Whelmed By The Open

Scotty X has been playing the great game of golf for decades. When he is not missing putts he is writing stuff about why he is missing putts. Scotty changes putters more often than he changes his sheets. Rain, hail, or shine you will find him on the links lining up a shot. Losing by one stroke in the monthly medal is his bread and butter. Worrying about head movements, weight shifts, and shaft angles is par for the course for this gentleman. Nobody struggles with the transition like Scotty and no one suffers from golfer's elbow and a bad knee like this fella. If god existed he would be a golfer in this golf tragic's philosophy. There are far more than 10 commandments in the rules of golf.

It is the last major of the year and I am just whelmed by The Open championship. It hasn’t been an overwhelming experience by any measure but, honestly, neither am I underwhelmed by it. Whelmed is about the extent of it, so far, at any rate. We have a wee chap by the name of Brian Harman, who, apparently, likes to relax by shooting Bambi, with a 5 stroke lead going into Sunday. The great British hopes are being cheered like conquering heroes but cannot make birdies. Rory is attracting the fans like a white Tiger but all the roars are sadly empty of any meaning on the score board.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ5fOnOmQunH18xZGhu9f_Q

View onto the golf course, Church Cove, Gunwalloe by Christopher Hilton is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.0

Rory McIlroy whelmed by The Open — Rory McIlroy (NIR) In action during the third round of the The Genesis Invitational, Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, USA. 14/02/2020 Picture: Golffile | Phil Inglis All photo usage must carry mandatory copyright credit (© Golffile | Phil Inglis)

The Open Golf Championship Fairly Whelming

Golf is being celebrated in the 151^st edition of The Open and fans everywhere are making the most of it. The weather has been reasonably kind considering it’s Britain. The Royal Liverpool track is fairly unassuming looking but must be pretty tough because the players are just treading water. Jon Rahm muscled his way to a course record 63 yesterday and it looked like conditions would favour a massacre by the pros. However, this did not happen and crowd favourites like Tommy Fleetwood barely bothered the birdie barometer.

Rory started like a house on fire but soon the missed putts mounted up like an impassable mountain range.

Open Season Not Majorly Whelming So Far

The Open attracts the greatest international roster of golfing greats on the planet and, yet they were all driving in neutral and going nowhere on the score board. Jordan Spieth and Scottie Scheffler were making much ado about nothing. Poor old Scottie could not putt his way out of a wet paper bag at the moment. The brooding Heathcliffian Brookes Koepka was in search of a moor somewhere. Jason Day could not break out of the log jam no matter how many times he closed his eyes and visualised something. Viktor Hovland was giving it his all and may perchance go close again. Last year’s runner-up Cameron Young lies in second place once again.

Meanwhile, the wispy mullet headed defending champion, Cameron Smith, was going nowhere by burning the edges with his many missed putts.

All in all it was a middling sort of whelming experience watching this Open championship. Perhaps, the final day will deliver us from the torpor of the current zeitgeist. I have always thought that Brian Harman is like a golfing version of the junkyard dog. I suspect he will not let this rich prize get away from him without a fight. Rahmbo will be up for that right royal stoush, I reckon. Not sure if Jason Day has it in him these days. Of the rest, Cam Young will not go quietly into the night. Rory and Tommy have the crowd on their side but will have to do something extraordinary to win.