The Open Diary

Sunday, 18 - Gutted for Louis, hats off to Morikawa

Another fantastic Open Championship and what a performance by Collin Morikawa.

He’s a very impressive young man and seems to have all the tools, including being able to focus incredibly for 18 holes. That, I believe, has a lot to do with the work he’s done with his swing coach Rick Sessinghaus, who has coached Collin since he was eight, and who I got chatting to.

They do a lot of work on something called “mental flow states” and how to get into that state, and Collin is unbelievable at that. You could see it at Royal St George’s – he was so focused and engaged with regards everything he was doing. It’s an impressive skill set he has that obviously goes really well with his golfing ability.

So many golfers talk about “being in the zone” or, more scientifically, the “optimal arousal level”, but when you ask them how they do it, they can’t answer. There’s currently a lot of research being done in this area, as it can have a big impact on a golfer’s mental approach.

For guys like extreme sports men and women, they get into flow states immediately, because if they don’t, they might die. So, the level of danger gets them into that state, whereas with golf, it’s a little more difficult, also due to the fact that it’s a stationary ball. But, you can mimic it and apply it to golf – it’s just a little more difficult.

Like I said, it’s a specialised skill and it’s about getting yourself into the ideal mental state to hit the golf ball where you want it to go.

The first time I saw Collin was at the US Open at Pebble Beach in 2019 when Erik van Rooyen, who I was working with at the time, played a practice round with him, Rory McIlroy and Norway’s Viktor Hovland, and everyone was talking about Viktor and Matthew Wolff – two young stars new to the tour. But, I walked away from that round thinking, “sure, Hovland is good, but I like the look of this Morikawa – he has all the tools.”

I’m desperately sorry for Louis. It’s hard to say what went wrong, but it just seemed to get away from, after he was almost flawless for the first 48 holes or so of the tournament. He just seemed to lose his mechanics a little bit and lose the ball out to the right, which is his miss.

I was watching on the telly and he certainly wasn’t holding his body angles as well as he was for the first couple of rounds. For a guy who swings so sweetly, if he doesn’t hold his shape in his pelvis and his back, he can’t create that same line of consistency, in terms of swing dynamics.

But, that’s major golf and what happens in those pressure situations. It’s not like he played badly, but, like I’ve said before, in majors the margins are so small.

Very sad from a South African perspective and not just that – the feeling in the players’ lounge was that a lot of guys were pulling for him, not just the South Africans. He’s a great guy and very popular. Hopefully he’ll bounce back, but this will be a bitter pill to swallow.

With regards Dean, again he had a good warm-up and was in a good frame of mind. It was also a nice change for him to play with Brandt Snedeker, one of the faster players on tour, which Dean liked. They had also played a couple of practice holes together earlier in the week.

Once again, Dean hit the ball well again, but his putting again let him down. He probably left about five makeable putts short and just couldn’t get the pace right. That’s why he shot 71, having probably played better than that, which is what I could say of the whole weekend. Dean shot 71-71 to finish on one-under-par and tied for 40th place, when he could have been much higher up the leaderboard.

The positives to take out, for Dean, is that he can see that he can compete and he belongs at this level. I’m looking forward to the future for him.

Lastly, it was nice to have lunch with golfing great Sir Nick Faldo on his birthday, which he obviously shares with our late President Nelson Mandela. It’s always nice to pick his golf brain and get his thoughts on what has gone on the past few days at Royal St George’s.

That pretty much wrapped up my time in south-east England and after yet another Covid test, I was in the car on my way to Heathrow and looking forward to being back home!

Saturday, 17 - A tale of unforgiving links

Another interesting day at the Open Championship and another late tee time, fortunately, to deal with, with Dean only off mid-afternoon.

That means there was time to hit the merchandise tent in the morning. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t be such a big deal and pre-Covid I would have strolled in amongst the masses of fans and made my purchases.

But Covid has changed our lives in many ways and that has included how the R&A does business at the Open. The players and I were given scheduled times to be at the merchandise tent, before the spectators arrived on Saturday, to keep us away from the general population. So, that meant I was in there at 07h45 choosing what I wanted.

I always make sure I pick up a few things for the people back home, including for the wife as some kind of peace offering, having been away from home for about five weeks!

Thereafter, it was back to my flat to put my feet up and watch some of the golf on the telly. I did that with Dean’s caddie, Jason Reynolds, and it’s often good to check out how the course is playing on TV, where some of the pins are, how some of the putts behave. It can often give you just a bit more useful information before teeing off, and I know some players and caddies use this as another tool.

Dean had a nice warm-up and time on the range before teeing off, and he was in good spirits, looking to make a bit of a move on the weekend.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, even though he actually played quite well. There was a bit of a breeze and the conditions were challenging, but there were still opportunities to score. The pins were also definitely more challenging, but fair, and the first five holes you certainly just had to get through unscathed. Dean did that and then birdied 7, but instead of kicking on, unfortunately, doubled 8, and that really knocked the wind out of his sails.

It was, perhaps, a sloppy double, but he was also a little unlucky, getting a flyer on a pitch shot out of the rough and found himself out of position. But, that’s links golf, and it was a reminder of how small the margins are.

By his own admission, Dean just wasn’t quite sharp enough and one more birdie and one more bogey meant he signed for a 71 and two-under for the tournament, which leaves him in a tie for 33rd place, heading into Sunday.

As a whole, Dean is happy with where his game is at and I’m hoping for a strong finish from him and perhaps a few more things going his way. That’s also part of links golf, taking the rough with the smooth.

It’s something Dean’s playing partner Daniel Berger did well. At the start of the round, he certainly looked like he was playing second fiddle to Dean, but he hung in there, relied on his short game to get him out of trouble and keep him in the tournament, and he ultimately got the reward with three birdies on the back nine.

He’s now lying 12th, going into the final round, thanks to making sure he gritted it out and squeezed out a 68.

Much to be learnt from that.

Friday, 16 July - Wind swings game to precision, not might

It’s great to have a South African at the top of the leaderboard heading into the weekend and hats off to Louis – making just one bogey in two rounds around Royal St George’s is pretty impressive going. It’s actually incredible.

That being said, the course probably played a little easier today, but this morning the wind was certainly blowing and it was cold. So, for the guys who played on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, it was certainly more difficult.

Interesting to see that the approach of some of the ‘bombers’ has not paid off, although you do have Dustin Johnson lurking on seven-under. No big surprise that your quality ball strikers – the likes of Louis and Collin Morikawa – are out in front, because it’s a golf course that rewards good driving and good approach shots.

The wind that blew today is set to stay through the weekend, so it’s going to be interesting to see if some guys change their approach, particularly those who hit driver on certain holes. The key here really is being in the fairway and not the incredibly thick rough.

On top of that, the course is going to dry out and play hard and fast, so I expect you’ll see more one or two irons, or even driving irons, as opposed to drivers.

On that note, the talking point around Royal St George’s is certainly Bryson DeChambeau and his post-round comment on Thursday, where he said that his driver “sucks”, and then the immediate response from Cobra, who came right back at him, forcing him to apologise. The other manufacturers are definitely dining out on that and there’s been much sniggering and laughing into their sleeves from those guys.

I walked a bit with Garrick, who was playing with Brooks Koepka, who you probably know isn’t that fond of Bryson, and there was plenty of friendly heckling, with things like “hey Brooks, have you got your Cobra drive?”. The guys don’t miss a beat around here!

Dean played beautifully and but for two late bogeys, would have had a 65. As it is, he said after his round that if you’d offered him a 67 and three-under-par for the tournament before the round, he would have taken it. He just played really solidly, getting off to a good start with a birdie on two and then caught fire through the turn. After a birdie on nine, he nearly holed his second at the 10th and then had birdies on 12 and 14, before the disappointing bogeys on 15 and 18.

Dean’s really excited for the weekend and who knows. He’s playing nicely and he could be dangerous. He’ll go off early-afternoon and maybe he can get in early with a good score.

With Garrick, it basically came down to his poor performance on the greens. He again hit the ball well and tee to green was more than decent. But, he just couldn’t get used to the fescue greens and couldn’t buy a putt. You know, that will come with time and he’ll learn how to perform on links courses with greens like this. He’s a quick learner and I have no doubt he’ll perform well in future Opens.

Garrick is heading back to SA for some time with the family, before heading out to Japan for the Olympics. He’s really excited to represent South Africa there and actually likes the golf courses in Japan, having played a fair amount of golf there, so I anticipate him doing well at the Games. All in all, Garrick is in a good space – I think he just needs a rest.

Lastly, had a nice dinner with Sir Nick Faldo on Thursday evening. I’ve been working with him on his ‘Faldo Formula’ for some time now, and it was the two of us and his production manager for dinner at the house in Ash he’s hired for the week, courtesy of his chef!

The Faldo Formula is targeted at golfers over the age of 40 and 50 and is all about making playing golf easier and more enjoyable.

Check it out!

Thursday, 15 July - Nerves, tough start and hope

Great to get the Open underway, but not a fantastic day for my guys, scoring-wise.

That being said, both Dean and Garrick felt they played well and just didn’t take advantage of their good ball-striking.

Rewind a few hours and the day started pretty early for me – the alarm buzzing at 04h15 so that I could be up and at the course around 05h30 to warm Dean up for his 07h19 start.

With Garrick off at 08h03, it made for a couple of early warm-up sessions. Normally, we would work on about a 90-minute lead time before teeing off, but with there being a few more moving parts at the Open, and with the putting green and driving range a fair distance away, we’re working on starting things about two hours before the tee time. You also need to factor in some breakfast time when you have those early starts.

Both guys had a good warm-up, but there’s no doubt that they both had some nerves, being their first Open Championship and a large group of fans behind the first tee.

It was quite cool and breezy when we set off in the morning. In fact, I think it was more windy in the morning than later on, but there’s no doubt the thick rough was arguably the biggest challenge and being on the fairway was of utmost importance.

As it is, Garrick missed the first fairway by just a few feet, but still had to identify his ball in the rough! That was the same rough that Tiger Woods lost a ball in, in 2011, and took an eight.

It’s the sort of golf course where, if you are hitting it straight and you have control of your ball flight, you can score, as Louis showed us. He’s certainly got that control at the moment. I saw Louis in the gym after his round and had a nice chat with him. He’s such a chilled, lekker guy, and you wouldn’t know whether he had shot six-over or six-under. He was about to go off and have a brief session with his trainer, a South African guy called Marnus Marais. Louis was talking about not having his family out with him, as they had to remain in the United States, due to Covid restrictions for the Open that only allow you to have a couple members of your team staying with you.

He’s only playing the Open before heading back to the States.

Dean actually hit the ball beautifully, but just struggled on the greens, finding them quite slow. In fact, we counted five putts that he left short, on line, within two feet of the hole, and he still finished even-par with a 70.

Garrick also felt that if his short game had been sharper he could have got it under par. As it is, he’s got his work cut out for him, even though +3 is not completely out of it.

The margins are just so small, which is definitely the case with major golf and particularly links golf. Playing with Brooks Koepka was quite interesting for Garrick and what he took away from that was how unflappable Koepka is, maintaining an even keel throughout, regardless of whether he hit a bad shot or not.

He was also pretty focused and not up for much chatting!

Both Dean and Garrick were pragmatic about their days and remain positive about round two.

So, all in all, a long day, but I’m back at my apartment now for a cup of tea and about to head off for an early dinner with Sir Nick Faldo, another of my clients and someone I’ve worked with for the past couple of years.

Let’s hope he’s not keen on a late one!

Wednesday, 14 July - Much ado about putting

It was nice to have a fairly late start, due to Garrick and Dean wanting to get as much rest as possible, because of their early tee times on Thursday.

I warmed them up together and then they both hit the course, with Garrick playing the front nine and then 17 and 18, with Shaun Norris. What was nice is that Shaun actually gave Garrick a putting tip near the start of the year in Qatar, which we all agree has made a big difference to Garrick’s short game, and he’s putted brilliantly since. So, it was great to have them back together again and sharing tips on how best to approach Royal St George’s.

Dean played the back nine and it was a different day out on the course, with the prevailing wind blowing out of the north/north-west, so it was certainly a tougher proposition. Also, the greens have been double-cut, so they were a lot faster. You know, links greens can sometimes be a bit slow and bumpy, but these were quite quick, which was nice.

I was actually chatting to one of the Scotty Cameron putter guys and he was saying that what some guys do when they get to courses with greens like these is add some loft to their putters or add some weight, to help them get a better roll or get the ball off the surface and moving quicker. He’s also seen some guys move away from the blade-type putters and opt for more mallet-types, so it will be interesting to see which putters are successful this week.

What’s interesting about Royal St George’s is that it’s not like a traditional links that is nine holes out and then nine holes back in. This course kind of loops back on itself and I think it actually makes things a bit fairer, in that there’s less chance of you finding yourself on the wrong side of the draw, if the wind changes. I don’t think we’ll see that this week, which I believe is a fairer test.

In terms of the clubs my guys were hitting off the tee, Dean is really benefitting from putting the one-iron in the bag. He’s been working with the guys from Srixon on it and actually used it at the Scottish Open, and he just hits it absolutely miles, to the extent that Brandt Snedeker, who he played with yesterday, was just shaking his head. It’s going to be a great asset for him this week, which he’ll need, as it’s going to blow and the guys are going to need to flight their ball well.

I chatted to Jon Rahm’s caddie, Adam, and they played a practice round with Dustin Johnson, and on one hole everyone was hitting irons off the tee, but Johnson just couldn’t see it and said ‘I’m just going to hit driver’, and he smashed it towards the green. So, I think we’re going to see many different approaches this week.

The rough, though, is thick, so I don’t think you’ll see Bryson DeChambeau’s ‘bomb-and-gouge’ approach this week – you’ll need to be on the fairway.

Kurt is off quite late on Thursday, so we had a chat about what he’s going to do for most of the day, as you obviously don’t want to sit on the couch all morning. He’s going to head down to the beachfront for a little jog and make sure he’s fresh for his afternoon tee time.

It’s interesting to see the different approaches of the different players. For example, Rory McIlroy likes to train in the gym after his practice rounds, whilst Dustin likes to do so before. Some guys you just don’t see in the gym!

Speaking of the gym, it’s incredible to see the facility we have here, attached to the players’ lounge, and how far things have come since I first came out to a major. The physical training side of golf has really grown and the authorities have recognised this – it’s now no longer a ‘nice to have’, but rather an integral part of modern golf.

Lastly, the other interesting thing is going to be the return of crowds, with around 30,000 fans out. There are some players, like Rory, who admit to thriving on having fans supporting, so again, it’s going to be interesting to see who responds to that.

Tuesday, 13 July - Adjusting to Conditions

Just days to go now before round one and one of the interesting challenges my players have here is adjusting their circadian rhythms to the UK summer.

That’s because it’s only getting dark around 10 o’clock, the sun comes up around four, and my guys need their sleep!

So, one of the things I’ve got them doing is going to bed early, blacking out their curtains, and putting on a bedside lamp, along with using a mask over their eyes. Certainly, for the South African guys, they’re not used to the long daylight hours.

Thursday’s tee times are out and fortunately, Dean (07h19; SA, CAT, GMT+2) and Garrick (09h03) are off in the morning fairly close together, which means I can warm them up consistently and get out there and walk a couple of holes, as Kurt is only off at 15h54, and he likes to do his own thing before a round.

I won’t warm Dean and Garrick up together, but I have done before and it’s actually quite cool. We put on some music and there’s a bit of a team vibe, which is great, and it actually fits with the fact that we have 13 South Africans playing this week. On tour the South Africans tend to stick together and look out for each other, as well as celebrate each other’s success.

As it is, my guys like to refer to themselves as the ‘G Squad’, which is a bit of a laugh, but it’s all good fun.

I’ve got my guys wearing the WHOOP strap, which measures metabolic rate and response, and has become a vital tool. That’s because I can track their sleep, their recovery and their strain, and I can see how their bodies are reacting to the load they are taking on every day. So, for example, Dean took on a big load today (Tuesday), playing 18 holes and doing some work off the course, so he’ll now need to rest well and I gave him a hydration drink at the end of the day, as well.

Both Garrick and Dean have enjoyed using the WHOOP and the data we get from it, and it’s been great in ensuring they peak when it comes to tournament time. Interestingly, when the two of them won in consecutive weeks on the European Tour a few months ago, their weekly strain versus recovery graphs were almost identical.

I know there’s a lot of excitement back home with regards Garrick’s ability and potential, and it’s well-founded. We’ve been working together since December and what I can tell you is that one of his biggest assets is that he’s got grit and is willing to work hard and push himself. He’s also an absolute gentleman and I think he’s on a very steep trajectory right now. His life has changed and he’s having to make some choices, but they are ‘champagne’ problems, so they are nice choices to make, particularly as he is more in demand, now that’s won on both European and US PGA tours. He’s got a good sense of humour and he and his caddie Nick have a great relationship, keeping things light and focusing on having fun.

Royal St George’s got a lot of rain on Monday, but on Tuesday it was noticeably drier and these top links courses really do have great drainage. The course is in immaculate condition and the greens were a little slower, but I think they will speed up come Thursday. A feature of this course is the undulations on the greens and a key element this week will be players missing in the right place, along with having a good caddie.

As always with the Open, however, a lot will depend on the weather, and that will dictate what the players take off the tee, for example, with it being possible that the same hole could see driver on one day and four-iron the next. It’s also about risk and reward, and I’ll be interested to see how someone like Bryson DeChambeau approaches things. For example, we played today with Daniel van Tonder, who is a good driver of the ball, and he hit driver on almost every hole. But, there are many ways to play each hole.

As I mentioned earlier, the South Africans stick together and that includes the practice rounds. I know that Ernie Els and Christiaan Bezuidenhout took on the Aussies, Adam Scott and Matt Jones, in a money game, although I don’t know the result!

I also got word that JC Ritchie and Shaun Norris played with Louis Oosthuizen today and the feedback was that he’s again playing incredibly well and looks amazing and so good on these links courses. He just looks very comfortable and knows how to flight his ball so well, which is probably due to his days growing up in Mossel Bay.

No big surprise – he’s certainly worth a flutter!

Awesome to be back at the Open Championship and looking forward to a great week that hopefully includes Dean, Garrick or Kurt in contention – and ideally, all three!

Obviously, this year’s championship is significantly different from the last one I worked at two years ago, due to Covid-19.

That started with taking one of two R&A charter flights from the Scottish Open on Sunday. All players, caddies and support staff heading to the Open had to take a Covid test before boarding in Edinburgh. We flew to Gatwick and got straight into courtesy cars without interacting with any other ‘civilians’, to ensure we all remained in our ‘bubble’.

As I was on the later flight, I only got to my accommodation – which is a flat down the road from Royal St George’s – at around midnight. I’m staying on my own, because I’m working with three different guys, whereas most of the players can have three support staff members staying with them, limiting the overall number of each ‘camp’ to four.

Fortunately, I have been vaccinated, but I still have to have limited contact with each of my players, even though that vaccination exempts me from contact tracing, if one of my players tests positive. As it is, I had to produce my vaccination card when I arrived at the course on Monday and was duly given my accreditation for the week.

The R&A really have spared no expense this week trying to eliminate Covid from the tournament, and keep the bubble intact, including right down to delivering us right to the front door of the clubhouse in the courtesy cars! There’s also a double-storey players’ lounge with downstairs conference area, and a really beautiful gym, which obviously pleases me.

My first order of business today, Monday, was to get Garrick stretched and warmed up, and he then went out and played the front nine with Erik van Rooyen and American Johannes Veerman, who has some good form at the moment.

It was nice to walk some of the golf course, which I think is one of the best links courses, from a layout and challenge point of view. There aren’t millions of bunkers, but it’s cleverly bunkered, and the rough is up, so there is going to be a premium on ball striking and driving accuracy this week. On top of that, it rained Sunday and Monday, so the course is wet, which will make the course soft and that rough quite gnarly.

It’s going to be interesting seeing the approach of the players, because the longer ones will be able to go with something less than driver off the tee, and that’s why I fancy Dean’s chances this week. He’s going to be put a one-iron in the bag, and I think you’ll see that and some two-irons off the tee from some guys this week.

Speaking of Dean, if you were following the Scottish Open, you would have seen him have a crazy third round on Saturday, which featured four consecutive twos, including two hole-outs for eagle. I was walking with him and it was unbelievable, particularly as he had nothing going on, until he stood on the 12th tee. I said to him, ‘just like in cricket, with regards wickets, one can bring two, so just try and get one’, and he proceeded to nearly hole his tee shot, before going on that run. Incredible stuff.

I’m excited for Dean, but I’m gutted for Louis de Jager, who tested positive and will now miss out, having recently qualified for the Open. Louis has been out here for about 10 weeks and was missing his family and couldn’t get them out here, so he decided to go back for a quick visit and unfortunately picked up the virus. That was the risk he took, but I’m really disappointed for him, as he was playing well and I really feel this was the sort of tournament he could have done well in.

For now, though, my focus is on my three guys here. This week is about tapering, so there’ll be high intensity, but low volume stuff.

All to make sure they are ready for Thursday.