Shane Lowry deals with the pressure to complete his first Major win at the Open Championship in Portrush July 21, 2019 Shane Lowry may not have been the local hero everyone was talking about leading up to the Open Championship, but after a fourth scintillating round earned him a six-shot win and a first ever Major, the Irishman’s was the only name on people’s lips at Royal Portrush on Sunday evening. And not just on the [...]
Northern Ireland set for £85m windfall as The Open arrives at Portrush July 17, 2019 For just the second time in golfing history, the Open Championship is being held outside of England and Scotland this year. This week the sport’s oldest and most prestigious tournament returns to Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, where it was hosted on the only other occasion it left the British mainland in 1951. For one [...]
I’d love to see Rory McIlroy win The Open at Royal Portrush but Jon Rahm is my top pick for the year’s last golf Major July 16, 2019 It’s a slightly strange scenario to be playing the last Major of the year in mid-July, owing to golf’s new, reshuffled calendar, but there is enormous anticipation surrounding the 148th Open Championship, which starts on Thursday. Royal Portrush is an extremely good golf course which is in mint condition and certainly deserves to be hosting [...]
Golf has helped Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Nate Lashley turn their lives around July 1, 2019 Golf throws up some wonderful stories and this week’s two first-time winners on the main tours – Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Nate Lashley – are the perfect illustration. South African Bezuidenhout claimed his maiden European Tour title in fabulous style at the Andalucia Masters at Valderrama on Sunday. He stood up to everything that a high-class [...]
Sam Torrance: Reavie’s Travelers Championship win shows the importance of staying power in golf June 24, 2019 Chez Reavie would have been delighted with his third-place finish at the US Open a few weeks ago, but his victory at the Travelers Championship on Sunday was something special for the American. Reavie had gone nearly 11 years without a PGA Tour win – a period spanning 250 tournaments and 3,983 days – but [...]
Late bloomer Gary Woodland finds his winning formula with authoritative US Open victory June 17, 2019 It took Gary Woodland a while to make his mark at the highest level, winning just twice in his first nine years on the PGA Tour and failing to make the top 10 in 27 Major appearances. But his fortunes have improved in the last 18 months. Last year’s Phoenix Open ended a five-year spell [...]
Red-hot Rory McIlroy will win US Open if he sustains his untouchable form this week June 11, 2019 Rory McIlroy played the best golf that I have seen anywhere for a long time as he romped to a seven-shot victory with an extraordinary final round of 61 at the Canadian Open on Sunday. He was like Tiger Woods, demoralising the chasing pack right from the word go with five birdies on the front [...]
Pebble Beach can help under-fire US Open chiefs turn the tide after wave of criticism June 11, 2019 The US Open returns to Pebble Beach this week for the third time since the turn of the century and organisers the United States Golf Association will be hoping it is not another Major cast in criticism. USGA officials have always been keen to make the US Open the toughest, most challenging tournament in golf, [...]
Sam Torrance: Patrick Cantlay back to winning ways with a little help from Jack Nicklaus June 3, 2019 Patrick Cantlay and Jack Nicklaus go back a long way, to when a young Cantlay earned the award named after the great man for the best player on the American college circuit eight years ago. Nicklaus has continued to look out for his protege, watching as Cantlay set a new record for the most weeks [...]
Sam Torrance: Tiger Woods can win back-to-back Majors if he repeats chess master act at US PGA Championship May 14, 2019 In the two weeks leading up to the Masters, Seve Ballesteros would prepare for his trip to Augusta by staying at home in Pedrena, Spain, but living according to American time. All players have their preferred way of getting ready for tournaments, which is why I don’t question Tiger Woods’s decision not to play in [...]