Adjustments made to bunkers before The Open’s second round
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HOYLAKE, England – First-round co-leader Tommy Fleetwood found zero bunkers during his 5-under 66 on Thursday. For many others, the story was different at the 151st Open Championship. Royal Liverpool Golf Club features 82 bunkers, mainly of the pot variety, either lining fairways or guarding greens. Yet the bunkers, which have been part of the narrative this week in Hoylake, will play differently than they did in the first round.
Due to unforeseen drier conditions on Thursday, officials saw that the bunkers had dried out more than anticipated. As a result, many golf balls found their way to the face of the pot bunkers, giving players few options except for going sideways or backward.
“Basically around this golf course if you just avoid the bunkers you can do whatever you want,” said world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. “Any time you're in a bunker, I mean, it's pretty much a stroke penalty the way the bunkers are shaped this week.”
A statement from the R&A said, “Yesterday afternoon the bunkers dried out more than we have seen in recent weeks and that led to more balls running straight up against the face than we would normally expect.
“We have therefore raked all of the bunkers slightly differently to take the sand up one revet on the face of the bunkers. We routinely rake bunkers flat at most Open venues but decided this adjustment was appropriate in light of the drier conditions which arose yesterday.”
Rory McIlroy's clutch up-and-down from bunker at The Open
Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas were among the many players on Thursday that pitched out sideways or backward after shots nestled right against the front of various bunkers on the par-5 18th hole. Rahm opted to go backward after his second shot found a greenside bunker; he made a bogey. McIlroy played off to the side but could not get his ball out of the bunker. He took his second shot towards the hole and sunk a 10-footer for par. Thomas pitched out sideways but landed back in another bunker. He made a quadruple-bogey 9 to close his round.
“When you hit it into these bunkers you're sort of riding your luck at that point and hoping it's not up against one of those revetted faces,” McIlroy said. “Yeah, Jon and I didn't have much of a shot with our thirds, so then you're just hoping to make par somehow and get out of there.”
The R&A noted that they “will continue to monitor this closely for the remainder of the championship,” giving the option to revert back to how the bunkers were starting the week.