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Archive for the ‘The Open’ Category

Throughout the whole competition Tiger Woods was on fire, and it looked as though he was going to take the winning title from the USPGA. However Yang Young-Ean took the victory the first Asian player to win a major championship first prize of $1.35 million (about £820,000).

The 37-year-old was two shots adrift of overnight leader Woods but held his nerve to card 70 to the American’s 75 to win by three on the final green. Yang’s victory ended Woods’s run of winning all 14 of his major titles when leading going into the final round. The other main player in this competition was defending champion Padraig Harrington, level with Yang at the start, however he blew his chances with a quintuple-bogey eight on the par-three 8th.

Yang, who was ranked 110th in the world before the event came to the final hole leading by a single shot, playing with TaylorMade Clubs he sank a ten-foot putt for birdie at the 72nd hole that guaranteed victory and sent immediate shock waves around the world.

Catriona Matthew became the first Scottish lady golfer to clinch a major title when she won the Ricoh Women’s British Open at Royal Lytham and St Anns.

The 39-year-old, who led by three overnight, won by three shots from Karrie Webb after birdies on 13, 14 and 15 gave her a one-over 73. Her new nickname of Supermum, did not succeed without the odd wobble. Two dropped shots in her opening three holes had doubters believing external factors had caught up with her at last. Another bogey at the 10th, combined with the imposing figures of Karrie Webb and Paula Creamer in the background, threatened to ruin Matthew’s remarkable bid altogether. By her last hole Matthew had the cushion of three shots and could enjoy every moment before returning a three-under aggregate score. “There was a tear in my eye at that point,” she said. “I knew after my tee shot on 18 that I had won.”

Scotland’s Matthew, who only gave birth 11 weeks 1 day ago, and was back on the course just 5 weeks after giving birth, is only the fourth Briton to win a major and the first since England’s Karen Stupples in 2004. And only two mothers Nancy Lopez and Juli Inkster have won majors since 1960.

Stewart Cink, 36-year-old, is the new Open champion, snatching the title from the hands of Tom Watson in a four-hole playoff after they tied on a two-under-par total of 278. Cink an American golfer took up the game when his parents, both single handicap players, left him at the driving range before he was old enough to go on the course. He now becomes the ninth different American to win the Open since 1995.

Cink ended up beating Watson by six shots in a play-off after the two had both finished the tournament two under. However it could have easily been a different story had 59-year-old Watson not missed an eight foot putt for par on the final hole of Sunday’s final round that would have given him a momentous sixth Open victory. Watson was said to be disappointed that he allowed the chance to become golf’s oldest-ever major champion by 11 years to slip through his grasp on a course where he claimed the fourth of his five Open championships 32 years ago.

The clubs that helped Cink win the Open can be seen in the above  clip “In the Bag: Stewart Cink”.  They of the clubs he identifies in this clip include:

•    Driver – Nike SQ 9.5 Degrees
•    Irons – Nike CCI Irons – 2, 3 & 4 Irons
•    Nike Wedges
•    Yes! Lizzy Plus Putter

The British contingent suffered a disappointing first day at the Open at Turnberry as the home challenge failed to get going, despite fine conditions.

Lee Westwood, Anthony Wall, Graeme McDowell, David Howell and Paul Casey all shot 68 to finish two under, four shots off leader Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Ross Fisher, who finished fifth at the US Open, was a shot further behind, alongside Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy.

Ian Poulter suffered a disastrous day, ending five over after a 75.

It had looked so promising when Westwood started with three birdies in a row in the morning, only to double bogey the 16th.

Fisher enjoyed his best major last month at Bethpage Black, finishing only three shots behind winner Lucas Glover.

He endured a difficult start at Turnberry but the 28-year-old – who is about to become a father – finished in style with birdies at each of the last three holes to fire a 69.

After a fine start, Casey dropped shots at the 12th and 14th to fall back into the pack and he admitted he missed a chance to shoot a lower score.

Poulter was disconsolate after a birdie-free round that has put him in severe danger of missing the halfway cut.

Will Harrington make it three in a row?

Will the Brits make it into high positions by the end of the weekend?

Let us know your thoughts below, or on our Facebook or Twitter pages.

Tiger Woods plays almost entirely with Nike golf clubs and equipment. Nike is one of his biggest sponsors, from his famous Nike Swoosh hats and shirts, right down to his golf bag and golf balls. Playing at Turnberry for the British Open Championships Tiger Woods is once again playing with his major sponsors’ equipment. Kitted out in head to toe in Nike gear his bag contains:

Tiger is using a Nike prototype driver (10.5 degrees), his fairway woods consist of the Nike SQ II 3 Wood (13 degrees) and the Nike SQ II 5 Wood (19 degrees). All of his Irons are 1 degree upright, have D4 swing weight, standard size, tour velvet grips and true temper dynamic gold X-100 shafts. He uses the Nike 56 degree VR SW and the Nike 60 degree SV LW wedges. Then finally his putter is the Scotty Cameron by Titleist Studio Stainless Newport 2 putter (standard loft and lie, 35 inches long). His Club line up is dependent upon the course set up and the weather conditions.

Nike Golf is passionately dedicated to honouring and respecting the traditions of the game, and to providing golfers with the absolute best equipment. Nike Golf Drivers deliver state of the art technology for maximum speed, distance, forgiveness and accuracy giving you the tools you need to help you improve your game.

The 2009 Open Championship will be held at Turnberry in Ayrshire the west coast of Scotland.  from 16th – 19th July 2009. This will be the fourth time that the Open has been played on this course at Turnberry with previous winners there being Tom Watson, Greg Norman and Nick Price. Padraig Harrington won the previous two British Championships.

Harrington has betting odds at 28/1 this year. The highest ranking golfer this year in the competition is said to be Tiger Woods with betting odds of 2/1. This time last year Woods underwent major reconstructive surgery on his left leg, he was also recovering from two stress fractures, so last year his priority was getting healthy not having the chance to win his fourth claret jug. However this year he has come back stronger than ever as he is a heavy favorite this week at Turnbery Golf Club. He has a number of sponsors for the event one of which includes Nike Golf. Their objective is to create a brand which is valued by passionate golfers. Working with the best players in the world allows Nike Golf to design and develop products that meet the exact standards of dedicated golfers everywhere.

With Woods being back in the competition this year the two time defending champion Harrington is said to be bracing himself for the battle with Woods at the Championship. Harrington is trying to do what Woods did – change his swing after winning majors – but he comes to Turnberry looking for a British Open three-peat in the throes of a long dry spell that set in soon after he won last year’s PGA Championship.

Padraig Harrington successfully defended his Open Championship title with a four-shot victory over Ian Poulter at Royal Birkdale, becoming the first European to successfully defend The Open since James Braid in 1906.

Harrington, who beat Sergio Garcia in a play-off to win at Carnoustie last year, was a major doubt in the days leading up to the event after injuring his wrist winning the Irish PGA. It seems that history has repeated itself as Harrington missed out on practice time leading up to The Open at Royal Birkdale and at Carnoustie last year. The victory all but assures Harrington of a place in Nick Faldo’s European Ryder Cup team for the defence of their title in September.

Choi, who was tied with Harrington on four over after three rounds, fell back with a 79 to end 13 over. England’s Simon Wakefield, third overnight, partnered Choi in the penultimate group on Sunday but plummeted with a disastrous back nine of 43, including a triple-bogey eight at the 17th to end 14 over. South Africa’s two-time Open champion Ernie Els ended in a tie for seventh on 12 over despite a first-round 80 after carding a closing 69. England’s Paul Casey also finished tied seventh after a 70, as did countryman David Howell who climbed back up the leaderboard with a 67.

Another nice story from The Open was that of the English amateur, Chris Wood, who finished tied for 7^th. He birdied the par-five 17th hole and parred the last at Hillside to secure his place at Birkdale through LFQ with rounds of 71-72 and was the winner of the Welsh Stroke Play Championship at Conwy in 2008, he moved to seventh spot in the World Amateur Golf Ranking to become England’s leading player.

So, it’s finally upon us. The 2008 Open begins tomorrow and promises to be just as interesting and exciting without Tiger Woods. Last year’s winner Padraig Harrington is off to a very similar start to the 2007 Open as he is suffering from an injury on his wrist which means he is missing out on practice time just like last year. Can lightning strike the same place twice?

There seems to be a healthy mixed opinion of who might win this year’s tournament at Royal Birkdale. There is a lot of press surrounding both Lee Westwood and last year’s runner-up Sergio Garcia. Westwood finished 3rd at this year’s US Open at Torrey Pines which was his highest finish so far of any of the 4 majors. Sergio Garcia has not won a major either, but did finish runner-up at the 2007 Open. He finished tied for 18th at this year’s US Open and won this year’s Player’s Championship after a playoff against Paul Goydos. Both golfers will be working hard to make this year’s Open Championship their first major win.

Lee Westwood’s golf bag currently contains:

Driver: Ping G10

Irons: Ping i10

Wedges: Ping Tour-W

Woods: Ping G10

Putter: Ping Redwood Answer

Sergio Garcia is currently using:

Driver: TaylorMade Tour Burner TP

Irons: TaylorMade rac MB TP

Wedges: TaylorMade Z TP

Woods: TaylorMade Burner TP and TaylorMade r7 TP

Putter: Scotty Cameron Newport

A lot of golf fans are saying that The Open this year will not be as challenging or rewarding with Tiger Woods not playing. What a load of rubbish. This year’s Open will be just as interesting as any other and for whoever wins, it will most certainly be rewarding, after all it’s not the “Who Can Beat Tiger Woods Tournament”!

Royal Birkdale, one of Britain’s finest golf clubs has been voted the Number One course in Britain, and is among the best in the world. Having already hosted The Open Championship 8 times, Royal Birkdale is again to host The Open 2008 Championship.

No two players prepare the same. Every one of them wants to go into next week’s Open at Royal Birkdale feeling that he could not have done his homework better.  Sergio Garcia, an obvious favourite for Birkdale would not want to do things like Ben Hogan, the winner of the 1953 Open who arrived weeks ahead of time, and will not be putting in an appearance until Sunday. He said: “If you go too early you feel like the tournament never starts and the week never ends.”

Yet, as you would expect after his fifth-place finish in 2005 and 2006 and his near-miss in 2007, a lot of thought has gone into his plans over the last few weeks. He had four days of links golf in Ireland at the end of June and opted to play in the European Open above the Scottish Open because the London Club has linksland characteristics.

Garcia may be a favourite, but a workman is only ever as good as his tools.  Recently Garcia has been using the following golf equipment:

Driver: TaylorMade Tour Burner
Woods: TaylorMade Burner TP
Irons: TaylorMade rac MB TP
Wedges: TaylorMade rac TP
Putter: Scotty Cameron Newport

Can all the practice he’s been putting in make perfect?  Only time will tell.

Well, it seems that since I was last writing these countdown blogs things have changed.  There will be no Tiger this year which means the Top Ten golfers who are the favourites have changed.

The Top Ten favourites as it stands currently are:

Sergio Garcia
Ernie Els
Lee Westwood
Phil Mickelson
Justin Rose
Jim Furyk
Vijay Singh
Geoff Ogilvy
Retief Goosen
Adam Scott

It’s nice to see some names that were not picked previously such as Lee Westwood, Adam Scott and Retief Goosen.  Westwood, who uses Ping Golf Clubs, recently finished in 3rd place at the US Open and so will be hoping to give the other golfers a run for their money and also beat his position at The Open last year, when he finished tied for 35th.

Titleist player Adam Scott has also been added to the list of Top Ten favourites to win this year’s Open Championship.  Recently finishing tied for 26th at the US Open and finishing tied for 27th at last year’s Open Championship he is maybe an odd choice as a winner of The Open, but then Padraig Harrington won The Open last year and he missed the halfway cut at that year’s US Open and the previous year’s Open Championship, so anything can happen! Another new entry to the favourites list is Retief Goosen.  Goosen, who plays with TaylorMade equipment, finished tied for 14th at this year’s US Open and tied for 23rd at last year’s Open Championship, so he is another outsider, but we’ll just have to keep an eye on play to see how it all pans out!