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Max Homma, at around 275 yards on the 18th at Royal Liverpool, might have been carrying a lot of clubs, although those weren’t just his words. And he was steaming.
As play begins at this Open Championship, the closing hiatus has caused all sorts of upsets. There is a much-discussed out boundary just yards to the right of the fairway. The much-discussed pot bunkers, five across the flag, are located about 600 yards from the tee box. There’s everything else that makes golf links connections — bumpy, windy, slopes, cams and bumps.
The results were indicative. On Thursday, during the first round, there were eight standouts; Rickie Fowler got it, after he deposited two OB right. There were nine outstanding. Justin Thomas got it, after taking a few hits off the green bunkers. and there were 10 distinguished ones; Taichi Chu was struggling with that, having taken more than one strokes from the same bunkers. Overall, the average score was 5.12, just above the average five.
What is the best way to play it? This thought was important.
“At 18 for us it was like putting the ball on the lawn and let’s go home.”
It was the 32-year-old, after all, who found another danger.
Back to that 275-yarder, Huma’s second shot on the 18th after a 310-yard poke at the pass. He just saw his playing partner Colin Morikawa hit over the green, taking a drop due to the nearby stands. The house felt like it was between the clubs.
He was not alone.
There was a TV nearby telling him the same as well.
“We were between clubs,” Homa said afterwards. “There wasn’t anything I could do there. I was kind of trying to hit it again where Colin did and maybe get lucky and turn one and get it on the green, but it was really in between.
“Plus, I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this before, but you can hear the commentators on the broadcast from the big TV, and I was over the ball and someone said, ‘That’s a lot of the club.'”
“I did an absolutely terrible job of not holding back because I knew it was a very big team; that was the point.”
Results? Homa fired a volley into the stands. From there, he went on to bowl and bat an innings of 5 to 5, three for 68. He was relieved.
“It doesn’t matter where you leave it,” he said. “I’ve noticed that on links up until last week, I’ve noticed that when you’re downwind and when you don’t have a bunker in your way, you can do whatever you want, which is nice, but the moment you have those in your way, the golf course dictates what you’re going to do.”
As for the analysis heard on the 18th?
“Yeah, I hope they turn it down tomorrow because it’s really distracting.”