It's British Open week ... ahem ... Open week! OK, fine, it's British Open week, the way golf fans on this side know it as (I wrote this a year ago about why, so worth a refresher if you're one to let BRITISH OPEN ruin your day).
I love the British Open so much, and when it's at St. Andrews, it really is about 20 times more special of a week. The home of golf is the best place on the planet if you're a golf fan, and any time I get the opportunity to go over there (I've been overly lucky to play it a few times and each time I walk off the 18th pinching myself) I'm just reminded of the sheer brilliance of not only the golf course, but the city.
But you don't want to hear about me gushing about St. Andrews. You want mailbag questions (and answers!). As always, if you want to get me a question, fire it to me over at Twitter at @shanebacon or for lengthier questions, visit my Facebook page.
OK, Ivor Robson, take us away!
"Is the Swilcan bridge the best golf course feature? What's your top-5?" - CarrfortheCourse (Via Instagram)
For me, absolutely, nothing beats that walk up the 18th at the Old Course. Nothing, and the Swilcan is the centerpiece to the entire experience. Not only has the bridge been around for more than 700 years, but I think it lands even more credibility because it is A) in every single picture you've ever seen of a golf trip in Scotland and B) It's the site of farewells to the Open Championship by some of the greats, including Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus (and soon, Tom Watson).
My top five golf course features:
1. Swilcan Bridge
2. Turnberry lighthouse
3. Hogan Bridge at Augusta National
4. Payne Stewart statue at Pinehurst #2
5. Cypress on the 18th at Pebble Beach
I do love the lighthouse at Harbour Town, the floating green at Coeur d'Alene, and even the Old Course Hotel at St. Andrews, but for me, those are my five.
Dream final grouping for Sunday? It was easy to say Rory/Spieth but now that's not going to happen --Hunter Hart (@hart_attack35)
I mean, how is it not Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler?
(And real quick, on that note, let us all clear something up and put a super lazy line about Fowler to bed; it wasn't that prior to the Players Championship, Fowler couldn't win. I have no idea why people were so obsessed with the idea that Fowler had just the single PGA Tour win (forgetting about that Korean Open victory in 2011 over Rory McIlroy). Rickie was working towards winning, and winning a lot. His record in the majors in 2014 was a good indication of that, and let us not forget, in the final round of the '14 PGA Championship, Fowler went out in 32 (four birdies in five holes) to not only take the lead but do it playing against Rory, Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson. He was nearly there, and 2015 has been the year where he's been able to play his best golf late in tournaments to close them out. Simple as that. Rickie is worth all the sponsorships and hope that brands have put on him, and he's headed to St. Andrews probably as confident to win a major as he has ever been.)
As for Spieth, my word, what more can he do? I thought he shouldn't have played in the John Deere, just because I thought it was important to get across the pond, get acclimated to the time change, and the courses and all that comes with a trip to Scotland ... and boy, was I wrong.
He did exactly what he needed to do, playing in an event he has not only won before but brings out the best in his game, went Spiethian on Saturday with that 61 and then even when he didn't have his best stuff early on Sunday, found a way to sneak into a playoff and outlast an outmatched opponent. Winning was his best move. Phil Mickelson won the week before his Open victory in '13, and I expect Spieth to make the same type of run despite not having a ton of time across the pond. This kid is incredible. It's really been one of the joys of my career watching him do what he's done this year.
So, to answer your question, Spieth and Fowler in the final grouping would be my pick.
My second? Spieth and Tiger Woods. How do you even calculate ratings for that if it went down? Scientific notation?
Starting to talk myself into Tiger having a good week at St. Andrews, please send help -- Shosh Agus-Kleinman (@ShoshEAK)
Oh Shosh, join the club. Why are we doing this to ourselves?! Why must we go through such painnnnnnn??
A few facts to look at past the whole, "Tiger has won at St. Andrews twice by a combined 13 shots" thing.
Tiger's 7-under total at the Greenbrier two weeks ago was his lowest four-round total in relation to par in a PGA Tour event since the 2013 BMW Championship. It's not something huge, but it's at least something. Not to plagiarize the man himself, but this is a process, and he does appear to be getting closer.
Anyway, I've said this for the last few years and stick by it; the Open is Tiger's best chance to win a major going forward. He doesn't have to be 100 percent perfect off the tee to compete, the part of his game that is still a dice roll if the dice had 36 sides, and he can lean on whatever part of his short game is actually working that week (so, for instance, not a ton of pitch shots from tight lies when he can just pull putter and sidestep around some of his issues).
Since 2012, the British Open is the only major that Woods has more than one top-10 finish in, and sometimes, places just bring back good memories.
All of that said, we are forgetting one major, major point on Woods; he has added motivation now that he hasn't had in a while. He's getting to play mad. Woods made it a point to play a practice round this week with Jason Dufner after those reports came out about whatever the tabloids were spewing about those two, a move that is as subtle as they come from Woods but still, a good point made.
He is going to be playing with fire, and maybe just wanting to beat everyone in the world to prove a point will be enough to bring back a bit of that Tiger Woods we used to see that could win with his A, B, C and D games.
Who knows, but I think Woods can have a good week at St. Andrews.
But now comes another question; what is a good week for Tiger? It can't be winning, even if that is what he always says. At this point, it isn't conceivable to think he has the game to beat the Spieths and Fowlers and Dustins and Bubbas of this golf world.
To me, a good week is a top-20. It's good, not great, but something to build on. I think we see that from Tiger Woods.
How low does someone have to go before the R&A realizes that St. Andrews is no longer a good venue for The Open. -25? -30? -- DFSmuppet (@DFSmuppet)
You bite your tongue with that "St. Andrews isn't a great Open venue" talk!
I do get that the scores can get ridiculously low during the British Open, but the home of golf will always be a welcome place for this championship, as it should be.
But what we need is wind. This week Mother Nature needs to wake up from her usual slumber when the golf world goes to St. Andrews and blow a gale. The winning score was 6-under when John Daly outlasted Constantino Rocca in '95 during a windy week at the Old Course*.
If it blows like that, the winning score will be closer to 8-under than 18-under, trust me.
*A point I made on Twitter last week and a point I want to expand on here; if social media had been around for the John Daly win at the '95 British Open, it might have exploded and ended it all.
Actually, if Twitter had been around during the Daly era ... the '91 PGA win, the Open victory ... John Daly was made to be a Twitter superstar. That said, that would have meant TMZ, Deadspin and everybody else would have been around as well and I'm not sure that would have been great for Daly's career.
But, the '95 British Open ... the Daly run on Sunday in those conditions, the decisions to hit driver down the stretch with that big lead from Daly that Jack Nicklaus, in the booth for ABC, was openly questioning himself, and then the decision to hit that bunker shot out of the Road Hole Bunker and PULLING IT OFF.
And we haven't even gotten to the Rocca flub, the Daly reaction like he'd just won the championship, then the putt Rocca dropped from the Valley of Sin and the celebration he had (someone said it would have been like Tebowing or Dufnering and I totally agree), and the cameras catching a completely miffed Daly seeing the Claret Jug ripped from his hands.
And then, Daly makes an absolute BOMB on the second green for a birdie in the playoff that would have exploded Twitter AGAIN. It would have been great. I'm sad we didn't get to live that through the eyes of these silly devices we are glued to these days. There are plenty of things I would have wanted social media around for, but in golf terms, the top three are here:
1. Van de Velde's meltdown in '99
2. The 1999 Ryder Cup comeback
3. Both John Daly major wins
Honorable mention to the Sergio Garcia-Tiger Woods battle at Medinah and the Bob May-Tiger battle at Valhalla. They would have been fun as well.
How soon does the Old Course open for public play after the Open concludes? Monday aft? Week after? -- jamie (@hencheese)
I reached out to the Links Trust who told me that Monday they hold off on any bookings in case of bad weather pushing the Open to a Monday finish, but starting on Tuesday, it's business as usual, with ballot and bookings open to the public, so get there early, put your name in, and get around the best piece of property on planet Earth for golf in conditions fit for the pros.
What is the most penal bunker on the Old Course? -- Nigel Matthews (@NigelASM)
A few come to mind; the Strath on No. 11 is real nasty and probably the one I find the toughest (I wrote about the three toughest shots at St. Andrews and the tee shot on 11 made the list because of this bunker).
For whatever reason, all the bunkers down the right side of No. 3 seem to be bogey-makers for sure (and a drive leaking even a little right seems to almost always find them). Hell bunker got a facelift, but it takes a really bad second shot to find it, Shell bunker is brutal but would mean a really poor decision off the tee, and all the hidden bunkers on 12 are vicious if you find them.
Probably the bunker I find the most penal from the fairway is the Principal's Nose on the 16th, a definite bogey if you're there, but there are just so many to choose from, and it makes that whole "Tiger Woods didn't hit it in a single bunker at St. Andrews on his way to that 2000 Open win" even crazier.
