Last Major Chance For Players To Make Hay

The majors this season have not been kind to Dustin Johnson (left) and Rory McIlroy. Photo: Kevin C. Cox, Getty Images

For something that has taken so long to get here – two years since the Open Championship was last played – there is also an almost jarring suddenness to the end of another major championship season.

This Open Championship at Royal St. George’s, with its random bounces and rough as thick as a lumberjack’s beard, is the last chance this year to check a box on the legacy scorecard.

For a handful of the game’s biggest names – Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy in particular – this is the moment to play up to their reputations, something they have largely failed to do in the majors this calendar year.

Though it has hosted more Open Championships than all but three sites (the Old Course at St. Andrews, Prestwick and Muirfield), part of what makes Royal St. George’s special is its pimply ground and wind-bl...