Why players are ‘sucker punched’ by Royal Liverpool’s bunkers

Robert MacIntyre is clearly in fine form, with back-to-back top-four finishes including a runner-up at last week’s Genesis Scottish Open.

But he met his match Thursday in Royal Liverpool’s devilish bunkers.

“You get sucker punched by the bunkers here,” said MacIntyre after an opening 3-over 74 at The Open Championship, eight back of early co-leaders Tommy Fleetwood and Christo Lamprecht.

Each of MacIntyre’s first four responses alluded to the bunkers. Only once were they part of the question.

The Open Championship host venue is guarded by 82 bunkers, mostly of the pot variety, several of which feature steep faces. As Michael Kim noted on Twitter earlier in the week, the grounds crew uses “really wide teeth rakes” that increase the odds of balls rolling into the crevices.

“It’s not plugged but it’s DEF not a good lie ESPECIALLY if you’re in a fairway bunker,” Kim tweeted. “Auto 60 degree pitch out.”

The bunkers dominated chatter early-week at Royal Liverpool, with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler noting “I’m just going to try and avoid the bunkers at all costs.” It’s a marked shift from the typical mindset on TOUR, where players would often prefer a bunker lie to one in deep rough just off the bunker’s edge.

“I think nowadays, bunkers can be seen as you just hit it in there and you’ll be OK,” said Matt Fitzpatrick after an opening-round 72. “But this week, you’re trying to avoid them.”

Perhaps no player illustrated this angst more than MacIntyre, whose round stalled on the par-4 11th, where he missed the green left from 139 yards and then had to pitch out sideways, leading to a double-bogey 6.

“There are just certain bunkers, you just can’t go in there,” MacIntyre said, “and then I just lose control going into the green. I’ve got to rethink the way I’m playing it.”

This was part of a response to a question about his birdie on the 18th; the Scotsman simply couldn’t stop thinking about the bunkers. He was then asked how Royal Liverpool compares in difficulty to other venues on The Open’s rota.

“It’s different. It’s different. There are a lot of doglegs that kind of suck you into the pot bunkers almost,” he answered. “I could go out there and play a lot more defensive, but that’s not how I play golf.”

It seemed he was wrestling with the idea of recalibrating his game plan for Friday – against his preferences. That’s the power of these bunkers.

2019 Open champion Shane Lowry didn’t disagree, describing Royal Liverpool as “the most well-bunkered golf course that we play” following an opening-round 72. The Irishman found two bunkers Thursday, on Nos. 9 and 18, failing to get up and down either time.

“You stand on every tee and almost every bunker is in play,” Lowry said after his round. “If you take it on and hit a bad shot and end up in a bunker, it’s a penalty shot basically.”

Co-leader Lambrecht, the rising Georgia Tech senior who earned his spot as the reigning winner of The Amateur, mostly avoided the bunkers en route to a 5-under 66 that put the golf world on notice. One of the rare times he met his match: the short par-4 fourth, where his drive settled within 30 feet of the hole – in a pot bunker. He took the safe route, pitching out sideways and then getting up and down for par. He described the Royal Liverpool bunkers as well-placed, requiring more conservative club selection in certain instances.

Fleetwood found zero bunkers Thursday. After his round, he didn’t reference the sand a single time.