Golf-British Opens at Muirfield

Golf-British Opens at Muirfield

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July 17, 2013 10:00 PM



GULLANE, Scotland, July 18 (Reuters) - Muirfield will stage the 142nd British Open from Thursday to Sunday.

Here is a factbox about Opens at the famous Scottish links course.

* Muirfield is staging the British Open this year for the 16th time. The last six champions were Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, Nick Faldo (twice) and Ernie Els. * Those six players have won 51 major titles and 18 British Opens between them. * The course is now 7,192 yards long and is a par-71. There are four par-3's and three par-5's. * South African Player won in 1959, the first of his eight major titles. * Nicklaus claimed the first of his three British Opens at Muirfield in 1966. * Nicklaus arrived at the 1972 Open having won the U.S. Masters and the U.S. Open but he finished second behind fellow American Trevino who fired rounds of 71, 70, 66 and 71. * Watson won his thirdBritish Open at Muirfield in 1980, finishing four shots ahead of runner-up Trevino. * Watson and Ben Crenshaw, who came third, went out on to the course in the evening after the final round and played a few holes with hickory-shafted clubs before being chased off by club secretary Paddy Hanmer. * Faldo made 18 consecutive pars in the last round to win the 1987 Open by one shot from American Paul Azinger and Australian Rodger Davis. * England's Faldo won again in 1992, overhauling American John Cook who missed a short birdie putt at the 17th before bogeying the final hole. * Tiger Woods won the U.S. Masters and U.S. Open in 2002 but his challenge at Muirfield ended with a third-round 81 in appalling weather conditions. * South African Els won a four-way playoff against Australians Steve Elkington and Stuart Appleby and Frenchman Thomas Levet to win the 2002 Open. He beat Levet at the fifth extra hole.

(Compiled by Ed Osmond; edited by Tony Jimenez)

Golf-Teeoff times for first two rounds of British Open

Golf-Teeoff times for first two rounds of British Open

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July 17, 2013 10:00 PM


GULLANE, Scotland, July 18 (Reuters) - Teeoff times for the

first two rounds of the British Open at Muirfield on Thursday

and Friday (local times, A-denotes amateur).

Round 1 Round 2

6.32 11.33 Peter Senior Australia

Lloyd Saltman Scotland

Oliver Fisher England

6.43 11.44 Robert Karlsson Sweden

Todd Hamilton USA

Ben Stow (A) England

6.54 11.55 Thomas Aiken South Africa

Kiradech Aphibarnrat Thailand

Bud Cauley USA

7.05 12.06 Mikko Ilonen Finland

Brooks Koepka USA

Ashun Wu China

7.16 12.17 David Duval USA

Bernd Wiesberger Austria

Chris Wood England

7.27 12.28 Scott Stallings USA

Stewart Cink USA

Richard McEvoy England

7.38 12.39 KJ Choi South Korea

Miguel Angel Jimenez Spain

Jimmy Walker USA

7.49 12.50 Ben Curtis USA

Shane Lowry Ireland

Rafael Cabrera-Bello Spain

8.00 13.01 Jonas Blixt Sweden

Brian Davis England

Graham DeLaet Canada

8.11 13.12 Robert Garrigus USA

John Senden Australia

Marc Warren Scotland

8.22 13.23 Martin Kaymer Germany

Garrick Porteous (A) England

Jason Day Australia

8.33 13.34 Carl Pettersson Sweden

Jason Dufner USA

David Lynn England

8.44 13.45 Bubba Watson USA

Nicolas Colsaerts Belgium

Dustin Johnson USA

9.00 14.01 Nick Faldo England

Tom Watson USA

Fred Couples USA

9.11 14.12 Justin Rose England

Ernie Els South Africa

Brandt Snedeker USA

9.22 14.23 Ian Poulter England

Keegan Bradley USA

Billy Horschel USA

9.33 14.34 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano Spain

Richard Sterne South Africa

Nick Watney USA

9.44 14.45 Rory McIlroy Northern Ireland

Hideki Matsuyama Japan

Phil Mickelson USA

9.55 14.56 Scott Piercy USA

Tim Clark South Africa

Kevin Streelman USA

10.06 15.07 Zach Johnson USA

Shingo Katayama Japan

Thomas Bjorn Denmark

10.17 15.18 Angel Cabrera Argentina

Camilo Villegas Colombia

Estanislao Goya Argentina

10.28 15.29 George Coetzee South Africa

Ken Duke USA

Mark Calcavecchia USA

10.39 15.40 John Huh USA

Brendan Jones Australia

Hyung-Sung Kim South Korea

10.50 15.51 Josh Teater USA

Steven Tiley England

Jimmy Mullen (A) England

11.01 16.02 KT Kim South Korea

Steven Jeffress Australia

Luke Guthrie USA

11.12 16.13 John Wade Australia


Gareth Wright Wales

Makoto Inoue Japan

11.33 6.32 Danny Willett England

YE Yang South Korea

Johnson Wagner USA

11.44 6.43 Thaworn Wiratchant Thailand

Lucas Glover USA

Oscar Floren Sweden

11.55 6.54 Boo Weekley USA

Sandy Lyle Scotland

Niclas Fasth Sweden

12.06 7.05 Marcus Fraser Australia

Grant Forrest (A) Scotland

Mark O'Meara USA

12.17 7.16 Tom Lehman USA

Thongchai Jaidee Thailand

Freddie Jacobson Sweden

12.28 7.27 Justin Leonard USA

Rhys Pugh (A) Wales

Marc Leishman Australia

12.39 7.38 Alvaro Quiros Spain

Kyle Stanley USA

Alexander Noren Sweden

12.50 7.49 Russell Henley USA

Jordan Spieth USA

Matthew Fitzpatrick (A) England

13.01 8.00 Padraig Harrington Ireland

Michael Thompson USA

Richie Ramsay Scotland

13.12 8.11 Vijay Singh Fiji

Darren Clarke Northern Ireland

Martin Laird Scotland

13.23 8.22 Ryan Moore USA

Henrik Stenson Sweden

Steven Fox (A) USA

13.34 8.33 Thorbjorn Olesen Denmark

Jim Furyk USA

Paul Lawrie Scotland

13.45 8.44 Geoff Ogilvy Australia

Harris English USA

Stephen Gallacher Scotland

14.01 9.00 Lee Westwood England

Charl Schwartzel South Africa

Sergio Garcia Spain

14.12 9.11 Adam Scott Australia

Matt Kuchar USA

Luke Donald England

14.23 9.22 Rickie Fowler USA

Matteo Manassero Italy

Hunter Mahan USA

14.34 9.33 Peter Hanson Sweden

Hiroyuki Fujita Japan

Bill Haas USA

14.45 9.44 Tiger Woods USA

Graeme McDowell Northern Ireland

Louis Oosthuizen South Africa

14.56 9.55 Webb Simpson USA

Branden Grace South Africa

Jamie Donaldson Wales

15.07 10.06 Francesco Molinari Italy

Toru Taniguchi Japan

Bo Van Pelt USA

15.18 10.17 DA Points USA

Brett Rumford Australia

Marcel Siem Germany

15.29 10.28 George Murray Scotland

Mark Brown New Zealand

Justin Harding South Africa

15.40 10.39 Gregory Bourdy France

Scott Jamieson Scotland

Shiv Kapur India

15.51 10.50 Scott Brown USA

Satoshi Kodaira Japan

Gareth Maybin Northern Ireland

16.02 11.01 Tyrrell Hatton England

Eduardo De La Riva Spain

Kenichi Kuboya Japan

16.13 11.12 Stephen Dartnall Australia

Darryn Lloyd South Africa

Daisuke Maruyama Japan

(Compiled by Tony Jimenez)

Saltman suffers hackers' curse as first hole bares its teeth

Saltman suffers hackers' curse as first hole bares its teeth

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Martyn Herman July 18, 2013 6:05 AM


By Martyn Herman

GULLANE, Scotland (Reuters) - Sunday morning hackers know the feeling well. You step on the first tee and duff your first tee shot out of bounds, then take another ball and do exactly the same.

Scotland's Lloyd Saltman did just that at Muirfield on Thursday when he began his British Open challenge with a first-hole horror show which ended with an ugly quadruple-bogey eight.

Saltman, who grew up just down the road in Edinburgh and knows the local links courses well, was part of the first group to tee off in almost perfect conditions.

However, the 447-yard par four hole, with its tight fairway flanked by knee-high rough, proved too much for the 27-year-old who took three tee shots to get a ball in play.

His first effort cleared a 20-foot high screen bordering the tented village and his second was heard to "hit an object".

Neither ball was found and Saltman's third tee shot landed just right of the fairway, after which he played the hole in exemplary fashion, finding the green with his approach and two-putting before glumly striding to the second tee.


While winds, as predicted were light, the course was proving precarious on the opening morning as the narrow fairways, thick rough and steep-sided bunkers took their toll.

The opening hole, rated as one of the toughest of all the Scottish links courses, was particularly brutal and Saltman was not alone in coming a cropper.

American Brooks Koepka, making his Open debut, also took an eight and Britain's Chris Wood and American Bud Cauley began with triple-bogey sevens.

Australia's Jason Day, strongly fancied to win the title after finishing third at the Masters and second at the U.S. Open, also came to grief with a six, although he repaired the damage with a couple of birdies before the turn.

After 60 of the 156 starters had passed through only four birdies had been seen on the first, one of which was sunk by early leader Miguel Angel Jimenez.

British title hope Ian Poulter, wearing a pair of tartan trousers, did locate the first fairway but still began his challenge with a bogey on a hole averaging 4.5 early on.

"You're asking how the rough is at Muirfield. I thought it was hay. Big tip for week: Hit it on the mowed stuff," Poulter said on his Twitter page on the eve of the tournament.

(Editing by Ed Osmond)

Man of Steele in charge at Canadian Open

Man of Steele in charge at Canadian Open

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Steve Keating July 25, 2013 8:30 PM

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Brendan Steele of the U.S. hits his approach shot on the ninth fairway during the first round at the …


By Steve Keating

OAKVILLE, Ontario (Reuters) - American Brendan Steele took full advantage of ideal early scoring conditions to forge a one-shot lead after the opening round of the Canadian Open on Thursday.

Playing the back nine first on a calm, sunny morning atGlen Abbey Golf Club, Steele mixed eight birdies with a single bogey for a seven-under 65 that left him a shot clear of compatriots Matt Kuchar and Scott Brown and Australian Scott Gardiner.

As breezes stiffened and conditions toughened for the afternoon starters no one managed to come close to nudging Steele, 30, from the top of the leaderboard.

Steele, whose has just one PGA Tour win, had three birdies on his outward nine on the Jack Nicklaus-designed layout and picked up the pace after the turn with five birdies over seven holes before dropping his only shot of the day at the ninth.

Kuchar, the highest ranked player in the field at world number six, mixed an eagle with five birdies and a bogey while Brown turned in a flawless round with six birdies.

"It was perfect conditions," smiled Kuchar, who has made 20 consecutive cuts, including all 16 starts this season. "I feel like last week, conditions were so challenging and so difficult at the British Open to come here and play golf that is more friendly and more what we are use to was great."

Gardiner, who has made the cut just twice in his last 16 events, began his day with a par then reeled off six consecutive birdies to race up the leaderboard.


The Australian's red-hot start cooled with seven consecutive pars before he picked up another birdie at 15 followed by his only bogey of the day at 16.

American Hunter Mahan and Swede David Lingmerth were a further shot back after returning 67s while Chez Reavie, whose only career PGA Tour win game at Glen Abbey in 2008, and former Masters champions Bubba Watson and Trevor Immelman were among a large pack three off the pace.

"The first two days the afternoon wave is going to be tougher for sure," said Mahan. "In the morning the greens are pure and the wind is not blowing quite as hard."

Indeed, some of the tournament's biggest names were left floundering in the breezy conditions with former world number one Luke Donald of Britain (73), twice Canadian Open champion Jim Furyk (72) and 2010 U.S. Open winner Graeme McDowell (76) all failing to break par.

American Woody Austin, who fired four sub-par rounds of 70 last week at the Sanderson Farms Championships to claim his first PGA Tour title in six years, crashed to the bottom of the leaderboard with a 10-over 82.

Reigning champion Scott Piercy began his title defense with 10 straight pars before signing for a one-under 71.

Without a homegrown winner in 59 years, local fans were out in full force to offer their support but could not inspire the Canadian contingent to anything better than a three-under 69 from Brad Fritsch that left him four back of the leader.

(Editing by Frank Pingue)

Golf-U.S. PGA Tour Canadian Open scores

Golf-U.S. PGA Tour Canadian Open scores

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July 25, 2013 8:33 PM


July 26 (Infostrada Sports) - Scores from the U.S. PGA Tour Canadian Open at the par-72 course on Thursday in Oakville, ON

65 Brendan Steele (U.S.) 65

66 Scott Brown (U.S.) 66

Matt Kuchar (U.S.) 66

Scott Gardiner (Australia) 66

67 David Lingmerth (Sweden) 67

Hunter Mahan (U.S.) 67

68 Chez Reavie (U.S.) 68

Patrick Reed (U.S.) 68

Chris Kirk (U.S.) 68

Bubba Watson (U.S.) 68

Kyle Stanley (U.S.) 68

Trevor Immelman (South Africa) 68

Aaron Baddeley (Australia) 68

Kevin Chappell (U.S.) 68

Joe Affrunti (U.S.) 68

69 James Driscoll (U.S.) 69

Vijay Singh (Fiji) 69

Stuart Appleby (Australia) 69

George McNeill (U.S.) 69

Rory Sabbatini (South Africa) 69

Will Claxton (U.S.) 69

James Hahn (U.S.) 69

Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) 69

Andres Romero (Argentina) 69

Charley Hoffman (U.S.) 69

Roberto Castro (U.S.) 69

Gary Woodland (U.S.) 69

Brad Fritsch (Canada) 69

70 Greg Owen (Britain) 70

David Hearn (Canada) 70

Brandt Snedeker (U.S.) 70

Robert Garrigus (U.S.) 70

Morgan Hoffmann (U.S.) 70

Noh Seung-Yul (South Korea) 70

Daniel Summerhays (U.S.) 70

Jason Bohn (U.S.) 70

Cameron Beckman (U.S.) 70

Mark Wilson (U.S.) 70

Jeff Overton (U.S.) 70

Ryan Palmer (U.S.) 70

71 Chad Campbell (U.S.) 71

Justin Leonard (U.S.) 71

Billy Horschel (U.S.) 71

Tim Petrovic (U.S.) 71

Jeff Gove (U.S.) 71

Pat Perez (U.S.) 71

Kyle Reifers (U.S.) 71

Marcel Siem (Germany) 71

Bobby Gates (U.S.) 71

Cameron Percy (Australia) 71

Henrik Norlander (Sweden) 71

Roger Sloan (Canada) 71

William McGirt (U.S.) 71

Casey Wittenberg (U.S.) 71

Matt Every (U.S.) 71

Scott Piercy (U.S.) 71

Ernie Els (South Africa) 71

John Merrick (U.S.) 71

Scott Stallings (U.S.) 71

Bae Sang-Moon (South Korea) 71

Scott Langley (U.S.) 71

Ricky Barnes (U.S.) 71

Justin Bolli (U.S.) 71

David Mathis (U.S.) 71

Jesse Smith (U.S.) 71

Kim Si-Woo (South Korea) 71

Andrew Svoboda (U.S.) 71

Corey Conners (Canada) 71

72 D.J. Trahan (U.S.) 72

Richard Lee (U.S.) 72

Jeff Maggert (U.S.) 72

Fabian Gomez (Argentina) 72

Graham DeLaet (Canada) 72

Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 72

Scott Verplank (U.S.) 72

Justin Hicks (U.S.) 72

Troy Matteson (U.S.) 72


Robert Streb (U.S.) 72

Park Jin (South Korea) 72

Martin Flores (U.S.) 72

Ryo Ishikawa (Japan) 72

Luke Guthrie (U.S.) 72

Cameron Tringale (U.S.) 72

Brian Gay (U.S.) 72

Jim Furyk (U.S.) 72

Robert Allenby (Australia) 72

Brian Stuard (U.S.) 72

Jason Kokrak (U.S.) 72

Ben Kohles (U.S.) 72

Alistair Presnell (Australia) 72

Luke List (U.S.) 72

Jim Herman (U.S.) 72

73 Michael Letzig (U.S.) 73

Nicholas Thompson (U.S.) 73

Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) 73

John Senden (Australia) 73

Michael Bradley (U.S.) 73

Scott McCarron (U.S.) 73

Brian Harman (U.S.) 73

Greg Chalmers (Australia) 73

Eric Banks (Canada) 73

Steve LeBrun (U.S.) 73

Doug LaBelle II (U.S.) 73

Aaron Watkins (U.S.) 73

Andres Gonzales (U.S.) 73

Jesper Parnevik (Sweden) 73

Bud Cauley (U.S.) 73

Luke Donald (Britain) 73

Mike Weir (Canada) 73

J.J. Henry (U.S.) 73

Tommy Gainey (U.S.) 73

Bob Estes (U.S.) 73

Colt Knost (U.S.) 73

Eric Meierdierks (U.S.) 73

Wil Collins (U.S.) 73

Lee Williams (U.S.) 73

74 Charlie Wi (South Korea) 74

Kevin Stadler (U.S.) 74

Tom Gillis (U.S.) 74

Mackenzie Hughes (Canada) 74

Paul Haley II (U.S.) 74

Stephen Ames (Canada) 74

Brian Davis (Britain) 74

Camilo Villegas (Colombia) 74

Peter Laws (Canada) 74

75 John Rollins (U.S.) 75

Robert Karlsson (Sweden) 75

Joey Snyder III (U.S.) 75

Dustin Johnson (U.S.) 75

Darron Stiles (U.S.) 75

Chris Stroud (U.S.) 75

John Huh (U.S.) 75

Johnson Wagner (U.S.) 75

Yang Yong-Eun (South Korea) 75

Billy Mayfair (U.S.) 75

Rod Pampling (Australia) 75

Erik Compton (U.S.) 75

Tag Ridings (U.S.) 75

Riley Wheeldon (Canada) 75

Eugene Wong (Canada) 75

76 Chris DiMarco (U.S.) 76

Graeme McDowell (Britain) 76

Billy Andrade (U.S.) 76

Adam Svensson (Canada) 76

Andrew Georgiou (South Africa) 76

77 Kevin Carrigan (Canada) 77

Albin Choi (Canada) 77

Bryn Parry (Canada) 77

Stephen Gangluff (U.S.) 77

78 Nathan Green (Australia) 78

Adam Hadwin (Canada) 78

79 Donald Constable (U.S.) 79

Brian Hadley (Canada) 79

82 Woody Austin (U.S.) 82

Derek Ernst (U.S.) 82

Canadian club on the rocks after opening round

Canadian club on the rocks after opening round

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Steve Keating July 25, 2013 9:04 PM


By Steve Keating

OAKVILLE, Ontario (Reuters) - The search for a home-grown winner of the Canadian Open looked poised to stretch into a sixth decade after the local contingent failed to make an impression on the first round leaderboard on Thursday.

Only once in the last 99 years has a native son claimed the national title and that was back in 1954 when Pat Fletcherended what was then a 50-year barren run with a victory at Vancouver's Point Grey Golf and Country Club.

Local fans were out in force offering their support on a brilliant sunny day at the Glen Abbey Golf Club but they could not inspire the Canadian contingent to anything better than a three-under-par 69 from Brad Fritsch.

That left him four strokes behind pacesetting American Brendan Steele, who took advantage of ideal early scoring conditions to return an eight-birdie 65.

"I feel like I've played well, I feel like I hit the ball great off the tee," said Fritsch, who closed his round with three straight birdies. "The stats won't say it, but I think I missed, you know, five or six fairways probably by a foot."

Eighteen Canadians teed off on Thursday but only four - Fritsch, David Hearn (70), Roger Sloan (71) and amateur Corey Conners (71) - broke par.

ROLLER-COASTER MORNING


Graham DeLaet, the top-ranked Canadian in the field and considered the country's best hope to end the long drought, had a roller-coaster morning that included a triple-bogey seven at the 14th before he birdied his final hole for a level-par 72.

"It was pretty Jekyll and Hyde," said world number 67 DeLaet, who is also battling for a spot on the International team that will take on the United States at the Presidents Cup in October.

"I hit a couple of bad tee shots, had a couple of plugged bunkers and a three-putt from four-feet but other than that I made six birdies. I made enough birdies to shoot a good round, I just had too many poor swings in there.

"You want to play well, you don't want to get behind the eight-ball and I feel I kind of am a little bit with that even par because it was pretty scoreable out there today.

"At the same time, I didn't shoot myself out of it. It was nice to finish with a birdie to kind of make lunch taste a little better."

Mike Weir, the 2003 Masters champion who is on the comeback trail after a series of injuries, battled to a one-over 73 but declared himself satisfied with his effort.

The little lefty may have lost some of his form but none of his confidence as he looked ahead to the weekend.

"I could have easily been six, seven, eight under, who knows," said Weir. "You get rolling. You have a good putting day and that's a 63. I feel like I can make a charge tomorrow morning."

(Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)

Pressel, Lennarth lead as Park fades at British Open

Pressel, Lennarth lead as Park fades at British Open

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August 1, 2013

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Morgan Pressel of the U.S. reacts to her putt at the 18th hole during the Women's British Open golf championship …



(Reuters) - American Morgan Pressel and Sweden's Camilla Lennarth shared the lead at the women's British Open on Thursday as grand slam-hunting South Korean Inbee Park slumped to finish three shots off the pace in the first round.

Pressel and Lennarth carded six-under 66s at St Andrews to lead by one stroke from a chasing pack that includedAmericans Nicole Castrale, Stacy Lewis, Ryann O'Toole and Sydnee Michaels as well as Park's compatriots Mi-Jeong Jeon and Na Yeon Choi.

World number one Park finished on three-under-par after a fast start as she bids to become the first player of either gender to win four majors in a calendar year.

The South Korean was six-under through 10 holes but dropped shots at the 13th, 16th, which she double bogeyed, and 17th before picking up a birdie at the 18th.

Pressel hit seven birdies and one bogey in her opening round at the Old Course in Scotland.


Eight players finished the day at four under, including Scotland's former British Open winner Catriona Matthew, English pair Liz Young and Georgia Hall, and former U.S. Open champion Paula Creamer of the United States.

The 25-year-old Park won the first three majors of 2013 - the Kraft Nabisco title, LPGA Championship and U.S. Open.

Officially, victory at St Andrews this weekend would not constitute a grand slam, since the Evian Masters in September has this year been granted the status of the fifth major.

But securing a fourth successive major in a calendar year would be heralded as an unprecedented achievement.

Park has already matched the feat of Babe Zaharias in 1950 of winning the first three majors of the year.
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Sweden's Camilla Lennarth tees off at the 17th hole during the Women's British Open golf championshi …

(Writing by Stephen Wood in London, editing by Ken Ferris)