Mackenzie Hughes is ready to take on whatever Royal Troon can throw at him

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TROON, Scotland — Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes stood halfway into a bunker and awkwardly hit a couple of recovery shots in the practice area at Royal Troon on Monday.

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These are the kinds of shots fans will see this week at The Open Championship on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland. And they are exactly the kinds of shots a television commentator might call ultra-difficult because players don’t play them.

Except here at the Open Championship.

“I was in the bunker for 15 minutes, just making a few shots with one leg in the bunker and one leg out,” Hughes told Postmedia. “It’s just because of all the weird spots here that you don’t get in the States. It’s a fun challenge.”

Yes, what a pleasure indeed.

Here at golf’s oldest championship, the ability and willingness to embrace Mother Nature and the golfing gods’ sense of humor is often what separates the whiners from the winners. These glorious living artifacts of golf history, like the nearly 150-year-old Royal Troon, are nothing like the manicured playing fields typically found for golfers in North America.

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“I love links golf,” Hughes said. “My first Open was in 2021 at Royal St. George’s and I played well there.”

The 33-year-old Canadian finished tied for sixth at the inaugural Open Championship and will be one of four Canadians competing at Royal Troon starting Thursday.

“I love the pitch, the options, the shots, the creativity that’s required,” Hughes said. “And I also feel like this is a week to throw the book out the window.”

“The wind is blowing 30 km/h in your face, you have 110 meters and you have several possible options. You can play on the ground or in the air. I like that challenge and the variety of shots you can make.”

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Hughes knows the course well, having played in the 2012 British Amateur, and said he remembers it well. The Dundas, Ont., native played a practice round Monday with fellow Canadians Corey Conners and Adam Hadwin, and expects to be back with Nick Taylor in the coming days of preparation.

Hughes has been known for his excellent short game since his early days as a junior golfer and says the variety of shots available around the greens is one of the main reasons he enjoys links golf. However, he explains that short-game wizards don’t necessarily have an advantage.

“I think for someone who has good touch around the greens and a good short game, it’s fun, but I would also say on these slower greens it could help someone who doesn’t have as good a short game,” he said. “I feel like there’s not a lot of places where you can be severely short or out of position because of the slower speed of the greens.”

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Beachfront golf requires slower green speeds because strong winds are almost always expected. The gusts of wind mixed with the steep greens of links golf would cause balls on the fast PGA Tour greens to fly away on their own, making the game of golf quite difficult.

Another feature of links golf is the ability to play the ball almost always on the ground, rather than in the air, if the player so wishes. This is again a necessity due to the strong winds that blow by the sea.

“Players who don’t like to hit short shots can putt from a lot of different places here, so they can be pretty good with a putter and move around. Whereas if you’re in the States and you have to hit short game shots, you can’t really do that, you can’t just putt everywhere.

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“So I think some players are just going to pick up the putter and just putt, which is OK and possible,” Hughes said, with only a hint of disdain in his voice. “But I think these greens can be fun for someone with a good short game.”

Hughes’ season has been mixed, with five top-10 finishes, including a strong week at the RBC Canadian Open that ended in heartbreaking fashion after a mediocre Sunday that led to a tie for seventh in Hamilton.

The two-time PGA Tour winner is safely inside the top 70 for the upcoming PGA Tour Playoffs, ranking 53rd in the FedEx Cup standings.

“This year has been good, but I’m frustrated that I didn’t have four good rounds,” he said. “The Canadian Open is an example, it’s just one round away, but I feel like it’s close and it won’t take much. I’m looking forward to that final stretch.”

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