Friday 20 July 2018
Sam Locke was the only amateur of four to make the 147th Open cut, guaranteeing him a special piece of silverware – no matter what he shoots over the weekend at Carnoustie. The 19-year-old Scot, who works part-time in the café of Paul Lawrie’s Golf Centre and earned his spot in the field by winning the final qualifying event at the...
Written by Michael Catling on Friday 20 July 2018
From Danny Willett’s lookalike shell suit and Zach Johnson’s big bet to Iceland’s new hero and David Duval’s ‘illness’, here are some of the more unusual talking points from day two of The Open. Kisner and Zach Johnson caught up in high stakes bet The 2018 Champion Golfer of the Year might need an advance on their $1.89 million prize money.
Friday 20 July 2018
Zach Johnson, Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy were among the players to score well in much damper, dreicher conditions during Friday morning. The persistent rain and cold made for softer fairways and slower, receptive greens – a combination that seemed to suit course record holder Tommy Fleetwood as he cruised to a bogey-free six-under 65 during the second round of the...
Written by Michael Catling on Friday 20 July 2018
Sometimes even the best golfers in the world can’t resist buying some Open memorabilia. Others do it out of neccessity. Just ask Tommy Fleetwood. He forget to pack an umbrella, and had to pop by the merchandise tent before his round and pick up an Open brolley (£40) – along with 749 other people on Friday (according to the shop assistants). They’ve...
Thursday 19 July 2018
Sergio Garcia hit a 410 yard drive on the 10th hole at Carnoustie… in to the burn. And then he got in it and hit out. In a Jean Van de Velde-esq moment, Sergio Garcia got in to the Barry Burn at Carnoustie and contemplated hitting his shot out of it. Only unlike Van de Velde, Garcia actually followed through with his...
Written by Michael Catling on Thursday 19 July 2018
From DJ and Sergio’s Van de Velde moments to Paul Lawrie’s protege and Rory’s wacky shoes, here are 10 things you may have missed from day one at The Open. You’ve probably already heard about Jhonattan Vegas needing a helicopter to make his tee time, but there were plenty of other weird and wonderful stories on day one of The Open. 1.
Thursday 19 July 2018
The Open: Second Round Tee Times Notable tee times include: Full list of second round tee times 06:35 Brandt Snedeker, Sam Locke (a), Cameron Davis 06:46 Patton Kizzire, Jonas Blixt, Charles Howell III 06:57 Charl Schwartzel, Daniel Berger, Tom Lewis 07:08 Alex Levy, Ryan Moore, Byeong Hun An 07:19 Michael Hendry, Kelly Kraft, Lee Westwood 07:30 Henrik Stenson, Tommy Fleetwood, Jimmy Walker 07:41 Matthew Fitzpatrick, Russell Henley, Jovan Rebula...
Thursday 19 July 2018
Kevin Kisner set the early pace at Carnoustie as the morning starters took advantage of balmy conditions over the Angus links during the first round of the 147th Open Championship. Kevin Kisner teed off in the eighth group of the day, posting the clubhouse lead early and holding on to it for the rest of the day as the later groups...
Written by Kevin Brown on Thursday 19 July 2018
Could this be a week of historic and record-breaking scoring at Carnoustie? It certainly looks like it could head that way… In seven previous Opens at the legendary, ultra demanding, penal and punishing links on the Angus coastline, not one of the seven Champion Golfers of the Year ever triumphed with a score in double-figures under-par. Tom Watson (-9) came the...
Written by Michael Catling on Thursday 19 July 2018
Erik van Rooyen. The name probably didn’t ring much of a bell until earlier this month… Unless you watch a lot of the Sunshine Tour and Challenge Tour that is. If you do, you may already know that he’s got two professional wins under his belt and should have had a third at the Irish Open two weeks ago. Russell Knox ultimately...
Written by Michael Catling on Thursday 19 July 2018
Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas was all smiles when he began his first round at the 2018 Open Championship – but not for the reason you might think. The three-time PGA Tour winner was simply relieved he hadn’t missed his 10.31am tee time after problems with his visa, passport and flights left him needing a private helicopter just to get to the course...
Wednesday 18 July 2018
Martin Slumbers explains why the R&A have been testing drivers from 30 players at the Open; Rory McIlroy weighs in When players arrived at the 147th Open, thirty had received letters from The R&A requesting their drivers for testing at the equipment standards office at Carnoustie’s practice ground by 5pm on Tuesday. The list of randomly selected players included seven major champions,...
Wednesday 18 July 2018
Staysure are giving away 50 pairs of tickets for you to win for The Senior Open Presented by Rolex at St Andrews next week! The next leg of The Staysure Tour will take us to Fife, Scotland, for The Senior Open Presented by Rolex. This is being held at the iconic St Andrews Old Course from 26 to 29 July 2018...
Tuesday 17 July 2018
Tiger Woods believes The Open is his best chance at winning another major – and not just because it’s the next one he plays in. Tiger Woods is returning to Carnoustie for his first appearance at The Open Championship since 2015, 18 years after winning his first Claret Jug in St Andrews. The 14-time major champion responded with a smile when asked...
Tuesday 17 July 2018
The challenge facing players this week: Some of the World’s best talk about the importance of strategy off the tee around Carnoustie A lot of the talk around Carnoustie at the beginning of the week has revolved around the course conditions, and why it’s been so difficult for some to come up with a set course strategy ahead of the first...
Monday 16 July 2018
How To Watch The Open Championship: On Sky, BBC If you want to watch The Open at Carnoustie – there’s still time to get tickets! (Click here). But if you’re going to be following along on TV and Radio, here’s a run-down of all the coverage you can expect. Sky Sports Golf Sky Sports’ dedicated channel ‘Sky Sports The Open’ returns and...
Monday 16 July 2018
What you missed this week: Brandon Stone narrowly missed out on the European Tour’s first 59; Dame Laura Davies dominated in Chicago; Michael Kim set a tournament-record at the John Deere Classic and Rickie Fowler was hitting a LONG ball at the Scottish Open Brandon Stone claims Scottish Open title, narrowly misses out of first European Tour 59 Around eight feet stood...
Written by Duncan Lennard on Thursday 12 July 2018
Claude Harmon has no difficulty pinpointing the moment he knew Dustin Johnson’s wedge game had come of age. “It was last August at the Northern Trust, the first event of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Series,” he recalls. “Dustin was fighting his way back after an injury and loss of confidence, while Jordan had just won the Open. The 18th hole is...
Monday 9 July 2018
Henrik Stenson has withdrawn from the Scottish Open field this week with an elbow injury, but is hopeful he will be able to play at Carnoustie next week Henrik Stenson followed Tommy Fleetwood and Alex Noren in withdrawing from the Scottish Open on Monday, announcing that he was suffering elbow problems. The 2016 Open champion then took to social media to announce...
Monday 9 July 2018
6 Things you missed this weekend: New all-time scoring records, impressive victories, unlikely air-shots and more Mickelson madness Russell Knox claimed victory at the Irish Open, but his apple throwing needs work Russell Knox holed two huge, almost-indentical putts on both the 72nd hole and first play-off hole against Ryan Fox to win his first event in two years at the...