Every year around Open Championship week fans and players alike obsess over the draw and the weather that comes with it. But does teeing off early or late actually decide the outcome? We looked at two decades of major championship data to measure just how much the luck of the draw really matters at golf’s oldest major, and why Padraig Harrington’s 2008 win at Birkdale might be the greatest example of overcoming it.
Some finishes fade with time. This one hasn’t. Nine years after Jordan Spieth’s extraordinary final round at Royal Birkdale, we look back at the bizarre, brilliant 13th hole sequence that could have ended his 2017 Open dream and instead ignited the most electric run of his career. From a horror drive into the dunes to a 22-minute rules odyssey and a heroic bogey, it remains one of the strangest and most captivating stretches in major championship history.
Rory McIlroy carded a 69 in round one at Shinnecock Hills and while an eagle at the fifth grabbed the headlines, it was his patience, course management and composure that told the real story of just how far he’s come since his 2018 nightmare at the same venue.
After the controversies of 2004 and 2018, USGA chief championships officer John Bodenhamer reveals how the governing body plans to tackle Shinnecock Hills at the 2026 US Open and why this historic venue deserves to shine.
Last April, McIlroy finally won the Masters and completed the career Grand Slam. Now with a second Masters title, here is where he ranks among golf’s all time greats.
There are far more things Tiger Woods has to be concerned about than his Official World Golf Ranking points. After all, he did announce last week that he underwent a surgery to replace a disk in his back.
Maja Stark led the entire final round at the US Women’s Open, but there was a long wait at the 18th green at Erin Hills. It was the last big test of nerves before she could claim the trophy. RELATED: Lexi Thompson addresses slow play accusations after it quickly gained steam at Erin Hills Her Read more…
Royal Liverpool has been defenceless in the early going of Round 3, the byproduct of wet confines and little rain. But the course does have one curveball to throw at the field:
In football terms, the language of the Liverpool galleries, Tommy Fleetwood’s five-shot deficit through 36 holes to Brian Harman at the Open Championship is not unlike his beloved Everton FC being a few goals down at halftime in a home game at Goodison Park. It’s not ideal, but it’s not ever either.
It’s been a dream start to the Open Championship for Brian Harman, and when his 15-footer for eagle rolled in on 18 after hitting his two best shots of the day, which followed two hard-fought pars on 16 and 17, it completed the dream finish … at least for 36 holes.