by tyler | Apr 9, 2024 | CNN, golf
Golfers fall asleep dreaming of securing theirs, Bubba Watson was moved to tears simply reminiscing over his, and one fan was willing to shell out over $680,000 just to own one.
Augusta National’s green jacket – an exclusive prize for Masters champions – is golf’s most coveted fashion statement, and one of sport’s most iconic pieces of clothing.
Sure, the prestige of winning one of the four majors in men’s golf and the trophy, not to mention the prize money, are welcome rewards, but the storied history of the Georgia club’s green member’s jacket earned it a unique reputation among those that pursue it.
The story of Augusta’s green jacket began some 3,900 miles across the Atlantic, in the town of Hoylake in northwest England.
Ahead of hosting its sixth British Open Championship in 1930, Royal Liverpool Golf Club held a players’ reception. In attendance was the most celebrated amateur golfer of the era, American Bobby Jones.
Over dinner, Jones proceeded to pepper former club captain Kenneth Stoker with questions on his red coat, the formal kit of Royal Liverpool captains.
“Mr. Jones, if you’re so fascinated by this, I will give you my coat if you win our Championship this week,” challenged Stoker – according to a CNN interview with club historian Joe Pinnington in 2014.
Naturally, Jones made short work of the wager, clinching the 11th of his 13 career major victories and returning to the US with a trophy – and a red blazer.
After becoming the first and only golfer to complete the original grand slam (Amateur Championship, Open Championship, US Open, US Amateur) months later, Jones stunned the sporting world by announcing his retirement from competitive golf at just 28 years old.
Harboring a passion for course design, Jones had other plans in mind. In 1934, his newly founded Augusta National hosted the first incarnation of The Masters.
Three years later, Augusta members started wearing green jackets to make themselves identifiable to patrons. In 1949 it was decided that year’s victor, Sam Snead, and all the previous champions, would be issued with their own version too.
The green jacket wasn’t a smash hit from the start, though. Originally produced by New York’s Brooks Uniform Company, Augusta members complained that the jackets were overly thick and uncomfortable in hot conditions, leading to a swift change of manufacturer, according to the PGA Tour.
Since 1967, Hamilton Tailoring Company of Cincinnati has held responsibility for making the jacket, the color of which is officially classified as “Pantone 342.”
Production is a month-long process that sees the owners name stitched inside and Augusta National logos emblazoned on both the chest pocket and brass buttons.
As a result, the jacket slipped onto the shoulders of winners on Sunday is simply for presentation, with the real one handed over later.
Terms and conditions
Yet newly crowned champions can’t simply walk away and find a lifetime spot for their new prize in their wardrobe – terms and conditions apply.
For starters, the jackets cannot be removed from – and can only be worn on – the grounds of Augusta National, though winners are permitted to take theirs home for a year on the condition they bring it back at the next edition of the tournament to hang in the Champions Locker Room.
When the defending champion returns a year later, they – along with a host of former victors – will don their jacket for the Masters Champions Dinner. The reigning winner decides the menu, with Scottie Scheffler serving up cheeseburger sliders, ribeye steak, and chocolate chip cookies for this year’s meal. Their final responsibility is to help the new winner slip into his new jacket during a ceremonial “passing of the torch” presentation outside Butler Cabin.
But what if a champion successfully defends his title? That was a question Masters co-founders Jones and Clifford Roberts hurriedly answered in 1966 when Jack Nicklaus became the first back-to-back champion at Augusta.
The pair decided that “The Golden Bear” should put the jacket on himself, and in the two repeat occasions since – Nick Faldo in 1990 and Tiger Woods in 2002 – the Masters chairman assumed responsibility for helping the golfers into their jackets.
There is one infamous exception to the rule of returning your jacket.
When Gary Player became the first international golfer to win The Masters in 1961, he jetted home to South Africa with his green jacket tucked away in his luggage. The following year, when he was defeated by Arnold Palmer in a playoff, he didn’t return it.
“I didn’t know you were supposed to leave it there,” said Player. “Next thing you know, there was a call from Mr. Roberts. And I said, ‘Well, Mr. Roberts, if you want it, why don’t you come and fetch it?’”
Roberts saw the funny side, Player added, and allowed the South African to keep it on the condition that he didn’t wear it in public. “The Black Knight” would go on to win two further Masters in 1974 and 1978.
Given how hard it is for the game’s finest to get their hands on a green jacket, it’s borderline impossible for non-golfers to do the same – but that hasn’t stopped a select few from trying.
In 2013, the jacket owned by Horton Smith, winner of the inaugural Masters in 1934, sold for $682,229 to an unnamed buyer at an auction hosted by Green Jacket Auctions.
In 2017, Augusta National filed a lawsuit to stop the memorabilia company from auctioning another winner’s green jacket, as well as two members’ green jackets, according to the Associated Press.
The champion’s jacket was purported to have belonged to 1966 winner Byron Nelson. His blazer was marked in an inventory check at Augusta in 2009 before going missing, the lawsuit said.
In January 2019, Augusta National and Green Jacket Auctions agreed to drop their legal dispute, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
One jacket auctioned by Green Jacket Auctions was reported to have been first discovered in a Toronto thrift shop. Purchased for a measly $5, the jacket, whose original owner was undisclosed, was sold at auction for $139,349 in April 2017.
From letting friends – and even newborn children – try it on for size, to donning it for barbeques, Masters champions have found various uses for their green jackets during their limited-time home ownership.
“I didn’t take it for granted whatsoever,” 2015 champion Jordan Spieth told reporters upon his return to Augusta the following year.
“I think that I could have taken advantage of having it in my possession more than I did, but you learn and next time I’ll do a little bit better.
“Some of my favorite memories were certainly back home, having a bunch of my friends over and just having the jacket on while you’re grilling out … it was certainly a lot of fun and I don’t want to have to give it back.”
For others, the satisfaction of turning rivals green with envy is enough.
“It’s a great way to give the other guys grief, give them a little jab here or there,” said Phil Mickelson, champion in 2004, 2006, and 2010.
Charl Schwartzel, who mounted a stunning final day charge to seal victory in 2011, said: “To have it with you and to see the people’s faces when you walk in … they always take a second look like, ‘that’s the jacket!’”
Zach Johnson described dressing his four-month-old son in his 2007 winner’s jacket for a picture session, following in the footsteps of Bubba Watson, who did the same with his adopted son after triumph in 2012.
“I wrapped Caleb up in it, that was the only thing I did with it,” a tearful Watson told reporters in 2013.
“Out of respect and honor for Augusta National and one of the greatest clubs we have, one of the greatest tournaments … I didn’t do any of my funny antics that I normally would do.”
by tyler | Apr 9, 2024 | CNN, golf
Slumped on his club, head buried in his arm, Rory McIlroy looked on the verge of tears.
The then-21-year-old had just watched his ball sink into the waters of Rae’s Creek at Augusta National and with it, his dream of winning The Masters, a dream that had looked so tantalizingly close mere hours earlier.
As a four-time major winner and one of the most decorated names in the sport’s history, few players would turn down the chance to swap places with McIlroy heading into Augusta this week.
Yet on Sunday afternoon of April 10, 2011, not a golfer in the world would have wished to be in the Northern Irishman’s shoes.
A fresh-faced, mop-headed McIlroy had touched down in Georgia for the first major of the season with a reputation as the leading light of the next generation of stars.
An excellent 2010 had marked his best season since turning pro three years earlier, highlighted by a first PGA Tour win at the Quail Hollow Championship and a crucial contribution to Team Europe’s triumph at the Ryder Cup.
Yet despite a pair of impressive top-three finishes at the Open and PGA Championship respectively, a disappointing missed cut at The Masters – his first at a major – served as ominous foreshadowing.
McIlroy shot 74 and 77 to fall four strokes short of the cut line at seven-over par, a performance that concerned him enough to take a brief sabbatical from competition.
But one year on in 2011, any lingering Masters demons looked to have been exorcised as McIlroy flew round the Augusta fairways.
Having opened with a bogey-free seven-under 65 – the first time he had ever shot in the 60s at the major – McIlroy pulled ahead from Spanish first round co-leader Alvaro Quirós with a second round 69.
It sent him into the weekend holding a two-shot cushion over Australia’s Jason Day, with Tiger Woods a further stroke behind and back in the hunt for a 15th major after a surging second round 66.
And yet the 21-year-old leader looked perfectly at ease with having a target on his back. Even after a tentative start to the third round, McIlroy rallied with three birdies across the closing six holes to stretch his lead to four strokes heading into Sunday.
The youngster was out on his own ahead of a bunched chasing pack comprising Day, Ángel Cabrera, K.J. Choi and Charl Schwartzel. After 54 holes, McIlroy had shot just three bogeys.
“It’s a great position to be in … I’m finally feeling comfortable on this golf course,” McIlroy told reporters.
“I’m not getting ahead of myself, I know how leads can dwindle away very quickly. I have to go out there, not take anything for granted and go out and play as hard as I’ve played the last three days. If I can do that, hopefully things will go my way.
“We’ll see what happens tomorrow because four shots on this golf course isn’t that much.”
The truth can hurt, and McIlroy was about to prove his assessment of Augusta to be true in the most excruciating way imaginable.
His fourth bogey of the week arrived immediately. Having admitted to expecting some nerves at the first tee, McIlroy sparked a booming opening drive down the fairway, only to miss his putt from five feet.
Three consecutive pars steadied the ship, but Schwartzel had the wind in his sails. A blistering birdie, par, eagle start had seen him draw level at the summit after his third hole.
A subsequent bogey from the South African slowed his charge, as McIlroy clung onto a one-shot lead at the turn from Schwartzel, Cabrera, Choi, and a rampaging Woods, who shot five birdies and an eagle across the front nine to send Augusta into a frenzy.
Despite his dwindling advantage and the raucous Tiger-mania din ahead of him, McIlroy had responded well to another bogey at the 5th hole, draining a brilliant 20-foot putt at the 7th to restore his lead.
The fist pump that followed marked the high-water point of McIlroy’s round, as a sliding start accelerated into full-blown free-fall at the par-four 10th hole.
His tee shot went careening into a tree, ricocheting to settle between the white cabins that separate the main course from the adjacent par-three course. It offered viewers a glimpse at a part of Augusta rarely seen on broadcast, followed by pictures of McIlroy anxiously peering out from behind a tree to track his follow-up shot.
Though his initial escape was successful, yet another collision with a tree and a two-putt on the green saw a stunned McIlroy eventually tap in for a triple bogey. Having led the field one hole and seven shots earlier, he arrived at the 11th tee in seventh.
By the time his tee drive at the 13th plopped into the creek, all thoughts of who might be the recipient of the green jacket had long-since switched away from the anguished youngster. It had taken him seven putts to navigate the previous two greens, as a bogey and a double bogey dropped him to five-under – the score he had held after just 11 holes of the tournament.
Mercifully, the last five holes passed without major incident. A missed putt for birdie from five feet at the final hole summed up McIlroy’s day, though he was given a rousing reception as he left the green.
Mere minutes earlier, the same crowd had erupted as Schwartzel sunk his fourth consecutive birdie to seal his first major title. After starting the day four shots adrift of McIlroy, the South African finished 10 shots ahead of him, and two ahead of second-placed Australian duo Jason Day and Adam Scott.
McIlroy’s eight-over 80 marked the highest score of the round. Having headlined the leaderboard for most of the week, he finished tied-15th.
Tears would flow during a phone call with his parents the following morning, but at his press conference, McIlroy was upbeat.
“I’m very disappointed at the minute, and I’m sure I will be for the next few days, but I’ll get over it,” he said.
“I was leading this golf tournament with nine holes to go, and I just unraveled … It’s a Sunday at a major, what it can do.
“This is my first experience at it, and hopefully the next time I’m in this position I’ll be able to handle it a little better. I didn’t handle it particularly well today obviously, but it was a character-building day … I’ll come out stronger for it.”
Once again, McIlroy would be proven right.
Just eight weeks later in June, McIlroy rampaged to an eight-shot victory at the US Open. Records tumbled in his wake at Congressional, as he shot a tournament record 16-under 268 to become the youngest major winner since Tiger Woods at The Masters in 1997.
The historic victory kickstarted a golden era for McIlroy. After coasting to another eight-shot win at the PGA Championship in 2012, McIlroy became only the third golfer since 1934 to win three majors by the age of 25 with triumph at the 2014 Open Championship.
Before the year was out, he would add his fourth major title with another PGA Championship win.
And much of it was owed to that fateful afternoon at Augusta. In an interview with the BBC in 2015, McIlroy dubbed it “the most important day” of his career.
“If I had not had the whole unravelling, if I had just made a couple of bogeys coming down the stretch and lost by one, I would not have learned as much.
“Luckily, it did not take me long to get into a position like that again when I was leading a major and I was able to get over the line quite comfortably. It was a huge learning curve for me and I needed it, and thankfully I have been able to move on to bigger and better things.
“Looking back on what happened in 2011, it doesn’t seem as bad when you have four majors on your mantelpiece.”
McIlroy’s contentment came with a caveat: it would be “unthinkable” if he did not win The Masters in his career.
Yet as he prepares for his 15th appearance at Augusta National this week, a green jacket remains an elusive missing item from his wardrobe.
Despite seven top-10 finishes in his past 10 Masters outings, the trophy remains the only thing separating McIlroy from joining the ranks of golf immortals to have completed golf’s career grand slam of all four majors in the modern era: Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods.
A runner-up finish to Scottie Scheffler last year marked McIlroy’s best finish at Augusta, yet arguably 2011 remains the closest he has ever been to victory. A slow start in 2022 meant McIlroy had begun Sunday’s deciding round 10 shots adrift of the American, who teed off for his final hole with a five-shot lead despite McIlroy’s brilliant 64 finish.
At 33 years old, time is still on his side. Though 2022 extended his major drought to eight years, it featured arguably his best golf since that golden season in 2014.
And as McIlroy knows better than most, things can change quickly at Augusta National.
by tyler | Nov 17, 2023 | CNN, golf
To most people, the words Swiss sport and Emmental might trigger thoughts of Roger Federer eating cheese.
Yet to those familiar with the sprawling countryside and farmlands of the Swiss heartland region where the cheese originated, there’s been a traditional game synonymous with the area for centuries.
Sending projectiles hurtling through the air at 200 miles per hour, all rise – and then duck – for Hornussen.
Risk and reward
Described as a hybrid of baseball and golf, Hornussen sees two teams of 18 take turns hitting and fielding the “Nouss” or “Hornuss,” a puck named after hornets for its buzzing sound as it whistles through the air.”
Armed with a 3-meter (9.84-foot) carbon stick called a “Träf,” hitters take to a raised batting ramp in front of a playing area – the “Ries” – some 300 meters (980 feet) long and 10 meters (32 feet) wide. Their task is to strike the puck from the sloped platform, known as the “Bock,” as far as they can down the field.
Scoring starts if they reach the 100-meter line, with an additional point awarded for every 10 meters past the marker. Crucially though, points are only registered if the Nouss lands, with fielders spread at intervals seeking to block the puck from landing with bats, or “Schindels.”
The sport’s format has drawn comparisons to golf, with some even suggesting it was a forerunner to the sport’s modern incarnation.
“The similarity is that like a ball, you hit a puck, and you hit it far away, but here you want to make some goals, not holes,” said Michael Kummer, member of national championship winning team Hochstetten Hornussen.
“People from other countries call Hornussen the ‘Farmer’s Golf’, so I think there’s some similarities.”
Yet while in golf only an errant shot is likely to present any danger to others, in Hornussen, putting yourself in harm’s way is an essential part of the game. With pucks of pressed plastic whizzing towards you at speeds akin to an F1 car, stopping them is a feat as treacherous as it is tricky. Though players often wear helmets and shielding gear, some take to the field without any such protection.
“It’s really dangerous if you don’t see the Nouss or if one hits the bat and, two meters before the face, the Nouss changes direction,” Kummer explained.
“If it goes in the eyes or around the head it’s really dangerous.”
Originating in the mid-17th century in the Emmental valley and, barring brief forays into neighboring Germany, Hornussen has never left Switzerland, with few teams existing outside the west-central canton of Bern.
The need for vast expanses of open grass to contest games forms part of the reason the sport has been limited to the rural area of Emmental, Kummer explains, adding that ventures into Germany ultimately fell short when teams couldn’t find enough players.
Yet for Kummer, it is this very rootedness in Switzerland that makes Hornussen – alongside yodeling and schwingen, a form of wrestling – a pillar of the nation’s sporting culture.
“With yodelling and schwingen it’s one of the three culture sports of Switzerland and we like it,” he said.
Around 260 teams are active across a multi-league pyramid in Switzerland, with the top teams fighting it out for the Swiss Championship.
And as winners of the last five titles, Kummer’s Hochstetten are very much the Bayern Munich of the Hornussen world.
With Hochstetten boasting a number of tall, strong players, at first glance it would seem that physical attributes are hugely influential in a team’s performance. Yet Kummer insists that size matters only up to a point.
“We have some big guys, but we also have small guys and it’s one of the nice things about this sport,” he said.
“The small guys can also make a good play in the field and they can hit the Nouss as long as the big guys.”
Take Kumer’ teammate Simon Ernie; though relatively diminutive in stature compared to some of his peers, Ernie was the league’s top scorer during his team’s most recent title winning campaign.
“He is the Lionel Messi of Hornussen, and he’s also a small guy,” Kummer said. “He’s one of the smallest on our team.”
by tyler | Jun 19, 2023 | CNN, golf
Wyndham Clark won the 2023 US Open to claim his first major title on Sunday, edging Rory McIlroy in a nail-biting finale at Los Angeles Country Club.
The American, boasting just one prior win on the PGA Tour and having never previously made the cut at the tournament, held off the challenge of Northern Ireland’s four-time major champion to win the 123rd edition of the major by a single stroke.
Clark, 29, carded a closing round even-par 70 to finish 10-under overall and earn a $3.6 million winner’s cut of a record $20 million prize purse, the largest ever awarded in major history.
And while the win fell on Father’s Day, Clark dedicated the win to his mother, Lise Clark, who died of breast cancer in 2013.
The Denver-born golfer had spoken at length about her inspiration earlier in the tournament, explaining how she had left him with the instruction to “play big.” Mission emphatically accomplished, Clark teared up while discussing her in his winner’s interview.
“I just felt like my mom was watching over me today and you know she can’t be here. Miss you mom,” said an emotional Clark.
“I’ve worked so hard and I’ve dreamed about this moment for so long. There’s been so many times I’ve visualized being here in front of you guys and winning this championship.
“I just feel like it was my time.”
For McIlroy, US Open champion in 2011, a nine year wait for a fifth major title continues. The 34-year-old has now finished inside the top-five at 10 major tournaments since winning The Open and PGA Championship in 2014.
“When I do finally win this next major, it’s going to be really, really sweet,” McIlroy told reporters.
“I would go through 100 Sundays like this to get my hands on another major championship.”
An even longer wait endures for Rickie Fowler, who – having begun the final round tied for the lead with Clark – saw his dreams of an elusive first major evaporate in a painful final day slide.
The 34-year-old had made a historic start, shooting 62 to join American compatriot Xander Schauffele in breaking the record for the lowest single round score ever shot at a US Open, but closed with a 75, the fourth highest score of the final round, to fall to tied-fifth.
Three times a runner-up, eight times in the top-10: the bittersweet tag of being one of the best golfers to never win a major remains stuck to the fan-favorite Californian.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler finished third, three shots behind Clark at seven-under and one ahead of Australian Cameron Smith in fourth.
Level in fifth with Fowler were Australian Min Woo Lee and England’s Tommy Fleetwood, who was mere inches away from leveling Fowler and Schauffele’s historic record following a blistering final round.
Fleetwood shot two eagles and four birdies to soar 32 places up the leaderboard, but saw his closing seven-foot birdie effort roll agonizingly wide to end on a 63.
Defending champion Matt Fitzpatrick finished tied-17th at one-under overall, as did last month’s PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka.
The fourth and final men’s major of the year, The Open Championship, gets underway at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on July 20.
After an agonizing bogey finish to his third round, any hopes Fowler had of wiping the slate clean were quickly dashed. The world No. 45 made a nightmare start as his first ever share of a 54-hole major lead evaporated, a string of errant tee shots compounding two bogeys across his first six holes.
Again, Clark capitalized, rattling three quick birdies across the same stretch. Having trailed Fowler by two strokes after 53 holes, by the end of the 60th he led his playing partner by three.
Unfortunately for Clark however, up ahead McIlroy was showing the sort of final round composure befitting of his glittering résumé. The Northern Irishman was hardly setting the North Course alight, birdieing just once by the turn and squandering an easy birdie opportunity at the eighth, but just one bogey in his previous 23 holes was keeping him within striking distance.
As Fowler continued to tumble, a two-horse race was taking shape, and there could be no doubts as to who held the pedigree. Heading into the week, McIlroy had twice as many major titles as Clark had made major cuts – yet the world No. 32 looked unflappable amid uncharted waters.
Then, disaster struck. Finding himself in a grisly-looking position among the fescue at the side of the eighth green, Clark swung and looked up to track a sailing ball that never materialized. To the American’s visible horror, his ball remained buried in the long grass.
It was the sort of nightmarish moment that has ended the major dreams of players far more decorated than Clark, reminiscent of the failed bunker escape that shot down Viktor Hovland’s dreams at the PGA Championship last month, but Clark responded admirably. A brilliantly executed effort at the next attempt left him with a simple putt for a bogey six.
As Clark made the turn, he led McIlroy by a single stroke.
The prospect of a one-on-one shootout was soon all but confirmed, as Fowler made back-to-back bogeys to sink two below eight-under overall, the score he had held after just 18 holes of the tournament.
Drama ensued at McIlroy’s 14th hole when his approach, caught by the wind, sunk into the face of a bunker. The Northern Irishman dropped to his knees in anguish, but received a boost when rules officials deemed his ball broke the surface, granting him a drop in the rough ahead of the bunker.
It was short-lived relief however, as his subsequent nine-foot putt for par rolled wide. At long last, McIlroy bogeyed, and Clark punished him, promptly birdieing the same hole to take a three shot cushion into his final five holes.
But the first sign of nerves quickly followed for Clark. As McIlroy, going aggressive, applied immediate pressure with a birdie at the 16th, the American made back-to-back bogeys. Suddenly, the lead was back to just one.
Clark steadied the ship with a par to take a one shot advantage with him on his walk to the par-four 18th tee. Up ahead, McIlroy’s long-range birdie effort rolled narrowly wide, putting the American a par away from the US Open title.
Onto the green in two, hundreds of fans poured onto the fairway to follow Clark on what surely felt like the longest walk of his life. Knocking his approach to within a foot, Clark allowed himself a fist pump before striding over and converting for the championship.
After a long embrace with caddie John Ellis, an overcome Clark held his cap to his face before looking skywards.
Played big indeed.
by tyler | Jun 16, 2023 | CNN, golf
Stone-faced and walking, it was an unusually muted reaction from a golfer who had just shot the first hole-in-one of his PGA Tour career and the 51st in US Open history.
Then Matt Fitzpatrick, the defending champion, realized and quickly made up for lost time.
The Englishman knocked in the third ace of the 123rd edition of the major during the second round on Friday, and it was once again Los Angeles Country Club’s 15th hole that provided the goods.
France’s Matthieu Pavon and American Sam Burns had similarly celebrated the first aces of their PGA Tour careers from the 124-yard par-three tee on Thursday, though Fitzpatrick found himself tackling an even shorter hole after pin locations were changed for the second round.
Having started from the 10th hole, Fitzpatrick shot five consecutive pars before arriving at the adjusted 115-yard 15th hole. Yet despite the change in flag position, the third ace of the tournament looked eerily similar to the previous two, catching the incline beyond the hole before rolling back down and into the cup.
Not that Fitzpatrick saw. With the hole hidden behind a slope, it took the noise of the onlooking crowds for the world No. 8 to start his celebrations. Roaring in delight, the reigning champion high-fived playing partners Cameron Smith and Sam Bennett before heading down the fairway to collect his ball, beaming all the way.
After an opening round of unprecedented low scoring, just one more ace this week will match the record number of hole-in-ones shot at a US Open, set at Oak Hill Country Club in 1989.
The quartet of Doug Weaver, Mark Wiebe, Jerry Pate and Nick Price navigated the 159-yard 6th hole in one swing, and all during the second round.
Fitzpatrick is bidding to become the first player to defend the major since Brooks Koepka in 2018, having clinched his first major title in thrilling fashion in Massachusetts a year ago.
The Sheffield-born golfer edged American duo Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris by a single stroke following a pulsating three-way fight in the final round, and triumphed at the RBC Heritage in April to add his second PGA Tour title.
His defense got off to a slow start though, as his opening round one-over 71 left him nine shots adrift of record-breaking leading duo Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele.
And the two-stroke boost of Fitzpatrick’s ace was canceled out just two holes later, as a double bogey at the par-four 17th dropped him back to even-par overall.
by tyler | Jun 16, 2023 | CNN, golf
Tiger Woods will not play at the Open Championship, the last men’s major of the year, tournament organizers announced Friday.
The fifteen-time major champion underwent “successful” ankle surgery in April following an early withdrawal from The Masters, subsequently not competing at the PGA Championship or this week’s US Open.
Woods, 47, has prioritized competing at the four major championships since he suffered severe leg injuries in a car crash in 2021, but is set to miss his third major in a row by not competing at the 151st edition of the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in England next month.
“We have been advised that Tiger will not be playing at Royal Liverpool. We wish him all the best with his recovery,” an R&A spokesperson told CNN in a statement.
No timeline for a return to competitive action was specified following Woods’ surgery, a “subtalar fusion procedure” to treat post-traumatic arthritis in his ankle. Despite making the cut at The Masters, Woods had visibly struggled with movement and withdrew after making a poor start to his third round, citing a reaggravation of a foot injury, plantar fasciitis.
He missed only one major in 2022 – the US Open – after his return from a 17-month absence from the sport.
A three-time Open Championship winner, an emotional Woods received a rousing reception as he left the St. Andrews course – for potentially the last time at the major – at last year’s tournament in Scotland.
