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This gold nosed British Airways plane VictoRIOus will operate charter flight BA2016 which will bring home Team GB athletes from the Rio Olympic Games. The 11 hour 15 minute journey of the charter flight can be tracked on Flightradar24. It will arrive at Heathrow Terminal 5 at 9.55am on Tuesday 23 August. It will proceed directly to the maintenance area, rather than the terminal, for an invite only presser and welcome reception. Live feed of this special event can be seen from 9.55 am on facebook.com/TeamGB. See the athletes posting their pictures on the social media hashtag #GreattobeBAck. VictoRIOus will fly again on September 20 when it brings the ParalympicsGB athletes home from Rio.

New Olympic golf champion Inbee Park has hinted that this victory may be the finale of her career.Park, 28, who earlier this year met the criteria for World Golf Hall of Fame inclusion, added a gold medal to her resume in the women’s golf competition at the Olympic Golf Course in Rio de Janeiro.

“This really could be the highlight of my career,” Park said. “I was lucky enough to have the opportunity. We have five major tournaments a year. I’ve won a lot of the major championships. The Olympic Games you get to do it only once ever four years and golf in 112 years. It’s a huge honor and I think it could be the highlight of my golfing career.”

It was vintage Park, the best putter in women’s golf, who holed birdie putts of nine, 15, 25, four, 26, nine and 10 feet in a round of 66 for a five-stroke victory that might cap a career that includes seven major championships among her 17 LPGA victories.

She finished 72 holes in 16-under par 268, a remarkable performance under any circumstances, but notably so for a player who some in her homeland thought should have stepped aside to allow a healthier South Korean to replace her.

An injured thumb that continues to bother her has limited her starts and productivity in 2016 — she hadn’t played in more than two months — and she has indicated a desire to start a family. The combination of two might rule in favor of retirement.

“I had a lot of attention coming into this week,” she said. “There was a little bit of confusion for me whether I can perform well this week because of injury. I’ve worked really hard for this week.

As for her immediate future? She has talked recently of her lans to start a family soon and for now says she is just going to go day by day.

The drama on Saturday fell to the quest for silver and bronze medals, with the cast of candidates alternating among America’s Stacy Lewis, China’s Shanshan Feng, New Zealand’s Lydia Ko and Japan’s Harukyo Nomura.

Ko, No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings, won the silver medal, by sneaking in an eight-foot birdie putt at 18 to edge bronze medalist Feng by one. Ko and Feng both closed with 69s.

Lewis rebounded from a third-round 76 to shoot a five-under par 66 to tie Nomura and Hee Young Yang of South Korea for fourth.

Gerina Piller of the U.S., who began the final round trailing Park by two, closed with a three-over par 74 and tied for 11th. American Lexi Thompson had her best round of the week, a five-under par 66 that was 10 shots better than her third-round score and jumped her to a tie for 19th.

Russian Maria Verchenova, meanwhile, produced the lowest score of the Olympic Games, men or women, a nine-under par 62 that included a hole-in-one at the 153-yard fourth hole.

Thanks to Golf Digest for the report.

Olympic golf champion has said after his two-stroke victory at Rio 2016  “I am proud to be able to say that felt better than anything I’ve ever won”. After winning the first Olympic gold for golf since the sport’s return to the Games after 112 years he jopes to inspire new people to take up the game”.

“I hope my win and the Olympics inspires people to get into golf, it truly is a sport for everyone, whatever your age or ability.

“Back at home England Golf, who supported me as I developed as a golfer, are working with clubs to encourage participation with beginner courses, taster lessons and special events and break down perceived barriers to playing,” added Rose.

Golf is already England’s fifth biggest participation sport, with just over 1.1 million adults playing at least once a month – and it’s set to grow rapidly after Rose’s Olympic triumph.

England Golf’s Get into golf campaign – which is supported by Sky Sports – offers new and returning players an ideal way into the game with great value coaching from PGA professionals and an introduction to a sport which offers a good social life and many health benefits.

Just playing 9-holes of golf means players will walk two to three miles, take over 5000 steps and burn over 450 calories.

Rose says: “Golf is a great game for people looking to keep fit, as you don’t need to be an elite athlete to play. It is a game for everyone, of all ages or levels of fitness. It gets you out in the fresh air and doing some gentle, but effective exercise and can only help people looking to get or keep fit.”

Good news is that with Paris being awarded the 2024 Olympic Games Paris National, which hosts the 2018 Ryder Cup, will be the host course.

England Golf want everyone to join with them to brainstorm ideas to grow golf. Chief Executive Nick Pink has set up a #More Than Golf campaign to tap into creativity and innovation across the sport.

He says “since I joined the organisation a few months ago I have been impressed with the number of entrepreneurs across the sport. People developing different versions, adding features, introducing new technology. It is all very exciting and England Golf has played its part. But I think we could do more to encourage new thinking within the sport at all levels.Within the counties, our clubs and among our partners.

Changes in peoples lifestyles, comsumer habits and expectations and their use of digital media are creating challenges and opportunities. We have to be ready to overcome the first and exploit the latter. We are keen to hear from anybody with suggestions on how best to support new ideas and initiatives to help grow golf”.

Sports Marketing Network will drive the project for England Golf. Ideas should be sent to them at innovation@englandgolf.org

It’s a proud moment to watch a British golfer wearing an Olympic gold medal on the top of the rostrum singing the national anthem, out of tune.

The male golfers who participated in the Rio Games have silenced all the doubters with he quality of play and a thrilling final round fought out between Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose. Matt Kuchar’s superlative 63 in the final round retrieved his reputation which was a bit dented during the Travellers Championship won by Scotsman Russell Knox. Kuchar didnt exactly inspire confidence when the media had to tell him, a week before the Games, that the golf event wasn’t a team competition…

Well done Brasil for hosting the mens golf competition so ably. Only big criticism was the feeble marshalling. On every tee there were many people with mobile phones taking pictures and the caddies were bellowing at them not to do it, in English. Where was the instruction in Portugese? And what of the bizarre incident on the 16th hole of the final round when a man draped in a Mexican flag picked up one of the competitors balls to take as a souvenir, Ye Gods. Why was there no ruling about this, where was dear John Paramor on his buggy coming to the rescue? The USGA were borderline incompetent with their decision making in this year’s US Open, but this was something else. Wither were you International Golf Federation officials?

As for the BBC coverage of the golf event, feeble. Twenty minutes coverage of the final two holes on BBC1 , because of the British interest, otherwise final round relegated to BBC4, not in entirety and before that on the red button, if you could find it, and the i player. And they said this would drive participation? How can it when it was so invisible?

So now, bring on the girls. They are in Rio in force, all the best female golfers on the planet, who defied the fears about Zika virus, they who could be most affected. Bet Rory and the others will now be having second thoughts.

Jim Furyk, now known as Mr. 58, shot the lowest score ever on the PGA Tour with a 58 on Sunday at the Travelers Championship. But that round came after struggling early on in the week. Furyk opened with a 73 on Thursday, had to shoot a good round on Friday to make the cut, and then lost it again shooting 72 on Saturday.

“We’ve been working on a few things,” said Mike Furyk, Jim’s dad and swing coach. “We talked about his setup on Thursday after the round. He said it felt good. He was hitting it solid and straight, and went out and shot a good round on Friday. And we thought Ok it’s under control. But then on Saturday, it started to fall apart. He called me and said he was totally confused and needed help.”

To figure out what was wrong, Mike, who was home in Florida at the time, did some deductive reasoning. He realized that Jim had been playing some really wet courses. The PGA Championship was soaked, and it was wet at the Travelers, too. Jim’s not the longest guy on tour, so when courses get wet and start to play even longer, he’s at a disadvantage. Mike, who knows everything about Jim’s swing, remembered that Jim has a tendency to get long in his takeaway when he’s trying to hit it higher and further – which is exactly what he would be doing on wet courses.

“You associate your swing being long with hitting it high, but it doesn’t work like that,” says Mike. “In talking to him, I realized his body was stopping and his arms and club were continuing on. It was all out of synch, and causing him to hit it with a glancing blow. When we were on the phone, I asked him to shorten it up a little bit. When his body stopped at the top of the backswing, I wanted everything else to stop, too.” Words from his father got through, a superlative round unlikely to be repeated anytime soon. Jim Furyk’s scorecard is now in the World Golf Hall of Fame in Florida.

Jimmy Walker reflects on PGA Championship win
Ewan Murray at Baltusrol
Jimmy Walker’s passion is astrophotography. It is unclear at which point he reckoned that, if taking pictures of the stars, he might as well shoot for them.

The sequence of first-time major winners continues. On a balmy Baltusrol evening, in concluding a tournament that had threatened to rumble into another week, Walker lifted the Wanamaker Trophy. This year’s four prime events have each had a player break his major duck.

Walker is the 98th US PGA champion, the reward for scores of 65, 66, 68 and 67 for a 14-under-par total. Walker’s margin of victory from Jason Day was one but, in truth, the outcome never looked in much doubt. That is until the very last hole of the tournament, when Walker carved a fairway wood into thick rough and had to scramble for par.

Perhaps his story is the most poetic of 2016. Three years ago, when 34, Walker claimed his first PGA Tour title. The trigger was sufficient for him to win twice in 2014 and the same number of times in 2015. From journeyman professional he went to top-50 in the world and, now, major holder.
Three moments were to define this tournament. Ultimately and thankfully, with luck playing a part, the forecast brutal weather did not.

When holding a one-stroke lead on the 10th, courtesy of nine straight pars, Walker made his first error by finding a greenside bunker. He was to hole out from there. The 37-year-old did likewise from 30ft at the 11th. On the 17th Walker nervelessly converted an 8ft putt seconds after Day had played a 254yd approach to the hole in front to eagle range. Only a Walker stumble would hand the trophy away from there.

Walker’s A-game might not be up there with the best in this sport but it is clearly sufficient when others fall short. It is testimony to Day that he pushed Walker as far as was the case, with the world No1 obviously performing at around 70%.

Day made that eagle on the 18th to leave Walker needing his par to win. Day had been two over par after three holes but battled back manfully before ultimately falling short in this title defence. Daniel Summerhays claimed third and a Masters berth at 10 under, one ahead of Branden Grace, Hideki Matsuyama and Brooks Koepka.

Henrik Stenson had produced seven major rounds in the 60s before choosing the wrong time to post a 71. Stenson shared seventh with Robert Streb and Martin Kaymer.

Jimmy Walker wins 2016 US PGA Championship – as it happened!
Hole-by-hole report: Jimmy Walker has claimed his first major title after holding off the challenge of Jason Day on a marathon final day at Baltusrol. Scott Murray was watching

Two Englishmen, Tyrrell Hatton and Paul Casey, sneaked into the top 10. Hatton, who shared fifth at the Open, closed with a 68 with Casey’s round four coming in at one shot better. Andrew “Beef” Johnston’s legend is such that one half expected him to conduct a chorus of Knees Up Mother Brown while topless on the 72nd green but the lower-key Hatton continues to suggest he may be the one to watch on grounds of talent. With every decent Casey finish, his refusal to make himself part of the Ryder Cup equation resonates more. Not that this will bother the man himself in the slightest.

The PGA of America had taken highly rare, but not unique, steps to ensure a Sunday finish. Lift, clean and place was controversially permitted the day after the tournament director, Kerry Haigh, labelled such a move as “highly unlikely” with round four played partly in tandem with the penultimate 18 holes.

The preferred lies option meant any returned score of 62 would not have counted as a major record but there was support from Phil Mickelson.

“I think it was a great call,” said Mickelson after signing off with a 68. “There’s so much element of luck involved if you don’t do that because of the amount of mud that will get on the ball as well as the inability to finish the round because of not being able to take full relief from the fairway. There were some spots where the only relief would end up being in the rough.

“I know it’s not ideal. Unfortunately it’s been the case this week because on the weekend this golf course was set up to be perfect for a major championship. The rain came and just softened the course.”

Padraig Harrington earned his finest major finish since 2012, tied 13th, after a closing round of 68. Perhaps the Irishman has had his competitive fires relit by imminent Olympic involvement. When asked about the prospect of another team playing appearance, at the Ryder Cup, the 44-year-old scoffed.

“I’m a little late in the game for that,” said Harrington, who has been named as a vice-captain to Darren Clarke. “No, I don’t see it happening. I’m happy in the role I’m in. If I start winning things, maybe that changes but at the moment it’s not really on my radar.”

It is for Walker. The road from 2013 has been paved with gold.

https://soundcloud.com/user-96678684/episode-39-pga-championship-preview

He called it “the most difficult decision of his life”. Jordan Spieth cited health reasons as the overriding factor for his withdrawal from the United States golf team for the Rio Olympics. He said he made the decision for himself and those around him and for his future. Coca Cola, who signed Spieth to a sponsorship contract in January, will now use a golfer’s silhouette instead of his image on their products during the Games.

With the Games opening on August 5th the tally of golfers who have withdrawn from the Games now reaches 20. Apart from fears over the spread of zika virus, security issues are also high on the list. Golfers fear there will be inadequate police protection. News from Reuters within the past hour says that a terrorist cell of 10 people have been arrested in Brazil over fears of a possible incident at the Games.

So the golfers who will not be representing their countries at Rio are: Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Branden Grace, Louis Oosthuizen, Hideki Matsuyama, Charl Schwartzel, Marc Leishman, KT Kim, Graeme McDowel, Hideto Tanahara, Victor Dubisson, Matt Jones, Miguel Angel Jiminez, Vijay Singh, Brendon De Jonge, Angelo Que, Tim Wilkinson.

New Open Champion Henrik Stenson will be representing Sweden at the Olympic Games. He says “it will be an experience of a lifetime. If I compete well then I will be happy and so will my country”.