Latest news with #JJSpaun
Wall Street Journal
3 days ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
The Oddball Golf Putter Company That Private Equity Just Bought for $200 Million
Just over a month ago, L.A.B. Golf was a niche company that sold bizarre looking putters. Then millions of golf fans watched J.J. Spaun use one to sink a 64-footer and win the U.S. Open. And now private equity has scooped up L.A.B.
STV News
21-07-2025
- Sport
- STV News
Back-to-back major top-10s reinforce MacIntyre's belief he can win one
Back-to-back major top-10s have reinforced Robert MacIntyre's belief he can win one of golf's premier events. Last month he was denied the chance to win the US Open by a monster putt from JJ Spaun at the final hole but his return to Royal Portrush – where he made his major debut in 2019 – and a joint-seventh finish boosted his confidence. 'I know I've got the game. I feel like it's a matter of time if I just keep piecing it all together,' he said after shooting 67 to get to 10 under. 'I was coming out here trying to win the golf tournament but I knew I was too far back going into today. It was just jockeying for position, picking up a couple whenever you can. 'But I'm a far better-equipped golfer (than 2019). For me, looking now, it's been a great performance, a good result. 'It's another kind of reassurance that I'm in the right place.' MacIntyre is now looking to cement his place on the Ryder Cup team having been a member of the victorious European side in Rome two years ago. 'I thought after the US Open it might be done but I've got three more tournaments before the deadline and I want to qualify automatically,' he added. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Yahoo
20-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Players must be hit where it hurts to cure scourge of slow play
Officials judged JJ Spaun to have recorded a 'bad time' here at the 153rd Open Championship and the US Open champion's playing partners, Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele, were not best pleased. Goodness knows how they identified Spaun alone. Rounds were taking beyond six hours by the end of the opening day – everybody was slow and they surely could not blame one player. Indeed, picking out Spaun in this trail of the slugs was akin to singling out an Irishman here for having the odd pint. In fairness, however, Spaun is not quick and clearly was not quick and in this respect, it is gratifying to witness the referees actually enforcing the rules, even if it was in an isolated case. Now let us see if they follow this through. Should Spaun record another 'bad time' in the second round, he will receive a penalty shot and an example would thus be made. If you pardon the pun, it would be long overdue. Despite the scourge of slow play raging all but unabated in the elite male professional game for the past decade there has not been a penalty in an individual event on the PGA Tour since Glen 'All' Day in 1995. In the majors, the most recent player to be hit with a sanction on the scorecard was China's Guan Tianlang at the 2013 Masters. And he happened to be a 14-year-old schoolkid. Otherwise, they want us to believe that the transgressions of the rulebook are so rare, it is difficult to catch the slowcoaches. That is nonsense, as the women's game is proving and, to a certain extent, LIV Golf as well. The LPGA Tour has issued four slow play penalties since March, including at the season's fourth female major – the Evian Championship – last week when another Chinese Yan Liu had two strokes added to her score for repeated infringements. On LIV, England's Richard Bland has twice fallen foul of the stop clock and it has cost him shots and money. Australia's Marc Leishman, a LIV member, made this point after his 72. 'Felt like we were on the golf course for about 12 hours,' he said. 'We've been on the course for three hours through eight holes. That was tough to deal with, especially coming from somewhere where we play in under four and a half hours every week.' There is mitigation. This is an immensely tough layout and the record-breaking crowds do not foster haste. Furthermore, the squalls meant players were clambering in and out of waterproofs at repeated intervals. That is all excusable. What is not is when the players wait for gusts to calm or when they simply take too long over a shot, either in the planning, the execution or most often, both. This is what occurred to Spaun on the 17th. The group had been 'put on the clock' and each player was being timed over each shot. At this stage, they usually pick up the pace. But on the penultimate hole, Spaun went over the allotted 50 seconds he was allowed as the first golfer to play (the other two in the threeball get 40 seconds). Thus his 'bad time' warning carries over into Friday. There were remonstrations against the rules official, with Rahm's caddie, Adam Hayes, reportedly particularly animated in a tense exchange. The referee stood his ground and should be applauded. John Wood, the well-known caddie who used to work for Matt Kuchar, was with the group as an analyst for USA TV and said the decision was perfectly correct. 'I've been with them for five holes,' Wood said, 'and I have not seen a group in front of them. They are definitely behind.' No, the trio were not the reason for the wretched pace of play. What is at fault is the culture on the PGA Tour and a belief among the entitled multi-millionaires that they will not get punished. The only way that the authorities will break that culture is by hitting the players where it hurts. Not in the wallet, but on the scorecard. More instances like Spaun will speed up the solution.
Free Malaysia Today
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Free Malaysia Today
US Open champ Spaun rises to No 8 in world golf rankings
JJ Spaun celebrates after winning the US Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club. (AP pic) OAKMONT : US Open winner JJ Spaun jumped to No 8 in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) released Monday, a meteoric rise from 109th to begin the season. Spaun began last week ranked 28th in the OWGR before he scored a two-stroke victory over Robert MacIntyre of Scotland with consecutive birdies in his final round at Oakmont Country Club on Sunday to win the US Open. Spaun, 34, has five career victories and held the 54-hole lead at the Sony Open and Players Championship earlier this year. He found the water on the island hole, No 17, at TPC Sawgrass and lost a three-hole playoff to Rory McIlroy at The Players. The US Open was Spaun's first win since the 2022 Valero Open and put him ahead of the six players ahead of him in the OWGR in earnings this season (US$9.644 million). Only world No 1 Scottie Scheffler (US$15.174 million) and No 2 McIlroy (US$14.221) have taken home more this season. Americans Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas and Russell Henley occupy the No 3-6 spots and Sepp Straka is seventh. Norway's Victor Hovland, Sweden's Ludvig Aberg and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama follow Spaun with US Open runner-up Robert MacIntyre at No 12 and Bryson DeChambeau 13th.
Telegraph
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Live The Open 2025, second round: Fitzpatrick leads and McIlroy in contention
18 July 2025 8:21am 8:21AM Players must be hit where it hurts to cure scourge of slow play Officials judged JJ Spaun to have recorded a 'bad time' here at the 153rd Open Championship and the US Open champion's playing partners, Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele, were not best pleased. Goodness knows how they identified Spaun alone. Rounds were taking beyond six hours by the end of the opening day – everybody was slow and they surely could not blame one player. Indeed, picking out Spaun in this trail of the slugs was akin to singling out an Irishman here for having the odd pint. In fairness, however, Spaun is not quick and clearly was not quick and in this respect, it is gratifying to witness the referees actually enforcing the rules, even if it was in an isolated case. Now let us see if they follow this through. Should Spaun record another 'bad time' in the second round, he will receive a penalty shot and an example would thus be made. If you pardon the pun, it would be long overdue. 8:09AM Not the best start for two Masters champions Sergio Garcia is one over for the day so far after three holes (and just narrowly missed a birdie putt) and Adam Scott is two over for the day, with a putt to save par on the fourth. They are even and three over for the tournament respectively. 8:03AM The first hole was the most difficult yesterday Not hard to see why, really. Will that continue today? 7:58AM Who is doing well so far today? American amateur Ethan Fang, for one. He is at two under for the day (two over for the tournament) after three after back-to-back birdies. Back-to-back birdies for Amateur Champion Ethan Fang. — The Open (@TheOpen) July 18, 2025 However, he has found a tricky fairway bunker on the fourth. 7:53AM Tee times: Some early groups of interest 7:08 am Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler, Ethan Fang (a) 7:19 am Laurie Canter, Elvis Smylie, Sergio Garcia 7:52 am Si Woo Kim, Shugo Imahira, Sebastian Cave (a) 8:25 am Keegan Bradley, Sungjae Im, Daniel Berger 8:36 am Rasmus Hojgaard, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Romain Langasque 8:47 am Aaron Rai, Sahith Theegala, Harry Hall 9:25 am Brian Harman, Maverick McNealy, Joaquin Niemann 9:36 am Russell Henley, Tyrrell Hatton, Min Woo Lee 9:47 am Robert MacIntyre, Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Rose 9:58 am Jordan Spieth, Ludvig Aberg, Viktor Hovland 10:09 am Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood 10:20 am Harris English, Nick Taylor, Tony Finau 7:41AM Good morning Welcome to our live coverage of day two of the 2025 Open Championship which comes from Royal Portrush. The first day yesterday was a tremendous day of any major championship, with nobody tearing the course up and plenty of big names in the reckoning at this early stage. A good chunk of players were at even par or better after the opening round, with five players posting scores of four-under 67. They include Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Harris English, Jacob Skov Olesen, Li Haotong and Matt Fitzpatrick. There is plenty of home interest, too, with Tyrell Hatton, Matthew Jordan (-3), Aaron Rai, Lee Westwood, Justin Rose (-2) and Rory McIlroy (-1) towards the upper reaches of the leaderboard. Clearly the biggest story this week (for all that of Shane Lowry returning to the scene of his greatest triumph...) is McIlroy. His round yesterday had its moments. At one point (hole 10) he reached three under par and within one shot of the leaders. Then came three bogeys in the next four holes before a birdie at 17 got him back to one under, where he finished. It is a cliche that you cannot win the Open in the first round but you can lose it and, as much as he would have liked to have finished a couple of shots better, McIlroy has put himself in contention at this early stage. Mind you, he is not the only name who had a decent Thursday. World No 1 Scottie Scheffler managed to score a 68, though not without a few difficulties, 2023 champion Brian Harman is also at two under, with Jon Rahm and Shane Lowry at one under. Really, at this stage, anyone who is not too far away from that score of four under is far from out of it. And that is the joy of major golf. Today is set up for another intriguing day of action in County Antrim, with a few early groups out already.
