Bonnie on Clyde - Open 2016

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Colin Montgomerie will be the first player to tee off at the Open, on his home course of Troon, a fitting decision. Unfortunately, this year's coverage has been taken over by Sky, a decision I hope the R&A come to regret.

At the start of the year, I noted that Spieth and Day both came within a shot of winning the Open in 2015, and that Danny Willett was a shot further back. Willett and Day will play together for the first two days, and could well find themselves still partnering each other on day four, in the last group. Going on a hunch that the recent little spate of first-time major winners might continue (and that several recent winners have been the wrong side of 35), I'll also have a little flutter on Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood, and if I had to pick an 'unknown Yank' for GO this year it would be either Brooks Koepka or Brandt Snedeker.

Looking forward to seeing the pros flailing around in the bunkers around the 'postage stamp' green.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Bonnie on Clyde - Open 2016

Oh, Branden Grace, too. He's worth an each-way punt. I've been tipping him for an Open win for about four years, now.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Bonnie on Clyde - Open 2016

Patrick Reed in the clubhouse with a 66, as the pattern of the day so far has been players racing out to -5 on the front nine then losing them all coming home. Rory McIlroy in with a 69.

John Daly has turned up wearing a pair of trousers with pineapples printed all over them. Ian Poulter's really going to have to go some to beat that.

[Gangster Octopus]

Bonnie on Clyde - Open 2016

Is Poulter even there?

[Mr Cogito]

Bonnie on Clyde - Open 2016

Gangster Octopus wrote: Is Poulter even there?

Does the sky commentary box count?

[ursus arctos]

Bonnie on Clyde - Open 2016

Course record of 63 for Mickelson

[Gangster Octopus]

Bonnie on Clyde - Open 2016

Currently in the pub watching the adverts with occasional golf. Has it been like this all day?

[Mr Cogito]

Bonnie on Clyde - Open 2016

Gangster Octopus wrote: Currently in the pub watching the adverts with occasional golf. Has it been like this all day?

No, I was at home today.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Bonnie on Clyde - Open 2016

code BRITOPEN16, for anyone who wants to nip onto Now TV now and register, will get you free Sky Sports all day until this time tomorrow.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Bonnie on Clyde - Open 2016

Lefty lips out for a 63, and genuinely seems to know what it might have meant

THe history of 63s scored in majors

He's out tomorrow early, too, ahead of the predicted bad weather. He could be a few clear going into the weekend.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Bonnie on Clyde - Open 2016

Out of my tips, Stenson is still up there.

Don't know what the fuck McIlroy was up to today. Missed about five putts from inside ten feet.

[bruno glanvilla]

Bonnie on Clyde - Open 2016

I was at Troon yesterday to watch this. Mickleson certainly got lucky with the draw, the calm early conditions contrasting sharply with the afternoon weather, which was atrocious.

And, +1 for the Sky TV grumbles. Doesn't even seem to be a YouTube stream of this, so I'm relying on BBC text and radio coverage. I'll head back to the course again tomorrow to watch the finale.

[multipleman78]

Bonnie on Clyde - Open 2016

Mickelson started one shot back and fired in a 65. Before the start of play he may have thought that would be a winner. Instead he ended up three behind when all was said and done. What an amazing performance by Stenson. To shoot 63 under that kind of pressure means that his round is probably in the top 10 best rounds of golf ever played.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Bonnie on Clyde - Open 2016

When the dust settles, that will go down in history. A 63 in the final round, to win an Open with a score of -20.

That's unbelievable on so many levels.

And the fact that he's finally - finally - broken the Scandanavian "runner-up" ceiling that Parnevik, Bjorn and himself have gone up to before.

Fucking wonderful. Wonderful. I haven't seen his speech yet, about to on BBC2. I expect I'll well up, a bit.

[stefan]

Bonnie on Clyde - Open 2016

I certainly did. I don't know what was most amazing about this round, but possibly that third-placed JB Holmes was 14 shots behind Stenson. At the legendary Watson/Nicklaus duel in 1977, third place was 11 shots off.

People are now speculating that Ryder Cup is rigged so that Stenson and Mickelson meet again.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Bonnie on Clyde - Open 2016

Mickelson is - alleged dodgy financial dealings notwithstanding - a hell of a nice guy. He's just shot a bogey-free 65 in the last group of the last round of a major, still not won, and he's all smiles and congratulations for his opponent. I'd have been like Charlton Heston at the end of Planet of the Apes.

I hope he wins another major yet. Ideally, next year's US Open, where he's been second six times and never won.

[stefan]

Bonnie on Clyde - Open 2016

I agree about Mickelson.

I also wonder what will happen to Stenson's game now. He has tried so long and so hard to achieve this that it would be natural to go into a heavy slump. And at his age the slump could last for the rest of his career.

Having said that, for those of us who have been following him for a long time it was surreal to see him putt so well. For years now, Stenson has arguably been the best tee-to-green player in the world, but he has simply been unable to convert anything from over two-three meters. If this continues he'll be unbeatable. Somehow I don't think so though.

Also, I wonder if his decision to almost exclusively use his spoon for driving (which helped him come out of his previous slump) will now be followed by other hard-hitters.

[stefan]

Bonnie on Clyde - Open 2016

Another thing that just struck me. Mickelson vs Stenson is the right handed leftie against the left handed rightie.

[stefan]

Bonnie on Clyde - Open 2016

I'm milking this thread, aren't I?

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Bonnie on Clyde - Open 2016

stefan wrote:

I also wonder what will happen to Stenson's game now. He has tried so long and so hard to achieve this that it would be natural to go into a heavy slump. And at his age the slump could last for the rest of his career.

It would be far from unusual if Stenson never challenged for one again. Tom Kite, Corey Pavin, Davis Love, Tom Lehman, Darren Clarke, Jason Dufner. The game's littered with great players who finally got their one week where it all went right, and never really challenged again. Adam Scott and Justin Rose are both in danger of slipping into that category. And I'm amazed Bubba Watson didn't. Rose, indeed, talks in interviews of his desire to be remembered as a "multiple major champion", as if being a "major champion" isn't enough - there's obviously kudos among the players for those who've done it twice or more.

Stenson may not win another, but I think he's broken a barrier for golf in Scandanavia. They've been producing top female players for thirty years now, but the men were always kind of peripheral - Ryder Cup heroes, but not major winners. That's changed now. I think, like when Ernie Els won the 1994 US Open and then young South Africans were winning everything in sight, we might see some more Swedes and Danes lifting trophies in the next decade.

[stefan]

Bonnie on Clyde - Open 2016

David Duval is another. He never challenged for anything, let alone a major, after his Open win.

Many here share the belief that Stenson breaking the duck will lead to more Scandinavian major wins. We'll see. I don't really think that Noren, Kjeldsen et al have it in them now, although Noren is still improving at a tender 34 years of age.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Bonnie on Clyde - Open 2016

Yes, Duval is probably the best example of this. He was world number one before he won his first major, then was never heard from again.

Lingmerth and Olesen are both under 30, I think, although I was thinking more about the next generation who are probably currently amateurs. Like Immelman, Oosthuizen, and Schwartzel all were when Els broke through in '94, in the South African analogy.