​SOUTHPORT, England — Peter Uihlein returned to Royal Birkdale for the first time in nine years, and there were moments on late Sunday afternoon when the course felt almost unfamiliar to him. The turf wore a brownish hue rather than its usual green, a sign of the scorching weather that has baked Europe and raised concerns about what could be a fast, fiery Open Championship when play begins on Thursday. The wind blew in from the coast, typical for links golf along the Lancashire shore.
From 256 yards out on the par-4 14th, Uihlein struck a 6-iron that landed short of the green and then rolled to about 40 yards beyond the hole. At 226 yards into a headwind on the 18th, he pounded a 2-iron—he admitted he can’t remember the last time he carried one—and came up just short of the green. Yet it was the 15th hole that gave him real pause. “What the hell?” he exclaimed from the back of the tee on a 241-yard hole. Not long after, Uihlein, a former U.S. Amateur champion now aligned with LIV Golf, muttered to no one in particular, “I just don’t remember a 240-yard par 3.” That hole hadn’t existed in 2017, when the Open last visited Royal Birkdale, and the course is now a study in transformation.
This marks the second time in four years that the R&A has crafted a seemingly new hole, a fact Rory McIlroy alluded to last week as bound to generate buzz. Royal Birkdale began to fill on Sunday as players returned to prepare for the year’s final major, whether reacquainting themselves with the layout or viewing it anew. Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka joined in after traveling down from the Scottish Open, having missed the cut—a first for Scheffler, the world No. 1, in almost four years. Rickie Fowler battled jet lag with a Saturday round at nearby West Lancashire and then played all 18 holes Sunday at Royal Birkdale with Akshay Bhatia, a first-time Birkdale competitor.
The changes clearly captured attention—No. 15 is the sole new hole, though the reachable par-4 fifth has undergone redesign, and several other holes feature altered angles. Yet what really stood out was the grass’s color, the turf’s firmness, and the forecast. Sunscreen may outpace fish-and-chips sales this week. “It’s as close to Carnoustie as I’ve seen,” said Joe Greiner, Bhatia’s caddie who previously worked at Carnoustie in 2018 when the course was so yellow players were driving onto the first green, and Hideki Matsuyama hit a 3-wood into the burn about 425 yards because the ball was rolling so far. This, Greiner added, is links golf at its best.
“It’s windy and firm, and you need creativity to land it short—very short—of the green and not fear the bounce,” Uihlein explained, then rifled through his irons and added, “Loft means nothing when it’s like this.” Jordan Spieth joined the weekend crowd at Royal Birkdale, arriving as the site hosted the buildup to the Open where he secured one of his career Grand Slam milestones in 2017—an achievement that remains impressive even as the event returns with renewed drama and a course that continues to evolve.