5 things: Olympic golf & Couples' Turnberry win

Roll on Rio, and how Fred finally won the (Senior) Open

1 Golf is coming to the Olympics

2 Fred finally lands (Senior) Open

3 Inbee Park saluted at last Evian

4 Silloth ready for English Amateur

5 Bernd wins on home soil

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Next time round, golf will be in the Olympics

The format has yet to be finalised – with the R&A keen to consider alternatives to 72-hole individual strokeplay – but in four years' time in Rio de Janeiro the Olympics will again include golf.

Ignoring the politics for a moment, it will clearly be an exciting and stimulating event that should do much to promote golf to a new global audience, and also to secure additional funding from governments.

The result will hopefully be more and better facilities around the world and a game that is easier to get into regardless of age, gender, nationality, race or social class.

Many would be happier if it were open only to amateurs rather than professionals, while some kind of team element would also be welcome and true to the Olympic ideal. It also remains to be seen just how 'special' it will feel and how different to a regulation tour event.

But however it all works out, we can only hope that the game is shown in its best possible light and catches the imagination of the wider public.

Couples finally wins the (Senior) Open Championship

For years he was a contender in the Open, and as recently as 2005 finished in a tie for third at St Andrews, behind Tiger Woods.

That was just one of nine top 10s in 17 appearances going all the way back to his debut at the Old Course in 1984.

Now, on his first attempt, he has won the Senior Open Championship ,

Couples birdied Turnberry’s closing two holes to seal the deal, finishing two shots clear of compatriot Gary Hallberg, with long-time leader Bernhard Langer third..

“Obviously I never won the Open,” said Couples. “I came close. This is my biggest Senior Tour win, by far, winning on a truly great, great golf course.”

Park wins last pre-Major Evian Masters

It is the most glamorous event in ladies' golf and attracts as strong a field as any tournament worldwide. So it is fitting that from next year onwards the Evian Masters, played on the banks of Lake Geneva on the French side of the border, will be officially recognised as the game's fifth Major.

Quite how an event becomes a Major is a matter for discussion but something had to give, not least in terms of scheduling with the calendar imbalanced to say the least.

With two of the five Majors now being played outside the USA, there is at least a global feel to it, though it is surely only a matter of time before one moves to Asia, given that continent's dominance of the ladies' game in recent years.

It was a South Korean who won the final Evian in its current form. Inbee Park closed with three straight birdies for a final round of 66 . The 24-year-old, whose only other victory on the LPGA Tour was the US Women’s Open in 2008 when she became the youngest-ever winner of the title, finished two shots ahead of Australian Karrie Webb and Stacy Lewis of the United States.

A sky diver delivered the Korean flag to the 18th green during the prize giving and Park said: “I feel really special. In the Olympics when I was watching all the athletes have their flags on when they had a medal, I wanted to do that also.

The Evian Masters Golf Course will now undergo a redevelopment in preparation for becoming a Major next season.

In four years' time in Rio, the Olympics will again include golf

English Amateur heads to Silloth

It is an outpost of Cumbrian let alone English golf, but that will not stop the cream of the country's golfing talent heading to the north-west this week.

Silloth is a links located the best part of an hour's drive west from Carlisle, but having made the journey the field will be delighted by what they see.

At just over 6,600 yards, it is short by modern standards but when the wind blows its hazards are many and significant. Qualifying will also take place at Seascale, just down the road.

This takes the form of 36 holes of strokeplay – a round at either course – on Monday and Tuesday.

After that, the leading 64 players and ties will be drawn in a matchplay knockout format, until the winner emerges on Sunday.

Former champions who have gone on to be sucessful tour pros in recent years include Paul Casey, Richard Finch, Ross McGowan and Danny Willett.

Bernd does it again

Bernd Wiesberger claimed his second title of the season by winning his home open and now heads for America to play in the WGC Bridgestone and PGA Championship.

The Austrian described Saturday as the best day of his life after a brilliant seven under par 65 gave him victory on home soil at the Lyoness Open.

The 26-year-old from Vienna hauled in overnight leader Thorbjørn Olesen and Frenchman Thomas Levet with four birdies in five holes around the turn.

It made Wiesberger the second Austrian to win his national Open – Markus Brier did it first in 2006 – and came just three months after his first European Tour victory at the Ballantine’s Championship.

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By Dan Murphy
on 29 July 2012

5 things: Olympic golf & Couples' Turnberry win

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