Three Kiwis for The Open
Three Kiwis for The Open
By Neville Idour.
It is hard to remember The Open Championship having three New Zealanders in the field but that is the reality for the 149th edition beginning on July 15.
Ryan Fox, Danny Lee and Daniel Hillier will tee it up at Royal St George’s Golf Club situated at Sandwich Bay, a long sweeping inlet on the east coast of Kent in England.
Lee, who’s recent form has been anything but inspiring, qualified through a good finish at the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational. He will be looking to expunge the memory of his embarrassing melt down and walk off at last year's US Open when he still had an opportunity for a good finish.
Fox qualified as a result of his impressive form in winning the Australasian order of merit. Some of his best play in Europe has been on links courses so he will hope to emulate that this time.
On the other hand Daniel Hillier, who is relatively new on the international circuit, had to win his place through a nerve wracking qualifier recently completed. Currently having some good results on the European Challenge Tour, he produced his best form to win the final qualifier at Hollinwell in Nottinghamshire.
His first round 64 contained an impressive 10 birdies and featured a remarkable run of five birdies from the 13th hole. A solid 69 second round with a final hole birdie, clinched a one shot victory. This will be his second major, having played in the US Open.
Hillier said: “I got on a good run and just tried to keep it going as long as I could. It’s a dream come true. I’ve always wanted to play in major championships, so I’m really excited.”
After his experience at the US Open where he failed to make the cut he will be keen to go one better and be one of the 70 plus ties who play the weekend.
This will be the 15th time the Open has been held at Royal St George’s and the course, which measures 7189 yards (6583m) and is in the midst of salt marshes, sand flats and sand dunes, is in a perfect setting for links golf.
In preparation for The Open, alterations have been made to the course. Watch out for holes four and seven where two large bunkers have been restored, while on 17 two large bunkers to the left have been replaced by a swale.
The last time the event was held at Royal St George's was in 2011 when Darren Clarke won, while the current defending champion is Shane Lowry. Expert (?) pundits have him at 40-1 odds while they have installed Jon Rahm as favourite and are picking Justin Thomas to do well
Editor’s note: The last time New Zealand had more than two Kiwis in the field was in 2009 when Michael Campbell, David Smail, Mark Brown and Josh Geary played at Turnberry.