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Daily Mirror
04-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
PGA Tour star furious at Open chiefs who still haven't told him if he's playing
PGA Tour star Michael Kim has criticised organisers of The Open for leaving him in the dark over his participation in this month's championship. The 2025 Open Championship is set to take place at Royal Portrush in County Antrim, Northern Ireland later in July. The prestigious tournament will feature a field of 156 players, with some securing their spots this week. However, world No. 55 Kim remains uncertain about his involvement and has expressed his frustration at the challenging qualifying process. In a post on X, the 31-year-old PGA Tour regular shared the vague response he received when seeking clarity about his role, even with the news that LIV Golf stars are able to make a play for the event. "You'd think with less than two weeks before the Open Champ starts, the R&A (The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews) could give me a decent idea of whether I'm playing it or not... but nope. All I've gotten is 'you have a slight chance'," Kim wrote. "My friend who looked at all the qualifications has given me more info than the R&A has. There's still six spots left and if they fill it with OWGR (Official World Golf Ranking), then I'm most likely in but even that they won't say anything about." While the R&A doesn't publicly disclose it, the reserve list typically includes players from the rankings who are not otherwise exempt. After the three spots are filled from the Genesis Scottish Open, which runs from July 10-13, the field will stand at 150 with six places remaining, reports the Mirror US. While Kim currently sits at 55, event organisers may be holding out to see how the rankings pan out post-Scottish Open before filling the remaining spots. The Open has a complex yet broad set of criteria in place for qualification, with 28 different routes to secure a spot. This year, 44 spots are up for grabs for those who triumph in qualifying events. The remaining 112 will be filled by players who have earned exemptions due to their past performances. Seventeen of these 112 spots were snapped up by previous Open champions, including last year's victor Xander Schauffele, who will be under 60 by July 20, 2025. Nine places were secured by those who finished in the top 10 at last year's tournament, including Scottie Scheffler and Justin Rose. The next 39 spots were claimed by players in the world's top 50 who hadn't already qualified by week 21 of the golf season. The following places were filled by those in the top 25 of the 2024 Race to Dubai rankings and recent winners of the BMW PGA Championship. Those who clinched the Masters and US Open between 2020 and 2025, including Rory McIlroy, also made the cut. Winners of the PGA Championships from 2019 to 2025, and those who finished in the top 30 of the 2024 FedEx Cup points list, were also granted a spot. The last three victors of the Players Championship and the top five players in the 2025 FedEx points list have secured their spots at The Open. However, Sergio Garcia will be joining them due to the top five players from the 2025 LIV Golf League's solo standings being given a chance to compete. The remaining places are filled by final qualifying. English star Lee Westwood was one such player to secure his place this way, triumphing in one of the two-round events that were held across four different venues on Tuesday. The 153rd Open is set to tee off on Thursday, July 17 and will run until Sunday, July 20.
USA Today
03-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Brian Harman recalls a $10K side bet payday, surges to the top at 2025 Valero Texas Open
Brian Harman recalls a $10K side bet payday, surges to the top at 2025 Valero Texas Open SAN ANTONIO — Get Brian Harman talking about the simpler times, when he was touring the country as an amateur, and he lights up. For example, after the opening round of the Valero Texas Open, Harman was reminiscing about his epic victory at the 2007 Porter Cup in Lewiston, N.Y., when he blew away a field that included players like Chris Kirk, Billy Horschel and Jason Kokrak. Harman's nine-stroke victory was the greatest in the history of the storied event and it coincided with his switch to a belly putter a few weeks before. He laughed as he recalled the win on Thursday, saying he'd been playing poorly most of that summer after his junior year at the University of Georgia. He'd been playing a side team game with Colt Knost and others all summer long and was struggling to make ends meet. But the win at the Niagara Falls Country Club changed all that. "I won 10 grand that day," Harman said with a wide smile while signing autographs at TPC San Antonio. "That was a good day." After an impressive 66 on Thursday, his best in 25 rounds at The Oaks course, Harman is in line to make a whole lot more if he maintains this pace. He was at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the early wave of players, and with winds and nasty weather expected to roll through the region getting the early edge was crucial. For the record, the winner of the Valero Texas Open also earns $10,000. Well, plus $1.7 million. On Thursday, Harman didn't do much differently than his previous rounds here, but he just rolled a few more putts in. "I just drove it good, and made a few more putts than I've been making," Harman said. "My game's been feeling like it's been getting close, but just hadn't had any results, so nice to get off to a good start this week." The three-time Tour winner and 2023 Open Champ has played well this season, he just hasn't been able to put together four solid rounds to get into contention. Harman has made the cut in seven of nine events and had a top-20 finish at the Genesis, but if he can eliminate that one round, it's likely he'll find his way back into a winner's circle soon enough. And he'd love for it to be in Texas, where he's always played well. "It's just consistency and execution. Yeah, my good days have been good enough to win and my bad days have been not great," he said. "You've got to find a way on those days, and that's usually a strong part of my game is gritting it out, figuring out a way to get it done. So just patience and just executing a few more shots and see what happens. "I love Texas, man. I love the people here, I love the state ... I love it out here, I love the weather. If I had to move anywhere, I'd move to Texas for sure." Speaking of Texas, and specifically San Antonio, the Final Four is in town this weekend and two of the four teams from the SEC will be on hand. Since Harman is a proud UGA grad, will he be pulling for Florida and Auburn this weekend? "Don't care, man. I hope they all lose."
