Sir Nick Faldo fears golf’s big hitters could take St Andrews apart at next week’s Open Championship, with a record low score of 59 possible in the right conditions.
The three-time Open champion exclusively told Golf Monthly that the Old Course is at the mercy of certain players if the weather holds when the 150th Open Championship starts on Thursday.
“We have a very interesting thing now with how far they’re hitting it,” said 64-year-old Faldo. “Poor old St Andrews really is at the mercy of these longer hitters. You could start taking it to ridiculous levels if the conditions were right – you went out with some helping wind, and came in with some helping wind.
“It would not surprise me if someone had a go at the 1st hole. If you can land it 320 or 330 on a rock-hard fairway, the next bounce would be 360 or 370. Even if you hit it in the burn, you’d only be 25 feet from the flag, so you just drop it there and go. I can remember how close they came at the 2nd last time. You can definitely drive the 3rd. On 6 you could get so close that you could putt it.
“Anything from nine to 12 greens you could get really close to in one. If somebody got the right wind, helping everywhere, then something crazy could happen at St Andrews. Somebody could shoot 60 or 59. The only protection is the wind and really firm greens and maybe some very tight hole locations. I don’t think we want some really crazy scoring on such a gem of a course.
When pressed for those he thinks could go well at St Andrews, Faldo, who recently announced his retirement from broadcasting, picked out those who combine length and solid ball striking with good short games.
“It’s the bombers and good drivers,” he told Golf Monthly. “But there are some who are sneaky long, who hit it low and it runs out there. Jon Rahm, I like his chances. The guy who gets it on the ground and runs it – you can run it 60, 80, 100 yards on some holes. Guys who can drive it well, they’ll just drive it and then bump and run it onto the greens.
“You can putt it from 60 yards off the…
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