- 25/07/2023
Join Dan Parker, Neil Tappin and Joel Tadman as they look ahead to the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club. Rory McIlroy's chances, the weather and the new 17th hole are all discussed before the team off up their picks ahead of the players taking to the links on Thursday morning.
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00:00 Hello and welcome to our open preview show here from the Footjoy campsite, just 10 minutes
00:05 away from Royal Liverpool Golf Club. I'm joined by Neil Tappan.
00:08 Hello, 10 minute walk. Not 10 minute drive, 10 minute walk.
00:11 I know, we're right in the thick of it. Joel Tadman, how you doing?
00:14 I'm very good, pleasure to be here.
00:16 And we're in the clubhouse, chaps. This beautiful tent in the middle of the campsite
00:20 area. It's a great location, isn't it?
00:23 Picture the scene, okay. Saturday night, Tommy Fleetwood's got a four shot lead, everyone's
00:28 had a bit too much sun out on the golf course. They come back in here for a couple of cold
00:32 refreshments. It's going to be lively, isn't it?
00:36 Yeah, so we are glamping in some of the gorgeous glamping tents just next to the clubhouse,
00:41 actually. It's a bit wet today, hence my bucket hat, and I've not utilised the shower facilities
00:46 yet, hence why these two are sat a little bit further away from me. We'll get on to
00:50 that soon. But yeah, it's exciting, isn't it? What are your first impressions of the
00:53 campsite, Joel? We've been here for a day now.
00:56 Yeah, I mean it's pretty quiet today, but you can tell there's going to be a lot going
00:59 on when it starts to kick off Wednesday, Thursday. The facilities are great, there's a chipping
01:04 green out the back, you've got the Hone Your Short game, there's a football pitch out there.
01:08 Really good food vendors, some really good chicken and burritos, whatever you want to
01:13 eat. So yeah, I'm loving it.
01:15 Good vibe so far, I'm looking forward to cracking some of the beers behind us here in the clubhouse.
01:19 We're here to chat about the Open. We're here on Tuesday, it's been very rainy today, second
01:25 practice day. Everyone's getting a feel for it, everyone's getting a vibe. Let's chat
01:29 a little bit about the golf course. So obviously Royal Liverpool, 10 minute walk away, say
01:32 that again. We've all had the pleasure of playing here, chaps, haven't we? Now it looks
01:37 mint. I was out there at four o'clock this morning, checking out with the Greenkeepers,
01:41 which was very fun. Chat with the head Greenkeeper today, he's really excited about the place.
01:46 Neil, what are you thinking? We've been on site for a day now.
01:49 Yeah, I think those people watching this who are maybe familiar with Hoy Lake or Royal
01:54 Liverpool, I don't know, what should we call it? Should we call it Royal Liverpool or Hoy
01:57 Lake?
01:58 However you like. I'm more of a Royal Liverpool man.
01:59 Okay, yeah, I'll say the same thing. For those of you who are familiar with Royal Liverpool,
02:04 I think from the last two Opens, I think you might be surprised by actually how different
02:09 it is. They've made some changes to the golf course, including a new hole, which I know
02:13 we'll come to in a bit. But there's also some really well designed, very aesthetically
02:21 pleasing kind of waste areas that they've added to the golf course. And I think that
02:26 they've made it more interesting to look at. I think they've, we'll wait and see on this
02:31 front, but I think they've probably made it a tougher test as well. And I think that as
02:35 a result of those two things, I've got a feeling that this could be quite an exciting Open
02:39 actually.
02:40 Yeah, definitely. And we're going to come to the weather, some good weather chat later
02:43 on as Brits love to do anyway. The 17th hole is a massive talking point, brand new, it's
02:49 called Little Eye. It's a brute and I've been chatting to some players today about it. They've
02:54 had a couple of practice rounds. They're quite nervous about it, Joel. You've played it.
02:58 How did you get on?
02:59 I actually parred it.
03:00 I did as well.
03:01 Yeah, I went in the left bunker and got up and down.
03:04 Well done.
03:05 But you're right, I think it's definitely going to divide opinion. We spoke to Billy
03:09 Foster, obviously veteran caddie. He had some pretty strong words to say about it. He wasn't
03:13 overly happy or enamoured with the changes they've made. I think no lead is safe. It's
03:18 going to be a really dramatic finish on that 17th hole. The green is small, it's perched
03:23 up on a hill. That bunker on the right is so deep.
03:26 Apparently that's just a death trap. Obviously, because some players say they're just saying
03:29 if you go in there, you're not going to make par.
03:31 Yeah, I mean, there's no real miss on that hole, to be honest with you.
03:33 You are only hitting a wedge, so...
03:36 But if it's into the wind, you could be hitting like a mid-iron.
03:38 Think it's playing into wind all week by the weather forecast and they've been hitting
03:41 sort of eight, knock down eights into it.
03:43 Yeah, I mean, I saw a video of Podrick Harrington playing a chip and run out of that bunker,
03:48 pitching it into the bank to try and get it to stop on the green, because if you fly
03:51 it out a little bit too far, it just goes off the other side into the other bunker.
03:54 So it's going to make dramatic viewing. It's going to be really fascinating to see how
03:58 those players in contention tackle it on Sunday.
04:01 But not just 17, 18 as well, because 18, you've got this hard out of bounds that is just staring
04:06 you in the face as you stand on the tee.
04:07 A bit of internal OB.
04:09 That combination, it runs all the way down the hole, so that combination of 17, which
04:12 is tricky, severely tricky, and then 18, which is long and out of bounds running down it.
04:18 They say no lead is safe, but it's not just 17, it's both holes combined. You could be
04:23 four shots clear and still have a nervous finish.
04:25 Yeah, this internal OB is like a feature that runs throughout quite a lot of the hole. I
04:30 think there's six holes that have got it and it's a bit of a quirk of the course in that
04:33 it's very tight to the fairway. You see on the third hole, runs all the way down the
04:37 right, it's literally five yards off the fairway. So you could even land it on the fairway and
04:42 it could trickle OB. So you've got to be really careful on those particular holes.
04:45 Yeah, definitely. I think obviously the championship routing is a little bit different to the membership
04:50 routing and those last two holes are fantastic. Any others you want to mention? I like the
04:54 third hole, you just mentioned it, internal out of bounds on the right, big dogleg to
04:58 the right, so it's long iron, long iron.
05:01 No, not today.
05:02 What was it today?
05:03 We saw some of the pros hitting drivers over the corner.
05:06 That was my next question. Is that doable?
05:08 Total.
05:09 I think they had like 60 yards into the green.
05:12 Just chopping the corner off.
05:13 I just don't know whether under the pressure of Sunday afternoon you're going to want to
05:16 do that. Having said that, they always surprise me with what they take on. I do believe that
05:23 they all think that in order to win, if you're in contention, you've got to keep your foot
05:27 down. You can't let up. So if they are going for it on Thursday, Friday, they probably
05:32 will continue to do it Saturday, Sunday, but that will totally blow my mind because I don't
05:35 really see that.
05:36 I don't see that shot. Obviously I don't see that shot.
05:38 I've got that in me.
05:39 60% of the flight, the ball's out of bounds. That puts the fear of God into most regular
05:47 golfers, but these boys, it doesn't seem to affect them.
05:49 So some holes to watch out for there now. We've been chatting to a few players about
05:52 the 17th hole and the course in general. Let's hear from them now and see what they think
05:55 about Royal Liverpool.
05:57 It's almost brilliant. You go right, you're staring a double straight away. You try and
06:02 play a little bit conservative, a little bit safe into the left, you're under the lip of
06:05 the bunker on the left-hand side. If there was a little bit more of a bailout somewhere,
06:09 it would be sensational. But as I say, I like it now. I haven't played it with a card in
06:13 my hand yet, so we shall see. But overall, the course is just perfect.
06:17 The green is quite small. The right bunker is so deep down. So I think the miss, if you
06:22 have to miss, I would say the left bunker, depending on the pin obviously, but the left
06:27 is quite gettable, yeah.
06:29 In 36 yards, the middle of the green, you're just looking to hit that table of the middle
06:37 of the green there pretty much, every pin. You'll see some great shots to all four corners
06:44 where I'm guessing the pins will be. But your main focus is just hit that green and have
06:48 a chance at birdie.
06:49 Yeah, you're going to have to be very precise. It's a very small target to hit, especially
06:54 with it's going to be into the wind, so it's going to make it even more difficult.
06:58 Right, so the 17th, as we said, very intriguing. Some differing opinions from players there.
07:02 They all agreed there is no miss. So hit the green four times, try and get off with three
07:06 pars, you'll be away.
07:07 OK, so some of the talk of what's coming this week. We'll start with the weather. It's been
07:11 very wet today on the Tuesday, fairly wet in the build-up. The course certainly isn't
07:15 as fiery as it was in '14 and 2006. Do you think that will play a little bit differently?
07:20 Yeah, I mean, I think it's going to play into the hands of slightly longer hitters, given
07:25 how green it is. I mean, I know it was dry leading up to it. We've had a lot of rain
07:28 recently. It's going to rain today and it's going to rain on Saturday as well. So I think
07:32 it's not going to play as firm and fast as maybe the R&A would want it to play. I think
07:37 the longer hitters will be advantaged by that.
07:41 But it depends on how aggressive you want to be off the tee, because if you are hitting
07:44 driver, you're bringing those big pop bunkers into play. Speaking to Billy Foster, he was
07:48 saying that around 270 yards is kind of the optimum number off the tee you want to be
07:52 hitting to avoid those bunkers. So that might leave you slightly longer approach shots in
07:57 and that puts a lot of pressure on your mid-iron play. So maybe someone who's accurate off
08:00 the tee, not necessarily with driver, and a really good iron player, those are the sorts
08:04 of players you want to be looking at.
08:05 Yeah, and I caught up with some of the guys at Cushnet today and they said that all the
08:09 players seem to be working on two-iron, three-iron, because that seems to be the play, to what
08:14 you were saying. But what you often get at the Open is you also get them putting in different
08:18 wedges with slightly different grinds because the line's been so tight. That's not happening
08:23 this time because it is that bit greener than you expect at the Open. So they're not having
08:27 to make any adjustments with the wedges, but they are looking to make adjustments with
08:31 two, three-iron, which even if it is playing longer because it's green, still clearly it's
08:38 one for the long-iron ball strikers.
08:41 We'll see a lot of that. And then weather-wise, winds might get up to what we saw at the Scottish,
08:45 sort of 20 gusting a bit higher at the weekend. Rainy Saturday, Sunday, clear Thursday, Friday.
08:51 This bucket hat and this waterproof is going to be getting plenty of use this week, I think.
08:55 So obviously that's changed, but we'll see that the weekend looks a bit trickier. Also
08:59 doesn't seem to be a favourable side of the draw from that weather. It seems pretty consistent
09:03 throughout, which is a good thing.
09:04 I was surprised I saw a few players spinning shots back today. There's a lot of spin to
09:10 be had. Even on the short game there, we watched Tony Finau practising this morning, didn't
09:14 he? The amount of spin he was getting from the bunker is like, OK, the Greens are seriously
09:19 receptive. I don't know what the Greenkeepers were saying to you this morning, Dan, when
09:22 you were out with them.
09:23 The Greenkeepers were really proud of what they put together, I think. They're really,
09:25 really happy. Obviously today was Tuesday, but they're in full game mode at the minute,
09:31 getting themselves in the routine come Thursday. But they're happy with it, hoping it stays
09:35 as dry as possible for the next two days, basically, to try and burn it out.
09:37 A small insight for people watching this, Dan was supposed to interview the main man,
09:43 the one who's setting up the golf course, but didn't manage to get down there on time.
09:47 I got up late this morning, I just happened to get him after his day's job, instead of
09:50 the start of the briefing.
09:51 Well, had you been up there on the course at half past three this morning, it would
09:54 have been fine, but you turned up at four.
09:55 Turned up at four. Disgrace. What am I like? We've got a great video on that, actually,
10:01 so we'll have that on our socials.
10:06 Roy McIlroy. What do we think? Just come off the back of the Scottish Open, victory. Won
10:11 here in 2014. He's in good... He's in a good space. We'll come on to picks in a minute,
10:17 but he is the name right now, right?
10:18 It's written in the stars, you would think.
10:20 I think so.
10:21 You know, he's in form, he's won here before, he's a long hitter, like we've talked about,
10:26 that's going to favour him. There's an argument to say that, oh, you know, he's peaked too
10:31 early and he's burnt out mentally, but two of the last ten Open championships won on
10:35 their previous start. So clearly there is an argument to say that if you're on form,
10:40 you can carry that over into the Open. I think, you know, my heart is telling me that he's
10:45 going to win it and all the logic suggests that he will as well. I'm just going to keep
10:48 my fingers crossed.
10:49 Well, the logic apart from the bit of logic that says we've been down this road before.
10:55 True. I know, I say this every year when I think he's going to do it and then he doesn't,
10:59 but it's got to happen at some point and why wouldn't it be this week?
11:02 It all seems right for now, doesn't it? Chatting with Cam Smith, defending, wasn't at the Scottish
11:09 obviously, do we think he can go back to back? I've not seen him play much recently.
11:13 He won Live London.
11:14 So he's in good nick, isn't he?
11:15 He's in good form. One of the changes they've made to the golf course is lots of run offs.
11:22 Yeah.
11:23 Okay, so that you are going to either be doing a lot of chip and runs or a lot of pit shots
11:26 into the green or putting from range and we know that all of that is his forte. Remember
11:31 how he won last year, but with that putt around the bunker on 17.
11:36 It might be those elements if you're really sharp on those bits all week that gets you
11:41 across the line. So I think, personally, I think he's got as good a chance as anyone
11:46 of defending the open, the claret jug.
11:48 Absolutely. I think I agree with you. Now we're chatting players, let's come on to some
11:52 picks. Neil, we sat last night here and had a beer and we put yours on. Do you want to
11:58 say who you've backed this week and why?
12:00 My general strategy is always Zander Chauffleur. So I will do that until he wins one. I will
12:08 not give up until he's won one because that would be a false economy. Scotty Scheffler.
12:14 So Scotty Scheffler is obviously going to be in the top five because he always is. So
12:21 he's my sort of hedge. He's in the bank.
12:23 Okay, we've banked Scotty.
12:25 And Zander Chauffleur.
12:26 Banked those two.
12:27 So now we have to look at...
12:28 Very American centric.
12:29 Yeah. And then we have to look at a couple more with a bit more value. So I've gone for
12:33 Corey Connors.
12:34 Don't mind it.
12:35 He's played well at the Open in the past. Not top ten well, but just outside.
12:40 Two cuts and both in the top 30, I think, in US too.
12:43 And he's become a sort of familiar face towards the top of the leaderboards often. And then
12:50 my other choice is Brandon Grace. Because he's 150 to one. I couldn't believe it. My
12:55 eyes almost popped out of my head.
12:57 He shot 63, it worked out.
12:59 62.
13:00 Which I remember, obviously not well enough.
13:01 You've done him out of the shot there.
13:02 So I thought, you know, 150 to one.
13:03 Didn't mind it.
13:04 If he wins, oh, I was going to say something. I was going to talk about what I might do
13:05 in the bar. So let's leave that.
13:06 All hell could break loose. Right, Ricky Fowler. That's all I've got to say. So interestingly,
13:07 obviously he won in Detroit and he finished second here in 2014.
13:08 And he's got a lot of experience.
13:09 Yeah.
13:10 And he's got a lot of experience.
13:11 Yeah.
13:12 And he's got a lot of experience.
13:13 Yeah.
13:14 And he's got a lot of experience.
13:15 Yeah.
13:16 And he's got a lot of experience.
13:17 Yeah.
13:18 And he's got a lot of experience.
13:19 Yeah.
13:20 And he's got a lot of experience.
13:41 Yeah.
14:02 And he's got a lot of experience.
14:30 Yeah.
14:31 And he's got a lot of experience.
14:32 Yeah.
14:33 And he's got a lot of experience.
14:34 Yeah.
14:35 And he's got a lot of experience.
14:36 Yeah.
14:37 And he's got a lot of experience.
14:38 Yeah.
14:39 And he's got a lot of experience.
14:40 Yeah.
14:41 And he's got a lot of experience.
14:42 Yeah.
14:43 And he's got a lot of experience.
14:44 Yeah.
14:45 And he's got a lot of experience.
14:46 Yeah.
14:47 And he's got a lot of experience.
14:48 Yeah.
14:49 And he's got a lot of experience.
14:50 Yeah.
14:51 And he's got a lot of experience.
14:52 Yeah.
14:53 And he's got a lot of experience.
14:54 Yeah.
14:55 And he's got a lot of experience.
14:56 Yeah.
14:57 And he's got a lot of experience.
14:58 Yeah.
14:59 And he's got a lot of experience.
15:00 Yeah.
15:01 And he's got a lot of experience.
15:02 Yeah.
15:03 And he's got a lot of experience.
15:04 Yeah.
15:05 And he's got a lot of experience.
15:06 Yeah.
15:07 And he's got a lot of experience.
15:08 Yeah.
15:09 And he's got a lot of experience.
15:10 Yeah.
15:11 And he's got a lot of experience.
15:12 Yeah.
15:13 And he's got a lot of experience.
15:14 Yeah.
15:15 And he's got a lot of experience.
15:16 Yeah.
15:17 And he's got a lot of experience.
15:18 Yeah.
15:19 And he's got a lot of experience.
15:20 Yeah.
15:21 And he's got a lot of experience.
15:22 Yeah.
15:23 And he's got a lot of experience.
15:24 Yeah.
15:25 And he's got a lot of experience.
15:26 Yeah.
15:27 to seeing you then, but for now, thank you for joining us.
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