Golf, by TourMiss

The first tee shot of The 146th Open will be hit by 1998 Champion Golfer of the Year Mark O’Meara. O’Meara’s love affair with Royal Birkdale started in 1991, when he was tied for the lead heading into the final round, only to finish three shots behind Ian Baker-Finch. But it was here seven years later, in a season that saw O’Meara transform himself from solid touring pro to Hall of Famer, that he enjoyed his greatest moment and lifted the Claret Jug. Arriving as the Masters ...

Padraig Harrington added some spark to this week’s 21st Open Championship celebration with a sizzling 66 on the final day of the Scottish Open at Dundonald Links. Harrington had blown himself out of the event with a horror third day 79 and in a round that included just one birdie. However, the triple Major winner, and who returns this week to Royal Birkdale where he won the 2oo8 Open, showed his true class and muscle his way to eight under and a rousing top-10 showing “I played the same all ...

Forget the flight across “The Pond” to the Big Apple and instead it is now all roads to Royal Birkdale It does mean Andrew Dodt’s wife is going to have to purchase woollens and water-proof attire after her 31-year old husband qualified for this week’s 146th Open Championship. Dodt, and despite a disappointing Scottish Open final round 73 for a share of fourth place on eight-under par, secured the third and last Royal Birkdale place on offer at Dundonald Links. The strapping ...

Rafa Cabrera Bello made it back to back Spanish victories on the European Tour in birding the first extra play off hole to win the Scottish Open at Dundonald Links. Cabrera Bello, 33 birdied his closing two holes in a course record setting eight under par 64 before being joined on 13 under par by England’s Callum Shinkwin, who missed a tournament winning par putt on the last hole in regulation and his a round of 68. The Dubai-based Cabrera Bello then found the par five 18th green, and ...

Andrew Dodt’s wife, Rachel arrived from Sydney just as her husband was teeing off and packed for afive-day holiday next week in New York. However, the 31-year old Dodt is not only in position for a third Tour success but he and joint third round leader Callum Shinkwin (72)  are currently the two top of three qualifiers into next week’s Open at Royal Birkdale. Also sharing the lead on nine under is Ian Poulter (71) who qualified just under two weeks ago for The Open. Fellow Englishman Andy Sullivan, ...

Ian Poulter described the conditions as “brutal” moving into a three–way share of the lead on day three of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Dundonald Links. The 41-year Florida-based Englishman carded a one-under par 71 to join compatriot Callum Shinkwin (72) and Australia’s Andrew Dodt (71) at nine-under par and two clear of their rivals on a windswept and rainy day on the Scottish west coast. Poulter, and looking to win for a first time anywhere in five years, highlight ...

Rory McIlroy is optimistic he can challenge at next week’s Open Championship after the bitter disappointment of missing the halfway cut by two shots in the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open. McIlroy recorded scores of 74 and a second round 71 on a rain-softened Dundonald Links course just to the south of Glasgow. The World No. 4 offered some glimmer of hope of winning through to the weekend with birdies at the third, fifth and seventh holes to get himself inside the red at one-under. But ...