Golf, by TourMiss

When The Open was first staged at Royal Portrush in 1951 Max Faulkner was handed a prize cheque of £300 from a prize pook of £1,700. If Shane Lowry, or whoever is handed the Claret Jug later today, the first prize will be a whopping £1.56m from a 148th Open Championship prize fund of £8.65m and up £200,000 overall on last year. Take the player who finishes this week at Royal Portrush as he will earn just short of £20,000. “The Open is a global sporting event and our priority is to ensure ...

There’s an old saying in golf and that before you win a Major you first have to lose one. Shane Lowry falls into that category having led by four shots heading into the final round of the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont. It’s not lost that Lowry also leads by four shots heading to the last day of this year’s last Major and lying at 16-under par after three loops of Royal Portrush. But unlike the overwhelming parochial US crowds ouytside of Pittsburg, Lowry will have the whole of Ireland ...

The noise was like nothing else as Ireland’s own Shane Lowry smashed the course record and in the process storm his way to a four-shot lead heading to the final round of the 148th Open. In scenes somewhat similar to Lowry’s remarkable 2009 Irish Open success as an amateur the very affable Irishman brilliantly birdied three of his closing four holes in a round of an eight-under par 63 shattering the course by two shots. Lowry brilliantly didn’t drop a shot all day and it was just ...

Graeme McDowell began his round with the then loudest cheer on the first tee and four hours later had the 18th hole grandstand roaring with delight rolling in a virtual tap-in putt for his second straight birdie ‘3’ in a round of 68 on day three of the 148th Open Championship. G Mac teed-up alongside double Masters winning Bubba Watson in the third group of the morning at 9.55am local time having posted earlier scores of 73 and 70 to make the cut right on the one-over cut-off mark. He ...

Respected Royal Portrush pro Gary McNeill will tee-up in this morning’s third round of The Open after the odd number field that made cut following Friday’s second round. Caddying for McNeill will be 62-year Paul Rodich, a member at this year’s home host venue. Rodich began his caddying career at age 10 and now 50-years later he remains the most knowledgeable and most sought-after among the caddies.

Home hero Rory McIlroy was clearly overcome by emotion after sadly missing the halfway cut in the 2019 Open Championship. Needing to birdie one of his two closing holes, McIlroy posted two closing pars in a course record equalling 65 to miss the cut by one shot with his two-over par total. A very sombre-looking McIlroy showed his appreciation to the crowd, applauding them in return after sinking a 10-foot par putt at the final hole, for a two-over 144 score. “I wish the ending for me would have ...

Some 34-hours after admitting his knees were knocking loudly on the first tee and Shane Lowry’s heart is racing furiously in sharing the lead after two rounds of the 148th Open Championship at Royal Portrush. Lowry, who had commenced his second round at four-under par, brilliantly raced to seven-under with three starting birdies before moving to 10-under par thanks to birdies on five, eight and the 10th holes. The reigning Abu Dhabi HSBC champ dropped shots at 14 and 18 to sign for a second ...