Open Championship week is finally upon us, with Royal Portrush playing host to the last major of the year.
The Open is the oldest and most prestigious tournament in the game of golf, and the Claret Jug is a trophy that all of the best players in the world are desperate to get their hands on.
It was Xander Schauffele‘s turn last year at Royal Troon, and he will be at Royal Portrush to defend his crown this week.
Rory McIlroy will be arriving at Royal Portrush full of confidence after his showing at The Scottish Open last week.
There are so many players in with a genuine chance of winning The Open this year, and it has all the makings of being one of the most exciting major championships to watch in a very long time.
Royal Portrush is a very scorable golf course, so viewers will be guaranteed plenty of excitement in that regard.
However, Portrush is far from easy, and even extremely proficient amateur golfers have been known to struggle around the Harry Colt-designed layout.
What Grant Horvant shot around Royal Portrush one week before The Open
Grant Horvat is one of the most famous golfing content creators on YouTube.
Make no mistake about it though, he is a very good golfer as well.
Horvat holds a handicap believed to be currently around +3, although he has been as low as +4 in the past.
The American content creator was given the chance to play Royal Portrush seven days before the start of The Open Championship.
Horvat produces a series in which he attempts to ‘make the cut’ at major championship venues by playing the courses under the same conditions as the best golfers in the world face.
He then uses the leaderboard from the previous time a major was held there to see if his scores would have been good enough to make the weekend.
In 2019, Shane Lowry was leading on eight-under par after day one, with the cut line floating round +1.
So how did Horvat and his chums get on in their ‘first round of the tournament’, so to speak?
Horvat posted a round of six-over par 77, while George Bryan shot a four-over par 75.
Wesley Bryan was the pick of the bunch after carding an impressive round of two-under par 69.
Royal Portrush is an extremely challenging golf course and it even has the best players in the world scratching their heads at times…
What confused Tiger Woods about Royal Portrush
Tiger Woods played at Portrush in 2019 fresh off of his Masters win at Augusta National in April.
Woods admitted that there was one big difference between Portrush and the rest of The Open venues.
He said: “This is just a wonderful golf course. It can play so many different ways. [A lot] depends on the wind and what it does. Some of the bunkers here, you wonder why in the hell is it there. And then all of a sudden it’s in play.
“The difference between this layout versus most of The Open layouts is that the ball seems to repel around the greens a lot.
“You’re going to have a lot of either bump-and-run chips [or] slow putts coming up the hills. But it’s an unbelievable golf course.”
Royal Portrush is an absolute gem, and the players competing in The Open this year will all be absolutely buzzing to get the tournament under way.
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