HOYLAKE, England – Rickie Fowler’s tidy opening round at Royal Liverpool became exceedingly messy by the end of the day Thursday, as he twice flared his approach shot past the out-of-bounds stakes down the right side of the par-5 finishing hole.
Entering this Open Championship, the internal OB on 18 figured to play an even more decisive and dramatic role than it did here in 2014, with the tee moved back nearly 60 yards and positioned farther to the right, creating a more challenging angle from which to start. The OB line was also drawn about 20 yards closer to the fairway and just a few paces off the right edge, endangering any shot that isn’t struck crisply or gets caught in a crosswind.