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MI Golf Holidays

MI Golf Holidays / Events

Events

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18

Jul
Wed

Rickie ready for another run at the claret jug

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, ENGLAND -- Born in California and turned into a star at Oklahoma State, Rickie Fowler still manages a comfortable connection to the origins of the game. "I love links golf, probably my favorite," Fowler said Wednesday. "I just like the amount of options you have while out playing a links golf course." It might sound like somewhat of a canned response, but the 23-year-old already has done plenty to back up those sentiments in just two Open Championship appearances, as well as a successful Walker Cup performance in 2007 at Royal County Down. His T-5 at Royal St. George's last year was one of only two top-five finishes in 2011 and he finished T-14 at St. Andrews in 2010. And that despite shooting a 79 in his first-ever Open round. Since then, Fowler has a stroke average of a shade over 69 in the game's oldest major -- something you might not expect from a guy who at his pre-tournament press conference wore perhaps the brightest blue hat ever seen at Royal Lytham & St Annes. Always among the leaders in flash, Fowler's overall game has also come a long way since that first Open appearance, especially in the past three months. Fowler picked up his maiden PGA Tour victory at the Wells Fargo Championship and backed that up with a T-2 at the Players and a T-5 at Colonial. It appears that a year after contending in a major for the first time at another English course, Fowler is ready to take the next step. Related: 10 Burning Questions at the Open So can a guy whose biggest contribution to golf history thus far might be his role in the sport's first-ever "boy band" have his named etched on one of world's most historic trophies? On top of his love and success of links golf, he's also buoyed this week by the fact the last three major winners are fellow young -- at least youngish when counting Bubba Watson -- Americans. "It's been a lot of fun to watch, but also just kind of a kick in the butt to get out and make me want it more. . . . It is fun to watch them win and watch some of your good friends win, but at the same time you'd rather be there than them." -- 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");

18

Jul
Wed

Can you watch 36 hours of British Open? ESPN is offering it

Golf is not an ESPN staple, yet there are several reasons to expect its British Open coverage to shine this week. Even before a shot has been hit in earnest the sports network got it right. It moved its Thursday and Friday start times up a half-hour to 4:30 a.m. (EDT). This was done to allow viewers (early risers, at least) to see the rounds of Tiger Woods (a 4:42 a.m. tee time on Thursday) and Phil Mickelson (4:31 a.m. tee time on Friday) in their entirety. It's easier to do, of course, when it is the sole American television producer of the event. The Open is the only tournament that ESPN exclusively televises. It does the Masters, but only until CBS takes over. Same with the U.S. Open and NBC. ESPN will televise 36 hours of tournament play live over four days. Afternoon and prime time encore showings up the number of hours to 72. "The biggest thing that has changed," Mike McQuade, vice president production for ESPN, said, "is that ESPN has taken ownership of the Open Championship. That's the best way to put it. And we've invested in such, every way possible -- announcers, cameras, audio. That means controlling our own destiny.

18

Jul
Wed

The Style Blog: Stay-cool skorts

It's that time of year again -- temperatures are soaring and the moisture in the air hangs on your skin like an extra layer of clothing. Just the thought of getting dressed feels oppressive. Style...

18

Jul
Wed

After 2001 Open Win, Duval Blends Golf and Family

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England -- David Duval remains a fascinating study of golf and life 11 years after winning the Open Championship here, and Wednesday he featured his unique blend of angst and edge now tempered with personal fulfillment. "My life has blown up exponentially, in a wonderful way," he said. "Back then it was all about me and all about golf, just like the majority of people who have marched through here." With his oldest son, Deano, in attendance this week, a family life has taught Duval "there are some things that are a little more important. . . . I'm pretty lucky to not be the same person I was 10 years ago, 11 years ago." Not that he isn't still trying to play golf at the highest level, but you can add knee problems to the long list of injuries that have limited Duval for years. "Yesterday I hit three or four shots that almost put me down," he said. "I've worked my tail off. Unfortunately for me I've had multiple nagging little injuries. I've had tendinitis in both shoulders; I've got it in my elbows; I have bone bruises in my knees right now; I have a back problem that's well-documented; had tendinitis in my wrist; I've had vertigo. Is that it?" Related: Get to know your British Open courses Talking about all that history is "like kicking a dead horse," Duval said. It's part of why he doesn't relish the kind of attention that Tiger Woods receives. "I'm not one to even imagine the microscope under which he has to live." One example: "I wouldn't hesitate to have a beer with him, but it would probably have to be hidden in some house somewhere," Duval said. "It's not like he can go to the pubs. And that sucks that he can't do that. And we stroll in town and have a beer and a pizza, and it's fun. . . . To not be basically allowed to do that -- would you like to do that? Would you like to live that way? No. It's tough. I wouldn't want it." But winning again is something Duval does want. Asked if he could win this week, he replied, "Absolutely." Returning to Lytham for the first time since that victory in 2001 brought back some vivid memories. "I haven't had reason to make the trip here, so it was kind of cool to see my name on the club board, in the gold ink on the wood, along with the other tournaments they have," he said. "It makes you feel like you're part of the club." -- Mike O'Malley Follow @GD_MikeO(Photo: Getty Images) !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");

18

Jul
Wed

Assessing the amateurs' chances at the Open Championship

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England -- Picking a favorite to claim low amateur honors is an annual storyline during the run-up to the British Open. Yet entering this year's championship at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, the guessing game doesn't necessarily involve who the R&A might give the silver medal to after 72 holes, but if it will be handed out at all. With U.S. Amateur champion Kelly Kraft and McCormack Medal winner Patrick Cantlay both having turned pro after the Masters and U.S. Open, thus making them ineligible for their British Open exemptions, only two amateurs are now in the field: Northern Ireland's Alan Dunbar, the British Amateur champion, and Austria's Manuel Trappel, the European Amateur winner. Related: 10 Burning Questions At The Open Only once in the last eight years have there been fewer than four amateurs compete in the championship (2009, when Matteo Manassero finished T-13 as one of just two who competed at Turnberry). The last time no amateur made the cut at the Open Championship was in 2003 at Royal St. George's. Given this year's thin amateur field, some have wondered whether the R&A might consider relaxing its requirement about amateurs who earned an exemption into the field still being amateurs to compete. (Augusta National and the USGA have the same requirement for the Masters and the U.S. Open.) "We have discussed that," acknowledged R&A chief executive Peter Dawson, "but I can't report that there's any imminent change in that situation." Of the two that are competing this week, Dunbar would seem to be the more likely to make this week a four-round affair. The 22-year-old from Northern Ireland (who intends to enter European Tour Qualifying School this fall) knows all about playing in trying weather conditions. He was a member of victorious the Great Britain & Ireland squad last September at Royal Aberdeen, where rain and wind were plentiful. Similarly when he won the British Amateur title last month at Troon, he claimed the title in a deluge during the 36-hole final. "It's a big week. I'm sure I'll be nervous on the first tee but once you get settled into the round, I think I'll be able to stay focused," said Dunbar, who played a Tuesday practice round with fellow Irishman Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke, the defending champion. "I'm here to play well and hoping to make the weekend." Alan Dunbar, 22, Northern Ireland How he qualified: 2012 British Amateur champion Odds of making the cut: 30-1 Skinny: Not unlike Kraft or Cantlay, Dunbar has had one eye on pro golf as he's wrapping up his amateur career. Dunbar intends to compete at this fall's European Tour Qualifying School. He at least has had a small taste of competing in a pro event, having played at last month's Irish Open, where he missed the cut at Royal Portrush. Manuel Trappel, 23, Austria How he qualified: 2011 European Amateur champion Odds of making the cut: 40-1 Skinny: Knowing he was exempt into the British Open here after winning the European Amateur last August, Trappel competed in the Lytham Trophy in May, but missed the cut after shooting rounds of 74-77. And that was before the rainy spring changed Royal Lytham & St. Annes' whispy heather into thick gnarly rough. -- 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");

18

Jul
Wed

Reading between the lines, the R&A isn't easily swayed

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England -- Looking very smart in their matching grey Ralph Lauren Polo sweaters, those bastions of golf's amateur ethos, the R&A, made it through their annual Open Championship press conference Wednesday morning at Royal Lytham. All the usual buttons were pressed by the assembled scribes -- slow play, the "brutal" rough, the width of the fairways, the weather, whether the championship will go back to Royal Portrush -- and, thankfully, everything in R&A land is, as usual, just peachy.What a relief.Portrush first. As was reported recently in Golf World, the chances of golf's oldest event ever returning to the western side of the Irish Sea continue to hover between slim and none. Despite the success of the recent Irish Open, R&A chief executive Peter Dawson's response to the "Portrush question" was one littered with negatives and not many positives."If you were at the Irish Open and compared it with what we're doing here, we're talking 20,000 grandstand seats, and there I doubt they had 2,000," he said. "You're talking about a tented village here I would estimate ten or more times the size it was at the Irish Open. And the crowd size at Portrush, whilst it was very good, was only as good as perhaps the lowest crowd we expect at an Open venue, at Turnberry."Where would you have the 72nd hole?  Where would you put the big grandstand complex? The practice ground would need a lot of work at Portrush in my own estimation. And as I say, we don't have a finishing hole that would have the grandstands around it. So there would be much work to do for an Open to go to Portrush."In other words, forget it folks.Moving right along, the always-vexed subject of slow play got its annual airing. According to Jim McArthur, chairman of the R&A's championship committee, the slow play rules in place will be followed "stringently" over the next four days. Of course, this would be something of a first. McArthur was only one of many in the room who could not recall the last time a player suffered a slow-play penalty in an Open. "This year we are making slow play a priority," he said. "At the Amateur Championship we applied the policy and we will do the same at the Boys Championship. At the rules briefing this morning, we instructed the rovers and the walking rules officials along the same lines. As far as the time to play is concerned, on Thursday and Friday three-balls will be expected to get round in four hours and 30 minutes and the two-balls on Saturday and Sunday, three hours and 45 minutes."Still, despite those assurances, it would be best not to hold one's breath too tightly on that one, especially if a well-known face falls foul of the regulations while in contention come Sunday. McArthur was quick -- oh the irony -- to give himself some wiggle room as far as imposing penalties was concerned. The words "mitigating" and "circumstances" were mentioned."We give each group a time schedule for each hole, and we monitor that very stringently," he continued. "And if a group is out of position with the game in front or over the time schedule, we initially start with words of encouragement to communicate with them and tell them that they are over the schedule or out of position. If they don't respond to that, we then put them on to the clock and deal with them that way."Uh-huh.As far as the all-but saturated Lytham course is concerned, Dawson did express some concern over the level of the water table. Flooding in bunkers on the 2nd, 16th and 17th holes are apparently causing some concern. But otherwise, the course -- as ever at an Open -- is just wonderful, one that officials are confident will provide the ideal test for the world's best golfers, even those who have already expressed doubts about their ability to move balls more than a few feet from the fearsome rough. Certainly, the mere suggestion that the fairways here may be narrower than in 2001, when the Open last paid a visit, was briskly swatted away."I don't believe it's factual that fairways have been narrowed since last time, I just don't think that's the case," said Dawson. "I don't know where that comes from. We have not narrowed any fairways here that I can think of in the setup of the golf course."Put that in your pipe and smoke it. -- John Huggan    

18

Jul
Wed

Weathering the British Open

More than any other major championship, the British Open is a test of playing in tough conditions. We look back at some memorable images of players battling the elements.

18

Jul
Wed

The Most Unlikely British Open Champs

A look back through the years at the players who were surprising winners at the oldest major.

18

Jul
Wed

In and around Royal Lytham: A Photo Essay by Bill Fields

Bill Fields looks at Royal Lytham in Lancashire on the eve of the 2012 Open Championship

17

Jul
Tue

Trending: The Mini-Golf Open

Ever wonder how a major golf championship would look if it took place on a mini-golf course? Neither did we. The long form improvisation troupe Improv Everywhere, however, saw a market gap and decided it was opportunity they couldn't pass up. Employing an actual ESPN camera crew, they Punk'd an unsuspecting group of kids in this cute and engaging video. The humor comes from the narrators doing their best Jim Nance while dissecting the youngsters' game. Wait, is that the real Claret Jug? -- 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");