Dustin Johnson has insisted he can handle the pressure of being joint-favourite to win The Open – because he “feels like the best golfer in the world”.
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After years of near misses and repeated failures to fulfill his potential, Johnson is finally arriving at age 32.
So much has happened in golf over the past year that you might’ve forgotten Rory McIlroy missed the Open Championship last year after rupturing a ligament in his ankle.
Around 170,000 golf fans are expected to attend The Open championship in Troon this week, tourism body VisitScotland has predicted. But the separation on the odds board is razor thin.
“Right now, the most equipped is Jason Day”. One minute it’s Rory McIlroy ruling the roost.
It’s potential golf won’t be in the Olympics very long. Johnson has made it a foursome. Scott, Spieth and Johnson are tied for second in tour wins with two behind Day, who leads the pack with three in 2016. He was a tantalizing talent.
“I’m not specifically pinpointing any one thing in my health concerns”, he said, referring to the mosquito-borne virus that the World Health Organization says is spreading rapidly in the Americas. Each week, a panel of experts will offer up their picks from four groups of players, based on Golf Channel’s fantasy game, Fantasy Challenge.
He says the Open is scheduled for Royal Birkdale next year, Carnoustie in 2018 and Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland in 2019.
When asked about it after his round, McIlroy said: “I think I took an 8 or a 9, so that didn’t go too well”.
But McIlroy made it clear he’s not in that camp. He was told the opening three holes are par 4s that measure under 400 yards, and that seemed to intrigue him.
Further successes from Graeme McDowell in the US Open in 2010 and then Rory McIlroy picking up his first Major in the same tournament a year later saw Irish players win over 20 per cent of golf’s Majors between the seasons of 2007-2011.
“Fortunately, I have a few friends in the club and I manage to get tickets through them these days, and the team are playing a style of football everyone loves to see and I’m looking forward to the new season kicking off”. He has seven top nines in his last 10 events, and we expect that trend to continue this weekend.
But the popular left-hander hasn’t won since his Open triumph at Muirfield in 2013, and the only other 46-year-old to win the Open was Old Tom Morris back in 1867. “You’ve just got to chill out and don’t force it, and you forget that once in a while”.
TSN golf analyst Bob Weeks files daily reports from Royal Troon for SPORTSCENTRE and TSN Digital platforms, and contributes reports and columns for TSN.ca throughout the week.
After a dominant win at Royal Liverpool in 2014, McIlroy missed his Open title defence at St Andrews past year after injuring his ankle playing soccer. He nearly won the U.S. Open at the linksy Chambers Bay in 2015, but for a three-putt on the final green to gift Spieth the title.
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“He has access to video replays in his office and in addition to that, either Peter (Unsworth, chairman of the championship committee) or I are also always here”.
