HOYLAKE, England – Rickie Fowler’s tidy opening round at Royal Liverpool became exceedingly messy by the end of the day Thursday, as he twice flared his approach shot past the out-of-bounds stakes down the right side of the par-5 finishing hole.
Entering this Open Championship, the internal OB on 18 figured to play an even more decisive and dramatic role than it did here in 2014, with the tee moved back nearly 60 yards and positioned farther to the right, creating a more challenging angle from which to start. The OB line was also drawn about 20 yards closer to the fairway and just a few paces off the right edge, endangering any shot that isn’t struck crisply or gets caught in a crosswind.
By the time Fowler came to the 600-yard 18th hole on Thursday afternoon, six players had already had to take the stroke-and-distance penalties. None paid a stiffer price than Fowler, however, who, with the ball a bit below his feet and the wind coming out of the left, launched two consecutive 249-yard shots off the property, leading to a triple-bogey 8 – the highest score of the day so far – and dooming what was an otherwise clean card with three birdies and just a single bogey. He signed for a 1-over 72, leaving him six shots off the early lead.
“Obviously a little pissed off,” Fowler said, “but nothing you can do about it now. Bit of a bummer, but a lot of good stuff out there. Scrambled well and didn’t really have my best stuff today. Did a good job of getting it around and not letting it get away from me, so just have to put the last hole behind us and go get it tomorrow.”
The land that sits between the third and 18th fairways is typically used as the members’ practice range here, but for the championship has been outlined by OB stakes to protect some of the event infrastructure, including hospitality and merchandise.
Nine years ago, the par-5 finishing hole played under par but also created plenty of disaster. Over four rounds, there were 26 scores of double or worse – six more than any other par 5 throughout the PGA Tour season. For players fearful of the OB right, a left bailout isn’t a very enticing option either because of deep, penal fairway bunkers.
Full-field scores from the 151st Open Championship
Fowler, who finished second at the 2014 Open, two shots behind Rory McIlroy, played the hole in 2 under par for the week that year.
“I think it’s fine. It’s part of links golf,” he said. “You get some quirky stuff here and there, and it’s part of it. There’s plenty of little boundary walls in different places that come into play, and that’s part of links golf.
“Do I like it? Right now, probably not. But I think it’s part of links golf with some of the cool, different characteristics and kind of what make it so special.”
