NBC/Golf Channel's David Feherty said last week that this year's British Open could be the most “burnt” conditions since the 1989 Open Championship. Feherty remembers that year well because he finished T-6 at Royal Troon (Yeah, the TV funnyman could play some serious golf back in the day). The winner? Mark Calcavecchia, who defeated Greg Norman and Wayne Grady in a playoff.
RELATED: Rory McIlroy lookalike wears perfect shirt at Carnoustie
All of which kind of leads us to Calcavecchia's wife, Brenda, who on the eve of this year's Open saw this photo of Carnoustie's greenkeepers (brownkeepers?) hard at work and asked a fantastic question:
https://twitter.com/brendacalc/status/1019622115790807041
Well played, Brenda. Although, her husband added a pretty good reply himself:
https://twitter.com/MarkCalc/status/1019622586228015104
Calc will be one of the first golfers to take on a freshly mowed/packed Carnoustie for real this year. He tees off at 7:08 a.m. local time..

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (AP) Facts and figures for the 147th British Open, which starts Thursday:

Site: Carnoustie Golf Links.

Length: 7,402 yards.

Par: 71.

Field: 156 players (152 pros, 4 amateurs).

Playoff (if necessary): 4 holes, aggregate score.

Prize money: $10.5 million.

Winner’s share: $1,890,000.

Defending champion: Jordan Spieth.

Open champions at Carnoustie: Tommy Armour (1931), Henry Cotton (1937), Ben Hogan (1953), Gary Player (1968), Tom Watson (1975), Paul Lawrie (1999), Padraig Harrington (2007).

Tiger Tales: Tiger Woods is playing the British Open for the first time since he missed the cut at St. Andrews in 2015.

Key statistic: Americans in their 20s have won the last five major championships.

Noteworthy: The British Open has been decided by a playoff the last three times it was held at Carnoustie.

Quoteworthy: ”It will go until it runs into something.” – Justin Thomas, on how far the ball rolls on the firm ground at Carnoustie.

Television (all times EDT): Th..

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (AP) Some players had to give up their drivers – at least temporarily – this week as British Open officials decided to test them to see if they were in violation of the rules.

The checks came in the midst of a distance debate that previously had been centered on golf balls, not clubs.

”We take our governance role very seriously, not just on the rules of golf and amateur status, but also equipment standards,” said Martin Slumbers, chief executive of the R&A. ”And we felt it was an appropriate next step to more actively seek to test players’ drivers straight out of the bag.”

Both the R&A and the USGA measure what is known as ”characteristic time,” or CT, to determine whether drivers conform to limits on ”spring-like effect” that determines how far the golf ball can be hit. But the testing lately hasn’t involved a list of players asking them to bring the clubs from their bags.

”We’ve always had an equipment test capability down on the range, certainly since I’ve b..

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (AP) The eve of the British Open felt like cramming for a final exam, a multiple choice one with no obvious answers.

The wind that blows off the North Sea across the exposed links of Carnoustie has not been the primary concern during practice rounds. Players have a reasonable idea how far the ball travels in the air. They just don’t know how far it goes on the ground.

”If you get it downwind and you hit that little flat draw and it gets running, it will go pretty much until it runs into something,” Justin Thomas said.

That’s not entirely true.

Thomas hit a tee shot on the third hole Wednesday afternoon that rolled across the humps in the fairway and kept right on rolling. It looked as though it would run into a bunker, or maybe even the handle of a rake leaning on the left edge of the bunker. It missed both and eventually came to a stop 232 yards away.

His club off the tee was an 8-iron.

Tiger Woods doesn’t see many occasions to hit driver because of how far ..

Rory McIlroy was happy to reminisce on Wednesday about the last time the Open Championship came to Carnoustie. And why not? Back in 2007, McIlroy was an 18-year-old who claimed the silver medal in the event as low amateur. But there was one part of that week McIlroy doesn't particularly want to relive.
His hair.
McIlroy has changed a lot physically through the years as he's grown from a boy into a fitness-focused man, but his long curly locks are the most striking part of his appearance when taking a look back. Have a look:
FacebookPinterestPAUL ELLISAnd another:
FacebookPinterestRebecca Naden – PA ImagesRELATED: Rory McIlroy lookalike wears perfect shirt at Carnoustie
And here are those luscious curls sticking out from under his hat:
FacebookPinterestAndrew RedingtonBy the way, pulling up the collar on that pullover wasn't a great look either. The guy looks like an extra in “Saturday Night Fever.”
Anyway, God bless the British press for pressing McIlroy on this issue. I..

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (AP) Getting into the British Open was a reward in itself for Russell Knox. And then it got better.

The text messages kept his phone buzzing – from his wife, his nephew, his brother-in-law – as he drove back to his hotel. He looked over at the screen and kept seeing the same message.

”Tiger?”

”I was driving, so I just glanced at it,” Knox said. ”I got to where I was going, and my heart was pounding.”

Knox, the highest-ranked player from Scotland, qualified for Carnoustie only when he started his three-week stint in Europe with a runner-up finish in the French Open. Then, he won the Irish Open by making a 40-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to force a playoff, and then another 40-foot birdie putt on the 18th to win.

To cap it all off, the R&A put Knox in the same group with Tiger Woods and Hideki Matsuyama for the opening two rounds of the British Open.

”A man on form playing with his idol,” Knox said Wednesday.

The 33-year-old from Inverness grew up watchin..

John Phillips(Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images)For those who haven't read a newspaper, watched TV or talked to a fellow human in the past, oh, two years, it's been a rough go for the red, white and blue as of late. But the night is darkest just before the dawn, and I promise you, the dawn is coming. Just look east, as our European friends are shining a light of hope.
How else can one interpret this majestic artwork, which is half composition, half abstraction and half testament to the human spirit? And while you're right in thinking there's no such thing as three halves, this celestial monument defies what we mere mortals know about arithmetic.
We're, of course, talking about the 25-foot shirtless statue of Jeff Glodblum standing in front of Tower Bridge in London.
FacebookPinterestJohn PhillipsThe sculpture was built in honor of Jurassic Park's 25th anniversary, which makes sense because zero of the movie was shot in London. The Euros simply appreciate..

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (AP) Rory McIlroy was an 18-year-old with big head of curls and a big game to match when he teed it up as an amateur in his first British Open at Carnoustie in 2007.

Carefree and unafraid, he played the first round without making a bogey and went on to win the silver medal as low amateur. Soon he would turn pro, and anyone who knows golf knows how well the story has unfolded since.

The mop of hair is now closely trimmed, barely sticking out the back of his Nike hat. He’s gotten married, become rich and has four major championship trophies on his fireplace mantle.

But as he returns to the site of his first major championship, the memories of being young and on an adventure of a lifetime come back. And he wonders why it all can’t be that simple again.

”I look back at those pictures,” McIlroy said Wednesday, ”and the more I can be like that kid, the better.”

Father Time waits for no one, of course, but it’s not like McIlroy is now a senior statesman in golf. He’s..

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (AP) He comes from a place where they play midnight golf and the most precious item in the bag is a rusty ”lava club,” used to hit balls off rock formations strewn across the fairways.

Haraldur Magnus will become the first Icelandic man to play in any of golf’s four majors at the British Open this week, and his story sums up the charm of the oldest championship in the sport.

”Haddi,” as he prefers to be known, is ranked 1,089th and plays in the Nordic Golf League – basically the third tier of European golf comprising tournaments in Scandinavia and Spain. Sometimes there are only a handful of spectators, compared to the daily crowds of 40,000 that are expected at Carnoustie from Thursday, and he has earned less than 4,000 euros ($4,650) in prize money this year.

Magnus was among the first players to tee off in final qualifying for the British Open at Prince’s Golf Club in southern England in early July. After posting a score of 2 under, he set the alarm on his ph..