In the run-up to any team contest, a few sporting metaphors invariably spring to mind when it comes to the various decisions, behaviour and carefully considered comments required of the two captains. “Jockeying for position” comes to mind. So does “shadow boxing.” And, from cricket, “playing a straight bat.” Still, after all the preamble has Read more…
You may have heard this before in a golf context. Walker Cups, like every other golf competition, are played on grass and not, as the tired old cliché has it, on paper.
Two former winners of the Open Championship at St Andrews are providing secret tips to the Walker Cup team for this weekends’ amateur biennial contest between Great Britain/Ireland and the US.
Francesco Molinari will act as the fifth and final back-up to captain, Luke Donald, when the biennial matches between the United States and Europe heads to the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club near Rome next month.
The former European Tour will be made up of 44 events in 24 countries across five continents, underlining the Old World circuit’s long-held claim to be golf’s most international tour.
The history of golf is littered with major champions who have, sooner or later, disappeared back into near anonymity. Equally, claiming one of the biggest events in the game can just as easily be a springboard to further success at the very highest level and, in time, the attainment of true greatness. It can go either way.
Just two-and-a-half weeks after giving away a record prizemoney payout at the Open Championship, R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers was at it again on the eve of the AIG Women’s Open at Walton Heath.
Wherever one stands on the debate over how far leading professionals should be able to hit modern golf balls, one aspect is undeniable: the biggest victims of the distance explosion have been so many of the game’s truly great courses, including Walton Heath, the venue for this week’s AIG Women’s Open.
Beneath that veneer of positivity, there must surely linger some doubt. What does the Belfast boy need to do to turn things round? It is obvious: he needs to putt better.
“Home favourite” has always been a label imbued with good and bad vibes. The biggest benefit is obvious: support from one’s own people always carries with it a psychological boost. But there is a downside in the added pressure the recipient can feel in trying not to let anyone down.
It has happened before, but not since 1985 when Manuel Ballesteros joined his wee brother, Seve, in the Open Championship field at Royal St George’s alongside another pair of siblings, Tateo and Naomichi Ozaki from Japan. So the sight of Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick and Rasmus and Nicolai Hojgaard in the starting line-up this week is unusual rather than unique.
It was quite a moment and quite a shot, one Robert MacIntyre will surely remember forever, no matter what the 26-year-old Scot goes on to achieve in his career.
The social highlight of the week has been the Tuesday evening barbecue attended by as many as 70 guests, a figure made up primarily of (possible) Ryder Cup players, caddies, wives and girlfriends.
Asked how he felt about being identified as a possible team captain in the LIV Golf League, Rory McIlroy left no one in any doubt as to his feelings about the Saudi-backed circuit that has so disrupted the world of professional golf during the past couple of years.
Both players cited what will surely be widespread trust issues with the man in charge and both, understandably, pleaded ignorance as to what has been going on behind the scenes in what is supposed to be a member’s organisation.
It represents an 18 percent increase from last year when the champion at St Andrews, Cameron Smith, earned $US2.5 million from a prize fund of $US14 million.