
Leishman woes seal historically bad Open for Australia
The 41-year-old LIV golfer, the only one of nine Australians to make the cut in a dismal display at the 153rd Championships, had a final-day struggle in almost ideal weather conditions at the Dunluce links, shooting a four-over 75.
It left the Victorian veteran set to finish outside the top-50 at level par for the week.
Since Peter Thomson became the first Aussie champion in 1954 at Royal Birkdale, that's the worst position for the leading Australian at the Championships in any of the subsequent 71 editions.
The same Portrush course in 2019 was the only other occasion during those years when only one Australian made the cut (out of six starters), but at least the survivor, Cameron Smith, earned a top-20 spot on that occasion.
Over the years, it's become fairly commonplace for an Australian to be featuring in the last-day shake-up for the Claret Jug, but in this century, the worst Open for the Aussie challenge was 2001 at Royal Lytham when Richard Green was the best-placed in tied-42nd position.
On that occasion, though, there were five Australians featuring on the last day, while Leishman was the only survivor this time.
He had set off just outside the top 25, hoping to shoot "something silly" in a bid for a top-four finish that would seal him a place at both next year's Masters and the 2025 Royal Birkdale Open.
Light winds and lovely weather promised much on Sunday but Leishman started going the wrong way once he drove into a fairway bunker at the fourth, found the thick stuff at the next and another fairway sand trap at the ninth to record bogey fives.
"I just drove in a few too many fairway bunkers during the week," he admitted. "There was a few holes where I took them on purposely, knowing that if I hit an iron, there's still going to be one in play. If I was going to take it on, I thought I might as well take it on with the driver. A few of them didn't come off."
A couple of birdies straight after the turn were sandwiched by another five at the par-four 11th, before his biggest calamity occurred at the short 13th when he blasted out of one greenside trap straight into another across the other side of the dance floor. A double-bogey five was the result.
"Some days you have it, and some days you don't," sighed Leishman. "Today I didn't. Disappointing day.
"You have days like that sometimes, and obviously you don't want them to be on Sunday of a British Open."
"So, disappointing, but take the good with the bad. Onwards and upwards from here."
Leishman said he was now looking forward to a break with his family. "Probably do a little tour of Dublin with the kids -- and do another tour of Dublin later in the night-time, us boys," he smiled, dreaming of another Guinness.
Then he'll feature in next week's LIV Golf event at the JCB Golf & Country Club in Staffordshire, after which he has his eyes set on an end-of-year assault on the two big Australian titles he's never won: the PGA at Royal Queensland in November and the following month's Open at Royal Melbourne.
"Hopefully, this is the year," he said.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Perth Now
29 minutes ago
- Perth Now
It's mind boggling: Ian Thorpe blown away by upset win
Australian swimming legend Ian Thorpe has praised the country's rebuilding 4x100m women's freestyle relay team after they pulled off a shock victory over the US at the world championships in Singapore. Mollie O'Callaghan, Meg Harris, Milla Jansen and Olivia Wunsch entered Sunday night's final in Singapore with a nothing-to-lose approach against hot favourites the US. The tactic worked a treat, with Wunsch reeling in star American Torri Huske in the final 50m to produce a huge upset victory and a first gold medal for Australia at the 2025 world championships. Thorpe praised Australia's efforts, especially considering they did it without retired star Emma McKeon. Wunsch (19 years old) and Jansen (18) are still teenagers, leaving Harris (23) and O'Callaghan is (21) as the relay team's leaders in Singapore. "It is really difficult to be able to find someone to match our most successful Olympian we've ever seen - Emma McKeon. She's not there," Thorpe said. "Cate Campbell's not there. Bronte Campbell's not there. "But what we do have in Australia is the consistency in this race, that it's tough to make this team. "And what I'm most impressed with is ... how they could lift for the entire team in this race. Amazing stuff." Thorpe heaped special praise on Olympic gold medallist Harris, who produced 50m splits of 24.34s and 27.53s across her 100m leg to be the fastest Australian. "Her split was mind boggling," Thorpe told Channel 9. O'Callaghan said the win came as a shock given how young the team is. "I knew it was going be a very tough year, like we've had so many rookies come through, and it's great to see them," she said. "They're trying to gain experience, and it's amazing to see them step up and perform. "We didn't really have expectations on this meet, especially for this 4x100m. "It was just about gaining experience, setting up for the next four years. But I'm incredibly proud of these three amazing women, and the two others who swam in the heats." The Australian men were just as impressive, with the quartet of Kyle Chalmers, Flynn Southam, Kai Taylor and Maximillian Giuliani posting a world championship-record time of 3:08.97 to defeat Italy (3:09.58) and the fading US (3:09.64). Chalmers started from behind in the final leg before producing a powerful swim to lift Australia to victory. "We've all been able to swim really well individually or split great times at different points, but it's been a matter of doing it all together at the same time, which I think we were able to do tonight," Chalmers said. "And like I said to the boys, it's all about now just getting it right in LA in three years time, and standing on the top of the podium there. "It'd be really nice to be able to do that." Monday's early action will feature 16-year-old Sienna Toohey and Ella Ramsay in the women's 100m breaststroke heats, Kaylee McKeown in the 100m backstroke heats, Josh Edwards-Smith in the men's 100m backstroke, and Lani Pallister in the women's 1500m freestyle.


Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Piastri reigns in Belgium to extend world title lead
Oscar Piastri has taken a major step towards a first world championship title by defying wet conditions at the Spa-Francochamps track to win a rain-delayed Belgian Grand Prix. Heading home McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who had started on pole, means Australian driver Piastri's lead has jumped from nine to 16 points. It also halted his English rival's gathering momentum - Norris had won the previous two races to slash Piastri's overall lead to single figures. The decisive moment came early once the race got underway, Piastri passing Norris on the first racaing lap to power on to finish 3.415 seconds clear of his arch-rival. Norris reduced Piastri's lead toward the end of the race but the Australian held on with worn tires and Norris could not get close enough to challenge. "I knew Lap 1 (after the safety car) would probably be my best chance of winning the race. I got a good exit out of Turn 1, lifted as little as I dared and yeah, we had it mostly under control," Piastri said after his eighth Formula One career win and sixth of this season. Piastri had been disappointed to qualify second for the race behind Norris, but it "turns out starting second at Spa is not so bad after all," he said. The world title initiative has suddenly swung back to Piastri, who heads to Hungary for next Sunday's engagement knowing he won his first race in Budapest last season. Norris remarked: "Shoulda, woulda, coulda. Oscar deserved it, I'll review my things but still happy for the team, another 1-2 and our first 1-2 here for many, many years." The race had been red-flagged after an initial formation lap due to standing water and heavy spray affecting visibility. That resulted in a delay of an hour and 20 minutes as officials waited for conditions at the notoriously weather-prone circuit to improve. Charles Leclerc was a distant third for Ferrari as dominant champions McLaren celebrated their sixth one-two finish in 13 races and the third in a row. Titleholder Max Verstappen, in his first full race under a new Red Bull chief following the departure of Christian Horner, finished fourth. George Russell, of Mercedes, who crossed the line first in Spa last year but was disqualified due to his car being underweight, was fifth this time and Williams' Alex Albon came home sixth. With agencies

Sydney Morning Herald
2 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘It's a huge upset': Beating the USA in a relay is sweet. Australia's underdog swimmers just did it twice in 15 minutes
There were nerves. Mollie O'Callaghan, tasked with the opening leg, fumbled her goggles on the blocks. No Cate Campbell. No Emma McKeon. No Shayna Jack. This was one of the least experienced quartets Australia had fielded in years, having won Olympic gold in 2012, 2016, 2021 and 2024. O'Callaghan (52.79), an individual 100m freestyle world champion in 2023, fired off a great first leg before Meg Harris (51.87 split) held the lead. From there, it was down to newcomers Milla Jansen and Wunsch — both highly rated but no one really knew if they really had it in them to propel Australia home. That they did as Jansen (52.89 split) kept Australia in front before Wunsch (53.05), channelling Ian Thorpe on Gary Hall Jr, surged past the USA's Torri Huske in the final strokes to secure gold in 3:30.60 — 0.44 seconds clear of the Americans. The Australian coaches' area erupted at the sight of a young team digging deep when it mattered. 'It was very daunting,' O'Callaghan said. 'All of us were quite nervous. I'm very confident in these girls.' Wunsch added: 'I just wanted to power home and give it all I had. And it's really exciting to be able to stand up with the gold medals.' The Americans declined to detail the impact of illness in their camp, but butterfly world record holder Gretchen Walsh withdrew an hour before the race. 'I don't really want to speak on how much it's affected us or who it's affected,' Huske said. 'But we've done a really good job staying resilient and staying positive.' The Australian men have often lived in the shadow of their female counterparts, despite winning the same event at the 2023 world titles in Fukuoka. This time, their task was even tougher on paper. At their staging camp in Darwin, Flynn Southam, Kai Taylor, Max Giuliani and Chalmers sat down to plot a path to victory. They knew it would take something special. They did it in 2023 at the world championships but had to settle for silver at last year's Olympics. Southam (47.77) set the tone before Taylor unleashed a sizzling 47.04 split in front of his mother, Australian Olympian Hayley Lewis, in the stands. Giuliani (47.63) got Australia into third, and then came Chalmers who delivered a devastating final split of 46.53 to motor the Dolphins home over a highly fancied American team. As Chalmers sliced through the water, his teammates smashed the starting blocks with their hands and willed the veteran to the wall. This was swimming theatre at its finest. Australia finished in 3:08.97, just 0.73 seconds outside the USA's world record from 2008. Italy (3:09.58) pipped the USA (3:09.64) for bronze. Then came even more celebrations, as Dean Boxall and head coach Rohan Taylor mobbed those around them in jubilant scenes. Australia weren't expected to come close but landed a 1-2 blow on their American rivals. 'The goal for us was just to give Kyle a puncher's shot,' Southam said. 'That was what we did. We all did our job extraordinarily well. 'The girls are so incredibly deep and strong, so we wanted to be part of that. We may not be the most talented on paper ... but we get in there and we have the underdog mentality. That was so awesome.' Loading Asked if he thought the USA were shocked by the result, Chalmers said: 'I think it's a huge upset and we prove that time and time again. Every year you read the articles and people write us off. 'We have a point to prove and swim with a chip on our shoulder a little bit, to be honest with you. 'It's not just about the US, but it was nice to get a hand on the wall first tonight and hear the Australian anthem is so special.' The Americans, meanwhile, were licking their wounds after failing to win a gold medal on night one — a rare sight for the swimming powerhouse, who last year also endured their worst Olympic gold haul in the pool since 1988. 'We're tough,' US swimmer Chris Guiliano said. 'We've got some dogs on this team.'