The Open Championship returns to Scotland’s Royal Troon GC this year, site of one of the biggest upsets in golf history. It happened back in 2004, and it’s been that long—12 years—since the author of that upset, Todd Hamilton, last played the course. Then a 38-year-old PGA Tour rookie ranked No. 56 in the world, Hamilton won a four-hole playoff against Ernie Els, then the world No. 2 with three majors to his name. Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood finished third and fourth, respectively.
“I wasn’t playing well leading up to the event,” Hamilton says. But after draining a 25-footer to make birdie and finish his opening round with an even-par 71, his confidence returned. By No. 18 on Sunday, Hamilton figured second place was his as he watched Els lean over a birdie putt to win.
“I remember taking my hat off, because I thought he would make it,” Hamilton says. When Els didn’t, forcing the four-hole playoff, “I got a little pep in my step,” Hamilton says. “I thought: Now’s my chance.”
Els bogeyed the third hole of the playoff, giving Hamilton a one-stroke lead into 18. There, he hit a 2-iron off the tee “very, very poorly” but managed to make par. Els needed a 15-footer for birdie to extend the championship.
“He left it short,” Hamilton says. “It was over. I never dreamt anything like that would have happened.” It helped that he wasn’t all that nervous during the tournament. Says Hamilton: “I felt like I was playing with house money.”
In honour of that upset, we asked Hamilton to revisit three of Royal Troon’s most memorable holes, with advice for this year’s competitors.
Hole 8: POSTAGE STAMP
“No. 8 is a short par three, but the green is very, very small, and it’s nicknamed ‘The Postage Stamp.’ It looks as though you could throw your golf ball onto the green from the teeing ground. But sometimes those short holes are just as hard as a 500-yard par four. You feel like you can go ahead and attack it, when you really should be playing safely.”
Hole 11: THE RAILWAY
“The 11th is an odd hole. The tee sits back in a corner near a railroad, and from the tee, you can’t see any portion of the fairway. You have to pick a spot on a hotel in the distance to hit at, and it’s a very intimidating shot. You have to trust your line and make a good swing at it. There are gorse bushes all around, and you really have to pay attention in your practice rounds on a proper line to hit your tee shot. I did make a birdie on that hole in the last round. If it’s into the wind, it’s a very scary shot. If there’s no wind, it’s a scary shot because you can’t see where you’re going.”
Hole 18: CRAIGEND
“The last hole is very neat. For the Open, they’ve got the big grandstands on either side, and the yellow scoreboard and the green sit right up next to the clubhouse. It’s a very cool scene walking up to the last hole at any Open, but in particular [at Royal Troon], because you walk right up toward the clubhouse. It’s a par four, about 450 yards. If there’s no wind, I’m hitting a 2-iron off the tee to stay out of a few bunkers up there. I’m going to guess that would leave a 7-iron, maybe a 6 depending on what kind of bounce I get. If it’s hard into the wind, you maybe hit driver off the tee. That might bring the bunkers into play and force you to hit a really, really good shot.
“The green isn’t huge. I remember there’s a little bit of a slope that runs through the middle portion of it, so the back sits a little bit higher than the front. I’m going to guess there are three or four bunkers around, the front left and right. I believe there’s out of bounds just over the back of the green. You can’t just go in there hitting full-bore, you have to pay attention to what the wind’s doing, the way the pin position is.”
