European Tour Insider: Turnberry's scenic but tough

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Lucas Glover putts on the first green, which overlooks the Ailsa Craig.

TURNBERRY, Scotland -- Steve Stricker has been favorably impressed by the Ailsa Course at Turnberry.

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"It's probably the prettiest venue I've been at over the years," said Stricker, who won his second PGA TOUR event of the season on Sunday at the John Deere Classic.

"It's a memorable place for the sheer beauty of it, and I'd forgotten what a good golf course it is. It's not only beautiful, but a great test of golf," agreed Matt Kuchar.

"A special place," James Driscoll added. "Just the whole look of the place, being right on the water. I love it."

And yet, a note of caution.

"I've been here a day and a half," Bryce Molder said. "It's rained about fourteen times. None more than about five minutes. It's a beautiful golf course."

Honestly, this part of the Ayrshire coast is glorious. The view of the lighthouse, or across the water to the island of Ailsa Craig makes this the most scenic of venues for the Open Championship.

And despite those showers, the weather, too, has been splendid in the run up to the year's third major, and that's cloaked the course in an even more magical air.

Yet, the rough is as thick and matted as a buffalo's mane. The bunkers can be as deep as Hades and every bit as hellish. Miss the fairways too often and you'll be putting your feet up at the weekend.

And as for the rain ... There's a local saying that's being quoted and misquoted often this week: "If you can see Ailsa Craig, it's about to rain; if you can't, it's raining."

Yes, Turnberry's an absolutely stunning beauty, but you can be absolutely stunned by the beast.

HOW OPEN'S THE OPEN?

European Tour Podcast

This week Robert Lee and Richard Boxall look back at the Barclays Scottish Open in Loch Lomond, and hear from winner Martin Kaymer as well as a resurgent Adam Scott. The guys also preview this week's Open Championship at Turnberry, where Padraig Harrington explains how he's hoping to make it three Open wins in a row, and the Tip of the Week comes from Tiger Woods. Click to listen

Ask anyone who's going to win the Open, and inevitably many of the same names will come up, and clearly with good reason. Tiger Woods is the best. Padraig Harrington's going for three in a row. Sergio Garcia has come so close.

The best players in the world have gathered, and history proves the best tend to come out on top. Turnberry can look back on victories for Nick Price, Greg Norman, and of course Tom Watson dueling with Jack Nicklaus.

But can there be a winner from left field like Lucas Glover recently, or Todd Hamilton and Ben Curtis in Opens past?

SCANDINAVIAN SUCCESS

Surely, there'll be a Viking raid on a major at some stage soon.

Henrik Stenson is an obvious choice. "We've had Jesper (Parnevik) being really close twice in the past, and Thomas Bjorn for Denmark. We've been knocking on the door a few times, so it's about time we open it," he says.

How about one of the Sorens?

Kjeldsen is a Volvo Masters champion already with a win this season, was close at Loch Lomond last week and is certainly looking comfortable among the star names in big events.

Hansen is a Ryder Cup player who again is getting used to the world stage, was sixth at the U.S. Open in a run of three top-10s and has the belief and durability to go the distance.

His "brother" Anders Hansen is another not to be ruled out. He is having an exceptional season and is usually very reliable.

Alter a letter and Peter Hanson could be a contender -- a week before he defends his SAS Masters title won in windy conditions in Sweden last year.

HOME HOPE

It's been 10 years since Paul Lawrie claimed the Claret Jug. He's been playing well enough to get noticed again, although he hasn't won since 2002.

The Saltman brothers, Lloyd and Elliot, qualified and know links courses well. The former U.S. Amateur champion Richie Ramsay likewise could contend, but if there's to be a British winner, the arrow would probably point to England rather than Scotland, and target the chances of the very familiar Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood.

Anthony Wall ran pretty close in 2006, knuckles down in the big events and has an admirable accuracy on difficult tracks.

THREE IN A ROW?

Padraig Harrington's third successive win in the Irish PGA could be just the pick-me-up he needed after an indifferent run amid all the changes he's making to his game.

He'd follow Peter Thomson in the 1950s as the last man to win three successive Opens. His Irish compatriots Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell will attract their supporters.

Yet, could a hat trick come to Martin Kaymer?

The young German notched a fourth European Tour success with the Barclays Scottish Open title, and it meant two in a row after the Open de France Alstom.

He'd recovered from the blisters on his feet which troubled him en route to the triumph in Paris. He shrugged off tiredness by the Bonnie Banks.

"If you win one tournament, it's already very special. If you win two in a row, it's unbelievable. Three in a row...with a major? I'm not really thinking of this," he says. "I will sleep a lot. Majors are all about patience. I'm really good with patience, and if I can keep my form then I think I can perform well again."

SECRET TO SUCCESS?

There is another reason for Kaymer's success story -- ribs.

"Every evening I went to The Boathouse next to my hotel, and I ate their ribs," he said. "Nice spare ribs they had there, and I had them every evening. Every evening, a full rack of ribs with a salad."

Maybe no ribs this week, but Kaymer says, "My manager is bringing some chefs from Sweden, and I know them from the U.S. Open last year, and they cook very well."

A LONG WALK

Billy Foster will be walking the Ailsa course at Turnberry, lugging the bag of Lee Westwood. He's caddied for Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia and Darren Clarke, among others, so he's therefore walked the best circuits in the world.

Essentially, though, a caddie doesn't want to walk too much. The idea is to saunter, and then pause, and when the job is done you take the weight off your feet.

Yet Foster has walked all the way to Turnberry from Loch Lomond. Westwood gave him some time off to traverse the 90 or so miles as Foster raised money for breast cancer charities and the Candlelighters Children's Cancer Trust.

He popped into four golf clubs on the way -- although while trying to get to Irvine Bogside he found out why the club got the name. He walked out of his way only to get stuck in the mud.

Foster carried a Tour bag all the time. Fellow caddies had tried the usual trick.

"There were a couple of dozen golf balls and a bagful of bottles of water to try to catch me out," Foster said. But he wasn't falling for the ruse, and made the luggage as light as possible.