Category: 2021 Open Championship

British Open blog: Adhere to protocols or risk being clobbered by official baton-wielding social distancing enforcement officers

Caution is very much the watchword at this week’s Open as all and sundry try to adhere to the strict pandemic-induced protocols.

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(Editor’s note: Enjoy this blog, which comes to us from our sister news organization Newsquest, part of the USA Today Network. Aidan Smith is a writer based in Glasgow, Scotland.) Here’s a link to the blog, which will be updated throughout the event.

• Ahoy there, dear readers. Maritime history abounds in this coastal parish. Back in 1217, a Plantagenet English fleet commanded by Hubert de Burgh attacked a French Armada led by Eustace the Monk in a seagoing stooshie known as the Battle of Sandwich. Funnily enough, a similarly titled exchange of hostilities took place in the media canteen yesterday when the diarist pinched the last cheese and pickle sarnie from under the nose of the Daily Telegraph’s peckish golf writer.

• Caution is very much the watchword at this week’s Open as all and sundry try to adhere to the strict pandemic-induced protocols or risk being clobbered by official baton-wielding social distancing enforcement officers. Lateral flow tests are a necessary evil although one particularly droothy scribe, fresh from a sturdy, thirst-quenching gargle in the Zetland Arms the night before, returned something of an eye-opening result when the sample appeared with a head on it.

• For those in peril off the tee. There’s a bunker lurking down the right-hand side of Royal St George’s 13th fairway that was actually created by a jettisoned bomb from a German Heinkel as it was chased back across the channel during the Second World War. The damage sustained then, of course, was nothing compared to the shattering ravages wrought on the fairways by the swipes, thrashes and gouges at the pre-Open media Stableford earlier in the year.

• Ah, the glitz and glamour of The Open. The diarist’s golf writing brethren are staying at a variety of hotels, hostels, chalets, dorms and park benches this week. One is even enjoying camping for the bargain price of £11 per night. As Shakespeare didn’t quite write, “now is the summer of our discount tent.”

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Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama withdraws from the 2021 British Open

After testing positive for COVID-19 at the Rocket Mortage Classic, Matsuyama has remained symptom-free but continues to test positive.

The 2021 Masters champion, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, has withdrawn from next week’s 149th British Open. He is being replaced in the field at Royal St. George’s Golf Club by Harold Varner III.

According to the R&A, Matsuyama, who tested positive for COVID-19 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, has continued to test positive while remaining symptom-free. He has been in isolation since testing positive on July 2. 

In a release provided by the R&A, Matsuyama said, “I’m feeling fine but haven’t been able to practice in preparation for The Open. Combining that with the difficult travel to the UK, my team and I have decided it’s best to withdraw to ensure everyone’s safety. I feel badly missing The Open and look forward to playing again at St. Andrews next year.”

Matsuyama made his first appearance at the British Open in 2013 at Muirfield, where he finished tied for sixth. He has played in every subsequent tournament but missed the cut in three of the last four.

On Saturday, Matthew Wolff, K.H. Lee and Danny Lee withdrew from the British Open. Lee withdrew for the birth of his child and Lee sustained a back injury while playing at the John Deere Classic.

The next three players on the reserve list for the British Open are Brendan Steele, John Catlin and Adam Long. Each of those players is from the United States, and they are ranked No. 88, 89 and 90, respectively, on the Official World Golf Ranking.

Eamon’s Corner: The case for a prestigious links season ahead of the British Open

Eamon Lynch has a few thoughts about where links golf should fit in to the run-up to the British Open, and how players might feel about it.

Isn’t it about time the British Open had a links-golf season?

Eamon Lynch takes a look at the field make-up for the Irish Open and Scottish Open, played the past two weeks on the European Tour and draws some conclusions about using the events as preparation for next week’s 149th British Open at Royal St. George’s.

How much do players really enjoy the kind of links golf they found at this week’s Scottish Open (versus how much viewers enjoy watching them on true links-style courses)? Should there be more on the schedule? Give Lynch’s argument on the subject a listen.

The latest episode of Eamon’s Corner can be watched above.

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Two-time major champion Martin Kaymer replaces Kevin Na in field for British Open

His best finish at the Open is a T-7 in 2010.

Martin Kaymer is getting another shot at the title of Champion Golfer of the Year.

The winner of the 2010 PGA Championship via a playoff against Bubba Watson and the 2014 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 will replace Kevin Na in the field for the 149th British Open next week at Royal St. George’s in England. Na, a five-time winner on the PGA Tour, withdrew due to international travel requirements.

“It was a tough decision but for my family and me it is best to skip The Open this year,” said Na in a release from the R&A. “I will be back next year, it is one of my favorite weeks and I would love to hold the Claret Jug one day.”

Cam Davis, who recently earned his first win on Tour at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, is the first reserve but is unable to travel, which opened the door for Kaymer. The next three reserves are Andy Sullivan, Antoine Rozner and Troy Merritt.

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A pair of South Koreans withdraw from British Open to focus on Tokyo Olympics

Two Koreans have signaled that they are placing the Tokyo Olympics ahead of the British Open by withdrawing from the year’s final major.

An abundance of opportunities is never a bad thing, but at some point, it all gets to be too much. Two South Korean golfers have signaled that they are placing the Tokyo Olympics ahead of the British Open by withdrawing from the final major of the year to focus on the Games.

Neither Si Woo Kim nor Sungjae Im will tee it up at Royal St. George’s this month for the 149th British Open, with their stated reason for withdrawal being time to focus on preparing for the Olympics.

They will be replaced in the field by by Emiliano Grillo and Keegan Bradley, who are next on the reserve list. Grillo will also head to Tokyo for the Olympics to represent Argentina.

Grillo also competed in the 2016 Olympics and finished T8. Neither Kim nor Im appeared in those games in Rio de Janiero, and both missed the cut at the 2019 British Open.

On the other side of the coin, major champions Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer, Louis Oosthuizen and Dustin Johnson have already declined playing spots the Olympics.

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Players angry, consider skipping Open Championship after R&A hands down strict COVID regulations

Some are considering a boycott of the prestigious event and others are simply miffed by the regulations.

A series of strict COVID protocols has drawn the ire of some PGA Tour players leading into next month’s Open Championship, with some considering a boycott of the prestigious event and others simply miffed by the regulations.

The 149th Open is scheduled to be held at Royal St George’s starting on July 15th, but the R&A sent players a long list of specific mandates that will alter the accommodation plans many had arranged.

One player, who spoke with Golfweek under the condition of anonymity, said he strongly considered skipping the major, which was canceled in 2020. Shane Lowry has had the Claret Jug for 22 months now after he won his lone major at Royal Portrush in Ireland in 2019.

“I’m going to go because it’s the British Open. But I certainly thought about not going. I just can’t believe with the numerous examples of successfully run safely held tournaments and majors here that they can’t figure out a better situation,” the player said.

“If someone on your plane tests positive on way to the British and is sitting anywhere close to you, you’re out no questions asked, no matter if you’re vaccinated. It’s aggravating that they deem the tournament safe enough for 32,000 fans a day to attend, but won’t let a player’s wife, children travel and watch the tournament, nor will they even let players visit a restaurant without threat of disqualification.”

According to the note sent by the R&A to players, caddies and coaches, those on different player teams will not be allowed to stay together, which makes things difficult for many who travel in support of players.

“The up-to-four persons [regulation] within private rental accommodation must be included within the players’ own support group … For example, multiple players or multiple caddies are not permitted to share private self accommodation,” the R&A email read. “We recognise this is difficult for many that used to share during the championship but the Government’s strict contact tracing requirements mean that this will not be possible in 2021.

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“No-one outside the accommodation ‘buddy’ group is permitted to visit other self-catering private accommodation. This would be a breach of the Covid-19 protocols and could lead to withdrawal from the championship.”

The potential for being ousted from the tournament has players angry, especially in light of the eased restrictions for patrons. The R&A recently announced that up to 32,000 fans will be able to attend each day at Royal St George’s — that’s 80 percent of the typical 40,000 spectators allowed on the site.

“They care more about the revenue of the fans buying beers than they do about the actual people participating in the tournament,” said the player who spoke with Golfweek. “Any fan can go to a grocery store or a restaurant and we can’t. Does that make sense? And I’m vaccinated. How does that make sense?”

Coach Pete Cowen, who works with Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka as well as others, said that he’ll be forced to find a new place to stay.

“I was due to stay with a few of the caddies in a huge RV just by the practice range,” he told Telegraph Sport in a story that was printed in the Guardian. “It wasn’t cheap, but it seemed the wisest option in the current climate. But we’ve just found out that we are not allowed to stay together because it breaks the Government protocols.”

Cowen echoed the comments from the player who spoke with Golfweek.

“There are going to be 32,000 fans allowed in every day and they’re saying we can’t stay in anything other than the dedicated hotels — most of which are already sold out — because we’d be mixing with the public,” Cowen said. “And we can’t stay together, like we have on the PGA Tour for the last year. We have all been vaccinated and will have been tested before we are allowed in. This ‘bubble’ we have created between ourselves has produced no problems at all.

“It makes no sense at all when there will be 60,000 at Wembley, 140,000 at Silverstone (race track) and all those at Wimbledon on the weekend before — sitting next to each other. I suppose I should be grateful I am going at all, as initially the wording of the regs made me believe instructors would be banned.”

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