Thread by @jamierkennedy

Links golf hits differently.

Official photographers have taken more than 20,000 photos at @TheOpen so far this week.

I scanned through them all to pick the 25 best.

Enjoy 🧵

It's hard to truly explain or show the scale of the sand dunes on links courses, especially in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

📷 Alex Pantling

They say if you don't like the weather here... wait 5 mins.

It has changed A LOT all week and this photo captured the wetness of Friday perfectly as Rory waited to finish his round.

📷 Stuart Kerr

Again, it's hard to explain this corner of the world to people that haven't been. This photo shows the coast, the town and the course perfectly.

📷 Oisin Keniry

I'm a sucker for a good photo then gives the sense of a specific shot or hole. This photo perfectly portrays the famous, "Calamity Corner" 16th hole.

📷 Ramsey Cardy

A lot of fun details around an Open Championship. I'll forgive this walking scorer for misspelling Rickie Fowler's name in favour of his immense attention to detail.

📷 Oisin Keniry

Another unique aspect of links golf is blind shots. Portrush has several. I love this angle of Viktor summiting a dune to get a sight of the green.

📷 Charlie Crowhurst

The photo above at the start. Just the best golfer in the world, on one of the best golf courses in the world, surveying his options. A perfect image of golf in this part of the world.

📷 Richard Heathcote

When they changed the course for the 2019 Open, they installed this tunnel between the 10th and 11th holes. Players have used the walk to regroup, dry out, or take a load off.

📷 Charlie Crowhurst

The eyes of the world, and especially Northern Ireland, have been transfixed on Rory all week. This photo captured the mass of people that follow his every move.

(Similar vibe to the famous "Cigar Guy" photo from the 2010 Ryder Cup)

📷 David Cannon

Another cool aspect of @TheOpen is their commitment to the famous manual scoreboards, operated by local school kids and volunteers. Love this photo of a volunteer sneaking a peek of the action.

📷 Oisin Keniry

Similar to the Scottie image earlier, I love when a photographer pulls in different aspects of a course and gives a sense of place and setting. The tall grass in the foreground here makes for an incredible photo of Collin Morikawa.

📷 Alex Pantling

Often a photographer's job is simply to catch a moment on film. Here, Jacob Skov Olesen holds his head in his hand after hitting two balls out-of-bounds on the first hole, having shared the first round lead.

📷 Andrew Redington

Spotted this photo earlier in the week and thought it was a great representation of links lands.

But also a perfect shot showing how close the out-of-bounds line comes to the putting surface on the 5th hole at Royal Portrush.

📷 Stuart Franklin

Don't need to say a lot here. Stunning photo of Shane Lowry on the 16th green, with the town of Portrush behind him and the sun showing the way to the hole.

📷 Alex Pantling

Open Championship days are long. Often starting at 6.30am and finishing at 9pm. The long shadows that paint the courses in the evening make for some pretty cool images.

📷 Tom Shaw

Sometimes you're just in position to take a photo and you capture it at the perfect moment to create something odd, yet compelling.

📷 Ramsey Cardy

Again, the sense of place. These fans had climbed up the dunes from the beach side of the course to get a glimpse of Rory playing the 600-yard 7th hole.

📷 Richard Heathcote

Another perfect image of the weather. The grey skies, the rain all around and only Tommy's face and expression as the focus.

📷 Alex Pantling

The activity of practice rounds. I love this low spot on the course where the 13th and 17th greens meet. The light, the people, the balls, the pulled-in nature of the shot from being taken so far away. Love it.

📷 Warren Little

Another endlessly simple image.

But one that gives a sense of the scale of the dunes here in Portrush.

📷 Ramsey Cardy

Sometimes you're just in the right place at the right time to capture something amazing. This, the moment Rory escaped from the rough on Saturday, uncovering another ball (just to the right of his right thigh here)

📷 Andy Buchanan

Genuinely might have to get this image of Royal Portrush framed. The light shining on the 5th green with the dunes behind and locals walking on the beach. Bliss.

📷 Glyn Kirk

This... another great moment captured.

Matt Fitzpatrick slam dunks from right of the 16th hole and this photo captured the reaction between him and his caddie Daniel Parratt.

📷 Charlie Crowhurst

This shot pulls in everything that makes links golf and The Open so special. The fans, the links land, the undulations, the bunkers, the variety of weather and sunshine.

📷 Ramsey Cardy

Being Rory in Portrush.

📷 Ramsey Cardy

That's it.

I'll leave you with my favourite shot, when I noticed the old couple in this photo of Rory. No phones, just in awe of their local lad.

Hope you enjoyed all the photos as much as I did. Long live links golf! Thanks for reading/scanning.

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