It’s safe to say that Royal Troon won the battle on Saturday afternoon, as the wind and rain tested both the quality, and patience, of the world’s elite at The 152nd Open Championship.
Unlike the first two days, the wind had completely changed round at the South Ayrshire course, as the front nine played downwind and, brutally, the back nine was straight into. Add in the torrential rain and, all of a sudden, the morning wave who had the best of the weather were right back in this!
Many loved watching the action and, with multiple players in contention going into Sunday, it’s set up for an epic. However, before the leaders get underway, there’s the small matter of the reactions from those who braved the conditions.
Speaking after to the media, we have collected some of the best quotes from the players out in the afternoon wave, as the likes of Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele gave their thoughts.
Dustin Johnson
(Image credit: Getty Images)
“The back nine, that’s the hardest nine holes I think you could ever play in golf right now, into the wind and rain. It’s so long I could barely reach the par-4s, I had to smash two to get there, same with Brooks. That’s how long it was playing.”
Shane Lowry
“Yeah, it was hard. Yeah, playing a par-3 hitting drivers is not much crack. Roll the ball back, huh? Yeah… I don’t really know what to say. It was a grind. It wasn’t much fun. Driver, driver into 15. 16 playing ridiculously long. Driver into 17. Then you’re standing on the 18th tee wondering if you can actually hit the fairway, if you can reach the fairway, and it’s 230 yards to the fairway. Bear in mind my driver pitched about 220 yards on the 17th hole. So, yeah, it’s not much fun out there”.
Matthew Jordan
“The 3-wood into 17 (was the most eye-opening) when I probably knew I wasn’t going to get there anyway. I said to Chris, I can’t hit driver, though. I can’t do that on a par-3”.
Xander Schauffele
“On 17, it felt windy, but it didn’t feel like — you know, like the gusts you think you can get out here, 30, 40, but with a little bit of rain and a little bit of cooler air. I heeled it, and I think the front was like 220. I had five paces short. So I literally smoked a 3-wood, a little off the heel and thin into the wind and rain, and it went 218 yards or something like…
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