Hoylake

Rory McIlroy talks about the course set-up at Hoylake prior to the 2014 Open Championship

The last time the Open was played at Hoylake the course was, to put it mildly, a little firm under foot.

The preceding weeks had been unusually hot and dry with the result being the firmest, fastest Open Championship of the modern era.

In fact, it was playing so fast that the winner, Tiger Woods, only hit one driver all week.

In his bid to improve on what has been, up until now at least, a rather shaky Open record, Rory McIlroy made an early visit to Royal Liverpool Golf Club.

Acclimatising to links golf and preparing for the specific challenge of Hoylake will, he hopes, help the world number eight improve on last year’s dismal performance at Muirfield.

In the build up to this year’s Open, Rory McIlroy visited Archerfield to officially open Nike’s new Performance Fitting Centre.

It was here that he spoke of his recent Hoylake experience, how the course is set up for the 2014 Championship and what he remembers about watching it on TV last time.

Thomas Patrick Clarke
Sports Digital Editor


Tom Clarke joined Golf Monthly as a sub editor in 2009 being promoted to content editor in 2012 and then senior content editor in 2014, before becoming Sports Digital Editor for the Sport Vertical within Future in 2022. Tom currently looks after all the digital products that Golf Monthly produce including Strategy and Content Planning for the website and social media - Tom also assists the Cycling, Football, Rugby and Marine titles at Future. Tom plays off 16 and lists Augusta National (name drop), Old Head and Le Touessrok as the favourite courses he has played. Tom is an avid viewer of all golf content with a particularly in depth knowledge of the pro tour.