Which begs the question: How do players get the ball to stop?

I was lucky enough to be on a panel discussion with former World No. 1 Luke Donald and 1991 Open Champion Ian Baker-Finch, who both agreed that height is an underrated tool at Open Championships.

The problem is that on baked-out fairways like the kind you'll find at Royal Birkdale this week, players are spooked by the idea of pulling a wedge. Get it wrong and you'll skull the ball over the green—so they only attempt the shot when they're hitting back into the wind. The wind acts as a kind of backstop.

If they don't have that, they'll take their medicine bail out with a putter.