Padraig Harrington insists Open ceremonial tee will not dull his competitiveness
Harrington, who won back-to-back Claret Jugs in 2007 and 2008 and at 53 would be the oldest winner if he were successful this week, does not agree with that sentiment.
"I still think I'm a player but I'm quite happy to take the ceremonial position of hitting the first shot. It will be nerve-wracking," the Irishman, winner of the Senior US Open a fortnight ago, told R&A TV.
"I have to create my own reality and in my reality I can win. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, I think I can do it.
"I have to prepare like I'm coming down the 18th on Sunday and have to hit a couple of great shots to win The Open.
"That is what is in my head for the week and I am trying to get myself in that headspace that everything is leading to Sunday afternoon. I mightn't get there but if I do get there in contention, I have to prepare for it."
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North Wales Chronicle
12 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Tourism chiefs in NI confident of another swift return of the Open
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Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
The Open 2025: People are only just realising how old Scottie Scheffler actually is
Scottie Scheffler won The Open Championship on Sunday, and there are people who are only just starting to realise the world No.1's actual age following his victory at Royal Portrush Scottie Scheffler winning The Open has led some more casual golf fans to come to a realisation about his age. The American stormed to victory at Royal Portrush to claim the fourth major title of his career. Scheffler carded three-under-par on Sunday to maintain his overnight four-shot lead and claim The Open Championship. He ended the weekend on 17-under and is now a US Open title away from completing a career Grand Slam, having also twice won the Masters and clinched the PGA Championship. That list of achievements is made even more impressive by the fact that he won his first major as recently as April 2022. Scheffler could dominate the sport for many years, as his victory at The Open has led many fans to realise that the world No.1 is still only 29 years old. A section of fans were left surprised by Scheffler's age due to his prowess on the golf course and more mature appearance. One fan posted on X: ' Scottie Scheffler feels like the oldest 29-year-old ever.' A second said: 'How is Scottie Scheffler 29? Man looks about 45. What a golfer though.' A third shared their surprise: 'I struggle to believe Scottie Scheffler is 29. That is a 45-year-old man. Still very handsome tho.' A fourth fan discussed his potential legacy within the sport: 'Scottie Scheffler is only 29, in golf terms that's young. He's on his way to eventually being called the greatest golfer of all time.' A fifth fan echoed those thoughts: 'Scottie Scheffler is the most dominant golfer since Tiger. He's just smoking this field. How long can he keep this pace up? He just turned 29, still really young.' Another posted: 'I was surprised to find out recently that Scheffler is still only 29. He's still got another good 20 years left.' Scheffler recorded his best-ever score at a major on day two, carding seven-under on his way to another victory. The four-time major winner successfully navigated the conditions at Portrush and finished seven strokes ahead of Rory McIlroy, who finished T7 and was heavily supported by the crowd in Northern Ireland. "Thank you so much to the fans this week for all the support,' Scheffler said after his win. 'I know I wasn't the fan favourite today, but I did hear a lot of 'USA' and 'Dallas, Texas' chants, so I appreciate you guys for coming out to support. "Overall, it's been a great week. The fan support all week was tremendous. It was a ton of fun to get to play here – I got to play with Shane [Lowry] the first couple of days, and for you guys to come out and support Shane the way you did was special, and it was a really fun week to get to play in front of such a great crowd." Scheffler's ascendency has begun to ignite discussions over whether he could be the golfer to equal Tiger Woods' legacy. However, as Scheffler admitted, he still has some way to go to match Woods' tally of 15 major championships. "I still think they're a bit silly,' Scheffler said of the comparisons. 'Tiger won, what, 15 majors? This is my fourth. I just got one-fourth of the way there. I think Tiger stands alone in the game of golf. "He was inspirational for me growing up. He was a very, very talented guy, and he was a special person to be able to be as good as he was at the game of golf. I don't focus on that kind of stuff." McIlroy, who completed his career Grand Slam by winning the Masters in April, has conceded that Scheffler is currently the man to beat. Speaking ahead of the final round, McIlroy said: "Whenever you're trying to chase down a guy like that, it's hard to do. He's incredibly impressive. Yeah, look, Scottie is, it's inevitable."
Western Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Western Telegraph
Tourism chiefs in NI confident of another swift return of the Open
Almost 280,000 spectators attended Royal Portrush Golf Club across a week that culminated with world No 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler lifting the prized Claret Jug in front of thousands of cheering fans around the sun-drenched 18th green on Sunday evening. The 153rd Open at Portrush was the second-best attended event in the championship's long history. Aine Kearney at Royal Portrush Golf Club during the Open (Tourism NI/PA) When the Open came to Northern Ireland in 2019 after an almost 70-year absence, tournament organisers, the R&A, committed to staging it at Royal Portrush at least two more times. There was surprise at how soon the sporting showpiece then returned, especially as the event skipped a year because of the pandemic in 2020. Tourism NI is now hopeful that there will be a similar timeline for the next staging of the major championship on the region's scenic north coast. The tourism promotion body's director of events Aine Kearney said the R&A's feedback on last week's event had been overwhelmingly positive. 'We've had really positive engagement with senior people in the R&A and they just told us how well it's gone,' she said. 'And we hope that puts us in a really good place in terms of them coming back as quickly as they did after 2019.' She added: 'It's been an outstanding success. And I think that's something that's been echoed by the R&A, we've heard the same from the golfers, we've heard the same from all the visitors that have come to experience not only the golf but also the destination. 'The feedback has been absolutely fabulous in terms of how successful it's been, and how much we've been able to shine a light on Northern Ireland as a fabulous destination.' After the 2019 Open in Portrush, revenue generated by golf tourism in Northern Ireland has jumped by 66% to £86 million per annum. Ms Kearney said there was hope the trade would see a similar 'bounce' on the back of this year's event. 'What we do know is that there were a lot of people playing golf while they were here (for the Open),' she said. 'The reports we have from all of our golf clubs is that their tee time sales this week were absolutely unbelievable and that puts them in a really good position, not only from the income they got from that to be able to continue to invest in their product, but also the advocacy that will come from the people that played.' She added: 'Hopefully, from that advocacy and the 100 million viewers across 190 countries that saw not only the world's best golfers playing, but also the magic of the landscape and the destination … we hopefully will look to see a similar increase to what we saw on the back of 2019, that was a 66% increase to £86 million. 'If we get that similar bounce again, we'll be very, very happy.' Ms Kearney said her overriding emotion following the tournament was 'pride'. 'It's absolute pride in terms of how we turned up as a destination, how we showed the world just what an amazing place this is to live, to visit and invest,' she said.
