golfweloveit

It was sad to hear of the passing of the great Irish golfer Christy O’Connor, at the age of 91, just a few months after we lost his nephew Christy O’Connor Jnr in January.

‘Himself’, as he was affectionately known, had the most beautiful, powerful swing that was not only technically sound but looked so natural. Have a look at it on this lovely tribute film.

Christy O’Connor had a glittering career and was runner up to the dominant Peter Thomson in the 1965 Open Championship. He won 24 tournaments in Europe partnered Open Champion Harry Bradshaw to a win in the 1958 Canada Cup (which became the World Cup) and 6 PGA Senior titles.

He made 10 Ryder Cup appearances and was often partnered by Peter Alliss.

Peter says “He wad a wonderful partner and a beautiful golfer a genius of our sport”.

On Monday Tiger Woods teed up at a press day at Congressional Country Club and probably wishes he hadn’t.

The 14 time major champion turned up to the event prior to the Quicken Loans tournament without practicing or warming up and on the 102 yard par three hole he hit three successive wedge shots into the surrounding water.

He couldn’t have done this in a worse situation. It not only got him a crush of negative social media comments he also got on the front page of national newspaper USA Today.

Tiger said his back was stiff. “It just goes to prove that you can’t just go out there and “just do it”, a nod to Nike.

It’s a long long way from his old media campaign “I am Tiger Woods”. The rehabillitation from his third back surgery is taking  so long people are now deducing that he may never return to competitive play.

Tiger says that one of the toughest parts of being away so long is that he feels alienated from the rest of the tour. “When I look at our fields there’s maybe a third of them I don’t know”.

It’s time for a return, the offer has been put onto the table. He’s helping Rickie Fowler really progress, but Butch Harmon is the one to take over Tiger. Let’s hope they just do it.

World number 1 Jason Day’s huge  win at the Players Championship last weekend sees him draw further ahead of his peers. 7 wins from the last 17 starts and three wire to wire victories since September are giving him massive confidence backing up his own lofty ambitions.

His first two rounds of 63 and 66 at TPC Sawgrass are a 36 hole tournament record and he left rival Jordan Spieth, who missed the cut, trailing in his wake. Spieth looked a shadow of the player who had dominated the golf world in 2015. His collapse at this year’s Masters has obviously taken its mental toll but he also took to social media to dig at people who were pilloring  him about losing. Posting a baby picture of himself wearing sunglasses he said “I need to get some more of these to protect me from the haters”.

Jason Day’s phenomenal length with the driver and probably the best short game on tour were tested on Sunday when for the front nine he looked vulnerable. The testing putting surfaces, which were hard and bumpy culminated in a poor bogey on the 9th hole. But such is his desire and mental strength he pulled it together on the back nine to pull off a four shot win.

He is one of the hardest workers on tour and looks incredibly drained at the end of a tournament he invests so much of himself in every shot. This worries me a bit because he could physically and mentally burn out. He is only 28 and in his physical prime but his intensity may wear him out.

Jason talked, after this win, that he wanted to win The Players Championship so badly because one day it might be enough to help get him into the World Golf Hall of Fame. “I wanted to win this tournament so bad and go down in history. Ten wins isn’t enough. I want to leave a legacy and I want to be look backed on as one of the greats of the game”.

Big ambitions. At the moment he’s having a dominant run as Rory McIlroy did in 2014 and Jordan Spieth did in 2015. Adam Scott says he looks Tigeresque, as when Tiger won 50% of the tournaments he entered in a five year stretch. But whether Day can sustain to Tiger’s level remains to be seen. It’s interesting that Tiger Woods is mentoring Jason Day and offering him great advice. Day says of their relationship “he says when he comes back he’s going to kick my butt”. Interestingly he commented on this with caution. “IF he comes back AND he’s turned into Tiger Woods again, then I’ve got to watch my behind”.

Until then Jason Day is this year invincible. And he can say to the field what the great Walter Hagen used to say to his contemporaries.

“Who’s going to come second?”

The Royal and Ancient are introducing a new nine hole event to be played just before the start of the Open Championship. Thirty amateur players from 13 qualifying competitions across Scotland will play nine holes of the championship course. The idea is to boost participation and to encourage the nine hole format as a valid form of play. The competiton will be open to men and women, boys and girls and in 2017 will expand to include clubs from all over Great Britain and Ireland vying for the 30 places. Three time major champion Padraig Harrington said that it is a wonderful opportunity for regional amateur golfers to play the championship course in top condition before the best golfers in the world compete and to reinforce the message that nine hole golf is a popular alternative for those with busy lives.

World number one tennis doubles star Jamie Murray returned to his home town of Dunblane, Scotland to receive honorary memberships of Dunblane GC for him and his brother Andy, the two time Wimbledon, US Open and Olympic singles tennis champion. The 18th hole is now called Murrays hame.

Australian Marc Leishman, the world no 35, has pulled put of representing his country at the Rio Olympics on the grounds of the zika virus, which is an epidemic in Brazil at the moment. Leishman’s wife Audrey nearly died in April of last year from toxic shock syndrome and her doctors have advised that her poor immunity is a problem. They advise that she is still too susceptible to infection for her to risk travelling to the games. Leishman has decided to pull out, a decision which is supported by the PGA of Australia. This follows on from fellow countryman Adam Scott’s controversial decision not to play. Jason day has indicated that he will play, which leaves Marcis Fraser or Matt Jones as the most likely replacements to represent Australia at the event from August 11-14. Australian veteran Greg Norman has also parted compamy from the Chinese Olympic team who, he was coaching for Rio.

German sportswear company Adidas are to sell off their brands Taylor Made, Adams Golf and Ashworth. They plan to focus their golf business purely on Adidas’ own line of apparel and footwear.

Their golf business has had a drop in revenue from 1.34 billion Euros in 2012 to just 902 million last year. Taylor Made, which they acquired in 1997, is considered the most profitable part of the business. Currently World No 1 Jason Day, Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia play with their equipment.

Last week Tiger Woods plummeted to number 508 in the World Rankings. The last time he was over 500 was in 1996 when he was still an amateur.

Although he has signed up to compete in the US Open at Oakmont, a course Jordan Spieth last week called “the hardest course in America” it remains to be seen if he will actially tee up. Tiger seems to have no definite timetable for returning to full time professional golf and is drifting in freefall.

The offer from his original coach, Butch Harmon, to teach him again appears to still be on the table now he no longer is in Phil Mickelson’s stable. I for one wish Tiger would grab this offer with both hands and let Butch get to work with him rebuilding his shattered swing and psyche.

Rory McIlroy has decided to skip two big events to give himself the best chance at the US Open and Open Championship. He has pulled out of the European Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA at Wentworth, in order to avoid playing four weeks in a row in the run up to the US Open at Oakmont. He will also not travel to the WGC Bridgestone Invitational at Akron Ohio, chosing to support the French Open. The European Tour are not sanctioning the Brodgestone event because it has been scheduled opposite the Paris event.

McIlroy has also been measured up for the Irish Olympic team uniform, made by New Balance rahter than his own sponsors Nike.

Two official starters, Matt Coker and David Lancaster, will now succeed Ivor Robson, who retired last year as first tee announcer at the Open Championship.