By Bob Harig The closing charge he has so desperately needed in final rounds of majors over the past several years went missing again Sunday as Tiger Woods shot a 74 at Muirfield to finish in a tie for sixth at the Open Championship. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at ESPN Headlines
By Bob Harig Lee Westwood has a two-shot lead over Tiger Woods and Hunter Mahan at the Open Championship. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at ESPN Headlines
By David Lariviere, Contributor
With the majority of the 2013 golf season in the rear view, it has become as noteworthy for the declines of former No. 1’s Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy, the 2011 and 2012 PGA Tour and European Tour Players of the Year, respectively, as the comeback of Tiger Woods. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
By Bob Harig Tiger Woods survived an increasingly treacherous Muirfield on Friday, holing a number of key par putts — while also missing two short ones — to shoot even-par 71 and hold a share of the clubhouse lead at the Open Championship. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at ESPN Headlines
By Bob Harig Tiger Woods survived an increasingly treacherous Muirfield on Friday, holing a number of key par putts — while also missing two short ones — to shoot even-par 71 and hold a share of the clubhouse lead at the Open Championship. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at ESPN Headlines
In 2001, a Time magazine story heralded a “Eurasian Invasion” in the United States, symbolized by multiethnic celebrities such as golfer Tiger Woods and model Li Jiaxin. People of mixed Asian and Western descent, the piece stated, had become “the poster children of globalization” at the turn of the millennium. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org
Former champion Louis Oosthuizen was forced to withdraw from this year’s British Open Championship on Thursday after playing his tee shot at the par five, ninth hole.
The South African shook hands with playing partners Tiger Woods and Graeme McDowell before heading straight to the close-by rented house where he has been residing this week to have treatment on his injured neck.
“I’m bitterly disappointed to have to pull out of The Open and it looks likely now I am going to have to take some time off and give my neck the rest I’ve been told they need,” he said
“I thought I would be okay today as I warmed up pretty well on the range hitting balls.
“But then as the round progressed the pain in my neck translated into my hips and just found increasingly uncomfortable to walk.
“The Open means so much to me and to have to withdraw in this manner is extremely disappointing on top of also having to pull out of Merion.”
The 2010 Open champion at St Andrews was four over when he called it quits.
It was the second straight major that Oosthuizen has failed to finish having withdrawn before the second round of the US Open at Merion Golf Club last month with a strained hip flexor.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
The Open returns to Muirfield for the 16th time starting Thursday, with two straight weeks of sunshine having turned the famed Scottish links into a firm, fast and furious test for the best.
Drivers will seldom be seen and irons will be the weapon of choice off many tees as an elite field looks to stay out of the punishing rough and create the best angles to attack the pins at the par-71 East Lothian layout.
Graeme McDowell, the 2010 US Open champion who grew up playing on links in Northern Ireland and who will start among the favourites, compared golfing at Muirfield to playing a game of chess.
“This is certainly a game of chess this week, where you have to position your pieces and keep them in play,” he said.
“This golf course is all right there in front of you, there’s no hidden tricks to it. Good quality golf gets rewarded.
“You hit the shots, they’ll be where you expect them to be. It gives you half a chance around the greens. It’s very penal off the tee, about half a chance around the greens, gives you a chance to pitch and hit bunker shots, and doesn’t kind of unduly punish you too much.
“Nine out of ten times this golf course will reward good golf, and punish you off the tee, but give yourself opportunities up and around the greens.
“I think it’s a fair golf course which rewards great players and great golf, probably why we have so many great champions at this venue.”
A quick check down the list of past winners at Muirfield certainly confirms what McDowell says as they include Ernie Els, the last time it was played there in 2002, Nick Faldo in 1992 and 1987, Tom Watson (1980), Lee Trevino (1972), Jack Nicklaus (1966) and Gary Player (1959).
Tournament favourite Tiger Woods is eager to join that list and finally win his 15th major title, over five years after his last, which came at the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines.
The 37-year-old American knows Muirfield well and not all his memories are fond ones.
The last time it was held there in 2002, he went out in his third round just as a storm system came out of the North Sea, whipping up havoc on the course and condemning the American to a 10-over 81, to date the worst score of his professional career.
That left him with no chance of making it three majors in a row, having already won the Masters and the US Open that year, and Woods has failed to get that far along the road to the Grand Slam since then.
Still, he insists he harbours no hard feelings.
“Look at the list of past champions. The number of Hall of Famers that there are who have won here,” said Woods, who said that the elbow injury that sidelined him after last month’s US Open is no longer a problem.
“I think it just goes to show you you really have to hit the ball well. You have to …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Justin Rose said Wednesday he needs to stop thinking about his breakthrough win at the US Open last month if he is to add British Open glory this week at Muirfield.
The 32-year-old became the first English winner of the US Open in 43 years at Merion Golf Club outside of Philadelphia in June, bagging his first major title after 15 years as a pro.
He was also the first Englishman to win a major since Nick Faldo at the 1996 Masters.
A win at the famed East Lothian links on Sunday would make him the first Englishman to lift the British Open since Faldo did so at Muirfield in 1992.
He would also be the first player to win back-to-back US and British Opens since Tiger Woods at his prime in 2000 en route to holding all four Grand Slam titles at the same time.
But first of all, thoughts of Merion must be banished said Rose, who played the week after his US Open win, but then took three weeks off to recover both physically and mentally.
“Obviously this week the challenge for me is I haven’t seen most of the golfing world since I won at the US Open. So obviously a lot of well wishes, which is great,” he said.
“But the challenge for me is going to be staying in this tournament, not being dragged back to Merion every five minutes. So that’s the only challenge that’s happening this week.”
Asked whether taking three weeks off in the lead-in to a major tournament would leave him under-golfed, Rose said that he had no regrets and that the decision could pay dividends on Sunday.
“I’m going to need that time if I’m going to get into contention and have a chance to win on Sunday. That’s when the freshness and the break will serve me well,” he said.
“Obviously getting there is going to be the hard part. There’s a lot of good golf I need to play in order to be in contention on Sunday, but should that be the case, then absolutely. That’s when the break is going to be necessary, I think.”
Rose’s record to date at The Open does not augur well for him.
He first burst onto the scene in finishing fourth as a teenage amateur at Royal Birkdale in 1998 after which he turned pro.
But he has failed to record a top 10 finish since then and missed the cut last year at Royal Lytham.
Having played links golf often as an amateur in England, Rose is puzzled as to why that is, but believes that he can compete again.
“If you look at my results, they’re really not very good in this tournament. But I would say that the reality is a little bit better than that,” he said.
“I felt that 2009 at Turnberry I had a good chance to win there. Just nothing really went my way on Sunday, and putted poorly for the most part on that day. But I was so close to being right in the hunt there at …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
This week the attention of the golfing world will be on Scotland’s Muirfield golf course, host of this year’s British Open. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott and nearly all of the rest of the very best golfers in the world will be there. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
This week is the 142nd rendition of the British Open (or simply, “The Open,” as it’s known across the pond), the oldest of the four golf majors. It is frequently unpredictable, both weather and winner-wise (for the past five years, the champion has come from outside of the world’s top ten world ranking). And it may be the most pleasing golf tournament of the year on the eyes. The game of golf was born on links courses like this year’s host, Muirfield. It was meant to be an outdoor game with all of the elements—the sea, the sun, the sand, the wind and the rain—playing a factor. Many courses around the world these days feel and look a bit too manicured. But Muirfield—tousled by the elements—has endured, ancient and everlasting. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
Tournament favourite Tiger Woods will join Ulsterman Graeme McDowell and South African Louis Oosthuizen for Thursday’s first round of the British Open.
The 37-year-old American, who will be playing competitively for the first time in a month after spraining his left elbow during the US Open, is seeking a 15th major title, over five years after winning his last at the 2008 US Open.
In McDowell he will have the 2010 US Open champion, who won his third title of the year at the French Open on July 7.
Oosthuizen won the British Open at St Andrews in 2010, with Woods having won the title there in 2005 and 2000.
They will have a mid-afternoon start on Thursday at 2:45 pm (1545 GMT) and a 9:44 am (1044 GMT) start on Friday.
Defending champion Ernie Els will go out with Justin Rose, who won the US Open last month and American Brandt Snedeker, seen as one of the finest putters in the game but who has yet to win a major.
Rory McIlroy, winless this year after making an equipment change that has seen his form slump, is paired with Phil Mickelson, who is back up to fifth in the world after winning the Scottish Open on Sunday and rising Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama.
Other top groupings see Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Charl Schwartzel brought together as well as Masters champion Adam Scott, Matt Kuchar and Luke Donald.
First out on Thursday at 6:32 am (0732) will be Australian veteran Peter Senior, local lad Lloyd Saltman and Oliver Fisher of England.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
By ESPN.com news services Tiger Woods says he’s ready for the British Open …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at ESPN Headlines
By ESPN.com news services Tiger Woods says he’s ready for the British Open …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at ESPN Headlines
By Associated Press Michael Jordan got married over the weekend, with Tiger Woods, Spike Lee and Patrick Ewing among those attending the NBA Hall of Famer’s wedding in Palm Beach, Fla.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at ESPN Headlines
By ESPN.com news services Steve Williams, the former caddie for Tiger Woods, said the world’s No. 1 player should have been disqualified after taking an illegal drop during the Masters last week at Augusta National.
This weekend Adam Scott’s caddie Steve Williams (Tiger Wood’s old caddie), was part of a major tournament win for the 14th time in his career. Williams carried the bag for 13 majors and three Masters wins for Tiger Woods before he was fired. This weekend, he helped Scott to his first
Greg Norman almost couldn’t stand to watch. The Great White Shark had circled around the elusive green jacket too many times without being able to wear it.
Pam Scott was on the other side of the world, trying to catch every agonizing moment.
Norman’s close calls lurked in the memories of so many Australians on Monday. They woke up, nervously turned on the TV or radio or went online and discovered Adam Scott was still going strong at the Masters.
No Australian had worn the famous green jacket, although Norman and Scott had been among the handful of Aussies to finish runner-up.
Pam Scott was home with her daughter in Queensland state, watching her 32-year-old son on TV, knowing that generations of people were willing him on, desperate for another big fish in Australian golf.
“We leaped in the air,” she said. “We were sitting on the bed all morning from four o’clock and couldn’t contain ourselves. It was just such a relief.”
It was the kind of relief that cascaded across the nation. Shouts of “You little bewdy” (beauty) echoed through usually quiet suburban streets. Commuters whooped and hollered on buses on their way into work. The prime minister was interrupted during a radio interview on the national broadcaster for an update from Augusta National.
“Butterflies doesn’t cut it,” Pam Scott told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. of the gut-wrenching final holes. “It was hard work this morning. You never know until the last putt drops.”
Adam Scott defied the pressure, a picture of poise as he sank a 12-foot birdie putt on the second extra hole to beat Angel Cabrera in a playoff as darkness descended, setting off jubilation on the course and thousands of miles away in Australia.
Two other Australians — Jason Day and Marc Leishman — were in the top five at the start of play: Day held the lead at one stage before finishing in third place; Leishman tied for fourth with Tiger Woods.
Horns honked in morning traffic. Yells could be heard from households in tightly packed neighborhoods. People talked about knowing, in years to come, exactly where they were when Scott won.
From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/lzoX_PrphJM/
By Darren Heitner, Contributor
First it was a miraculous putt on the 18th hole that Adam Scott drained to give the eventual Masters champion a -9 overall score as he entered the clubhouse to sign his scorecard. That shot forced a playoff between Scott and Angel Cabrera. After a tie on the first playoff hole, all eyes rested on Scott once again as he was handed his belly putter by caddy Steve Williams (formerly the caddy tasked with walking alongside Tiger Woods) on the second playoff hole and stood determined to drain the twelve-foot putt. He succeeded, and the rest is history. The green jacket is Adam Scott‘s to wear; there is no debating that fact.
Major sports all have referees or officials who miss a call. But they don’t allow fans to call in the error and then retroactively change the call. And when there are gray areas in the rules, the sport should be even less inclined to take that extraordinary move. I say extraordinary because in law retroactivity is indeed rare. It is rare in part because the law recognizes the importance of finality and the disdain for second-guessing, let alone fan complaints. Yet the 2013 Masters rule enforcers decided to impose a 2-stroke penalty the day after the incident. In fact, if the player, Tiger Woods, had not made an admission, not knowing it was against his interest, the issue would not have even arisen.
