Latest news with #BritishMasters
The Sun
5 hours ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Brit athletics champion, 81, is a MONK who took 70 YEARS to claim first gold after ‘nearly collapsing' on first run
A MARATHON monk has become a British athletics champion after SEVENTY YEARS despite 'nearly collapsing' on his first run. Father John Gribben is a sprightly 81 years old and can now claim to be top of his field after winning a gold medal at the British Masters Indoor Track and Field Championships. 2 2 Known as the 'sprinting monk' among parishioners, he won the 400 metre dash in two minutes, three seconds and 190 milliseconds. Gribben also secured bronze medals in the 60 metre and 200 metre events in London. But it took him 70 long years to finally achieve running stardom, with Gribben's first attempt at the sport coming in the 1950s. That didn't exactly go to plan, with octogenarian admitting he could barely stand up straight after a half-mile effort. He told The Times: 'I nearly collapsed after that first run. I said, 'I'm not a runner', but I never stopped after it.' Gribben started to master the art of running when he moved to Mirfield, West Yorkshire, in 1979 — where he remains to this day. And like any good athlete, Gribben dedicates himself to a gruelling mid-week training schedule. He explained: 'Three nights at least of a 5km run, most days I'll do a 60 metre sprint, and then the other things are an hour at the local gym a couple of days a week.' The Belfast native, who attended a theological college in Dublin, mainly gets his racing kicks at Greenhead Park's Parkrun in Huddersfield. He's since completed over 250 events, boasting an impressive 5km Personal Best of 26 minutes. I'm a parkrun fanatic - here are my top 10 tips for first-timers as the event turns 20 Gribben, who takes TWO buses to reach the course, started attending when he was nearly 70 years old. He now runs 5km in around 40 minutes, and those Saturday morning slogs finally paid dividends when he clinched gold at the Masters. Gribben also revealed the spiritual kick he gets from running, adding: 'There's something in the spring, you hit one point where it is ecstasy, you're outside yourself almost, when you hit that speed that carries you the last whatever you need to get to the line. 'Sometimes I just say to my saviour, 'Well I'll run if you run with me'. 'I don't know that I get an answer but… I start putting on my trainers and it feels good to do.'
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Playing on LIV Tour 'brings out the best' in Bland
Veteran British golfer Richard Bland says that playing on the LIV Tour "brings out the best" in him. The 52-year-old from Southampton joined LIV in 2022 for their very first event in London - and, in his first three full seasons, has secured top-24 finishes in the individual standings every time he has played. After turning professional in 1996, it took Bland 25 years and 478 tournaments on the European Tour to win his first championship - the 2021 British Masters. Last week, Bland made the cut at the second major of the year, the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, finishing tied for 37th place with a final score of one over par. "My game has definitely improved since joining the LIV Tour - it had to if I'm going to compete," he told BBC South Today. "When you compete with Bryson (DeChambeau), Brooks (Koepka) and Jon Rahm week in, week out, I have to bring my best if I have any chance of competing. "Someone like Jon last week (at the PGA Championship) proved he is a top-five player in the world, so is Bryson, and to be able to go up against those guys 14 times a year will only enhance my game." Bland is the second oldest golfer in the LIV Golf League behind Phil Mickelson, and this year made headlines with an impressive albatross at LIV Mexico. The lucrative LIV Tour was launched three years ago and fractured men's professional golf by signing high-profile players from America's previously-dominant PGA Tour including Rahm, Dustin Johnson, DeChambeau, Cameron Smith and Koepka. LIV Golf is backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) - an entity controlled by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al-Saud - which is also the majority owner of Premier League football club Newcastle United. But for now, Bland's attention will be away from the LIV Tour as he looks to defend his Senior PGA title at Congressional Country Club in Maryland. Last year, he won the tournament on his senior major debut, closing with an eight-under final round of 63 for a three-shot victory at Harbor Shores. It was his first triumph since that British Masters win back in 2021. "My game is in pretty good shape right now," he said. "If I play the golf I know I can play, I am confident I can be in the hunt come Sunday [but] there are a lot of legends out here that can still play to a very high level. "I'm under no illusions that I'll just turn up and take the trophy - I'll have to play some of my stronger golf just to stand a chance and hopefully I can do that. "Whatever happens this week it's been an honour and privilege to be champion and hopefully that can continue." Last year, when he won the Senior PGA title, Bland dedicated the victory to his brother Heath, who had been diagnosed with cancer. On Instagram the two posed for a photo with the trophy once Bland had returned home, sharing a message that the cup was with its "rightful owner". "His treatment has finished now and hopefully touch wood he will be fine," Bland added. "He has a battle every day - compared to what he had to go through, me hitting a white golf ball round a course means nothing. "We all get frustrated because we care but it puts things into perspective that one poor shot is not life and death. I try to keep that close to myself and it brings me back to normality. "But I want to play well to give my family something to be positive about. If I do that then I have done my job."
Khaleej Times
12-04-2025
- Sport
- Khaleej Times
Erickson ties course record in bid for maiden HotelPlanner tour win in Ajman
With his eyes firmly set on a maiden HotelPlanner Tour title, Dan Erickson delivered a sensational third-round 63 to tie the course record at Al Zorah Golf & Yacht Club in Ajman and seize a narrow one-shot lead heading into the final day of the UAE Challenge on Sunday. Hot on Erickson's heels are Italy's Renato Paratore and South Africa's JC Ritchie, sitting just one shot back at 15-under-par. Ritchie, who started the day tied for the lead, posted a solid 67 to stay firmly in contention, while Paratore – the 2020 British Masters champion – surged up the leaderboard with a sparkling 64. Ireland's Mark Power is still in the mix at 13-under, with Italy's Filippo Celli and France's Oihan Guillamoundeguy just a shot behind him. Local hopes remain alive too: Dubai resident Adri Arnaus fired a composed 69 to reach 11-under, while UAE representative Joshua Grenville-Wood, playing under the Emirates Golf Federation banner, trails him by three. But it was Dan Erickson who lit up the leaderboard with the round of the day. The 26-year-old American picked up five shots on the front nine, including a run of three straight birdies from the fourth, before adding four more on the back to post a superb nine-under 63. Erickson, who recently finished tied for sixth at the Porsche Singapore Classic on the DP World Tour, was delighted with his third-round effort at Al Zorah, moving to 16-under-par for the tournament. Finding something 'I am very pleased. I hit it nicely and put it nicely,' he said. 'I didn't really have a good warm-up, but as soon as I got out there, I found something and rolled with it the whole day. I hit my approaches really well, which I've been struggling with lately—especially some of the wedges. They were really solid strokes and well controlled.' After earning DP World Tour status during last year's Q School, Erickson is hoping his experiences on golf's global tour will benefit him as he chases his first HotelPlanner Tour victory. 'It was a great experience playing in the final group in Singapore, and I'll be in the final group tomorrow. That experience—just staying in the present, sticking to my process, and trying not to worry about what everyone else is doing—should help. 'I've started working with a new coach and focusing on some good things. I just want to stick to the process, get a little better day by day, and see where we are at the end of the year.' Skaik stays composed Lady luck proved unkind to the UAE's Ahmad Skaik when his driver broke on the back nine. With no spare, the 27-year-old was forced to use his 3-wood from the tee for the remaining holes, yet composed himself admirably, dropping only one shot—on his final hole. 'From the start, I was hitting the ball pretty decent. I missed a few six-footers for birdie and had a horseshoe on one from four feet. So, it felt like a tough day, but I was fighting back. 'I had a birdie on 18 (my ninth) and went to the back nine. I hit a few good shots, and then from hole four, I felt something wrong with the driver. It was flying weird. 'On hole six, I tried it again and it came out dead. I gave it one more try on seven—felt like I pulled it—but it came out like a low hook. That's when we saw the driver was broken. I had to continue with the 3-wood, so I had four irons into second shots instead of 9-irons.' He also got unlucky with a horrible lie at the edge of the bunker on the par-3 fifth hole. 'This is golf—it is what it is. It's not the first time things like this have happened. I've just learned to accept it. These things happen to everyone, and it's not the last time it's going to happen, so I just take it on the chin and try to keep moving forward. I'll try to find a driver now and then go low again tomorrow!' The final round of the UAE Challenge will start at 7:40 am, with Erickson, Paratore, and Ritchie teeing off in the final group at 9:40 am.
BBC News
24-02-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Second weightlifting gold for Devon fitness coach
A fitness coach from north Devon has successfully defended her title in a British weightlifting Miles, from Bideford, won gold in the women's over-35s 81kg category at the British Masters Weightlifting Championships in the Welsh city of Bangor on who said she only started weightlifting five years ago during the Covid-19 lockdown, picked up her first British Masters gold two years ago in said she had a poor night's sleep before the competition due to "storms and wind" and had to "pull it out the bag a little bit" but was "really happy" with the win. Because of the lack of sleep she chose "relatively safe weights" but still managed to top her category with lifts of 70k in the snatch and 90k in the clean and British Masters is a senior weightlifting contest held every two years.
