Her Royal Highness Princess Anne and her husband Sir Timothy Laurence visited The Open today. They met officials and golf coaches in the swing zone and watched the action from the spectator stands.
Princess Anne has been an honorary member of the R&A since 2015.
World number 10 Tyrell Hatton carded a round of 70 today but was frustrated and angry several times during his round. After taking a double bogey on the 11th hole he swore at himself and then appeared to react with a gesture to someone in the gallery. On the 18th his wedge bore the brunt, snapping off the head after he had stomped on it. As a star of the European Tour’s Anger Management video, perhaps its time to go back to class?
Marc Leishman also disposed of his putter during his round and putted with his wedge. Remarkably he had birdies at 12, 17 and 18 for a round of 67.
Excellent round of 67 today for Australia’s Cameron Smith who is currently ried 11th. He also showed off his new mullet haircut. We havent seen one like that since John Daly won the championship in 1995.
After saying this to the media on Thursday
“The driver sucks. It’s not a good face for me. We’re still trying to figure it out how to make it good on the mis-hits, I’m living on a razor’s edge, I’ve told people for a long time”.
Bryson Dechambeau has apologised.
He currently plays with a Cobra Radspeed 46″ with 5 degrees of loft.
Cobra Operations Manager Ben Schomin had responded from America.
“Everybody is bending over backwards. We’ve got multiple guys in R&D trying this and that. It’s just really painful when he says something that stupid. It’s very rare where he’s happy. He’s swinging a driver with 5 degrees of loft with 200mph of clubhead speed. With such exceptional speed every error in his swing is magnified.
“It can’t be any more of achallenge. It’s a constant work in progress.
“It’s like a 8 year old that gets mad at you. It’s not cool.
Bryson later apologised. In a statement he said he deeply regrets his choice of words and called his comment very unprofessional.
“My frustration and emotions over the way I drove the ball today, boiled over. I sucked today, not my equipment. I deeply regret the words I used earlier”.
Now this reminded me of something. The Pearls of Phil, where Mickelson creates a big, attention getting drama and later regrets what he’s done. This was something very similar. Brysons now been in the headlines for three different things in one week. And who was he playing with in the practice round? The Pearls of Phil and the Dramas of Dechambeau. Pretty much the same script.
Sensing an equipment change might be happening sooner rather than later.
I didn’t write this on my return from Sandwich last night because I was still stewing about it. But I feel on the grounds of public health and safety that I have to post this in a measured way.
The R&A have said that it’s important to have the public present and were successful in getting The Open test event status so that 32,000 spectators a day can come in.
Everyone working or visiting the event was told about the covid protocols and that there would be additional checks on the way into the course. We accepted that. Showing your vaccination status is one hurdle to come in, then there is airline style security, then you have to show a QR code on your phone with your downloaded pass or tickets, showing you have also watched a film and answered some questions. All this is well managed, that isn’t the issue.
The divot goes to whoever in the R&A approved the spectator access to the course from the train station. It is diabolical and it is dangerous.
The logistical problems of having Royal St Georges as an Open venue are clear. It is in a small mediaeval town and the roads are narrow leading into the course.
However.
This is the fifth Open I’ve attended at this venue and never before has the access to the course been organised in such a heinous way from the train station. The problem is that the R&A have withdrawn the buses that have always been in place to transport people to the course from the station. There are buses in place from the two park and ride sites in outlying villages. I saw several of these buses pass in the road near to the station, without stopping as they could, and they were either empty or had a couple of people on board. They can, and should, stop to pick up people arriving at the station.
The problem with there being no buses is this. When the trains arrive from London or Ramsgate there are enthusiastic volunteers, often waving a pointed sponge finger in the direction they want you to go, and one of them shouts “if you’re going to the golf, this way”.
Do not listen to them. There is a mobility bus which no one tells you about, I found out about it only after I had a rant to the station master.
THIS IS SERIOUS. If you follow the spongy pointy finger you had better be young and super fit. It is a long mountaineering exercise up slopes, a long, long walk across fields before you are confronted with the first of two very steep bridges which you have to climb over to get to the first check point, the covid check.
In order to get to the second check point near to where you can actually get into the course after showing the QR code, you have to climb up and over another even steeper and more dangerous passenger walkway. There are gaps in the handrails at the top going down so it is precarious, never mind exhausting getting down these steps safely.
The other option to get to this point is to get out at the station and go through the town of Sandwich down several country paths until you reach the main pathway which I took last night. It was an unlit path surrounded by countryside and a good 20 minute walk. It did not feel safe, any more than the dangerous bridges did.
And this is the point. A steward told me that he’d had to attend to several accidents on the bridges (this was during day one). I saw a lady clearly having a panic attack being forced to use the bridge. But worse was an elderly, overweight man who was in tears. He was saying he just couldn’t climb it. He’d been so excited about coming to The Open but he literally couldn’t get up it.
This is not good enough. The station staff I spoke to agreed that people needed to be told there was the option of accessibility travel, which I have booked for tomorrow. I refuse to go over those dangerous structures or take that 35 minute walk again. I am reasonably fit but I was exhausted when I arrived at the course.
What really makes me so annoyed with this pathetic planning was that it was mostly about keeping access to the clubhouse free.Certainly for the second bridge which goes over an access road where courtesy cars were driving, There is a small, not busy road which the first bridge goes over but there are other venues, notably Walton Heath which will host the Womens Open in a couple of years, where you literally have to cross a fast flowing road to gain access to part of the course. They always have police manning that crossing to help people across.
Why couldnt they have done that at Royal St Georges? Get the spectators across the road instead of making people physically exhausted.. “They’re trying to kill us” somebody remarked.
“They all look so miserable” I heard a volunteer remark to another about the incoming spectators. You wonder why?
This was selfish, inconsiderate decision making and not helped by no communication to the spectators other than shouting one option to them.
A divot to those responsible for not stopping the buses at the station and taking everyone safely in. It spoilt many peoples experience, especially those frightened, upset or injured.
Goes to my pick to win this week, Louis Oosthuizen. See below what’s so special about Louis? Answer is he is very special.
I walked round with his group for quite some time because it also had US Open champion Jon Rahm and defending Open Champion Shane Lowry, and it was a joy to watch. I also greatly enjoyed watching two other South Africans Branden Grace and Ernie Els. It was interesting to hear a grandfather talk to his young grandson about Ernie “he’s one of the greatest golfers who has ever lived. Watch his swing – so powerful and graceful”. He was really striking the ball well.
But Louis. Man, I could watch him for hours. His bogey free round of 64 was so pure. But there’s still room for improvement. I saw from his stats that he was behind the leaders in driving accuracy and although he is the number one ranked in strokes gained putting on the PGA Tour he was also behind the field in putting.
Louis said “It was the most perfect round I could have played. I didn’t make many mistakes. When I had a birdie opportunity I made the putt”.
Will Zalatoris withdrew from The Open today on medical advice not to risk further injury.
The slight Texan had been five shots off the lead at close of play last night despite bogeying two of the final holes, including a missed 1 foot putt on the 15th.
He sustained a back injury while hacking out of long rough on the 15 th hole. He said he felt a sharp pain down his leg, but decided to play on and complete his debut round in The Open.
He attempted to hit balls and work out on Friday morning but said he was gutted to have to withdraw in a message on his Instagram account.
Zalatoris has had a succession of high finishes in recent majors, starting with 6th in the 2020 US Open, a runner up place in this year’s Masters and T8 in the 2021 PGA Championship. He is currently 30th in the world.
Billy Horschel also reassured, after his second round, that he is fine to continue after suffering dizzy spells and loss of balance during play.
Course likely to firm up by Sunday making it much tougher, Strong stable l-r prevailing wind 15-20 mph, hopefully will change to make things more interesting. Most difficult holes will be the 4th and 14th.
US open champion Jon Rahm talked to the press yesterday about why he swings shorter, it’s not about tight hips.He says “let your body dictate how you can swing”.
JON RAHM: I’m going to say I’ve been pro for five years. I’ve mentioned this before. This is the first time I’m getting this question because I’m tired of hearing that the reason why I have a short swing is that I have tight hips or other things.
If you know anything about golf, that is the stupidest thing to say. So for people that don’t know, I was born with a club foot on my right leg, which means for anybody that’s sensitive about that, my right leg up to the ankle was straight, my foot was 90 degrees turned inside and basically upside down.
So when I was born, they basically relocated, pretty much broke every bone in the ankle and I was casted within 20 minutes of being born from the knee down.
I think every week I had to go back to the hospital to get re-casted, so from knee down my leg didn’t grow at the same rate. So I have very limited ankle mobility in my right leg. It’s a centimeter and a half shorter, as well.
So what I mean by limitations is I didn’t take a full swing because my right ankle doesn’t have the mobility or stability to take it. So I learned at a very young age that I’m going to be more efficient at creating power and be consistent from a short swing.
If I take a full to parallel, yeah, it might create more speed, but I have no stability. My ankle just can’t take it.
Now, also, and this is where I’ve learned doing many TPI tests, my wrists don’t have much mobility this way, but I’m hyper mobile this way. That’s why I also naturally turn to bow my wrist to create power in every single sport I do.
So that’s why my swing, I bow my wrist and that’s how I hit it. It’s little things that I think a lot of people can learn. Let your body dictate how you can swing. Simple as that. That’s why Dave has been such a great addition to me when I started going to TPI with the Spanish Golf Federation, because they can teach me how my body moves and what I can — not what I can or cannot do, what I’m going to be more efficient at doing.
The main thing is my right foot. It’s just that ankle does not move much.
Now this was a much more uplifting story. Billy Horschel brought out a new bag in practice adorned with the colours and emblem of West Ham United, with kind permission from the club.
Billy Horschel, like Francesco Molinari and Paul McGinley, is an avid West Ham supporter even though he lives in Florida. He began his support when in college he saw the film Green Street on DVD and was intrigued to find out about the club. He watches all their premiership matches from ABC live broadcasts in America.
When he won the WGC – Dell Technologies Matchplay in March he received a text of congratulations from club captain Mark Noble who will be watching him in practice at Sandwich tomorrow.
Selected practice rounds can be watched live on theopen.com website in the morning, and also on Sky Sports from 2pm.
Matt Fitzpatrick is also having the Sheffield United emblem on the range. Will Ian Poulter have a big Arsenal logo on his bag too?
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