A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Notice

Message: Only variable references should be returned by reference

Filename: core/Common.php

Line Number: 257

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Warning

Message: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/miwebcas/public_html/system/core/Exceptions.php:185)

Filename: libraries/Session.php

Line Number: 672

MI Golf Holidays

MI Golf Holidays / Events

Events

Upcoming Events

19

Jul
Thu

Video: Rory McIlroy hits spectator in the head with errant drive

Rory McIlroy was cruising along at three-under par through the first 14 holes of his opening British Open round when he momentarily became derailed by an errant tee shot on 15. The drive "nearly decapitated" a spectator before careening to an unplayable lie. McIlory was forced to re-tee, eventually taking a double-bogey 6 on the hole. He recovered nicely, however, birdieing two of his last three holes to finish at 3-under 67 on the day. -- Derek Evers Follow @derekevers !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

19

Jul
Thu

Lawrie sees a dramatic improvement on the greens, surges into contention

LYTHAM & ST. ANNES, England -- Back in the 1960s, former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson was first to point out that a week is a long time in politics. So it's safe to assume that the right honorable gentleman -- despite being a non-golfer - would have clearly understood the dramatic transformation in Paul Lawrie's putting over the last six days. After taking 33 putts in a second round of 69 at Castle Stuart in last week's Scottish Open -- where he missed the halfway cut by two shots -- the 43-year old Scot used the shortest club in his bag only 24 times en route to an opening round of 65 in this 141st Open Championship. Lawrie, of course, has what it takes to win one of these things. His victory at Carnoustie in 1999, in fact, remains the last by a golfer from Great Britain in any of the four major championships. He is also a consummate links player, to the point where he prefers to play wearing a waterproof jacket rather than in shirtsleeves. Brought up in Aberdeen, close to the grey waters of the North Sea in Scotland's North East corner, Lawrie numbers a Dunhill Links Championship amongst his seven European Tour titles. So, on paper at least, Royal Lytham is a place where he would expect to do well. The opening morning of this Open -- Lytham's eleventh -- wasn't "proper" links golf though. This was the Baltimore Ravens minus Ray Lewis. This was the old Boston Celtics without Bill Russell. This was the New York Yankees playing with an injured Derek Jeter. Soft after weeks of rain and bereft of wind, the proud Lancashire links was all but defenseless and there for the taking. And Lawrie was one who needed no second invitation, although the route he took to three under par on the seventh tee was somewhat less than orthodox. Twice -- at the third and fifth -- the man known as "Chippy" lived up to his name by holing out for birdies with a club other than his putter, a feat he followed up by getting down in one from the fringe of the sixth green to save par. "That was a very strange start," said Lawrie. "Probably the strangest of my career. I didn't really hit any good shots and I was three-under par. I'm not complaining though. I get enough bad luck, so it's nice when things go my way now and again." Thereafter, Lawrie reverted more to type, completing the next 12 holes in a steady two-under par, his play marked by more than one laser-like approach. Only once did he drop a shot, at the 416-yard eighth, where he was bunkered by the green and, for once, failed to make birdie or retrieve par. And he finished with a flourish when his 7-iron to the final green pulled up less than three feet from the cup. All of which will do Lawrie's quest to make a second European Ryder Cup side no harm at all. With only just over a month of qualifying to go, he lies third of the five automatic qualifiers from the European points list. One more solid finish -- a feat he has noticeably failed to achieve since his controversial decision to skip last month's U.S Open -- will see him safely over the finishing line and on the plane to Medinah in September. "It's a great start," he said in reference to his five-under par score. "I've been playing really nicely obviously and have built up a bit of confidence over time. So let's hope I can keep this going. There's a long way to go, but if I'm in this position (one off the lead) with nine holes to play I'll know I've had a great week. "As far as the Ryder Cup goes, I've still got a wee bit of work to do. I'm not guaranteed a place yet. So I need to make the most of this start and play as well as I can." More immediately, the big story of Lawrie's day was, of course, his putting. That nine-stroke improvement since his last competitive round was a timely reward for much hard work over the last few days. "I worked hard on my putting over last weekend," he revealed. "I putted as poorly as I can remember last Friday at the Scottish. So I went home and spent many hours on my indoor practice green. It's a perfect pace, maybe 12 on the stimpmeter. "My big problem on the greens has always been coming 'up and out' of my stroke and so missing putts both short and right. It's an old habit. I want to look up too quickly and I end up pushing my putts. So I worked on staying down and releasing the putter a bit more." -- John Huggan Follow @JohnHuggan !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

19

Jul
Thu

It could have been even better, but Woods content with solid start

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England -- If Tiger Woods was upset by squandering an opportunity Thursday at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, he certainly didn't show it. He flashed a smile and joked with caddie Joe LaCava often over the final few holes, then playfully fired a practice ball at friend Robert Allenby in a practice bunker as he walked away from his post-round press conference. It was all evidence that Woods could live with an opening 67 in which he birdied four of his first seven holes, but then played one over the rest of the way. "I got off to a positive start today," said Woods, whose last eight starts are comprised of three wins, two missed cuts, two T-40s and a T-21. "And as I said, we've got three more rounds. We've got a lot of golf to play." Woods isn't the same player who started strong at both Pebble Beach and St. Andrews in 2000 and then cruised the rest of the way. But while he wasn't able to keep the early momentum going Thursday, it was another encouraging sign for a player who leads the tour in wins, and contended at least through two days at last month's U.S. Open. "I hit the ball well all day. I was just lacking a little bit of pace on the greens coming home," said Woods, who trails Adam Scott by three shots. ". . . But every putt was right on my line, they were dying off the front of the lip. So I needed to hit the putts a little bit firmer." Woods hit 13 of 14 fairways on Thursday, in part a byyproduct of only hitting driver twice, but also due to a much-improved accuracy off the tee that has placed him near the top in the all-around driving statistic all season. This week, Woods' strategy is to do everything possible to avoid Royal Lytham's 205 bunkers and thick rough, but he doesn't plan to always sacrifice distance. "Well, I'm playing to spots. So whatever the spots are," said Woods, a three-time winner of the claret jug. "And some holes depend. We've had two different winds here that I played. I played practice rounds on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and they were completely different clubs based on the winds. And I was just playing to my little sections and I had my game plan to those sections." One place where that game plan seemed to backfire was on the 592-yard 11th, where Woods hit an iron off the tee and showed frustration when he didn't catch it cleanly. He was forced to lay up and could only manage a two-putt par from 30 feet on one of only two par fives at Royal Lytham. His lone missed fairway came on No. 15 and led to his only bogey -- but it could have been much worse. From the thick stuff, Woods barely advanced his second shot with a full swing. Still playing from the tall grass, he somehow knocked his third shot onto the green and walked away with only a bogey. "I was just trying to hit the ball 80 yards in the front. . . . Unfortunately it didn't grab just the hosel, it grabbed the shaft and just turned it down," Woods said. Unpredictability is a big part of the British Open and no one knows that better than Woods, who was asked about the drier conditions predicted for the rest of the week. "I think that's the forecast, but the forecast hasn't been right all week," Woods said before musing. "Nice job to have, huh?" Predicting what Woods is going to do next isn't exactly a science anymore, either. Whether we see the good or the bad from him tomorrow, though, we at least know he'll be a big part of the story. -- Alex Myers Follow @AlexMyers3 !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

19

Jul
Thu

Playing with a new sense of urgency, Scott strikes early

LYTHAM & ST. ANNES, England - Adam Scott exudes surfer cool, which befits his hobby but isn't always the best thing on the golf course. A little sense of urgency can go a long way, Scott found out Thursday when he parlayed a make-it-happen mindset into a six-under 64 at Royal Lytham & St. Annes and the first-round lead in the 141st British Open. "It was surprising but very pleasing to go out and play some solid golf," said Scott, who was poised to tie the major-championship record of 63 until a poor tee shot on the 18th hole led to a bogey. "It's what I haven't done the first rounds of the majors this year, and that was my goal here, to play today like it was Sunday and there was no tomorrow." The talented Australian, who turned 32 on Monday, struggled to respective opening scores of 75 in the Masters and 76 in the U.S. Open. Although he fought back to finish T-8 at Augusta National and T-15 at Olympic Club, the damage had been done by his desultory starts. "Maybe [I was] too conservative and almost too patient," Scott said of those failings. "I was playing so well going into the U.S. Open and all of a sudden I was seven over through 15 holes of the tournament, and you can't pick up that many shots in a major." Despite an early bogey Thursday morning at the third hole, Scott -- who credited caddie Steve Williams for helping motivate him into being more focused early on -- quickly rallied with birdies on three of the next four holes. Five more birdies in a six-hole span from Nos. 11 through 16 had Scott seven under and in position to become the 26th man to shoot 63 in a major, and even a chance to go one better and set a new mark. "I know there's never been a 62," said Scott, who looked at a leader board before teeing off on the 17th hole and realized where he stood. "[I] realized it was a par 70 and I also probably realized that I wasn't going to be the guy to shoot 62. It's one of those things that you don't want to go through your mind, thinking about your final score and stuff like that." Even with his closing bogey after hitting a 2-iron off the tee into heavy rough, Scott still eclipsed his best score in the British Open by four strokes. The placid conditions made scoring as easy as it could be Thursday at Lytham. Scott likes the confidence he gained from his 64, but is aware it likely will be a tougher task the rest of the way. "I'm sure there's going to be some weather elements thrown at us the next three days," he said. "So I'm just going to have to knuckle down to handle that. But I'm confident. My ball-striking is good. I think I can get it around no matter what the conditions are." Although Lee Westwood and Luke Donald lately have been the most mentioned names when it comes to being the best players who haven't won a major, Scott, once deemed a lock to win one -- or more -- should still be in the discussion. Stewart Cink, grouped with Scott in the final round of the recent AT&T National, watched a display that day that convinced him the Aussie is still poised for greatness. "He looked like he should be the No. 1 player in the world," Cink said of Scott, who is currently No. 13. "He was like five under through seven holes. He just played one of the best rounds I've ever seen. Was not missing anything. So I'm not surprised. A guy like that who has a lot of confidence, it almost doesn't matter what course he's playing when he gets in that kind of a mode he's going to shoot low." A major title, of course, is what Scott himself dreamed -- and still dreams -- of winning. "I would say I haven't achieved what I wanted until I win a major or more," Scott admitted. This is Scott's 46th major. He has seven top-10 finishes, including a T-2 at the 2011 Masters and a T-3 at the 2006 PGA Championship. His stellar start at Lytham -- his score equaled Tom Lehman's during the 1996 Open for the best score at the Lancashire course -- puts him in great position to fulfill a dream, but the hard task really starts now. By making every day feel like Sunday, though, Scott just could be the happiest guy around on Monday. -- Bill Fields Follow @BillFields1

19

Jul
Thu

British Open Tip: Hold the face open in deep rough

First, we saw Tiger, then Tim Clark (see photos here), then Tom Watson, then Phil Mickelson. They were each slashing the ball out of the deep rough on Thursday's first round at Royal Lytham &...

19

Jul
Thu

Lack of wind provides easy, if not peculiar start to the Open

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England -- The 141st Open Championship began in the most peculiar way Thursday morning along the Lancashire Coast, and not simply because the first hole at Royal Lytham & St Annes begins with a par-3 hole. The Scots would say that there is no real golf being played in the early hours here, what with neither wind nor rain greeting the contestants. And temperatures are mild too, with several players already peeling down to short sleeves. What remains to flummox the field is the remnants of one of the rainiest summers in history. That would be the native grasses that have accepted the constant feeding from the clouds and have grown to mendacious proportions. Photographers snapping photos of Lee Westwood on the third hole from the hillocks and knee-high grasses adjacent to the third fairway were warned to minimize their foot traffic. "Let's protect the integrity of the golf course," a marshal said in a chastening tone. Photo by Getty ImagesThe "golf course" are those corridors containing the short grasses and the 205 bunkers and the teeing grounds. The stuff surrounding those quarters is coarse, not course. But so far, without the expected breezes, the going is less than tedious. And, yet, the early starters are not chewing up Royal Lytham to a discernible degree, with 4-under par the best of the efforts. That Tiger Woods is already at that number and jumping on the opportunity to score might be disconcerting, but, granted, that was only through seven holes. Evil lurks all around. Related: Get to know your British Open courses The winds will arrive shortly, and then we will see what mettle is mustered among the contenders. Former Open champion Mark Calcavecchia played in stiff breezes Wednesday morning and dubbed the setup, "impossible." So there is that. It's the wind that is supposed to protect the integrity of the golf course, not the ridiculous native areas around it that fit the description of rough a bit too assiduously. Only the 1999 championship at Carnoustie comes to mind as being so penal so near the fairways. Of course, players who are never in the hay will have no reason to complain. -- Dave Shedloski Follow @daveshedloski !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

19

Jul
Thu

Fans arrive early to get the "full experience" of the Open

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England -- With six minutes to spare before the 6:30 a.m. threesome of Barry Lane, James Driscoll and Garth Mulroy is set to play, Graham and Michael Lewis find a seat beside the first tee at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. "We ran the last mile or so through town," says a winded Graham. "We wanted to say we saw the first shot." The brothers from Manchester aren't alone. Despite overcast skies, intermittent drizzle and the early wake-up call, several dozen spectators nearly fill the entire grandstand patiently waiting for starter Ivor Robson's flinty voice to officially begin the 141st British Open. Photo by Getty ImagesSeveral dignitaries are also on the tee, most notably R&A chief executive Peter Dawson, making sure things get off to a smooth start. Related: 10 Burning Questions at the Open "We told friends we had tickets, and they were pretty jealous," Michael says. "Going to the Open is a pretty neat deal. Since we were going, we wanted to make sure we got the full experience." Michael's excitement included giving one of his mates a call on his cell phone to say they were there. For proof, he also took a quick picture that he sent out to a few friends. "I've got my screen saver now," he jokes. The murmur from the crowd died down when Robson stepped to the microphone. "This is game No. 1. On the tee from England, Barry Lane." Lane's tee shot finds the green on the par-3 opening hole, as does Driscoll's and Mulroy's. The three men walk off to hearty applause.  No sooner had the big moment come, it had also gone, and with it half of the grandstand empties, satisfied they got to see a little bit of history. It's then that Graham turns to Michael with a question the two hadn't previously thought about. "Now what?" -- Ryan Herrington Follow @GWCampusInsider !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

19

Jul
Thu

The 2012 U.S. Open: Thursday's Birdies And Bogeys

Who were the winners and losers on Thursday of the Open Championship? Let's take a closer look with another edition of birdies and bogeys.

18

Jul
Wed

Mid-week Lesson: How to practice productively

Years ago, I was fortunate to help one of the game's best teachers write an instruction book. The book never got a lot of recognition, but those who read it have told me it really...

18

Jul
Wed

Placing a few Pounds on the eve of the Open Championship

One of the pleasures of British Open week for visiting Americans is to venture into one of the many local betting emporiums to place a modest -- and legal -- wager or two on their favorite players. Nowadays, such bets can all be done online. And with the advent of exchange betting sites like Betfair, as well as backing a player you can "lay" a player or bet against them. This kind of betting is thus more like trading, and you can do it throughout the tournament, right up to the last putt. So on the eve of the tournament, I fired up my laptop, put £ 100 -- about $160 -- into the kitty in my Betfair account and went shopping. Here's how I spent it: - £ 5 on Tiger Woods at 10.5 (to 1) to win £ 47.50. Not particularly original to bet on the favorite, but these seem like decent odds for a 14-time major winner who has won three times on tour this year and has a good record at Lytham. In the 10 previous Opens at Lytham, the winners have all been thoroughbreds. - £ 10 on Westwood at 15 to win £140. English golfers of a certain age get a little misty when they recall Tony Jacklin winning here in 1969. The English who believe in fairytales are naturally hoping for another homegrown champion, and seeing as how the current world nos. 1 (Luke Donald) and 3 (Lee Westwood) are English, their dream may well come true. Of the two I prefer Westwood: he's a long, straight driver, which is going to be essential this week, and he's just been too close too many times not to break through. - £ 10 on Justin Rose at 32 for £310. Another Englishman whose won this year and who often gets overlooked in the Donald-Westwood battle for world domination. He's still never bettered his tied-fourth position in his debut Open, in 1988, when as a 17-year-old amateur he holed a pitch at the 72nd hole, but this could be the year. - £ 10 on Graeme McDowell at 36 for £ 350. The 2010 U.S. Open champion is in his prime, and grew up in Portrush, Northern Ireland, so he'll be well prepared for whatever foul weather Lytham throws at him this week. - £ 10 on Rickie Fowler at 40 to win £ 390. I watched Fowler play a few holes at Royal St. George's last year and he was playing all kinds of improvised linksy knockdown shots and delicate bump and runs, just like a Scottish native. In his two Open appearances, he's finished tied 14th and tied 5th, and with his maiden win on tour in May, he destined for great things. - £ 10 on Sergio Garcia at 40 to win £ 390. Here's hoping he can channel the spirit of Seve Ballesteros, who two of his three Opens here, and finally live up to his potential. - £ 5 on Jason Dufner at 48 to win £ 235. OK so he missed the cut in both of his two prior Opens, but he's solid, unflappable, and in form: two wins on tour this year and a tied 4th in the U.S. Open. - Four other bets on players with long odds who I don't think will win, but I do think that their odds have a good chance of shortening during the week, in which case I can "lay" them, hedging the bets and pocketing the difference. As follows: £ 5 on Zach Johnson at 75 to win £ 370--the man in form; £ 5 on Bubba Watson at 85 to win £ 420--the Masters champion's creativity is well suited for links golf; £ 10 on Branden Grace at 200 to win £ 1,990--the South African phenomenon is a three-time winner on the European tour this season and is looking for a big breakthrough; £ 5 on Brandt Snedeker at 300 to win £ 1,495--streaky, unpredictable, and could suddenly find his groove. - £ 10 on winning nationality being South Africa at 8.4 for £ 74. There have only been four South African winners of the claret jug, but the country has 14 players in the field, with many of them realistic contenders. - £ 5 on a winning score of 5 strokes or more at 8.8 for £ 39. A throwaway bet but good odds for a runaway winner. I'll be trading throughout the championship and will report back on Sunday on how much I won (or lost). -- John Barton