11-07-2016, 20:03
It's The Open. Can we find the 2016 winner? What does it take to win this year?
The Open is back at Troon for the first time in 12 years and history shows us that every winner here since 1950 has been American - Palmer, Weiskopf, Watson, Calcavecchia, Leonard & Hamilton. I think the rest of the world has caught up the Americans since then so I don't feel this is that relevant a statistic apart from showing that Americans can handle links courses.
The course is set out with nine holes going one way then the other nine returning us to the clubhouse so the wind can have a big effect particularly if it changes mid round. Traditionally the opening nine is the easier here with the prevailing wind with the toughest holes coming after the turn. The only clue from the weather forecasts is that it may be particularly tricky late on on Friday.
There have been claims that golf has become a young man's game in the last few years but the recent Open winners suggest otherwise. The last ten winners have been Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington (twice), Stewart Cink, Louis Oosthuizen, Darren Clarke, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy & Zach Johnson which actually suggests that older golfers do relatively well in this event.
A more interesting fact about the previous Troon Open winners is that they had all won a tournament that season before the Open, suggesting that form is important.
A high %ge of recent Open winners have gone close previously so experience of being in contention could be important.
tbc
The Open is back at Troon for the first time in 12 years and history shows us that every winner here since 1950 has been American - Palmer, Weiskopf, Watson, Calcavecchia, Leonard & Hamilton. I think the rest of the world has caught up the Americans since then so I don't feel this is that relevant a statistic apart from showing that Americans can handle links courses.
The course is set out with nine holes going one way then the other nine returning us to the clubhouse so the wind can have a big effect particularly if it changes mid round. Traditionally the opening nine is the easier here with the prevailing wind with the toughest holes coming after the turn. The only clue from the weather forecasts is that it may be particularly tricky late on on Friday.
There have been claims that golf has become a young man's game in the last few years but the recent Open winners suggest otherwise. The last ten winners have been Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington (twice), Stewart Cink, Louis Oosthuizen, Darren Clarke, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy & Zach Johnson which actually suggests that older golfers do relatively well in this event.
A more interesting fact about the previous Troon Open winners is that they had all won a tournament that season before the Open, suggesting that form is important.
A high %ge of recent Open winners have gone close previously so experience of being in contention could be important.
tbc
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.