Moaning Tiger Woods told to take the rough with the smooth

 
1/2
David Smith17 July 2012

Open championship ­contenders Lee Westwood and Paul Casey today defended the condition of the course at Royal Lytham and St Annes by telling critics of the clawing rough that there is a simple solution — if they don’t like it they should stay out of it.

Tournament favourite Tiger Woods came away from his first practice round to declare some areas of the compact links just down the coast from Blackpool were “unplayable”. And defending champion Darren Clarke suggested the rough was so green and lush in places that errant balls would disappear, never to be found.

He said: “It is really thick, so there could be some lost balls in there. There’s a few patches where it’s absolutely brutal. It’s really, really tough. Even if they do find a ball there, I don’t know if you’ll be able to take a full swing and move it.”

But Westwood, eager to claim a maiden Major after seven top three finishes, had little sympathy for those who believe the Royal and Ancient have prepared a course that is close to being unfair.

He said: “Yeah, I’m sure there are some unplayable places in the rough. It is pretty thick and brutal. But if you don’t go in it then you don’t have a problem with it.

“Due to the weather we’ve had, and how good we are at growing grass in this part of the world, there might be times when it is better to take your punishment and take a drop. Find somewhere to drop it and go back in line. But I think that’s part of the game of golf, there should be penalties for hitting it off line.”

The former world No1 speaks with the knowledge that he is one of the straighter hitters and thus will have more of a chance of making the fairways when the 141st Open gets under way on Thursday.

But those who tend to spray the ball off the tee have discovered that Lytham, famous for its 206 bunkers, has discovered a second set of teeth in rough that in many places is classic links-style wispy waist-high grass which hides four or five inches of much thicker green stuff.

Casey, Westwood’s Ryder Cup team-mate who was third in the Open in 2010 but has struggled this season with a series of injuries, said: “I think it is very fairly set-up. Yes, there are some brutal places but it is a fair golf course. You’ve got to drive it extremely well round this track but Lytham is known to be very, very tough. As it, this is going to be a great test of golf.

“The same applies to all Major championships. You are going to be dealt an interesting deck of cards and it’s about the decisions you make in reacting to that. Do you get frustrated, or do you embrace it and take on the challenge and try and make a miraculous par save?

“The Royal and Ancient, and ­especially the green staff, have to be complimented because we haven’t had a summer yet. They’ve done a remarkable job. The greens, and the tees and the fairways are absolutely fabulous.”

Luke Donald, who could lose his place at the top of the world rankings were he to finish out of the top three and a resurgent Woods had his name engraved on the Claret Jug for a fourth time, fancies his chances despite the test that Lytham will pose.

“I like the course,” said the ­Englishman. “It’s very tough but very fair. You feel a little claustrophobic on a lot of holes. The bunkers are everywhere and are very well positioned. It’s certainly going to produce the guy who plays the best because there’s no escaping it on some holes, you’ve just to step up there and hit good tee shots.

“You aren’t going to find lucky lies in the rough. You’re not going to be able to get to the greens from the fairways. So it’s about hitting fairways, hitting greens, and hopefully I can do that. I like it that the course favours the guy who can hit it on the fairway.”

Like Westwood, Donald is looking to mark his career CV with a first Major title. However, he revealed how he is also targeting medal glory when golf returns as an Olympic sport in Brazil in 2016.

Donald said: “I was in London the week before last, got to watch Wimbledon and got to walk around the town a little bit. There was already a good Olympic atmosphere with flags of all the countries down Regents Street. It’s exciting for the country, and, hopefully, in four years I’ll be a part of that in Rio.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in