(Editor's Note: Golf fitness trainer Sean Cochran (www.seancochran.com) is at the 2006 Open Championship with Phil Mickelson, for whom he serves as trainer. Sean will be filing daily journal entries through the conclusion of the tournament.)
Weather has been the talk of the tournament
If you've been hiding under a rock this week and haven't heard, the third major of the year is upon us. Team Mickelson - myself included - has been here at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England, for the last week, preparing.
After some interesting encounters as Americans in the "Old Country," it's close to crunch time. Practice rounds continue today and tournament play begins tomorrow.
Some interesting pairings will be on the course beginning tomorrow. The pairing that is grabbing the most attention in the local papers is Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods. Both former Open Champions, but according to the press, Woods has supposedly been quite upset with Faldo since Faldo's criticism of Tiger's swing last year. The press might be hyping this a bit much, but some tension appears to be in the air.
People are also chattering about Seve Ballesteros. It appears Seve has his 16-year-old son as his caddie for the week. His son appears to be a pretty good stick, and, so they say, Seve wants to introduce him to links-style golf. Sounds logical, but you never know.
But the real topic of this week has been the weather. Temperatures are expected to reach 100 degrees today, somethat that is very rare in England. And the weather is affecting the course big-time.
The heat and a lack of rain "burned out the course" - the fairways are rock-hard, greens slippery fast and the rough less of a hazard. The hard fairways allow the ball to roll a long, long way before it stops (bringing the shorter hitters into the mix). The slick greens make it very difficult to get the ball to hold (making a good short game necessary). Many shots hit and roll right off the back of the green. The rough is no longer green and thick, but rather brown and wispy, allowing players a greater chance to get back on course if they hit one a little sideways.
The question that still hangs in the air is: Will the weather bring more players into the mix, or not? We won't know for sure until Sunday afternoon. It looks like officials watered the course yesterday, but they probably will "let it go" for the remainder of the week. If no rain comes, Sunday could be very interesting (remember Shinecock in 2004?). Forecasts are still calling for some rain and wind at the end of the week, but we'll just have to wait and see.
Phil tees off early tomorrow and late on Friday. Once nice thing about the Open Championship when you watch it Stateside is that it's on first thing in the morning. So get your cup of Joe Thursday morning and tune on in.
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