Henrik Stenson Wins Open With Final Round 63

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Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson dueled it out in the final round at Royal Troon.  Stenson threw ten birdies at Phil for a final round 63 to win by three shots (Phil shot a final round 65 which normally would have been enough to win). Stenson’s 20-under total is an record score for the Open Championship.

Here is Stenson’s scorecard:

Here is the final scoreboard:

This tournament is comparable to the “Duel in the Sun” between Watson and Nicklaus, where they ran away from the field for a legendary Open Championship performance.  Here is more proof:

Congrats to Henrik Stenson on his amazing performance on becoming the 2016 Champion Golfer of the year.

And here is Golf.com’s wrapup of Day 4 at the 2016 Open Championship:

 

 

Mickelson Opens British with Record 63

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Phil Mickelson fired a course record 63 in the opening round of the 2016 British Open Championship at Royal Troon.

How close was Mickelson to shooting an all-time major low round of 62?

Here is Mickelson’s scorecard:

Martin Kaymer and Patrick Reed are tied for second as 5-under.

Brittany Lang Wins U.S. Women’s Open after Playoff with Anna Nordqvist

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Congrats to Brittany (“Bethany”) Lang for winning the U.S. Open in a playoff with Anna Nordqvist.  But it wouldn’t be a USGA event if there wasn’t some kind of rules controversy.

On the second hole of the playoff, Nordqvist drove her ball into a fairway bunker.  While hitting a her approach from the bunker she touched the sand as she began her backswing, an infraction for grounding your club in a hazard.  The violation was not noticed until further review with the super-closeup-super-slo-mo replay.  Here is a Vine I found of the infraction.

 

As per usual, the USGA gave the news to Nordqvist and Lang at a time where Nordqvist had already hit her approach to the final playoff hole, and Lang was still to hit her approach. Lang immediately changed her strategy since she now had a two-shot lead.

It would have been nice if Nordqvist could have known she was down two shots while playing the par-5 18th.  Do you think she might have played it a little different?

The USGA should have stopped them on the 18th tee, before they teed off, if they thought there might have been a rules infraction.  You have constant communication with every group, so use it.

Afterwards, Nordqvist was a class act.  From GolfDigest.com,  “Obviously that was very disappointing,” Nordqvist said. “I didn’t do it on purpose. It’s hard to lose that way, but that’s the game of golf.”

Here Is the USGA tweet for Brittany:

During the trophy presentation, USGA president Diana Murphy decided that the best way to get the Anna Nordqvist penalty out of the headlines was to call Brittany Lang “Bethany”.  At one point she turns and says something like “Come on up Bethany”, and you can see Brittany wondering if Murphy is talking to her. Way to go Diana Murphy for making the USGA look completely incompetent.

Congrats to 2016 U.S. Women’s Open Champion Brittany Lang for a stellar performance.

 

783 Yard Par-6 Hole on European Challenge Tour This Week

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There is a 783-yard par-6 hole on the European Challenge Tour this week in Slovakia (CBSSports.com for the source article).

According to CBSSports.com, as of the time of the article posting, “there had been three eagles, three doubles and the scoring average was 5.69.”

 

No 2017 Masters Practice Round Tickets for Me

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I got the bad news today that I was not selected to receive practice round tickets to the 2017 Masters (I found out a few weeks ago that I was not eligible for Tournament tickets).  Here is today’s e-mail:

2017 Masters Practice Rounds Tickets Random Selection

We have completed the random selection process for 2017 Practice Rounds tickets and regret your application was not selected for tickets.  Be sure to visit www.masters.com  for up-to-date Masters Tournament information.

As a reminder, you will be notified next May when the ticket application process begins for the 2018 Masters.

Thank you for your continued interest in the Masters.

Sincerely,

Credentials Committee
Masters Tournament

Maybe next year.

Ironwood Golf Club – Exeter Ontario

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7th Green

Ironwood Golf Club is located just outside of Exeter Ontario, about halfway between London and Grand Bend and is a great course to play for golfers of all skill levels.  I have played the course since the early 80s, and back then it was only a 9-hole course built on an old farm.  In the late 80s they added a second 9 to make the current course.

Ironwood is usually in great shape, with quick but not too fast greens, nice fairways, and very playable rough.  The only complaint for course conditions would be some inconsistent sand in the traps.

The course has a couple of streams that cut across a number of the holes, even though it doesn’t come into play for the most part.  Some holes will require you to hit a good drive to clear the stream and make the fairway, while others force you to lay up short and have longer approach shots.

A number of the greens are very deep.  Approach shots on holes 1, 4, 5, 7, 14, 15, 16, and 17 can change by as much as two or three clubs depending on whether the pin is in the front or the back.

The 2nd hole is probably the hardest on the course, where you should lay back short of the stream off of the tee, but then have to hit into a severely sloped green that is angled from the fairway.  Do not go long on this hole or you can easily chip off of the front of the green.

Be sure to make up strokes on the par-5s, and they are relatively short, as the par-3s generally play tough with their narrow and long greens.

Playing a round at Ironwood is a great way to spend a morning before going to the beach in Grand Bend.  It’s a great course for a low stress round, and be sure to enjoy a good burger or footlong hotdog in the clubhouse.

Dustin Johnson Wins Bridgestone – Now #1 in Power Rankings

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Dustin Johnson won the Bridgestone Invitational by a shot over Scott Piercy for his second consecutive win (the other being the U.S. Open where Piercy was also 2nd).  The win also moved Johnson to the top position of our Power Rankings, taking over the top-ranking from Lydia Ko.

Here is a video of final round highlights from PGA Tour’s YouTube page.