I’ll be glued to the TV and, quite possibly, may make a trip up to watch from outside the ropes.
For anyone else going up to Ayrshire and looking for a vantage point, Troon is a classic out-and-back links, (think the Old Course at St Andrews), where the ninth hole extends furthest away from the clubhouse.
The front nine cuts along the sea, with nearly every hole heading in a south-easterly direction.
The back nine then comes back to the north west, with every hole except the 12th playing in that direction.
Typically, the road home is played into stiff sea breezes, making the incoming nine one of the hardest in championship golf.
As Gary Player once put it, the last nine holes at Troon are “the most difficult in the world when the wind is blowing.”
If you want to see birdies, then head to the front nine. Bogeys? A spot on the back nine is the place to be.
In Open news this week, the anticipated withdrawal of Tiger Woods from the event happened.
Having not played an event in 2016, his prolonged absence is being largely overlooked due to the form of the new kids on the block.
I, for one, expected Tiger Woods (below) to have recovered from his surgery by now, but the longer his absence from the game goes on, the more questions of if he will return, rather than when he will return, are being asked.
Hopefully he will return as a fit and on-form Tiger going head-to-head with Rory McIlroy, Jordan Speith and Jason Day. That would be fantastic.
PAUL RAWLINSON
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