When the Open Championship returns to Scotland July 19-22, every competitor will have to negotiate the snaking ribbon of water that has bitten winners and losers alike.
The last time the Open was played here, in 2007, Padraig Harrington hit two balls into the narrow burn on the 499-yard, par-4 72nd hole—and he won, but only after a dramatic up-and-down for a double-bogey 6 that forced a playoff with Sergio Garcia.
Eight years earlier, Jean Van de Velde blew a three-shot lead with a triple-bogey-7 tragicomedy at 18 and lost a playoff.
Today, Carnoustie is actually 19 yards shorter than it was in 2007, in part to make room for a grandstand behind the first tee, but at 7,402 yards and par 71, it lives up to its other name: Carnasty.
TELEVISION (ALL TIMES EASTERN)
July 19: 1:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Golf Channel
July 20: 1:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Golf Channel
July 21: 4:30-7 a.m., Golf Channel; 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., NBC
July 22: 4:30-7 a.m., Golf Channel; 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., NBC
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