By DOUG FERGUSON
TROON, Scotland — Justin Thomas made his British Open debut at Royal Troon eight years ago, and it taught him everything he needs to know about what can make this major so maddening.
It had nothing to do with gorse bushes or pot bunkers. It was about weather and tee times.
“I was in the bad one,” Thomas said.
By that he meant the bad side of the draw, and it’s part of the charm — or curse — of the Open.
It was fairly benign in the opening round at Royal Troon in 2016, all the way through Friday morning until 30 mph (48 kph) wind and a driving rain made players in the afternoon feel they were on a different course than those who played early.
So severe was the change in weather that the leading 14 players going into the weekend, including Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson, came from one side of the draw.
“I’ve never in my life grinded so hard to finish 50th,” Thomas said. “I shot 77 and made the cut by one. The worst part was Saturday and Sunday. The morning was the worst and you couldn’t gain any ground.”
Summer daylight hours in the U.K. enable players to start off one tee for the entire day. Justin Leonard will hit the opening tee shot on Thursday at 6:30 a.m. (0530 GMT). Sam Horsfield is the last to play. He will tee off about 4:30 p.m.
That allows the weather to play a massive role. That happens elsewhere, but it is more pronounced in links golf. Sometimes the worst of it is in the morning, as in 2008 when Rich Beem and Sandy Lyle walked off Royal Birkdale after nine and 10 holes, respectively.
The forecast for the start of the 152nd Open is for off-and-on rain during the day with gusts in the 20 mph (32 kph) range early in the afternoon — about the time Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm are finishing their rounds — and then easing late. And then more gusts Friday afternoon.
It’s worth noting the forecast seems to change by the day. No one will really know until they’re in the clear, or feeling like they are being blown into the Irish sea.
In recent times, Louis Oosthuizen caught the good side of the draw in St. Andrews. It was relatively calm all of Thursday — McIlroy opened with a 63 in 2010 — and then the wind became so fierce in the afternoon that McIlroy shot 80.
Oosthuizen finished his 65-67 start right before the wind came through. His name stayed atop the leaderboard for 11 hours that day and he led by five when it was over and wound up winning by seven shots. Good golf and a good draw go a long way.
“It’s part and parcel of the Open. There’s always good draws and bad draws,” Tommy Fleetwood said. “Generally if you get unlucky and there is a good side and a bad side, that’s wiping out half the field already. The good news is if you’re on the good side. That’s half of them gone and you only have to beat half the field.
“But that’s always been part of the Open and that’s the beauty of it,” he said. “You have to be ready for whatever the conditions bring, along with the golf course. It’s very important to embrace what can happen.”
Another memorable example was Saturday at Muirfield in 2002. Tiger Woods had won the Masters and U.S. Open that year, raising possibilities of a calendar Grand Slam. He was two off the lead going into the third round when a storm off the Firth of Forth brought rain and 40 mph (64 kph) gusts. Woods shot 81 — nine others were in the 80s — and there went the Grand Slam.
Even getting the bad end of the draw is not the end of the Open. Padraig Harrington should serve as inspiration to everyone for what he did in 2008 at Royal Birkdale. He was caught in the raging wind Thursday morning and scrapped his way to a 74. Harrington went on to win by four shots for his second straight Open title.
But it can be maddening. Gary Woodland recalls one Open when he was staying with Dustin Johnson. They compared notes at the end of the round.
“I was early, he was late,” Woodland said. “I’m hitting 3-iron into holes where he was hitting sand wedge. You just hope you’re on the right side. Otherwise, you try to make the most of it. Half the field is getting (dumped) on. I grew up in the wind. I like the tough conditions. But you’d like to be on the good side.”
Conditions can be even more exaggerated at Royal Troon by its out-and-back nature. The forecast for one of the practice rounds this week was an example of the worst that can happen, with wind in the players’ faces going out, and then it shifted, so they had to play the back nine into the wind, too.
The last time the Open was at Royal Troon, it had the second-worse draw bias — one side far better than the other — in Open history. It was so bad that Friday afternoon that the cut line dropped three shots in a span of 45 minutes.
Such is the nature of this fickle championship.
“Everybody knows that going into the Open,” Thomas said. “But I am so ready for a six- or seven-shot draw and being on the good side. It’s going to be awesome whenever it happens.”
