A year after watching the Open Championship from his couch with chemo in his system for a leukaemia diagnosis, Michael Hendry, offered a medical exemption by the R&A, was emotional teeing up with three fellow New Zealanders in a practice round at Royal Troon.
Another major week is upon us and that means Golf Channel crash-test dummy Johnson Wagner is zipping up the fire suit, taking out a second life insurance policy and getting ready to step into the breach once again.
Feeling good after his driver passed Valderrama’s brutal test, Cameron Smith has arrived at Royal Troon determined to bag a second career major at the 152nd Open Championship.
Tiger Woods arrived at Royal Troon on Sunday to begin preparations for the British Open after missing the championship that he’s won three times in two of the past three years.
To put the absurdly confounding difficulty of the relatively microscopic 8th hole at Royal Troon in perspective, consider this: The average proximity to the hole on the PGA Tour for a shot played at a similar distance to the 8th’s 123 yards is just a shade over 20 feet. Whether the pin is set in the front, middle or back on the hole’s relatively wee putting surface, such a miss could very well not be on the green.
Jasper Stubbs has won the Asia Pacific Amateur at Royal Melbourne, punching his ticket to next year’s 2024 Masters and Open Championship. Stubbs, 21, who lives 2km from Royal Melbourne, was five-over for the tournament after six holes of the final round but rattled off four birdies in his last 12 holes to shoot 69. Read more…
RA& boss Martin Slumbers, who is in Melbourne for the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, said there were two hurdles to jump before Portmarnock could host an Open.
Based on the responses to questions about the status of LIV golfers in major championships put to Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley and R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers on Thursday in Australia, it does not appear LIV members will be given a special category into the Masters and Open Championship in 2024.
Could the R&A be thinking of adding a new course to the Open Championship rota? Or at least making a one-off visit outside the traditional circle of host venues?
Brian Harman wasn’t treated kindly by the Royal Liverpool crowds during his Open Championship conquest. Luckily, the reception back home in the United States was more fitting for the Champion Golfer of the Year.
Australian Golf Digest
