While he may only be playing at The Open for the third time, Sepp Straka has quickly come to embrace the challenge the British weather presents.
It was almost 12 months ago that the Austrian finished tied second - his best finish at a Major Championship - in this very event at a drenched Royal Liverpool.
The conditions that met Straka when he walked onto the first tee for his first round at The 152nd Open may have been drier, but the wind was gusting at Royal Troon.
Fortunately for last year’s Ryder Cup winner, Straka had a good day on the Ayrshire links as a one-under-par 70 left him handily placed on the leaderboard.
“It almost makes it more fun when the conditions are like that, obviously when you're playing well,” said Straka.
“If you're not playing well, it just makes it annoying.”
With only a handful of players under par in the clubhouse, the evidence was there that patience and calmness was going to be a must.
Starting in the afternoon wave, and with Justin Thomas already having set the target with a 68, Straka was ready for what was ahead of him.
“Looking at the weather forecast yesterday, we knew the weather was going to be playing pretty tough. That is part of The Open.
“If the weather is going to be tough; wet and windy then there are going to be high scores. If not, then you can take advantage.
“This was just one of those days where you just had to keep your head down and post a score.”
Back-to-back birdies at the fourth and fifth saw him make the ideal start, before he bounced back from a bogey at the par-five sixth in fine fashion as he capitalised on an excellent tee shot into the 120-yard eighth, known as the Postage Stamp.
This was just one of those days where you just had to keep your head down and post a score.
And while he quickly dropped back to level par with back-to-back bogeys at the 11th and 12th, he finished his round well as a birdie at the par-three 17th saw him finish in the red.
"It was blowing hard all day. Started off pretty rough with the wind off the tee. Kept missing it left, but it was blowing 20 miles off the right.
"Yeah, saved a few pars early and got settled in and played some really good golf the rest of the way."
With the memories of his result at The Open last year still fresh, the two-time PGA TOUR winner is now intent on mounting a sustained challenge over the rest of the week.
"I definitely think that if I if I play my game, I've got a I've got a good chance," he said. "But, it's Thursday, so I'm focusing on trying to execute the gameplan every day."
