Getty Images
hang on.
That’s the message to you, Scotland’s open viewer; And you, the Scottish Open player. And why is that?
First, the previous group. Sunday is for you, if you prefer ruthless rock golf, where high scores and possibly all-yard shots are likely. (You may have to get up early, though, more on that in a sec.) But you’re just watching. As for which spirits must wear a suit at the Renaissance Club?
Hang on literally, gentlemen. With winds in excess of 40 mph predicted in North Berwick, the descent toward deciding the winner of the final round can be overwhelming, for you and your golf ball.
“You’re talking about 30, 40, 50 mph storms,” analyst Trevor Immelman said Saturday during the CBS broadcast of Round 3.
“In America, we call that hurricane when it hits 50.”
actually. Of course, that is Scotch open f Scotch Golf is not played in a bubble. Nae wind, nae rain, nae golf, the saying goes.
However, this can get worse. According to accuweather.com, there will be rain and winds of 33 mph – with gusts gusting 33 mph – at 3 p.m. local time, around the time when the final group of leader Rory McIlroy, Tom Kim and Tommy Fleetwood had left – and now when they’re It is expected to end. On Saturday, the decision was made to Time moved forwardand the final threesome will now start at 8:57 AM (If you’re in the US, it’s 3:57 AM ET, so you better grab your big cup of coffee.)
At that time, the outlook will be relatively better.
Rain, 23 mph winds and 37 mph winds.
“I think ‘stress’ is a very good way to describe what tomorrow is going to be like,” Scotty Scheffler said in response to whether Sunday might be hectic. “…just try to get the shots done. You can’t really control the elements. I mean, who knows what the weather will be like here. Today we thought we were going to play around with all kinds of different things.
“Just try to be patient and hit good shots and stick to what you’re doing. When you get that much wind, it’s really out of your control and all you can do is try to hit it hard.”
Some things to note here. According to Immelman, the Renaissance club was prepared, and the greens stopped being cut; Were they not, balls would explode in the Firth of Forth. And golf has been played in the elements before – The Players Championship last year comes to mind, where the gusts were also around 40mph – so expect (somewhat) friendly pins.
And who knows, all of this might be kind of… good?
“I think it’s great,” Kim said. “Obviously last year was really hard with the wind. Kind of curious how hard it will be. But I feel like when the wind blows you have to have a lot of patience and be tough mentally. Tomorrow is really a Tour where everyone really wants it, I am definitely looking forward to the challenge.”
Ian Baker-Finch, another CBS analyst, said the same.
“It’s a great experience to get out here and play these great links courses, whatever the weather. You get to play a lot of different shots — keeping it low, bumping and running, out on the wind, slower greens.”
Of course, he is in the booth.
Editor’s Note: Sunday’s live broadcast will be shown from 4am-6am ET on golfchannel.com and pgatour.com; and from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on cbssports.com and pgatour.com. The tape delay broadcast will be shown from 10 a.m. to noon on the Golf Channel; and noon to 3 p.m. on CBS.