THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 2008 - The key holes at Royal Birkdale - Sport - Evening Standard
       

THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 2008 - The key holes at Royal Birkdale

1st, 450 yds, par 4: The prevailing wind is from the left and the dogleg hole, with out of bounds wide out to the right, played the second hardest in the 1998 Open. Everybody wants a confidence-boosting start, but not everybody will get it here.

6th, 499yds, par 4: One of the toughest par fours in championship golf. It is into the wind, a dogleg and the second shot is uphill to a green 40 yards deep. It played to an average of 4.62 last time - and was not as long then.

The 17th is likely to prove tricky at this year's Open

The 17th is likely to prove tricky at this year's Open


16th, 439yds, par 4 - Into the wind again with the tee pushed back from 10 years ago and the green elevated and exposed. In the bushes on the right is a plaque marking the spot from where Arnold Palmer made the green en route to his 1961 victory.

17th, 572yds, par 5 - Players will be thinking birdie or even eagle as they approach this hole as the wind is normally behind. But for this year's championship the green was controversially changed and has complex borrows likened to a skateboard park.

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