Open Championship 2018 1st Round

and PHIL will be playing while I am sleeping. ZZZZZZZZZZZ

PHIL will be out with Cabrera-Bello and S. Kodaira-- 2:03 CST?

Frankly I have no idea how well PHIL will do this week. I can see him winning or missing the cut. Weather is critical and who knows who gets the best draw?

Let's go PHIL

No wind in the morning so far. Gotta go low. Phil follows a nice birdie with a bogey.

Half guys are putting for eagle on par 5 Phil makes par after perfect drive.
2 shots lost on last 2 holes.

FYI the online leader board is posting well before the TV shows the shot.

Looks like a few lost chances for PHIL-- +1 in decent scoring conditions after 13 holes

Well, never got to see any of Phil, but +2, T-72, not great position. If T-72 with about 1/3 of players still to tee off, then he'll probably be behind the cut line when they finish and will not be able to afford an over par round tomorrow.

I don't like this kind of luck-golf with wild rollouts. Kind of like rolling the dice. Too much luck involved in where you end up.

Where is the Phil we saw in January through March?
Would love to know what happened on the 16th hole. Was really hoping for even par finish when he had the final 3 holes left. They aren't birdie holes but a double is bad.

Now T-80th, ugh. Going to have a tough go at it tomorrow, when you have to make birdies....sometimes forcing them makes it worse.

Yup not a great round under decent conditions

And now pushed down further to T-91. The only good news is 1 stroke brings you to T-67, but again that puts the pressure on shooting <par.

When he started the season so promising he spoke of how nice it was to start out well and not fighting to make the cut . This puts too much pressure on him now. Guess I have to realize you can't beat Father time especially wit the pressure he feels at majors. This whole concentration problem has me worried as to what is really going on. Didn't he have the same issue last year and said a doctor helped.. ....in some mysterious way.

Phil is moving up a little. Not horrible today but needs to find his A game tomorrow. I read he was practicing putting after his round.

Hate watching golf on this course. too much luck involved!

I think many people make too big of a deal when it comes to luck and links golf courses. In terms of weather, no doubt fortune can be a determinant if one side of the draw gets screwed; however when it comes to the golf, I find people who haven’t played links courses overestimate the role luck plays. I love this style of golf. It is a refreshing change from bomb and gouge golf on courses neutered by the tour, where players aren’t required to hit different styles of shots.

Part of my aversion to this kind of golf is the UK type of 'links' golf.  The same way I ask my wife never to buy (for me) red or blue Gatorade because they look so 'unnatural', I can't stand trying to drink that stuff even when I'm sweating mowing the lawn.  So too, when I look at these pot bunkers with the steep walls, they look so unnatural.  I would have preferered sand filled depressions, like you might naturally find near a sandy area where the mounds around them are grassy but the sand accumulates in the depressions, and you would be hitting out of sand but not out of some manufactured hole in the ground.  Then the 100+ yard roll outs, crazy stuff, might as well go play the putt-putt windmill course with the 30 foot guy you have to putt between his legs.  I don't know what you call it when you see a nice swing, shot hits the fairway and then bounces and rolls forever to go into the tall stuff.  Just can't get into it. I feel bad that this type of lucky golf is given status of a Major (and my same sentiment to the silly way that USGA sets up the US Open), the other 2 majors are more sensible, imo.  Similar to our MGA at my club course this weekend, it's a 1-man scramble.  I ask, what's that?... well you can hit 2 balls for each shot and pick the best of each. What?, do you mean if you play a 2nd, then you discount the 1st?... No, you get to pick which one you continue to play.  Oh yea, with full handicap too..... oh my gosh, I guess that's great news for the 20+ HC'ers.  I see they are experimenting with different formats to create excitement, but, ugh, no thanks.

LongLefty wrote:I think many people make too big of a deal when it comes to luck and links golf courses. In terms of weather, no doubt fortune can be a determinant if one side of the draw gets screwed; however when it comes to the golf, I find people who haven’t played links courses overestimate the role luck plays. I love this style of golf. It is a refreshing change from bomb and gouge golf on courses neutered by the tour, where players aren’t required to hit different styles of shots.