Rory McIlroy felt the wrath of the Postage Stamp.
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No chance he’ll get kicked out of the group, certainly not without putting up quite a fight.
The 145th staging of the British Open is this week as the third major championship of the golf year returns to 138-year-old Royal Troon in Scotland for the ninth time overall.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, victor in 2014, is a 10-1 shot with American Jordan Spieth at 11s.
Unless you are lucky enough to have received a tour, or even luckier to have played in any one of the four major golf championship courses over the years, it is very unlikely that you will have seen the inside of the clubhouse.
Links golf course designers really like to punish a player finding the sand, and there aren’t many more daunting on the Open Championship rota than the deep, rectangular-shaped trap to the right of Royal Troon’s infamous Postage Stamp green.
“I’ll probably watch, but I’m not sure golf will be one of the events I watch”, he said.
“I think the stress of being No 1 in the world is more of a motivating factor for me because I don’t want to lose it”, he told a pre-Open press conference. (At) 123 yards, the expectation raises dramatically into, you are on that tee and you are a professional golfer, it’s your job and you’re expected to hit this green at 123 yards.
In 2015, Spieth surged to the pinnacle by winning the Masters and the U.S. Open, and just missing out on a playoff at St. Andrews.
Royal Troon Golf Club - Created in 1878 by George Strath with just 5 holes, it has undergone some changes in its 138 years of existence. “Potentially it might be a bit of an advantage if we were to have a lot of European major champions in this Ryder Cup year”.
Day and Woods have become good friends in recent years, and the world number one hasn’t been shy in getting advice from the 14-time major victor.
Spieth missed out on the play-off 12 months ago by a single shot as he attempted to win the third leg of an unprecedented career grand slam, although he did get his hands on the Claret Jug temporarily.
Even though McIlroy hasn’t been a serious contender at the majors since his victory at Valhalla, McIlroy sees no reason for concern. If not, somebody else will help the team better than me.
He rolled his eyes when someone mentioned a reference in the British media that he was on the verge of becoming the Ringo of the Fab Four.
Despite never having played Royal Troon, the enigma of the Open rotation, McIlroy said his game plan is relatively straightforward – avoid the bunkers – and a singular focus.
After factoring in pricing, here are a few guys I think are worth talking about (for better or worse). “But when I’m not thinking about it, then it comes out as “British Open” because that’s the way I grew up hearing it”. “So if it hits me during this speech, I’ll go ahead and apologize”.
Numerous others who have dropped out, such as McIlroy, Adam Scott and Charl Schwartzel, never have been to the JDC. He was a flawless fit for the U.S. Open, which he famously won at Oakmont in 1973 with the first 63 in major championship history. “I appreciate her understanding, and I am sorry that what I said may have taken away from a historic moment for a very deserving champion”.
“From clubs to club maker, I feel like PXG is behind me”, Schwartzel said. But it likely is to have a major say in who wins the Open this week. Montgomerie said he hit his first shot as a 6-year-old on the children’s course – the same spot set up this week for television trucks, where Montgomerie will do some commentating for Sky Sports.
“By saying no to the Olympics, he feels it is best to take himself out of the entire golf equation for that week”, Peterson said.
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The International Olympic Committee says it “respects” the decision by several top golfers to skip the Rio de Janeiro Games because of the Zika virus.
