Open Championship: weather watch and club adjustments
Mickelson and McIlroy are adjusting their Open Championship set-ups – who will follow suit?
The 146th Open Championship field is watching the weather forecast and tinkering with their bag set-ups, as they should. If they’ve studied their history they know that wind is a critical element of the Royal Birkdale course management equation.
With winds forecast to be gusting up to 35 mph for the first round and rain predicted Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to accompany the wind, those big clubs may not be what’s need to move the ball from tee-to-green efficiently.
You don’t want to be sending your ball soaring up and over those huge dunes where the wind is going to be howling and swirling. Who knows where it would come to rest – probably no place good.
Rory McIlroy, who’s coming to Royal Birkdale trying to turn his season around and get back on track, has indicated that his driver will stay in the bag for most holes. Now Phil Mickelson is making some adjustments to his set-up as well. There’ll be no driver at all for Lefty. (I wonder if he’s consulted with Ariya Jutanugarn. She’s made a remarkable adjustment in her accuracy by switching from driver to 3-wood.)
Equipment overhaul for Phil this week: current plan is no driver, but adding a "hot" 3-wood, a second "driving" 3-iron and 64 degree wedge.
— Will Gray (@WillGrayGolfbet) July 18, 2017
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The smart players have likely looked back to Arnold Palmer’s strategy when he won the 1961 Open at Royal Birkdale. He shifted to his 1-iron, kept the ball low and out of the wind, and sent his shots screaming just over the top of the dunes.
Nobody’s talking about using a 1-iron yet, but that’s probably because they can’t hit the 1-iron. Still, aside from McIlroy, the big bombers are silent and we’re all waiting to see what kinds of adjustments Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm make to their set-ups.
This isn’t Mickelson’s first Royal Birkdale rodeo. He knows what’s coming. Now, the question remaining is will the younger players coming to Birkdale with less experience watch and learn or will they stick with what’s worked on the more benign and more familiar parkland-style tracks where they’ve made their names.
Next: Royal Birkdale champions, 1954-2017
Let’s see what Thursday brings. Who will have what in their bag and how will it work for them?