By Brendan Porath
The refrain coming out of Royal Portrush in July 2019 was that the venue in Northern Ireland surely would not have to wait another 68 years to host another Open Championship. That common perception became official on Wednesday morning, when the R&A announced that the 2025 Open Championship will take place at Portrush. The rapid six-year gap is nothing like the wait from 1951 to 2019 and a further endorsement of the triumph of that staging two years ago.

“The Open in 2019 was a massive success and showed just how much collective enthusiasm, passion and commitment there is to make Royal Portrush one of the leading venues for the Championship and to build a distinctive golf tourism brand for Northern Ireland,” said Martin Slumbers, the Chief Executive of the R&A. “We greatly appreciate the support we have received from the Northern Ireland Executive, our partner agencies and, of course, from the club and its members. We look forward to working with them to deliver another fantastic celebration of golf in four years’ time.”

The multiple-decades wait last time for Portrush was due in part to the violence in Northern Ireland during the 20th century. But when the Open returned in 2019, it was widely believed that the plan was to hold multiple editions of golf’s oldest major championship within a single decade. Both the R&A and the local executives in Northern Ireland cited the massive economic impacts of the 2019 edition and looked forward to the boost from this next run on the other side of the negative impacts caused by the pandemic.

Nearly 240,000 fans attended throughout the week for the 148th Open in 2019, cited as the largest number ever for an Open outside of St. Andrews. The Irishman Shane Lowry ignited those crowds with a rousing six-shot victory and subsequent celebration deep into the night. Lowry then got to enjoy a two-year reign as “champion golfer of the year” with the cancellation of the 2020 Open at Royal St. George’s.

Unlike the rotating men’s major championships in the United States, the Open does not have venues scheduled 10, 20, and even almost 30 years in advance. The Old Course will host the 150th edition next year in St. Andrews. Following that, it goes to Royal Liverpool in 2023 and Royal Troon in 2024 before the return to Portrush.

Slumbers indicated at the start of this year that Turnberry, once a staple course on the rota and now owned by Donald Trump, would not be hosting for the “foreseeable future.” The last Open held there was 2009 while Muirfield has not hosted since 2013, when Phil Mickelson won his claret jug. With Muirfield’s decision to admit women members, and the R&A choosing it as a host for next year’s Women’s Open, the men’s Open should be added to the schedule again. Not yet, however, as the next available date has gone to Royal Portrush for the 153rd Open in 2025.

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By Ryan Herrington
As the iconic yellow leaderboards reminded everyone on Sunday at Royal St. George’s, the Open Championship will celebrate its 150th playing next year at St. Andrews. From there, the R&A has announced that Royal Liverpool and Royal Troon will host golf’s oldest tournament in 2023 and 2024.

As for 2025, while nothing is official, multiple reports in the U.K. and Ireland last weekend hinted that the R&A is leaning toward returning to Royal Portrush after the Northern Ireland course hosted most recently in 2019.

“I’m delighted it’s coming back to Northern Ireland and the smart money is on 2025,” Ian Paisley, North Antrim MP and vice-chairman of the All Parliamentary Group for Golf, told the BBC. “The resources are in place to have another successful Open. … All signals indicate the R&A are behind Royal Portrush.”

Paisley was in attendance at The Open at Sandwich, England, this past week with the purpose, he said, of helping boost interest in the event back in Northern Ireland.

That wouldn’t seem to be a difficult task. When Royal Portrush hosted the Open for the first time in 68 years back in 2019, 237,500 spectators came during the week generating £100 million in revenue, according to the Belfast Telegraph. Expectations are that returning just six years later wouldn’t dampen enthusiasm for the championship.

The last time a venue outside of the Old Course at St. Andrews hosted the Open again so quickly was Royal St. George’s when it held the championship in 1981 and then repeated as host four years later in 1985.

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By Christopher Powers
It’s a phrase golf broadcasters have uttered hundreds of times before: “This win is a life-changer!” Usually, it’s reserved for first-time major winners, but with the amount of money they’re playing for on the PGA Tour every week, they’re all life-changers for first-time tour winners.

But maiden major wins are a different level of life-changing, something Shane Lowry has found out in the weeks since his Open Championship victory at Royal Portrush. Though Lowry believes his life hasn’t changed all that much, which is exactly what you’d expect to hear from him. The only thing he could think of was how fans this week at Liberty National recognize him as Shane Lowry, and not two of his doppelgangers. Allow the Champion Golfer of the Year to explain.

“Yeah, look, it’s changed my life a little bit,” Lowry said. “I’m definitely more recognized now, and even coming over here to events, but if anything when you’re like that, it makes you feel more comfortable. That’s the way I feel, anyway. They’re not calling me Beef or they’re not calling me J.B. Holmes out there, anyway. That’s a plus.”

Apparently, golf fans think all heavyset pros with beards are all the same guy.

The Irishman’s life has changed in other ways, too.

“The support I’ve got back home has just been incredible. I haven’t really sat back and thought about it a lot but what I feel. Hopefully it’s going to a little bit more in November in Ireland and hopefully, it’s going to get kids playing the game. It does feel like it has had that effect a little bit over the last few weeks, and hopefully, I can move forward and become more successful, as well, and make kids want to start playing golf, too.”

Note to golf fans: Make sure you know the name of the guy you’re yelling at before you start yelling at him.

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By Shane Ryan
It’s not even August, and for the first time in recent memory, we have used up all our major championships for the year. On one hand, this is sad, especially in a non-Ryder Cup year. The FedEx Cup playoffs will be fun, but there’s a void that will be left unfilled. On the other hand, we reaped the benefits of the schedule change with a jammed four months, starting with the Players Championship in March and ending with Lowry’s victory at Royal Portrush. All in all, the new schedule was a success, and now that we’ve reached the conclusion of the major season, it’s time to bestow some superlative honours.

It can only start with one man…

The Major Champion Golfer of the Year: Brooks Koepka
Is this award a subtle jab at the R&A? Mayyyybe. But more than that, it’s a celebration of one of the great major seasons we’ve seen this decade. With a win at the PGA, a second at Augusta and the U.S. Open, and a T-4 to finish things off at the Open, Koepka became just the fifth golfer in history to finish top five in every major within a single year. It’s been a fascinating two years for Koepka from a PR standpoint, as he’s evolved from “potentially boring” to “expert grudge holder” to “actually a very interesting and smart human being,” but the one unerring consistency has been his excellence at majors. If he’s not winning, he’s coming close, and his name strikes fear in his contemporaries. In 2019, he was the best of the best.

The Story of the Year: Yeah, Of Course, Tiger Woods
No one expected it. Most people doubted it. Some idiots doubted it very publicly. But in the end, it was Tiger stunning and delighting the golf world with his 15th major at Augusta. For the first time in his career, he won a major coming from behind on Sunday, and he did it with the wit and wiles of a veteran.

The Nervy Shot of the Year: Gary Woodland, Pebble, 17
Woodland eventually beat Koepka by three shots, but there was a moment on 17 when things could have gone very, very wrong. Instead, Woodland did this:

Gary Woodland needed some wedge magic at 17, and got it…#USOpen #LiveUnderPar
pic.twitter.com/0TdM5OMbTS

— SBR Sports Picks (@SBRSportsPicks) June 17, 2019

The Funniest Pairing of the Year: Koepka and J.B. Holmes, Open Championship
If there’s one thing Koepka hates, it’s slow play. We learned this year about his hilarious tactic of spending extra minutes in the port-a-johns to get his group put on the clock when he’s paired with a slow player, but on Sunday at the Open, there was no escaping J.B. Holmes—a player so slow that when he won at Riviera earlier this year, most of the focus was about his pace of play. To make this unwanted partnership even more uproarious, Holmes went and shot 87. The whole thing was custom designed to infuriate Koepka, and it did—his post-round comments were a masterpiece of “I’m not mad, but actually, I’m furious.” He even got annoyed that Holmes wouldn’t put his glove on before his turn. These two should get a buddy sitcom.

The Feel-Good, Disaster-Avoiding Champion of the Year: Shane Lowry
It’s very nice that an Irish champion won at the first Northern Irish Open since 1951, and watching the crowds surge in behind Lowry as he walked up the 18th green was goosebump-inducing. But I also want to point out that there was very ugly potential downside to the final round, and it hearkened back to the last time Lowry had a four-stroke lead heading into the final 18 holes. At the 2016 U.S. Open, he slipped and slipped and slipped some more until a final-round 76 cost him his chance at a first major. Experiences like that can be overcome, as Lowry proved, but they can also be repeated … and when they’re repeated, it’s devastating to watch. Thank you, Shane, for granting us the happy timeline, and thank you, Tommy Fleetwood, for your generous sacrifice.

The “Room For Improvement” Sunday Golfer of the Year: Justin Rose
Rose missed the cut at the Masters, surprisingly, so he didn’t turn in a Sunday card at Augusta, but here’s how he fared in the next three major Sundays: 75-74-79. Here were the scores he would have needed at those same events to tie the winning score: 62-68-65. So, OK, it wouldn’t have been *easy,* and the PGA was impossible barring a record-tying major round, but he had a crack at both Opens before spiraling away.

The Nearly Man, First Half: Dustin Johnson
With a T-2 at the Masters and an outright second at the PGA—in which his Sunday charge ended the minute it seemed like victory was possible—Johnson remained stuck in the “that guy has only one major?” club.

The Nearly Man, Second Half: Brooks Koepka
Let’s just keep giving him awards. Also, he needs something to get angry about for 2020—there’s been far too much praise in the media lately to keep him motivated.

The Sneaky Four Made Cuts Man of the Year: Aaron Wise
This was almost Jim Furyk, but he missed it by one shot at the PGA Championship to go 3/4. Beyond Wise, the Four Made Cuts Club was small: Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Louis Oosthuizen, Webb Simpson, Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson, Cameron Smith, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Francesco Molinari, Rickie Fowler, Tyrrell Hatton, Brooks Koepka, and Tommy Fleetwood.

The Four Missed Cuts Man of the Year: Shugo Imahira
He was the only one!

The Disappointing No-Major-Win of the Year: Tie, Rory and Rickie
Rickie would get it if we just considered his results—two top-10 finishes and four made cuts—and the larger career context of still looking for that first major. But when you consider that Rory had a chance to complete the career slam at Augusta and win a home Open in Northern Ireland, and further note how expectations were ratcheted up by his Players Championship win … well, this is at least a tie.

The Inspiring Friday Round of the Year: Rory
A beautiful moment of collective hope, probably made even more beautiful by the fact that it came up agonizingly short and evinced the two-way love between Rory and the crowd.

“I wish the ending for me would’ve been written a little bit differently.”

Rory McIlroy got emotional after his charge to make #TheOpen cut came up a shot short.pic.twitter.com/4LuxIZL1Zt

— Golf Central (@GolfCentral) July 19, 2019

The Most Irish Celebration Possible: Lowry
A perfect finish … as the Irish say, slainte:

Doing it properlypic.twitter.com/jAtRiKW8Wc

— The Club (@TheClub) July 22, 2019

The post The best, worst, and weirdest from the 2019 major season appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Myers
Sergio Garcia’s record shows he hasn’t won anywhere on the golf course in 2019 but the Spaniard has lost even more this year in the court of public opinion.

On Tuesday, a seemingly unbecoming video of Garcia taken by a fan at the Open Championship went viral. In the 20-second clip, Garcia hits his tee shot on the fifth hole at Royal Portrush during the final round. Clearly disgusted with the result, Garcia tosses it over his shoulder at his caddie while not looking as they walk off the tee box, drawing an audible gasp from those in the crowd. Watch and listen:

Look at this child @TheSergioGarcia throwing his club at his caddy @TheOpen. Recorded on Sunday. Share!!@PGATOUR @PGA @EuropeanTour @SkySportsGolf @NBCGolfChannel @adidasGolf @GOLFTV @IrishGolfDesk @ShaneODonoghue @RoyCurtis68 @gregallenRTE @jcorrigangolf @MattCooperGolf pic.twitter.com/Zm6OInyotk

— Ray Owens (@RayOwensMU20) July 23, 2019

Garcia went on to double bogey the hole. He shot a final-round 78 to tumble down the leader board and finish in a tie for 67th place.

Adding another layer to this incident is who Garcia’s caddie was for the event: Victor Garcia. As in Sergio’s brother.

It should be noted that the video is difficult to see and we don’t know the full context. Perhaps, that’s how the Garcias show affection for each other.

RELATED: You have to see Sergio Garcia’s bunker tantrum to believe it

Not surprisingly, though, Golf Twitter took Garcia to task for his actions. Here’s a (small) sampling from fans and golf writers:

Caddie should have snapped the driver, dropped the bag, and walked off the course. @TheSergioGarcia is a cry baby and is a terrible role model for kids watching golf. It’s a bad shot dude gtfoh!

— Caleb Harrell (@CalebHarrell9) July 24, 2019

POS move by Sergio and he has made many moves like this.

— Alexander Patrick (@AlexPatrick94) July 24, 2019

Should and hopefully will be fined for this, terrible by @TheSergioGarcia

— Michael Flaherty (@cablestation947) July 23, 2019

It’s impossible to justify treating someone this way. https://t.co/9Axyd6qcIq

— Ryan Ballengee (@RyanBallengee) July 24, 2019

This is the second time Garcia has been criticized harshly for a video taken by a fan during a tournament. In February at the European Tour’s Saudi International, a clip of the 2017 Masters champ surfaced in which he angrily slammed his club in a bunker several times. Garcia was disqualified from the event for “serious misconduct” after being accused of purposely damaging greens.

“I feel terrible about it,” Garcia told the AP at his next tournament. “I’ve been thinking about it for the last week, every day. I’m an emotional player. That emotion is probably my biggest strength, but it’s also one of my biggest flaws. If I channel it the right way, it’s amazing. I think that’s why people follow me the way they do. If I channel it the wrong way, it’s too extreme. My goal is make sure the bad gets better and the good stays.”

Judging from this weekend, it appears Sergio still has some work to do.

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By Alex Myers
There’s no debate that Rory McIlroy has played great golf more consistently than anyone else in 2019. Including victories at the Players and the Canadian Open, the 30-year-old Northern Irishman has finished in the top 10 a remarkable 11 of 14 times he’s teed it up on the PGA Tour since January. But despite such steady, strong play, McIlroy’s drought in major championships will be approaching six years when he tees it up at the 2020 Masters.

It’s not that McIlroy played awful in golf’s four biggest events this year—two of those top 10s came at the PGA Championship (T-8) and U.S. Open (T-9)—but he certainly didn’t perform up to the lofty level that he has in other events, including a certain “fifth major.” In addition to those pair of (barely) top 10s, McIlroy finished T-21 at the Masters and missed the cut last week at the Open Championship in his home country of Northern Ireland. And another stat shows how disappointing his collective showing in those four tournaments was.

Twitter’s unofficial Official World Golf Ranking guru @Nosferatu calculated the world ranking points earned by players in major championships this year. And despite Rory ranking high in just about every other metric in 2019 (First in strokes gained total on the PGA Tour, second in total world ranking points gained, third in FedEx Cup points, etc.), he just makes the top 20 of this list topped (obviously) by Brooks Koepka. Check it out:

Stat of the day:

These are the top 20 #OWGR point earners in Majors in 2019.@BKoepka is streets ahead, with @ShaneLowryGolf the best of the rest… pic.twitter.com/NGZdhbSA4G

— Nosferatu (@VC606) July 22, 2019

First of all, Brooks. Wow. The man who became just the fifth golfer to finish in the top five of all four majors in one year is nearly double No. 2 Shane Lowry, who in addition to his popular win at Royal Portrush also finished T-8 at Bethpage Black. Lowry nips U.S. Open champ Gary Woodland, who is followed by Dustin Johnson—the only player in the top 5 without a major win this year—and Masters champ Tiger Woods.

There aren’t many surprises on the list—maybe Matt Wallace at No. 11—until you get down to McIlroy at No. 20. And it gets worse for the four-time major champ when you take a closer look at his average points earned.

In the majors, McIlroy averaged earning 8.26 points, which is less than his current two-year average of 8.404 that ranks third behind Koepka and Johnson. At first glance, you might expect a player to earn fewer points in the bigger, tougher events, but the majors offer about twice as many points as regular PGA Tour events. For example, McIlroy earned 48 points for his win in Canada, while the four major champs all earned 100 points. (Rory received 80 points for his Players victory in March.)

In any event, there’s little argument McIlroy has had a fantastic season. Sadly for him, though, his struggles in the majors were even more obvious.

The post Why Rory McIlroy’s 2019 season at major championships was even worse than you think appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Before his weekend at Royal Portrush, Shane Lowry asserted, victory or not, he’d still be the same golfer with the same level of fame.

“I’ll be getting on an airplane Monday to go to Memphis, regardless of what happens Sunday,” Lowry said. “There’ll probably be 10 men and a dog following me.”

But then the weekend came, and with it, the claret jug, and it appears Lowry’s schedule has slightly changed. On Tuesday, the Irishman pulled out of the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

No official word was given for Lowry’s withdraw, but a quick social search reveals a clue…

About last night…@ShaneLowryGolf #TheOpen pic.twitter.com/zdXW66yetz

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) July 22, 2019

Lowry was expected to celebrate his Open triumph in his hometown of Clara on Tuesday evening. Given the festivities that are likely to ensue, that Dublin-to-Memphis commute would have been an overwhelming test of the somatic and psychological limits.

Prior to his Open breakthrough, Lowry’s lone PGA Tour victory came at this event when it was known as the Bridgestone Invitational. The tournament has moved from Firestone to TPC Southwind this season, yet still holds World Golf Championship status.

Despite Lowry’s exit, the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational includes 45 of the OWGR’s top 50 players.

The post Shane Lowry withdraws from WGC-FedEx St. Jude due to…well, take a guess appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

RELATED: The story of the Open’s final round in 9 (or so) sentences

On Monday, Thomas shared a short video taken by his dad while he neared the end of his round. And while you still won’t actually get wet watching it, you’ll get a better feel for what JT and others played through at Royal Portrush.

Just a video for those who didn’t know how bad it really got out there… my dad took this when we were on 16 green/17 tee. Worst weather I’ve ever played in! ? pic.twitter.com/URFPx3HF1V

— Justin Thomas (@JustinThomas34) July 22, 2019

Looks fun, huh?

To Thomas’ credit, he handled the elements better than most, shooting a one-over-par 72 and winding up T-11 for the week, the best Open finish of his young career. NBC’s cameras caught him having to back off a chip shot on No. 16, but he regrouped, hit one close and made par.

The weather got Thomas good moments later when he made a triple bogey on No. 17. After watching this, though, are you going to knock him for that? Didn’t think so.

The post Justin Thomas shares video showing just how bad the weather was on Sunday at the Open (SPOILER ALERT: It was bad) appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
We’re all waking up this Monday morning (Tuesday UAE time) to a new reality after the 148th Open Championship. No, not Shane Lowry being a major champion. Rather, we just saw the last men’s major of 2019.

The change to the PGA Tour calendar that helped shift the PGA Championship from August to May means that we all have to wait nearly nine months—262 days to be very specific—to experience the glorious rush of the first round of major championship again. (Say it ain’t so!)

If you’re as bummed as us about just how long a wait we’re in for, hopefully this will help. We’ve compiled a list of everybody who has qualified thus far to compete in the 2020 Masters. This includes all living past champions, as well as any player who is expected to get an invitation through Augusta National’s various traditional qualification criteria.

When you discount past champions who no longer compete in the tournament, 52 golfers are currently in the field for next year’s event, including two new players based on their performances at Royal Portrush on Sunday. Lowry, the new Open champion, had not yet earned an invitation but now will be getting one through 2024 (Open champs are exempt into the Masters for five years). Nor had Lee Westwood, whose T-4 finish at Portrush means he is headed to Augusta for the 19th time in his career but the first since 2017 (top-four finishers and ties at the Open get an invite).

Here is the list of expected invitees, with the qualification criteria listed below. Suffice it to say, there are several ways for golfers to still get in the Masters: All those who qualify for the Tour Championship, top 50 on the World Ranking at the end of 2019, winners of any PGA Tour event with full FedEx Cup points, U.S. Amateur and runner-up, etc. It’s expected that this list will nearly double before the calendar turns to April and we’re driving down Magnolia Lane once again.

Tommy Aaron, 1*
Jack Burke, Jr., 1*
Angel Cabrera, 1
Patrick Cantlay, 12, 15, 16
Charles Coody, 1*
Fred Couples, 1
Ben Crenshaw, 1*
Jason Day, 4, 12
Nick Faldo, 1*
Rickie Fowler, 12
Tony Finau, 12, 14
Raymond Floyd, 1*
Dylan Frittelli, 16
Sergio Garcia, 1
Bob Goalby, 1*
Justin Harding, 12
Max Homa, 16
Trevor Immelman, 1
Dustin Johnson, 2, 12, 15
Zach Johnson, 1, 3
Sung Kang, 16
Si Woo Kim, 5
Brooks Koepka, 2, 4, 12, 13, 14, 15
Matt Kuchar, 12
Bernhard Langer, 1
Nate Lashley, 16
Shane Lowry, 3, 14, 16
Sandy Lyle, 1
Rory McIlroy, 5, 16
Larry Mize, 1
Phil Mickelson, 1
Francesco Molinari, 3, 12
Kevin Na, 16
Jack Nicklaus, 1*
Jose Maria Olazabal, 1
Mark O’Meara, 1*
C.T. Pan, 16
Gary Player, 1*
Ian Poulter, 12
Jon Rahm, 12, 13
Chez Reavie, 13, 16
Patrick Reed, 1
Justin Rose, 13
Xander Schauffele, 12, 13
Charl Schwartzel, 1
Adam Scott, 1
Jason Segrue (a), 8
Webb Simpson, 5, 12
Vijay Singh, 1
Jordan Spieth, 1, 2, 3, 15
Craig Stadler, 1*
Henrik Stenson, 3
Justin Thomas, 4, 12
Jimmy Walker, 4
Matt Wallace, 15
Bubba Watson, 1, 12
Tom Watson, 1*
Mike Weir, 1
Lee Westwood, 14
Danny Willett, 1
Matthew Wolff, 16
Gary Woodland, 2, 13, 16
Tiger Woods, 1, 12
Ian Woosnam, 1
Fuzzy Zoeller, 1*

Retired past champion

Qualification categories (* = already finished qualifying)
1: Masters champions (lifetime)* 2: U.S. Open champions (five years)* 3: Open champions (five years)* 4: PGA champion (five years)* 5: Players champion (three years) 6: Current Olympic gold medalist (one year)* 7: Current U.S. Amateur champion and runner-up (one year) 8: Current British Amateur champion (one year)* 9: Current Asia-Pacific Amateur champion (one year) 10: Current U.S. Mid-Amateur champion (one year) 11: Current Latin America Amateur champion (one year) 12: First 12 players, including ties, in the previous year’s Masters* 13: First 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s U.S. Open* 14: First 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s Open Championship* 15: First 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s PGA Championship* 16: Winners of PGA Tour regular-season and playoff events that award at least a full allocation of FedEx Cup points 17: Qualifiers from the previous year’s season-ending Tour Championship (top 30 in FedEx Cup) 18: 50 leaders on the final Official World Golf Ranking for the previous calendar year 19: 50 leaders on the Official World Golf Ranking published during the week prior to the current Masters

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