In five attempts at The British, he had never finished higher than 30th until missing out on a playoff past year by one shot and finishing fourth at St. Andrews.
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Nine-time major championship victor Gary Player once described the back nine at Troon as the “most difficult in the world when the wind is blowing”, and Mark Calcavecchia, who won at Troon at 1989, claims the back nine plays five shots harder than the front if the wind is a factor.
“I guess previous year was the start of the run where everything kind of changed in my world, ” said Day on Monday.
“It was the start of my run where everything kind of changed my world, really”. Last year was the first time that he had contended, although he will be among the favorites this year. “We’re not going to win every single one”.
Montgomerie says “this is where I started playing”. I’ve got to try to get better and move on.
“It sucked. It was really bad”. I hated losing. It was a awful way to lose, and it was frustrating and disappointing. I don’t know, ever since the first time I ever went over there, I’ve always enjoyed it, and I feel like I play pretty well over there.
“I’m staying in a house with some buddies and we had wine out of it”, Johnson said.
The world No.1 said: “The greats have all held the Claret Jug and for me to be able to hold that once in my career would be very satisfying”. “It was more of a relief than anything because I’d come so close at Sunningdale a year ago to winning the British Seniors and I knew the victor got an invite into Troon”.
Lee Westwood (40-1): The veteran Englishman will be playing in his 22nd British Open this week, still without a victory in a Major Championship.
“There’s no pressure on me now”. “When he didn’t have his best stuff, he would just find a way to get it done”.
“Because if you look down at it, 15 was okay, 16 it felt like I played that hole in 30 seconds, even though I took a double there, because it just felt so quick”.
“If it was trying to catch someone, he wanted to cut that lead down maybe one or two shots. I get excited to be able to play The Open, not only because of the fans, but because of how challenging the golf course is and the weather”, added Day. “I’d be over the moon to win over here one day”.
Every legend to have played the game – from Old Tom Morris in 1861 to Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, Watson and Woods – has their name on golf’s oldest and most prestigious major championship trophy.
For the 53-year-old Scot, it will be like a trip down memory lane.
DJ has won his last two outings, claiming his first major title in the U.S. Open at Oakmont and capturing the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone, stealing a great deal of the spotlight from the so-called new Big Three, Jason Day of Australia, the United States’ Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland.
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Spieth’s decision means the world’s top four players have all withdrawn citing concerns over Zika, a mosquito-borne virus which has been linked to defects in newborn babies and Guillain-Barre, a rare neurological syndrome which causes temporary paralysis in adults.
