ALL of the Open championship courses are subject to low scoring under conditions like these, except maybe Carnoustie -- which is why I don't think Carnoustie is as good as the rest of them.
Tom:
Can you expound on this a bit? If Carnoustie is a tough test with or without weather, why does that make it not as good as the other rota courses? I'm extrapolating that you feel that a course that is very hard under benign conditions doesn't offer the flexibility to be playable for the full range of golfers, but didn't want to jump to that conclusion without some follow up.
All:
I am finding this Open to be particularly interesting. The lack of wind seems to be enticing the players to play further down the fairway, and is opening up the possibility of the wayward drive resulting in a lost shot. Watching Phil ping pong his way around the course yesterday was a lesson in poor course management. I think he figured it out by the end of the day, but there was a stretch where it was evident that he should have been placing a premium on finding the fairway.
I also watched plenty of drives roll out and get collected by a fairway bunker. Colsaerts hit a drive late in the day that looked perfect, but took a bit of turn on the ground, rolled about 15 feet further than I thought it would and ended up taking the plunge to a sandy lie. Looking at the scores and the number of guys struggling under benign conditions makes me think that the course has plenty of bite (with the much discussed thick rough being part of this equation). There's more going on than just finding the fairway, as the greens themselves seem particularly hard to hold from certain angles, and it seems like the subtle elevation changes in some spots is causing problems. The sod walls on the bunkers are also creating a great deal of trouble for anyone whose ball ends up near the face. The number of long par putts being made by those in contention has been amazing so far.
Put me in the crowd that would rather watch these guys have to think their way around, whether when standing on the tee or when deciding how to deal with any trouble they find. We know how a course like Congressional plays under wet conditions, this is a totally different animal.
Sven