Rónán MacNamara in Royal Troon
2004 Open champion Todd Hamilton pulled off one of the great upsets in golf when he beat Ernie Els in a four-hole playoff here twenty years ago.
A journeyman professional for most of his career except for one week in Royal Troon, Hamilton became famous for his use of the hybrid club around the greens. A Sonartec MD hybrid to be exact.
Galway amateur Liam Nolan continued his Open Championship debut preparations on Tuesday alongside the now 58-year-old American and the pair played the back nine with former Irish Open winner John Catlin.
Nolan has been picking the brains of everyone he has played with in order to arm himself with the most knowledge he can possibly get ahead of his Thursday 4.05pm tee time with Spanish amateur Jaime Montojo and New Zealander Kazuma Kobori and thanks to Hamilton he can add a bump and run 3-wood to his skillset.
“Tuesday, I played with Todd Hamilton, which was really special, on the back nine. He was very generous sharing all of his knowledge when he won here in 04,” said the 24-year-old.
“Really cool to walk and play with him, and ask him a lot of questions, and also played with John Catlin, who was also fun to play with.
“He used the bump and run on every hole, he dropped like three balls 30 feet short, and get out his three wood and hit it up to four feet. Every one of them. Trying to teach John the shot, but John wasn’t really getting the hang of it. Todd is one of the best at it.”
Nolan is out in the third to last grouping on Thursday evening and will be finishing as the sun sets in Troon, meaning he will have almost all day to think about his opening tee shot.
“I don’t mind. I know Jaime (Montojo-Fernandez) from Spain really well. Played with him a few times before. Nice to have a familiar face I don’t know him as well. Looking forward to getting going.”
It’s been a fantastic week already for the NUIG graduate who played a practice round with Shane Lowry and Pádraig Harrington on Monday and as the start of the 152nd Open edges ever closer, the nerves are increasing.
“It’s been pretty special. Lot more numbers here today, so it’s getting that little bit more nervy. Trying to enjoy every bit of it. Hopefully, that looks after the nerves.
“The goal is to enjoy myself, keep striking it the way I am and see where I end up Sunday evening.”
Nolan certainly let 52-year-old two time Open champion Harrington impressed by his exploits on Monday.
“He’s a fine ball striker, really good,” said Harrington. “Great swing. He’s already met that minimum threshold. It would be up to where his head is at, homw comfortable he feels around professional golf.”
Nolan plans to turn professional later this summer and having played in the Walker Cup last September he would have been eligible to compete in the inaugural LIV Golf Q-School but he opted to focus on his final year exams.
Playing alongside LIV golfer Catlin on Wednesday Nolan was keen to pick the brains of the part-time LIV member but has not sought out a route to the Saudi backed tour yet.
“I haven’t really looked into it. Cool to talk to John about his experiences on LIV in the last few tournament he played in. Played on European Tour for six years, won the Irish Open. Really nice guy. Got to play with fellas who’ve had success.”