The 152nd chapter of golf’s oldest and, in our opinion, best major championship is now in the books. The truly wonderful Royal Troon, the closest current Open rota course to where the tournament was originally played at Prestwick, put up a proper fight.
The best players in the world properly battled over the Ayrshire links. The wind blew. Oh boy was it windy. The rain fell. The brave fans stuck with it through it all and eventually the Champion Golfer of the Year lifted the Claret Jug.
Xander Schauffele capped off his major breakthrough year with one of the greatest performances in championship golf of modern times. This is the tale of the Torment at Troon.
Start As You Mean To Go On
After fairly nice weather during the practice rounds, the Ayrshire coast brought some weather for day one. An unusual cross-wind coming off the beach plus the constant on-off of rain created tricky conditions.
The crowd were there to see the best. They were also there to see Bob. The newly crowned Genesis Scottish Open champion, Bob MacIntyre was feeling good after his win at the Renaissance Club. The crowd cheered him everywhere he went.
Another fan favourite was Rory. He was going steadily until the infamous Postage Stamp. The devilish 8th hole, the shortest hole on The Open rota, was a “hit the green or pray for a bogey” hole. His tee shot looked great, the crowed cheered, but the ball wasn’t done. It teetered. It wouldn’t rest. It started to move more. Cheers became groans, everyone knew. The ball continued on its journey after a short rest on the putting surface. Finally, it set up camp in the bunker. Rory would take a couple of attempts to escape the sandy depths and eventually came off with a double bogey. This would effectively mark a bad turning point in his tournament and the end of his quest.
As they say, you can’t win the tournament on day one, but you can definitely lose it. Thursday at The Open was the perfect embodiment of this saying and was all about just staying in the game. Unsurprisingly, the man with some of the best hands in the game, Shane Lowry, established himself as a front-runner. The Open was underway.
The Calm Before The Storm
Thankfully, Friday was a better day. The sun came out, occasionally, and some short sleeves were even spotted on some of the competitors. Many were chasing a score to make the weekend. Some big names needed some low scores to continue their tournaments. A classic Friday at The Open was coming.
Then the golfing gods sent some more weather. Your place in the draw at The Open and how the weather fits with that is always a key piece of the puzzle. It was clear that late Thursday and early Friday starters had the luck this week. As the first main wave of players reached the safety of the clubhouse, the rain came.
The cut continued to get higher and higher as scores went the same way. One of the best moments of the second round was Max Homa sinking a long putt on the last to make the weekend. With an almighty roar from Homa and the galleries, the American gained two more days of tournament play.
Some of the star performers on Friday included Shane Lowry, Justin Thomas and Dan Brown. The dark horse of day one, Yorkshireman Brown had continued with another strong day and was quickly gaining the support of the Royal Troon fans.
It Gets Worse
The waterproofs weren’t getting a chance to dry and Saturday would be their busiest day of all. Only the most committed fans were out on Saturday as relentless rain battered the links and the valiant golfers and caddies. The wind blew too. As had been the case all week, the strategies were tossed out of the window. This was a war of attrition. Only the most inventive and artistic golfers could navigate this test well.
At their post-round press conferences, Scottie Scheffler and Dustin Johnson, current and former world number ones, respectively, said the back nine was the hardest nine holes they had ever played. In fact, the tenth, eleventh and twelfth holes were playing more than a shot over par in relation to the field.
The caddies were truly earning their pay in this testing week. Dan Brown continued to put on a gutsy performance whilst some of the bigger names fell away. As the day’s play concluded, Xander Schauffele, Justin Rose and Billy Horschel were the main names in contention.
The Claret Jug Awaits
Players woke up to another decent morning. Certainly an improvement on the torment of the previous days. There was hope that there would be birdies and it was clear that a classic Open Championship final round was afoot.
The players took to the course and made one final push for major glory. Rose, who had prequalified, wore a claret quarter-zip in a nod to his first ever Open Championship at Royal Lytham St Annes where he won the Silver Medal. Speaking of which, Callum Scott from Nairn Golf Club was in contention for that most-coveted amateur prize.
Yet again, as the day went on the weathered worsened. Competitors and caddies had to buckle down, grit their teeth and battle the elements to build scores and stave off disasters. All week it felt like a constant battle protect your score whilst making the most of any rare chances that were offered for birdies. In the end, one beautiful round of golf would allow the eventual champion to emerge from the pack.
The Most Worthy Of Open Champions
There is nothing like links golf. The creativity and inventiveness that it demands can be severely lacking in the modern professional game. Whilst it was a brutal week, both the players and the fans appreciated that we had been treated to some old-fashioned links golf all week.
A closing five-under 31 sealed it for Xander. Bearing in mind the comments of Scheffler and DJ, it was one of the most impressive displays of golf we have seen for a long time. Schauffele went into the second major of the year in 2024 having never won one of golf’s great championships. With his win at Royal Troon, he became the first golfer since Tiger Woods to take both the PGA and Open Championships in the same year.
Callum Scott took the Silver Medal as the low amateur for the week. Justin Rose and Billy Horschel both finished strong to share second place, whilst Dan Brown completed an impressive display with a top 10 finish and secured an invitation to Royal Portrush for the 153rd Open.
We witnessed one of the best Open Championships of recent years. We saw wildly impressive golf in the most difficult of conditions. There are few golf tournaments in the world as special as The Open and Royal Troon was the perfect arena for it to play out.
Onto The Next One - Royal Portrush 2025
The 153rd playing of the Open Championship sees the fight for the Claret Jug return to Northern Ireland. Royal Portrush was a fantastic venue for the 2019 Open when Shane Lowry won.
This event marked a long-awaited return to Open Championship golf on Portrush and so it is fitting that it is getting another chance to host so soon. Just this week, a mural of Lowry with the famous trophy aloft was unveiled in an unofficial kick-off to the buildup of The 153rd Open.
A trip to Portrush to take in The Open would be a phenomenal adventure. Pair that with some golf in the area and you have a trip of a lifetime. Click here to find out more and create some of the best golfing memories you could hope for.