LPGA major winner warmed up for Scottish Open with hickory clubs at Musselburgh Links
Guinness World Records recognizes The Old Golf Course at Musselburgh Links as the oldest course in the world. It sits inside a horse-racing track, which is still in operation. Musselburgh has hosted six Open Championships, all in the late 1800s. Like many tourists before her, Yang played the historic course with hickory clubs, which are available for hire for about 50 pounds.
"I was hitting very short and it was going everywhere," said Yang, winner of the 2024 KPMG Women's PGA. "But once I start playing more and more, I got the feel of how to play it and just, you know, play for fun."
LPGA caddie Nate Dow, a San Diego-based photographer who will be on the bag for Sophia Popov at next week's AIG Women's British Open in Wales, chronicled the day through his lens.
Yang used a replica ball and five hickory clubs for the round and said she found the game much easier when she headed to Dundonald Links to practice for the Scottish Open with her modern set.
"It was almost pointless to know the number because I won't hit the distance anyway," said Yang with a laugh.
"It was a very fun experience and maybe very humbling. I'm glad I play the current golf right now."
Yang shot 70-71 to open the Scottish Open and currently sits in the top 20.
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San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Today in Sports - Week Ahead, August 15
Aug. 15 1948 — Babe Didrikson Zaharias wins the U.S. Women's Open golf title over Betty Hicks. 1950 — Ezzard Charles knocks out Freddie Beshore in the 14th round to retain his world heavyweight title. 1965 — Dave Marr edges Jack Nicklaus and Billy Casper to take the PGA Championship. 1966 — Jose Torres retains his world light-heavyweight title with a unanimous decision over Eddie Cotton in Las Vegas. 1993 — Greg Norman lips his putt on the PGA Championship's second playoff hole, giving Paul Azinger the title and leaving Norman with an unprecedented career of Grand Slam playoff losses. Norman, despite winning his second British Open title a month earlier, has lost playoffs in three other majors — 1984 U.S. Open, 1987 Masters, 1989 British Open. 1993 — Damon Hill, son of the late Graham Hill, becomes the first father-son Formula One winners when he takes the Hungarian Grand Prix. 1995 — Monica Seles returns to the WTA Tour after a 28-month absence following her 1993 stabbing with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Kimberly Po at the Canadian Open. 1999 — Tiger Woods makes a par save on the 17th hole and holds on to win the PGA Championship by one stroke over 19-year-old Sergio Garcia. Woods, 23, becomes the youngest player to win two majors since Seve Ballesteros in 1980. 2004 — In Athens, Greece, the U.S. men's basketball team loses 92-73 to Puerto Rico, the third Olympic defeat for the Americans and first since adding pros. American teams had been 24-0 since the professional Olympic era began with the 1992 Dream Team. The U.S Olympic team's record was 109-2, entering the game. 2005 — Phil Mickelson delivers another dramatic finish in a major, flopping a chip out of deep rough to 2 feet for a birdie on the final hole and a one-shot victory in the PGA Championship. 2007 — Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleads guilty to felony charges for taking cash payoffs from gamblers and betting on games he officiated in a scandal that rocked the league and raised questions about the integrity of the sport. 2010 — Martin Kaymer wins the PGA Championship in a three-hole playoff against Bubba Watson. Dustin Johnson, with a one-shot lead playing the final hole at Whistling Straits, is penalized two strokes for grounding his club in a bunker on the last hole. The two-shot penalty sends him into a tie for fifth. 2012 — Felix Hernandez pitches the Seattle Mariners' first perfect game and the 23rd in baseball history, overpowering the Tampa Bay Rays in a brilliant 1-0 victory. It's the third perfect game in baseball this season. 2012 — The U.S. breaks a 75-year winless streak at Azteca Stadium with an 80th-minute goal by Michael Orozco Fiscal and Tim Howard's late sprawling saves in a 1-0 victory over Mexico. 2014 — Mo'Ne Davis, one of two girls at the Little League World Series, throws a two-hitter to help Philadelphia beat Nashville 4-0 in the opener for both teams. Davis, the first girl to appear for a U.S. team in South Williamsport since 2004, has eight strikeouts and no walks. _____ Aug. 16 1920 — Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman is hit in the head with a pitch by New York's Carl Mays. Chapman suffers a fractured skull and dies the next day. It's the only field fatality in major league history. 1924 — Helen Wills Moody beats Molla Bjurstedt Mallory again, 6-1, 6-3, to win her second straight singles title at the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships. 1954 — The first Sports Illustrated magazine is issued with a 25-cent price tag. The scene on the cover was a game at Milwaukee's County Stadium. Eddie Mathews of Braves was swinging with Wes Westrum catching and Augie Donatelli umpiring. 1970 — Dave Stockton wins the PGA Championship by two strokes over Arnold Palmer and Bob Murphy at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. 1976 — Dave Stockton edges Raymond Floyd and Don January by one stroke to win his second PGA Championship. Stockton hits a par-saving 15-foot putt on the 72nd hole to finish with a 1-over 281 at Congressional Country Club (Blue Course) in Bethesda, Md. 1989 — Tom Drees pitches his third no-hitter of the season for Class AAA Vancouver, leading the Canadians over Las Vegas 5-0 in a seven-inning, first game of a doubleheader in the Pacific Coast League. Drees became the first pitcher in the PCL or the major leagues with three no-hitters in a year. 1992 — Nick Price holds off a comeback bid by Nick Faldo with a 1-under 70 in the final round and captures his first major title with a three-stroke victory in the PGA national championship. 1995 — Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie shatters Kenya's Moses Kiptanui's record in the 5,000 by nearly 11 seconds with a time of 12 minutes, 44.39 seconds at the Weltklasse meet in Zurich, Switzerland. 1998 — Jeff Gordon drives into the record book, becoming the seventh driver in modern NASCAR history to win four straight races as he comes from far back to take the Pepsi 400. 2003 — Cristiano Ronaldo (18) makes his debut for Manchester United and the Premier League in a 4–0 home victory over Bolton Wanderers. 2008 — In Beijing, Michael Phelps touches the wall a hundredth of a second ahead of Serbia's Milorad Cavic to win the 100-meter butterfly. The win gives Phelps his seventh gold medal of the Beijing Games, tying Mark Spitz's performance in the 1972 Munich Games. Usain Bolt of Jamaica runs the 100-meter dash in a stunning world-record time of 9.69 seconds for a blowout win that he starts celebrating a good 10 strides before the finish line. 2009 — Usain Bolt shatters the 100-meter world record at the World Championships in Berlin. Bolt finishes with a stunning time of 9.58 seconds, bettering his own record of 9.69 seconds set in last year's Beijing Olympics. 2009 — Y.E. Yang of South Korea becomes the first Asian player to win one of golf's majors with a three-stroke win over Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship. 2015 — Jason Day leads wire-to-wire in the final round at Whistling Straits to close out a record-setting PGA Championship and capture his first major title. The 27-year-old Australian finishes at 20-under 268 to beat Jordan Spieth by three shots. Day becomes the first player to finish at 20 under in a major. 2015 — Brooke Henderson wins the Cambia Portland Classic by eight strokes to become the third-youngest champion in LPGA Tour history at 17 years, 11 months, 6 days. 2018 — The Davis Cup gets a radical makeover beginning in 2019. The top team event in men's tennis will be decided with a season-ending, 18-team tournament at a neutral site. _____ Aug. 17 1933 — Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees plays his 1,308th straight game to break Everett Scott's record of 1,307. 1938 — Henry Armstrong wins the lightweight title with a 15-round decision over Lou Ambers and becomes the only boxer to hold world championship titles in three weight divisions simultaneously. Armstrong won the featherweight (126-pound) title by knocking out Petey Sarron in six rounds on Oct. 29, 1937. On May 31, 1938, he won the welterweight (147-pound) championship from Barney Ross by a decision. 1960 — Flash Elorde knocks out Harold Gomes at 1:20 in the first round to win the world junior lightweight title. 1969 — Ray Floyd beats Gary Player by one stroke to win the PGA championship. 1995 — John Roethlisberger wins the U.S. National Gymnastics Championships' all-around title in New Orleans, becoming the first gymnast in 28 years to win four titles. 1997 — Davis Love III shoots a 66 at Winged Foot to win the PGA Championship in Mamaroneck, N.Y., his first major title, by five strokes over Justin Leonard with a 72-hole total of 11-under 269. 2001 — Shingo Katayama shoots a 6-under 64, and David Toms shoots a 65 to share the second-round lead in the PGA Championship. Katayama and Toms at 9-under 131, tie the PGA record for 36 holes last set by Ernie Els at Riviera in 1995. 2005 — The NCAA purchases the rights to the preseason and postseason National Invitation Tournaments as part of a settlement ending a four-year legal fight between the two parties. The 40-team postseason NIT, which is a year older and was once the bigger event, will be run by the NCAA. 2008 — At the Summer Olympics in Beijing, Michael Phelps and three teammates win the 400-meter medley relay for Phelps' eighth gold medal, eclipsing Mark Spitz's seven-gold performance at the 1972 Munich Games. Of his five individual races and three relays, Phelps sets world records in seven and an Olympic record in the eighth. 2008 — Jesus Sauceda of Matamoros, Mexico, pitches the fifth perfect game in Little League World Series history and the first in 29 years for a 12-0 win over Emilia, Italy. Sauceda also stars at the plate, going 3-for-3 with six RBIs, including a grand slam in the third. 2013 — Nick Davilla throws six touchdown passes and the Arizona Rattlers defeat the Philadelphia Soul 48-39 in the Arena Bowl. The Rattlers win the championship for the second straight year, beating the Soul in both championship games. 2014 — Inbee Park successfully defends her title in the LPGA Championship, beating Brittany Lincicome with a par on the first hole of a playoff to end the United States' major streak at three. 2014 — The Phoenix Mercury sets a WNBA record with their 29th win, beating the Seattle Storm 78-65 in the season finale. Phoenix (29-5) tops the previous mark set by Los Angeles (28-4 in both 2000 and 2001) and Seattle (28-6 in 2010). 2015 — The National Labor Relations Board dismisses a historic ruling that Northwestern University football players are school employees who are entitled to form what would be the nation's first union of college athletes. 2016 — Jamaica's Elaine Thompson completes the first 100-200 women's Olympic double since 1988. Thompson wins the 200 in 21.78 seconds to become the first woman since Marion Jones in 2000 to win both Olympic sprints. Jones' records have since been stripped, so Thompson goes in the record book along with Florence Griffith-Joyner, who starred in the 1988 Seoul Games. _____ Aug. 18 1923 — Helen Mills, 17, ends Molla Bjurstedt Mallory's domination of the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships and starts her own with a 6-2, 6-1 victory. 1958 — Floyd Patterson knocks out Roy Harris in the 13th round at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles to retain his world heavyweight title. 1964 — The International Olympic Committee bans South Africa from competing in the Summer Olympics because of its apartheid policies. 1982 — Pete Rose sets record with his 13,941st plate appearance. 1994 — South Africa is introduced for the first time in 36 years during the opening ceremonies of the 15th Commonwealth Games held in Victoria, British Columbia. South Africa had been banned from the Games since 1958 because of its apartheid policies. 1995 — Thirteen-year-old Dominique Moceanu becomes the youngest to win the National Gymnastics Championships senior women's all-around title in New Orleans. 2004 — Paul Hamm wins the men's gymnastics all-around Olympic gold medal by the closest margin ever in the event. Controversy follows after it was discovered a scoring error that may have cost Yang Tae-young of South Korea the men's all-around title. Yang, who finished with a bronze, is wrongly docked a tenth of a point on his second-to-last routine, the parallel bars. He finishes third, 0.049 points behind Hamm, who becomes the first American man to win gymnastics' biggest prize. 2008 — A day after winning an Olympic gold medal in Beijing, Rafael Nadal officially unseats Roger Federer to become the world's No. 1 tennis player when the ATP rankings are released. Federer had been atop the rankings for 235 weeks. 2013 — For the first time in Solheim Cup history, the Europeans leaves America with the trophy. Caroline Hedwall becomes the first player in the 23-year history of the event to win all five matches. She finishes with a 1-up victory over Michelle Wie and gives Europe the 14 points it needed to retain the cup. 2013 — Usain Bolt is perfect again with three gold medals. The Jamaican great becomes the most successful athlete in the 30-year history of the world championships. The 4x100-meter relay gold erases the memories of the 100 title he missed out on in South Korea two years ago because of a false start. Bolt, who already won the 100 and 200 meters, gets his second such sprint triple at the world championships, matching the two he achieved at the Olympics. 2016 — Jamaica's Usain Bolt completes an unprecedented third consecutive sweep of the 100 and 200-meter sprints, elevating his status as the most decorated male sprinter in Olympic history. He wins the 200-meter race with a time of 19.78 seconds to defeat Andre de Grasse of Canada. American Ashton Eaton defends his Olympic decathlon title, equaling the games record with a surge on the last lap of the 1,500 meters — the last event in the two-day competition. Helen Maroulis defeats Japan's Saori Yoshida 4-1 in the 53-kilogram freestyle final to win the first-ever gold medal for a United States women's wrestler. 2018 — Accelerate cruises to a record 12 1/2-length victory in the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar, becoming just the third horse to sweep all three of Southern California's major races for older horses in the same year. 2021 — Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman hit for the cycle for the second time in his career as they beat the Miami Marlins 11-9.
USA Today
5 hours ago
- USA Today
To captain, to play or both: The Ryder Cup question for Keegan Bradley that won't go away
OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Keegan Bradley's locker room notes are starting to get a reputation. Bryson DeChambeau referenced them at the British Open and Scottie Scheffler was the latest to do so at the BMW Championship. But it was J.J. Spaun, who noted that the one he found in his locker from Captain Keegs that said, 'Bring your ego,' left a lasting impression on him during the U.S. Open in June. 'Stuck it in my locker and every time I opened my locker, I saw it. Every day. Open locker. See it there,' Spaun said on the Subpar podcast. 'It was just one of those things that kept kind of being pinged into my brain that was like, 'alright, Ryder Cup. Let's go. Bring your ego.' I'm not an egotistical person, but I think that more tapped into my self-belief.' Scheffler pointed out that having Bradley be a regular presence at tournaments has brought a new comfort level with a captain, who at 39, is younger than the typical captain of past years. 'It's different having him here week in and week out. He's a guy that we know well. I loved all of our previous captains, but I think it's just different when we're showing up, like, 'Hey, you want to play a practice round this week?' We see him in dining. He's just around a lot more, so I think there's more opportunities for him to be kind of a part of our lives out here. I think that's really important as he steps into that captain role, knowing the players as well as he does.' Scheffler already has locked up being among the six players who will automatically qualify for the American side based on the U.S. Ryder Cup points standings after this week's BMW Championship and then Bradley will have one more week to see how things play out at the Tour Championship before naming his final six members of the 12-man side on Aug. 27, that will try to win back the Cup at Bethpage Black in late September. 'The Ryder Cup has always been so far away, and now it's right there. Things are definitely amping up,' Bradley said on Wednesday. 'I still have a lot to prove just as well as everyone around me on the list.' Bradley acknowledged he's tried to take best practices from coaches in various sports especially from leaders of national teams, 'where these teams come together quick and they are superstar athletes and they're used to being top dog wherever they go,' he said. 'I really think that's a little bit more applicable than -- we don't have any role players on our team. There's no guy out there just getting rebounds or just playing defense. 'Every guy on our team is one of the best players in the world that competes to win majors and tries to win tournaments every single week.' Should Keegan Bradley select himself for the Ryder Cup team? Bradley still is contemplating the decision of whether he would select himself if he doesn't qualify on points. He's currently No. 10 in the U.S. team rankings. On Tuesday, Patrick Cantlay and Rickie Fowler joined a growing list of American golfers who say that Bradley needs to be on the team. On Wednesday, Scheffler joined the chorus of support for Bradley to be a playing captain. 'I think if it's something that Keegan wants to be part of the team and wants to play, I think he's a guy we'd all love to have on the team,' Scheffler said. 'The intensity that he's brought as a captain, I mean, he has definitely exceeded my expectations as far as a captain. He's done a great job.' Europe's top dog, Rory McIlroy agreed that Bradley has played like one of the top 12 American golfers but said being a playing captain, which had been kicked around for him in 2027 in Ireland, is a hard no for him. "I've shot it down straight away," McIlroy said when he's been asked about doing double duty in the future. "Because I don't think you can do it." 'He might be right. We don't know. No one knows,' Bradley said. 'Everybody's telling me to start the year that a player can't be captain and have a good year. For me, I feel like this is one of my best years that I've ever had.' He added: 'We're ready for this if it happens. I'm not sure it's going to. I can truly sit here right now and say I don't know what's going to happen. I have to look at myself just like any other player trying to make the team. I'm 10th in points right now, and that's not sixth.' Bradley said he's been asking past U.S. Ryder Cup captains for advice on how to do the job. Paul Azinger, who captained the U.S. side to a home victory in 2008, said he's been texting with Bradley and has told him he could do something historic. 'If he can be the winning captain and have a decent record as a player, it might put him right in the Hall of Fame,' Azinger said. McIlroy said 20 years ago, back when Azinger was at the helm, it was probably doable to do both play and call the shots, but the Ryder Cup has become such a spectacle and the captain duties have exploded to such an extent that he thinks Bradley has been put in a difficult situation. 'I definitely think he's one of the best 12 American players right now,' McIlroy said. 'That's why everyone is so interested and it's such a compelling case, and I'm just as interested as everyone else to see how it all plays out.'
USA Today
20 hours ago
- USA Today
65-year-old Juli Inkster dusted off her putter and is playing the LPGA event in Portland
Portland has always held a special place in Juli Inkster's heart. Back in 1999, Inkster won in Portland at what was then the Safeway LPGA Golf Championship, her fifth victory of that season, which earned her a place in the LPGA Hall of Fame by virtue of her 27th career point. The 31-time LPGA winner hasn't been back to play in Portland in years, but with the U.S. Women's Senior Open in San Diego next week, Inkster has been brushing up her game in hopes of making her mark. After a T-3 at the Toledo Classic a few weeks ago — an event that had both Epson Tour players as well as those from the Legends of the LPGA circuit Inkster is in the field for this week's LPGA stop, the Standard Portland Classic at Columbia Edgewater Country Club. The Portland event is the longest-standing non-major event on the LPGA and Inkster is happy to be back in support it. She's one of seven past champs in the field as Moriya Jutanugarn (2024), Chanettee Wannasaen (2023), Jin Young Ko (2021), Hannah Green (2019), Stacy Lewis (2017) and Brooke Henderson (2015, 2016) are also scheduled to play. "It's always been one of I think a lot of people's favorites because it's really family-oriented and caddie-oriented. Stan the caddie master does a heck of a job for all the caddies. Makes everybody feel welcome," she said. "It's just a great area, the Northwest, to have a tournament. I know they've gone through some rough times trying to get sponsors, ups and downs, but I hope everybody just continues to support it because it is a legacy." Of course, the timing had to work out. First, Inkster Award winner Carolina Chacarra was scheduled to play after winning the award back in June. And while the seven-time major winner has been known for truly mentoring the winner of her annual award, she's happy to impart her knowledge on as many players as possible. In fact, during the Toledo event, which was hosted by Stacy Lewis, Inkster recently took part in a summit between players, young and old. It's something she hopes to see more of in the future. "It was great. It was really nice of them. They came up and asked a lot of questions," Inkster said. "You know, I think it would really behoove the LPGA to do more of those Senior Epsons. It's really the first mandatory meeting I've ever been in that no one was on their phones and they were all really engaged in what we had to say. "Try to get them to learn more about the LPGA and what we need from them coming up as they progress through their journey." The now 65-year-old Inkster, who was a nine-time U.S. Solheim Cup team member (1992, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011) and three-time captain (2015, 2017, 2019), said she's happy to do her part in terms of touting the LPGA, but she feels like younger players also need to understand why it's so important they feel the same passion for carrying that torch. "We've had a lot of great leaders leading us to this, but this is an organization where we're individual employees. If we want this to continue we have to work at that. That's doing your part in the pro-am, doing your part in the sponsor's dinners," she said. "And the fans. We need to get more fans out here. Girls golf is growing rapidly and there are idols. They look up to us. Well, maybe not me, but the generation that are playing right now. "We've got to make golf look fun. I think that's our next thing, is improve a little bit on being a little more emotional out there and just enjoying the game. Everybody would kill to be able to do what we do for a living, and to be able to go out there and play golf and compete against the best in the world on the LPGA is something not to take for granted."
