Every Open Championship is laced with nostalgia for former winner Sandy Lyle particularly when the event comes to Royal St George’s.
Sandwich was the scene of the Scot’s 1985 triumph and the two-time major winner doesn’t need much encouragement to take a stroll down memory lane.
Lyle said, “The year I won I can remember silly things, like playing Lego with the kids to kill time.
“Having them around kept me grounded.”
He added, “Then when the last round came around I was lucky to have a very nice partner in Christy O’Connor junior. It was almost like a walk in the park for us.
“Both of us played really good golf but couldn’t hole a putt to save our lives. Then all of a sudden it came to life in the last four holes and I found myself two shots ahead.
“The kids were too young to take it in but I think they knew something special was going on during the celebrations.”
Some of the Open venues have had major, and sometimes controversial, redesigns of signature holes over the last decade, but St George’s isn’t one of them.Grim up northLyle said, “Any changes made to the course since I won have been subtle. The course looks pretty good.
“The big difference is that the rough is down compared to the earlier Opens I played here and that should make it more playable.
“Seventy is a very tough par round here. You’re maybe going to get a winning score of about four under if the wind keeps up.”
He added, “Last week we saw 19 under win the Scottish Open but you certainly won’t be seeing that this week.”
Lyle’s game wasn’t in good shape at Castle Stuart, where he finished 14 over after his two rounds.
He feels he may have turned a corner in the days since though.
He said, “After 79, 79 last week I didn’t really feel ready for this tournament.
“But I’ve played a course in Birmingham with a friend of mine and we think we’ve ironed out a few things, especially on the putting.”