Selecting Justin Thomas as a wildcard because of his previous exploits and popularity is a risky strategy that could backfireZach Johnson’s experience of team environments did not originate in golf. Until the age of 18, he was an avid footballer. A striker, he says. “I had a good left foot for a rightie. I was the set‑play guy; corner-kicks and free‑kicks.” Individual sport soon took over, Johnson’s career elevated by two major wins, but one assumes memories from the dressing room lingered.The coming weeks will see typical, contrived nonsense spouted about the importance of Ryder Cup captains and, as is even more the case, their deputies. It is possible to be a disastrous leader of men in this context but...
Explosion of sports betting in US represents a rising threat, with PGA Tour needing to fiercely protect integrity of competitionJay Monahan speaks so sparingly that the PGA Tour commissioner had plenty of time to plot and plan precisely what his message would be during traditional end-of-season media duties in Atlanta last Tuesday. When pressed on even light detail of how a framework agreement between the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Group may take on more formal status, Monahan was completely noncommittal. The 53-year-old may soon realise, if he has not already, that Saudis bearing billions do so with more than a passing interest in how their buck is being deployed. He who pays the...
The world No 2 described his performance as ‘solid’ but suspect putting means major drought will enter a 10th yearNine years; 3,288 days. That’s the length of time which has now elapsed since Rory McIlroy won a major championship. The omens had been good coming into Hoylake, the expectation as high as ever, but in the end a final round of 68 left him seven shots behind the winner, Brian Harman.There were moments, early in rounds three and four, where it looked as if McIlroy might make a charge. But in the end any promise sputtered out in the rain and seasoned Rory watchers will have seen this movie before. In a way it’s like the Godfather 3, only inverted....
He may not capture the imagination of spectators but the new Open champion deserved his first win for six yearsBrian Harman is the champion golfer of the year. But who exactly is pleased for him? Certainly not the soaked crowd at Royal Liverpool on Sunday, who booed Harman on the first tee and didn’t give the American his dues until his even wetter walk down the 18th fairway.Probably not the American television broadcasters, NBC, who set up a “Waggle Counter” to poke fun at the number of Harman’s practice swings, of which there were often a dozen or more. A sort of unofficial shot clock – a device more familiar in the NBA at the free-throw line – goading Harman...
Tommy Fleetwood was the talk of the Open on Saturday but a fairytale major victory seems an increasingly unlikely resultYou could see the black cloud coming over the horizon. It wasn’t rain (though there was enough of that), nor a collection of anything menacing like hornets; it was just a phalanx of monochrome waterproofs rolling irresistibly up the side of the fairway.This was Tommy Fleetwood’s army, the thousands of people who flocked to Hoylake on Saturday to support the local lad, second on the leaderboard overnight, as he staged his attempt to get within touching distance of the Claret Jug. He’d called for them, and they were there, now he had to play his part. Continue reading...