The Late Blossoming of an English Rose

Seventeen years is a long time in golf – more than the lifetime of Masters’ competitor, Guan Tianlang, in fact, and far more than the career-span of many tour golfers.  So, a Major title for an Englishman was long overdue (Lawrie, Clarke, McDowell and McIlroy have claimed them for Scotland and Northern Ireland more recently – or “Britain”, as we English would like to say). It was Nick Faldo at The Masters, back in 1996, that we last saw an English pair of hands on one of the four most coveted trophies in…Read more …

The “Standards” at Merion

The first day’s play at the US Open at Merion Golf Club hasn’t even been completed yet, and already Merion’s wicket baskets have moved from quirky to notorious.  In scenes reminiscent of Tiger’s flag stick-to-water episode at The Masters (just without the now infamous incorrect drop), Lee Westwood suffered the misfortune of striking a Merion basket on the 12th hole, cannoning off and enduring a double bogey as a result.  He had been tied for the lead at the time so we can only hope it doesn’t come back to haunt him on…Read more …