As the challengers fell away on Sunday afternoon it looked like it was going to be a case of last man standing. Then Padraig Harrington reminded us why he is such a great champion. Harrington was four under for the last six holes and that included some of the best golf of the week. And [...]
Should we be dismissing this Open already? No Tiger Woods. No sunshine. No low scores (Camilo Villegas and his awe inspiring 65 aside). Will 2008 turn out to be an Open aberration? Will we be whispering shamefacedly about this like we do about Carnoustie ’99 or day three at Muirfield in 2002?
Of course we won’t. [...]
As the the golfing world’s focus turns to the north west of England I turned my attentions, out of circumstance more than contrariness, to the north east coast.
In terms of global fame the courses of Northumberland and Newcastle might not be the in the same league as Royal Birkdal, Royal Lytham and Hoylake but the [...]
We’ve all dreamed of playing in the Open. For most of us those dreams remain safely in our imaginations. A lucky few live the dream. Others drive themselves demented trying.
And the regional qualifying for the Open is a step on the road to those dreams. An obstacle to be overcome as you strive to get [...]
I’m not a sports psychologist. So, I suppose, my opinion on this isn’t worth a damn. But here goes.
I would argue that Tiger’s enforced absence (the rehabilitation of the knee has begun – could the superman of world sport return quicker than we expected?) represents an opportunity for the rest of the field. An opportunity [...]
Success in sport can be a fickle mistress. Whatever the record books say there is very rarely an undisputed champion. Allan Wells won the 1980 100m gold at the Olympics. But the Americans weren’t there so, for some, it is an achievement forever diminished (that Wells went on to beat them all weeks later is [...]
With Alistair Forsyth and Colin Montgomerie slugging it out over the gargantuan Torrey Pines South layout this week it is easy to forget the early dominance Scotland enjoyed as golf developed into a transatlantic obsession.
Scottish golfers won 12 of the first 16 US Opens and Willie McFarlane added another in 1925. Perhaps Scotland’s most famous [...]
As the cream of European golf descends on Torrey Pines’ formidable South Course this week they will be chasing a milestone. Any European victory will put to rest a 38 year hoodoo that has seen every European attempt to taste victory in the US Open end in failure.
Since Tony Jacklin clinched the 1970 US Open [...]
May marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Old Tom Morris. For many Morris is merely a name in the record books. An Open winner in a time when it didn’t really mean that much.
But Morris was one of the pioneers that created the idea of a professional golfer as we understand it today. [...]
To Dumfries and Galloway on Scotland’s south west coast for the first golfing trip of the year. Another area of Scotland where golf courses abound, our choice for the one day of proper “competition” was an emotional one.
I’ve been playing Colvend Golf Club for as long as I can remember. Back in the day, brother [...]
If you’re not going to make it in sport then the next best thing is to have a ringside seat as the drama unfolds.
That was certainly true of Phil Harison, one of the most famous voices in golf. Harison, who has died at the age of 82, was the starter at The Masters for 60 [...]
South Africa has a new golfing superstar. With many wondering if Ernie Els’ time as force in the majors is now in terminal decline, with Retief Goosen perhaps not the player he was a few years ago, Trevor Immelman’s Masters victory has delivered a new force.
Yet one star continues to transcend them all. Immelman’s [...]
Goodnight and goodbye. The Grand Slam year is over before it even began. This will please some people: already a trawl through the UK press sees Tiger being written off, called an elder statesmen and generally mocked for ever claiming he could win the Grand Slam.
The facts are that Tiger didn’t play well. I doubt [...]
It seems to me unfair that golf is often labelled as staid and conservative. Nick Hornby started a revolution that allowed serious men to write seriously about football. Golf is still something that serious men snigger at.
Not only is that unfair but it leaves neglected a wealth of writing on golf that ranks as up [...]
I’m sure that devoted parents everywhere have had the same problem. Your kid has an important match to play, you’re running out of time and there is no where to park.
65 year old Robert Kadera came up with a fine solution to this problem by “parking” his Piper Clipper aeroplane on the snow covered fairways [...]