Royal Troon's purest form still to come at 152nd Open Championship

Scotland has given the best golfers in the world everything they can handle during the first 36 holes of this year's Open Championship: 30-mile-per-hour winds have howled across the dunes of South Ayrshire, forcing players to take two, three, or sometimes even four extra clubs just to counteract the gale. We've seen 6 irons from 150 yards on par fours that play under 400 yards total; we've seen par fives that are ordinarily reachable in two require three excellent shots just to hit the green; and we've seen 400-yard drives on holes that play downwind.

Those who love punishing sea-side links golf are in Hog Heaven. But as entertaining as the year's final major has been - and I myself have enjoyed it as much as anybody - the true brilliance of Royal Troon's layout as it was originally intended is still to be shown.

Royal Troon is an old-style out-and-back layout, so the holes essentially run in two directions. British links are almost always designed and set up to account for very strong winds; therefore, it is no coincidence that certain holes typically play against the wind and vice versa.

Royal Troon embodies this trait as dramatically as any links course in championship golf.

Staged on a narrow strip of land on the shores of the Firth of Clyde, the front and back nines of the 152nd Open venue play drastically different. Despite this week's blustery conditions, however, Troon has been atypical in virtually every way.

The trademark of this 10-time Open host is a scorable front nine followed by one of the most grueling inward nines in the world. The first six holes run with the prevailing wind along the coast and include two par-fives and three sub-400-yard par-fours. The par-four seventh and ninth holes, while trickier, also receive some help from the wind or at worst, a crosswind. Outside of the two par-threes, the outward half of a round at Troon is generally quite benign.

The first 36 holes of this British Open, however, have been an entirely different story. The wind has come straight out of the south, a somewhat unusual direction for this part of Scotland; instead of opening their rounds with a few warm-up par-fours and scoring par-fives, players have been thrown into a war zone, laboring their way up the fairway into a cold, damp, 25-30 mile-per-hour headwind.

Tony Finau, a player who may pull driver and chase his ball near the green on the opening hole in normal conditions, hit six-iron from 149 yards for his second shot on that same hole during his second round. On Thursday, hole 2 saw the likes of Cameron Young and World-Number-One Scottie Scheffler use five-iron from 165 yards and come up over 20 yards short, while Jordan Spieth miss-hit his tee shot and was left with 214 yards to the pin for his approach on the 389-yard hole.

The par-five fourth and sixth holes have both averaged over 5.0 for the field with the latter averaging over 5.2 on both days of this tournament, making it one of the most difficult par fives in an Open Championship in the last 20 years.

Through two days, the front nine at Royal Troon has been anything but benign.

Meanwhile, one of the toughest finishes in championship golf was softened considerably. With the exception of the par-four 12th, every hole on the back nine has been played with a strong helping wind.

Holes 13 through 18, sometimes referred to as "Hell", have provided the best birdie opportunities on the course. The 502-yard par-four 15th, normally an exhausting hole to grind out a par, was the third easiest at Troon on Friday with a scoring average of 4.09.

The easiest has been the par-five 16th as players have been able to reach the green in two after laying up short of the crossing burn or even carrying the burn with driver off the tee. And the 458-yard par-four 18th has been one of the top three easiest holes for both rounds; Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, and Jordan Spieth all recorded drives in excess of 400 yards off this finishing tee. The march to the clubhouse, rather than leaving a trail of carnage, has been a gentle stroll through the Scottish meadow.

Clearly, this is not the sort of experience that was envisioned when Royal Troon's 18 holes were finished in the 1880s; however, that is likely going to change imminently. Wind speeds are expected to decrease over the weekend, but the direction is looking to shift to a more westerly breeze, even flickering slightly to the northwest.

The players' mindset out of the gate is going to totally change as frontrunners Shane Lowry, Daniel Brown, and Justin Rose look to step on the gas and shoot a low score on the outward nine. Waiting in the wings, Scottie Scheffler and company will attempt to put together five birdies in their first six holes and run down the leaders.

The par-five fourth and sixth holes will be reachable in two, and we may even see a few eagles during this stretch. After feasting on the front nine, these players will have to hold on to their hats as they turn back toward the clubhouse and make the brutish trek to the 18th green. You can be certain we won't see any more flick-of-the-wrist sand-wedge approaches into the 15th and 18th holes. The final six-hole stretch will once more live up to its biblical nickname.

The brilliance of Royal Troon as intended by designer Willie Fernie over 130 years ago will return, with golfers attacking the front nine, aware of the need to keep pace: The turn back north looms, by which time any championship bid will likely be too late.

Two aspects of Royal Troon have held consistent with history this week: the drama of Postage Stamp and the terror of Railroad. The latter has been one of the most difficult holes on the course for the first two rounds and averaged over 4.41 for the field on Friday. This 11th hole has seen numerous disasters already; Rory McIlroy's double-bogey after hitting his tee shot into the railroad and 36-hole leader Shane Lowry's double-bogey after finding the gnarly gorse bushes are merely two examples. This hole has been played with a helping wind for the first two days of the 152nd Open Championship.

We watch with bated breath to see what calamities await when the wind shifts and the more difficult version of this monster is awoken.