IT was Don Quixote who first discovered, much to his embarrassment, that tilting at windmills is an exercise in futility.
Yet, many of the competitors in the Open this week have understood just how the eponymous hero of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra's novel felt.
With the continued summer heat baking the fairways and greens at Muirfield brick hard, several players have questioned the fairness of the course set-up. Sections of the brutally difficult 7192-yard layout have even been described by some as farcical. The 18th hole, in particular, has been drawing withering comments from increasingly exasperated combatants. Not least from Ian Poulter.
Judging by his remarks, the Englishman would have preferred to have dispensed with the services of his caddie while approaching the hole and enlisted the assistance of Sancho Panza instead. He took to Twitter after his opening round on Thursday to express his disgust at the closing hole. "It needs a windmill and a clown face," he wrote, in reference to the kind of convoluted contraptions found in municipal parks across the country.
But is the iconic 470-yard par four crazy golf? Or should Poulter – the European hero of the Ryder Cup at Medinah last year – and his fellow critics simply man up and take their medicine if they fail to get the better of it?
The statistics show the 18th was only the third-hardest hole on the East Lothian course on the opening day; both the first and the 14th were more demanding. However, it surrendered the fewest birdies on the course, with just seven players out of the 154 who completed full rounds successfully posting red figures. Even Zach Johnson, the former US Masters champion who safely parred it to take the early lead, admitted it was "very tricky" and that he "could see why guys are complaining".
Not surprisingly, the Royal & Ancient have since dismissed the accusations levelled against them. Indeed, Peter Dawson, the governing body's chief executive, suggested that taking four bogeys in the final five holes had possibly coloured Poulter's judgement. Nevertheless, the pin was cut in a far more reachable spot yesterday, 21 yards from the front edge of the green and four yards from left. Subsequently, far more birdies were recorded. Sandy Lyle, at the grand old age of 55, did so for a consecutive day.
Another who managed to card a three at it in yesterday's second round was the promising PGA Tour professional Harris English. He found the fairway with a five wood tee shot, drilled an eight iron to within four feet of the flag and made no mistake with his putt. That rounded off a level par effort of 71 and put the 23-year-old on three-over-par – well inside the cut mark – on only his second appearance in the major.
Afterwards, though, English acknowledged there was a specific reason he was not far higher up the leaderboard. The 18th hole. "I took a triple bogey there on the first day," he said. "It really is a tough hole. If you don't hit it where you are looking you are going to run up a big number.
"I drove it into the bunker to the left of the fairway off the tee and couldn't get it out. I played well on the first day, hit one bad shot off the final tee and got punished for it. That's what you get here. My goal playing it today was just to get it on the fairway."
Despite his travails at the end of his otherwise excellent opening round, the American does not believe the R&A blundered with their pin placement on the first day. "It is a very difficult hole, but I don't think it was unfair in the opening round," he said. "The green was dicey, really firm and baked-out. The pin was on a ridge and it was tough. But, hey, that is how it is out there. You have to accept that in the Open."
But negotiating the slick and wickedly undulating putting surface is just half the battle at the 18th. Getting the ball in play is highly problematic, too. Deep pot bunkers await wayward tee shots in the first cut of rough at 265 yards, 283 yards and 290 yards. Laying up short of them leaves a far longer approach shot. Fortune, then, most definitely favours the brave.
It is invariably played into a cross wind. On the first day the stiff westerly breeze forced many into the thick rough on the left and yesterday the north-easterly wind was pushing them to the right. Regardless of whether the 18th is fair or not, it will ensure a thrilling finale to this great tournament tomorrow evening.
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