The Course Difficulty Divide

ST ANDREWS, SCOTLAND | Rory McIlroy’s rant on the last night of the recent Alfred Dunhill Links Championship concerned how the setup at too many of the European Tour’s tournament courses is not sufficiently demanding. Carnoustie, one of the Dunhill links, and the Renaissance Club, home to this year’s Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, were two venues to be mentioned by name. “It’s tough when you come back (to the UK) when it’s like that,” McIlroy said in part. “I don’t feel like good golf gets the respect that it deserves.”

Commenting on social media, Ernie Els and Edoardo Molinari agreed. Els, a four-time major champion, suggested that all of the European Tour’s bigger events should be played on courses closer to major championship level, while Molinari, a three-time European Tour winner, made the point that tougher courses make for a better spectator experience.

Others homed in on the poor timing of McIlroy’s comments, coinciding as they did with a week when amateurs were in the field.

Yet perhaps the most strikin...