Scotland’s Troon — The sound of Thriston Lawrence’s voice broke as he remembered this route. How the South African made just one cut in six weeks after traveling abroad to compete against the finest in the country? How even the strongest of wills can get clouded by the doubt that this harsh, merciless game breeds.
“This game is not easy,” Lawrence said, holding back tears that arrived nonetheless.
Lawrence had recently defeated Joost Luiten to win the BMW International Open in Germany, rallying from a four-shot deficit. Lawrence finally received the points necessary to qualify for The Open Championship this week at Royal Troon thanks to a victory in June 2023. He would been there before, so in that instant his thoughts were as much about the man who had lost as they were about his own professional moment. “I have sympathy for Joost,” he uttered. “I realize how difficult this game is.”
Thirteen months later, Lawrence raced up the leaderboard and into the final group of a major, having completed the front nine at Royal Troon in thirty strokes, hours before leaders even teed off at the 152nd Open Championship. Somehow, this unknown golfer from last week managed to get to 3 under par, one shot behind leader Billy Horschel. This week’s Open is all about that kind of grind.
This is not a major championship dominated by the stars, despite professional golf’s efforts to restrict possibilities and block off marquee events by providing catering to the biggest personalities in the sport. Pinehurst is not this. It is not Valhalla here. This links golf course in the Firth of Clyde is unsightly, windy, and wet. It is not to be won by the distance kings, the computer nerds playing probabilities, or even the golfers who hit exquisite shots exclusively on sunny days.
Although they may be referred to as underdogs, the true winners are the ones who stand to gain the most from this. The ones who enjoy spending a Saturday playing in the pouring rain, their hats turned back, and their hands drenched in water. the people that make this their life.
For this reason, when you glance at the leaderboard, you will notice a number of names you did not anticipate, in addition to Scheffler and Schauffele. Horschel. Lawrence. Rose and Henley. Jordan, Brown.
Billy Horschel with a brilliant shot from the bunker on the 14th.
He has that to save par and remain tied for the lead. pic.twitter.com/sCxqCO12Ig
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 20, 2024
“Links golf is a different facet, different style of golf,” said Justin Rose, the 43-year-old Englishman in that six-way tie for second. “I think form can be not as important. It’s sort of how you feel it on the week. There’s so much — there’s very few stock shots that you hit on the golf course this week.”
Rose interprets that to suggest that a spoiled golfer cannot win The Open. Dustin Johnson described the closing nine holes of Royal Troon as “the hardest nine holes I believe you could ever play in golf,” and it was those grinders who survived the conditions and salvaged par from terrible bunkers.
Son of a pig farmer, Dan Brown is among the group of golfers within striking distance of the lead. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, Brown was on the verge of quitting the game. Before traveling to Scotland last week, he had never participated in a major tournament and had missed six straight cuts. However, a 20-foot putt on the last hole at West Lancashire secured him a spot in the field through final qualifying. With a 65 in the first round on Thursday, the 29-year-old Englishman claimed the lead by himself. He led by himself through 53 holes until a disastrous double bogey on the final hole on Saturday.
Rose, a 17-year-old prodigy who made it through qualification, shared that he had dreamed of winning this tournament since he was a little child and participated in his first one. After 26 years, Rose discovered he needed to requalify when he looked up one day. Playing in the tougher wave both days, the 2013 U.S. Open champion advanced via a qualifier at Burnham & Berrow, where he opened 69-68. In the last groups, he was the sole player in the morning-afternoon waves.
“Probably just a bit more gratitude just to be here, from that point of view,” Rose said. “Twenty years probably-ish, ballpark, where you make your schedule in December and you go, ‘OK, Masters, Open, U.S. Open, PGA — how do we plan around that?’ And this year it’s like, ‘Hang on a second. I’m not guaranteed in The Open or the U.S. Open at that point, either.’ Had to do a little bit of extra hard work just to make sure I was here.”
Alternatively, there is Horschel, a 37-year-old veteran who is ranked 96th in driving distance on the tour and was previously believed to be past his prime. Horschel was not even in the Masters competition this year, two years after winning the Memorial. Only twice in over ten major golf tournaments (45 attempts) has he finished in the top 15. How did he enter The Open, then? He plays the DP World Tour swing in the fall since he like this style of golf so much, and in 2021 he won the BMW PGA Championship in London. He won a three-year exemption to The Open thanks to that victory.
“I get tired of golf where you’re making full swings and you lean into a certain number and it stops,” Horschel said. “I like when you have to be creative and find a way to get around the golf course, and I think I’ve always done that well, for the most part.”
The Open is just different.
Distance and lineage have never mattered. It all comes down to intelligence, self-control, adaptability, and inventiveness. The majority of the week has seen Royal Troon play hard, with players being hit by 20 mph gusts, freezing showers, and winds that may change directions and confound even the world’s greatest players. You must have control over the direction and spin of the ball, as well as the ability to hit from awkward angles and unsightly shrubbery. Brian Harman (2023), Francesco Molinari (2018), Darren Clarke (2011), Todd Hamilton (2004), or 42-year-old Ernie Els (2012) could be the only winners of this major. Cynics might argue that is unjustified randomness. It is a means of putting golfers to the test in a way that they
When golf adopts the renowned statement, “We are not attempting to disgrace the top players in the world,” from the late USGA chairman Sandy Tatum, it becomes better. We are only attempting to figure out who they are. Furthermore, limiting oneself to particular tournament kinds will not help with that. Variety works.
Occasionally, it validates our perceptions of the most exceptional people. In the same way that Saturday’s worst-case scenario saw PGA champion Xander Schauffele and reigning Masters winner Scottie Scheffler rise to the situation. Schauffele went out in 33 and shot up to T2, while the rest of the field missed shots. The top-ranked player in the world, Scheffler, made spectacular and imaginative strokes with low line drives or 239-yard 3-woods into the wind on a par 3 to make birdie.
It does not matter if it is a celebrity who triumphs on Sunday or someone like Brown. because the athlete who performs the best on the field will be found. There will be an actual winner.
(Top photo of Thriston Lawrence: Paul Ellis / AFP via Getty Images)
