Call it "having run out of something productive to do" but after not watching much golf for the last 20 years I've paid a lot more attention to it this year because of 2-3 of the younger guys playing well. I made a commitment to watch as much of this as possible and after having watched 30-40% of the first few days watched all of yesterday.
The players made it fascinating and dramatic...some of the new production made it good like the extensive use of the tracker and listening to the players chat as they played.
If "links" means old, awful, cheap, under-construction, of a pin-ball course then they got what they wanted. I'm not golfer enough to understand the significance of "links" but do understand the significance of the history of the sport and how old British courses deserve a spot forever. That mess however was the result of trying to recover property abandoned by quarries. The designer did a good job with what he had to work with but how many ways can I say "Rec Department Course and under-maintained.
Embarrassing for a prestigious event.