– Last June marked 101 years since the Open was first played at Royal Troon (1923), then simply Troon, as it had not yet been distinguished as Royal. The tournament was played over four rounds, the first two on Thursday, June 14, and the next two on Friday, June 15. That same week, on Monday 11 and Tuesday 12, the relevant qualifying round was played, from which no one was exempt in those days. That year, in Troon, Walter Hagen passed this preliminary round by a single stroke, very close… And he had won the Open the year before! Others were not so lucky. For example, Gene Sarazen, who had just won the US Open and the PGA the year before, 1922, and who on Tuesday found himself in a storm of rain and wind in the early morning matches and signed an 85. Or Harry Vardon, winner of six Opens between 1896 and 1914 and who was also going to be left out for the first time in thirty years. What rough and merciless times.
– So let’s better return to our 2024. It’s Monday at Royal Troon, which hosts this Major for the tenth time in its history, but the Open is already unstoppable. Tiger, in one of the morning matches, although not as early as on other occasions, walks alongside Justin Thomas (how strange) and Max Homa. Scottie Scheffler practices on the course with Sam Burns (how strange). Jon Rahm, who travelled this morning from Spain to Troon after playing the LIV Andalucía, still has the desire and energy to play nine holes starting at 3:20 p.m. We see him play the first three holes with a straight line: iron to fairway, iron to green and birdie option.
– The two Spanish amateurs present at the event, Luis Masaveu and Jaime Montojo, have played 18 holes today. It couldn’t be any other way. They come to enjoy, they are young and full of energy… However, Montojo is clear that on Tuesday he will play nine holes and on Wednesday another nine. Good decision. One thing is to come to enjoy the experience and another is to be drained before the important thing really starts. And yes, although it may not seem like it, a 19 or 21 year old can also be drained, precisely because this experience, his first Major, is usually lived with excessive intensity.
– Oh, how we would sign for four rounds of play with the conditions of this Monday, very Scottish (little sun, clear sky, grey clouds, some black, threat of rain in the distance…), but benign. Maybe we are getting older. The wind, let it blow as much as it wants, but the water, let it cut back a bit. The forecast, as of today, is not exactly promising, because it speaks of instability from Thursday to Sunday and no one is going to escape a few showers.
– And Bryson DeChambeau? A detail for the lovers of omens. On the Monday of the US Open, which he would later win, he went out to play nine holes at 4:50 p.m., exactly the same schedule he has chosen to play this Open Championship Monday. Whether out of pure superstition or in a scientific fit, there was the Californian playing alone on the second nine of the Scottish course. Everyone can draw their own conclusions…
