Fried Egg Golf

Jon Rahm Currently +3 through seven holes and T44, it's going to be a third straight major-less season for Jon Rahm. Majors are very difficult to win. Going major-less for a few years isn't the end of the world for one of the best players in the game. But the bigger concern is that Jon laid eggs in three of the four majors this season. He was terrible at Augusta, missed the cut from the favorable side of the draw at Shinnecock, and never had much of a chance to win at Birkdale.

Awesome to see the reception from the Birkdale crowd for the lid worn by RNP's caddie Rickie Fowler on the setup at Royal Birkdale this week: With Tommy Fleetwood, it's the hope that kills you On Saturday, I followed Tommy Fleetwood for most of the day, and it reminded me a lot of following Rory McIlroy last year at Portrush.

There is almost always some level of mystery around how a golf course will play, especially when it isn't a course we see every year. Aronimink took everyone by surprise. Shinnecock, with its lack of wind and patchy fescue, played much more bomber friendly than was anticipated. Royal Birkdale is typically thought of as more of a precision test than power.

That was total gamesmanship by Bryson on the 9th tee. He's been stuck in neutral all day and has watched Sam Burns start to get away from him after birdies on 7 and 8. So on the 9th tee, Bryson pauses and acts like he's deciding what club to hit, getting a rise out of the crowd. He was hitting driver the whole time, of course, but I believe he was trying to disrupt the feel and rhythm of the group with Sam Burns playing so well.

I still can't wrap my mind around why R&A officials allowed Bryson to drag them out to the scene of the crime and hold them hostage as he stomped around in the marram grass, gesticulating for the cameras and making empty threats about quitting. Nor can I fathom why one of those officials felt the need afterwards to assert repeatedly that Bryson's violation had been inadvertent. Isn't the whole point that his intentions are unknowable and therefore irrelevant to the enforcement of the rule?

LIVE COVERAGE Saturday coverage of the 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale 12 posts 2026 Open Championship ENDEDEarly Week CoverageENDEDThursdayENDEDFridayLIVESaturdayUPCOMINGSunday Reading along? to react and reply. Interesting comment from Xander Schauffele, who played alongside Ryan Fox and his round of 62 today. It makes you wonder if they can get it much tougher for Sunday's final round, especially on the pin sheet, and another such low number might exist out there. Q.

LIVE COVERAGE Friday coverage of the 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale 8 posts 2026 Open Championship ENDEDEarly Week CoverageENDEDThursdayLIVEFridayUPCOMINGSaturdayUPCOMINGSunday Reading along? to react and reply. Echoing a bit of what Kevin just wrote about, major championships and especially The Open, have a tendency of exposing poor strikes far more frequently than a normal stop. This morning especially, the conditions have the guys FLUMMOXED.

Good morning from Birkdale! Another glorious day of sunshine is expected here. I truly cannot overstate how delightful the weather has been. Do not listen to the malcontents about it being "too hot" with not enough AC. An early course setup note: the 15th hole, the new beastly par-3 whose construction was member-driven but also brought variety to yardages for this championship, is playing on the up tee again today.

I would like to render a judgment on this: The 5th hole is a so bad it's good situation. So it is decreed. I would guess that close to 50 reporters were waiting in the Mixed Zone to speak with Bryson DeChambeau after his first round 67 on Thursday when an R&A media official emerged to inform us that Bryson wanted to send word he was not granting any interviews, to print reporters or television reporters.

Golf never ceases to amaze me with it's counterintuitive nature. The discourse around Bryson DeChambeau and his golf game leading into this tournament feels like it reached a breaking point. In the past few weeks, Bryson DeChambeau has been making YouTube videos including one at the lovable, shaggy Northwood Golf Club.