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The Open

X-Man Marks the Major Spot

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TROON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – American Xander Schauffele shot a sterling 65 at Royal Troon to emerge from the pack and win the 152nd Open Championship for his second major title of the year Sunday at Royal Troon in Scotland.

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Schauffele saved his best golf of the week for last, as he rode a bogey-free round to a final score of 9-under-par 275 and a two-shot victory over Justin Rose and Billy Horschel. The 30-year-old Schauffele, who captured his first career major at the PGA Championship in May, is the first player since Brooks Koepka (2018) to win multiple majors in a calendar year.

Schauffele’s win completed the first American sweep of the four majors since 1982. Scottie Scheffler won the Masters and Bryson DeChambeau took home the U.S. Open.

Schauffele was one of six players who began the day one shot behind 54-hole leader Horschel. He surged into the lead down the home stretch, making four of his six birdies on the back nine.

Playing in the final pairing with Horschel, Thriston Lawrence of South Africa grabbed a one-stroke lead at the turn by making his fourth birdie of the day at the par-4 ninth.

The lead flipped after Lawrence badly missed the green at No. 12. He failed to save par, and just up ahead, Schauffele played No. 13 perfectly, rolling in a left-to-right birdie putt from 16 feet.

Schauffele proceeded to knock his tee shot at the par-4 13th to 12 1/2 feet and convert another birdie to double his advantage. At the par-5 16th, he played a delicate pitch shot over a greenside pot bunker that teased the cup before leaving him a 4-foot birdie putt.

Rose missed some chances to keep up with Schauffele, his playing partner. He settled for a 67 after birdieing two of the final three holes. Upon sinking a 15-foot birdie putt at No. 18, the Englishman saluted the crowd after his second runner-up finish at The Open.

–Field Level Media

Horschel Leads, Lowry Stumbles at Open

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TROON – American Billy Horschel battled rainy Royal Troon and came away with a 2-under-par 69 and the 54-hole lead at the Open Championship on Saturday at Royal Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland.

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The PGA Tour veteran stands at 4-under 209 and holds the lead outright after Cinderella story Daniel Brown of England double-bogeyed the final hole to drop to 3 under. The six-way tie for second features Brown, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Sam Burns, Thriston Lawrence of South Africa and Justin Rose of England.

Irishman Shane Lowry began the day with a two-shot lead over Brown and went up by three after birdieing the fourth hole. He proceeded to make five bogeys and one double bogey, shooting 77 and plummeting to ninth place at 1 under, one behind World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (71).

The fickle weather conditions reshaped the leaderboard on moving day at Troon. Several players who began the day over par took advantage of a mild morning. Burns and Lawrence shot 6-under 65s, and Henley posted a 66.

Then rain and winds picked up on the Scottish seaside. Horschel, playing in the penultimate group, fared the best. He made four birdies on the front nine and his first bogey at No. 11.

Horschel then missed five straight greens and scrambled for five straight pars at Nos. 13-17, nearly holing out for birdie from the sand at the par-5 16th.

PGA Tour: It’s On to Royal Troon

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TROON – The 2024 Open Championship is the 33rd of 36 FedEx Cup regular season events. The Barracuda, the j.v. event this weekend, is the 34th of 36 events.

This weekend, the field at The Open includes:

  • The Top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings
  • An impressive 49 of the Top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking
  • A total of 19 past Open Championship winners: Stewart Cink (2009), Darren Clarke (2011), John Daly (1995), Ernie Els (2002, 2012), Todd Hamilton (2004), Brian Harman (2023), Padraig Harrington (2007, 2008), Zach Johnson (2015), Justin Leonard (1997), Shane Lowry (2019), Rory McIlroy (2014), Phil Mickelson (2013), Francesco Molinari (2018), Collin Morikawa (2021), Louis Oosthuizen (2010), Cameron Smith (2022), Jordan Spieth (2017), Henrik Stenson (2016), and Tiger.

Royal Troon is hosting the Open Championship for the 10th time in modern golf history. The previous winners at Troon: Henrik Stenson (2016), Todd Hamilton (2004), Justin Leonard (1997), Mark Calcavecchia (1989), Tom Watson (1982), Tom Weiskopf (1973), Arnold Palmer (1962), Bobby Locke (1950), Arthur Havers (1923)

There are 40 players in the field who competed in the 2016 Open Championship when the tournament was last held at Royal Troon. That includes five golfers who finished inside the Top 10 in ‘16: Henrik Stenson/Won, Phil Mickelson/2nd. Tyrrell Hatton/T5, Rory McIlroy/T5, Dustin Johnson/T9.

Harman Takes The Open by Storm

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HOYLAKE – Brian Harman enjoyed his third career PGA Tour win and first major championship title in his 340th career start at the age of 36 years, 6 months, 4 days.

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Harman’s PGA TOUR wins:

  • 2014 John Deere Classic
  • 2017 Wells Fargo Championship
  • 2023 Open Championship

The victory came on his 168th start since the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship which is 6 years, 2 months, 16 days (2,268 days) since the title. It was Harman’s 30th career start in a major with his previous-best result: T-2, 2017 U.S. Open.

It was his eighth career start at The Open Championship with his previous-best result: T6, 2022.

The top seven players on the British Open leaderboard represented seven different countries (United States, South Korea, Austria, Australia, Spain, Argentina, Northern Ireland).

Tom Kim and Sepp Straka (T-2) earn their first career Top-five finishes in a major.

Rory McIlroy (T-6) now has 20 Top-10s in majors since his most recent major title (2014).

The Open | Final Leaderboard

1st Brian Harman 67 65 69 70 271 (-13)

T2 Tom Kim 74 68 68 67 277 (-7)

T2 Sepp Straka 71 67 70 69 277 (-7)

T2 Jason Day 72 67 69 69 277 (-7)

T2 Jon Rahm 74 70 63 70 277 (-7)

 

Barracuda Championship | Recap

Final Leaderboard

1 Akshay Bhatia* +6 +8 +17 +9 +40

2 Patrick Rodgers +15 +11 +8 +6 +40

T3 Julien Guerrier +11 +4 +2 +20 +37

T3 Jens Dantorp +7 +6 +9 +15 +37

5 Ryan Gerard +16 +14 +3 +3 +36

*def. Patrick Rodgers with a par-4 at the first extra playoff hole (No. 18)

Leaderboard: (link)

*Tournament played under the Modified Stableford scoring format

 

Round 2 at The Open

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HOYLAKE – Amateur Christo Lamprecht made quite an impression in Liverpool and it wasn’t at 10 Mathew Street. Lamprecht – an amateur who will enter his senior year at Georgia Tech this Fall – accomplished a lot in Round 1 of The Open at Royal Liverpool. Here’s a brief go of it:

  • First amateur to hold the lead/co-lead after any round on TOUR sincePaul Dunne at the 2015 Open Championship (R3)
  • First amateur to hold the 18-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR since Tom Lewis at the 2011 Open Championship
  • First player to hold the 18-hole lead/co-lead in his PGA TOUR debut since Sepp Straka at the 2018 Fortinet Championship
  • First player to hold the 18-hole lead/co-lead in his major championship debut since Andrew Landry at the 2016 U.S. Open
  • Lowest first-round score (66) by an amateur in a major championship since Lewis carded a 65 at the 2011 Open Championship
  • Lowest score by an amateur in any round of a major championship since Matti Schmid carded a 65 in the second round of the 2021 Open Championship

As you’d expect in a major professional golf tournament, Lamprecht wasn’t alone. Popular Brit, Tommy Fleetwood posted his fourth 18-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR and second of the current season. Fleetwood is one of nine players with multiple 18-hole leads/co-leads this season.

  • It’s Fleetwood’s second career lead/co-lead after any round in a major (2017 U.S. Open; finished fourth)
  • Fleetwood’s opening-round 66 is his 11th score of 66 or better in majors

The Open | Leaderboard After 18 Holes

T1 Christo Lamprecht (a) 66 (-5)

T1 Tommy Fleetwood 66 (-5)

T1 Emiliano Grillo 66 (-5)

T4 Antoine Rozner 67 (-4)

T4 Adrian Otaegui 67 (-4)

T4 Brian Harman 67 (-4)

The Open Championship Preview

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HOYLAKE – The Open Championship is the fourth and final major of the PGA Tour season. This is the 151st playing of The Open and the 13th at Royal Liverpool Golf Club (first since 2014).

World No. 2 and 24-time PGA Tour winner Rory McIlroy, who won last week’s Genesis Scottish Open, won The Open Championship the last time it was held at Royal Liverpool (2014). McIlroy has won four majors (2011 U.S. Open, 2012 PGA Championship, 2014 Open Championship, 2014 PGA Championship) but none since the start of the 2014-15 season. McIlroy has 19 “Top-10s” in majors since his most recent title, the most of any player in that span. He is making his 59th start in a major and 34th since winning the 2014 PGA Championship.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler has two wins this season (WM Phoenix Open, The PLAYERS Championship) and leads the Tour with 15 “Top-10s” this season and has finished T12 or better in each of his last 18 starts. Scheffler has made two starts at The Open Championship (T8/2021, T21/2022).

The 151st Open | Tournament Preview

COURSE: Royal Liverpool Golf Club (Hoylake Wirral, England)

PRIZE Money: $14,000,000 purse

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 600

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @TheOpen

PGA TOUR SITE: (The Open)

Cameron Smith Takes The Open

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McIlroy’s Open Champ Dreams Crushed at St. Andrews

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Making his 25th major championship appearance, Cameron Smith defeated Cameron Young by one stroke to win the 150th Open Championship. It marked his sixth win on Tour and first major championship title.

At 20-under, Smith equals the lowest score in relation to par in major championship history. With a 6-under (30) (including five straight birdies on Nos. 10-14), Smith carded the lowest closing nine-hole score by a winner in Open Championship history.

Smith’s (268) marks the lowest winning score by a champion at St. Andrews (269, Tiger Woods, 2000) while he became the fifth Australian to win The Open and first since Greg Norman in 1993. He joined Peter Thomson(1955) and Kel Nagle (1960) as Australian winners at St. Andrews.

Smith also joined Jack Nicklaus (1978) as the only players to win THE PLAYERS Championship and The Open in the same year.

This season marks the first time since the Masters Tournament began in 1934 that all four majors were won by players under the age of 30.

PGA Tour rookie Cameron Young’s runner-up finish is the best by a player in his Open debut at St. Andrews since Tony Lema won in 1964.

The Open | Final Leaderboard

Cameron Smith 67-64-73-64—268 (-20)

Cameron Young 64-69-71-65—269 (-19)

Rory McIlroy 66-68-66-70—270 (-18)

Tommy Fleetwood 72-69-66-67—274 (-14)

Viktor Hovland 68-66-66-74—274 (-14)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | July 17

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TL’s While We’re Young (Ideas) With Mid-Summer Thoughts; Classic, Open and Otherwise

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – The annual “Mid-Summer Classic” marks the halfway point of the Major League Baseball season as much as it does the middle of summer in North America. After the MLB All-Star Break, baseball gets pretty serious, as does the stretch run for the PGA Tour, as The Open Championship and the (why do they even bother) Barracuda Championship mark a short four weeks remaining in the FedEx Cup regular season.

First, a quick look at Baseball:

Raise your hand if you predicted two of the three hottest teams in Baseball at the break would be the Seattle Mariners (10-0 over last ten and 13 in a row overall) and the Baltimore Orioles (9-1 over last ten). Those two teams, along with the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers (9-1 over last ten, as of Saturday morning) are the talk of baseball.

Seattle has won 13 in a row and is +1 game up in wild card standings and in position, along with Tampa Bay for postseason play. Baltimore is only 2.5 games out from a Wild Card place, trailing Tampa Bay, Seattle, Boston and Toronto, as well as a half-game behind Cleveland on the outside, looking in.

Seattle’s baker’s dozen in the W column includes victories at Texas, four in a row over Toronto, two at San Diego, and two out of three against the Orioles to start the Mariners’ streak.

Center fielder Julio Rodriguez has been leading the way with three of his 16 home runs, including a Grand Slam on Friday night, pacing the ball club along with a rejuvenated Eugenio Suarez , each with 50 RBI. First baseman Ty France is back from injury while left fielder Jesse Winker is swinging the bat again. Both Winker and Suarez were sent to Seattle from Cincinnati in a March 14, 2022 multi-player trade.

As far as Baltimore is concerned, the O’s 10-game winning streak came to an end on Friday night in a 5-4 loss at Tampa. Previously, they’d beaten the Cubs twice in Chicago, four against the LA Angels and three games against Texas. Since Fathers day, the Orioles are 16-7.

Outfielder Anthony Santander and first baseman Ryan Mountcastle are leading the way, while center fielder Cedric Mullins leads the club in hits. Tyler Wells and Jordan Lyles have been pleasant surprises on the pitching staff which lost ace John Means to Tommy John surgery early this season.

Although Seattle and Baltimore are simply darlings of baseball, there is no denying that the teams to beat are the LA Dodgers and New York Mets in the National League and the New York Yankees and Houston Astros in the American League. Division-leaders Milwaukee (NL-Central) and Minnesota (AL-Central) can not be ignored.

And on the links:

With The Open Championship heading into its final round, a quick look at the game of golf must address the impact of the new LIV Golf Invitational Series entity which grabbed dozens of popular PGA Tour players from mothership of all worldwide professional golf circuits. Some gold industry bigshots, including Royal & Ancient (R&A) CEO Martin Slumbers, are saying the LIV has “harmed the perception” of golf.

The United States Dept. of Justice is looking into the PGA Tour’s handling of member players and whether the Tour engaged in anti-competitive behavior during its ongoing battle with the LIV, the circuit being financed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. The PGA Tour suspended players who jumped to the LIV.

Lastly, even basketball Hall of Famer and Turner Sports’ Inside the NBA studio commentator Charles Barkley is getting in on the act. After he participated in last week’s Celebrity Golf tournament, Barkley has been quotes as saying, “It’s nothing that’s imminent. I actually don’t know everything they want from me, or what they technically want me to do, but you’ve got to always look at every opportunity that’s available,” Barkley said. “So the answer to your question is, 100 percent yes, I’m going to meet with LIV.”

The PGA Tour has been countering with the announcement of bigger purses, a better schedule and more lenient qualification of young players turning professional. On this weekend, when The Open grabs most attention, shouldn’t the Tour stage a “once a year” Korn Ferry Tour midseason tournament where the winners from the previous full year play for a five-year PGA Tour card, winner take all?

One thing is for sure, the PGA Tour leadership must rethink their sport, their schedule, their approach and innovate, far more than just its great TV coverage, the PGA Tour Live cash cow on ESPN+ and ShotLink.

In hindsight, the Battle of the Bogey-boys seems reminiscent of the 1967-76 pro basketball landscape which pitted the mighty NBA against the up & coming ABA, complete with a red, white and blue basketball and a three-point field goal for long, terrible 26+ foot shots that have become the rage and analytic flavor of the day for the NBA in 2022.

Maybe the LIV should make its players hit red, while and blue golf balls and chip-ins from 100 yards or more would subtract a stroke or reward a monetary bonus of say, $1 million of that Green as Grass Saudi cash?

While We’re Young (Ideas) is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber.

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TIGER: By shooting a cringe-worthy 78-75 (153), Tiger Woods missed the cut at The Open Championship and bid farewell to the Old Course at St. Andrews which next hosts the British Open in 2026, at the earliest. Woods’ performance again reminded sports fans of other players who could no longer compete at the ultra-high level they set during the prime years of their careers. … A while back, when Tom Brady switched teams and NFL jerseys from New England to Tampa Bay, we listed a few of the players who looked so strange in another team’s uniform. That list also coincides with this list, of players who stayed on a bit too long:

  1. Tiger Woods at The Open
  2. NY Jets all-time great Joe Namath with the Los Angeles Rams
  3. Giants all-time great Willie Mays with the New York Mets
  4. Bruins all-time great Bobby Orr with the Chicago Blackhawks
  5. Orlando/LA/Miami’s Shaquille O’Neal with Phoenix, Cleveland and Boston
  6. NYK’s Walt “Clyde” Frazier with the Cleveland Cavaliers
  7. Colts all-time great Johnny Unitas with the San Diego Chargers
  8. NYK’s Patrick Ewing with the Seattle SuperSonics
  9. Green Bay’s Brett Favre with the New York Jets
  10. Cowboys great Emmitt Smith with the Arizona Cardinals

McIlroy, Hovland Share Open Lead

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ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – At 16-under, Viktor Hovland and Rory McIlroy share the lead heading into the final round of The Open Championship of 2022. Among Open Championships contested at St. Andrews, Hovland and McIlroy’s opening 54-hole score (200) is second only to Nick Faldo’s (199) total in 1990.

McIlroy is in search of his fifth major championship victory and first since winning the 2014 PGA Championship. He is 9-for-15 in converting a 54-hole lead/co-lead to victory, including a 4-for-5 mark in majors.

Hovland is seeking his fourth PGA Tour victory and is 2-for-2 in converting a 54-hole lead/co-lead to victory. With a victory, he would become Norway’s first major championship winner.

With a win, McIlroy would collect his 22nd victory and move to T-28 on the PGA Tour’s all-time wins list.

Reigning Masters Tournament winner Scottie Scheffler (T-5) and U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick (T-8) are among six major championship winners in the Top 12 players on the 54-hole leaderboard.

First-round leader Cameron Young (T-3) trails by four strokes in bid to become the 11th player to win The Open Championship in debut appearance. The most recent was Collin Morikawa last year).

Second-round leader Cameron Smith (T-3) trails by four following a third-round 1-over (73). He’s hoping to join Jack Nicklaus (1978) as the only players to win THE PLAYERS Championship and The Open Championship in the same year.

The Open Leaderboard | After 54 Holes

Viktor Hovland 68-66-66—200 (-16)

Rory McIlroy 66-68-66—200 (-16)

Cameron Young 64-69-71—204 (-12)

Cameron Smith 67-64-73—204 (-12)

Si Woo Kim 69-69-67—205 (-11)

Scottie Scheffler 68-68-69—205 (-11)

Full Leaderboard: (The Open)

Great Weekend Ahead at St Andrews

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ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Cameron Smith’s total of (131) tied the fourth-lowest opening 36-hole score in Open Championship history and is the lowest in The Open at St. Andrews. With a two-stroke lead over first-round leader Cameron Young, Smith holds the 36-hole lead/co-lead for the second time in a major championship (2020 Masters/shared 36-hole lead with four others before finishing T-2) and the fourth time in an individual stroke-play event on Tour. He is 1-for-3 in converting.

Making his 90th major championship start, three-time Open Championship winner Tiger Woods missed the cut for the fourth time in 22 starts at The Open. Woods shot (153) which is his highest 36-hole score at The Open and third-highest in a major championship.

Rory McIlroy trails by three strokes in bid for fifth major championship win and first since winning the 2014 PGA Championship.

At T-3, Viktor Hovland holds his best 36-hole position in a major championship. His previous best was T-17.

World No. 1 and FedEx Cup leader Scottie Scheffler sits T-6, the 16th time in last 19 major championship rounds inside the Top 10.

Four of six amateurs in the field made the cut: Barclay Brown, Filippo Celli, Sam Bairstow and Aaron Jarvis.

Collin Morikawa becomes the first defending champion to miss the cut at The Open since Darren Clarke in 2012 and all four past champions at St. Andrews missed the cut: Zach Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen, Tiger Woods and John Daly.

The Open Leaderboard | After 36 Holes

Cameron Smith 67-64—131 (-13)

Cameron Young 64-69—133 (-11)

Rory McIlroy 66-68—134 (-10)

Viktor Hovland 68-66—134 (-10)

Dustin Johnson 68-67—135 (-9)

Full Leaderboard: (The Open)