Tag: 2024 British Open

How Royal Troon impacted Colin Montgomerie’s love affair with The Open long before his first appearance

“(The 1973 Open) was my first Open experience.”

Colin Montgomerie has played in The Open 22 times, but his intimate relationship with the storied tournament started long before he ever fought for the Claret Jug.

In 1973, 10-year-old Montgomerie walked to Royal Troon from his family’s property to watch Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and eventual champion Tom Weiskopf in the rain, a day he described as his “first Open experience.”

“I was 10 years old. Tom Weiskopf won The Open in 1973. Jack Nicklaus was here and Palmer and Player and all the guys. Living as we did just back there, walked over and, yeah, got wet with everyone else. That was my first Open experience,” Montgomerie said in an interview with The Open.

Forty-three years later, Montgomerie returned to Royal Troon for the 2016 Open — his most recent Open start — and hit the opening tee shot.

He couldn’t believe it happened.

“No, I couldn’t have ever thought that that was possible. One of the highlights of one’s career,” he said.

But the best part? He went on to make the cut that week.

Meet the LIV Golf players trying to qualify for the 2024 U.S. Open (and the 11 who aren’t)

There are 11 LIV players who won’t try to qualify for the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst.

U.S. Open qualifying is just around the corner, and LIV Golf players were asked about their plans ahead of this week’s event in Singapore.

During a Smash GC press conference featuring captain Brooks Koepka and his teammates Jason Kokrak, Graeme McDowell and Talor Gooch, both McDowell and Kokrak revealed they were playing in qualifiers for both the U.S. Open at Pinehurst (June 13-16) and Open Championship at Royal Troon (July 18-21).

“I personally am. Doing the U.S. Open in Columbus and then the Open in Manchester,” said Kokrak. “I plan on playing both of them.”

“Yeah, I’m the same. I’ve entered for both qualifiers. I think I’m in Florida Monday of Houston and then just south of London the Tuesday of the International Series Morocco, which I’ll go and play right after the Open qualifying series,” added McDowell. “Obviously I’ll be pulling hard (Koepka) in a couple weeks’ time (at the PGA Championship) but obviously trying to get into a couple majors myself.”

Gooch was short and sour with his response: “I’m not.”

After he was denied a spot in last year’s U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club after the USGA altered its exemption criteria, instead of fighting to try to earn his way again, Gooch tucked tail and decided to play the martyr instead of a qualifier. He’s doing the same again this year.

As of Thursday, 36 LIV players have entered U.S. Open qualifying while 11 have not. Eight players are already exempt into the third men’s major of the year: Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith, Martin Kaymer and Tyrrell Hatton.

Players like Mickelson and DeChambeau have called for the majors to create special exemption categories for LIV players, who have been fighting an uphill battle with regard to access to majors seeing as LIV events don’t receive Official World Golf Ranking points. The league has since pulled its application from consideration, all but closing that door as a way into the biggest tournaments on the calendar. Past champions of the Masters and the PGA have at least two set in stone, but the pair of Opens may require some effort from here on out.

While some players like Joaquin Niemann have continued to fight to play their way in, others expect to be given handouts. Golf has always been a meritocracy, you receive what you earn. The U.S. Open qualifier number shows the majority of LIV players understand that fact, but a handful still need a reminder.

Player Status
Abraham Ancer Final qualifying
Dean Burmester Final qualifying
Laurie Canter Final qualifying
Eugenio Chacarra Final qualifying
Sergio Garcia Final qualifying
Branden Grace Final qualifying
Lucas Herbert Final qualifying
Sam Horsfield Final qualifying
Matt Jones Final qualifying
Jason Kokrak Final qualifying
Jinichiro Kozuma Final qualifying
Anirban Lahiri Final qualifying
Danny Lee Final qualifying
Marc Leishman Final qualifying
Graeme McDowell Final qualifying
Adrian Meronk Final qualifying
Sebastian Munoz Final qualifying
Kevin Na Final qualifying
Joaquin Niemann Final qualifying
Andy Ogletree Final qualifying
Carlos Ortiz Final qualifying
Mito Pereira Final qualifying
David Puig Final qualifying
Patrick Reed Final qualifying
Kalle Samooja Final qualifying
Charl Schwartzel Final qualifying
Brendan Steele Final qualifying
Henrik Stenson Final qualifying
Caleb Surratt Final qualifying
Hudson Swafford Final qualifying
Cameron Tringale Final qualifying
Peter Uihlein Final qualifying
Harold Varner III Final qualifying
Kieran Vincent Final qualifying
Scott Vincent Final qualifying
Lee Westwood Final qualifying
Richard Bland Did not enter
Paul Casey Did not enter
Talor Gooch Did not enter
Charles Howell III Did not enter
Anthony Kim Did not enter
Louis Oosthuizen Did not enter
Pat Perez Did not enter
Thomas Pieters Did not enter
Ian Poulter Did not enter
Bubba Watson Did not enter
Matthew Wolff Did not enter

 

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Greg Norman to the Open at Royal Troon? R&A rep: ‘I don’t think there’s a ‘G Norman’ (on the list)’

With the event now sold out, the combative LIV Golf CEO may have to sneak in from the beach.

When Henrik Stenson captured the Claret Jug at Royal Troon in 2016, a total of 173,000 spectators looked on.

When the storied event returns to the Scottish coast this year, a whopping 250,000 will file through the gates, the R&A announced earlier this week, adding that all the tickets had been scooped up.

With the event now sold out, the combative LIV Golf chief executive, Greg Norman, may have to sneak in from the beach.

In the tense, uneasy truce that men’s professional golf finds itself in, Norman grabbed a chunk of the limelight at the Masters after apparently buying a ticket on the secondary market.

The 69-year-old Australian, who won two Claret Jugs and lost in a playoff at Troon in 1989, was not invited by The R&A to compete in the Celebration of Champions or attend the Champions’ Dinner at St. Andrews in 2022 after the LIV rebellion had swung into action just a few weeks earlier.

“I don’t think there’s a ‘G Norman’ (on the list) and I think someone would have let me know if there was,” chuckled The R&A’s director of corporate communications, Mike Woodcock, when asked if the Great White Shark’s name had been plucked out of that ticket tombola.

2024 Masters
Greg Norman walks behind the No. 2 hole during the first round of the Masters Tournament. (Photo: Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Network)

“Obviously, there are tickets still available on the resale platform or hospitality. He’s very welcome to look there.”

At the second round of the 88th Masters, Norman wore a white golf shirt with the LIV logo, black slacks, his signature straw hat, or as one patron put it, “the Crocodile Dundee deal,” and golf shoes with Softspikes. All that was missing was a glove, a yardage book, and, of course, an invitation as a past champion, something he never managed to achieve despite several near misses.

Instead, the CEO of LIV Golf was out walking in the gallery of Bryson DeChambeau, the 2020 U.S. Open champion, or as another patron described him, “the captain of the Crushers,” and lending his support. He was joined by two younger women and a heavyset man in all black, who may have been providing security.

For those in the gallery, it was like seeing a ghost. Norman, 69, who first played in the Masters in 1981 and last attempted to win a Green Jacket in 2009, showed up with a ticket he bought on the open market, according to his son, Greg Jr., in a social media post. Norman said he was there to support the 13 golfers he’d paid handsomely to defect to the upstart LIV Golf backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Golfweek’s Adam Schupak contributed reporting to this post.

R&A makes key changes to Open Championship exemption categories starting in 2024

The new exemption categories won’t open the door any wider for more LIV Golf players to compete in the Open.

The R&A has made a change to its exemption categories for future Open Championships starting with the 2024 tournament at Royal Troon, but it isn’t to include more LIV Golf players.

On Wednesday the governing body announced that past champions will only be exempt until the age of 55. The current age cap is 60. All golfers currently exempt as past champions will be grandfathered in and still be able to play the Open until 60.

In addition, a new exemption will be offered to players on the Asian Tour, Japan Golf Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia and the Sunshine Tour to qualify through the International Federation Ranking list, where the top five players on the list will earn a spot in the Open. An exemption for the Africa Amateur Champion has also been added.

Solely for the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon, July 18-21, Michael Hendry has been granted a medical exemption after he was unable to play in last year’s Open due to serious illness.

LIV players have been clamoring for a special exemption category even before the league withdrew its application for Official World Golf Ranking points. As it stands now, the following 13 players will tee it up at Royal Troon this summer:

Dean Burmester, Bryson DeChambeau. Tyrrell Hatton, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Adrian Meronk, Phil Mickelson, Joaquin Niemann, Louis Oosthuizen, David Puig, Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith and Henrik Stenson.

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LIV Golf’s David Puig punches ticket to 2024 Open Championship with Asian Tour win

Nine players have already qualified for the Open via the Open Qualifying Series.

David Puig is bound for Scotland this summer.

The 22-year-old Spaniard won the Asian Tour’s IRS Prima Malaysian Open at Mines Resort and Golf Club thanks to consecutive rounds of 62 on the weekend to earn not only his second Asian Tour victory in four months but also a place at the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”dW5kZWZpbmVk”][/anyclip-media], July 18-21.

The Malaysian Open was the first Open Qualifying Series event of 2024. The next is the PGA Tour’s 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational, March 7-10. Six players have already qualified via the series. Dean Burmester, Darren Fichardt and Dan Bradbury earned their spots late in 2023 at the Joburg Open, while Joaquin Niemann, Rikuya Hoshino and Adam Scott earned theirs at the ISPS Handa Australian Open.

“It feels great, weird feeling for sure. We almost missed the cut. I was kind of playing good, but I kind of messed up,” said Puig, who was flirting with the cutline after the second round. “We actually finished round two good, and the weekend was just insane. I mean 18 birdies, no bogeys, in 36 holes was unbelievable.”

“And getting that Open spot is super cool, I came here for that,” he added.

Runner-up Jeunghun Wang will also join Puig at the Open, same with Denwit Boriboonsub, who finished T-3 with John Catlin but won the tiebreaker thanks to his higher position in the Official World Golf Ranking. Puig and Boriboonsub will make their Open debuts, while Wang will make his third start after missed cuts in 2016 and 2017.

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Three players (including a LIV golfer) qualify for 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon

The Open Qualifying Series is off and running with major championship exemptions on the line.

Dean Burmester, Darren Fichardt and Dan Bradbury have all qualified for next year’s 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon via the Joburg Open, the first event in the Open Qualifying Series.

The series offers players from around the world the opportunity to qualify for one of the four men’s majors and is co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and Sunshine Tour.

Burmester, who now plays in the LIV Golf League and finished 14th last season, earned a three-shot win at Houghton Golf Club in Johannesburg, South Africa, at 18 under and will play in his third Open next year. Fichardt last qualified for the Open in 2017 after winning the Joburg Open at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club. He finished runner-up this year at 15 under after a final-round 64. The defending champion Bradbury also shot 64 on Sunday to take the third qualifying spot at 13 under.

Next up in the series is the ISPS Handa Australian Open, Nov. 30-Dec. 3 at The Lakes and The Australian in Sydney. Here are the rest of the events included in the qualifying series and how many Open places are available at each.

2024 Open Qualifying Series events remaining

Event Date Exemptions available
ISPS Handa Australian Open Nov. 30-Dec. 3, 2023 Three places to leading players not already exempt
Arnold Palmer Invitational March 7-10, 2024 One place to leading player not already exempt
RBC Canadian Open May 30-June 2, 2024 Three places to leading players not already exempt
Memorial Tournament June 6-9, 2024 One place to leading player not already exempt
KLM Open June 20-23, 2024 Two places to leading player not already exempt
Regional qualifying June 24, 2024 None
Italian Open June 27-30, 2024 Two places to leading player not already exempt
Final qualifying July 2, 2024 Minimum of 16 places
John Deere Classic July 4-7, 2024 Two places to leading player not already exempt
Genesis Scottish Open July 11-14, 2024 Three places to leading players not already exempt

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R&A hosting inaugural African Amateur Championship in 2024 at Leopard Creek

An invitational event for 20 elite women from the region will also be held at the venue.

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HOYLAKE, England — The first African Amateur Championship will be played at Leopard Creek, South Africa, from Feb. 21-24, 2024, the R&A announced Wednesday.

The championship will feature 72 men from the African region competing in a 72-hole stroke play format, with the winner receiving an exemption in the 152nd Open at Royal Troon.

An invitational event for 20 elite women from the region will also be held at the venue during the week of the championship.

“It’s a hugely exciting initiative for African golf, and it’s the last part of the continent around the world where we don’t have our own championships that we now do,” said Martin Slumbers, CEO of The R&A, said during a press conference.

The introduction of the championship complements existing amateur championships jointly organized by The R&A in Asia-Pacific and Latin America and will enable players from Africa to play at the highest level, as well as creating a pathway for African golfers to develop and become an inspiration for others to follow.

The championship will also build on an Africa High Performance Program established last year by The R&A and delivered to players and coaches in African countries as part of a wider effort to develop golf and provide support to players aspiring to reach elite levels of the sport.

“We are creating a world-class platform for the most talented amateur golfers in Africa to compete against each other and realize their ambitions in the sport,” Slumbers said in a press release. “We have already seen talented players emerge from the continent with three recent winners of the British Amateur Championship, including Christo Lamprecht at Hillside last month, and hope that in the years to come we will see golfers follow in the footsteps of Bobby Locke, Gary Player, Nick Price, Ernie Els, Louis Oosthuizen and Ashleigh Buhai who have won The Open and AIG Women’s Open.

Leopard Creek has hosted the Alfred Dunhill Championship since 2004 and winners there include major champions such as Ernie Els and Charl Schwartzel, who has won the event three times at the venue.