Old guys and old courses make for a magical combo at The Open
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As spellbinding as it is to watch a great athlete at the peak of their powers, or to witness the shock of a Cinderella story, nothing raises the hair on the back of your neck — or perhaps your ears, depending on your vintage — like an aging athlete chasing one last moment of glory.
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There was a brief moment early Thursday morning at Royal Portrush when the co-leaders at the final major championship of 2025 were 55-year-old Phil Mickelson and 52-year-old Lee Westwood.
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'Links golf, more than any golf, gives you a chance when you're our age, shall I say,' Westwood said.
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The Englishman reached four-under before settling for a two-under 69. Westwood is unique among the older competitors at Portrush this week because the LIV golfer battled his way through Open qualifying to earn his spot into the field.
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'I love the Open Championship and I love Portrush,' Westwood said. 'I've been coming here a long time. It's one of the golf courses where, if it wasn't the Open and somebody said 'do you want to play Portrush this weekend?' I'd probably go. There's not many golf courses like that.'
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In many ways, links golf is the perfect foil for a sports world that increasingly wants to solve every mystery with analytics, technology and protein shakes.
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'There's a bit more run on the ball,' Westwood said of how the fiery Portrush turf evens the playing field when it comes to distance. 'It's not a golf course where there's a massive advantage to carrying a trap at, say, 310 yards, which I don't have anymore.
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'You've got to use the conditions and hold the ball up well in the sidewinds and crosswinds, and be able to bring your ball flight down when you're going into the wind.'
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Golfers coming from North America who lean too heavily on a stock shot-shape or a high trajectory, might as well head over to the famous Harbour Bar and enjoy their week there because there won't be a Claret Jug in their future. In these parts, you have to play golf rather than golf swing.
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'Winning the Open in 2013 was the greatest accomplishment in my career because I had to learn a style of golf that I didn't grow up playing,' Mickelson said after carding an opening one-under-par 70. 'It's the greatest source of pride for me as a player to overcome those obstacles. Now I've come to really love it, enjoy it.'
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