British Open, Royal Portrush get diabolical to fight questionable TIO relief

Throughout the golf world, not just at The Open Championship, there's always something that feels a little wrong about a player seemingly intentionally (or even sometimes unintentionally) using the rules of relief from a Temporary Immovable Object (TIO) to get a better lie. We've seen it before with players flying approach shots into grandstands to get TIO relief and a better lie to chip onto the green, even on the finishing hole. But the R&A is making sure that won't happen at the British Open at Royal Portrush, at least on the 18th hole that could decide the winner of the Claret Jug.

Of course, players won't be asked to play a bank shot off the grandstands on the 18th hole, Babington's, at The Open. There will absolutely be relief — it's just a matter of how much relief players will get. And frankly, looking at the pictures from Royal Portrush of the potential drop zone on the 18th hole at the British Open, players might actually prefer to pull a trick shot out off the grandstands to hitting out of this area.

Dylan Dethier of Golf Magazine took a photo of the drop zone right next to the stands at the 18th. And essentially, if a player at The Open needs to utilize this area for TIO relief, they're going to be hitting out of some shin-high bushes and shrubbery among tall grass.

This is just a diabolical — yet completely justified — move by the R&A, especially on a hole that will be the final of The Open Championship and could determine the champion.

British Open drop zone at Royal Portrush's 18th hole is diabolical

There is a constant war on social media among golf fans and analysts about TIO relief and the rules of golf that sometimes feel like they're being exploited by players. However, I think the simplest thing that just about everyone can agree on is simply that anyone in a tournament, especially a major that's comprised of the best players in the world, shouldn't be given a better, more forgiving lie if they ostensibly hit a bad shot.

Obviously, there is a difference between someone intentionally using a grandstand or the possibility of TIO relief as a strategy and someone who simply catches a flier or hits a bad shot that goes into the same area. At the same time, neither should be given an advantage by using a rule outside of the general spirit of that rule. What we're seeing at Royal Portrush is the perfect way to fight that.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a player who wouldn't rather take their chances trying to hit a normal shot than they would intentionally hitting it into TIO relief if it means hitting from this particular drop zone. Meanwhile, if a player does miss wildly on the approach in the 18th hole, they'll be penalized for that by having to hit from this area. It's what you should want in this regard.

One thing that's for sure, though, is that, should someone find themselves having to use the drop zone on Sunday at The Open, the drama will be heightened immediately because of this little feature at Portrush for the tournament.

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