Open Championship diary day three: Matt Cooper reports from Royal Troon

Money, money, money

Elite-level golf is stuck in a prize money arms race at the moment and Martin Slumbers, the departing CEO of the R&A, is among many who have concerns about the long-term sustainability of this hyper-inflation. Most folk want to apply the brakes but Richard Gillis has a better idea.

The brains behind the podcast Unofficial Partner, Richard likes to say that he “overthinks the sports business, for money” and his substack is a weekly inbox highlight, full of terrific writing and bright ideas.

On Tuesday night we discussed his idea, which he describes as “an endearingly naive thought experiment”, that the majors take a radical route and just remove money from the equation entirely.

“Make the Open Championship like the Ryder Cup,” he said. “You earn your way in. You get the kudos. But the money goes to the pyramid.”

His point is that if you can’t compete with PIF money – and nobody can – go the other way. “Play the history card,” he said. “In a world where the players have everything, they still want a major and if they don’t, **** ‘em.”

I rather like the notion.

Stenson is going low

After two days of practice, the 2016 winner at Royal Troon Henrik Stenson told guests at last night’s Association of Golf Writers Annual Dinner that he believed the winning score would be 10-under unless the wind dropped. At first glance, it seems a significant drop from his performance eight years ago but it’s worth remembering that 10-under would have earned third place in 2016 and been four shots clear of fourth. It was only Stenson and runner-up Phil Mickelson who went low that week.

The Swede tees off at 12:42, up against the young Danes Rasmus Hojgaard and Jacob Skov Olesen. The latter is the Amateur Champion while the former attended two sponsor events on Monday night where it became apparent that he is carrying an injury. As the favourite in the three-ball Hojgaard might be worth taking on. Olesen is top price 5/1, Stenson 13/8.

Is the amateur the call? I’m not convinced he is the best of the amateurs in this year’s field but the 3/1 on offer elsewhere might be more accurate. The 5/1 is very tempting.

Big in Japan

The Top Japanese market has been something of a favourite of the diary in recent years and I’ve again tried to unearth a nugget but this time without luck with both the team of R&A translators and the Japanese media struggling to see anyone taking on Hideki Matsuyama this week.

Put simply, none of them have any kind of links pedigree. The only possible exception to this general gloom is that two journalists reported independently that Masahiro Kawamura is excited by his first return to the Open since his T39 debut in 2018. Indeed, he’s been squeezing links golf recces into his schedule and progressed through Final Qualifying.

That said, he’s had plenty of time to slot seaside visits into the diary because he’s missed six cuts in his last seven starts.

The amateurs

I mentioned earlier in the week that I’d return to the subject of the amateurs when the three-ball prices come out and a couple stand out.

Dominic Clemens is an excellent 3/1 to defeat Chris Kirk and Stewart Cink. The former has missed three of his last four cuts in the Open and has no top 40 in that stretch. The latter has five top 30s in his last 10 starts in the championship and was, of course, the champion in 2009. But Clemens has a 62 at Muirfield, a final appearance at the Amateur Championship at Ballyliffin and 8-under for the 36 hole Final Qualifier at Burnham and Berrow in the last six weeks alone.

Meanwhile, the Spaniard Luis Masaveu is up against Ryan Van Velzen and Charlie Lindh. The latter was a surprise package at Final Qualifying and has largely been banging his head against a minor tour brick wall for a while now. The former is a multiple winner on the Sunshine Tour and showed a lot of promise in events co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour over the winter but this is new territory for him. Masaveu was second at Royal Lytham & St Annes last year, plays a lot of links golf (and well) and he shone for Spain in last week’s European Amateur Team Championship.

I’ve chatted to the Spanish journalists and they tell me Masaveu is in good spirits and glad to be back in the UK. He’s also got Gonzalo Fernandez Castano on his bag this week. GFC is his coach and he also accompanied the Spanish team to the Lytham Trophy in the spring. I saw them all one evening, wandering along the prom, staring out across the sand, wondering where the sea was. GFC told me the next day that he’d sent them out on a jog to find it that morning. Ben Coley has put Masaveu up for first round leader and I’ll join him. The top price of 21/10 in the three-ball is also well worth close consideration.

(Incidentally, Ben and myself have both tipped Jon Rahm this week so I asked the Spaniards about what he had discussed with them. One key difference with his English language Q&A is that he stressed that his first round feels really important. He’s desperate for a good start and to feel the excitement of being involved in the heat of battle.)

Early starter

Finally, a return to a favourite angle of mine at the Open and find a way to back Matthew Southgate. I managed to grab a few words with him, enough to establish that there’s nothing amiss so his love of the Open and his undoubted links pedigree is again worth recalling.

He was at Carnoustie in 1999, his feet dangling over the burn as Jean van de Velde paddled in it. Next day he caddied for his dad and played 18, making a six from the championship tee. Ten years later father and son raced up to Turnberry from Southend on Sunday morning to see if their hero Tom Watson could win the Open. As player Southgate finished T12 here at Troon in 2016, was sixth a year later at Royal Birkdale and T23 last year in Hoylake.

On the links, he’s won on the Old Course as an amateur, at Royal St George’s on a mini tour and has twice been second at the Dunhill Links Championship. He bossed Final Qualifying at Royal Cinque Ports and was fourth at the BMW International Open later that week to spruce up a poor season. He’s out at 7:52 and can be backed at 175/1.