The 146th Open Championship: Ten takeaways

Ten takeaways from the 146th Open Championship – the game of golf, Royal Birkdale, the gallery, and the game’s heroes.

The 146th Open Championship tested the entire field. In the end, Jordan Spieth and Matt Kuchar showed us how to meet and embrace the challenge of the game in a near-classic fashion.

Spieth, 16 years Kuchar’s junior, wanted this win to complete the third leg of a career Grand Slam. Kuchar, a lean, streamlined 39 with silvering hair beneath his golf cap, was playing for his first major championship title. His best finish before Royal Birkdale came with a T9 finish in 2012 at Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s in Lancashire.

They are friends and Ryder Cup pod-mates, and they were worthy competitors this week. There were occasional fist bumps. Their caddies sometimes stood aside and enjoyed some casual chit-chat. It was an altogether civilized competition, at least at the top of the leaderboard.

Looking beyond that pairing that so engaged us, I’ll remember the 146th Open Championship in many ways that transcend Kuch’s heroic effort from the bunker at the last and Spieth’s final, triumphant putt.

1. Matt Kuchar gets the Mr. Congeniality Award. Matt Kuchar out-played Sandra Bullock this week. He played his final two rounds at Royal Birkdale looking like a kid who’d been turned loose in the proverbial candy store. Kuch showed us all how to play the game and have fun doing it. That’s something most of us can manage when we’re playing well but very few of us can pull off when the stakes are high and we’re digging deep. While Jordan Spieth glared and Rory McIlroy strained, Kuch just kept grinning and hitting his ball.

2. The Royal Birkdale gallery gets the Best Sports Fans of the Year award. The local folks really wanted Tommy Fleetwood to hoist the Claret Jug and when that became unlikely they cheered on Ian Poulter just as enthusiastically. But they poured out unconditional support for Austin Connelly. They embraced Alfie Plant’s 6-over finish like a collective grandmother. And when Jordan Spieth sent his tee shot off in the hinterlands Sunday afternoon on the back nine, they swarmed like bees converging on honeysuckle until they located the ball and then they offered advice and guidance to the Texan on how best to get back into position.

3. Royal Birkdale demands more brain than brawn. As many of us predicted, the muscle guys – Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka – didn’t fare so well at Royal Birkdale. Playing in difficult and challenging conditions, golf again became a game of strategy and mental endurance rather than 350-yard power shots.

4. You can’t play golf well if you don’t know the Rules of Golf. John Rahm saved himself a penalty when he was able to defend his attempt to move what he thought was a loose impediment. Jordan Spieth saved himself a shot by not limping back to the 13th tee when his drive went awry and, choosing instead the more difficult shot that had the potential for a better outcome. A bogey is always better than a double, whether you’re Jordan Spieth on the back nine on Sunday at Royal Birkdale or a 20-handicapper competing for low net in the club championship.

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5. Golf is an all-weather game. If you don’t believe this one, you weren’t watching the 146th Open Championship. Always keep your rain gloves handy and don’t let a little inclement weather ruin a good round.

6. Anything can happen during the final round and the game’s not over until the last putt drops. See No. 5 (above).

7. Jordan Spieth is a shot-making wizard. Do I need to give you a list? He delivers clutch shots from the fairways, from the fringe, from the sand, from the putting surface. Spieth works hard to refine and polish his game and I’m in awe of the payoff. And Kutch is pretty darn good when it comes to making clutch shots too.

8. The Royal Birkdale marshals and spotters are this week’s heroes. You can’t run a golf tournament without marshals and spotters and the Royal Birkdale team kept the game moving, bounding up and down the dunes like mountain goats, doing their best to keep the galleries at a distance, and ensuring the integrity of every ball’s lie, wherever it came to rest. I hope they all get a day of rest on Monday.

9. Bones is a great reporter. He brought a fresh and insightful perspective to this year’s broadcast coverage of The Open Championship.

10. Right below the surface, golf is a game that must be played with aggression. Spieth’s back nine comeback wouldn’t have happened otherwise.

Next: Royal Birkdale's Open champions, 1954-2008

Start the countdown: 51 weeks until the 147th Open Championship at Carnoustie.

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