PGA Tour pro Michael S. Kim says Royal Troon demands ‘more creativity + visualization’ as players struggle at The Open Championship
While the weather conditions at the Open Championship are giving a tough time to golfers, the course itself is tricky enough to navigate. As per Michael S. Kim, the Royal Troon course requires visualization and creativity to overcome the challenges.
In his recent post on X, Kim wrote that the Royal Troon course is a mixture of humps and bumps along with smooth greens and hence requires expert eyes and brains to evade the hazards.
“One of the interesting parts of putting at the Open champ is there are a lot of really flat parts but then you get these random humps and bumps. So it’s not a lot of stock 2% or 1% slopes the entire way. Requires a bit more creativity+visualization to read them correctly imo,” Michael S. Kim wrote.
The World No. 136 played in last year's edition of the Open Championship but couldn't make it to the weekend. In the first round, his score was 4-over 75, and in the second round, his score was 2-over 73. The projected cut was +3, and Kim's score was +6.
This year, Kim skipped the Open Championship, instead playing at the Barracuda Championship. Kim currently sits at T113 on the leaderboard after the opening round.
In the first round, he double-bogeyed the first hole, followed by another bogey on hole nine. He also dropped three birdies, of which two were in the front nine and one in the back nine.
Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy struggle at the Open Championship because of mother nature
The wind gusts at the Open Championship made things difficult for the golfers in the first round. Reflecting on that, Bryson DeChambeau spoke about how the windy weather gave him a tough time controlling the ball.
“[The wind] was in and off the right, and I was trying to draw the ball and the ball was knuckling a little bit…It was a really difficult challenge, and I should have just cut the ball…I didn't get any practice in it, and I didn't really play much in the rain,” Bryson DeChambeau said. ( via ESPN).
Besides DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy also had a difficult time at the Royal Troon course on the opening day.
“[It was a] difficult day…and then missed the green at the Postage Stamp there and left it in and made a double…The course was playing tough. The conditions are very difficult in a wind that we haven't seen so far this week,” Rory McIlroy said.
Bryson DeChambeau currently sits at T90 with a score of 5-over, and Rory McIlroy sits at T124 with a score of 7-over. The second round is currently underway, with the projected cutline being +3.