Braving the wind in pursuit of the Claret Jug, right to the very last dune. The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale

The first thing to move at Royal Birkdale isn’t the flags; it’s the tall grass atop the dunes. The caddies watch it more closely than anything else – a single gust is enough to turn a 3-iron into a 7-iron. We are on the Lancashire coast, just north of Liverpool. The white clubhouse, built in 1935, is reminiscent of the deck of an ocean liner overlooking the Irish Sea. For the eleventh time, Royal Birkdale is hosting the Open Championship – more times than any other course apart from St Andrews. The fairways are wide. The dunes do the rest.

In 2017, Jordan Spieth ended up on top of one of those dunes, so far off the line that it led to a lengthy discussion, first with the officials and then with his caddie, Michael Greller, to choose the right club. From there came the shot that secured Spieth his third major. Twenty-six years earlier, Ian Baker-Finch had lifted his first and only Claret Jug on the same course, with final rounds of 64 and 66. Six years later, he left Royal Troon after a first round of 92 strokes. He’d lost his swing before he’d even started playing golf. His remains one of the most surprising stories in the sport. Today, ‘Finchy’ commentates on the tournament from the CBS commentary box with the serenity of someone who has learnt to live with that history. Jordan Spieth’s dune is still there, ready to claim its next victim. Seventy years of the Open Championship have passed between that grassy mound and the clubhouse.

I enter at a leisurely pace and look at the yellowed photos of the champions. Arnold Palmer’s gaze is fixed on the course, just as it was in 1961, when his victory helped bring the Open back to the forefront of world golf. From those windows, the course looks harmless; you don’t realise that a ball that’s just a little too long could ruin a round. With the Irish Sea appearing and disappearing behind the dunes, the wind shifts without warning and every shot is more important than the last. The fairway looks wide, but when you reach the ball you may find yourself facing a blind shot towards the green. This is the subtle challenge of Royal Birkdale: it never forces you into an impossible shot, but every decision must be carefully considered. In an era of brute power, where golf seems to measure everything by distance off the tee, this links course continues to remind us that the quality of a round is often decided by the club you leave in your bag.

Clubs, balls, equipment and statistics may change. What remains are the wind, the dunes and that short stretch separating the clubhouse from the first hole. The Open at Royal Birkdale probably begins right there, when the players on their way to the tee start dreaming of the Claret Jug, the most coveted trophy, which nevertheless does not belong to whoever wins it. After twelve months, the cup returns to the R&A; the winner must make do with a replica, and the trophy continues its journey without pause, with a new name added each year, engraved on its base. World number one Scottie Scheffler would like it to be the same as last year; in this endeavour, he is following in the footsteps of Tom Watson and Padraig Harrington, the only players to have successfully defended their title at Royal Birkdale. Once again, Rory McIlroy is among the hot favourites; having achieved the Career Grand Slam, he returns to the major that, more than any other, feels like his own. He no longer has anything to chase, and this is perhaps his greatest strength. Among the few LIV veterans who are still reasonably competitive, some are backing Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, whilst others are hoping for a sensational upset; our own hope would be the remarkable comeback of Francesco Molinari, winner at Carnoustie in 2018, who has shown clear signs of a resurgence in recent weeks.

Royal Birkdale will demand a different kind of golf from everyone – less instinctive, more willing to accept the effects of the wind and the caddie’s advice, and the ability to observe carefully the movement of the blades of grass surrounding each hole. Only by looking at the distant dunes can you sense the whims of the wind. This is a setting that never ceases to amaze, day after day, even when the tournament is over and the members return to the first tee, with the clubhouse once again silent against the backdrop of the Irish Sea. By then we will know who has won the Claret Jug, but the dunes of Royal Birkdale will already have begun to await the next champion.