Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: The story of the 2024 British Open so far has been the weather and the story of the weather on Friday was the wind. Lots and lots wind. With gusts blowing off the Firth of Clyde at over 30 miles per hour, the afternoon wave was forced into survival mode, clinging to every tee shot for dear life.
They weren’t the only ones, either. Pilots were also struggling with the conditions, as this wild video of a jet swaying and drifting while trying to land at nearby Glasgow Prestwick Airport made abundantly (and terrifyingly) clear.
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Here’s a handy rule of thumb: If it’s too windy to safely land an airplane, it’s too windy to play golf. Well, at least in America. Scotland is another story, however, and it’s no coincidence that the top of the leaderboard is made up of an Irishman and two Englishman. This is a little more than a balmy summer breeze to them.
The good news is that the winds are expected to die down a bit on Saturday. The bad news is that they’ll be replaced by rain. That should make things a bit easier on the pilots, but the golfers won’t be so lucky.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
