R&A announces making 'adjustment' to The Open bunkers at Royal Liverpool after players’ complaints

The Open Championship 2023 got off to an eventful start on Thursday, July 20, thanks to Royal Liverpool’s pot bunkers. The infamous bunkers of links golf course caused issues for several golfers including World No. 2 Rory McIlroy and Masters champion Jon Rahm. Following this, the R&A came out to reveal that it made some “adjustments” to the problematic bunkers.

The officials addressed the hot topic of the penal nature of the bunkers at Royal Liverpool ahead of Day 2’s play. The R&A informed that it instructed the greenkeepers to tweak the bunkers. It is noteworthy that the floor of the bunkers was flattened in tournament preparation, increasing the chances of balls getting trapped in the corners. Several players came out to complain about the same as well.

The R&A has now released a statement explaining their decision to make changes to the bunkers for The Open. It was quoted as saying by Golf Monthly:

"We would like to advise you of an adjustment we have made to the way the bunkers are raked overnight. Yesterday afternoon the bunkers dried out more than we have seen in recent weeks and that led to more balls running straight up against the face than we would normally expect.

"We have therefore raked all of the bunkers slightly differently to take the sand up one revet on the face of the bunkers. We routinely rake bunkers flat a most Open venues but decided this adjustment was appropriate in the light of the drier conditions which arose yesterday. We will continue to monitor this closely for the remainder of the Championship.”

It is pertinent to note that the players will still have a tough time at Hoylake despite the ‘adjustments.’ A major part of playing on the Royal Liverpool is avoiding the bunkers. Golfers, teeing off for The Open over the weekend, will have to remain extra careful in order to save themselves from the struggle of playing in the sand.

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Rory McIlroy on playing bunker shots at The Open

Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm were two big names who got their balls stuck in the bunkers on Day 1 of The Open. The golfers hit their approach shots a bit long and ended up in difficult positions.

Interestingly, McIlroy played a great shot to save him from the pot bunker on Thursday. The golfer, who was far behind the leaders, left fans in awe after making the bunker shot with one leg in the sand and the other mounted over the greens.

Following the shot, the PGA Tour star revealed that playing on the bunkers ‘sort of rides on the players’ luck.’ Opening up about playing such shots, Rory McIlroy was quoted as saying by Golf Digest:

“When you hit it into these bunkers, you're sort of riding your luck at that point and hoping it's not up against one of those rivetted faces. Jon and I didn't have much of a shot with our thirds, so then you're just starting to try to make par somehow. I’d have been pretty disappointed to walk off with bogey after the two shots I hit in there.”

The 2014 champion at Hoylake further added that he “needed to stay patient” in order to make the shot. It is noteworthy that McIlroy ended Day 1 at T31 on The Open leaderboard, a respectable position.