Tuesday Open Championship Clippings

Doug Ferguson talks to players about the lush conditions.

“This is the healthiest rough we've had in quite awhile,” Ogilvy said.

And...

“It's almost like a U.S. Open in that you've got 10 yards off the fairway to play with, and if you miss it beyond that, then good luck trying to find it,” former British Open champion Ben Curtis said. “I think you'll see more big numbers than the other Opens. If you're 15 yards off line, you'll see some 6s and 7s.

And regarding No. 17...

The most significant change was the 17th green, pushed farther back into the dunes, with severe contours and a steep change in elevation from the back of the green to the front.

This has not been well-received by most players, including Stephen Ames, who said, “It goes with a Pete Dye course.”

It was all new to Kim, who took last week off following his victory at Congressional. He played the front nine Sunday afternoon when he arrived from Dallas to help get over the jet lag, and those two hours made him feel even more tired.

“It beat me up,” he said. “Everything is tiny here. The fairways are tiny. The hole may be smaller, for all I know.”

Jim McCabe offers several interesting notes, including one on Jay Williamson qualifying through the Deere and Martin Kaymer playing on in spite of his mother's recent passing.

The only thing surprising about Justin Rose's comments on Kenny Perry passing up The Open is that he finds it amazing that Kenny Perry is passing up The Open. Hasn't he ever talked to him? This is not Henry Cotton we're talking about here! Mark Garrod reports:

"He's arguably the best player in the world right now and I find it amazing he's not here," said Rose, who three years ago was prepared to travel to two majors as a reserve but missed out each time. "It's obviously one less guy to beat, because you could pretty much guarantee he was going to be on the leaderboard on Sunday," he added.

Steve Elling talks to Rose about coming back to where he made his first splash, while John Hopkins files this video report with Rose recreating the famous hole out on No. 18.

James Corrigan questions Kenny Perry and also buries a lede of sorts, reporting that Luke Donald is all but out of the Ryder Cup for this year.

Lewine Mair profiles Geoff Ogilvy, who played golf at Hoylake, West Lancashire and Formsby before teeing it up at Birkdale.

"What other major is there," he asks, "that you look forward not just to playing the course but all the others around it?"

Mair also writes about the pairings, including the Monty-Boo-Weir grouping (what did Boo do to deserve that!?). Monty says:

"I'm different and Boo's different - and Mike Weir's going to feel different because he's normal," said Montgomerie, capturing the situation to perfection.

You can check out all of the pairings here.