Written by Camilla Tait on Saturday 17 June 2017
At the second major of the year, it was hard not to imagine the World’s best would be contending for the title on Sunday – but Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Jason won’t even be there for the weekend. For the first time since the OWGR was introduced in 1986, all three of the World’s top players have missed the cut at...
Written by Kevin Brown on Friday 16 June 2017
Could it be 77th time lucky for Lee Westwood? The Englishman has won everything in the game, including being part of a magnificent record seven Ryder Cup team victories. But frustratingly he’s managed to cross the ultimate line as an individual player. He’s gone so close on so many occasions but for one reason or another he’s come up short each and...
Written by Camilla Tait on Friday 16 June 2017
From Rickie’s history making 65 to the World’s best struggling, we recap an eventful first day at Erin Hills. While it may have made USGA members uncomfortable watching scoring records broken and Rickie Fowler notch up seven birdies, there’s no doubt that the new US Open venue also showed signs of its teeth. Rory McIlroy’s stats show that he spent more time...
Written by Camilla Tait on Thursday 15 June 2017
Rickie Fowler opened with a seven-under-par 65 to equal the best opening-round to par at the US Open since Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf in 1980. Fowler is up there on the list of best players never to have won a major, and he was tipped as a big favourite this week thanks to a string of good results leading in...
Wednesday 14 June 2017
The main event hasn’t even started and we’ve already discovered one of the major talking points of the 2017 US Open – the long fescue grass. Dividing players opinion, the issue came to light when Kevin Na took to instagram to slander the unplayable conditions of the fescue when he arrived at Erin Hills. From that point on, players like Lee Westwood,...
Written by Camilla Tait on Monday 12 June 2017
The US Open is notoriously tough, and it’s no secret that the USGA likes to see players challenged during the second major of the year. Welcome in Erin Hills. It’s a brand new course as the US Open heads to Wisconsin for the first time – and with a combination of lengthy holes and wrist-breaking fescue, being off-line certainly isn’t for...
Monday 12 June 2017
Dustin Johnson’s final accension to world number one was kick-started by his superb US Open victory at Oakmont last year. It was a moment of redemption and vindication for a man who took a self-imposed leave of absence to address “personal problems” amid rumours of failed drug tests at the end of 2014, and had suffered numerous missed chances and heartbreaks in...
Written by Camilla Tait on Monday 12 June 2017
Daniel Berger overcame a packed leaderboard on Sunday on route to his second PGA Tour title, at the same tournament he won his first. The defending champion had returned to Memphis with a season of mixed-results, but two rounds of 66 over the weekend ensured a one-shot victory over the remainder of the field at TPC Southwind. And it was the very...
Written by Camilla Tait on Monday 12 June 2017
Dylan Frittelli claimed his first European Tour victory by one shot after a final-round 67 at the Lyoness Open in Austria. The South African Challenge Tour graduate, who has twice lost in a play-off, parred the final hole to finish one clear of Mikko Korhonen, David Horsey and Jbe Kruger. Frittelli claimed his first Challenge Tour victory in Austria, so it seems...
Friday 9 June 2017
A pair of architects and a renowned golf course journalist joined forces to create the minimalistic master piece for this year’s US Open story – so we decided to meet Erin Hill’s unique design team. Slightly more than a decade old, Erin Hills is a collaborative effort by Dr Michael Hurdzan, his former golf course design partner, Dana Fry, and Ron Whitten,...
Written by Jock Howard on Friday 9 June 2017
Two years on from the calamity of Chambers Bay, Jock Howard sat down with the USGA’s Executive Director and CEO Mike Davis to discuss the merits of Erin Hills and the risks of taking the championship to another untried and untested layout. Not so long ago, the second major of the year was a one-dimensional, boring, slug-fest; disliked by players and...
Wednesday 7 June 2017
After Harrington was sidelined this week by an amateur hitting him in the shoulder during a Pro Am, we take a look at some of the weirdest injuries suffered by professional golfers. The three-time Major champion was taking part in a Pro Am on Wednesday as he prepared for the FedEx St Jude Classic before he attained the injury that forced...
Written by Camilla Tait on Monday 5 June 2017
It’s the week before the US Open and the PGA Tour is heading to TPC Southwind for the FedEx St Jude Classic, where Daniel Berger returns to the scene of his first PGA Tour victory. With many taking a week off before Erin Hills, Rickie Fowler and Adam Scott head the field as eight of the World’s top 30 tee up in Memphis,...
Written by Camilla Tait on Monday 5 June 2017
Jason Dufner rolled in a 33-foot par-put on the 72nd hole to claim victory by three shots at the Memorial Tournament, producing a thrilling come-back in a final-day hampered by two weather delays. You would have been forgiven for ruling Dufner out of the tournament when he blew the 5-shot lead he had attained after 36 holes with a third round...
Written by Camilla Tait on Sunday 4 June 2017
Renato Paratore carded a final-round 70 on his way to his first European Tour victory at the Nordea Masters, finishing one shot ahead of defending Champion Matthew Fitzpatrick and Chris Wood. The 20-year-old started the day in the penultimate group one-shot back of Wood, and was left to wait in the club house as the Englishman stood on the 18th tee...
Written by Camilla Tait on Tuesday 30 May 2017
The European Tour arrives in Sweden this week, returning to Malmö for the first time since 2010 as several players eye-up their chances at the Nordea Masters. While Henrik Stenson holds an advantage as he tees up at his home club of Barsebäck Golf & Country Club this week following a T3 finish at Wentowrth, he’s not the only Swede vying for the...
Written by Camilla Tait on Wednesday 31 May 2017
Thomas Bjørn has named Robert Karlsson as his first vice captain for the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National. The European Ryder Cup Captain has chosen the 47-year-old Swede, who is a close friend of Bjorn and a former two-time Ryder Cup player and former European Number One. Bjørn, who made the announcement on the eve of the Nordea Masters at...
Written by Camilla Tait on Tuesday 30 May 2017
This week the PGA Tour heads to the Jack Nicklaus designed Muirfield Village Golf Course for the Memorial Tournament as William McGirt returns to the scene of his first PGA Tour victory. A strong field heads to Jack’s Place this week, with Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm gracing the pack as the European Tour heads to Sweden...
Written by Camilla Tait on Tuesday 30 May 2017
Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnson was one of the 15 US Open qualifiers on Monday at Walton Heath as Englishman Aaron Rai charged to victory at the International Sectional qualifier to secure their spots at Erin Hills next month. Rai, who has won five European Challenge Tour events this season, made a late surge with five birdies and an eagle in his final...