CARNOUSTIE, Scotland _ The fairways at Carnoustie are baked to a rich brown, a stark contrast to the deep green of the heavily watered putting surfaces. It's no exaggeration to say the fairways are actually faster than the greens, and that's by design. Tournament officials have had to suspend play at the British Open before because balls were blowing off the greens.
So that's going to make for some interesting club selection this week, with many players opting not to put a driver in their bag and instead adding a one- or two-iron they can keep under the wind.
How crazy is it? Justin Thomas hit a five-iron 305 yards, and Brooks Koepka hit a four-iron 320. Padraig Harrington hit his drive on No. 18 at least 457 yards and into the burn, essentially a moat that separates the fairway and green.
"I think where you really can get in trouble is just pressing out here," Thomas said. "I'm probably going to hit a lot of irons."
It could be a problem if any player reaches for his driver, he added, "then you start hitting them into bunkers, gorse bushes, whatever it may be. And you start making more bogeys and double bogeys. And the next thing you know, you turn a one or two over into a five or six over.
