text: Will the weather gods finally give the players a break for The Open Championship’s final day at Royal Troon?
  Thursday and Friday saw the field battling treacherous crosswinds before Saturday brought the rain as the leaders moved in reverse to bring the chasing pack back into contention. So, what’s next as the 152nd Open Championship reaches its climax?
  Weather forecast – Troon
  AM: Cloudy with a shower in the area | Hi: 15°C | Rain: 47% | Wind: WSW 19 km/h | Gusts: 37 km/h
  PM: Cloudy | Hi: 18°C | Rain: 25% | Wind: WSW 17 km/h | Gusts: 33 km/h
  A brief history of The Open Championship’s worst weather
  Prolonged and heavy periods of rain across the weekend was one half of the story at last year’s Open Championship, the other deservedly belonging to Brian Harman who conquered the elements in a commanding display of percentage golf and rock-solid work with the putter.
  Despite being played at the height of the British summer, The Open Championship is rarely immune from challenging conditions for at least part of the tournament, with wind often being players’ nemesis. A diabolical storm at Muirfield in 2002 on Saturday afternoon blew Tiger Wood’s calendar-year Grand Slam hopes away, carding an 81 to fall from four under to six over. It was even worse for Colin Montgomerie whose magnificent 64 on day two was made redundant after needing 20 shots more on moving day.
  More strong winds at the 137th Open at Royal Birkdale in 2008 led to not a single player finishing the tournament under par. Vijay Singh, one of 19 players to card a score of 80 or more, described his opening round in persistent rain, gusting winds, and unseasonably cold temperatures as “miserable, miserable, miserable.” A first-round scoring average of 75.88 tells you everything you need to know about how challenging conditions were that Thursday at The Open.
  The early starters on Saturday at Royal St George’s in 2011 were blown off the golf course as torrential rain and gusting gales swept across the links. None of the first 15 players to take to the course bettered 74 that day, while only one player in the initial 30 groups broke the par of 70 – a fresh-faced Rickie Fowler making just his second Open appearance.
  Then there was 2015 at St Andrews where more strong winds on Saturday wreaked havoc at the 144th Open, won by Zach Johnson. Friday’s play had already been delayed when heavy rain briefly flooded parts of the course and forced a suspension of just over three hours. But an increase in wind gusts on Saturday led to another suspension in play with several players having issues with balls moving on greens. The knock-on effect resulted in only the second Monday finish in Open Championship history.
  “I don’t even know what day it is,” said Dustin Johnson after finally completing his 36th hole on Saturday evening.
  About the author
  Senior Digital Writer
  Ross Tugwood is a Senior Digital Writer for todays-golfer.com, specializing in data, analytics, science, and innovation.
  He is an NCTJ-accredited journalist with post-graduate degrees in Performance Analysis and Sports Journalism, enabling him to critically analyze and review the latest golf equipment and technology to help you make better-informed buying decisions.