Golf Monthly July 2022

I first saw Rory McIlroy playing golf in a practice round for The Open Championship at Carnoustie in 2007; an event in which he finished as leading amateur. I knew he was a promising player, so GM’s Fergus Bisset and I followed the bouncy, floppy-haired youth for a few holes in a group that included Sir Nick Faldo and Scotland’s Richie Ramsay. After seeing him execute some audacious flop shots around the 5th green and then boom a drive 50 yards past his playing partners down ‘Hogan’s Alley’, we agreed we’d had our first sight of a rather special talent. Fifteen years on, and a few haircuts later, Rory has become, and remains, one of the brightest stars in the crowded golfing firmament. He’s won 32 professional events including four…

A chequered history I was disappointed to hear Sergio Garcia’s outburst at the Wells Fargo Championship when he was, admittedly incorrectly, penalised for failing to find his ball in the allotted time. I know he was frustrated in the heat of battle, but expressing his delight at turning his back on a tour that’s served him so well over the years showed a real lack of class. He’s entitled to play wherever he sees fit, but that flippant remark when things hadn’t gone his way just felt childish to me. I’ve admired Sergio the golfer for a long time, but he does have a chequered history when it comes to things he’s said and done. It’s a shame that he doesn’t let his golf do the talking, because when he’s…

Congratulations on winning the British Masters. How did you manage to hole those long putts on 17 and 18? Somehow I just had so much belief on 17 that I could make it. I just forced it in, which was incredible. It’s been a tough few years, so yeah, it’s very special. How much of a boost did the crowd support give you? It was amazing. From Thursday on, they supported me the whole way around, even though I’m from Denmark. But it’s always like that when you come to Britain, there’s just great support here for golf and it’s a great place to play. You haven’t won on the DP World Tour since 2018. How tough was it coming down the stretch? There were so many emotions. It’s been…

Andy Sullivan The 36-year-old Englishman has fallen well outside the world’s top 200 after a string of bad results and missed cuts in 2022. Keegan Bradley The former US PGA champion is once again ranked among the best 50 players in the world after a number of top-15 finishes this season. Richard Bland Bland finished last of those to make the cut at the Catalunya Championship before failing to make the weekend at the Belfry. Anirban Lahiri The Indian has continued his golfing renaissance with a T15 and T6 at the Mexico Open and Wells Fargo Championship respectively.…

It’s safe to say the new Saudibacked LIV Golf Series has split opinion among the game’s biggest names. For the most part, the inaugural season appears set to be a place for golfers in the twilight of their careers to cash in. But the prospects for the series look a lot brighter than they did a few months ago, after a catalogue of damaging comments made by Phil Mickelson. Now that it’s finally here, let’s take a look at who sits on either side of golf’s latest divide. Back in February, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau announced their support for the PGA Tour. That led Rory McIlroy to claim the SGL idea was “dead in the water”, before taking a shot at Greg Norman, adding: “I don’t think they put…

Jordan Spieth is the fifth player to win 13+ PGA Tour titles including three Majors since 1940. The others: Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. Highest percentage of rounds 65 or lower on the PGA Tour since 2019: Webb Simpson, 15.4%; Justin Thomas, 13%; Collin Morikawa, 11.4%; Matthew Wolff, 10.9%; Dustin Johnson, 10.4%. Jay Haas became the oldest golfer to make a cut in a PGA Tour event at the Zurich Classic (68 years of age). Sam Snead made three cuts at the age of 67. The winning percentage of golfers holding the 36-hole lead in PGA Tour events over the last 15 years is 23.3%. Three players have held the lead or co-lead after every round on the PGA Tour this season: Joaquin Niemann, Cameron Smith…