A Repeat Of 2006? Royal Liverpool Firming Up Ahead Of 151st Open

Get ready for some 2-irons, because Royal Liverpool, or Hoylake as it’s known, is starting to look a little crispy. It’s good news for those of us who like to see players drilling long irons, much like Tiger Woods did en route to his emotional victory in the north west 17 years ago.

A picture shared by the official Twitter account for The Open shows the historic links looking “sensational” as the grandstands continue to go up ahead of the 151st Open.

The Wirral, just like most parts of Merseyside and much of the UK, has been baked in sunshine over the last few weeks, with little to no rain to speak of, sparking rumours of hosepipe bans.

And even though the Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning as thunderstorms are set to hit the region this weekend, with golf’s oldest Major drawing near, there’s a good chance the course will remain quite firm and dry.

In 2006, Woods famously hit just one driver the entire week, and not once during his final three rounds. He finished on 18-under-par to win his third Claret Jug and 11th Major Championship.

The great man had a simple plan that week: to avoid the bunkers, particularly the nasty fairway ones, at all costs – and that meant putting the driver away and sticking to long irons. 

"I'm trying to take advantage of the fast fairways and roll the ball out there," Woods said on the eve of the tournament. "And the 2 iron enables me to do that."

Woods hit driver just the once – on Thursday at the par-5 16th, at which point he realised that he had a better chance of accomplishing his mission without it.

The former world number one put on a masterclass with his long irons – and it seems that we've all been talking about the 'Tiger stinger' ever since. 

At 7,383 yards, Royal Liverpool sounds like a bit of a beast. And whilst the championship tees are hidden way back in the tall stuff, should the course stay form and fast, it would be no surprise to see players adopting the Woods tactic this July.