Latest news with #154thOpen
The Herald Scotland
20-07-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Scottie Scheffler eases to four-shot win in The Open
It was never in doubt really. When the world No 1 extended his healthy overnight lead to five shots after just two holes of the final round, the fat lady was packing up her microphone, flinging her crumpled song-sheet into the bin and heading off to find another gig. Garry Harvey, the Scot who chisels the champion's name onto golf's most cherished clump of silverware, was probably on a Stena Line ferry back across the water by the time Scheffler got through the fifth. Job done. Even the rare stumble of a double-bogey on the eighth – he had to give the rest something to cling to, didn't he? – was no great cause for concern. Normal service was swiftly resumed. In typical Scheffler fashion, he bounced back with purposeful aplomb and birdied the very next hole. You half expected the R&A high heid yins to wheel a trestle table out to the ninth green and do the prize giving ceremony there. In the end, the unflappable, relentless 29-year-old signed off with a three-under 68 - his fourth sub-70 round of the week – for a 17-under aggregate of 267 and won by four shots from his American compatriot, Harris English. To be truthful, the margin of victory felt like it should've been greater, such was Scheffler's majesty and his magnificent front-running. At one stage early on in the final round, he had extended his advantage to a whopping eight shots. In fact, he was so far ahead of the rest, he may as well have been playing in the 154th Open at Royal Birkdale. As Scheffler ambled off into the distance at the top of the leaderboard, the golf writers were eagerly leafing through the record books and wondering if he would beat the 13-shot winning record set by Old Tom Morris at Prestwick way back in 1862. From just 24 major starts as a professional, Scheffler has four major titles on his cv. With two Masters green jackets, a US PGA crown and now The Open, he's already three-quarters of the way to the career grand slam. It's a remarkable career. In the eyes of Xander Schauffele, the defending Open champion who shared seventh with Rory McIlroy and Oban's Robert MacIntyre, Scheffler is the king of all he surveys. 'I don't think we thought the golfing world would see someone as dominant as Tiger (Woods) come through so soon, and here's Scottie sort of taking that throne of dominance,' said Schauffele of a man who has racked up 14 wins in his last 38 events. The praise and plaudits may be tumbling forth, but Scheffler himself is not a fan of comparisons with the 15-time major winner Woods. 'I still think they're a bit silly,' said the new champion, who is only the second world No 1 after Woods to win The Open. 'Tiger won, what, 15 majors? This is my fourth. I think Tiger stands alone in the game of golf. He was inspirational for me growing up. But I don't focus on that kind of stuff." In his pre-championship press conference earlier in the week, Scheffler delved deep into the pointlessness of golf in the grand scheme of life. 'Why do I want to win The Open Championship so badly?,' he said during an existential examination. 'I don't know because, if I win, it's going to be awesome for two minutes.' Surely this was awesome for more than 120 seconds? 'At the end of the day, there's more to life than playing golf,' said Scheffler whose faith and his family remain his driving forces. 'I'm pretty excited to go home and celebrate this one. But we're going to start all over in Memphis (his next event), and we're all back to even-par. The show goes on.' Take Scheffler out of the equation and this would've been a thrilling Open Sunday show as the rest jockeyed for position on a bunched up leaderboard. The charging Bryson DeChambeau certainly generated a buzz with a terrific seven-under 64 to barge into a tie for 10th. As salvage operations go, this was up there with the raising of the Mary Rose. After the wreck of his first round 78 on Thursday, it looked like the American would sink without trace. By Sunday afternoon, the former US Open champion was shipshape and Bristol fashion. Hats off to him. The 31-year-old basically gave Scheffler a 10-shot head-start after that opening day of toil and trouble. DeChambeau was 16-under for his next 54-holes, the second lowest three-round tally in Open history. It would've done well at a LIV event, eh? McIlroy, six shots behind Scheffler heading into the closing round, had spent the evening before watching 'Oppenheimer', the film about the fellow who oversaw the development of the nuclear bomb. He was probably thinking that an atomic strike was the only way to stop Scheffler. McIlroy, urged on by a huge home support, couldn't conjure the fireworks the galleries craved and his 69, which featured a deflating double-bogey on the 10th, left him seven shots behind the winner. 'I know I wasn't the fan favourite today,' said Scheffler with a smile as he snuffed out hopes of a McIlroy fairytale with another ruthless display. English, who was also second to Scheffler in this year's PGA Championship, closed with a 66 to take another runners-up spot while Chris Gotterup, fresh from his Scottish Open win a week earlier, completed a brilliant Open debut with a 67 and finished third. Wyndham Clark's 65 vaulted him into a share of fourth with Matthew Fitzpatrick and Haotong Li. Like everybody else, though, they were footnotes in the Scheffler success story. 'Scottie's in a league of his own right now,' said the aforementioned DeChambeau. 'I played with him a lot in college, and he was not that good, so he's figured out a lot of stuff since then.' He certainly has.
The National
20-07-2025
- Sport
- The National
Scottie Scheffler eases to four-shot win in The Open
Whatever you want to call it, Scottie Scheffler produced it here at Royal Portrush to win the 153rd Open in a quite emphatic fashion. It was never in doubt really. When the world No 1 extended his healthy overnight lead to five shots after just two holes of the final round, the fat lady was packing up her microphone, flinging her crumpled song-sheet into the bin and heading off to find another gig. Garry Harvey, the Scot who chisels the champion's name onto golf's most cherished clump of silverware, was probably on a Stena Line ferry back across the water by the time Scheffler got through the fifth. Job done. Even the rare stumble of a double-bogey on the eighth – he had to give the rest something to cling to, didn't he? – was no great cause for concern. Normal service was swiftly resumed. In typical Scheffler fashion, he bounced back with purposeful aplomb and birdied the very next hole. You half expected the R&A high heid yins to wheel a trestle table out to the ninth green and do the prize giving ceremony there. In the end, the unflappable, relentless 29-year-old signed off with a three-under 68 - his fourth sub-70 round of the week – for a 17-under aggregate of 267 and won by four shots from his American compatriot, Harris English. To be truthful, the margin of victory felt like it should've been greater, such was Scheffler's majesty and his magnificent front-running. At one stage early on in the final round, he had extended his advantage to a whopping eight shots. In fact, he was so far ahead of the rest, he may as well have been playing in the 154th Open at Royal Birkdale. As Scheffler ambled off into the distance at the top of the leaderboard, the golf writers were eagerly leafing through the record books and wondering if he would beat the 13-shot winning record set by Old Tom Morris at Prestwick way back in 1862. From just 24 major starts as a professional, Scheffler has four major titles on his cv. With two Masters green jackets, a US PGA crown and now The Open, he's already three-quarters of the way to the career grand slam. It's a remarkable career. In the eyes of Xander Schauffele, the defending Open champion who shared seventh with Rory McIlroy and Oban's Robert MacIntyre, Scheffler is the king of all he surveys. 'I don't think we thought the golfing world would see someone as dominant as Tiger (Woods) come through so soon, and here's Scottie sort of taking that throne of dominance,' said Schauffele of a man who has racked up 14 wins in his last 38 events. The praise and plaudits may be tumbling forth, but Scheffler himself is not a fan of comparisons with the 15-time major winner Woods. 'I still think they're a bit silly,' said the new champion, who is only the second world No 1 after Woods to win The Open. 'Tiger won, what, 15 majors? This is my fourth. I think Tiger stands alone in the game of golf. He was inspirational for me growing up. But I don't focus on that kind of stuff." In his pre-championship press conference earlier in the week, Scheffler delved deep into the pointlessness of golf in the grand scheme of life. 'Why do I want to win The Open Championship so badly?,' he said during an existential examination. 'I don't know because, if I win, it's going to be awesome for two minutes.' Surely this was awesome for more than 120 seconds? 'At the end of the day, there's more to life than playing golf,' said Scheffler whose faith and his family remain his driving forces. 'I'm pretty excited to go home and celebrate this one. But we're going to start all over in Memphis (his next event), and we're all back to even-par. The show goes on.' Take Scheffler out of the equation and this would've been a thrilling Open Sunday show as the rest jockeyed for position on a bunched up leaderboard. The charging Bryson DeChambeau certainly generated a buzz with a terrific seven-under 64 to barge into a tie for 10th. As salvage operations go, this was up there with the raising of the Mary Rose. After the wreck of his first round 78 on Thursday, it looked like the American would sink without trace. By Sunday afternoon, the former US Open champion was shipshape and Bristol fashion. Hats off to him. The 31-year-old basically gave Scheffler a 10-shot head-start after that opening day of toil and trouble. DeChambeau was 16-under for his next 54-holes, the second lowest three-round tally in Open history. It would've done well at a LIV event, eh? McIlroy, six shots behind Scheffler heading into the closing round, had spent the evening before watching 'Oppenheimer', the film about the fellow who oversaw the development of the nuclear bomb. He was probably thinking that an atomic strike was the only way to stop Scheffler. McIlroy, urged on by a huge home support, couldn't conjure the fireworks the galleries craved and his 69, which featured a deflating double-bogey on the 10th, left him seven shots behind the winner. 'I know I wasn't the fan favourite today,' said Scheffler with a smile as he snuffed out hopes of a McIlroy fairytale with another ruthless display. English, who was also second to Scheffler in this year's PGA Championship, closed with a 66 to take another runners-up spot while Chris Gotterup, fresh from his Scottish Open win a week earlier, completed a brilliant Open debut with a 67 and finished third. Wyndham Clark's 65 vaulted him into a share of fourth with Matthew Fitzpatrick and Haotong Li. Like everybody else, though, they were footnotes in the Scheffler success story. 'Scottie's in a league of his own right now,' said the aforementioned DeChambeau. 'I played with him a lot in college, and he was not that good, so he's figured out a lot of stuff since then.' He certainly has.
Scotsman
16-07-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
The Open 2025: Martin Dempster's daily divots from Royal Portrush
The latest from Northern Ireland ahead of the season's final men's major Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Our golf correspondent reports from the media centre and also digs out some stories behind the scenes at Royal Portrush. Wyndham Clark banned by Oakmont over locker damage Wyndham Clark, the 2023 US Open champion, has been banned by Oakmont Country Club after damaging lockers in a fit of pique during last month's US Open. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Wyndham Clark pictured during the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club |The prestigious Pennsylvania club has also insisted the American undergoes anger management help if he wants to be allowed back there in the future. Speaking last week at the Genesis Scottish Open, Clark said: 'I made a mistake in a moment of rage with, you know, a bad year and everything coming together and it just was more than anything a good wake-up call for me to say: 'Hey, you know what, let's get back on track and things aren't that bad'. 'I live a great life and I'm not that far off from playing good golf, so I feel like I've turned a page and we're now maybe on the right track of playing some good golf.' New winner-takes-all qualifier will not be 'gimmicky' A new winner-takes-all qualifier at next year's 154th Open at Royal Birkdale is not a 'gimmick', according to The R&A CEO. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Obviously,' said Mark Darbon, laughing in reply to being asked by The Scotsman if he didn't agree with such a description for the shoot-out, which is set to involve 12 players. 'We were always looking to evolve the proposition here at The Open Championship and we take player feedback,' he added. 'We invest a lot in ensuring that we get spectator and broadcaster feedback and we think it's a great addition to the week. 'What I would say about that last-chance qualifier is it will absolutely be true to our broad principles around exemptions and qualifications for The Open. 'Everyone who hits their first tee shot here has earned the right to be here, so it will not be staged, to use your term, in a gimmicky fashion. It will be robust in its approach.' Justin Rose tees off during a practice round prior to The 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush |Justin Rose raves about local 'legend' Rory McIlroy Justin Rose is hoping it is payback time for him this week in Rory McIlroy's home patch after losing out to the Northern Irishman in play-off in The Masters in April. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Listen, Rory is obviously a local hero around here and rightly so. He has been probably since he shot 61 here as a kid,' said the Englishman of his Ryder Cup team-mate. "The legend around him in these parts has been growing for a long, long time. Obviously he's going to be incredibly well supported this week.' Rose, last year's runner-up at Royal Troon, added of McIlroy completing his career grand slam: 'I think being a part of that story has made people very excited and the feedback of that has been positive. I'm ready to move on for sure because second is second place, isn't it? "It's a tough loss. But, at the same time, it's still more evidence that when I get things right, I'm still competitive and can still bring it. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad J.J. Spaun will not lose sight of US Open trophy Xander Schauffele may have admitted that he doesn't know where his 2021 Olympic gold medal is but J.J. Spaun will never lose sight of the US Open trophy over the next 12 months. 'It is kind of a weird thing,' admitted the Oakmont winner last month. 'You get the trophy and you admire it for a day or two, and it just sits there or maybe it goes into a bank vault.
Scotsman
30-06-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
New qualifying event to be introduced for 154th Open at Royal Birkdale
Last-Chance Qualifier will be a winner-takes-all event on Monday of Open week Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A winner-takes-all Last-Chance Qualifier is being introduced by The R&A for next year's 154th Open at Royal Birkdale. Aimed at generating drama and excitement for fans, the event on the Monday of Open week will see up to 12 players compete over 18 holes for the final place in the field at the Southport venue. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In addition, a Heroes Classic will also be held on the Tuesday, with past champions and special guests taking part in a short-format challenge. Royal Birkdale is staging The 154th Open next summer | The R&A The two additions, which have come from fans saying they'd like to more opportunities to watch live golf in the early part of Open week, were announced by the St Andrews-based organisation as the ticket ballot for next year's event opened on Monday. Mark Darbon, The R&A's Chief Executive, said: 'The Open is one of the world's great sporting events and recognised worldwide for the special atmosphere generated by the tens of thousands of fans who attend the Championship each year. 'We have asked them how we can make their experience of attending The Open even more enjoyable and they have been clear – they want more live golf, more opportunities to engage with the traditions of golf's original championship and more activities onsite to watch, listen and play. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Aim is to 'elevate The Open for fans' in early part of week 'As a result, we have introduced new features which we believe will elevate The Open for fans, particularly on the days leading up to the championship, providing a memorable experience of attending Royal Birkdale with friends and family next year. 'The ticket ballot continues to be extremely popular with 1.2 million tickets applied for last year and we are anticipating high demand again. We would encourage all fans wanting to secure their place at The 154th Open to submit their application before the ballot closes on 25 July.' The ticket ballot is available exclusively to members of One Club , the free-to-join digital membership programme presented by Mastercard, and ticket applications can be submitted from now until 25 July. Ticket prices for The 154th Open will start from £30 for an adult on the opening Sunday rising throughout the week of the championship to £150 for the final round. Jug. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Free tickets will be available to children through the successful 'Kids go Free' programme, while half-price youth tickets are available for 16-24-year-olds. These tickets must also be applied for using the ticket ballot.
