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

Shot of the year?

Diving into data to show just how incredible JJ Spaun's walk-off putt at the US Open was.

Here's the numbers 🧵 Arriving at the 72nd hole, JJ Spaun led the US Open by one shot.

A birdie on 17 gave him the solo lead for the first time since the 4th hole Saturday.

He striped a tee shot, 308 yards, right down the middle of the fairway....

How much has Oakmont changed?

I rewatched the 1994 US Open and compared the visuals from then to this year.

Here's the evidence 🧵 The first tee

Just how good was Johnny Miller's 63 at Oakmont?

(𝘚𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦)

Let's dive into the data 🧵 In the final round of the 1973 US Open at Oakmont, Johnny Miller shot 63.

Having shot 76 on Saturday, Miller started the day 6 shots back of the lead.

He won by a shot.

It is considered (arguably) the greatest round in golf history. But do modern analytics agree?

The origin of the Masters Champions Dinner.

It's not what you think.

And it has a strange ending.

Let me explain 🧵 Like many of Augusta's traditions, the Champions Dinner evolved. It was not part of the original tournaments.

In fact, The Masters started in 1934 and the first Champions Dinner didn't take place until 1952.

Rory McIlroy is attempting to do something this week that hasn't been done in 90 years.

In fact, it happened 90 years ago today.

And it took a miracle then.

Here's the story 🧵 Rory arrives at Augusta in search of completing the career grand slam.

He is trying to become just the 6th player to win each of the 4 modern men's majors.

PGA Champ: 2012 and 2014
US Open: 2011
The Open: 2014
Masters: ?

The 15 things a Masters champion gets.

I was curious exactly what comes with winning at Augusta. So I researched it and came up a list of everything that comes with a Masters victory in 2025.

Any you didn't know? 🧵 1. The Green Jacket

A tradition started in 1949, inspired by members of Royal Liverpool, the colour is "Pantone 342 C" or Augusta Green. Every champion gets a jacket, with an engraved gold nameplate inside, that they can take home for a year but then remains on-site at Augusta.

The week golf changed 👇

It was truly INSANE where Tiger Woods hit the ball during the 1997 Masters.

I went back through all the footage I could to find screenshots and distances.

Enjoy 🧵 Round 1.

151 yards into the 15th hole. Pitching wedge.

This is not a joke...

This golfer (Dale Whitnell) just made TWO holes-in-one in the SAME round.

I took a look at just how rare that is 🧵 Firstly, let's address the elephant in the room... those glasses.

He wasn't wearing them today but he did wear them during competition in Qatar earlier this month.

He did it because of allergies, here is explaining it...

One of the sports' strangest sponsorship deals.

The story of how the @NFL sponsored golfer Payne Stewart.

And a picture thread of Payne wearing an outfit of every current team 🧵 The year is 1989.

Payne Stewart is 32, 5th in the OWGR and 4 months on from his first major win at the PGA Championship.

News breaks that Stewart, a notoriously flamboyant dresser, signed a clothing deal with... the @NFL?!

(Note, Stewart wore this outfit at the 1987 Masters)

Who are golf's five-tool players?

Baseball has them, but does golf?

I decided to investigate.

The answer was surprising 🧵👇 Wait, what is a five-tool player?

In baseball, players and prospects are often rated by five areas of the game. If they possess all five, they are considered a "five-tool player".

1⃣ Hit for power
2⃣ Hit for average
3⃣ Speed
4⃣ Throwing
5⃣ Fielding

So what are golf's tools...

20 years ago, Arnold Palmer hit one of the coolest shots in the history of professional golf.

Coolest... not greatest.

Let's break it down 🧵 The year was 2004.

Arnie was 74 and over 30 years removed from his last @PGATour win, 40 years from his last major victory.

He was retiring and chose to end his non-major career at his own event, the @APinv (he would play the Masters as his final event a month later).

Why Royal County Down is considered one of the great courses in the world.

A thread of photos.

Enjoy 🧵 The first tee setting, in the shadow of the Mountains of Mourne.

Every major has one shot that defines the winner.

It's not always obvious.

Let's take a closer look at the most important and underrated shot Xander Schauffele hit in the 2024 Open Championship 🧵 Having started the day in a 6-way tie for 2nd, one shot back, Xander started the back nine one shot behind Triston Lawrence.

Despite shooting a bogey-free front nine 34, he still hadn't gained on the lead.

You probably remember the Mickelson-Stenson showdown at Troon in 2016.

But here's 14 reasons it was possibly the greatest battle in major history 🧵 Henrik Stenson won The Open, becoming the first Scandinavian man to win a major 🇸🇪

He shot 264 for the week, the lowest total ever in a major championship.

(This was the 441st major championship)

When Rory McIlroy stood on the 71st tee at the 2023 Scottish Open, his probability of winning outright was less than 0.2%.

Here’s what happened... 🧵🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Having started the day with a one-shot lead, McIlroy found himself one behind Bob McIntyre with three holes to play.

MacIntyre had just hit the shot of his life and birdied 18.

It was just the second birdie all day on the 485-yard closing hole.

This shot was great.... but how great?

A thread breaking down why we all just witnessed one of the best shots in major history 🧵 After a poor drive and pitch out, Bryson faced a 55-yard bunker shot short of the 18th green.

The pin was 26 yards on the green, 6 from the right with just 10 yards of green behind it.

The expected number of shots for a PGA Tour player from that distance and lie is 2.9.

Pretty wild to go back and see the spots Tiger hit the ball at Augusta in 1997…

Here’s the screenshots and distances 🧵 Round 2. 13th hole. 165 yards.

Today I’m attempting to play a 50-mile golf course spanning across 18 courses on the east coast of Scotland.

Follow the the thread 🧵 Hole 1: Old Musselburgh Links

Oldest golf course in the world. Had to start here. Proper sunrise to kick off the day.

240 yards. Par 3. Par.

Distance covered: 240 yards