English amateur Woad sets clubhouse lead in Evian final round
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The Guardian
21 minutes ago
- The Guardian
McIlroy vows ‘the story isn't over' as he revels in Royal Portrush support at the Open
Rory McIlroy has promised to revel in the Northern Irish love during the Open Championship this week, with the 36-year-old also warning fellow competitors that he has regained focus after claiming the Masters in April. 'The story certainly isn't over,' he insisted. McIlroy has returned to Royal Portrush for the first time since 2019, when he admitted the scale of ovation on the Open's first tee contributed to him whacking his ball out of bounds. He later missed the cut. Attention in the coming days promises to be even more intense, given his Masters win meant he became only the sixth golfer in history to complete a career grand slam. 'I think in '19 I probably tried to isolate,' McIlroy said on Monday. 'I think it's better for everyone if I embrace it. I think it's better for me. 'It's nice to be able to accept adulation, even though I struggle with it at times. But it's also nice for the person that is seeing you for the first time in a few years. It just makes for a better interaction and not trying to hide away from it. 'I think it's more of, embrace everything that's going to come my way this week and not try to shy away from it or hide away from it. I think that'll make for a better experience for everyone involved.' McIlroy was asked unsurprisingly to reflect on the first hole, six years ago, where he slumped to a quadruple‑bogey eight. He said: 'The walk to the first tee and then that ovation, I was a little surprised and a little taken aback, like: 'Geez, these people really want me to win.' I think that brought its own sort of pressure and more internally from myself, not really wanting to let people down. It's just something I didn't mentally prepare for that day or that week. 'I learned pretty quickly that one of my challenges, especially in a week like this, is controlling myself and controlling that battle. I talked about it at the Masters on that last day. The battle on that last day wasn't with Augusta National. It wasn't with Bryson DeChambeau. It wasn't with Justin Rose. The battle that day was with myself.' It certainly appears as if McIlroy has found an appropriate level of motivation. After only four hours of sleep, he played 18 Portrush holes first thing on Monday morning. McIlroy openly challenged the sense he will compete in the 153rd Open without any pressure, an event he had circled on the calendar at the start of 2025. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion 'I've done something that I've told everyone that I wanted to do,' McIlroy said. 'But I still feels like I have a lot more to give. Anyone that sits up here at this table, we're all competitors. We all want to do better. We all think we can just get a little bit extra out of what we have. The BBC has secured a last-minute deal to show an early evening highlights programme from The Open Championship in Portrush this week. The Guardian has learned that the R&A has agreed a new three-year deal with the BBC for highlights for the Open, which also covers the women's Championship, starting with the 2025 edition at Royal Porthcawl at the end of the month. The BBC's late move comes as a surprise and is a boost for the R&A and golf fans, as the corporation has shown little interest in the sport in recent years. A long-term contract for live rights to the Open was terminated a year early by the BBC in 2016, with Sky Sports taking over live coverage, and while they have shown highlights since then they had opted not to renew a contract that expired last year. The Rory McIlroy factor may have played a role in the BBC's decision to make a late bid, with the reigning Masters champion playing on his home course in Northern Ireland likely to boost interest amongst casual fans. BBC Sport sources have expressed the belief that they made an error of judgment in not attempting to show highlights of the Masters this year, with coverage of McIlroy's triumph at Augusta only available to viewers with Sky Sports. The Open is a more attractive property for the BBC however, due to the Championship's earlier finishing times in this country, which should deliver a bigger audience. As a result this week's highlights programmes are due to be shown at 9pm on Thursday and Friday before starting at 10pm on Saturday and Sunday. The R&A and BBC did not comment, but an announcement is expected in the next few days. Matt Hughes 'It's been an amazing year. The fact that I'm here at Portrush with the Green Jacket, having completed that lifelong dream, I want to do my best this week to enjoy everything that comes my way and enjoy the reaction of the fans and enjoy being in front of them and playing in front of them. But at the same time, I want to win this golf tournament and I feel like I'm very capable of doing that. 'I try to go about my business. I try to give the best of myself every time I'm out there. It's amounted to some pretty nice things so far. I still feel like there's a lot left in there.'
BBC News
29 minutes ago
- BBC News
The Englishman who turned around Scheffler's putting fortunes
When world number one Scottie Scheffler reached out to one of golf's most sought-after putting coaches in September 2023, he could not have imagined the transformation it would bring to his American was already a major champion and had won twice that season but he was in a fug. The statistics proved he was the best from tee to green. They also proved he was among the worst with a putter in Tour players hole 90% of putts from four feet. At that time, Scheffler was making 80%. The best player in the world was ranked outside the top 150 in putting and fending off the same questions every in Phil Kenyon, coach to the best in the 12 months, Scheffler had risen into the top 15 putters and completed a remarkable season, winning seven PGA Tour events, including a second Masters, and an Olympic gold medal at the Paris he arrives at this week's Open Championship on the back of a run of three victories in his past 10 events - including winning his third major at the US PGA Championship - and finishing in the top 10 in the other seven to reaffirm his position as the world's dominant player."That was a particular high for Scottie after some lows and a lot of discussion about his putting," Kenyon told BBC Sport of the American's major victory at Augusta National in April 2024."And for him to putt so well fairly early on in my role working with him, that was a highlight for me."So what did Kenyon tweak? He helped with green reading, to give Scheffler more confidence in his own ability. He helped change his it was a switch from his trusted blade to a mallet putter "to help him with lining up putts" that really sparked a change in another poor performance on the greens in February 2024, long-time friend and mentor Brad Payne - speaking in a PGA Tour documentary of that season - recounted a conversation they had in Scheffler's Dallas home: "I said 'buddy, how are you doing?' and he said, 'I don't think I'm doing well'."That was after the Genesis Invitational, where Scheffler finished joint 10th. The mallet putter made its debut in his next event and Scheffler won four of his following five tournaments, including the Masters by four strokes. Who is Phil Kenyon? Kenyon, who hails from the seaside town of Southport, on England's 'golf coast', grew up surrounded by the game. His dad was friends with 'Britain's putting doctor' Harold Swash, who worked with European Tour legends Nick Faldo, Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood among many others."He would pay me to help him out, carrying his gear around, and was a huge inspiration," said Kenyon, who was was a decent amateur and turned professional after studying a sports science quickly realised he "didn't have the game" to make a living as a pro so, with Swash as a mentor, started coaching."Harold was slowing down at that time so it gave me an opportunity to get stuck in," he added."I've been at it 25 years. You just work on your craft day-to-day and it organically develops. I never envisaged travelling the world though, following players to tournaments."And while he is quick to deflect the praise, Kenyon's achievements are impossible to triumph at May's US PGA Championship meant the Englishman completed the career 'Golden Slam' of coaching players to all four major titles and Olympic Henrik Stenson and Francesco Molinari picked up Claret Jugs while under his tutelage; Matt Fitzpatrick and Gary Woodland won the US Open; Justin Rose won gold at the Rio 2016 Games; Scheffler picked up a second Green Jacket and Olympic title in their first year working also has Tommy Fleetwood and US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley among his client list. 'McIlroy helped make me a better coach' Kenyon also still coaches from his studio in Formby on Merseyside and is equally as comfortable teaching a pro or an amateur."Different players provide different challenges," he said."I can get stuck into the weeds with the best of them if that's the route you want to go down but it's about trying to work out the right balance for each player."There is a terrific video from 2021 of Kenyon and Rose going through some technical are mic'd up so you can hear Rose asking for reassurance and guidance as Kenyon buzzes round the green, offering words of encouragement while simultaneously checking putter head alignment and confirming slope angles with a spirit is more into the stats. "In comparison to those two, Scheffler plays a lot more 'feel' and is a simpler golfer," said Kenyon. "He's less technical, less stats orientated, but equally, if not more, competitive."All the best players I've worked with are questioning and probing - you're working together to find the right solutions for them."Kenyon also spent some time coaching Rory McIlroy, with the pair hooking up post-2016 Olympics. "I felt like I did a decent job of improving him technically over that period of time but he felt the need to find other things," said Kenyon of their time together."In hindsight, some things I would have done differently. But I'm glad I didn't. You learn from it and I became a better coach because of it. "There are things that I learned through that experience with Rory that have helped me with Scottie." How to adapt to putting at The Open The professional circuit has arrived in the UK for two weeks of the links golf Kenyon was brought up on at Hillside Golf Club in on the coastal courses that host the annual Scottish Open and Open Championship are vastly different to those players encounter on the PGA Tour and it's all about adapting the three key areas of line, speed and green week's Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club near Edinburgh will have been a "great opportunity to prep" for this week's Open at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland."The big thing is getting the speeds," said Kenyon, who will be prowling the practice putting green "keeping on top of the maintenance" of his job at tournaments is more like "supervised practice" and "cheerleading" rather than getting into technical work."Links greens are slower than in the US and they can have more subtle slopes," he explained."And then you've got the wind. Wind will be a big factor. It influences the break a lot and when you've got these subtleties of break and wind it makes it a very different challenge in your read. "It's like in tennis - you've had clay court season and then you get on to grass - part of your preparation is adapting to the surfaces you're putting on."A lot of adaption occurs subconsciously and I'm there to provide feedback, making sure they are comfortable with what they are doing." What's the secret to putting like a pro? "You've got three skills to master. Starting the ball on the right line. Controlling the speed. Reading the green," said Kenyon."And there are a variety of techniques you can use within each skill. With all of them it's about trying to find the right technique for you, what matches you as a person, your personality."You can't just master two out of the three, though. All three skills need to be working in harmony for putts to of the techniques Kenyon coaches for green reading, for example, is AimPoint, which has been around for a couple of decades but has recently increased in popularity and is used by players such as former world number one Adam Scott, Rose and is being seen as a way of speeding up the putting process. In basic terms, players use their feet to feel and grade the severity of slope from one to three. They then hold up the corresponding number of fingers out in front of them towards the hole to line up the putt, using the outside edge of the fingers as the aim point."It's a valid method that is growing in appeal, but there are other ways to read greens," said Kenyon, who points to the internet as a huge source of information."It's not always good but people will come across things that will make them think more and that 'oh, I should try that this weekend'."And when you are next out and trying new putting techniques, perhaps frustrated at missing that eight-footer to 'win The Open', remind yourself that PGA Tour players fail to hole from that distance 50% of the time.
BBC News
42 minutes ago
- BBC News
Derby County promotion hero to receive honorary degree
A footballer who helped Derby County reach the Premier League is set to receive an honorary University of Derby will honour Darren Moore, a defender who made 90 appearances for the Rams and played a key role in their promotion to the Premier League in Moore, now manager of League One side Port Vale, is one of four honorary degree recipients who will join graduates at ceremonies held at Derby Arena from 16 to 18 vice chancellor and chief executive Professor Kathryn Mitchell said it was awarding the degrees to "outstanding individuals" who are "an inspiration to our graduating students". As well as Derby County, Mr Moore's 30-year playing career included more than 100 appearances for West Bromwich Albion, spells with Bradford City, Portsmouth, Barnsley and Burton Albion, and two international caps for was the first Jamaican to manage in the Premier League, is an Honorary Patron of Show Racism the Red Card and has performed extensive charity work including walking the Great Wall of China and cycling 100 miles in a day for Cure will be made an honorary master of the university. 'Outstanding individuals' Former Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire Willie Tucker will be awarded an honorary doctorate for his public service, which included organising 44 Royal Rebecca Bennett, the founder of Sisters in Service, a support network for female veterans, will also be made an honorary master of the Christopher Nieper, chief executive of family-owned fashion firm David Nieper Ltd, is to be handed an honorary Christopher Nieper Education Trust "reversed the fortunes of Alfreton's only secondary school" said the university, while he also founded the Christopher Nieper Foundation during lockdown to rejuvenate "Britain's forgotten towns".
