Latest news with #Leishman
Perth Now
2 days ago
- Sport
- Perth Now
Leishman woes seal historically bad Open for Australia
Australian golf has endured its worst British Open golf championship in the modern era after Marc Leishman failed to spare the green 'n gold blushes on the final day at Royal Portrush. 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.
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Anas Sarwar urges Brian Leishman to show ‘team spirit'
Mr Leishman has been a prominent critic of the leadership's approach to welfare reform and its failure to intervene in the closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery. He, along with Rachael Maskell, Neil Duncan-Jordan and Chris Hinchliff, was suspended on Thursday. READ MORE At a joint press conference with the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, the Prime Minister was asked whether punishing the MPs made him look weak. 'We are elected in to change this country for the better, and that means we've got to carry through that change, and we've got to carry through reforms,' he replied. 'I'm determined that we will change this country for the better, for millions of working people, and I'm not going to be deflected from that. 'And therefore we had to deal with people who repeatedly break the whip, because everyone was elected as a Labour MP on the manifesto of change and everybody needs to deliver as a Labour government. This is about what we're doing for the country.' Despite the suspension, Mr Leishman said he remained committed to Labour and would continue campaigning for the party ahead of the 2026 Holyrood election. 'That includes Anas Sarwar,' he told the Sunday Mail. 'I'm still going out campaigning and that includes him. I think he should be the next First Minister of Scotland.' He added: 'I still think that the Labour Party is the best and most likely vehicle for social change in the country and I want to be part of it. I want to get back in, but I don't regret what I've done in the first 12 months. I stand by it and I still think I'm right.' He said he had not heard from colleagues since his suspension, other than being told he was being removed from two Scottish Labour WhatsApp groups. Anas Sarwar said he want people committed to Labour (Image: Andrew Milligan/PA) Asked if he welcomed Mr Leishman's support, Mr Sarwar told the Sunday Mail: 'I want all of our MPs and all those that were elected as Labour MPs to work hard for their constituents, to argue the Labour case and to improve people's lives in Scotland. said. 'Brian Leishman himself has said he wants to remain a Labour MP, he remains committed to the Labour Party. 'I want people that are committed to the Labour Party. I want people that are committed to improving people's lives — but we all have to do it in a team spirit.' On Sunday, UK Environment Secretary Steve Reed defended the decision, saying there had been a 'pattern of behaviour' that undermined the party's unity. 'I think it is fair that if you're part of a team, you should be required to play the team game,' he told Sky News. 'You can make your views known, but if you go too far outside, you're actually undermining the whole team. We can't allow that.' He added: 'If people think they're more important than the team, they need to think again.' As well as the four left-wingers, the party also suspended Diane Abbott last week pending a new investigation into comments about racism. In an interview with the BBC, she said she did not regret remarks made more than two years ago when she said people of colour experienced racism 'all their lives', which was different from the 'prejudice' experienced by Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers. Ms Abbott, the first black woman elected to Parliament, had said: 'Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don't know. 'I just think that it's silly to try and claim that racism which is about skin colour is the same as other types of racism. I don't know why people would say that.' The clip of the interview was re-posted by Mr Leishman, who said: 'Diane Abbott has fought against racism her entire life.'
Daily Record
3 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Record
Anas Sarwar urges sacked MP Brian Leishman to be team player if readmitted to Labour
The Scottish Labour leader said he welcomed people who were 'committed' to the party after Grangemouth MP Leishman had the whip withdrawn. Anas Sarwar has urged sacked MP Brian Leishman to be a team player if he is readmitted to Labour. The Scottish Labour leader said he welcomed people who were 'committed' to the party when asked about the suspension. Grangemouth's MP was one of four to have the whip withdrawn from the Labour parliamentary group last week after repeatedly voting against Starmer's policies. He has been a critic of Labour over issues including the lack of action to save jobs at Grangemouth refinery in his constituency. Sunday Mail columnist Leishman revealed he had been ordered to toe the party line after voting against the government 12 times in the past year. He said: 'I still think that the Labour Party is the best and most likely vehicle for social change in the country and I want to be part of it. "I want to get back in but I don't regret what I've done in the first 12 months. I stand by it and I still think I'm right.' He said he had not heard from colleagues since his suspension, other than to be told he was being removed from two Scottish Labour Whatsapp Groups. But he said he would campaign for his colleagues in the Holyrood elections. He said: 'That includes Anas Sarwar, I'm still going out campaigning and that includes him. "I think he should be the next First Minister of Scotland.' Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Asked if he would welcome Leishman's support, Sarwar told the Sunday Mail: 'Look, I want all of our MPs and all those that were elected as Labour MPs to work hard for their constituents, to argue the Labour case and to improve people's lives in Scotland. 'Brian Leishman himself has said that he wants to remain a Labour MP, he remains committed to the Labour Party. 'I want people that are committed to the Labour Party. I want people that are committed to improving people's lives but we all have to do it in a team spirit.' Despite his suspension, Leishman has ruled out joining the SNP or Jeremy Corbyn's new party. He has said he wants the Labour whip back and that he is "committed rock solid" to the party. The other Labour MPs to be suspended by Keir Starmer were English MPs Neil Duncan-Jordan, Chris Hinchcliff and Rachael Maskell. Three other MPs lost their trade envoy roles.
7NEWS
3 days ago
- Sport
- 7NEWS
Australia's last Open Championships hope Marc Leishman eyes top-four finish as Scottie Scheffler unreachable
Marc Leishman knows Scottie Scheffler may have put the Claret Jug out of sight — but Australia's only British Open hope is still dreaming of the glittering prizes a top-four finish would bestow. With an eve-of-final-round pint of Guinness and the alluring thought of doing something 'really, really silly' out on the Royal Portrush links, the 41-year-old Victorian reckons he still has plenty to play for in Sunday's finale. Leishman kept the Aussie flag flying with a three-under 68 in benign conditions on the Dunluce links during Saturday's third-round 'moving day', happy to shoulder the load after all his eight compatriots failed to make the cut for the weekend. He's tied for 22nd place, 10 shots adrift of unbackable leader Scottie Scheffler, with even Leishman accepting that being so far behind the world No.1 makes the idea of him winning the Jug a decade after he finished runner-up in a playoff at St Andrews seem wholly unfeasible. But he's only six shots behind the best of the rest, Li Haotong, and has eyes on a top-four finish which would guarantee him a return to both next year's Masters, after a three-year absence, and a place at the 2026 Royal Birkdale Open. 'Obviously there's the carrot dangling to try to get into the top-four,' Leishman mused. 'Yes, you want to do something silly and try to go crazy low, but you also want to make sure you give yourself a chance to get into the other majors. 'Probably more so looking at that. I'm nine back at the moment, probably going to be more than 10 back at the end of the day the way he (Scheffler) is playing,' added Leishman when he finished, while the world No.1 was still strutting his stuff out on course. 'That will be too many shots, unless I do something really, really silly. He's probably going to get to 20-under! I'm not going to shoot 56.' The LIV Golf star, in fine form after winning his maiden event on the Saudi-run circuit at Trump National Doral in Miami in April, smiled: 'Hopefully I can do something silly tomorrow and try to sneak into that top five or 10.' He hasn't played in any of the last 10 majors since his move to LIV but still didn't feel the pressure of being the only Aussie on view. 'It's been a while, but something you can slide back into pretty easily. It's what we want to do, play majors, win majors. I've not been in them for a while, but happy to be back,' said the man who's enjoyed three top-10 finishes at the British Open. On Saturday, starting at one under, he made a woeful start when three putts from 40ft at the first led to an immediate bogey, but he responded swiftly with a brilliant tee shot to within two foot of the pin at the short third and then sank a 12-footer for another birdie at the fifth. A delightful approach to four foot at the 11th provided further encouragement and though finding the fairway bunker at the long 12th led to a bogey six, he again bounced back, this time in spectacular fashion at the short 13th when he holed a 34ft birdie putt. His third birdie two of the round came at the 16th when he holed from the fringe of the green. 'I felt really good today actually. If I'd played the par-fives better, I could have had a really low one, but played them at one-over. Hopefully I'll save it all for tomorrow.' And the key ingredient for success? 'Yeah, probably another Guinness for sure,' smiled Leishman after a quick check of the watch.
The Age
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Age
Leishman continues strong form at the Open in Northern Ireland
Marc Leishman, Australia's last man standing at The Open Championship, will be striving for a top ten finish on Sunday to guarantee him a start in next year's tournament. On a day when tens of thousands of fans packed out Royal Portrush to watch local hero Rory McIlroy propel himself up the leaderboard, Leishman made five birdies and two bogeys to card a three-under round of 68, keeping alive his chances of doing damage to the leaderboard in the final round. A top 10 finish would grant the LIV golfer exemption into The Open in 2026 while an unlikely top four-finish would also give Leishman entry into next year's Masters. It's far more than just money on the line. Leishman told Australian reporters that he will wait to see what the conditions are - they've been chaotic - on Sunday before figuring out a game-plan for his final round. 'I'm hitting it well enough to be aggressive. Depends what the conditions do. If the wind gets up a little bit, you've got to try and give yourself makeable birdie putts on every hole. If it's like it was today, you probably have to be a bit more aggressive and try and make something happen. 'It's one of those things; you just have to hit good shots. If you're not hitting good shots, whether you're aggressive or conservative, you're not going to have a good score. If you are hitting good shots, you can play that way and still have a good score. 'I feel like my iron play is really good at the moment, and there might be a few pins that I'll be able to go at that maybe, depending on the situation, I might otherwise not go at. Yeah, we'll see what the situation brings.'
