Latest news with #The150thOpen
Courier-Mail
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Courier-Mail
Cameron Smith invests in Australian golf's future through LIV
Don't miss out on the headlines from Golf. Followed categories will be added to My News. Cameron Smith's famous mullet won't just be seen on the fairways of Augusta National or St Andrews – it will now be seen all over Australian courses in kids playing golf. Smith, the 2022 British Open champion and Australia's most recognisable golfing star, has used his LIV Golf franchise, Ripper GC, to inspire the next generation of kids to take up the sport. READ MORE: WHO TOPS THE CHART? AFL'S TOP 50 GOLFERS REVEALED Cam Smith's Ripper GC is partnering with My Golf (Golf Australia's version of AusKick) Little Rippers kids. Picture: David Caird From July 1, Ripper GC will partner with Australia's official junior introductory program, MyGolf. The groundbreaking partnership comes with a significant financial investment aimed to help as many kids follow in Smith's footsteps as possible. The popularity of golf has soared since Covid, with the sport one of the few that was able to be played safely at the height of the pandemic. More than 40,000 MyGolf registered players took to a course during the 2024-25 financial year, a 10 per cent increase on the previous 12 months. The number of girls participating jumped 20 per cent. Ambrose Skyrypek, 8 meets Cam Smith in Rundle Mall during February. Picture: Brett Hartwig Smith poses with the Claret Jug after winning The 150th Open at St Andrews Old Course in 2022. Picture:Kids aged between five and 12 who sign up for MyGolf will now be known as Little Rippers. 'The long-term vision of the partnership between MyGolf and Ripper GC is to get as many Aussie kids playing golf as we can,' Smith said. 'Golf is definitely on the rise at the moment and everyone at Ripper GC and Golf Australia want to see it grow even bigger in the future with more kids with clubs in their hand.' Smith is head of the all-Australian Ripper GC franchise featuring Marc Leishman, Lucas Herbert and Matt Jones, the quartet playing worldwide events on the LIV Golf circuit, including its most popular in Adelaide. READ MORE: STINGES AND SOOKS: AFL STARS DOB IN WORST GOLFING TEAMMATES The quartet won last year's LIV Golf teams' championship and have passionately spoken of wanting to increase the profile of the sport in Australia. Smith will tee it up at the British Open at Royal Portrush next month alongside at least seven other Australians hoping to win his second major championship. Australia's best female golfer, Minjee Lee, created history when she won the Women's PGA Championship in Texas last weekend. It was her third major win, with Karrie Webb (seven) and Peter Thomson (five) the only Australian golfers to boast more major wins. Originally published as Cameron Smith to drive investment in Australian golf's next gen through his LIV golf franchise
Newsweek
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Newsweek
Brooks Koepka Major Misery Continues at PGA Championship
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Since his emphatic win at Oak Hill two years ago, Brooks Koepka has failed to post a top-10 at a major championship. That trend will likely continue at this week's PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, where Koepka posted a 4-over 75 during Thursday's opening round. Koepka, who has five major victories to his name, began his first round with a bogey on the 10th hole, a harbinger of things to come. He made a mess around the green, failing to get up-and-down for par from beside the putting surface. The former Florida State Seminole missed the fairway to the right off the tee, which left himself in a precarious position to begin with. Brooks Koepka of the United States looks over a putt on the 14th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Country Club on May 15, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina.... Brooks Koepka of the United States looks over a putt on the 14th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Country Club on May 15, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) More Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images He then steadied himself with a birdie at the drivable par-4 14th and ended his opening nine with a bogey on the challenging the par-4 18th, which is historically one of the more difficult holes at Quail Hollow. He shot a 1-over 37 over his first nine holes, but the bulk of his struggles were just around the corner. Koepka pulled his drive into the left fairway bunker on the par-4 1st and ultimately left himself with a 27-footer for par. But he three-putted from there, recording his first double-bogey of the day. Two more bogies would follow on the next two holes, as his five on the par-4 3rd hole actually turned out to be quite impressive. He flared his tee-shot well right of the fairway, which required him to hit a provisional. Yet, Koepka's ball somehow stayed in play and he managed to save a bogey from beside the fence that borders the Quail Hollow property. He did manage to make a pair of par-breakers on the par-5 7th and par-4 8th, the latter of which measured only 342 yards on Thursday. But Koepka did drop another shot on the 530-yard 9th hole, another behemoth of the hole that has given plenty of players fits so far. Overall, Koepka dropped a total of 2.50 strokes to the field total, according to DataGolf. Of course, last month, Koepka missed the cut at The Masters. That marked his first missed cut in a major in almost three years: he failed to make the weekend at The 150th Open at St. Andrews in July 2022. Yet, Koepka, one of the stars on LIV Golf, has two-top 10s to his name on the Saudi-backed circuit so far this season. He tied for seventh in Adelaide in February and then posted a solo second in Singapore — finishing five strokes behind Joaquin Niemann — in March. Since then, though, Koepka has looked nothing like the player who won his fifth major title in Rochester in 2023. LIV Golf Struggles are Real Another LIV Golf star who struggled at Quail Hollow on Thursday is Phil Mickelson. The 54-year-old signed for an 8-over 79, a poor score that included a triple-bogey eight on the par-5 7th. Mickelson's tee shot found the creek that runs down the right side of the entire hole. Like Koepka, Mickelson has plenty of work to do to get back into the mix and earn a Saturday tee time. But similar to Koepka, since the spring of 2023, when he tied for second at The Masters, Mickelson has struggled in the majors. He has missed five cuts and has finished no better than T-43, which came at The 2024 Masters Tournament. More Golf: Rory McIlroy Pours More Cold Water on PGA Championship Quail Hollow Setup
