Unless you've been living in the stuff for the past four days, you won't have escaped the furore over the state of the rough at Royal St Lytham this week.
The debate has split the players into two camps: Tiger Woods has been moaning about it while Tony Jacklin, the former European Ryder Cup captain told him to quit whingeing. Darren Clarke, last year's champion, described it as "brutal" before adding "If you start spraying the ball around this week, you might as well go home." Which, made me chuckle, not least because it served Clarke notice of how us mere mortals feel every time we pick up a club. Unless I've missed the dictat from the Royal & Ancient, then surely the point of golf is to make it as difficult as possible for the professionals?
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