It won’t be a big wind at The Open Championship on Sunday, likely about 15 m.p.h. out of the southwest, but it will be enough to inject some interest into the outcome of today’s festivities.

For the first time all week the links at Lytham will play like a links and all those bunkers and high rough that the players have been so successful in avoiding in the prevailing stillness will be reaching out and grabbing balls whose direction is being influenced by the crosswinds.  The key today will be holding the ball against those winds to mitigate those influences and keep the ball out of bother.

The other thing we will see is balls running out through the greens, especially when the approach is downwind.  Making up and downs from off these greens is going to be essential to the guy who prevails.  Today will not be the dart shooting contest we witnessed the first three days, it will take patience and creativity to navigate the safe corridors of play narrowed significantly by the wind.

By the end of the day there will be heroes and there will be hounds.  Those with the humility to take the indignity the links throws their way and stay focused to the task at hand will be the ones contesting for that claret jug.

July, 2012