Sandwich (Kent, England), Jul 14 (EFE) .- The British Open, or The Open Championship, as it is officially called, returns this week to its position on the calendar as the fourth ‘major’ of the season, after its suspension in 2020, as a result of the pandemic, and with Jon Rahm among the main favorites.
“Getting here has been a challenge, but I’m really excited now that there are a few hours left until the start of the championship,” said The R&A executive director, the tournament organizers, of the competition that kicks off on Thursday on the coast. southeastern England.
After the return of the Augusta Masters (April), the PGA Championship (May) and the United States Open (June) to their traditional dates, The R&A has managed to resume the fourth big of the year between strong isolation measures of players and their teams, although with the presence of just over 30,000 spectators every day on the Royal Saint George’s course.
“Some players have retired, albeit for multiple reasons. In the end what counts is that 156 of the best in the world will compete starting tomorrow and we will present the claret jug to the champion on Sunday, ”added Slumbers about the withdrawal of 17 players before the start of the competition.
“I think everyone is very satisfied to be playing again and gradually moving towards a certain kind of normality. Obviously, Monday is going to be a great day in the UK and I think everyone is really looking forward to it, ”said Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, winner of The Open 2014, about the relaxation of the COVID restrictions announced for the July 19.
Satisfaction with the return of the British Open has been somewhat overshadowed by criticism of the Saint George’s tour, which receives its 16th The Open this year. “This field is not that exciting. I do not know why. It can be the blind shots or the shots where they can’t see much, “said American Brooks Koepka, before his compatriot and world number one pointed out that it is” his second favorite field “in the Open Championship rotation, after of Saint Andrews.
The diversity of opinions and strategies will be the keynote of the week in the return of a great to the whims of a link-type course by the sea, with many undulations in the fairways, falls towards tall grass, slower greens of the usual and gusts of wind.
“You can miss the fairway very often and end up in hay where it’s not easy to get out of. This is the first time I’ve applied my punch to the links and we’ll see what happens, ”said popular American puncher Bryson Dechambeau, who has failed to take advantage of his long distance from the starting tee since his victory at the 2020 US Open. .
On the other hand, there is the strategy of the Spanish Jon Rahm, recent winner of the US Open. “You have to adapt and create your own strategy. I think that is the reason why I have played well in many different fields. I adjust to the field and the conditions. If I come here and I’m hitting it high, I won’t finish the tournament, ”he said.
The number two in the world leads a large group of Spanish speakers in this 149th edition of the Open Championship, with fellow Spaniards Sergio García, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Jorge Campillo and Gonzalo Fernández Castaño, Mexicans Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz, Colombians Juan Sebastián Muñoz and Ricardo Celiá, the Argentineans Emiliano Grillo and Abel Gallegos and the Chilean Joaquín Niemann.
