The key to Royal Birkdale

With the the wind even stronger there could be one part of the game that makes all the difference at this years Open

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Camilo Villegas has experienced two very different rounds at his first Open Championship. The 26-year-old Colombian s 76 on Thursday included 34 putts compared to yesterday's fantastic 66 which included only 23.

A number of factors suggest it could be putting that decides this year s Open Championship. With the course playing so difficult, and some of the windiest conditions many of these players will have ever played in, it is inevitable that they are going to miss greens. This puts extra pressure on those six to ten foot putts that everyone is going to face. Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia have both missed a number of putts from close range and despite some impressive ball striking find themselves four and five shots off the lead respectively. Lee Westwood is another that missed a number of short putts early on and has failed to recover.

The greens at Royal Birkdale are not renowned to be the most undulating on the Open rota but there are very few putts being holed. With the wind even stronger this morning it will be a day of patience and anyone who holds his nerve on the greens should be in contention on Sunday.

Paul O'Hagan
Paul joined Golf Monthly in 2006 in a junior role and has since worked as senior staff writer and now as technical editor. He writes equipment and instruction content and tests the vast majority of golf clubs that are introduced every year.
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