Latest news with #linksgolf
The Sun
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Scottie Scheffler WINS The Open by four shots in dominant display at Portrush as Rory McIlroy falls short in home Major
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER breezed to Open glory by four shots - and is one leg away from completing the career Grand Slam. The dominant world No1 swept aside the rest of the field and blew away Portrush as he proved he can master links golf. 9 9 9 9 Scheffler, 29, started the final round at -14 with a four-shot lead over playing partner Haotong Li. In the end, this was merely a Sunday afternoon stroll in the park for Scheffler, who became the first man to win his first four Majors by three strokes or more. He doffed his cap to mark the win, after holing a putt on 18 for a round of 68 to finish 17 under par. He was joined on the 18th green by wife Meredith and son Bennett in emotional scenes. And at Shinnecock Hills for the US Open next June, Scheffler will be aiming to become just the seventh man to complete the career Grand Slam. His victory was done and dusted long before he rolled in his putt on the 72nd hole. Scheffler's closest challenger was Harris English who shot 66 to finish on -13 - while Rory McIlroy ended up on -10 with a closing round of 69. But Bryson DeChambeau was left wondering what might have been. The big-hitting Californian carded rounds of 65 on Friday, 68 on Saturday and 64 on Sunday - a total of 16 under par over the last three rounds. However, the LIV Golf man - used to playing three rounds on the Saudi breakaway tour - had a stinker on Thursday with a seven-over 78. That ruled him out of contention of the Claret Jug - and he looked set to miss the cut before his delayed surge. He finished on -9 but would have been right in contention had he not suffered a nightmare in the opening round. Speaking of nightmares, Sergio Garcia certainly had one. The fiery Spaniard smacked his driver into the ground after a wayward tee shot on the second hole - and snapped the club in half. Sergio Garcia SNAPS his driver in two by angrily smashing it into the ground after wayward shot at The Open The head then fell off and tumbled away, leaving Garcia unable to use his longest club for the remaining 16 holes. Ironically, the 2017 Masters champ birdied all three par 5s, including the hole when he broke the driver, and carded a 68 to finish at -3. As the leaders were heading out, Rickie Fowler was heading back in having posted an impressive 65, including 30 on the back nine, to snatch the clubhouse lead at -8. Sebastian Soderberg of Sweden collected the wooden spoon, finishing last of the 70 who made the cut on +11. 9 9 9 9 9 Who are golf's most famous Wags? The world's top golfers enjoy an incredible lifestyle - and their Wags lead thrilling lives of their own. Here are some of the most high-profile beauties... This former beauty pageant contestant is now an actress and featured in Sharknado 5. The daughter of an ice hockey legend who has been branded the 'world's sexiest caddie'. A Master golfer raced home from his most recent triumph to be by his wife's side as she gave birth to their first child. An athlete who vaulted her way into a modelling career - and her golfer hubby's heart. A keen tennis player and former competitor in the javelin lived with her ex-world No1 husband for two years before getting together. Playing off a handicap of three, this sports reporter could give her fella a run for his money on the greens. This low-key beauty got married to a superstar golfer in front of Stevie Wonder, Chris Martin and Niall Horan. A former gymnast who has been her husband's rock for 14 years - he even pays tribute to her on his golf balls.
New York Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Open Championship 2025: Why Scottie Scheffler's game was meant for links golf
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — The world No. 1 stood in a deep, wide squat. He leaned his weight forward with the slant of the dune. He rested his eyes firmly on a ball that required a search party. Royal Portrush's prickly, tall grass obscured his shins. This is the kind of predicament that ruins a round of golf, or at the very least halts its momentum. Not for Scottie Scheffler. That man is different. Advertisement Scheffler hacked it out with just the right amount of muscle to send the ball trickling to 9 feet, 8 inches away from the pin. When the ensuing putt dropped into the center of the cup, Scheffler had officially made 37 of 39 putts inside 10 feet for the week. Scheffler's up-and-down from the hill on the left side of the 11th hole at the Open Championship Saturday is a microcosm of the quality that makes him the golfer he is — or rather, the artist he is. It's why he maintains a four-shot lead ahead of the final round of the Open, 18 holes away from the fourth major of his career and three-quarters of the way to the career Grand Slam. He's the type of player who can cause a championship to feel like it's over simply by the way he approaches each new task in front of him. No shot presents a hurdle too much to be overcome by Scheffler. Each one simply emerges as his next challenge, or his next project, and yes, links golf is full of them. 'I think it fits my strengths because I like to do things very creatively, and I think out here you kind of have to,' Scheffler said earlier this week. 'I think each year we come over, I start learning a bit more and more.' Catch him if you can. Scottie's lead remains at three. — The Open (@TheOpen) July 19, 2025 Scheffler made two key saves for par en route to his bogey-free 67 on Saturday, one being on No. 11, the other on No. 14, when his drive nestled once again in the tall grass, finding a spot that could have been adequate for a winter hibernation. Commentators whispered into their microphones if the American would even be able to advance the ball. But if Scheffler was perturbed by what was in front of him, he did not let us know. He stood over the shot, with his looper Ted Scott close by, swapping between two irons, assessing which club to deploy. He picked one. He fired away. Scheffler launched the ball 133 yards, setting up another chance to save par. And of course, he did. Advertisement 'It was a really nice shot to get the ball out there in front of the green and give myself a decent look,' Scheffler said. Royal Portrush is a course embedded in a plot of seaside terrain. It has bumps and rolls. Ditches and peaks. Simply because of the way the ground is shaped, players will be tested by outcomes they feel like they might not have ever deserved. That's why embracing the links test, and submitting to its weirdness and beauty, is a necessity. Scheffler, although not particularly experienced in the variances, as he was only introduced to links golf after college, has learned to do just that. But it hasn't been difficult for Scheffler to grasp, because he already had the DNA. To understand Scheffler's expertise is to know that Scheffler isn't great because his golf swing looks perfect. He isn't great because of his mastery of analytics and technology. Sure, he's greater now that he can sink putts like a machine, in part thanks to his putting coach, Phil Kenyon. But Scheffler's prowess derives from his ability to simply go out there and play golf. In a conversation with The Athletic in March, Scheffler's longtime coach, Randy Smith compared his student to a handyman, referencing Scheffler's ability to select the right tool to execute the shot in front of him. 'He's not a one-trick pony hitting the same shot every time,' Smith said. 'He sees where he wants to go, then he has that sixth sense of the best way to do it.' Scott candidly calls Scheffler an artist. The caddie just 'carries the brushes and has the color available' for the world No. 1. If this all sounds a bit out there, it's really not. To Scheffler, his ability to create opportunities — like the ones that led to his four-shot 54-hole lead — is more formulaic than anything. 'I would say, when it comes to playing, I'm definitely more of an artist. But I like to joke with my coach at home that I'm trying to be a robot,' Scheffler said. Advertisement That's what it's started to look and feel like. Scheffler is ranked first in strokes gained putting this week at Royal Portrush, and second in approach. He hit half of the fairways on Saturday and still shot 4 under. Scheffler has made an absolute fool of the infamously difficult 16th hole, named Calamity Corner. He has birdied it all three days. 'Going into tomorrow I'm going to step up there on the first tee and I'm going to be trying to get the ball in the fairway, and when I get to the second shot I'm going to be trying to get that ball on the green. There's not really too much else going on,' Scheffler said. The ease with which the results appear is down to Scheffler's eye and his feel. Scheffler has gotten himself to this point, poised to snag his fourth major championship and first Open, because of a process that looks otherworldly to the rest of us but feels effortlessly simple to him. That's it — the art of Scottie Scheffler.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Climate
- The Guardian
Feel v theory at the Open: MacIntyre and DeChambeau try to navigate Portrush chaos
You could feel the bad weather closing in on Royal Portrush during Friday morning. The atmosphere around the links grew stickier, and sweatier, every minute, and soon enough everyone was peeling off the layers of waterproof clothing they would be hurrying to get back on when the big black clouds broke open midway through the afternoon. It finally happened roundabout the very moment Bob MacIntyre was walking off the 18th green to sign for his 66, five under for the round, and the championship, and three shots off the clubhouse lead. MacIntyre is 28, but an old hand around these links. He knew he needed to make birdies while the sun was shining and picked up six of them altogether, with just the one bogey at the 16th where his tee shot caught on the hillside by the green. He was playing with Bryson DeChambeau, who had a hell of a time himself. DeChambeau followed the 78 he made on the opening day with a 65, which meant he had put together his worst and best rounds at the Open on successive days. He was as perplexed by it as everyone else. 'That's links golf for you,' he said. 'I didn't feel like I played any differently. Today just kind of went more my way.' DeChambeau's got a scientific mind, he said earlier in the week that his ideal practice ground would be a 400m-long tunnel in which he can control the wind, and he clearly finds the inconsistencies of the links completely infuriating. 'When it gets as chaotic as this, with the wind going every which way, you have to be a golfer that pivots on demand,' he said. Which isn't much good when you're a man who likes to hit 400 balls in a single session on the range by way of practice for a major. He explained he had spent a day preparing for a left-to-right wind on 18, only to find, once he got there, that it was blowing the other way altogether. He did well to make the cut, and better to control his temper. 'I was proud of the way I fought back and persevered through some emotionally difficult moments, and to hold myself together and not get pissed and slam clubs and throw things and all that like I wanted to.' MacIntyre might just have told him to let himself go. He threw plenty of silent oaths himself, most of them after putts that stayed up. They made an odd pair. DeChambeau, just over 6ft, square-shouldered, shaped like a linebacker, looks like he's been carved out of marble. In between shots, his body seems to fall like it's been positioned for him by a sculptor. MacIntyre, on the other hand, is built like the bloke working the till in the chippie. If you didn't know already, you'd burn through a whole lot of guesses before you got to what he does for his living. He's good at it though, especially out here on the links where he whistles the ball in, out and around the wind with that slouchy, left-handed swing of his. MacIntyre grew up playing this sort of golf around Oban, just the other side of the North Channel. Royal Portrush is one of his favourite courses, he finished sixth on his major debut here back in 2019, and the kinship between the two countries means the locals here love him like one of their own. He and DeChambeau hadn't much to do with each other till they were drawn together this week, but they seemed to enjoy each other's company, maybe because they are such contrasting characters. MacIntyre plays by feel, DeChambeau by theory. 'We're two completely different golfers,' MacIntyre said. He was out there playing with a 10-year-old three wood which he dug out of the back of a cupboard at home. 'I actually thought that club broke in 2020 at Abu Dhabi,' he said. 'But I was searching for a three wood and I went back into the cupboard and looked at the antiques.' Turns out it still works. DeChambeau, on the other hand, revealed after his round that he is currently working on a top-secret project to reinvent the golf ball. He said that his model 'will be here, worst-case scenario, in September'. 'He's obviously got his way of doing it,' said MacIntyre. 'But to be honest, golf's going closer to his approach now, with all the science and biomechanics, and everything. But yeah, I'll just keep playing golf my way.' Justin Rose made up the trio. These days he plays the sort of brisk, businesslike golf of a man who knows he's on the clock and wants to make the most of the hours he has. He's 44 now and, 12 years on from his victory in the US Open at Merion, has finished runner-up five times in the majors. But he is way back in this one, after his round was blighted by a triple-bogey at the 11th.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Climate
- The Guardian
MacIntyre plays by feel, DeChambeau by theory as odd pair navigate Portrush chaos
You could feel the bad weather closing in on Royal Portrush during Friday morning. The atmosphere around the links grew stickier, and sweatier, every minute, and soon enough everyone was peeling off the layers of waterproof clothing they would be hurrying to get back on when the big black clouds broke open midway through the afternoon. It finally happened roundabout the very moment Bob MacIntyre was walking off the 18th green to sign for his 66, five under for the round, and the championship, and three shots off the clubhouse lead. MacIntyre is 28, but an old hand around these links. He knew he needed to make birdies while the sun was shining and picked up six of them altogether, with just the one bogey at the 16th where his tee shot caught on the hillside by the green. He was playing with Bryson DeChambeau, who had a hell of a time himself. DeChambeau followed the 78 he made on the opening day with a 65, which meant he had put together his worst and best rounds at the Open on successive days. He was as perplexed by it as everyone else. 'That's links golf for you,' he said. 'I didn't feel like I played any differently. Today just kind of went more my way.' DeChambeau's got a scientific mind, he said earlier in the week that his ideal practice ground would be a 400m-long tunnel in which he can control the wind, and he clearly finds the inconsistencies of the links completely infuriating. 'When it gets as chaotic as this, with the wind going every which way, you have to be a golfer that pivots on demand,' he said. Which isn't much good when you're a man who likes to hit 400 balls in a single session on the range by way of practice for a major. He explained he had spent a day preparing for a left-to-right wind on 18, only to find, once he got there, that it was blowing the other way altogether. He did well to make the cut, and better to control his temper. 'I was proud of the way I fought back and persevered through some emotionally difficult moments, and to hold myself together and not get pissed and slam clubs and throw things and all that like I wanted to.' MacIntyre might just have told him to let himself go. He threw plenty of silent oaths himself, most of them after putts that stayed up. They made an odd pair. DeChambeau, just over 6ft, square-shouldered, shaped like a linebacker, looks like he's been carved out of marble. In between shots, his body seems to fall like it's been positioned for him by a sculptor. MacIntyre, on the other hand, is built like the bloke working the till in the chippie. If you didn't know already, you'd burn through a whole lot of guesses before you got to what he does for his living. He's good at it though, especially out here on the links where he whistles the ball in, out and around the wind with that slouchy, left-handed swing of his. MacIntyre grew up playing this sort of golf around Oban, just the other side of the North Channel. Royal Portrush is one of his favourite courses, he finished sixth on his major debut here back in 2019, and the kinship between the two countries means the locals here love him like one of their own. He and DeChambeau hadn't much to do with each other till they were drawn together this week, but they seemed to enjoy each other's company, maybe because they are such contrasting characters. MacIntyre plays by feel, DeChambeau by theory. 'We're two completely different golfers,' MacIntyre said. He was out there playing with a 10-year-old three wood which he dug out of the back of a cupboard at home. 'I actually thought that club broke in 2020 at Abu Dhabi,' he said. 'But I was searching for a three wood and I went back into the cupboard and looked at the antiques.' Turns out it still works. DeChambeau, on the other hand, revealed after his round that he is currently working on a top-secret project to reinvent the golf ball. He said that his model 'will be here, worst-case scenario, in September'. 'He's obviously got his way of doing it,' said MacIntyre. 'But to be honest, golf's going closer to his approach now, with all the science and biomechanics, and everything. But yeah, I'll just keep playing golf my way.' Justin Rose made up the trio. These days he plays the sort of brisk, businesslike golf of a man who knows he's on the clock and wants to make the most of the hours he has. He's 44 now and, 12 years on from his victory in the US Open at Merion, has finished runner-up five times in the majors. But he is way back in this one, after his round was blighted by a triple-bogey at the 11th.
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Open Digest: Tony Finau links up with Irish caddie Colin Byrne at Portrush
Colin Byrne – aka The Bagman – answered an SOS call from Tony Finau to caddie here at the 153rd Open and the two have made an instant connection. The Dubliner, of course, caddied for Retief Goosen en route to the South African's US Open successes and more recently had worked with Louis Oosthuizen on the LIV tour. With Finau not using his usual caddie Mark Urbanek, the American reached out to Byrne late last week to inquire about his availability. 'Colin's obviously a very well-known caddie. He caddied for Retief Goosen for many years and had a lot of success with him. But being on this side of the pond, he's from Ireland so it's pretty cool to have him on the bag, knows this golf course pretty well, and he's definitely been helpful the first two days. READ MORE 'He came pretty highly recommended when I was looking for a guy here this week. I can see why. He's got a lot of experience, veteran caddie. He's been on the Tour for many years. I know he also caddied on LIV. So he's been around the block and caddied for a lot of great players. I thought he'd be a good fit for me this week,' said Finau, who carded a second round 68 for four-under 138. Of enjoying playing links golf, Finau explained: 'I like working the golf ball and I don't mind playing it on the ground. I think it gives you that opportunity on a links golf course. In the States, the game is kind of played in the air. How far can you fly it, how much can you spin it. 'These courses ask you for shot making, creativity, and I'm able to kind of dig back into my creativity a little bit and play shots that I normally wouldn't be able to play in the States. It's pretty fun.' McIlroy bags himself a new sponsor Eagle-eyed bag watchers will have noticed a new sponsor name on Rory McIlroy's TaylorMade bag. Versant – a group of US cable networks which came out of Comcast – is prominently placed on the front of his bag below his name. McIlroy has a number of commercial deals, one of which is with GolfPass, part of NBC, which now comes under the Versant corporation. In recent events, McIlroy's bag has alternated the prime patch. At the US Open, it was his new investment company TPG Sports. At last week's Genesis Scottish Open, it was Optum. The rotation policy is expected to continue going forward. 2028 Open date and venue complicated by clash with Olympics When and where the 156th Open will take place in 2028 remains a mystery, complicated by a clash of dates with the Olympics. Next year's championship returns to Royal Birkdale in England while the Old Course at St Andrews will play host in 2027. There are three different golf events scheduled for the Los Angeles Olympics, with separate men's and women's competitions and a new mixed two-player team event between those at Riviera Country Club. The opening ceremony for the 2028 Olympics is scheduled for July 14th. The R&A's chief executive Mark Darbon remarked: 'We're working with a group of stakeholders because it doesn't just impact ourselves, it impacts the wider schedule. I think we're pretty close to a solution on that, which I would like to think will be announced over the next few months, so we'll bring it to life then.' A computer generated image issued by Galgorm Collection of their proposed first championship-standard links golf course in Northern Ireland for more than 100 years at Magilligan Point in Co Derry. Photograph: Harry Cook/PA Wire Northern Ireland to get new £30m links course in 2029 A brand new links will be created on old sandhills at Bellarena in Co Derry – 20 miles west of Portrush – as part of a £30 million (€34.5 million) project by luxury hospitality group Galgorm Collection. The site for Northern Ireland's first new links course in over 100 years is located near Magilligan Point in an area of outstanding natural beauty and will add to the necklace of links gems along the Causeway Coast. Subject to planning approval, Galgorm Collection said development of Bellarena Golf Links will start next year and open in 2029. The group already run the Galgorm Castle and Roe Valley golf resorts and this extension of its portfolio adds links golf to its collection. As for the designer? Well, that's yet to be revealed as the group remains in discussions with its preferred architect. Quote of the Day 'I've said this a million times, but I really can just be a player when I'm inside the ropes. It's the only time I can sort of not be the captain. When I'm inside the ropes with a card in my pocket, I really can just focus on playing' – US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley after a bogey-free second round 67 for a midway total of three-under 139. Number of the Day: 8 That's the quadruple bogey which young Danish player Jacob Skov Olesen ran up in becoming the latest victim of the first hole on the Dunluce links. Olesen hit two drives out of bounds.
