the R&A’s chief executive. Slumbers has been an undoubted force for good in his sport since landing the job at St Andrews in 2015. Golf and its oldest major have been elevated with Slumbers at the wheel.
“I am very happy that we’re seeing 62.3 million people in our part of the world playing golf,” he said. “And let’s not forget, between 2016 and 2018, golf around the world was declining pretty much every year. Everyone says: ‘Covid was the thing.’ Well golf’s grown more since Covid than during Covid and arguably it is the only sport in the world that has grown since Covid.
“We should be extremely proud of that as a sport. We should be writing about it. We should be talking about it. And we should be banging the drum. That is really, really important.”
Backing up Slumbers’ sentiments, 250,000 spectators will visit Royal Troon during this championship week. “Big-time sport needs big-time crowds,” he said. “It surprised me when I came here in 2016, 170,000 people in a week around this course. It sort of felt empty. Grandstands weren’t full very often. The image wasn’t that great. Big-time sport is so much better when there’s lots of crowds and there’s lots of noise and there’s lots of enthusiasm.”
Slumbers also offered hope to Muirfield, the East Lothian links that has been stuck in Open cold storage since 2013. “We’re going back to Muirfield,” he said. “It’s a brilliant course.” With Royal Lytham and St Annes also overdue an Open return, it would be no surprise to see these courses picked for 2027 and 2028. It will be no concern of Slumbers by then. What transpires across 72 holes in Troon most certainly is. The Open must prove its worth in a congested sporting calendar.
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