An emotional return to Irish soil as British Open begins at Royal Portrush

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Keyur KhamarWith each passing year, the “British Open Open Championship is the best major” crowd screams louder and louder. And while I grew up loving the Masters more than any golf tournament on the calendar, I'm beginning to feel myself leaning more and more in that direction. The Masters signals the beginning of golf season, the U.S. Open, with all its faults, is still a demanding test that has provided much more excitement in recent years than it gets credit for, and the PGA is, well, it's the PGA (truth hurts). The Open, however, stands alone. The historic links, the weather, the style of play, the 90-second pieces NBC does as coverage lead-ins with some guy with a British accent narrating a scene at a nearby bar with b-roll of Guinness being poured and fish being fried—you really can't beat it.
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Royal Portrush will provide players at this week's British Open with the usual tests that come with a standard links golf course: Pot bunkers, high rough, firm fairways, and, of course, wind and rain. But you can add something else to that list: storm shelters. Well, one storm shelter, at least.
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There's a tiny one left of the green on Portrush's picturesque par-4 5th, and apparently, it's in play. Very much in play.
Paul Casey found this out (fortunately) during a practice round, disappearing into the dark space and expertly escaping by chipping onto the green. Check it out:
https://twitter.com/TheOpen/status/1151502798074331138
Well, that's one way to avoid standing out in the rain. Savvy move, Paul.
It's not quite Sean Payton hitting a shot off a boat in Lake Tahoe, but it's still a pretty bizarre sight to see on a golf course. Fingers crossed we see more of it once the tournament actually starts.
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