Latest news with #The153rdChampionship
Daily Record
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Record
Open superstars slam 'brutal' slow play amid miserable Portrush conditions
Tired heroes not impressed with the length of time in the links Shattered Viktor Hovland called slow Open play brutal as LIV star Marc Leishman reckons he felt he on course for about 12 hours. Day one of The 153rd Championship was a slog with rounds taking forever in the wind and rain. Hovland came off as the gloom had descended on the Dunluce Links and the Norwegian wasn't shy in his assessment of the painful situation. The Ryder Cup star said: 'It was really slow, I think almost six hours, just under six hours. That's brutal, especially when you have to focus for so long. It's not easy. Wind picked up there in the afternoon. Yeah, it takes a lot out of you.' Worn-out Leishman also didn't hide his irritation with Open rounds in a sharp comparison with LIV Golf. The Australian star and his rivals endured an arduous day and he says it felt as if he was on the course forever compared to the rapid-fire nature of the shotgun starts on his regular Tour. Leishman said: 'I think I got up about 8am, watched an hour [on TV]. It felt like we were on the course for about 12 hours. '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. 'You got to deal with all that sort of stuff and I felt like I dealt with it decently well. I just got a little frustrated there.' Justin Thomas was another late finisher who didn't appreciate the scenario much as he said: 'It seemed really slow. The back nine's so tough with all the cross-winds. It's really, really hard to hit fairways. "Then when you miss the fairway, it's hard to hit the green. It's a grind, so everyone's going through it. 'It's a lot of people in a golf tournament and that's going to create. I mean, a city that has a lot more population, traffic is going to be a lot worse than it is in Pikeville, Kentucky, that's just the way it is. "Then you add the elements and add everything, it's just going to be a long day.' Follow Record Sport on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all of the up-to-the minute breaking news, video and audio on the SPFL, the Scotland national team and beyond. You can get all the news you need on our dedicated Rangers and Celtic pages, and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season. We're also WhatsApp where we bring all the latest breaking news and transfer gossip directly to you phone. Join our Rangers community here and our Celtic community here.
Daily Record
15-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Record
Open legend gives Bob MacIntyre the ultimate Portrush seal of approval as Scot insists he'll stick to his 'little rules'
Sir Nick Faldo believes the test is ideal for the Scot and home stars and US Open experience will stand him in good stead Open legend Sir Nick Faldo has given Bob MacIntyre the Portrush seal of approval. The three-time winner believes the Scottish star is amongst the genuine contenders to win The 153rd Championship after his brilliant Oakmont showing. MacIntyre's runner-up finish to JJ Spaun at the US Open last month caught the eye of Faldo who believes it will have acted as a key stepping stone for the Oban hero. The English legend said: 'I think what happened in the US Open was big for him. Suddenly he had a chance where he thought: Oh, I could win this. I was watching from afar and, after day two, I thought: Two over could win this. You've got guys at five-under, but we all know the US Open, everybody comes back in the weekend. 'I bet he thought that for a moment, so that probably was good for him. I bet he had a good couple of hours when he thought, I could do this. So that's a different feeling in your body and your mind, isn't it? And how you're playing. So I bet he's looking forward to this week. It seems that it's going to be nice temperature, but we're going to get plenty of good weather, aren't we? We're going to get wind and rain and all sorts of things. 'So it's got to suit the Scottish and Irish boys this week. We're used to playing in that. It's a different wind, such a heavy wind here being on the coast. You've got to know what you're doing and how to do it.' MacIntyre says he'll relish the conditions and stated: 'For me, it's the purest method of the game that we've got, links golf. So many different ways to play it. It's not just 155 yards, pitch it 155 yards, keep it two yards right of the pin. It's not that. It's the unpredictability of what that's going to give us. 'You could tee off at 8am, beautiful sunshine and then at 8.15am there's a storm coming in, you're playing and the wind switched. It's just unpredictable with the weather, unpredictable with the bounces. I think that's what I love about it, that if you're out of position, I've got little rules that I keep. 'In links golf it gets pretty easy with there's certain things you cannot do and there's certain things you have to do. I think it's the best way to play golf is links golf. A lot of guys that I watch that haven't played it as much as I have make the mistakes, and then I'm looking at it going, you cannot do that. 'But, as for me, sometimes you can hit certain shots, but you're actually walking up there going, that's all right, that's all right, we've got a chance from there. I just love it and I think that's why I've been brought up in it. I play it less now, and I think I enjoy it more now than I've ever done it.'
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Lee Westwood heads 14 LIV Golf all-star list in last chance Open saloon
Lee Westwood heads an all-star cast of golf heroes aiming to win places at The Open during Tuesday's final qualifying. The English ace and Ryder Cup heroes Ian Poulter and Graeme McDowell are amongst 14 LIV Golf representatives scheduled to try and win places at Royal Portrush. Advertisement In total, 20 cards at The 153rd Championship are available with five each being handed out at Burnham & Berrow, Dundonald, Royal Cinque Ports and West Lancashire during the 36-hole quest. READ MORE: LIV Golf star Bryson DeChambeau calls for major change in the game READ MORE: Celtic fans fear transfer 'biscuit tin mentality' is now fact as Hotline dissects four deals for Brendan Rodgers Westwood, who came agonisingly close to winning at Turnberry in 2009, is heading to Scotland to make his bid. He heads a trio of LIV stars in Ayrshire with Polish ace Adrian Meronk, who just missed out on a Ryder Cup place in 2023, also competing. Advertisement McDowell and Poulter head to Kent with the Royal Cinque Ports event also including David Puig, Dean Burmester and Peter Uihlein. Poulter's son is also trying to make it through with youngster Luke also in the field for the event staged next door to Royal St George's. At Burnham & Berrow, Janichiro Kozuma, Jon Rahm's LIV team-mate Caleb Surratt, Bryson DeChambeau's colleague Anirban Lahiri aim to make it, while Lucas Herbert, Sam Horsfield, Andy Ogletree and Harold Varner III are in the line-up for West Lancashire. -Credit:REUTERS Open final qualifying has been a pathway to success in the recent past with Justin Rose going through the day 12 months ago and finishing runner-up to Xander Schauffele at Royal Troon. Advertisement As well as the LIV stars, there are host of key names at each venue. Alongside Poulter and McDowell, highly-rated Dane Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen is aiming to make his Open debut having performed at the US equivalent. With Westwood at Dundonald, his former Ryder Cup partner Jamie Donaldson, who hit the match-clinching shot for Europe at Gleneagles in 2014. McDowell is desperate to be part of Open on home soil with the event set to be epic as Shane Lowry goes back to the scene of his 2019 triumph and Rory McIlroy plays at home for the first time since clinching his career Grand Slam at Augusta in April. McDowell told BBC: 'I'll be pretty fired up. I'm excited. It would certainly be bittersweet to not be there, but I'll definitely be giving it my full attention and be trying hard. 'With everything that Rory's done this year with Shane being the defending champion, to go back to Portrush, it's going to be a special week. It goes without saying that I'd love to be a part of it.'
