Golf, by TourMiss

There were easily far more officials and photographers gathered around the Wales Open first tee then paying spectators when Paul McGinley hit the opening tee-shot of the 2014 Ryder Cup qualifying campaign. McGinley was at the course soon after 6am in readiness for his 7.25am tee off on the Twenty-Ten course at Celtic Manor. Before McGinley was handed his driver, he was handed the Ryder Cup for the quintessential photo shoot and in a scenario that’s been common practice in recent weeks for McGinley However ...

Norway’s giant Epsen Kofstad shot a seven under par 64 and take a two stroke on day one of the Wales Open at Celtic Manor in Wales. Kofsad, 25 was out in the very first group of the day and ended his round in brilliant manner with three birdies and then holing a bunker shot for eagle at the last. It put the Oslo-born Kofstad, and ranked 305th in the world, one ahead of the England’s Chris Wood and Australia’s Richard Green who shot five under par 66s on the Twenty Ten 2010 Ryder Cup host ...

Where’s the smoke, there’s usually fire. Those doubters out there who thought the PGA Tour was not interested in a buyout of the European Tour might start changing their tune with PGA Tour Commissioner, Tim Finchem now undertaking somewhat of a back flip on his recent ‘not interested’ stance. www.golfbytourmiss.com reported just days after the PGA Championship the PGA Tour was considering in adding the Euroopean Tour to recent buyouts of the Canadian Tour and Latino Tour. Now ...

Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley will fire the very first shot in the 2014 European Team qualifying process when he tees off first on Thursday in the Wales Open at Celtic Manor. It is the first-ever occasion a new European Team captain will tee up first in the opening qualifying event and with McGinley hitting off at 7.25am local time in the company of England’s John Parry and Denmark’s Epsen Kofstad. The Wales Open is the commencement in 12-month long qualifying process ending next September ...

While the focus this week at Celtic Manor is all about the start of qualifying for the 2014 European Ryder Cup defending Wales Open champion, Thongchai Jaidee is still hoping to qualify for the Presidents Cup. The year-long qualifying process for the October 3rd commencing Presidents Cup at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio ends this Sunday night and at the same time the first points are awarded for European Ryder Cup team qualifying. Up until the recent PGA Championship, Jaidee was among the 10 ...

It’s not every week on the secondary European Challenge Tour a player arrives at a tournament in a Lamborghini, but Michael Hoey did exactly that as he roared into the car park of the Galgorm Castle Golf Club for the Northern Ireland Open Challenge presented by Clannah and XJET. Hoey, who recently won his fifth European Tour title at the M2M Russian Open, is this week’s star attraction in his native Northern Ireland as he returns to his Challenge Tour roots to help further promote the game in ...

Welsh golfing ace Stephen Dodd will represent the MENA Golf Tour at next week’s OMEGA European Masters when he competes in the Euro 2.2m event on the Crans-sur-Sierre course in Crans Montana, Switzerland from September 5 to 8, 2013. The 47-year-old Welshman has been nominated to carry the tour’s flag following a special invitation from OMEGA, the title sponsor of the European Tour event, offering a spot to the leading professional in a gesture that reflects on the growing popularity and strength ...