O’Meara: Creativity key to mastering Open links

Jun 19 2008 by Richard Williamson, Liverpool Daily Post

MARK O’MEARA made a poignant return to the scene of his greatest triumph yesterday – and declared Royal Birkdale is ready to test the world’s greatest golfers.

The American won the 1998 Open over the Southport links after a dramatic play-off against Brian Watts and took advantage of a visit to Britain to take a sneak preview of the course ahead of the championship’s return in July.

The R&A have resisted the temptation to bolt on hundreds of extra yards – only 155 have been added to the overall length – concentrating instead on adding new bunkers and mounding to tighten the challenge.

It is a strategy that has met with the approval of the last winner of an Open at Royal Birkdale, who was making his first visit to the club since winning both the Open and US Masters in the same year a decade ago at the age of 41.

Royal Birkdale will weigh in at 7,173 yards for the Open, but O’Meara does not believe the players will overpower it or follow the example of Tiger Woods at Royal Liverpool two years ago, when he won the title without taking the driver out of his bag.

“This course is about shot making; you have got to manoeuvre the ball into position,” he explained. “Hoylake was so burnt out and so fast that it was possible not to hit a driver off the tee, but that won’t be the case here. There is room to drive the ball.

“It is going to come down to the ability to manage your way around the course, being creative when needed and putting well. To win an Open Championship you have got to be creative and have a good short game, while it is important to be patient. Golf can be an unfair game; you are not always going to get a favourable bounce.

“There is always added pressure in a Major, the players know everyone is watching, the world will certainly be watching Royal Birkdale, and there is the added importance and tradition.

“The Claret Jug has such history, especially when you look at the names on the trophy, and it is very special to have won one. In many ways the four Majors define a player.”

Inevitably the weather will play a role, as it did 10 years ago when the wet and windy conditions saw only seven players break par on day two and, as the elements deteriorated, only two players match the course par on day three. O’Meara and Watts finished at level par after the four days, with the former winning the four hole-play-off by two shots.

But O’Meara believes the changing wind direction only adds to the appeal of links golf.

“The back nine here is very tough, especially on the holes that can be playing back into the wind while the extra length on the 16th makes it very demanding,” he said.

Potentially the most controversial change is the new tiered green at 17, and O’Meara admitted it was “a little bit out of character” with the rest of the course.

“I can see why it is a little bit of an issue,” he said. “No other green has that kind of movement. As a golf architect myself, I might have made it less steep but it does not demean a great course. It is hard to believe there is a course much more testing than this one.”

O’Meara will be disappointed his great friend Woods will not be joining him on Merseyside this summer. He met the young player as a 17-year-old and helped guide him through his formative years on Tour, but had finished his round at Royal Birkdale before news came through that the knee problem that was so evident during the US Open requires further surgery.

O’Meara had spoken of how determined Woods would be to make the first tee at Royal Birkdale, but had cautioned against him making a decision that might threaten his long-term ambition of overhauling Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 Major victories.

“I grew up with Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer as my heroes, but I have never seen anything like Tiger,” he said. “If he had not come into my life I do not think I would have won two Majors; he pushed me on a bit but I think I helped him too and that’s what being friends is all about. His commitment and dedication to success while coming under the kind of scrutiny he faces is amazing. A player like him might only come around every couple of hundred years.”