• PGATour.com’s Sean Martin on the danger…”A plethora of O.B. stakes, especially early in the round, means that some players will face the dreaded re-tee. The first, second, fourth and 18th holes all have out-of-bounds, and some of it is too close for comfort.”

• “On the 482-yard, par-4 fourth hole, just a thin strip of rough separates the fairway from the boundary. Players must squeeze the tee shot between the bunker and those stakes.”

• “Out-of-bounds stakes line both sides of the first hole. Some of the stakes are within 20 yards of the fairway’s left side. Players are still on Royal Portrush’s property if they miss it left on 1, but that area was deemed O.B. to keep consistent with history. The same is true down the left side of the dogleg-right 18th.”

Full piece.

• “Golf should be a game of skill,” he said Wednesday. “It should not  be a technology driven game. And where that balance is depends on how  good you are. And that’s still my gut view. The data will guide us.”
• “Not surprisingly, it sounded as if the report will focus heavily on the question of some skills having been reduced or nullified by distance, just as the original Statement of Principles said 17 years ago.”

• Anyway…Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…”But as McIlroy explained Wednesday at Royal Portrush, site of this week’s Open Championship, Diamond was an accomplished amateur whose experience could be particularly helpful this week.”

• “I think that’s one of the things people don’t realize, Harry has played more rounds of golf on this golf course than I have, and definitely more competitive rounds,” said McIlroy, who shot a course-record 61 as a 16-year-old in the North of Ireland Amateur held at Portrush in 2005. “He’s just as comfortable on this golf course as I am. So that is a big help this week.”

• “To build the economics of the Women’s British Open, to be able to keep raising the prize money, we need to do it as a sustainable business model,” he said. “It needs to be a long-term business model. How do we build a better model to have a more finally successful Women’s British Open that will then flow down into the prize money?”

• “Where it ends up, I don’t know. But my ambition is to keep growing the overall performance of it and keep enhancing the status of the event.”

Full piece.

• “The fact that Rathmore’s clubhouse is outside the ticketed confines of the Open is not particularly intentional, but it is somewhat symbolic. After all, when Rathmore opened in 1947, it was considered an artisans club, one created for the greens staff, the bar staff, the kitchen staff and any others of service to the more elite and well-heeled Royal Portrush.”
• “In essence, Rathmore is the affordable club. Or as Graeme McDowell calls it, “the workingman’s club.”

• A bit on Robertson’s pedigree…”In 1843 Robertson famously defeated Willie Dunn Sr. in a challenge match played over 20 rounds in 10 days. Oral history tells us Robertson never lost a challenge match. For many years he teamed with Old Tom Morris, defeating all comers in foursomes. They were known as “The Invincibles.” This partnership enabled both Robertson and Morris to elevate their financial status from near poverty into the Victorian middle class, another amazing feat! Robertson was also the first golfer to break 80 on the Links at St. Andrews.”

• And this…”The Open tournament and the Challenge Belt’s genesis are due to the unexpected death of Allan Robertson in 1859 at 43 from an attack of jaundice.”
• “His death left unanswered as to who was the best golfer in the land. As such, in 1860 an “Open” tournament was organized and held at Prestwick, a 12-hole gem designed by Old Tom Morris, to crown Allan Robertson’s heir as the Champion Golfer of the Year.”

Full piece.