Player sing happy tune for Troon

The Associated Press

TROON, Scotland -- From the time Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and the rest of golf's top players set foot on Royal Troon, they have lavished this piece of linksland with praise.

The greens are among the purest on the British Open rotation. The rough is thick, but not deep enough to lose a caddie.

Justin Leonard won at Royal Troon in 1997 and hardly noticed anything different when he returned, a tribute to the Royal & Ancient philosophy of letting Mother Nature have more of an influence than a lawn mower..

"I think the R&A does an incredible job of setting the golf course up fairly and maintaining the course the way it is meant to be played, and not worrying about what the winning score is," Leonard said. "The weather dictates that. I think that's the way it should be."

It wasn't like that last month in the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills on New York's Long Island.

"I think one of the big differences to the United States and the U.K. is that we are very fortunate that our weather patterns and nature itself allows golf courses to flourish without too much interference," said Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the R&A. "I think the USGA would agree that they got it wrong on Sunday at Shinnecock, but when you're trying to set up a golf course that's a strong test for players, it can be very difficult to get it right."