Sports

Royal Troon Is Absolutely Destroying The World’s Best Players At The Open Championship

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Getty Image / Stuart Franklin


Some years, the Open Championship can play pretty easily for the world’s best players if the wind is down and the weather is dry. So far, 2024 is not one of those years, as Royal Troon has proven to be a formidable foe for the field this week.

Shots are flying all over the place and finding some pretty unfortunate landing spots around the Scottish course, with the wind swirling for most of the first two days. Sky Sports gave us a great graphic using a “worst ball” scorecard of the course on Friday to show just how tough the Open Championship is playing.

More than any other style of course, links golf lends itself to huge numbers. When you combine the fact that some courses have water hazards with deep pot bunkers and gorse bush with huge winds that can change at any time and move a golf ball 25 yards off-line, you’re bound to get some big scores.

Take a look at some of the predicaments that players have found themselves in at Royal Troon.

It’s brutal out there. So brutal, in fact, that if you take the worst score from every hole today, the field would +53, a score of 124.

Yeah. there are some ugly numbers on that scorecard. And, it’s not just the amateurs or fringe qualifiers bringing that score up. Rory McIlroy is +13 through his first 27 holes. Wyndham Clark is +16, and Cameron Smith is +12. Those are three of the best players in the world that are completely blowing up at Royal Troon.

Conditions were so brutal during the early afternoon in Scotland that Justin Thomas, who led after the early wave yesterday at -3, went out in 45 on his first nine Friday. He rebounded to shoot a 33 on the back and secure his spot for the weekend.

While the wind may not blow quite as much this weekend, conditions are still predicted to be stiff with double-digit winds and even bigger gusts, keeping Royal Troon as a tough test.