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PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – Who will surprise, who will disappoint, who will be a dark horse that can contend, and who will win the 148th Open Championship? Our team of writers at Royal Portrush weighs in with predictions for the last major of this decade.
SURPRISE
REX HOGGARD: Tiger Woods. Despite his status as one of this week’s betting favorites and his history on links courses, the 15-time major champion will struggle to make the cut. Similar to the PGA Championship, where he missed the cut, Woods hasn’t played in a month and admitted on Tuesday that his game isn’t where he wants it to be. That’s a disastrous combination on an exacting and windblown links.
RYAN LAVNER: Brooks Koepka. It’s a testament to Koepka’s greatness that The Open actually represents his “worst” major, and he still has two top-10s in his last three appearances. Still, this isn’t an ideal fit for his skill set, with an emphasis on shot-shaping and finesse. Betting against Koepka is foolish, but it wouldn’t shock if he finished outside the top 10 here.
WILL GRAY: Webb Simpson. The former U.S. Open champ has quietly been playing stellar golf, highlighted by the Canadian Open where he was left in Rory McIlroy’s wake. But he has finished outside the top 20 just once in six starts since the Masters, and while bookmakers have listed him well down the sheet, he has finished T-40 or better at The Open each of the last four years.
NICK MENTA: Joaquin Niemann. The 2018 Latin American Amateur champ, who locked up his PGA Tour card for this season as a non-member last year, was slumping his way through his first full Tour campaign before a breakout in the last month, with three top-10s, including two top-5s. He won’t be the Champion Golfer of the Year come Sunday, but at long odds, he has top-10 potential.
DISAPPOINTMENT
HOGGARD: Rory McIlroy. The native son certainly has the local knowledge to succeed this week at Portrush and his form this season, two victories and 11 top-10s on the PGA Tour, demands he be considered one of the favorites. But the buildup and emotional toll of The Open returning to Northern Ireland will prove to be too much of a distraction.
LAVNER: Tiger Woods. With just 10 tournament rounds since Augusta, Woods was refreshingly blunt in his assessment of his rusty game, and penal Portrush isn’t the kind of place to ease into the week. That the weather will be cool and damp also doesn’t portend well for the 43-year-old with an achy back.
GRAY: Francesco Molinari. Handing back the claret jug might be the last newsworthy moment for him this week. The defending champ seemingly still hasn’t gotten over his heartbreak from the Masters, as five subsequent starts have yielded few results to speak of. While a less than stellar week in Portrush won’t detract from last year’s glory, there won’t be any thoughts of a Padraig Harrington back-to-back for the Ryder Cup star.
MENTA: Rory McIlroy. The Ulsterman doesn’t get it done. For McIlroy, who’s been Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance-ing his way through 2019, this has to be right there with a win at Augusta for the biggest single victory he could hope to bag. He’ll have a chance at the Masters each April. Even if the R&A decides to come back here in short order, he might only get a couple cracks at an Open at Portrush. No matter what he says about patience and perspective, this week brings with it another P-word: pressure.
Full-field tee times from the 148th Open Championship
Full coverage of the 148th Open Championship
DARK HORSE
HOGGARD: Louis Oosthuizen. The South African sails into another Open under the radar but his track record can’t be ignored. He won the 2010 championship at St. Andrews and came up just short at the ’15 Open. He also has the perfect demeanor for a layout that promises plenty of odd bounces and quirky shots.
LAVNER: Shane Lowry. One of the few players with experience at Portrush, Lowry has played solidly this season, starting with a win in Abu Dhabi and continuing with top-10s in three of his last five starts, including a T-8 at the PGA. Listed at 80-1, Lowry is an appealing long shot.
GRAY: Hideki Matsuyama. Once ranked as high as No. 2 in the world, Matsuyama has slid to 29th but enters this week amid a remarkably consistent season. He has gone a full year without missing a cut, the longest such streak on Tour, and he hasn’t finished worse than T-33 since January. In the major that values ball-striking over putting more than the other three, and on a course that should exacerbate that trend, his skill set will shine.
MENTA: Marc Leishman. He has finished T-6 or better in each of the last three Open Championships, with a playoff loss at St. Andrews in 2015. The 24th-ranked player in the world, who gets less attention than his fellow Aussies, is 60-1. He’s also one hell of a landscaper.
WINNER
HOGGARD: Brooks Koepka. Because he’s Brooks. His record in his last four Grand Slam starts is first, second, first, second so it’s easy to see where this trend is heading and he has the added benefit of having Ricky Elliott, a member at Royal Portrush, on the bag.
LAVNER: Xander Schauffele. Golf’s quietest primetime player is trending in the right direction, with top-3s in two majors this year (and top-16s in all three). At age 25, he’s primed for a major breakthrough: He knows he’s good enough to win, he got the necessary experience of being in the hunt last year at Carnoustie (where he was in the final group Sunday) and he has no weaknesses throughout the bag.
GRAY: Jon Rahm. The fiery Spaniard becomes an adopted son of Ireland, having already won an Irish Open down the road at Portstewart and coming off a title two weeks ago at Lahinch. Rahm has been trending, finishing T-3 or better in three starts including the U.S. Open, and his links acumen is evident. Long viewed as a player with major potential, this week he gets the job done.
MENTA: Brooks Koepka. Far from original or inspired, but there’s no compelling reason to think Brooks Koepka won’t be rounding third on Sunday. Koepka passes Rory McIlroy with major No. 5 – in Northern Ireland, no less – and they both drive down Magnolia Lane in April on the precipice of the career Grand Slam.
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What Koepka, Woodland, Tiger and other stars are wearing at Royal Portrush
Published in
Golf
Wednesday, 17 July 2019 00:36
The warm and sunny weather has faded, making way for typical rainy, cold and windy Open conditions at Royal Portrush. While most players will be donning their heavy-duty rain gear, here's what they'll be wearing underneath the protection.
Tiger Woods
Gary Woodland
Brooks Koepka
Justin Rose
Dustin Johnson
Jordan Spieth
Rickie Fowler
Justin Thomas
Bryson DeChambeau
Xander Schauffele
Sergio Garcia
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Rory: An Open at Portrush is 'massive' for Northern Ireland
Published in
Golf
Wednesday, 17 July 2019 01:30
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – Rory McIlroy never could have imagined an Open at Royal Portrush when he grew up here in the 1990s, so he understands the significance of this event is far greater than just his pursuit of a fifth major.
“Having The Open back in this country is a massive thing for golf, and it will be a massive thing for the country,” McIlroy said Wednesday on the eve of the tournament. “Sport has an unbelievable ability to bring people together. We all know that this country sometimes needs that. This has the ability to do that.”
Though he grew up in Holywood, a coastal village just outside of Belfast, McIlroy said that he was “oblivious” to the conflict known as the Troubles that divided the country by political and religious beliefs.
That Royal Portrush is hosting an Open for the first time in 68 years also signals to McIlroy that progress is being made.
“It just means that people have moved on,” he said. “It’s a different time. ... It’s such a great place, no one cares who they are, where they’re from, what background they’re from, but you can have a great life and it doesn’t matter what side of the street you’re from.
“To be able to have this tournament here again, I think it speaks volumes of where the country and where the people that live here are now. We’re so far past that. And that’s a wonderful thing.”
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Slumbers: R&A distance report complete, to be released this fall
Published in
Golf
Wednesday, 17 July 2019 01:37
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – The R&A said Wednesday that its Distance Insights project has been completed and will be published later this year.
The project, initiated in 2018 to provide the most comprehensive look into the impact of distance on the game, should be released in October or November, according to R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers.
Slumbers didn’t offer any hints on the report’s findings, only to say that they’ll “work from that point” once the study is made public.
Spearheaded by the R&A and USGA, the report was designed to review every aspect of the distance boom in golf, using global stakeholder engagement, third-party data review and research.
“We have looked at distance in every single way you could possible think about it,” Slumbers said. “Where were golf courses a hundred years ago? How long have they been? What has happened to golf balls? What’s happened to equipment? We’ve gone to players, architects, all aspects of the golfing world and asked for their perception on distance. So we think it’s probably the most concise and detailed research into the topic that’s ever been done.”
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PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – Changes are already underway for the AIG Women’s British Open.
Announced earlier this month was that the prize fund for the Women’s British Open will increase almost 40 percent for 2019, making it the second-highest purse for the five women’s majors.
Asked Wednesday whether he foresees a day when the women and men would compete for equal pay – the women’s purse is now $4.5 million, compared to $10.75 million for the men – R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said he’s more focused on a sustainable business model for the Women’s British Open.
“To build the economics of the Women’s British Open, to be able to keep raising the prize money, we need to do it as a sustainable business model,” he said. “It needs to be a long-term business model. How do we build a better model to have a more finally successful Women’s British Open that will then flow down into the prize money?
“Where it ends up, I don’t know. But my ambition is to keep growing the overall performance of it and keep enhancing the status of the event.”
Though Slumbers said that he has no intention to take the men’s Open to any inland courses, preferring to play golf’s oldest championship on 10 of the finest links in the world, that’s not yet the case for the Women’s British. This year, for instance, the event is being held at Woburn in England (with Royal Troon on deck for 2020).
“We’re looking at it very carefully,” Slumbers said. “How we attract more people to watch the championship, to watch it live, to watch it on TV, it may be that all being on links courses may not be the right answer,” Slumbers said. “With the Women’s British Open, a mix of some of the great inland golf courses and the great links courses, but all aimed at trying to make the championship more engaged with by the public.”
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Atletico Madrid are set to complete the signings of Kieran Trippier and Mario Hermoso after making a breakthrough in the negotiations with Tottenham Hotspur and Espanyol respectively on Tuesday, sources have told ESPN FC.
Atletico are finalising the details of both deals which will be completed at around €25 million each and that will serve to complete Diego Simeone's defensive overhaul following the summer departures of key players Juanfran, Diego Godin, Lucas Hernandez and Filipe Luis.
- When does the 2019-20 La Liga season start?
Barcelona right-back Nelson Semedo had been Atletico's priority but they were forced to explore alternatives due to a reluctance from Camp Nou to negotiate the departure of the Portugal international.
Sources have told ESPN FC that Atletico have also made enquiries for Paris Saint-Germain defender Thomas Meunier and Arsenal's Hector Bellerin in recent weeks. However, two weeks ago Atletico sporting director Andrea Berta decided to step up negotiations for Trippier in a deal which could rise to around €30m with add-ons.
Trippier, 28, arrived in Madrid this morning and is expected to undergo his medical in Madrid on Wednesday before putting pen to paper on a four-year-deal at the Wanda Metropolitano. Simeone knows the England international well and sources close to the Argentine told ESPN FC they see him as a "very complete player who has power, speed and a very good shot on set pieces."
Meanwhile, other sources have told ESPN FC Atletico also expect to complete the signing of Hermoso from Espanyol after three months of negotiations. Atletico will pay around €25m for Spain international, who will also sign a four-year-deal.
There had been an agreement with the centre-back since May but negotiations with Espanyol have been complicated with the Catalan club looking for €35m since Real Madrid own 50 percent of Hermoso's rights and will get half of the transfer.
Espanyol recently rejected a €20m but Atletico sent an ultimatum this week which saw the Catalans lower their demands and accept a final offer as the player only had one year left on his contract and wanted to move to the Wanda Metropolitano.
Hermoso, 24, has established himself in the Spain national team in recent months, having only joined Espanyol from Real Madrid last summer.
Meanwhile, Atletico are still working on a deal to sign James Rodriguez.
Atletico are also considering Napoli playmaker Fabian Ruiz as an alternative, but president Enrique Cerezo said on Tuesday the Rojiblancos are interested in James.
"Atletico are always interested in great players and James is a great player, but from that to him coming, there is some distance," Cerezo told reporters on Tuesday.
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Toe Poke Daily: Ronaldo, Ibra and football's biggest stars put through ageing app
Published in
Soccer
Wednesday, 17 July 2019 06:28
The Toe Poke Daily is here every day to bring you all the weirdest stories, quirkiest viral content and top trolling that the internet has to offer, all in one place.
FaceApp is all the rage on social media right now. Just add a picture of yourself and find out what you will look like when you are really old.
- Harry Redknapp becomes UK garage star
- Stars come out for sporting Super Sunday
- Neymar says Barca comeback vs. PSG is his best
So we thought we'd take some of the biggest names in football, and put them through the app. It's fair to say some came out better than others.
If you're Jose Mourinho or Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, you might want to look away now!
Ozil goes blonde
With the start of the new season already just a matter of weeks away, Mesut Ozil has plumped for a fresh new look.
Indeed, the German forward has been seen sporting an eye-catching silvery blonde coif out in Los Angeles, where Arsenal are currently preparing to take part in the 2019 International Champions Cup.
Ayyy, @MesutOzil1088 with the fresh trim! ?
? @COPA90 pic.twitter.com/CdIjtnJlzQ
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) 17 July 2019
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was among many suggesting that Ozil may have dyed his hair in tribute to Megan Rapinoe, though a lot of other lookalikes being suggested weren't quite as complimentary.
A delightful Zorin/Strangelove hybrid pic.twitter.com/7VHisxWfyb
— Richie McCormåck (@RichieMcCormack) 17 July 2019
Ozil later explained that he has had to dye his hair as the result of a crossbar challenge wager he lost against Alexandre Lacazette, and that both Shkodran Mustafi and Sead Kolasinac have also followed suit.
Paul O'Grady. https://t.co/5dYI3pQmOG
— Who Ate All The Pies (@waatpies) 17 July 2019
We can hardly wait to see the result yet to come.
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Inzamam not to renew contract as chief selector after July
Published in
Cricket
Wednesday, 17 July 2019 05:28
In what may yet be the first of several departures in the PCB's coaching and management set-up, Inzamam-ul-Haq is set to leave his post of chief selector once his contract ends at the end of this month. Addressing the media at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Inzamam said he would not be interested in seeking out an extension, drawing the curtains on a three-year stint in the role.
"After more than three years as Chair of the Pakistan Men's Selection Committee, I have decided not to seek a renewal of my contract," he said. "With the ICC World Test Championship due to get underway in September and the ICC T20 World Cup in 2020 and the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023, I believe it is the right time for the Pakistan Cricket Board to appoint a new chief selector who can bring new ideas and fresh thinking.
"I spoke to PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani and Managing Director Wasim Khan on Monday and conveyed my decision to them separately. I also thanked them for backing and supporting the selection committee since taking over the reins of Pakistan cricket.
"The Pakistan cricket team has come a long way since the departures of stalwarts like Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan in May 2017 and is now destined for improved results as the youngsters have grown in experience and stature. They are now ready to excel and perform consistently across the three formats."
The writing had been on the wall during the course of Pakistan's roller-coaster World Cup 2019 campaign, during which Inzamam was seen in England and often with the players in the dressing room, most notably following an alleged spat between players and coach that Inzamm had apparently mediated upon. Wholesale changes to the management set-up were expected following the tournament, in which Pakistan narrowly missed out on a semi-final berth by finishing fifth, and Inzamam is the first person out of the door.
He began his stint in August 2016, and at the time, Pakistan were so eager to appoint him they bought out the last year of his contract with the Afghanistan Cricket Board, where he had served as the head coach. His time saw several players enter the Pakistan international set-up, who are now mainstays, such as Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan, Imam-ul-Haq, Faheem Ashraf and Shaheen Afridi. The biggest success of this period was lifting the Champions Trophy in 2017, when Pakistan beat India in the final to win their first ICC tournament in nearly a decade. Six months later, they would beat New Zealand in a three-match T20I series to ascend to No. 1 in the T20I rankings, a position they still hold.
"The most important aspect is when we got the team, there were many players at the end of their careers," said Inzamam. "We had to pick young players and I strongly believe that these 15 to 16 players can serve around 10 to 15 years. Our job was to pick potential new players and we took a chance on many players. We had picked over 15 young players in this tenure and now in every format we have young world-class players."
There were also accusations of nepotism, both whispered and more loud, surrounding the inclusion of Inzamam's nephew Imam for a tour against Sri Lanka in the UAE. Imam has since gone on to become an ODI mainstay, cementing the opening position in both ODIs and Tests. He scored a century on ODI debut, becoming only the second Pakistani to do so, and averages a shade under 55 in the format after playing 36 matches.
"It has been a pleasure to see these players grow and make names for themselves in international cricket," Inzamam said. "I will follow their progress with interest because I firmly believe these players have all the ingredients to take the Pakistan cricket team to greater heights.
"The team could have performed better during my time than the results reflect and I may have inadvertently overlooked some potentially deserving players, but I have always had the best interests of Pakistan cricket foremost in my heart. I hope the passionate Pakistan cricket fans will understand and can see this in my decisions.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow selectors, who worked tireless behind the scenes, as well as captain Sarfaraz Ahmed and coach Mickey Arthur. I think we worked very well as a group, stayed together in difficult times, and continued to collectively move in the same direction.
"I wish the new chief of the selection committee and the Pakistan cricket teams all the best in what will be exciting but competitive times in international cricket."
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Inzamam-ul-Haq defends Imam-ul-Haq's selection, wants captains appointed long-term
Published in
Cricket
Wednesday, 17 July 2019 06:03
For all that Inzamam-ul-Haq may have achieved during his stint as chief selector, there is one decision most persistently brought up. In the autumn of 2017, with Pakistan wrapping up a routine clean sweep over Sri Lanka in the UAE, 21-year old Imam-ul-Haq was brought into the side. He opened the batting, scored a century on debut - only the second Pakistani to do - en route to a routine chase. It might have looked like a masterstroke. So what was the problem?
It turns out Imam is Inzamam's nephew, and in Pakistan, be it cricket or any other institution, nepotism is so corrosively widespread that any whiff of it is enough to taint the one associated with it. And for some people, the inclusion of Imam at the alleged behest of the chief selector, who happened to be his uncle, was much too difficult to accept.
Today, as Inzamam announced he would not be seeking an extension on his term as chief selector, disclosed he had never been the one to push for Imam's selection, claiming batting coach Grant Flower had first brought up the possibility of bringing him into the international set-up. He also reminded people he hadn't been part of the set-up when Imam was included in the Pakistan Under-19 squad in 2012, or when he went on to become the vice-captain of that side in 2014, deputising under Babar Azam.
"When he was first picked up for the international team not many know this, that it was Grant Flower who first came up to me to say he had been watching Imam score runs in domestic cricket. Then, [head coach] Mickey Arthur took up his case with the selection committee. Many people raised questions about his selection but when his name came up in selection I kept quiet and let others decide about him. So when you say that his selection is because of me, that's inappropriate, because the team is not made by me alone. It was by the head coach and captain so why not question them?
"His selection for me and him has been very critical for each other," Inzamam said. "But I want to remind people who had been making this an issue that when I wasn't the part of PCB in any capacity in 2012, he was selected in Pakistan's Under-19 squad. In 2014, he was named vice-captain for the Under-19 World Cup and this formed a pathway to international cricket. He has scored runs and earned his place in the team. He did well and in the 36 ODIs he's played so far as opener, he averages over 50, which hasn't been achieved by anyone yet. So I think he should be regarded the same as everyone else."
Inzamam would not be drawn on future contenders for the captaincy, though he notably stopped short of a ringing endorsement of Sarfaraz Ahmed, the current Pakistan captain. The PCB is understood to be evaluating the captain and coaches' performances over the last three years before taking a decision, with split captaincy across formats an option they are open to. Head coach Mickey Arthur is understood be be presenting his case on July 29, when senior management at the PCB convene to discuss the way forward.
"Since being made captain, Sarfaraz has done well but had mixed performances," Inzamam said. "It's not my decision to keep him or remove him; that question needs to be asked of the relevant decision-makers. But captaincy is about a leader who must be expected to have enough confidence to be able to pass it on to his team.
"I personally believe this series-by-series captaincy isn't a feasible option and I am all for long-term captaincy. Whoever you name as captain, it's a hard choice. But then he should be supported 100 percent and given ample time and that's very important. All successful captains in the world have had long-term roles to make a difference."
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