Golf Monthly Summer 2022

Open week is undoubtedly my favourite on the golfing calendar. The championship is the oldest and best in the game and it always delivers a tremendous blend of skill and excitement from the world’s best players. The Open Championship is at the peak of its powers to entertain when held over the Old Course at St Andrews – unique and characterful, it’s a layout that rewards strategy and precision over raw power. Champions at St Andrews plot rather than bomb their way round – think Tiger Woods avoiding all bunkers over 72 holes in 2000 or Zach Johnson’s accurate display last time at St Andrews in 2015. It’s been seven years since the Open visited the ‘Auld Grey Toon’. It’s fitting and thrilling that the Champion Golfer of the Year…

A grand day out I attended the British Masters at The Belfry with my wife, and what a revelation compared with some sporting events. We saw players happy to pose for photos and sign autographs, and Sky on-course commentator Iona Stephen was lovely to fans when asked for a selfie. Tim Barter said hello from his cart and the on-course interaction between players and fans was great. Special mention should go to Sam Horsfield – he was playing well and in the zone but was happy to fist-bump spectators and sign a ball for a young fan. Pure class, and I was so glad to see him win the following week. We shall definitely go again. What a finish on Sunday as well – hats off to anyone who can birdie…

How special is it to win a second US PGA with your dad and granddad being PGA pros? It’s very, very special. But at this point, any Major is great; I don’t care which one. As Tom Brady says, your favourite Super Bowl is your next one, and that’s what my favourite Major is. I just think it’s so hard to win. I legitimately think it’s harder to win now than it was when I first came out on tour. You came in with so much experience. Did that help? It definitely did come those last three or four holes. I played that back nine beautifully. The holes where I missed the green I was able to salvage par, which is what you have to do to win a Major.…

Collin Morikawa Morikawa didn’t make an impact in the US PGA and missed the cut at the Memorial as his quiet start to 2022 continues. Cameron Young Young is up 100+ spots in the world rankings this year after finishing T2 at the Wells Fargo then missing out by one in the US PGA. Dustin Johnson A missed cut at the US PGA was DJ’s second in three events, with the former World No.1 now down at 15th in the world rankings. Mito Pereira Despite events on the 72nd hole in the US PGA, four consecutive top-20 finishes have seen the Chilean hit the world’s top 50.…

Minjee Lee captured her second Major and claimed the largest prize in the history of the female game with a four-shot victory over Mina Harigae in the 77th US Women’s Open at Pine Needles. Lee added a level-par 71 to rounds of 67, 66 and 67 for a 271 total, following in the footsteps of Karrie Webb and Jan Stephenson to become the third Australian to win this great championship. “I’m speechless, I can’t believe it right now,” Lee said. “It’s super, super special. It’s been my dream since I was a little girl, it’s the one I always wanted to win and now I’ve done it, it feels amazing.” The 26-year-old began the final round three clear of Harigae but quickly extended the lead with two opening birdies on…

It might be the oldest prize in golf, but is it the greatest? That’s more or less the question put to our followers this month. The results are interesting, as are the comments we received. Wading through the LIV Golf sarcasm, it appears to boil down to a straight shoot-out between The Masters and The Open, the first and last male Majors on the calendar. One signifies an unofficial start to the season, while the other crowns the Champion Golfer of the Year. One is played on the most manicured of arenas in a sea of lush green grass, while the other is set in a landscape far more rugged, natural and unpredictable. Both are magnificent in their own way and are undoubtedly and rightly romanticised above all other individual…