2007 Open Championship Preview

There were a few examples of how far the ball can go here during my practice round yesterday afternoon. I played a couple of holes in the morning but went back to the house quickly because it was ugly out there, raining and cold, really dreary. Brennan and I came back later, along with my mental coach Rich Gordin, and it was beautiful in the afternoon.

Anyway, I was playing the par-five sixth hole after starting on the fourth and joining up with Kevin Harper. He's a young pro frm the southeast of England who qualified. That's a big thing for a British player. We stuck to our own business out there, but we also chatted about a bunch of things. At one point, when I took out a bag of  almonds and nuts that I carry with me, he asked me about how I eat out there and my training. I'm always happy to talk with younger guys, or any players for that matter, about the things that affect me and that have helped me. I learned from guys coming up and I like to pass on what I know. In this case I was telling Kevin about how I
have to keep eating, and that in my early days on tour I'd start out the season at 155 and finish the year at 138 pounds. Now I can keep my weight at 160.

But back to that sixth hole, the one that Ben Hogan made famous in the 1953 Open when he came over here for the one and only time. He fit his drive between bunkers that go from the centre of the fairway and toward the green on a slant to the right, and an out of bounds fence to the left. Hogan sure could do what he wanted with the ball. He put it in that slot every one of the four rounds.

I had 245 yards to the first bunker, and 272 to the second. I said to Brennan on the tee, �This is an interesting hole,� and what I meant is that it offers choices and options. That's what I appreciate so much about links golf. I decided to hit a four-iron, because the hole was playing downwind. There wasn't a lot of wind, but enough that I wanted to make sure I didn't take so much club that my ball might roll into the first bunker. I hit it down there where I wanted, short of the first bunker.

Then I hit driver, and carried the first bunker. The R&A has done some bunker work on this hole to make the hole play more like it did when Hogan played the Open here, but, downwind, there still wasn't any need for me to play between the bunkers and the fence. I had 256 to carry the first bunker, and did that. That left me with a three-ion to the front of the green, 241 yards away. I'll hit driver during the tournament if the hole is playing straight downwind, but I'll lay up away from the bunkers if there's a curve on the wind.

This hole just has so much going on that makes you think. I pushed that 3-iron after hitting driver, and it landed just short of a bunker on the left front of the green. A small knob there kicked the ball left. I told Brennan that we have to play the shot a bit more to the right.

To me that's fun, looking at all the little things that make the ball go one way or another. The bounce matters, even on the greens. You have to pick your spots for landing the ball. You have to pick the type of shots on your approaches and from around the greens.

To me, these greens make a lot more sense than the greens we play in many tour events, and some majors too. I don't understand why greens with contour have to be ridiculously fast. Sometimes greens we play are so fast by Sunday that it's not like putting. It's crazy the way some places let the greens get. It gets absurd and it makes us look funny. You can have a three-foot putt that catches the high side and goes 10' by.

But these greens are fun to putt. You get to use your imagination. They're the right speed now, about 10, and they won't get any faster. I also love the look of the greens. The ground just fits into them. That's the beauty of this kind of course. It doesn't look manmade. It looks like it's been here forever.

The course itself is much fairer than it was in 1999, when the R&A lost control of it. It was over the top, which can happen. But they've got it right now. There's rough, plenty of it, but it's wispy and it's not tight against the fairway. You can hit some shots out of there. You have to be careful, and you have to think, but you do have options.  That to me is the essence of links golf.

I was thinking during my practice round Monday if any Canadian courses feel like that to me. I played the Devil's Paintbrush in Caledon about 10 years ago, and I remember it very well. They did a great job of recreating this kind of look. It's hard to do, to make it feel like it's always been there. Brennan was telling me it's his favourite course in Canada. I'd like to get that sort of linksy feeling in any courses I do.

On tour we don't play courses like this. The game is much more in the air rather than on the ground. You do what you have to do. Most of the time I practice for the courses we play on tour, and I have to say I feel I've made great progress this year with my swing changes. Probably the best ball-striking week I've had was at the Memorial, where I missed the cut. I hit it so good there, but putted the worse I have all year. I was just killing the ball. I started going at every flag because I was putting so
poorly I felt I had to hit the ball close to make birdies. That's probably why I missed the cut. But I was just flagging the ball. That tournament was probably where I started seeing some good stuff from the work I've been doing with Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett.

It's an amazing feeling to hit the ball like I was there. That's what drives me, controlling the ball. It's what I crave and I'm always striving for it.  It's what I want here. You stand up there and thread the ball between bunkers. Just the compression on the ball feels a lot different.  That's what I really notice. It's a heavier hit, higher on the face, much more compression.

I've been getting more of that kind of hit recently, including at the AT&T a couple of weeks ago where I tied for eighth. I made some mistakes coming in, including a bad drive on the last hole that cost me a double-bogey. But I got close to the lead on the back nine and liked the feeling again. It had been a while, and I missed it.

Now I'm back playing my favourite kind of golf. Carnoustie might not be Carnasty, as it was called in 1999, but it's still a very demanding course.  I'm looking forward to the week. I'm pumped.

Thanks for your support,

Mike Weir