Golf has always had a mixed relationship with water. Think of shots like Arnold Palmer’s iconic 143-yard pitch on No. 9 in a match against Jack Nicklaus in the 1958 U.S. Open — poor! — or Tommy Armour’s pinball-style chip on 18 during the 1960 U.S. Open. Golf is usually low-scoring when covered in ice and snow, and very high-scoring when covered in sunshine. Golf is especially stressful when played in the morning hours in England.
At the last Royal Troon Scottish Open, the USGA set up the course in such a way that unless the front nine was played under 24-degree weather (and “another flat, uneventful fog”), the second nine would likely go uphill. A forecast like that would mean that the fairways and greens would not be watered, which, unfortunately, was exactly the case when the event took place. The par-5 second hole was watered off and replaced with a water-soaked fairway. The flow of water accelerated the downhill putt by more than a foot as players were forced to back away from it.
Since Rory McIlroy, Chris Wood and Matt Fitzpatrick all opted to delay their tee times, play eventually resumed. A larger round was completed in less than three hours. The Sunday TV broadcast had to be delayed due to rainy conditions and flooding that took place in the eighteenth fairway. The game was suspended on Sunday and most golf fans in the U.K. did not learn until Monday afternoon that the tournament would be runover, forcing players to return at 11 a.m.
The last time a British Open had been played in Scotland was in 1894 when the Royal Troon Course hosted the championship. In the process, with the Royal Manchester and Royal Liverpool clubs both tied for first with Troon on 159 points, golf legend Robert Trent Jones became the first Master to win his first major.
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Tiger Woods +900
Jordan Spieth +1300
Justin Rose +1300
Patrick Reed +1300
Dustin Johnson +1600
Rory McIlroy +1600
Adam Scott +1800
Jon Rahm +1800
Phil Mickelson +4000
Henrik Stenson +4000
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Patrick Cantlay +5000
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Paul Casey +5000
Matt Kuchar +5000
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Thomas Pieters +5000
Jon Rahm +5000
Jon Rahm +5000
Phil Mickelson +6000
Russell Knox +6000
Tony Finau +6000
Adam Scott +6500
Rickie Fowler +6400
Harris English +6600
Marc Leishman +6800
Bubba Watson +6700
Tiger Woods +6700