Classic links test on cards in 154th Open at bouncy Birkdale

Remember those Open Championships from yesteryear on courses that were firm and fast and played as a proper links? Well, strap yourself in for the next four days because baked and bouncy Birkdale could be about to deliver one of the best Claret Jug jousts in recent memory.

It’s been red hot on the Lancashire coast since the world’s top players arrived in town at the start of the week for the final men’s major of the season and, boy, does the Southport course look incredible as it prepares to stage the event for the 11th time.

The baked 18th fairway at Royal Birkdale, where The Open is being played this week for the 11th time | Warren Little/Getty Images

Purely from a selfish point of view, it’s a relief that the temperature is set to drop from the high-20s to mid-20s on Thursday and Friday before slipping to the low-20s on Saturday and Sunday. Apart from a possible shower on Saturday, though, the course is going to have to rely on artificial watering and wind on all four days means it is just going to get firmer and firmer.

Think Hoylake in 2006. Think Muirfield in 2013. Think Carnoustie in 2018. Even think St Andrews in The 150th Open in 2022. They were all fairly similar, but, for me, only Hoylake looked as fiery as this place.

By all accounts, it’s a test the players are relishing and that’s refreshing because this is what it should be for the game’s greatest championship and, as 2019 winner Shane Lowry observed in a social media post, it really does look as though The Open gets bigger every single year.

Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion, with the world No 1 bidding to become the first player since Padraig Harrington to successfully defend this title and, of course, it was here in 2008 that the Irishman achieved the feat following his big breakthrough at Carnoustie 12 months’ earlier.

If Scheffler produces the level of performance we saw from him a year ago at Royal Portrush, the record books will probably be re-written, though a first missed cut in 79 events as he made an early exit in last week’s Genesis Scottish Open wasn’t exactly the best preparation for the American.

Rory McIlroy, the 2014 winner at Royal Liverpool and now a back-to-back Masters champion, is the other player in single digits with the bookmakers and, based on previous editions here, either Scheffler or McIlroy would sit nicely alongside the likes of Peter Thomson, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson and, most recently, Jordan Spieth.

Fans pictured during Wednesday’s final practice round for The 154th Open | Tom Russo | The Scotsman

In an event featuring just two Scots - exempt Bob MacIntyre was joined by Jack McDonald as he came through Final Qualifying for the second time in three years - a strong-looking English contingent is spearheaded by Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose and Aaron Rai. It’s astonishing, really, that Nick Faldo in 1992 was the last English player to pick up the Claret Jug, and that’s surely going to end sometime soon. Maybe even Sunday.

Created on the footprint of the old hole, the driveable par-4 fifth will be worth keeping an eye on, as well as the 15th, which is a brand-new par 3. Unlike the one at Royal Liverpool, where it’s a flick, this one can be 241 yards off the back tee and be a beast.

“It's going to play fast and firm and offer a true links test to our incredible field,” declared The R&A’s CEO Mark Darbon on Wednesday and a glint in his eyes said it all.