Hole twelve

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PAR 3, 198 YARDS

This is the final par 3 at Royal Lytham, before golfers embark on an uncompromising sequence of six, toughpar 4s to finish. No changes have been made since 2001, as the green and its six heavily utilised bunkers are su�0;1B;fficiently challenging just as they are. The prevailing wind comes from the left on this hole, which pushes shots towards the out of bounds to the right of the green. If the winds are quiet then birdie chances should abound, but that is a pretty big ‘if’ at Royal Lytham.

It’s one of the fi nest short holes in England. The oval-shaped green on this 198-yarder is angled from the tee and is raised – making it di�0;1B;fficult to hold, as Tiger Woods discovered to his cost in 2001. He took six on Sunday. The front trap won’t be a problem, but there are five more waiting to swallow pulls or pushes.

LAWRIE: This will be about a 5-iron for most of us. It’s very well bunkered and the trap short of the green means you can’t try and run one in if it’s into the wind. It also causes a problem downwind because you’ve got to go over it and stop the ball quickly. If there’s no wind we could even take 6 or 7-irons and it would be a good birdie chance. In the wind though, the angled, raised green can be diffi cult to hold.

DONALD: In the last couple of years, I have figured out how to win more consistently on the PGA Tour and European Tour. Obviously the Majors are the next step up. The more times I put myself into contention, then it’s going to happen. Slowly but surely I’m going to fi gure it out with the Majors. I’ve always felt like I’ve given it 100 per cent. If I don’t win The Open or one of the others I’ll obviously be disappointed but I won’t have any regrets. There certainly are much more important things in the grand scheme of things in terms of having a healthy family and all that goes with being a father. That trumps everything. But I am considered one of the best players in the world and I hope it will happen.

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