Well hello there… pour yourself three fingers of the good stuff and sit on down. We are ready for the last major of the year. I don’t like compressing the majors into 4 months but they didn’t ask me. The PGA wants to fit its disaster of a playoff into the fall schedule so the PGA championship moved to before the Open Championship so here we are.
The Open Championship- the British Open is what you can’t call it lest you disturb the delicate sensibilities of the golf snobs. Collin Morrikawa said he can call it whatever he wants when he called it the British Open after he won it. Collin, please lean into it. This is what you tell your haters, “When you win the Claret Jug, then I will call it whatever you want, but until you do and I have the Claret jug, you will call it what I want or you can fuck straight off” He is too nice a guy for that I am sure. But those Brits will get their panties in a wad if you call it the British Open. Last I checked, we kicked their ass the last two times they got over their skies in 1812 and 1776 so I will call it whatever I want. I will call it the open though because I too am a golf snob. My hypocrisy knows no bounds as well.
So to prep you there are story lines. Rory is being absolutely lap danced by the media after his win last week in the Scottish Open. I assume the Scots call it the Open Championship as well, but I digress. The media is trying to will him to a win in a major. The 17th hole has been added as an attempt to make the closing holes more interesting. It is only about 135 yards, but devilish. I saw a photo and there is a false edge that leads to an unbelievably deep bunker. If the wind blows and you miss the landing spot by just a few feet and you roll off into that, it is going to bring double or worse into play. A caddie this week actually was worried that a player on Sunday could make a really high number like a 7, 8, or a 9 and ruin the tournament. We shall see if it plays that penal. Most players were quietly disapproving. Brooks liked it because he is a sadist, haha.
I am up in the middle of the night Thursday morning and the amount of commercials is unbelievable. Seemingly after every group tees off and off to schlepp some product, don’t ever forget how good the LIV product is with no interruptions on the app. It is your time people.
Cam Smith makes a birdie on the first as the defending champion and he is off to a good start.
Rickie Fowler won a PGA tour event at Detroit I think it was so he is in good form. He took second here to Rory in 2014 so he likes this course and could be a threat. Scottie Scheffler is the number 1 player in the world right now and in contention every week it seems. He will be one to watch as well.
Brooks made an early bogey and then blows a birdie putt 6 feet by on his second shot so he doesn’t look comfortable right now. He is playing with Patrick Cantlay, the guy he always complains about playing so slow, so the pace might affect him. Christo Lamprecht, a South African amateur is leading at 4 under with a 2 shot lead after his first 10 holes. He is playing beautifully, but I have a feeling he won’t stay there.
This Lambrecht fella is 6’8” and hits it a mile. Get used to it people, the nextgen golfers are going to be monsters and athletes. Too much money involved.
Lots of empty seat early at 18. Economy must be weak in the UK.
Hoylake member Matthew Jordan shot a 2 under today. He has been a member of the club since he was 7. This kid might be a factor because no one knows this course better. Keep an eye on him.
I don’t know if Adam Scott’s golf swing would make announcers swoon so much if he didn’t look like Adam Scott.
So it’s time we talk about the biggest talking point number 17 called “Little eye.” This hole is a devil. There will be big numbers here. Lucas Herbert came in here at 3 under and tied for the lead and went left away from the most penal bunkers, he then chipped it across the green and into a bunker and made triple. The talk before the tournament was that we were going to see some big numbers on this new little stinker of a creation. John Rahm called it fair because it is unfair for everyone.
Lamprecht chips it in on 14. Black shoes, white socks, blue pants and legs that touch the sky. You can’t miss this guy.
Scottie Scheffler has it to 2 under and lipped out a long birdie on 6. He is the best ball striker in the world right now and I will be shocked if he isn’t around on Sunday. Too good of a player to not be there Sunday, too good of a man to get much media attention. Our kind of guy CTPC.
Jordan Spieth is so much fun to watch play the Open. He is kind of all over the place but man he gets it back in a hurry with his imagination and creativity. He can really shape the ball.
Patrick Reed has it going at 2 under. With his recent Sunday play could it be his week to get his second major?
Tommy Fleetwood, the mullet laden Englishman, is a fan favorite this week growing up nearby and has been playing well. He is a tremendous iron player but not the furthest driver so this is a good chance for him to be competitive this week.
Lamprecht is now 5 under, good for the big amateur. He’s your leader by one at 5 under. Us Open winner Wyndham Clark is playing solid golf and is even thru the first hour and a half of his round.
These bunkers are incredible. They are truly a great big pain in the ass, as they should be.
Shane Lowry, the grizzly bear of a man, and winner of the Open in 2019 at Royal Portrushhas it to 2 under
Scottie Scheffler just took a swing and he dropped the club on his follow through and he still hit the green. His misses are better than my non-misses. His putting though is nicht gut as the Germans would say.
Thomas Pieters makes eagle on 15 and double after hitting into a bunker on 16. He has tied for the lead at 2 under and is now 3 shots back at 2 under looking up at the 6’8” amateur like everyone else.
S.W. Kim who has been terrible on the LIV tour has it to 2 under. He also made the cut at the US Open. Very interesting guy to follow.
Stewart Cink and his hat tan are in solo second at 3 under. One of the least popular former Open champions out there. Remember that he beat a 59 year old Tom Watson by one for his Open title.
So there is a second thing we need to discuss. 18 has a crazy out of bounds down the right side. It must be no more than 10 feet from the right side of the fairway. Avoid going right at 18 at all costs. Internal out of bounds is what it is called. Wind is blowing left to right and it is going to be unfriendly.
Christo Lamprecht shoots a 5 under 66 to lead the Open by two. Good work lad. He is a Georgia Tech senior and he is doing another Georgia Tech alumnus proud, Bobby Jones. The 1930 winner of this event right here at Hoylake.
Nick Faldo is back. He promptly says he used to dominate. Please retire again you pompous ass. Insufferable boor.
Marcel Siem with an all blue ensemble and a man bun is within two shots of the lead and another good look at birdie on 8. He looks like he belongs in the 70s.
Henrik Stenson of my Majesticks shoots a 2 over for the day. Fellow LIV golfer Cam Smith is hanging in at even but that wonderful putter is working overtime. Jordan Spieth has it to 3 under now.
Marcel Siem does a club release and hits the green like Scheffler did. He turns around and chastises the crowd for making a noise. More annoying- a guy dressed like that? A noisemaker? A pro chastising a noisemaker when they tell you how mentally tough you have to be to be a golfer? It’s a toss up imo.
The course looks lovely. They have gotten some rain and it is far more green and also more receptive than these Opens can be. There is a little breeze but it is beautiful right now, but the rains are a coming lads and lasses…
So tiger won here in 2006 and Rory won here in 2014. That would leave you to believe that a big hitter would have the advantage and they might but Tiger hit only one driver that week. That is tailor made for Tiger who didn’t hit many fairways by 2006. Rory surprises me because the Driver is his strength but I don’t know if he hit driver a lot.
Beatles references from Faldo. They broke up 53 years ago. Pasture Faldo pasture get in it.
Sepp Straka with the shot of the tournament so far. On number 18 he is short of the bunker and chooses to chip into a ridge over the bunker and kill the speed and let it roll down the hill into the cup for birdie. He was short sided and had to get creative to salvage a birdie. Magic. He was in the front bunker in 2 and played away from the hole on his third shot to get into position for that shot. Wonderful wonderful stuff.
Tommy Fleetwood has made a birdie and has it to 4 under. He is playing nice golf, very under control.
Cam Smith again with a terrible tee shot into the rough but the par from off the green again. Ho hum. As he has all year, he is pulling it left.
Tommy Fleetwood with a couple long putts for birdie to get tied for the lead at 5 under.
Sorry NBC I don’t play through, I just won’t watch your terrible broadcast. I miss LIV app already.
Jordan Spieth wearing a hoodie. Please do better in the home of golf. A shave wouldn’t hurt either. I remember when he was a fresh-faced kid, but now he has been hanging out with Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler. They were dressed up at Wimbledon.
This Marcel Siem character is fist pumping and then having a fit when he misses putts and shots. Emotional- rare for a German. He must have some Spanish blood, aya Caramba!
It’s nice to see Wales. You don’t get to do it that often. The Welsh.
JD is in the house. John Daly. We have a Frenchman sighting, Antoine Rozner. He has it to 3 under. Bonjour! I give him praise and he makes a bogey. My bad. Sacre bleu.
Adam Scott goes OB on 18 and then hits one left of the gallery on his retee. That’s a bad double bogey on the closing par 5. Fleetwood makes a 5 on the 18th and has a share of the lead in the clubhouse.
Viktor Hovland just teed off, I like his swing and I like his chances this week. Just sayin’. That and a nickel will get you nothing nowadays.
He’s playing with Justin Thomas who I despise and Tony Finau who I like. I’m sure we will see a bunch of that group of PGA folks.
Finau stones one on 1 and will start with a birdie. Wyndham Clark is at 3 under. I guess the US Open wasn’t a fluke.
John Rahm and Rory McIllroy both drive it right on their first tee shots. Couldn’t have happened to nicer guys. Justin Rose is playing with these two and also drove it right into the bunker.
Rahm and Rory both made good pars but Rose made bogey from the bunker. Rahm also hits another one right. Let’s see if Rose can find a fairway. He does but it runs and runs and runs into a fairway bunker and he is in trouble again. The rule of the week- avoid the bunkers. They are trouble…
Rickie Fowler from the fairway on 18- OB, and he hits it again and OB again. This is like Tin Cup, the movie. Give the man another ball Romeo. He makes 8 on the par 5 18th. That’s what you get for hanging out with Justin Thomas.
Max Homa, who I haven’t formed an opinion on yet, is the much covered but awful major player. He missed the cut in his home tournament at the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club after being thought of as the pre tournament favorite. Settle down people.
Rory with a very nice recovery on 2 knocking it very close from way right of the fairway. Rose had to chip out of the bunker on 2 and will be lucky to save par.
Hole number 3 has the internal out of bonds as well. It is nine yards from the flag on the right.
Marcel Siem is not having any of the trouble on 18. He drove it left over the crowd control barriers. He isn’t out of it but he missed some very makeable putts that could have made this round special. He finished an angry even par.
Morrikawa went OB on number 3 and is looking at a double bogey. He then rolls in a birdie on 4 from off the green. Bogey birdie double birdie start.
The crowds have arrived for the featured group. It is a big tournout.
Hole number 4- 367 yards and Rahm and Rory hit 7 iron off the tee and then wedges. Rahm misses the green on 4 and putts from down in a gully and it hits the flag and saved him 6-8 feet. He smiles. Remember that when you start yelling later. You get good breaks too. Rory gives one back on 4 so he is back to even. He drove it into the greenside bunker and couldn’t get up and down.
Tony Finau hits into the bunker on 4 and has troubles up against the wall, then he putts it away from the bunker about 3 feet and then blasts out and it will be a tough par putt upcoming. He misses it and makes a bad luck bogey on the easy par 5.
Faldo is out and Azinger is in. This is like exchanging Covid for the Clap.
The announcers just slurped Rory for an entire hole and then he makes par on the easy par 5. They said that Tiger spoiled us because he seldom made mental errors. He also made the tough putts like Rory just missed. Always remember, Tiger was one of the greatest putters ever. Ever. Like Cam Smith now, it cleans up a lot of mistakes.
Our Frenchie is back Rozner makes birdie on 18 to finish 4 under and one back. He looks like cigarettes, skinny cigarettes. Antione, my man. Bonne Chance!
Romain Langasque another Frenchman is at 2 under. What is going on? Cue La Marseillaise!
Azinger now says that Tiger’s key was lag lag lag after Rory didn’t make a very good lag putt. They said Tiger would practice those things. Do you not think that these guys are practicing? This is just garbage commentary as usual. How about talk about what they are doing instead? Lots of other players are playing golf and we are locked in on these guys and telling stories about what they aren’t. Now we have to play through… Good gravy.
Adrian Otaegui from Spain has got it to 3 under. Joaquin Nieman from Torque is sitting at two under. Lots of good golf being played but we are watching the featured groups mostly who are not playing good golf. Rory is even par, Rahm is 1 over, and Rose 3 over. JT, Collin are 1 over and Finau is even.
Phil Mickelson is 1 under and has another good look at 6, the toughest hole on the course. He missed it badly. On the next tee shot, he pull hooks it into the gorse bush. Phil will be backing up. He makes double.
Brian Harman is 3 under. He has a nice tidy little game. He seems to be a good putter and great iron player. Don’t sleep on this fella.
Getting some 1700s history about hard working Liverpool people. That’s the history we want. Skip those hippie musicians. Real people stories are great, like Alex Noren. Alex Noren makes a rare eagle and is 2 under. Good for him. A hard working guy.
Rory misses a 4 footer that makes a 270 and lips out on 8. He is now 1 over through 8. This is what Tiger didn’t do. He didn’t miss many 4 footers. That’s the comparison to make people. Putting talk isn’t interesting evidently, but it wins majors.
Rory had a nice birdie chance on the next hole number 9 and missed it by a full cup. This is why he is what he is and Tiger is what he is. Lots of people have won majors in the last 9 years and most of them just made more putts than Rory does.
Justin Thomas is now 4 over and he is still having his shots shown for some reason. He’s not good right now. Please adjust your coverage accordingly.
Otaegui is still 3 under and reached the par 5 18th in 2. He will be putting from the back. He makes birdie and finishes at 4 under. Great round.
Max Homa is 2 under but in a pot bunker. This is the best start in a while in a major for him. He makes bogey from the bunker and is back to 1 under, tied for 18th. He has never had a top 10 in a major.
DJ is 3 over and this is the first shot I’ve seen of the two time major champion. He has a birdie putt on 15.
John Rahm backs off and yells at the crowd. Careful, big John the baby is about to erupt again if things don’t go his way. He let go of the club with one hand but he hit the green. He makes the long putt for birdie and is even.
Emiliano Grill has got it to 3 under. The Argentine is in the hunt.
Phil is in close to try to bounce back from the double bogey with a birdie on 9. Mickelson is now back to 1 over. The old riverboat gambler is making little numbers and big numbers.
Hovland makes a birdie with a 360 spin and in and he gets back to one over.
The links course is absolutely beautiful. Blue sky, tide out, and the Open Championship. It doesn’t get much better than this.
Rory has a wedge in his hand from 125 on 11. The announcer is telling us he can get close and I believe them, but instead he misses the green and finds himself shortsided behind a bunker. This is a bad mistake. You have to miss on the other side. Mental error, and it should be pointed out. Same hole, Rahm from 90, and he hits it to 5 feet. Good shot and another good chance. Rory has a flop shot and he hits it perfect. He carries the bunker edge by 6 inches and now he has 5 feet to save par. Rahm misses the 8 foot birdie putt.
Back to back birdies for Hovland and he is back to even par. Alex Noren is 3 under and on 18 with a birdie putt. He finishes the day at 3 under and is tied 5th.
Rahm hit a spectator to the right and it rolled into the bunker and he hits backward out of the bunker. Rory is waaay left, but has a chance to go for the green. Bunkers are way worse than the rough, but if a player keeps missing fairways they will have to take their medicine sooner or later. Rahm has about 30 feet to save par. McIlroy has a decent lie but a terrible angle and leaves it short and right of the green. Rahm makes bogey and Rory makes bogey as well.
Homa to 3 under along with Harmon and Grillo is to 4 under.
Tom Kim is 3 over and tied 91st. All the best players finish in the top 90.
So now we are watching some random guy hitting balls off the beach. We have to put up with all these commercials and you can’t show us the Open championship but some random guy on the beach and then we go back to watch him hit driver? Good god people, you are terrible at this. We get 4 majors and they are peppered with your commercials so please show us the tournament and not random guys on the beach.
The light is absolutely beautiful as it gets deep into the evening. It stays light so late there that it makes for beautiful vistas, and a commentator said it was cooling off.
Zach Johnson made a triple bogey on number 17. The little devil strikes again.
Grillo makes a bomb on 18 to tie for the lead at 5 under. Wow! 31 on the back 9.
Rory drives it terribly on 14 after a duck hook and he ends up making a 50 footer at least for birdie. That was a big swing. From disaster to delight.
A bird just shit on Viktor Hovland. Haha! Hovland has a short birdie putt after the poop from above. He misses the putt by a cup and a half. These greens have some very subtle movements. Some of these short putts have made guys look foolish.
Rory drove it 350 yards on the par 5 15th and his second went into the greenside pot bunker. Rahm hit his 358 yards and he comes up short in the cabbage but he has green to work with on the other side. They both have birdie chances. Rahm misses left and stays at 1 over. Rory makes birdie and he is back to even. Rory has been fortunate today. He has gotten away with some drives and some shots that ended up in pot bunkers haven’t been penal. He has scrambled pretty well to keep it at even.
Harman finishes at 4 under. Homa is at 3 under and is the best of the rest at the moment. He had a great look at 15 and he missed a short birdie putt to stay at 3 under.
Mickelson makes birdie on 15 to stay at 1 over. Can he get through the gauntlet and post a good score? The drive on 16 is a good one.
They are jumping into Homa’s lap and grinding around again. They love them some Homa.
We haven’t heard a peep from Justin Thomas in a while so I bet it isn’t going well. Not even an updated score for well over an hour or two.
Well we have a Justin Thomas sighting, he is 7 over and against the wall in a pot bunker on 18. He then hits it into the other bunker on the fly. He hits another shot away from the green and now he is in the rough hitting 7 on a par 5. He ends up making 9 and shoots 82. Tiger will have the grill ready on Saturday. Azinger says there is no quit in that dog. What are you talking about? He had an 82 in the US Open as well.
Oh Phil, he goes bunker to bunker across the green on 17. Mickelson blasts out and will be lucky to avoid double. Double. This is ruining a pretty good day.
Guido is 2 under! Guido Migliozzi, the Italian, is having a nice day.
Hovland shoots 1 under and is right in the middle of things. He didn’t have his best stuff today and he got pooped on, but grinded pretty hard.
Rory’s luck finally ran out. His second shot on 18 landed against the face in a greenside bunker. He is in in 2 so there is a chance he can escape and save par. Rahm also ends up in a greenside bunker and Rahm is against the wall as well. Rahm is having to go away from the green and almost had it roll back into the bunker with him. Rahm has to hit it away from the flag and has a long par putt. McIlroy is hitting it away from the flag as well. He can’t get it out as it hits the wall. He now does have a look but his stance is awkward. One foot out of the bunker and he hits a lovely shot and has a chance to save par with a 10 footer maybe. Rahm makes bogey and is 3 over. Rose was 3 over through 5 and stayed there finishing 3 over for the day. Rory makes a really good par all things considered. Fist pump from Rory.
Well hello there… pour yourself three fingers of the good stuff and sit on down. Gone is the sun and out are the snow caps and jackets. It’s the inverse order from yesterday, so those that were out early yesterday have all day to think about things today.
We are back and Grillo makes double on 2 to fall back to 3 under. Adrian Otaegui is still at 4 under through 6, all pars.
Brian Harmon is now your leader at 6 under. Like I mentioned yesterday, just a tidy game. I like his short game and putting a lot, but even his golf swing just looks really good, he is a lefthander and often those swings just look better like a hitter in baseball. He has a little John Olerud to his golf swing. Mike Weir had that, but I never think that about the most famous lefty, Phil though. Harman will be around this weekend I believe.
Tony Finau is wearing a hoodie today…Booo! This is golf people! He promptly hits it into the gallery left. The golf gods noticed his outfit as well.
Harman has it to 7 under, it is soft out there so there might be a score to be had. There is some wind out there so let’s see how the weather plays a factor.
Rory, Rahm, and Rose are teeing off early today. The announcer says that Rahm handled his emotions very well yesterday, evidently he missed when Rahm yelled at a cameraman. I didn’t. Rory makes birdie, and Rahm lips out from a long distance. Rory is one under and has a huge gallery. At least none of these guys are wearing hoodies.
Harman chip on the 5th hits the pin and somehow doesn’t stay in. He is now at 8 under and has a 3 shot lead.
The announcer said that Tiger Woods used to always say “avoid 3-putting.” That’s what I always say as well. Tiger did it, I do not. I don’t think it matters who says it because “EVERYBODY SAYS IT!!!!” Announcers are like ice picks to the ears more than a delight more than often.
Alex Noren was at 3 under but he missed a 5 footer by a cup and falls a shot. These greens have some wiggle. Case in Point, Rahm just missed a 15-20 footer by 4 feet. He misread the break.
Rory misses a short birdie putt on 3. On the next hole, Rahm and Rory both choose irons off the tee and hit it into the left rough. The announcers are calling them hitting the fat part of the green having patience and commending them. When a non-famous person hits it there after their tee shots its called taking your medicine. I am watching you and I know your access to these guys is crucial to your career, but stop talking your book boys.
Emiliano Grillo is 2 over today but still at 3 under. Hovland joins him at 3 under along with Shavanka Sharma. I don’t know anything about Sharma including if I got his name right. I apologize, but I will do some checking because he is deserving it with his play these first few days. The early cut projection is at 2 over. The wind is picking up so any score under par should be ok.
Rory has a polite comment for the crowd after backing off. He handled that better than most have. He then hit a very low powerful draw. The driver is working for Rory today. Whatever was the issue yesterday has been fixed. The putting…well not so much.
Rose and Rory were both in the bunker and fairly close to the face. They both get out to within 3-4 feet. Great shots, but while Rory hit his there was a huge roar and I’m wondering what it was. All three make birdie after Rahm makes a lengthy birdie.
The big roar was for Travis Smyth, currently at 10 over, but he makes a hole in 1 on 17. What a great shot by the Aussie! First ace on the brand new hole.
Shubhankar Sharma is an Indian golfer and has two wins on the Asian tour. He is a vegan and has never tasted meat in his entire life. He is also allergic to gluten. Therefore he maintains a very strict diet. It is also his birthday today! Only G Spot Johnson gets you this kind of insight available on his Wikipedia page.
Min Woo Lee has it to 3 under. Hovland dropped back to 2 under after hitting into a fairway bunker on 7 and missing a lengthy birdie putt. He is tied with Rory who is two under.
Brian Harman was in trouble on the tough 12th, but he chips in for par from the thick rough just off the green. Great short game! He is still at 8 under. Grillo is back to 4 under.
McIlroy missed his tee shot well left and from an awkward stance pitches it way up in the air and hit s the stick and has 5 feet to save par. He is hanging on as his game is not as sharp as yesterday. Let’s see if this doesn’t bite him in the next few holes. His driver is better than yesterday but the ironplay is much worse.
Max Homa dropped down to 1 under but has made back to back birdies and is again 3 under and a tie for 6th. He then makes another birdie to get to 4 under, but then makes a double to drop back down to 2 under. Roller coaster.
Lamprecht dropped a shot on the opener. He had his eyes closed on the first tee box. Then he miss his tee shot terribly on two. He might be coming back to earth after having the round of his dreams. Brian Harman is not backing down making a tough par putt on 16. With the wind picking up, Harman posting a good number will be a big advantage.
Rory backed off a birdie putt because of the wind. He is at 1 under and misses it. The knock on him for a decade is that he doesn’t have the stones to make those putts. He ain’t tough enough. I don’t see that anything has changed. Drive for show but you putt for dough. Oldest story in the book. He knocks it into the pot bunker on the next hole.
Back to our leader- He has two potential terrible holes remaining to get through. He hit it into the pot bunker on 17. He got out and made a tough 10 footer for par. Harman in the lead.
So the R&A that runs the tournament chickened out and and raked the bunkers differently by making them less flat. They are now rolling back out to the middle of the bunker allowing guys to hit it out versus being up against the face. Shocking, that they caved to people saying they were too tough. That is very disappointing.
Max Homa with another birdie. He is out of control but not like our young amateur.
Lamprecht just hit the hospitality tent. He is out of control. He is hitting driver everywhere and the wind is blowing the ball all over. On 2 he was behind a tent and now he hit a building. He was merely in the gallery on 1 where he made birdie. Let’s see how his scoring goes. Another bogey on 3.
Michael Stewart has it to 4 under. He just hit out of the bunker by almost doing the splits. Athletic move but he needs to make the putt. He is wearing a hoodie so I don’t like him already and he missed the putt and will drop to 3 under.
Harman just smoked his second shot giving him a great look at eagle. He has a chance to get to 10 under. 15 feet for eagle. He buries it and he shoots 65 and has a 5 shot lead. Great stuff and I liked that he didn’t celebrate much. This is a man on a mission. Good playing fella.
Rory drove an iron right and could only get it to 40 yards short of the green. He now has about 15 feet for par. He makes the par putt. He is keeping it together while not hitting the ball well.
Matthew Jordan is still at 3 under. He is the young fella that is a member here at the course. He is hanging around like a homeless tweaker.
Lamprecht is hitting a provisional on 4 after hitting it into what looks like a gorse bush left. He is wild but that’s how he got here so keep playing your game son and let Faldo and Venturi choke on it. Lamprecht makes a bogey putt and he drops to 2 over.
Max Homa walks like he has a neck brace on. He has a long par putt now. He misses and makes bogey. He is up and down more than Heidi Fleiss.
Rory drove it in the pot bunker and had to chip out on the par 5. Rahm makes birdie on the par 5 15th, he is at 2 over which is the cut line at the time but its early. Rory has about 6 feet for par and he missed it. The announcers are blaming the wind. How should I say this? “Methinks the others that are making putts are also in the wind, you damn apologists! “
Jason Day starts his day with a birdie and he is back to even for the tournament.
Homa hits his second shot into the hay just short of the green and chips out to a foot or so and he makes another birdie.
Tyrell Hatton hits a great shot to reach the green in two and he leaves an eagle putt 6 inches short. Brian Harman in his post round interview commented on his eagle on 18 that you can never leave an eagle putt short. Not if you want to make it Tyrell…
Jordan Spieth is 2 under and in the fairway on two as he starts his day. He is a guy that likes the wind and tough conditions. He hits a low chip and run pin high and will have a birdie putt upcoming.
Rahm just found the bunker on 16. The updated cut line is 3 or 4 over. He gets up and down. He has made some serious feet of putts today. This was another 8 feet or so. He makes another birdie on 17 so hopefully no cameramen get yelled at by a petulant millionaire for doing their job today.
Patrick Cantlay in his Goldman Sachs hat. What an unlikeable player. He is slow as hell and reps the guys that caused the global financial crisis. C Thomas Printer would love to have a word with him. I know nothing of Cantlay, but his appearance is unlikeable. He might be a real ginger snap, but I don’t watch the PGA. He isn’t in my camp of JT, Rory, or Rahm.
Homa makes bogey. Lots of squares on the scorecard aren’t nice, cause he has been naughty like Heidi Fleiss.
DJ had an 81 today and he will be back in America for the weekend.
Scottie Scheffler is teeing off along with Tommy Fleetwood. These two will be worth watching today. Cam Smith needs to drive it well today and he has a chance to move up the leaderboard. Scheffler misses a short par putt and backs up to even. Le putter stinks….
Hovland finishes at even par and is still around. Rory drives it way left and is on the other side of the gallery fence. Rory hit it into the rough, he has little green to work with and a bunker short and behind the hole. Not ideal. Flop shot incoming…and is quite good. He has an 8 footer for birdie. He is one under for the tournament. No one back doors into more top tens than Rory. Rahm makes a sloppy bogey on
Tyrell Hatton went OB on 18 with his first drive bouncing twice in before hopping out. He had to retee and then he hit that one out. He is teeing off again and hitting 5. Hatton is sitting at 2 under and now he needs to get some work done to make the cut. He then hit it so far left it almost reached the first green narrowly avoiding going in a greenside bunker. Golf is infuriating and that guy has a ten cent head. He then hits it in the rough and he has to chip it over bunkers with bunkers lurking. He hits his putt and it bounces and he makes quadruple. He then pretends his putter is a machine gun and shoots the hole. Hilarious. It holds up and he has a chance to make 8 or 9. He came in hoping to get on the front page of the leaderboard and ended leaving hoping he was still in the tournament.
Sharma gets it to 4 under for the birthday boy. Matthew Jordan makes a birdie on 13 and he is to 3 under.
Rory thanking the R&A for making the change on the bunkers. That’s why I don’t like him or their decision…
Jordan Spieth has a nice eagle chance on 5. He makes birdie and is to 4 under, tied with Sharma, Cink and Rozner who has yet to tee off.
Spieth makes a rare birdie on 6 and he is to 5 under.
Sharma went long on 17, that is death. Which is code for unraked sand , huge cliffs, big numbers. He chips it up and it rolls back into the fringe so he is out but still looking bogey in the iris.
Brooks Koepka is at 2 under and just tapping in some pars. Spieth is backing up with his second bogey on the 10th and is back to 3 under.
Azinger being an idiot again. The shot from Rozner, will it stay was asked by his coworker and he answers it will, but it doesn’t because Azinger is an idiot. Shades of the US Open again.
Stewart Cink is at 2 under par and quietly playing boring golf. Boring golf is good here.
Tommy Fleetwood is still at 5 under and he is the only player within 7 shots of Harman. What a great round of golf today! The average is almost 74 so he was 9 shots better today. Special round.
Lamprecht has a long par put for 78. He missed it. But he will make the cut at 3 over.
The gallery is as aspiring young dentist’s dream.
Fleetwood gave up a shot on 13 but gets it right back on 14. He is still at 5 under.
Majesticks sighting. Henrik Stenson is at 1 under after a bogey free round. Represent!
Matthew Fitzpatrick went deep on 17. Its death. It took him 3 to get out of there. And now he is in another bunker, but he hits that one close. A tap in triple bogey. His approach on 18 went in the bleachers.
Tommy Fleetwood is at 6 under and loving the love he is getting from the crowd.
Jason Day is to 3 under and having a very nice day. His second shot went through the green on the par 5 18th.
Spieth is up close to the wall with his approach on the par 5 18th. He finishes at 2 under. Not a disaster but not what he wanted after his 3 under start on the front nine.
Sepp Straka finishes at 4 under and is sitting solo third. Koepka is at 1 over.
I love these deep pot punkers in the fairway especially. This is great. I would do more of this in America to be honest.
Koepka made a double on 18 to make the cut on the number plus 3. Back nine 41, yuk.
Fleetwood finishes at 5 under. He will go out with Harman tomorrow. I will see you tomorrow, moving day.
Well hello there… pour yourself three fingers of the good stuff and sit on down. It’s the last Saturday of a major for 2023. The course is wet today, but the winds seem to be down. This could mean that a low round is out there again today. Greens will be receptive.
A commentator made a good point as Scheffler hit another lip on a putt. He is hitting good putts but he isn’t reading them right. I was thinking about that yesterday watching him and it’s a great point. At what point do you say “I need to work on reading putts better?” How do you even do that? His stroke looks fine, and the speed is good. He is misreading them, does he need glasses? It is the only thing keeping him from being by far the best player in the world. He is the best player in the world and he is one of the worst putters on tour. He putted wonderfully a year ago. What happened?
Players here are actively seeking out the rough which is very different than we are used to seeing in an open. Trying to get angles I guess.
Rahm lipped out a long birdie putt on one after driving his tee shot left off the tee. He misses a short birdie opportunity on number 2 as well. He has another birdie putt on 3 from about 17 feet and it goes left.
Cam Smith also hanging around 1 over. The rain has stopped and the wind is down. If someone is going to go low it needs to happen now. Conditions are very good. Patrick Reed opened birdie birdie to get to even par but has made 4 straight pars to follow. Rickie Fowler is off to a hot start and is looking at his 4th birdie to start.
Faldo and his Beatles references are forced and as annoying as he is. Rahm misses another birdie putt but it was in the 15-20 feet range so not a real chance. Lots of greens in regulations so far though.
Rickie Fowler is to 1 under and a 67 today. We know that a 4 under score is doable.
Cam Smith with a 25 footer for birdieand he is 2 under today and to even for the tournament. Xander Schauffele is to 2 under and in a tie for 7th so he is making a move. Patrick Cantly is in at 1 under.
Koepka shook hands with Cantlay but he didn’t take his hat off. The coverage cut off, but I wonder if that was a shot or just poor sportsmanship.
Paperback writer comment forced into the conversation… Faldo is about to get me to turn the volume off. God, I detest NBC coverage. Between the commercials and blowhards… Thank god for Mike Tirico or I would turn it off. He is absolute class.
Marcel Siem starts with a birdie and is 1 under. He is dressed as a dandy today. Sharp European fashion sense with the German.
There is a endangered species of toad that is holding up play on the 13th. A Natterjack toad which can’t be moved slowed things up today. Cam Smith makes birdie on 13 with the toad watching.
Rahm finally made a putt from about 20 feet. Rahm is two under and is even par again. Hovland starts with a birdie and is 1 under. Rahm makes another birdie at 10 to get to 1 under for the tournament.
Both Fitzpatrick brothers are at 1 under. How about them being paired together on Sunday in a major?
The Majesticks Henrik Stenson is teeing off and he will be playing with Wyndham Clark today. He is in 12th at 1 under.
The Frenchman Rozner makes a birdie to get to two under, he bangs the putt into the flag stick. Nicolai Hojgaard has gotten it to 2 under. Rahm has 3 birdies in a row and is within a couple feet for his fourth in a row. He is making a move.
Dickie B, Richard Bland, is at 1 under and hanging around the 2nd page of the leaderboard.
So is Liverpool the second city of England? Is it the Chicago, aka the second city? Manchester? I have never been outside London, but I should make a trip across the pond and find out…and bring my sticks of course. A pint and a links round sounds nice to me.
Matthew Jordan, the local member, is beginning his round. He is tied for 14th and immediately finds a pot bunker. So much for local knowledge.
Rory’s caddy’s name is Harry Diamond. There is nothing more to say there is there. Guido Migliozzii starts at 1 under and has a birdie look on 1. Hojgaard makes another birdie to get to 3 under.
Homa and McIlory are playing together and both hit the first fairway. Both have birdie putts to start. Richard Bland is up to 3 under. Homa misses but Rory makes his putt to get to 2 under.
Tom Kim has made 3 birdies in a row and is at 3 under. Rahm has another birdie chance on the par 5 15th. He is at 4 under and in a tie for third. The golf course is there for the taking and he has the low round on the course right now. Rory has a birdie chance on 2 to open birdie birdie. He misses but is still 2 under. Rahm makes a bomb from 25 feet and he is 7 under and he is tied for 2nd at 5 under. Rory hits it to 5 feet on 3. The media darlings have NBC smiling today. Rory makes birdie and has another birdie chance on 4. Everyone is scoring right now, so these guys that are finishing up are moving up the leaderboard, but that is because the course is easy right now. If it stays that way I think we will have others push ahead of the ones currently making a push. Rahm is tied for 2nd right now at 5 under but I do not think 5 under will be second by the end of the day unless the weather gets much worse.
Rory misses on 4. This is typical Rory. His putting has cost him so many majors over the years. He reminds me of Hideki Matsuyama in that regard. Such a good ball striker and so many opportunities but if you don’t make them then it doesn’t matter. He can still win, but he needs to make more putts.
Paul Azinger drops some of his knowledge on us by telling us how torturous it is to have a 5 shot lead in a major. Then they show the graphic that no one in the last 40 years with a 5 shot lead has ever NOT won a major. What an idiot. He is literally telling us untruths. Fire him now please.
Rahm has a chance to get up and down for 63 on the par 5 18th. That would be 8 under. I’m looking at the leaderboard and trying to see if anyone at like 3 under can do the same and get it to 11 under. Jordan, Rory is now there, but Sepp Straka is a maybe.
Rory just hit the fairway iron to pin high for eagle on the par 5. Jason Day started with a birdie and he is at 4 under. Maybe he is the one to chase double digits today.
4 under through 7 hole is Hojgaard. Not someone who I had on my Bingo card today but he is tied with Rahm chunked his chip and will have a lengthy putt for birdie. Rahm makes it dead center. That is a very good round of golf. He is tied second right now, but I don’t think he will be in second by the end of the day.
Harman and Fleetwood are about to tee off. Tommy stripes it down the middle as the crowd favorite and the leader stripes it as well. The two best ball strikers of the first two days have continued their form.
McIlroy leaves an eagle putt about 6 inches short, but makes birdie and he is to 4 under. His next putt was about 4 feet wide of the target on 6.
So the wind has switched directions back to where it was the last few days, but it is still in single digits.
Spieth is all of the yard so far today. He has to hit it better bottom line. He has the short range game to go low if he gets it in the fairway, but not where he is hitting it.
Harman is going to have a 10 footer for par on 1. Fleetwood has a birdie look. Jason Day starts birdie birdie and is to 5 under. Harman lipped out the first par putt. He is at 9 under now.
Fleetwood in close on number 2. Fleetwood makes it and he is tied for second.
Cink is back to 2 under. The old feller is playing well and not going away.
The rain is coming down now. Remember the weather can play a huge part of this tournament. Rahm might have gotten done before the weather changed the rain and wind. This could be a huge advantage.
Alex Fitzpatrick is 4th, the brother of last year’s US Open Championship, is at 4 under with a 65 today.
Rory is missing putts left and right but they aren’t gimmees. They are in that 10-15 feet length. With a hot putter he could easily be at 7 or 8 under.
Shubhankar Sharma is 5 under after an eagle on 5. Harman lipped out another par putt. He has fallen to 8 under and the lead is down to 2. Jason Day makes birdie and is to 5 under. Harman needs to right the course, the crowd is coming.
Jason Day makes a 7 footer for par on the difficult par 3 to keep his momentum going. Harman reaches the par 5 in 2 and will have a lengthy eagle putt to right the ship. Jordan Spieth is at 2 under at the turn. Neutral won’t do but the back 9 is getable. Cam Young is at 5 under quietly. Last year’s runner up and really big hitter is a threat.
The rain is coming down hard now, but no wind. Fleetwood’s eagle chip has him with a close in birdie attempt on the par 5. But he missed the putt. Harman is about to putt for eagle from the back. He lags it to a foot and he gets it back to 9 under. Tommy bounces back with a nice shot and he will have about 10 feet for birdie again.
Viktor Hovland has left his last two putts about 4 inches short and he is still 4 under. The rain might be slowing the greens up just a touch.
Cam Young from the rough to about 4 feet and he has a chance to get it to 6 under. He lips it out and stays at 5.
Rozner chips it for eagle on 15 and he is to 4 under. Viva la France! Antione!
Harman has a great equalizer- the short game scrambling making life easy when you chip it to a couple feet. Fleetwood does it even better as he chips it to about a foot. I could watch these guys hit pitch shots all day.
Hovland makes birdie on 18 for a 66 and get it to 5 under. Lots of low rounds out there. Jason Day putts it on 9 from off the green and he is 4 under at the turn and in a tie for 2nd at 6 under.
Azinger talking about how the early players had a huge weather advantage. Smylie Kaufman says it is perfectly still and ideal scoring. Azinger then says the weather changes and it is perfect for scoring out there. What is he doing? Is this chaptGPT Azinger? Is Joe Biden in the booth?
Harman hit a beautiful tee shot on the par 3 9, maybe the best shot of the day and he is in close for birdie. He is back to even for the day and 10 under for the tournament. Leader by 4 and his lead is back to where it was when he began the day. Spieth makes another par today- hoodie alert. That is your problem Jordan.
Speaking of Jordan, Matthew Jordan has made 3 birdies in a row and is back to 2 under through 16.
Grillo is back to 4 under for the tournament. Sepp Straka goes birdie birdie to get to 5 under.
Rozner with a fantastic birdie from out of the greenside pot bunker on 18 and he shoots 67 and is at 5 under.
Azinger saying Fleetwood didn’t get his drive didn’t get on the hump and the ball rolls up onto the hump. This guy is wrong more than a weatherman. Fleetwood then hits it to 12 feet for birdie. Azinger takes another sip of wrong juice in the booth.
Cameron Young gets it to 6 under with a birdie on 15. Matthew Jordan has a 3 footer for a birdie on 18 to finish 3 under for the day. He makes it.
Harman has a shortie to get to 11 under. Fleetwood has about 12 feet for birdie. Fleetwood misses another putt running it by the edge. Harman buries it right in the middle and has a 5 shot lead.
Cam Young hits the flag stick on 16 and bounced away about 25 feet. He deserved better. Speaking of bad luck, Jason Day putts it from down in a hollow and it gets to the top and doesn’t release onto the green but instead rolls right back down to his feet. Terrible break, but that is what can happen when using putter from those big swales. He makes bogey and drops to 5 under.
Max Homa is 2 under for the tournament. One of the few that didn’t make a move today. Rory is another one that didn’t really get it going. Rory has a birdie putt to finish at 4 under. Rory does what Rory does, miss lots of putts in a major. He is still around but not really going to be a factor tomorrow being so far behind Harman.
Harman with back to back birdies and with confidence. He is at 12 under! He has extended his lead to 6 under.
Spieth is one over today but makes birdie to get to 2 under on 18. Not what he wanted, but the putter wasn’t working, lots of tap ins.
Sepp Straka is at 6 under tied for 2nd. Fleetwood has another birdie putt die on the edge. He is stuck at 5 under.
Cam Young with a great chip out of the pot bunker and he gets it to 7 under and solo second. He shoots 66. He could have gone really low had his putter been just a little better.
Tommy Fleetwood is stuck at 5 under for the tournament. He is wearing a hoodie, I’m telling you the golf gods are watching.
Jason Day finishes at 5 under. He couldn’t do much on the back 9, but he is in the hunt.
Big tee shots for the final group. Internal OB all down the right and its playing 625 yards so the hole is formidable. Harman played it out to the left and that is smart. He can lay up. Fleetwood drives it down the middle of the fairway. He then hits his second shot into the bleachers. Whoa! Harman had a terrible lie and had to hit it back to the middle of the green. Par would be a good score now.
Straka finishes at 5 under. Fleetwood shot even par. He has to be disappointed but couldn’t make a putt. Harman has a lengthy par putt of about 10 feet for a 5 shot lead. He makes it and the little guy gives us a little fist pump. Great bounce back from 2 early bogeys.
Azinger says “well he knows the entire golfing world is watching if he cares about that.” The other announcer says “I don’t think he cares about it one bit.” Just call Azinger stupid please. That might be the dumbest thing he has said all weekend.
See you folks tomorrow.
Well hello there… pour yourself three fingers of the good stuff and sit on down. It’s the Open Sunday. The wind is up and it is overcast and rain is a real possibility. It rained overnight so where the gallery has been standing all week is muddy. It won’t be quite the easy bailout on some holes as it has been all week.
Bryson Dechambeau drove the green on the par 4 4th and made eagle. He is at 4 over.
On the par 5 5th, Brooks and Scheffler hit drivers and they each drove it about 265. It’s a 2-3 club wind. Everyone will be guessing on club selection all day.
Getting up early and watching a lot of Scottie Scheffler and Brooks is a treat. Scottie is the best ball striker in the world today. He is a bad putter right now and is number 1 in the world. Brooks was the top ranked bunker save player a couple years back on the PGA tour and it shows. He has a great great short game. He isn’t having a great week, but he has just been off this week. His off week makes the cut and that is always a good sign.
Robinson Thompson is 5 over and wearing a bright orange vest that ensures he won’t get shot by any stray quail hunters. Smart thinking.
Brooks had to hit a very high approach shot. The announcer was asked how much hang time that shot had and he said “more than a Ray guy punt.” Now they went on and explained the comment, but wow was that obscure and spot on. Ray Guy was the best punter in NFL history arguably, and described the situation perfectly. I don’t know who is on the coverage this early but give them Azinger’s seat for gold like this.
Christo Lamprecht was our early leader, the amateur, and when he gets to 17 he eggs on the crowd to clap and then he hits it over the green. Well, the kid has been enjoying his experience even if the golf wasn’t as good as the first day. Great attitude lad. I called over the 17 death. Well the big kid gets it up in one and then makes a long putt to delight the crowd. He is 10 over, but having the time of his life. He is the only amateur to make the cut so he will be at the trophy presentation later today.
Stewart Cink and Henrik Stenson, both past champions are just now teeing off. A Majestick pairing.
The weather is coming in. The umbrellas are starting to come out.
10 shots back is the record. That’s how many shots behind Paul Lawrie was in 1999 to Jean van de Velde. So technically -2 are in it, but it is unlikely. I think the -5s are as low as we can honestly figure that a winner might emerge.
These announcers are garbage. They were commenting on 17 and Brooks Koepka and they said this could be terrible, the shot lands 10 feet from the cup and spins back leaving an uphill putt. Pretty much perfect. I don’t even know why they talk if they are going to be that far off. My only thought is that have seen Azinger be wrong and fail his way to the top spot so they are trying to be just as poor.
It is starting to pour. The camera lens are completely covered.
Faldo and a yellow submarine joke, please go look for the Titanic in your yellow submarine.
Today is the 63rd wedding anniversary of Jack and Barbara Nicklaus. The GOAT.
The rough is thick today. Accuracy will be very important. Par is a great score.
Tom Kim had a ankle injury. He was shown limping quite badly. Yesterday when he made birdie he quick footed it to the hole and showed no signs of injury. Don’t confuse this with Emmitt Smith playing with a separated shoulder because it is not.
Hole number 1 and 3 are playing into the wind and are very difficult. That being said McIlroy makes a 48 footer on 3 for a rare birdie. I think there is only 1 birdie on 1 and that was a chip in.
Rory has made back to back birdies and is at 5 under.
Rahm and Hovland have teed off and the leaders are next. Harman stripes one down the fairway. 3rd in fairways and first in putting this week. He needs to keep it up. Harman hits the green in two which is a great and rare result today. Good start. Cam young was off the edge of the fairway and is just off the green. Cam chips it and it didn’t reach the green and came right off the edge back into the lower bowl below the green.
McIlroy tapped in for birdie on the par 5 fifth so he is to 6 under and tied with Rahm for third.
Harman makes bogey on 2 after missing the green left. He is now at 11 under. Harman goes right again and is in the thick stuff and can only chip out to about 12 feet. He is going to need to make some putts or hit some greens. Cam Young also made a bogey so the lead is still 5 as they play the 3rd. Harman makes the putt and is now 47 for 47 inside of 10 feet.
Rahm leaves a birdie short on 5. The lead is still 5. Rory has another birdie chance on 9. He is going after every flag and is having success. He misses left. The lead is 5. Harman in the fairway on 4 and he hits it to about 12 feet himself.
Rahm hit it way right on 5 and it landed on a strip of grass between the gorse bushes. He should have been reteeing but instead has a shot from the front of the green for eagle after a good approach. He lags up and makes birdie. You need some luck occasionally. He got over his putt and the hat started dripping off the bill of the cap so we are going hat backwards time. Rahm is at 7 under and the lead is at 4.
Meanwhile Harman hits it into the gorse bush on the left and we will see if he can find it. He finds it and takes an unplayable and will hit is third into the par 5. Harman hits a terrific shot to the front of the green and has a chance to save par. Harman hits one that skids by and has a lengthy par putt. Cam Young in the fairway and is in the pot bunker in 2. He couldn’t get it out and had to hit another one from the center of the bunker. Harman makes bogey on 5. The lead is 3 and Rahm has a long birdie putt on 6, but comes up short. Young makes bogey as well.
Harman bounces back with a birdie on 6.
Rory has a long par putt on 10 but he misses and he drops to 5 under. He will get a top ten don’t worry. Sepp Straka has it to 7 under. Fleetwood is at 6 under and 5 back.
The wind is down but the drizzle continues.
Harman is on in 2 at number 7 and has a nice look at birdie. He rolls in another putt and the lead is back to 5. Brian Harman is a holy roller. Amen!
Rahm had a makeable birdie putt and he misses it left.
Jason Day pitches in on 9 to get to 6 under again. One of the best short games in the world. He has the dead hand method which is the opposite of the hinge method that Phil Mickelson uses.
Harman is back in the fairway on 8 and safely on the green in two. Rahm bogeys the 9th after hitting his tee shot left. The lead is 6. Harman hits the green on 9. Straka is now in second at 7 under.
Harman makes par on 10 and the lead is still 5 over Straka. Straka has a birdie putt on 13.
It is pouring again. Homa just snap hooked a drive on 18 where it is pouring but on 11 with Harman and Young it is only merely raining. Homa might get his first top 10 in a major as he is at 4 under. Overhyped still as he was never a threat.
The Open fans are yelling and talking shit to Harman. Catcalling is what they are calling it. Straka taps in for par after leaving the birdie putt short.
Matthew Jordan is at 4 under and tied for 10th. The local member is doing his club proud.
Rory makes bogey with a 360 degree lip out and he is back to 5 under. Fleetwood misses a 6 footer for birdie. He hasn’t made many putts as he stay at 6 under along with Grillo, Day, and Tom Kim.
Tom Kim makes a birdie and is tied for 2nd. He isn’t limping…
McIlroy birdies 17 “Little Eye” to get back to 6 under. Rahm makes birdie on 13 to get to 7 under. The lead is 5.
Rory finishes top ten in a major. Again. 9 seasons with no majors. Again.
Harman makes bogey on 13. He misses a 7 footer for par. The lead is 4. Fleetwood misses another short birdie attempt. Jason Day is tied for 2nd at 7 under.
Matthew Jordan is in close on 18. The most popular player in the field this week. He birdies the last to finish at 4 under. Big fist pump and great reaction from the hometown fans. Tied for 11th.
Harman makes a bomb birdie on 14, the hardest hole on the golf course. The lead is 5. Fleetwood misses another birdie putt. I am tiring of typing that. Head to the windmills and clowns mouth son!
Straka gets to 8 under and a solo second. The lead is 4.
Tommy Fleetwood is over the back on 17 and had to hit it straight sideways to get a look at the green. He then hits out of the unraked sand and doesn’t get it to the green and it rolls back into the rough. He will have work to do for double bogey. He misses the putt for double bogey and makes it triple.
Harman hits it close for birdie on 15. They are running out of holes to catch him. Harman makes another birdie and the lead is up to 5. Back to back birdies to get to 13 under par. He has a couple difficult shots left so he isn’t out of the woods yet.
Tommy Fleetwood is walking up the 18th fairway with his hat off and he looks like a drowned rat. The long hair and wry smile of disappointment. He nodded at the crowd but you can tell how sad he must be. He played so well except for the 17th but he just couldn’t make a putt all weekend. He is a classy and nice guy and he needs to find a putting fix and he will be back. He makes the last putt somewhat ironically.
Straka has a long putt for solo second but he misses it and he will finish 7 under tied with Tom Kim and Jason Day. The lead is 6.
There was a lot of talk about Harman feeling pressure, and maybe he did, but the lead is larger now than it was on Friday night. The man has been unflappable so far. He is safely on the tough 17 green. 2 putt par and the lead is 6.
Jason Day with a putt to tie second with Kim and Straka. For someone that was hurt and fell so far down the rnakings it is good to see him playing well. He makes it and will finish 2nd.
Harman has been in one bunker for the championship. Fist in putting and first in fairways. He has OB all down the right side of 18 and a 6 shot lead and he grabs driver and pipes it down the middle. They have started etching his name onto the Claret jug. This baby must be over.
Rahm rolls in a long birdie to get into a tie for 2nd. Hovland rolls in a long birdie on 18 to get to 3 under. Harman lays up to safety and the stage is set for him to greet the bystanders walking up the 18th in one of the more stress free walks up 18 for a major coronation in a while. Dominant performance. He hits in in the pot bunker but not matter….
A hat tip to the cheering fans. He hits it to 10 feet and he finally fists pumps and gives his caddy a bump. He never broke his attention until right now and finally the smiles. He rolls in another par putt from 10 feet or so. What a stripe show from the little fella. He throws the winning ball into the crowd and all the emotion comes out.
Sepp Straka and Tommy Fleetwood hung around to give him a hug and so too does Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson. I think he will be playing in Paris with the Ryder Cup team. John Rahm came in and gave him a hug while he was signing his card.
From Liverpool today to Augusta next April, we will eagerly anticipate the majors again next year. We only get four of them so cherish every one.
Thank you all for reading about the majors this year and congratulations to the Champion Golfer of the Year, Brian Harman.
Insightfully Yours,
G Spot Johnson