Found an error?
Report now
The historic heat wave in England has dried out the Royle Birkdale Golf Course, posing a special challenge for the players.
Associated Press
The world's top golfers are currently competing in "The Open" near Liverpool. But the course resembles an African savanna: the greens are brown and so hard that the players have to come up with new strategies.
“Forged by Nature” is the motto of The Open Championship, the world’s oldest golf tournament. The sport’s world elite will compete on the Royal Birkdale course on the coast near Liverpool.
"The Open Championship" is the oldest golf tournament still in play. Outside the United Kingdom, it is also known as the “British Open.” However, the TV footage from the Royal Birkdale Golf Course doesn’t look British at all. Brown tones dominate, not only in the long grass along the edges of the fairways, but also on many of the greens.
Like the rest of Europe, England is experiencing a record-breaking heat wave with temperatures well above the 30-degree mark. Because there has been hardly any rain, the landscape is drying up—and with it, the venue for “The Open,” as insiders call the golf tournament.
This presents the players with new challenges. Not only do they have to perform at their best for hours under the blazing sun, but the course also plays differently. “This is going to be a tougher golf course,” says world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. “The ball will roll on and on,” he says shortly before the tournament begins on ESPN.
The parched course causes the balls to bounce higher, and the dry grass offers little resistance. Players need to take this into account when teeing off so that their balls don't roll far beyond the green—or even into one of the many sand bunkers.
In 2006, the course at the Open Championship was just as dry as it was in 2026. Tiger Woods adapted successfully.
Associated Press
The conditions are reminiscent of 2006, when the then-dominant Tiger Woods decided not to even bring his driver—the heavy club used for long tee shots—onto the course. He approached each hole step by step and ultimately won by a wide margin. In 2026, too, some players have announced that they will leave the driver in their bag, at least on certain holes.
The first two days show that at least some of the competitors have adapted well to the extreme conditions. After Day 1, the underdog Jackson Suber is in the lead. However, there are still three laps to go before the final result is decided on Sunday.
The scorching summer of 2026 on the island is etched in people’s memories with shades of brown, where spectators are used to lush greenery—this was already the case at Wimbledon and continues at the Open Championship.
18.07.2026, 15:14
