Tag: 2021 British Open

Zach Johnson, who won at St. Andrews, and two more players withdraw from 2021 British Open

Three more players have withdrawn from this week’s 149th British Open at Royal St. George’s Golf Club.

The R&A announced on Monday morning that three more players have withdrawn from this week’s 149th British Open at Royal St. George’s Golf Club, including 2015 champion Zach Johnson.

Johnson, who won at St. Andrews six years ago, tested positive for COVID-19, according to the R&A, and will be replaced in the field by England’s Sam Horsfield.

The other two players who will not be playing this week are America’s Ryan Moore and South Africa’s Louis de Jager.

Moore, who has had a back injury throughout much of 2021, played the last three PGA Tour events. He said at last week’s John Deere Classic, where he finished T-2 to earn a spot in the field at the British Open, that in addition to having a sore back, he had a family vacation planned for this week. Moore informed the R&A on Monday that he would not take the special exemption. He is being replaced in the field by Adam Long, who is also from the United States.

Louis de Jager tested positive for COVID-19 and is being replaced by Dylan Frittelli from the United States.

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On Sunday, Bubba Watson withdrew from the 2021 British Open after revealing that while he is fully vaccinated, he had been in close contact with someone who tested positive. Hours before, 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama also withdrew because he continues to test positive for COVID-19 even though he has no symptoms. Matsuyama first tested positive two weeks ago at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit.

Bubba Watson withdraws from 2021 British Open

Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson has withdrawn from the 149th British Open at Royal St. George’s Golf Club.

Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson has withdrawn from the 149th British Open at Royal St. George’s Golf Club hours after the R&A announced that 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama will not be playing either.

According to the R&A, Watson withdrew, “after being identified as a close contact of an individual testing positive for Covid-19.” He will be replaced in the field by Branden Steele.

On Twitter, Watson, who made his debut in 2009 at Turnberry, had played in 11 consecutive British Open tournaments, wrote that he has been vaccinated against the coronavirus and has passed all of the required pre-travel tests, but that he is not comfortable flying and potentially risking the safety of other people around him.

The next three players on the reserve list are John Catlin and Adam Long of the United States, and Sam Horsfield of England.

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.

Report: Bryson DeChambeau, former caddie Tim Tucker speak on split and replacement looper

In a recent report, both Bryson DeChambeau and former caddie Tim Tucker denied that a falling out led to their split.

Bryson DeChambeau’s replacement caddie has been identified.

In a one-on-one interview with Golf.com’s Luke Kerr-Dineen published this week DeChambeau identified Brian Ziegler as the next man for the job and also shed light on his split with former longtime caddie Tim Tucker, who also participated in the interview.

When DeChambeau and Tucker stopped working together mid-week at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, it drew much speculation and commentary from the golf world. Ben Schomin, Cobra-Puma’s director of tour operations, stepped in to pick up the back for DeChambeau in what would only be two rounds at the Rocket Mortgage Classic before the big bomber missed the cut and went home early, declining to answer media questions on the way out the door.

Both men denied a falling out. Tucker, a former Bandon Dunes caddie is set to open a new Bandon Dunes-based luxury bus transportation business in August and had been working on that venture.

Tucker explained the split this way to Golf.com: “We were really tired. The season; the tour schedule was grinding on us, grinding on me. I knew I was working on this business on the side; we’ve had a very intense relationship where he works a lot of hours. It was a little bit of me not being 100 percent healthy and happy…we made the best decision for the both of us.”

Tucker also said he had begun to prepare Dechambeau at the end of 2020 for the day he wouldn’t be caddying anymore. Still, that that day came mid-week at Rocket Mortgage was something DeChambeau called a “curveball.” Tucker said he later regretted the timing.

As for the new guy? Ziegler is a lead instructor at Dallas National (DeChambeau’s home course) and also serves as coach Chris Como’s right-hand man.

DeChambeau told Golf.com that Ziegler had been “a big part of my life for a while now” and they’ll make their player-caddie debut at next week’s British Open.

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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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Prize money: The winner of the British Open to be paid a record sum

In addition to having their name etched on the Claret Jug and possessions of the priceless trophy, the winner of the British Open will receive more than $2 million in prize money for the first time in the championship’s history.

The winner of the 149th Open at Royal St. George’s will have more than 2 million reasons to put up with the strict COVID-19 restrictions initiated by the R&A.

In addition to having their name etched on the Claret Jug and possession of the priceless trophy, the winner will receive more than $2 million in prize money for the first time in British Open history.

The Champion Golfer of the Year will receive $2,070,000, to be exact, at the championship July 15-18 at the famous Kent links in England.

The R&A announced the total purse will be $11.5 million, an increase of $750,000 over the total offered in 2019 when Shane Lowry banked $1.935 million for his triumph at Royal Portrush. (The 2020 edition was canceled due to COVID.)

“We have increased the prize fund for the Open this year and believe that it fully reflects the championship’s stature in world sport,” said Martin Slumbers, chief executive of the R&A. “As the only men’s major championship played outside of America, the Open has a global role to play and we are determined to continue to attract the top players. We are further enhancing the status of our professional championships at the same time as making good progress towards our investment of £200 million over 10 years in growing golf around the world.”

Prize money

Place USD Place USD
1 $2,070,000 36 $60,500
2 $1,198,000 37 $57,500
3 $768,000 38 $54,750
4 $597,000 39 $52,750
5 $480,000 40 $51,000
6 $416,000 41 $49,000
7 $357,000 42 $46,500
8 $301,500 43 $44,500
9 $264,000 44 $42,000
10 $238,500 45 $39,500
11 $217,000 46 $37,500
12 $192,500 47 $36,000
13 $180,750 48 $34,500
14 $170,000 49 $33,000
15 $157,750 50 $32,250
16 $145,000 51 $31,500
17 $138,000 52 $31,000
18 $131,500 53 $30,500
19 $126,000 54 $30,000
20 $120,000 55 $29,500
21 $114,500 56 $29,100
22 $108,500 57 $28,800
23 $103,000 58 $28,600
24 $97,000 59 $28,400
25 $94,000 60 $28,200
26 $90,000 61 $28,000
27 $86,500 62 $27,900
28 $83,500 63 $27,800
29 $80,000 64 $27,700
30 $76,000 65 $27,500
31 $73,250 66 $27,300
32 $69,500 67 $27,100
33 $67,250 68 $26,900
34 $65,250 69 $26,700
35 $63,000 70 $26,500

Prize money shall be allocated only to professional golfers.

If more than 70 professional golfers make the cut for the final two rounds, additional prize money will be added. Prize money will decrease by $125 per qualifying place above 70 to a minimum of $13,500.

The prize money doesn’t stop there, as even those professionals who miss the cut are paid. The leading 10 professionals and ties who miss the cut earn $8,000; the next 20 professional golfers and ties take $6,500; and the remainder of professional golfers and ties are paid $5,350.