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Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Harrington gets head straight to dodge twin perils of overthinking and relaxation
The fact he was struggling with his game gave Pádraig Harrington a mental edge in the final round of the Senior Open at Sunningdale on Sunday. In a fascinating insight into his mental outlook these days, Harrington revealed he was unhappy with aspects of his preparation and swing, despite leading by two shots going into Sunday's fourth round. Breaking down the mechanics of his swing struggles, Harrington revealed his abilty to now cope with something less than perfection. "I've been struggling this week. I've been really struggling with my coordination. I've been spinning out of it and just can't get my arms to keep up. Body was going too quick. "When you are struggling, your expectations go down and you can be better mentally and I certainly was excellent all day mentally, and to be honest, I hit it a lot better than I thought. I played a lot better than I thought. I'm sure from the outside, they looked pretty simple, and to be honest, most of the day, it was. "I think I really had a bad warmup, like really bad, again. And I just think when you go out like that, you just are prepared to get the job done with wherever the ball goes; you're going to hit the shot. You're going to get it. Your expectations go down. "I managed myself very well. I tried to swing the smoothest, slowest I could all day. Just tried to really swing within myself. Just try to tone it down and as I said just get around it. I happened to play quite well as it turned out. I didn't overthink it when I was on the golf course. I hit some beautiful iron shots to start off. "So yeah, it worked very nicely but I was prepared for a fight to be honest, and I was surprised I probably played as well as I did, and I had a lot of nice chances all day. "I'm sure from the outside it looked very comfortable, but there was at times, there was a little bit of turmoil in my own head at times." Harrington took the title by three shots from Thomas Bjorn and Justin Leonard. Just as he has learned to cope with feeling below par, he is now acutely aware of the pitfalls of relaxing when a round is going well. "I don't want to relax. That has cost me in the past. One of my worst traits is when I lost a Senior PGA a few weeks ago by relaxing. I get ahead of myself, and you know, sometimes when it's an easy shot, easy tee shot, I can lose focus. "So I want to stay hyped up. And to be honest, I think today, because I wasn't comfortable with my swing, I never let my guard down. I was always into it and focused all day, and yeah, I think that fear really does help me, and certainly, I'm not one for wanting to be relaxed out there because I don't think any of my best performances ever happened that way." Harrington became just the fifth player to win the The Open and the Senior Open, joining Irishmen Darren Clarke and Christy O'Connor Jr. "As you get older, you realise a lot of things is legacy and what you've done and you want to win on a great golf course like Sunningdale. You want to do things that stand out, and having won a real Open, coming out, winning the Senior Open, it does give some — it adds a validation. It's certainly satisfying to do it, to extend your career that way. "There are some great names on the trophy. I was watching it coming out last night. I was looking up inside at the board that has all the winners. It's a deep sense of satisfaction. I'm kind of on a high of winning, but then there will be that deep sense of satisfaction knowing that you've done both. "I'm thrilled to have won but very satisfied that I've won a Senior Open with my two Opens. The fact that only five people have ever done it is quite special. I'm quite proud that I've managed to survive this long in the game. "Longevity, at this stage, I think we look for a lot of things about our legacy in the game. The fact that I'm only the fifth person to have done that double, that's pretty special."
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Nelly Korda suffers neck injury at KPMG after hitting from the rough at PGA Frisco
FRISCO, Texas – It's not Oakmont rough, but the penalty for missing a fairway at the KPMG Women's PGA is no joke. Nelly Korda hit a shot out of the rough on the front nine Monday and her neck went into full spasm. 'It's getting better,' said Korda, who had kinesiology tape stretched across the back of her neck on Tuesday. "But yeah, it was not very good yesterday.' Advertisement Korda missed several events in the fall Asian swing last year after suffering from a neck injury. The world No. 1 travels with longtime physio Kim Baughman, who will no doubt be busy throughout the week at Fields Ranch East. It's worth noting, however, that the fairways are wide on the Gil Hanse design, though they have been narrowed since the Senior PGA two years ago. And no one on the LPGA drives the ball better than Korda. 'Obviously, with the injury that I had last year, every single time something kind of flares up in my neck now, I think I feel it a little bit more than what I used to,' said Korda. 'But I have a great physio who takes care of me. Trying to work through it, but I'll be ready by Thursday.' Korda tees off at 8:28 a.m. local time on Thursday alongside No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul and No. 3 Lydia Ko. Advertisement When asked about the test Fields Ranch East provides, Korda said it's all 'pretty difficult' depending on the wind. 'All the par-5s are pretty much three-shot holes for me,' said Korda, 'so just dialing in. The downwind holes, I think, are going to play probably the hardest just because it's quite hard to hold the green, and if you do hit it a little bit short with that fluffy Bermuda, it kind of just stays, so you can't play for a run-up. 'I just think every hole looks really different. You just have to pay attention all 18 holes.' While Korda looks for her first victory of 2025, Thitikul looks for her first major championship title. The best player on tour without a major laughed when asked if she puts extra pressure on herself to win one. Advertisement 'Every major, I just want to make the cut, to be honest,' she said with a big smile. 'It would be really great to win it.' Jeeno Thitikul tees off on the 10th hole during the first round of the 2025 U.S. Women's Open at Erin Hills. Thitikul missed the cut at the U.S. Women's Open at Erin Hills but has seven top-10 finishes in 24 career major starts. She's had her coach with her since the Women's Open, and said they're tweaking but that it's 'not too much of a big deal.' Two years ago, the Thai star bought a home in the Dallas area, and she lives 25 minutes from Fields Ranch. She chose Dallas mostly because it's easier to travel the world from here, particularly to Asia. She likes the food and weather, obviously preferring heat and, with TPC Craig Ranch undergoing renovations, now plays out of Dallas Atlantic Club. Advertisement While she lives close, Thitikul hasn't spent much time at the PGA of America's home. She came for the first time on Saturday to practice and played the course for the first time on Sunday. Wind, she said, will be key. 'Making par is not that hard,' she said, 'but like making birdie should be tricky.' This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Nelly Korda suffers neck injury at KPMG after hitting from the rough
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Richard Bland chooses LIV over chance to defend title at US Senior Open
FILE - Richard Bland reacts after missing a putt on the fourth hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Quail Hollow Club, May 17, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File) COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Richard Bland will not defend his title this week at the U.S. Senior Open, choosing instead to play at LIV Golf's stop in Dallas while the seniors tee it up at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. The 52-year-old defending champ said on social media that he was committed to playing LIV's 14-event schedule with a goal of finishing among the top 24 to guarantee his spot on the Cleeks team captained by Martin Kaymer. Advertisement Action starts Thursday at the Broadmoor, which is hosting its ninth USGA championship. Among them: Jack Nicklaus' victory in the 1959 U.S. Amateur and Annika Sorenstam's 1995 win in the U.S. Women's Open. Bland, a longtime fixture on the European (now DP World) Tour, won the British Masters in 2021 at age 48 to become that tour's oldest first-time winner. Also that year, he shared the lead at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines after two rounds before finishing 50th. Bland was denied entry into the 2023 Senior British Open because of outstanding fines he owed to the European Tour after his move to LIV. But his win at the Senior PGA Championship in 2024 qualified him for the Senior U.S. Open later last summer, and he beat Hiroyuki Fujita in a playoff at Newport Country Club for the title. Without Bland in the mix, the betting favorites this week are Stewart Cink, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Steven Alker. Jimenez beat Alker in a playoff at last week's senior tour stop. Advertisement Also in the field are two-time Senior U.S. Open champion Bernhard Langer and Angel Cabrera, who has already won two majors — the Tradition and Senior PGA — this year. David Toms won the last Senior Open held at the Broadmoor, back in 2018. ___
USA Today
20-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Here's why there were more doubles than birdies on the 18th at KPMG
Here's why there were more doubles than birdies on the 18th at KPMG FRISCO, Texas – They switched the ninth and 18th holes at Fields Ranch East for the KPMG Women's PGA. The move was made to accommodate the buildout for the championship. So instead of finishing with a par 5, as was the case at the Senior PGA, the layout this week ends with a par 4. But don't think that means there will be less drama. The par-4 18th had more double-bogeys (12) than birdies (7) in the opening round. Auston Kim thought for sure she was doing to make a double bogey after having to chop it out of the rough on the closing hole, but managed to make a solid bogey to shoot 1-under 71. What makes that hole so difficult? 'I think it's the fact that carrying that bunker is about 245 with a bit of crosswind today,' said Kim. 'For a lot of people, you can't really carry that with a 3-wood. I mean, I ended up hitting 5-wood today just because I was warm and sweaty and wind was kind of down. 'Ended up getting the worst break possible. It landed in the rough (on top of the bunker) and sunk down into like the base of the grass.' She didn't want to hit 3-wood off the tee, let alone driver, with the fairway ending 285 yards out. There's only about 40 yards left to try to stop a tee shot before finding the rough. 'One of my playing partners hit a really good drive, but it went out a little bit hot and ended up hitting the downslope and rolling through and she had to chop out backwards,' said Kim. Jenny Shin hit her drive on the 18th through the fairway into the right rough and then hit her second into a greenside bunker. After hitting her third shot over the green and into another greenside bunker, she closed with a double to shoot 72. The 18th was the fourth-hardest hole on the course, playing to a 4.391 average. 'I feel like 18, the way that it's set up this week, it could definitely make it more dramatic,' said Kim. 'Can you avoid a disaster?'
USA Today
19-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
KPMG Women's PGA live updates: Leaderboard, scores from LPGA major at Fields Ranch East
KPMG Women's PGA live updates: Leaderboard, scores from LPGA major at Fields Ranch East The 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship started at Fields Ranch East in Frisco, Texas, the home course of the PGA of America. The Senior PGA was held at Fields Ranch East in 2023, the women are on tap this week and the men make their way to North Texas in 2027. The best players in the world are battling it out with a major title on the line, including world No. 1 and past champion Nelly Korda, who remains in search of her first victory this season. Here's a look at the opening round of play from the KPMG Women's PGA: KPMG Women's PGA leaderboard Keep up with the latest scores on our USA TODAY Sports leaderboard. World's top 3 playing together It should be an interesting first two rounds as the world's top three players are paired together at Fields Ranch. How to watch KPMG Women's PGA Championship 2025 All times EDT Thursday, June 19 Golf Channel: 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Featured groups: 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday, June 20 Golf Channel: 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Featured groups: 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday, June 21 Peacock: 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Featured groups: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. ( PGA Champs App) NBC: 1:30-6 p.m. Sunday, June 22 Peacock: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Featured groups: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. ( PGA Champs App) NBC: 3-6 p.m.
