Amen: Shark Refuses To Take Up An Open Championship Spot

Greg Norman has told the BBC he's passing up his final year of Open Championship eligibility because he doesn't practice anymore and even more refreshingly, does not want to take an opportunity away from a younger player.

While we never want to see geezer champions pass up opportunities they are eligible for, the PGA Tour has seen its share of hanger-on types taking up spots. So it's refreshing to hear someone recognize their limitations.

The full interview is here, or Keely Levins has this summary of Norman's key reasons for not turning up at St. Andrews for one last bridge wave.

"I'm not going to walk up to the first tee and feel like I'm taking the space of a young kid who could learn a heck of a lot more from it. I don't believe in doing that. I think it's so unfair to do that."

Video: Sneak Preview Of St. Andrews With Gordon McKie

Thanks to reader Brian for Anna Whiteley's Golfing World chat with Old Course greenkeeper Gordon McKie. Because who isn't ready to get in the mood for The Open at St. Andrews?

Watching this, two things came to mind: McKie and crew appear to have the Old Course appears in amazing condition already (59 watch!), and what cool audio of Jack Nicklaus at the very end talking about winning at the Old Course (and throwing on a coat for the trophy ceremony to boot). There's also some nice aerial stuff from 2010 interspersed.

Because it's never too early to get up for The Open at St. Andrews...

Second Masters Question: Where Does The Year Go From Here?

When you have a Masters like 2015’s, the rest of the year is all downhill from here. Right?

After all, how do you top that leaderboard, winner, ratings, viewing experience and such overall positive impression for the professional game?

Here are three reasons I’m not giving up on the rest of the year potentially superseding what we’ve seen to date. The next few months should be fascinating.

—No gray May. With the WGC Match Play’s one-off move to May and sporting a new and improved format, we have a fun two-week run featuring future PGA Championship venue Harding Park and a Players Championship with so many top players either on their game or experiencing a renaissance. And then May gets better. The European Tour’s flagship event, the BMW Championship, always entertains in late May. But this year it’s followed by the Irish Open brought to us by Rory and Dubai Duty Free at…Royal County Down. It’s not often you get a top 10 in the world course seldom seen by most of the planet and the field could even be better than the previous week’s BMW.

—Chambers Bay Could Be Brilliant Or A Fiasco. I can’t recall a venue that so few players know—except Jordan Spieth and caddie Michael Greller—with so many questions about how the place function. Will it be a masterful, daily puzzle of course setup twists, shotmaking and stunning vistas? Or six-hour rounds, cranky players, goofy shots and a fluke winner? Will players skip the Memorial or St. Jude to get in extra practice rounds? Throw in the Fox Sports debut (though potentially not on AT&T U-Verse), and the intrigue level figures to be high on many levels.

—Gullane And The Old Course. July only gets more interesting with the one-two punch of Gullane No. 1.5 and The Old Course hosting The Open Championship. As thrilling as it is to see the game return to the course that started it all—and remain relevant with help from the neighboring courses—the debut of Gullane on the world stage will introduce many to another course instrumental in early Scottish golf. Two weeks of tournaments starting in golf-friendly towns and returning to backdrops of virtual movie sets could manage to top the Masters.

And what do you think?

What month are you most intrigued by?

May (Match Play, Players, BMW, Irish Open)

June (Memorial, U.S. Open)

July (Scottish Open, The Open)

 

pollcode.com free polls

Champions Challenge Returns At 2015 Open Championship

Cancelled in 2010 due to adverse weather, the R&A has announced they will be bringing back the Champions Challenge at St. Andrews this year. Played at 4 pm on the eve of The Open Championship, headliners include Tom Watson and Peter Thomson, who is celebrating the 60th anniversary of his Open win at The Old Course.

A wire story on the event, a four-hole team based shootout that plays 1, 2, 17 and 18. A concert will kick things off (I'm feeling bagpipes, but don't hold me to that).

Golf fans will also be delighted to see three-time Champions Gary Player, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods playing in the event alongside the 1963 and 1969 Champions, Bob Charles and Tony Jacklin, and more recent winners such as Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington.

Among the other champions confirmed so far are Louis Oosthuizen, who won The Open in 2010, the last time it was played in St Andrews, Stewart Cink, David Duval, Paul Lawrie, Mark O`Meara, Justin Leonard, John Daly and Sandy Lyle.

The occasion will also be used to pay tribute to Australia`s Kel Nagle, who won the Centenary Open in 1960 at St Andrews and who passed away in January at the age of 94.

Sky Sports To End BBC's 59-Year Open Championship Run

Charles Sale for the Daily Mail says Sky Sports will pay £10 million a year for UK rights and the deal is to be announced next week.

BBC will retain some sort of highlights deal. ESPN, meanwhile, is in the midst of an 8-year, $25 million-annual deal that commenced in 2010.

The 2015 Open Championship at St. Andrews will be the BBC's final broadcast.

R&A On Verge Of BBC-Sky Decision

You may recall at last summer's R&A press conference that Peter Dawson was not very convincing in suggesting the BBC would continue on as a television partner starting in 2016. And those with an even better memory will recall that I reported in Golf World the possibility of a move to Sky Sports lining up a synergistic opportunity with Fox Sports for The Open coverage starting in 2018.

The Telegraph's Ben Rumsby reports that the rights deal was "in the balance" Thursday night as BBC and BSkyB battle for The Open rights.

James Corrigan talked to Lee Westwood about the possibility and the Englishman suggested the move would be a mistake.

“You can’t really fault Sky with the resources they put into golf and, obviously, now that they have the Masters, the Open is the last piece in the jigsaw for them, as far as male professional golf is concerned,” Westwood said. “But from a golfing perspective and reaching the widest possible audience and all that it would be very disappointing.

“Yes, the true golf fans would always find a way to watch the Open. But what I’d be very concerned about is that with the participation levels falling it certainly wouldn’t encourage people who would not ordinarily take up the game to have a go.”

You Really, Really Want To See Chambers Bay

I thought the poll question from earlier this week was a loaded one, what with The Old Course hosting The Open this year.

But with 715 votes 47% of you said Chambers Bay was the most anticipated major venue of 2015, followed by St. Andrews at 27%. And the quick return to Whistling Straits has almost none of you excited.

Certainly there is a mysterious quality to Chambers Bay and how the entire thing will work (or not), from the conditioning to the setup to the logistics to the first Fox telecast. As always, thanks for voting.

The Open Unveils New "Brand Identity" Which Is A Nice Way Of Saying They Finally Dumped That Awful Logo

Sam Weinman gives the new Open Championship logo a thumb's up in reporting on the R&A's unveiling of a new "brand identity" and I'd go a step further and say the move goes form a genuinely hellaciously awful logo to something that, with a simple font change, finally captures the aura of The Open (and that you wouldn't be embarrassed to wear on a cap).

The R&A's release on the new logo. The rationale:

Designed to capture all the defining attributes of The Open and to communicate the Championship's unique heritage to golf fans the world over, the new brand identity was delivered by two London agencies, teamup and Designwerk, who have created brand identities for some of the world's leading sporting properties.

It took two agencies to figure out a better font? Oh well, whatever it takes as long as we aren't paying for it.

Peter Dawson, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “We know that fans of The Open share a tremendously strong connection with the Championship.  The new branding celebrates the values long associated with The Open, the inspiration provided by great champions, the authentic and unrelenting challenge of links golf and the openness of our unique championship.

“The Open has enjoyed great success for more than 150 years and strengthening its brand will help to ensure its appeal continues to grow over the decades ahead.  We believe the new branding will reflect an enhanced experience for the millions of golf fans who support The Open.”

Strengthening the brand=new and improved font. What a world.

There's some other particularly juicy jargon in the release about brand equity, the brand story, brand expression...oh screw it, you don't believe me do you?

Fred Popp, Chief Executive of teamup, said, “The Open has tremendous brand equity and is one of the world’s most cherished sporting events.  Through its steadfast commitment to identifying the Champion Golfer of the Year, The Open is a celebration of golf in its purest form.

“As The Open’s lead brand agency, our work included the development of the brand story, definition of the brand expression and the resulting logo that delivers on the Championship’s rich history and heritage, fit for audiences in the digital age.  teamup is thrilled to have played a part in helping The Open further strengthen its ambition and unshakable commitment to the sport and fans of golf everywhere.”

Just a babbling brook of...

Anyway, The Open is sporting a new and much improved font. We're in!

The old one, lest you forget...

If you have three minutes of your life you'd like to never have back, there's also a brand identity launching video.

The Old Course And Its "Acute Spur Formation"

As we come to grips with the idea that men who preach the gospel that is St. Andrews are also conspiring to tinker with golf's most sacred grounds, nothing is more shocking to me than the idea that they have so many plans to change the ground.

Bunkers have come and gone and are easily filled in. And who is to say a few here or there might not have been spots where sand would have emerged in early iterations of the course when the bunkers formed by accident?  Yet in Friday's news dump press release, the Links Trust and R&A are proudly touting all of the various areas where they are going to rearrange contours. In nearly all cases, this is ground that has not been touched for centuries.

Most curious of all for me was this regarding the fourth hole:

On the 4th, the acute spur formation on the left hand side of the fairway will be reduced and the bunker on the right hand side of the green will be moved closer to its edge. The ground to the back right of the green will be re-contoured.

So is this the acute spur formation, easily the nastiest euphemism for hillock or mound ever concocted? As seen from the middle of the 4th fairway in 2010:

Or is this bump short left of the green the acute spur?

Either way, if one of these is the "formation" that Dr.'s Hawtree and Dawson will be shaving down, it begs the question: do they even get the most basic essence of Old Course golf? The strategy is so basic and yet so sound:

Drive down the right, flirt with trouble and open up a view to the green.

Bail out right from the tee and the risk averse golfer gets blocked out by the hillock...errr...acute spur formation, leaving a more difficult second shot with another acute spur formation causing problems if the hole is cut left.

I genuinely hope these are not the features they intend to tinker with. Because if so, the Old Course will be in danger of losing some of the vitality that makes it so special.