By Martyn Herman
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (Reuters) -Xander Schauffele is super-excited at the prospect of trying to defend his British Open title at Royal Portrush this week but says he will have to come up with a different plan to the one that took him to victory 12 months ago.
“I think a blank canvas is a great place to start. You can paint many different pictures to win a tournament. You’ve just got to do the right one,” the American told reporters on the County Antrim coast on Tuesday after practice.
The 31-year-old produced a blemish-free final-round of 65 at Royal Troon last year to win his second major title to go along with his gold medal from the Tokyo Olympics.
He was the third American in four years to win golf’s oldest major but while that experience will hold him in good stead for the days ahead, he said Portrush’s Dunluce Links will throw up a completely new test of his renowned links golf skills.
“It’s an interesting thing just because my thoughts of playing really well were at Royal Troon,” he said.
“Coming here, I feel like I’m trying to re-learn this golf course, get comfortable with certain sight lines, some blind tee shots. If I can get myself in the mix, that’s when I think I would have an advantage. That’s where my biggest edge would be.
“I can lean on experience at other points in time, but I think the most fun and the biggest advantage I would have is coming down the stretch if I can get close to that lead.”
With the perils of a links course’s sloping greens, cavernous bunkers, knee-deep rough and the wild weather associated with Britain’s coast, it is hardly surprising that defending the title is treacherous.
The last player to do so was Ireland’s Padraig Harrington in 2008 and Schauffele knows the luck of the draw and getting lucky with the weather could be vital this week.
“This week is a pretty good example of having to deal with a wave. There’s typically a good wave and a bad wave in an Open Championship,” he said. “You just keep your fingers crossed that you’re in the good wave and try and play well.
“If you’re not, fight for your life and make the cut and then try and do something on the weekend.”
For a player who grew up in San Diego, it might be surprising how he has embraced the challenge of links golf.
But he said 16-hour trips in the car with his dad as a youngster helped him learn to be creative.
“We drove up to Bandon Dunes from San Diego. It took about 16 hours. I was 13 years old,” he said. “We played three or four days in a row. I think it was just Pacific Dunes and Bandon Dunes at the time. We got the real weather. My rain gear stopped working. It was that much wind and rain.
“I had a blast. As much as it was nice to look forward to a hot shower at the end of the day, I had so much fun for some reason trying to figure out how to play golf in that weather.”
With wind and rain expected to batter Portrush at times over the next five days, he will draw on those experiences again.
(Reporting by Martyn HermanEditing by Toby Davis)
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