Baked Birkdale offers different Open test from 2017

The 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, set to begin Thursday, promises a starkly different test than Jordan Spieth's 2017 win. While Spieth battled wind, rain, and thick, sodden fescue, this year's championship will unfold on a course baked hard by a relentless British summer, now in its third heatwave. With sunshine predicted and minimal rain, the 7,223-yard layout along the Irish Sea coast north of Liverpool will present a significantly altered landscape.

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There are some extreme conditions. It's very interesting. A lot of thinking. You're going to get some weird bounces, some weird stuff is going to happen.

The fairways have turned a dusty brown, the rough is thinner, and one hole, the par-three 15th, is entirely new since 2017. Reigning champion Scottie Scheffler, who arrived early after missing the cut at the Scottish Open, described the course conditions as "extreme" and "very interesting," anticipating "weird bounces" and unpredictable play. Scheffler noted the firmness and speed of the fairways, combined with cross-winds, will make holding the ball difficult.

Scheffler, aiming to be the first back-to-back Open winner since Padraig Harrington in 2008, highlighted the challenges posed by the fast, firm fairways. "The ball's just going to run forever pretty much," he said. "The fairways this week are really tight, so you get a lot of cross-winds. They can be difficult to hold just because they're so fast and they're so firm. I think with the firmness, it creates a whole lot more challenges."

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The ball's just going to run forever pretty much. The fairways this week are really tight, so you get a lot of cross-winds. They can be difficult to hold just because they're so fast and they're so firm. I think with the firmness, it creates a whole lot more challenges.

While Spieth's rain gear will likely stay in the bag, he acknowledged that the combination of sea breezes and unforgiving hard fairways will give the course significant teeth. "It's almost impossible to overestimate the wind," Spieth stated. "I feel like I underestimate it every single time the first three or four days that I'm playing golf here. The effect on the golf ball is magnified almost double what it is in the States."

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It's almost impossible to overestimate the wind. I feel like I underestimate it every single time the first three or four days that I'm playing golf here. The effect on the golf ball is magnified almost double what it is in the States.

World number two Rory McIlroy, who won the Open at Hoylake in 2014, believes the Mediterranean-like weather has created ideal links conditions. "It's as linksy as links gets," McIlroy commented. He anticipates being able to play more aggressively off the tee, potentially taking driver more often to avoid the less penal rough, which is not as lush as it was weeks prior. Spain's Jon Rahm also noted course redesigns, including a reworked 14th and a new 15th hole, contributing to the unique test.

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It's as linksy as links gets. I think I can play the course a little more aggressively than I could, so I'm excited by that possibility, but it's a great test.