Normal Sport is presented by Seed Golf this week. If you’re playing Birkdale this week (or, apparently, this summer), might I suggest the Bomber Pack. I think I’ve decided that’s the play. Yeah, I could try and control some mid irons around there, but I’m probably not going to. Probably going to be a “full send and pray” for me.
On Tuesday, Normal Sport Show co-host, Hayden Martin, and I talked for over an hour about who we would be most excited to see win this golf tournament.
Let’s check in on my list.
1. Justin Rose (+5)
2. Tommy Fleetwood (-1)
3. Jordan Spieth (+3)
4. Viktor Hovland (E)
5. Rory McIlroy (+2)
6. Scottie Scheffler (-2)
7. Rickie Fowler (+1)
8. Gary Woodland (+8)
9. Sam Burns (+3)
10. Max Homa (+1)
Cool stuff.
Still, there are tons of storylines to discuss including Scottie galloping a bit, the golf course playing magnificently and Bryson reintroducing the old NBA #pettywarz with his comments after the round.
Name drops today: Nick Faldo, Frankie Moles, Jimmy Fallon and Algeria’s goalkeeper.
Today’s newsletter is presented by OGIO.
I have always wondered what the gentleman on the right keeps in his backpack as he escorts the gentleman on the left around the world.
Now I’m wondering what kind of backpack he has to begin with.
First things first, though: What is actually in there? I’m envisioning several pounds of jerky, some seeds (maybe some Seeds), scissors so his man doesn’t get Bryson’d and a satellite GPS in case his group includes Spieth.
He must be wearing an OGIO to store all of these hypothetical goodies, right?
And if he’s not, he probably should be. You (and he) can check out their Alpha Venture backpack right here. It includes …
Removable hip pad/strap becomes a satellite crossbody bag (for the Spieth GPS)
9 external pockets including secure passport pocket and side access laptop/tablet sleeve
8 internal pockets including laptop and organized packing compartments
Clamshell opening for easy packability
Water bottle pocket (for syringing)
And now, onto the news.
Birkdale Biscuits Round 1
These should probably actually be called “observations I had” or “things I noticed” rather than “thoughts.” Observations probably better gets at the spirit of what I’m trying to do and to convey to all of you. Regardless, I hope you enjoy.
1. There are many things that can be said about this golf course, and while I’m no golf course architecture-phile, there are two aspects of Birkdale that I absolutely love.
The first — as has been pointed out pretty much everywhere — players can play holes any number of ways. Francesco Molinari got at this after his round.
The rough is wispy, and you don't get any control out of it. There's no spin on the ball. It makes it really hard.
… If you hit 9 iron off the tee, you're pretty sure of hitting the fairway. I think, if it gets windier, it might change a little bit because it might become hard to hit some of the fairways with irons. So you might just decide to hit driver and miss the fairway, but being closer to the hole rather than too far back.
Francesco Molinari | 2026 Open
I don’t know if Frankie Moles meant 9 iron or driver on the same hole, but the point remains that — depending on what you’re trying to do — you can hit pretty much anything you want off the tee.
[Jason here] Shoutout to Ian, the Marshall from Birchwood GC, who shared this interaction he had with Tyrell during a practice round.
Tyrell in the thick stuff, ball sitting up nicely: This is a Tuesday lie. Never get a lie like this on a Thursday.
When it comes to simple turns of phrase, no one describes golf better than the Brits, Scots and Irish. Case in point, I heard someone say "That guy’s got a different kind of gravy” as captured in my sketchbook below.
2. This pick-your-own-path style was epitomized by the Rory-Xander group playing Nos. 8-9. Rory went 372-389 back to back off the tee and had a combined 85 yards into those two holes. Xander laid back with irons and had a combined 367 yards into those two holes. They both played them in -1.
So why wouldn’t you just bang driver everywhere? What’s the point of laying back. For one, you get a lot of flyers when you’re not in the fairway.
The rough is pretty trampled down and dry and thin so you can play from the rough most of the time, but you don't want to play from the rough all the time. It will bite you; it's just not going to bite you every time.
Stewart Cink | 2026 Open
The second reason you don’t hit driver everywhere is my second favorite thing about this golf course: The bunkers are real hazards. Here’s Cink again.
There's a lot of holes where the cross bunkers, the second set of bunkers is not just on the edge of the fairway but it's in the fairway, and if you hit driver you're just going to mindlessly roll into those, which is not smart.
So I think the course still is going to demand mostly conservative play, but there's times where you can hit drivers and you just have to be on the correct side.
Stewart Cink | 2026 Open
Yes! That is awesome.
Of course bunkers are always hazards at the Open Championship (see below).
But the fairways at an Open are not always this baked out. What it has created is a real risk-reward off the tee. It’s not Winged Foot where Bryson can turn his brain off and play a long drive contest. But it’s also not a course where the correct play is always to be conservative.
Big Stew one more time.
In a way, there's a risk to playing safe, but it's also a really good championship-type setup because you're rewarded for hitting the ball straight. You're rewarded with distance. Sometimes you're just rewarded with a clean lie and you can hit the ball with a lot of control. But here you're rewarded with distance if you hit the fairway.
Stewart Cink | 2026 Open
What this means is …
3. The course lends itself to chasing this weekend. Because, as Rory showed, you can really take on some tee shots that are probably too risky for leaders to get after but not so risky that chasers would be deterred from taking them on. There are technically only two par 5s on the golf course, but if you’re hitting driver perfectly, you can have up to 4-5 real eagle opportunities depending on the wind, how far you carry it and some of the bounces you get (or don’t get). That’s a sensational formula for a major championship.
4. Bryson. Let’s talk about it. He was fantastic on Thursday, which is awesome. Majors are always better when the High King of Content is running amok like he was in Round 1.
Couple of thoughts.
1. He putted like Doug Sanders with the tournament on the line and still shot 68. Bryson finished 118th in putting on the day. And it somehow looked worse than that.
2. I also have some questions about driver. He hit four fairways, which — see Stew Cink note above — could become problematic. Still, his strategy over the next three days is going to be the most interesting of anyone in the field because of his length. Example: He took a line on 10 that was comical and made 3. I wonder if (and how much) he’ll keep pushing this envelope.
3. Every birdie had me trying to find a new FaldoReaction.Gif.
In case you missed it (not sure how?), Nick Faldo said earlier this week that Bryson’s strategy on the course — I’m paraphrasing here — sucks. Michael Kim responded by saying that Faldo is an old NBA star who hates how many 3 pointers guys take these days (this is maybe true! And Bryson is LaMelo Ball in this metaphor, yes?).
Anyway, here’s the best Faldo reaction I found.
I’ll tweet it again so many times on Friday.
4. Bryson wouldn’t do traditional media — which is amusing but not something I’m worked up about — but he did give this quote after his round.
I think you've got to be a lot more strategic out on the golf course. I feel like I did a really good job today of being incredibly strategic and focused super hard on placing it in the right places.
Besides 18, I placed the ball in some good areas. I just need to hit more fairways. Other than that, I feel like my strategy was nice today.
Bryson DeChambeau | 2026 Open
It wasn’t so much that he said the word “strategic” or “strategy” three times as a reference to Faldo. It was more the tone he used when he said it. A pettiness that is almost incalculable.
I think that’s the entirety of my take.
If we don't see STRTG printed on his 3D irons (which we should not, are not the best 3D irons on the market) in Round 2, then what are we even doing?
Faldo never said anything half this interesting when he was at CBS. Here for it. Bryson remains one of the great characters in recent (or perhaps all of) golf history and responded as only Bryson can — with a tone so over the top that it seems like that’s the part that is supposed to be the joke but also a sincerity that implies that it might not be a joke at all. Here for all of that as well.
May it continue on into the weekend.
This post will continue below for Normal Club members (all 1,056 of them) and includes thoughts on Scottie’s pursuit of No. 5, why Rory was not good on Thursday and who’s actually still in the mix.
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