By Christopher Powers
Much has been said about the lack of shotmaking required on the PGA Tour, with many of the courses on the schedule calling for bomb and gouge rather than using the ground to your advantage. It’s why this European Tour stretch of the French, Irish and Scottish Opens is always so fun to watch, as many of the world’s best face firm and fast conditions they aren’t used to as they prepare for the Open Championship.

For an extra challenge, the European Tour had players take on “The Hickory Challenge” at Gullane Golf Club during a practice round at the Scottish Open earlier this week. At the 180-yard par-3 12th, each pro was given a choice of hickory clubs, or “bootah knives” as Danny Willett hilariously describes them in the video below. The results were a bit mixed, and it made for a fun watch, which came as no surprise considering the Euro Tour’s content game is always very strong:

Great stuff, and a particularly great performance from Padraig Harrington, who, knowing him, might show up at Carnoustie with a full bag of these wooden sticks if he thinks they give him an advantage:

As for Rickie? Yeah, he probably won’t be putting one in the bag:

Picking a star of the show is a tough choice here, but I’d have to say it’s a toss-up between Barnrat asking about a hole-in-one prize just in case he drains one and Jamie Donaldson’s “Caddyshack” reference:

Thomas Pieters gunning for his brother-in-law wasn’t bad either. That’s how you send a message:

But the real message was sent by Patrick Reed. See you at the Ryder Cup!