Nick Taylor says preparing for The Open Championship is like cramming for a big test. Royal Birkdale, this week, is a golf course he’s never seen before, in conditions unlike any of his other Open Championship appearances. But, he said, he isn’t trying to overdo his preparation either.
Taylor has never made the cut in three attempts at the final major of the year, but this year he’s hoping to finally get a good result out of a championship he’s long enjoyed.
“I’ve taken slow steps the last couple of years. Every year I’ve been right there and maybe just (made) some silly mistakes. But I feel good about it,” Taylor told Sportsnet.ca on Wednesday. “One shot at a time. And for me, just staying where I need to be and committing to the strategy.”
While Taylor’s countryman Corey Conners said he often spends more time on the golf course in weeks like this, Taylor said he’s been trying to conserve energy with just two nine-hole practice rounds focused on the short game. He’ll lean more so than usual on caddie Dave Markle, he said, for strategy and lines off the tee. This approach makes total sense for Taylor — given that he’ll tee off close to 4 p.m. local time on Friday for his second round.
Taylor has never had “bad weather” for any of the rounds he’s played in his Open Championship career, but he’s also never had anything in front of him like what’s on tap at Royal Birkdale. It hasn’t rained in the area for more than a week, and the forecast is set to be more of the same over the coming days.
-
Just play, we’ll handle the rest
Genesis delivers five years of complimentary scheduled maintenance, whether at your doorstep or beside the fairway, so every drive remains effortless.
Learn more
Taylor played with past Open Championship winner David Duval on Wednesday, and Duval said that at Royal Birkdale (and “only here”), the greens are actually designed to help slow the ball down. Taylor said that downwind especially golfers need to be cautious, as there could be 30 or 40 yards of run-out difference.
“That’ll be the biggest challenge,” Taylor explained. “Where do you take on bunkers? Where do you not? What’s your best guess on how far the ball will go?
“How firm this ground is; this is a new experience for me.”
Taylor has had a collection of fine results so far this season, but hasn’t had, necessarily, anything too notable. Taylor remains Canada’s second-ranked male golfer and is the second Canadian in the FedExCup standings. But he’s notched just one top-10 finish this year at the Cadillac Championship. He was also in the mix at the PGA Championship before making six bogeys in his final nine holes and falling into a tie for 24th.
“I haven’t really pieced four good rounds together. I’ve had three decent rounds or decent weekends or decent starts. It’s been a lot of pretty good golf that hasn’t been there to make great results,” Taylor said. “The totality of the year has been decent, but more times than not, I’m frustrated leaving tournaments thinking I’ve left a lot there.”
Still, Taylor comes into this week after a tremendous weekend at the Travelers Championship, where he went 64-65, and then a very solid run at the Genesis Scottish Open last week, where he climbed 18 spots in the final round after a Sunday 68.
With this, the final major of the season, Taylor knows exactly what he needs to do to find some success at The Open — for the first time in his career.
“I think it’s just such a fine line at most tournaments, and if I can stay in my world and not get in my own way — the best way of putting it — hopefully those results come,” Taylor said.
