Latest news with #Opens
Toronto Sun
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Toronto Sun
Rory McIlroy: 'If I can win the Masters, the Maple Leafs can win the Stanley Cup'
After golf superstar wore a Toronto Raptors jersey in 2019, the Raptors won the NBA championship. Get the latest from Jon McCarthy straight to your inbox Rory McIlroy looks on as Keith Pelley, President and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) putts on the second green during the RBC Canadian Open Pro-Am at TPC Toronto. Getty Images CALEDON, Ont. — Rory McIlroy has given heartbroken Toronto Maple Leafs fans a reason for optimism. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The golf superstar and two-time RBC Canadian Open champ is at TPC Toronto this week looking to notch his fourth win of the season. On Wednesday, McIlroy played in the tournament pro-am with MLSE top boss Keith Pelley, who gifted the five-time major champ a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey. More on that in a minute. 'I haven't hidden my sort of aspirations for national Opens and where I would like them to be, what their standing is in the professional game of golf. So this has meant a lot,' McIlroy said. 'I first came here in 2019, once the date changed. It used to be that week after the Open Championship, which wasn't ideal for a lot of players. I honestly love the date change. I love that it's the week leading into the U.S. Open. 'P laying in front of the Canadian fans and everything that goes along with that and the enthusiasm, you guys only get to see this sort of golf once a year, so I think once it does come along, it's really appreciated. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Then I think that atmosphere is really appreciated by the players that get to play in front of those fans.' Back to the Leafs jersey. TSN's Bob Weeks pointed out to McIlroy that after he wore a Toronto Raptors jersey in 2019, the Raptors won the NBA championship, and asked if perhaps the golfer could be the secret ingredient to ending the Leafs' 58-year Cup curse. 'If I can win the Masters, surely the Maple Leafs can win the Stanley Cup,' McIlroy said. From Rory's lips to Lord Stanley's ears. Read More Toronto & GTA Toronto & GTA Celebrity Golf Olympics
Mercury
29-05-2025
- Sport
- Mercury
Tasmanian Netball League 2025 live stream: Cripps v Karana, Round 16
Don't miss out on the headlines from Netball Live Stream. Followed categories will be added to My News. While they may not have secured a win so far this season, Karana could very well play a major part in shaping the TNL's top four. And while he'd clearly love to have a few wins under the belt, Karana coach Rick Loring is just ensuring his players 'stay in the moment'. The Flames will get the chance to both turn their fortunes around and cause an upset when they face finals-bound Cripps on Saturday. Both the Opens and U19s matches will be available live and exclusive on KommunityTV from 4pm. Despite their poor record, Loring believes his side's best is good enough. 'We have played some really good moments throughout the season,' Loring said. 'When we have zipped through the defence of other teams we have looked really good and it shows we can match it with them. 'It isn't something we have really looked at, the ladder, but it could be a way to motivate the girls for the rest of the season. 'They have been really good at sticking together, we have had injuries that have impacted us definitely but they have stayed pretty close as a group which is great to see.' Cripps sit fourth and on the same amount of points as fifth placed Devon, who will be taking on the third-place Hawks this weekend. The Hawks are two games clear in third spot. With five rounds to go, the top three look almost set on the ladder with fourth place still up for grabs between Cripps and Devon. 'We play (Devon) after the Kings Birthday bye weekend, a road trip up there which will be nice for the group,' Loring said. 'I wish we had to travel earlier in the season as it bonds the group together. 'It is a long trip, four hours up on the bus and then four hours back and we will do it in a day as well. 'But maybe I can use the motivation about the ladder to get the girls up as well. 'Hopefully it creates a bit more for the girls and we can jag a win.'
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Aus Open seals huge Rory coup
Golf Australia officials feared Rory McIlroy's Masters breakthrough could have undone years of talks about luring him back to the Australian Open and made him 'unattainable'. But a lingering desire to play tournament golf on the Melbourne sandbelt for the first time was enough for McIlroy to stay 'true to his word'. The world No.2 will play the 2025 Australian Open at Royal Melbourne from December 4 and then back up in 2026 at Kingston Heath in a major coup, with the event reverting to a stand-alone tournament after three years of playing the men's and women's Opens on the same course at the same time. 'Thankfully, the conversation was happening before the Masters,' GA boss James Sutherland said on Wednesday. 'We did have a moment there where, when he won the Masters, thinking, what are the implications of this? Maybe he's going to get offers from all over the world, and maybe the numbers will be different, and all of that sort of thing. 'But fortunately, Rory has been completely true to his word. He has for a long time expressed a desire to come here and play on the sandbelt, and the attraction of that would appear to be absolutely genuine. 'He has always said he wants to play tournament golf here. That conversation has been going on for a long time, and fortunately, nothing changed when he won the Masters. 'It just became an even more compelling proposition.' McIlroy collected his maiden green jacket at Augusta in April to complete the career grand slam. The 35-year-old, and world No.2, last played the Australian Open in 2014 when he defended the Stonehaven Cup the year after he went head-to-head with Adam Scott in 2013 to eventually be crowned champion. 'I'm proud to be committing to the Australian Open for the next two years, especially with it being played on the world-class Melbourne sandbelt, somewhere I've always wanted to play professionally' McIlroy said. 'The success of the Australian Open is important for the global game, and I'm incredibly confident it will thrive again this year, especially with it being staged in one of the world's great sporting cities and on two of the finest golf courses in the world over the next two years: The Royal Melbourne Golf Club and Kingston Heath Golf Club. 'Melbourne is known for being one of the world's great sporting cities and I can't wait to be part of that atmosphere and soak in everything it has to offer, both on and off the course.' It's a huge fillip for the tournament, which is moving back to a stand-alone event after three years playing as a dual-gender event, alongside the women's Australian Open, which received mixed reviews from players including Cam Smith. Adam Scott is set to return after skipping last year's event at Kingston Heath, with Sutherland hopeful the quest for world ranking points, and spots in the British Open for the top three finishers, could lure more big names. 'The DP World Tour provides a whole lot of European Tour players that will join us,' he said. 'But I think also in amongst the LIV ranks, there are a whole lot of players that will want to increase their rankings. 'The top three placegetters in the Australian Open every year get a spot in the Open Championship, and that itself is an attraction for anyone that's outside of the top rankings. 'We are committed to elevating the status of our national championship, and this announcement is a significant step in that direction.' McIlroy will head to Melbourne after playing out the PGA Tour season and then Ryder Cup in September. The men's Australian Open will follow the BMW Australian PGA Championship, with both events again co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.
USA Today
03-05-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Lynch: Donald Trump is trying to bully his way to an Open at Turnberry, but he'll be a loser
Lynch: Donald Trump is trying to bully his way to an Open at Turnberry, but he'll be a loser There was a time when major championship venues were selected largely on the merits of the golf course, but that was back around the time that Jimmy Carter had to place his peanut farm in a blind trust to avoid the appearance of enriching himself off the presidency, both concepts now quaint relics of a bygone era. The criteria for deciding where majors are held now places greater priority on commercial returns and logistics, even among the threadbare seaside towns of the British Isles. Carnoustie is indisputably among the U.K.'s finest links courses, but it went a quarter-century between hosting Opens for lack of a decent hotel (it still doesn't have one, despite the monstrosity erected by the 18th green). Royal Lytham last had the championship in 2012, and is reworking its layout and addressing neighborhood issues to accommodate the enormous infrastructure that would come with (hopefully) being awarded a 12th Open. Northern Ireland's Royal Portrush was ignored for decades until the whiff of gun smoke faded, but this summer will host its second Open in six years, the first having proved intoxicatingly lucrative to the organizers at the Royal & Ancient. The most pressing consideration varies by venue for the R&A, but only one criterion really matters for Donald Trump — whatever he wants. Trump purchased Turnberry in 2014, knowing it was in the R&A's rotation and confident he was also buying the major he has long coveted. But the Open hasn't returned since its fourth staging at the Ayrshire resort, in '09. Last week, the Guardian newspaper reported that Trump has repeatedly asked British officials to lean on the R&A to bring the Open back to Turnberry. Since he treats his own government as a means for graft and settling grievances, it's unsurprising that he treats foreign governments similarly, but his odds of winning this battle are minuscule. Since Trump's extensive renovation of the Ailsa links has been widely praised, the worthiness of the course is not an impediment. But that's the only winning hand he holds. Logistics are a major strike against Turnberry, which is a 30-minute drive from the nearest town and an hour from any city. 'There are definitely some logistical and commercial challenges that we face around the road, rail and accommodation infrastructure,' said Mark Darbon, the R&A's chief executive. One figure exposes both the infrastructure shortcomings of Turnberry as an Open venue and the enormous financial hit the R&A would absorb from returning there, which it can ill afford. The last championship held at the remote resort drew 123,000 spectators. By comparison, last year Royal Troon attracted 250,000 while Portrush sold out at 278,000. Darbon knows that remediating Turnberry's issues would take years and untold millions in funding. 'We're doing some feasibility work around what it would look like to return to that venue and the investment that it would require,' he added, which is polite British-speak for 'piss off, pal.' The problems aren't limited to roads, railways and revenue. There's a reputational risk to the championship that the R&A would be nuts to entertain. A Turnberry Open would be a farce given the security measures involved in staging a major while the U.S. president is front and center grandstanding, because he ain't staying home. (The year of such an Open is immaterial since Trump has made clear his desire to violate the Constitution's Twenty-Second Amendment and remain in office.) There's also the matter of the 34-times convicted felon having a prior when it comes to golf's biggest tournaments. The PGA of America stripped Trump of the '22 PGA Championship after his incitement of the Capitol insurrection that left five people dead. Around that time, Darbon's predecessor at the R&A, Martin Slumbers, made clear that the Open wouldn't go to Turnberry 'until we are convinced that the focus will be on the championship, the players and the course itself, and we do not believe that is achievable in the current circumstances.' The focus will never be on the championship, the players and the course as long as Trump's name is above the door, and the R&A knows it. But the Open is Trump's last real shot at a major, and he knows it. The R&A has announced venues only through 2027, whereas PGA Championships are assigned through 2031 and the next available slot for the U.S. Open is 2043. There are nine alternative courses in the Open rotation, with speculation that Portmarnock Golf Club in Dublin could also be added to the list. All present a better case than Turnberry, not least because none is affiliated with a man whose lawless authoritarianism grows ever more brazen. There may come a day when the 'Champion Golfer of the Year' is again crowned at Turnberry, but Trump being there as host to see it is about as likely as his winning the Claret Jug as a competitor. Granted, he's suspiciously adept at 'winning' championships at his own courses, but things aren't quite as flexible when the R&A is tallying the score.
Irish Independent
29-04-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Portmarnock Golf Club members to vote on proposed course changes to host Open Championship
The club confirmed in a statement that a special general meeting will be held (online and in person) to vote on approving proposed modifications to the course by architects Mackenzie & Ebert. 'A meeting of Portmarnock Golf Club members is set for Wednesday, April 30th, to review and vote on proposed changes to the Championship course in the event that major R&A championships are to be held at the venue in the future,' the club said. The architects are understood to have proposed several modifications to the links rather than wholesale changes. These include changing the current 411-yard, par-four second hole to a par-three for an Open Championship or AIG Women's Open. This would improve the flow of play from the first green to a new second tee. There are also modifications proposed for the fifth hole, where the green can come into play for players taking a direct line at the green when playing the right to left curving, 398-yard third hole. The 472-yard 17th would likely be the 18th hole for an Open Championship, given the space available for grandstands. The demanding, 452-yard 18th would then become the first hole if the R&A decided to stage the game's oldest major outside the United Kingdom for the first time. It's understood that a simple majority in favour of the course changes would be all that would be required to take a significant step towards bringing major championship golf to the capital. The R&A insists that no dates have yet been proposed for either the men's or women's Opens as they work with the club on a feasibility study regarding the significant infrastructure required to bring events of this magnitude to a club situated on a peninsula. ADVERTISEMENT Last October, Portmarnock Golf Club and the R&A welcomed an announcement by the Irish government, which said it would support the hosting of The Open and the AIG Women's Open at the north Dublin links to the tune of up to €40 million. 'Portmarnock welcomes the government's announcement of its decision to agree to support the hosting of The Open and the AIG Women's Open at Portmarnock Golf Club, subject to certain conditions being met,' the club said last year. 'This is a significant step on the journey to hosting these events at Portmarnock and while there remain further infrastructural issues to be overcome, this is a major boost to the potential success of the project.' Government support is essential to the project, as the R&A's new chief executive, Mark Darbon, explained last week at Royal Portrush, which hosts the 153rd Open this July. 'We're in the midst of a planning process right now and that is focused on a detailed feasibility study to get under the skin of whether when and how we can stage an Open Championship here (Portmarnock)," Mr Darbon said. "We're really optimistic about that prospect. We're working closely with the local authority [Fingal County Council] and the government to support us in undertaking that feasibility work. "We're not quite there yet, but it's a process that is gathering some pace and we are optimistic about the future." The R&A relies heavily on income generated by the Open to fund its governance of the game outside the USA and Mexico and initiatives aimed at increasing participation in the sport. Royal Portrush has proved a significant success in that regard, and a record 278,000 fans - the biggest attendance at an Open held outside St Andrews - are expected at the Dunluce links from July 17-20. Rory McIlroy's thrilling Masters victory has led to huge anticipation and there were 1.1 million applications for tickets in the ballot. The Irish government said last October that staging an AIG Women's Open and an Open Championship at Portmarnock 'could result in a cumulative gross economic impact of €338 million.' While there has been speculation that the Women's Open could be staged as soon as 2028 and the Open in 2033 or 2034, the R&A has not officially proposed any dates. The 153rd Open is expected to generate more than €250million in total economic benefit, according to an independent forecast by the Sport Industry Research Centre (SIRC) at Sheffield Hallam University. It estimates that the economic impact resulting from The 153rd Open will be €74 million, while the destination marketing benefit for Northern Ireland derived from coverage produced via linear television and digital platforms will exceed €187m.
