HOYLAKE, England — Adam Scott took one look at the gaping hole of a bunker to the right of the 17th green at Royal Liverpool during a Tuesday evening practice round and turned to defending British Open champion Cameron Smith and said, “That’s death.”
Then he tossed three balls into it and jumped into the coffin of a bunker. After he splashed two of the three out, Smith wandered over and asked, “Lobbie?” a reference to using a 60-degree wedge and Scott nodded in the affirmative. “Let’s not go in there this week,” he said.
Royal Liverpool has undergone a few changes since it last hosted the British Open back in 2014, when Scott finished T-5, most notably the new par-3 17th, which replaced the old 15th.
Known as “Little Eye,” the new hole plays to 136 yards and features a raised horizon-line green, with the Dee Estuary as a backdrop, guarded by bunkers with massive fall-off areas on all sides.
“It’s a pretty hole, but it’s pretty extreme,” Scott said. “Every thing else out here is pretty straightforward and then this one has a lot of drama. I think it is going to be very entertaining. You’re going to see some twos and some fives, hopefully no more than five.”
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As Royal Liverpool head professional John Heggarty said, any shot missing the green will leave a “devilishly difficult” up and down to save par.
“I see what they tried to do,” said Jon Rahm of the new hole. “The old 15, par-3, was the complete opposite of the hole. You have a short downhill hole most likely downwind with basically all the edges sloping towards the center of the green. I thought it was a good hole. You could make a birdie, and if you miss the green, a bogey was lurking.”
The layout at Royal Liverpool was altered to accommodate the new hole. What was the 16th hole is now the 15th. The former 17th hole is now No. 16, and the old par-3 15th hole has been removed.
The new 17th green is pictured during practice ahead of the 2023 British Open at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England on July 16, 2023. (Photo by Paul Ellis/AFP)
“This time they made a really difficult turtle shell par-3,” Rahm continued. “If you hit a good shot, put it on the green, you have a clear look at birdie. If you miss the green, you have a clear look at bogey. It’s hard to say anything is fair or unfair because it’s so short.”
“It’s way more difficult than it was before,” he added.
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