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Greens in Regulation a 'key stat' ahead of 153rd Open
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Lowry [30/1] led GiR when winning here six years ago
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Tournament and Course Notes
Situated on North Antrim's Causeway Coast, Royal Portrush hosts The Open Championship for a third time. Founded in 1888, the club has two 18-hole layouts, including its famous championship course named Dunluce Links.
Dunluce Links was designed by Harry Colt more than 90 years ago, with the course undergoing a number of changes ahead of its return to The Open rota in 2019. And a few more modifications have taken place since.
The links has fewer bunkers than most other Open Championship venues but plenty of tricky dog-legs, while the average fairway width is 27 yards. Those who wish to stand atop the leaderboard this week will need to possess strong course management skills. Accurate driving is also vital, as is clinical iron play.
A number of holes run close to Northern Ireland's Atlantic coast, with the smallish, undulating greens offering a wide variety of pin positions. Both fairways and greens are sown with Fescue grass.
As with most Open venues, the ability to score low usually depends on the weather, and this was no exception in 2019 when the eventual champion - Shane Lowry - made the most of benign conditions over the first three days. By Saturday evening, he enjoyed a four-stroke advantage after posting rounds of 67-67-63 to reach 16 under par.
But on Sunday, scoring became more difficult, with tee times moved forward because of an adverse weather forecast. None of the top five finishers broke par (71) in the final round, as Lowry claimed victory by six shots.
Over four days, Lowry topped the Greens in Regulation table, posting impressive stats of 79.17%, against a field average of 62.26%. On day one he was 88.89%, which was better than anyone else, and in his record-breaking third round of 63, Lowry led the way once again by hitting 17 of the 18 greens in regulation.
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PGA Tour Stats
Top 15 in Tour's Greens in Regulation table @ 14/7/25
2: Patrick Cantlay [50/1]
2: Chris Gotterup [80/1]
4: Sepp Straka [50/1]
6: Nicolai Hojgaard [150/1]
12: Nick Taylor [150/1]
13: Scottie Scheffler [9/2]
14: Russell Henley [60/1]
Only those entered this week are included in table
Open Stats
Last 15 Champions (Stroke deficit Thru 18 holes)
Year...Champion...(margin after 18)
`24: Xander Schauffele (-4)
`23: Brian Harman (-1)
`22: Cameron Smith (-3)
`21: Collin Morikawa (-3)
`19: Shane Lowry (-1)
`18: Francesco Molinari (-4)
`17: Jordan Spieth (0)
`16: Henrik Stenson (-5)
`15: Zach Johnson (-1)
`14: Rory McIlroy (+1)
`13: Phil Mickelson (-3)
`12: Ernie Els (-3)
`11: Darren Clarke (-3)
`10: Louis Oosthuizen (-2)
`09: Stewart Cink (-2)
Note: -2 (two behind); 0 (tied for lead)
• Only two of the last 15 Open winners were outside top-10 after 18 holes;
• Only one of last 15 champions failed to break 70 in round one (Molinari fired 70 in 2018).
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Stroke Averages
Lowest 12 in The Open (2019-24)
Average .... (Rounds)
69.50: Shane Lowry (18)
69.55: Jon Rahm (20)
69.83: Cameron Young (12)
69.89: Tommy Fleetwood (18)
69.90: Xander Schauffele (20)
69.94: Scottie Scheffler (16)
69.95: Jordan Spieth (20)
70.06: Brian Harman (18)
70.07: Viktor Hovland (14)
70.08: Lee Westwood (12)
70.17: Collin Morikawa (12)
70.25: Dean Burmester (12)
Min. No. of Rounds = 10
Only those entered this week are included in table