Scottish Under-16 boys' stroke-play championship

Bradley and Porteous share lead at Auchterarder

FROM THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION WEBSITE
Blairgowrie’s rising star Bradley Neil fired a superb opening round 65 to take a share of the first-day lead at the Scottish boys' Under-16s stroke-play championship at Auchterarder.
The 14-year-old, who defends the national U14s title on the same course on Friday, grabbed six birdies to match South African Haydn Porteous on four-under par, two shots clear of Neil’s Scotland U16s team-mate Ewan Scott.
“I played some good golf today and my score could have been ever better, having lipped out at both the 15th (for eagle) and 16th. I managed to get a good up and down at the 17th however which kept the round going. It would be great to add this title to the U14s which I won last year and I’m looking forward to the rest of the week.” said Neil, who became the youngest winner of the Blairgowrie Club Championship last week.
Plus three handicapper Porteous, aged 16, got his round off to a slugglish start with a double-bogey six on the opening hole, but bounced back immediately with a birdie at the second. He picked up shots at the 6th and 8th to move to one-under par and collected birdies at the 10th and 13th hole. A superb eagle followed at the 15th and although he dropped a shot at the 16th hole, came home in 30 to share the first round lead.
Scott, who won the English Boys U14s title last year, posted a two-under par 67 included a hatrick of birdies on the back nine to lie in third place, one ahead of Elderslie youngster Alasdair McDougall. Liberton’s Anthony Blaney and Muckhart’s Calum Hill were in a group of five players on level par which also included another former Scottish U14s champion, Redbourn’s Nick Ward.
FIRST-ROUND SCORES
Par 69. CSS 69
T1 PORTEOUS, Haydn South Africa 65 -4
T1 NEIL, Bradley Blairgowrie 65 -4
3 SCOTT, Ewan St Andrews 67 -2
4 MCDOUGALL, Alasdair Elderslie 68 -1
T5 CHANT, Connor Betchworth Park 69 Par
T5 KELLY, Patrick Boston West 69 Par
T5 BLANEY, Anthony Liberton 69 Par
T5 HILL, Calum Muckhart 69 Par
T5 WARD, Nick Redbourn 69 Par
T10 STEWART, Greig Crieff 70 +1
T10 FÜEG, Remo Switzerland 70 +1
T10 MARCHBANK, Greig Dumfries and Galloway 70 +1
T10 BEMBERG, Louis Switzerland 70 +1
T14 PARMAR, Jevann Leicestershire 71 +2
T14 BRYDON, Ross Merchants of Edinburgh 71 +2
T14 GEORGE, Lewis Delamere Forest 71 +2
T14 GAULD, Robert Cruden Bay 71 +2
T14 ALLAN, Lawrence Alva 71 +2
T14 HERMESTON, Jack City of Newcastle 71 +2
T20 VINCE, Christopher Haverhill 72 +3
T20 HENDRY, Daniel United Arab Emirates 72 +3
T20 ALDRED, William Mid Herts 72 +3
T20 CHALMERS, Craig Lenzie 72 +3
T20 FERNANDEZCANO, Miguel Mexico 72 +3
T20 BOWDEN, Euan Glen 72 +3
T20 WHANNEL, Scott Newton Stewart 72 +3
T20 SINGH BRAR, Jack Bramshaw 72 +3
T28 MURRAY, Ben Portlethen 73 +4
T28 SHAW, Jordan Kingussie 73 +4
T28 SAVAGE, Jamie Cawder 73 +4
T28 STEVEN, James Kirkhill 73 +4
T28 WILSON, David Troon Welbeck 73 +4
T28 LAMB, Christopher Newmachar 73 +4
T28 CARNEGIE, Blair Dunblane New 73 +4
T28 MUTCH, Lewis Duff House Royal 73 +4
T28 STOKOE, Ben Betchworth Park 73 +4
T28 FLANNERY, Daniel Peebles 73 +4
T28 HOWIE, Craig Peebles 73 +4
T28 IFF, Mike Switzerland 73 +4
T28 HOLT, James Wilpshire 73 +4
T28 BURNS, George Williamwood 73 +4
T28 LOCH, Andrew Pumpherston 73 +4
T43 MCSHERRY, Ross Royal Troon 74 +5
T43 NILSSON, Anton Sweden 74 +5
T43 DAVREN, Fraser Williamwood 74 +5
T43 JOHNSTON, Fraser Longniddry 74 +5
T43 BEVERIDGE, Callum Troon Welbeck 74 +5
T43 FARRELL, Cameron Cardross 74 +5
T43 SCHOFIELD, Thomas Barbados 74 +5
T43 ORAM, Craig Nairn Dunbar 74 +5
T43 CARRELL, Andrew Peterculter 74 +5
T52 KINSLEY, Benjamin St Andrews 75 +6
T52 FREIBURGHAUS, Jeremy Switzerland 75 +6
T52 BAIN, Lewis Turnhouse 75 +6
T52 MACINTYRE, Robert Glencruitten 75 +6
T52 SANDISON, Fergus Blairgowrie 75 +6
T52 REILLY, Paul Lochwinnoch 75 +6
T52 SANGSTER, Peter Thurso 75 +6
T52 BROWN, Daniel Bedale 75 +6
T52 KERR, Willem Craigmillar Park 75 +6
T52 DOUGLAS, John Thornton 75 +6
T52 RAFIQUE, Humza Cookridge Hall 75 +6
T63 FOLEY, Gary Ralston 76 +7
T63 ANDERSON, Craig Sandyhills 76 +7
T63 WILSON, James Balmore 76 +7
T63 SCOTT, Jake Strathlene 76 +7
T63 MERCKX, Tangi Belgium 76 +7
T63 HILL, Calum Tantallon 76 +7
T63 CAMPBELL, Lewis Baberton 76 +7
T63 SYME, Connor Dumfries and Co  76 +7
T63 SORG, Stephan Switzerland 76 +7
T63 BOUZABIA, Sami Preston 76 +7
T63 LAMB, Joseph Wilpshire 76 +7
T63 WALKER, Euan Kilmarnock (Barassie) 76 +7
T75 FERGUSON, Ewen Bearsden 77 +8
T75 MARTIN, Maxwell Copt Heath 77 +8
T75 CRAGGS, Ben Glenbervie 77 +8
T75 HUTTON, Taylor Foxhills 77 +8
T75 KILOH, Sam Portlethen 77 +8
T75 CAMERON, Stuart Renfrew 77 +8
T75 SLACK, David Gourock 77 +8
T75 MCCLUSKEY, Jack Ayr Belleisle 77 +8
T75 BLAIR, Stuart Royal Musselburgh 77 +8
T75 JOHNSON, Robert Helensburgh 77 +8
T85 LAUDER, Fraser Paisley 78 +9
T85 WADDELL, Steven Carlyon Bay 78 +9
T85 GORDON, Ryan Alford 78 +9
T85 COLES, Conor St George's Hill 78 +9
T85 ROGER, Gavin Clober 78 +9
T85 DHALLU, Navjosh Loretto 78 +9
T85 YOUNG, Steven Auchterarder 78 +9
T85 BAIN, Craig Strathlene 78 +9
T85 MCARTHUR, Neil Bishopbriggs 78 +9
T85 CARRICK, Angus Douglas Park 78 +9
T85 COOK, Connar Caird Park 78 +9
T96 DE BONO, Andrea Italy 79 +10
T96 GORRIE, Callum Kilmarnock (Barassie) 79 +10
T96 SIMPSON, Scott Murrayfield 79 +10
T96 SPALDING, Daanyal North Warwickshire 79 +10
T96 KIRKWOOD, Cameron Bearsden 79 +10
T96 FORRESTER, Greg Balbirnie Park 79 +10
T102 MCLEAN, Duncan Gullane 80 +11
T102 CALLADINE, Russell Dunaverty 80 +11
T102 MILLAR, Ross Whitekirk 80 +11
T102 BURGESS, Andrew Nairn 80 +11
T102 BROWN, Craig Fort William 80 +11
T107 LANE, Daniel Kenilworth 81 +12
T107 WAUGH, Euan Whitecraigs 81 +12
T107 WILSON, Alexander Gullane 81 +12
T110 WHITTET, Jamie Muir of Ord 82 +13
T110 BURGESS, Brandon Dumfries and Galloway 82 +13
T110 MCKAY, Calum Grange 82 +13
T110 BOON, Jamie Forres 82 +13
T110 FUCHS, Yannick Switzerland 82 +13
115 ROBERTSON, Evan Inchmarlo 83 +14
116 SPRIDDLE, Robbie Dunfermline 84 +15
117 MCLAREN, Stuart Bruntsfield Links 89 +20
118 GADSBY, Sean Crieff 90 +21
119 THOMSON, Max Bruntsfield Links 95 +26
RTD HORSTING, Patrick Royal St George's RTD
+SCORES FROM THE SGU WEBSITE

Lanarkshire match-play stages at Hamilton

The top 16 players from Sunday's Lanarkshire stroke-play championship at Bothwell Castle will play the match play stages at Hamilton Golf Club on the following dates:

Last 16: Monday, July 12
Last eight: Thursday, July 15
Last four: Monday, July 19
Final:  Thursday July 22

Charity golf event at Kinross on September 17

This year's AM-Am charity golf tournament for Diabetes UK Scotland will be held at Kinross Golf Club on Friday, September 17. More information and on-line booking is available from www.hummingbirdgolf.co.uk

J P McManus Pro-am win worth £100,000 to Darren Clarke

FROM THE BELFAST TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By Karl MacGinty
Darren Clarke was celebrating the best possible reason to put off his flight from Shannon to Edinburgh yesterday afternoon but absolutely nothing was going to stop Tiger Woods boarding his Gulfstream jet and heading home to Florida.
Clarke was delighted to hang around for the prize-giving ceremony at the JP McManus Invitational after a defiant second-round 68 at Adare Manor clinched a first win in two fruitless and intensely frustrating years for the Ulsterman.
Tiger's motive for hurrying back across the Atlantic after less than 36 hours in Ireland was as strong as they come. “I need to get home,” he explained, “to see my kids”.
The most stunning sex scandal in sporting history has wrecked his marriage but Tiger's paternal instincts are as strong as ever, as Ian Poulter's account of events over dinner on Monday evening in Adare clearly suggest.
The tale the Englishman told yesterday was of Woods proudly showing other players iPhone footage of his tiny son Charlie Axel swinging a golf club.
It was uncannily like the infant Tiger himself, Poulter yesterday insisted. “I did see his lad swinging a golf club on his telephone last night and it was simply incredible — the grip, the swing, the toe, all at 15 months old!
“It's scary,” he added. “By the time he's 15, he'll probably have won at Augusta. I've probably only got 13 years left.”
Woods paused long enough after his second-round 69, an improvement of 10 strokes on Monday's dismal opening effort, to give a media conference in which a few heavy seconds of silence offered poignant evidence of the trauma in his private life.
This Adare Manor victory means more to Ulsterman Clarke, 41, than the €100,000 first prize, as it offers evidence that the efforts he made to regain former glories are paying off.
Clarke left Adare for the Scottish Open in hope of winning the Open place on offer to the best top-five finisher at Loch Lomond not already exempt for next week's showpiece at St Andrews. Luke Donald finished one stroke behind the Ulsterman in second after his 69 yesterday. Irish Open champ Shane Lowry (71) tied third with Ernie Els (70) on one-under, with newly-crowned US Open champion Graeme McDowell joint fifth on level par with Poulter, among others, after both shot 69.
A level-par 72 left defending champion Padraig Harrington four-over for his 36 holes, while a double-bogey seven at 18 denied Rory McIlroy (75) a share of ninth on one-over with Damien McGrane (72).
PRO TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72). Yardage 7,453.
141 D Clarke 73 68.
142 L Donald 73 69.
143 E Els 73 0, S Lowry 72 71.
144 P Hanson 71 73, D Howell 74 70, G McDowell 75 69, I Poulter 75 69.
145 J Furyk 71 74, S Hansen 72 73, D McGrane 73 72, H Slocum 76 69, R Green 75 70.l
146 R Allenby 73 73, D Johnson 74 72, M Kaymer 74 72, J Cook 71 75, R Sabbatini 71 75, P Casey 76 70.
147 G Maybin 74 73, R McIlroy 72 75, C Villegas 73 74, J Daly 76 71.
148 J Edfors 72 76, P Harrington 76 72, T Lehman 74 74, J M Olazabal 76 72, G Fernandez-Castano 75 73, S Webster 73 75, T Woods 79 69.
149 S Marino 75 74.
150 P Finch 74 76, M Campbell 78 72, A Noren 73 77, J Van der Velde 74 76.
151 T Bjorn 77 74, P McGinley 78 73, J Rose 80 71, N Watney 74 77.
152 M Manassero 79 73, M O'Meara 76 76, B Curtis 81 71.
153 F Funk 79 74, H Stenson 72 81.
154 L Glover 73 81, D Higgins 76 78, J B Holmes 77 77, Peter Lawrie 76 78, G Murphy 76 78, A Scott 77 77.
156 R Rock 78 78

'At his staccato, excruciating worst in fending off questions'

Tiger Woods reverts to type at Press Conference

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By OLIVER BROWN, Adare, Co Limerick
Tiger Woods was ready to board his private jet and head back into the maelstrom. After sweeping into Ireland with a fanfare that would have flattered the Pope, he returned to Florida 36 hours later in a forlorn effort to redress the chaos of his private life.
As so often with Woods , his most telling statements were to be gleaned from what he did not say. Having paid due deference to the J P McManus Invitational here at Adare Manor, the worthy two-day event he had just graced, the world No 1 was at his staccato, excruciating worst in fending off all questions about why he was heading home so soon.
Pressed on why he would not be refining his links golf technique before next week’s Open Championship at St Andrews, he replied: “Because I need to go home.”
Asked if his abrupt departure for Orlando was due to “personal stuff”, he said, tersely: “To see my kids.”
The most uncomfortable silence occurred as a reporter wondered aloud if Woods felt that all his misdemeanours had been worth the aggravation, in light of his ragged form since returning to the game. He interjected: “I think you are reading too much into this.”
For those hoping for the humility he had promised to show, this was a dispiriting reversion to type. The anger simmered in Woods’ eyes.
He has failed to win any of the six events he has entered after becoming embroiled in sex scandal and there are suspicions, with his marriage to Elin Nordegren understood to be on the verge of collapse, that golf has become a relative triviality in his life.
Traditionally he has started mobilising for an Open early, travelling with friend Mark O’Meara to play such great Irish courses as Royal Dublin the week before, to restore his feel for the links. But this time he is compelled to be a transatlantic commuter, trying desperately to repair the damage that all his affairs have caused.
“Golf is something that I’ve done for a very long time, and there are times in one’s life when things get put into perspective,” he admitted. “One being when my father passed away, and obviously with what I have been going through lately.”
But Woods could not avoid the fact that, before last month’s US Open at Pebble Beach, he had expressed his wish that every major was contested at St Andrews. He has won the last two Opens played on the Old Course - the first, in 2000, by eight shots - and if any tournament can help purge the frustrations of his season, it is this one.
“To win at the home of golf, that would be what every champion wants to have happen,” he said.
“This is where it all started. To walk up the last hole, I’ve had that at other championships, but this is different. The first time I played it was in 1995. I fell in love with it as the lines and angles are always different to what they say.
“People say, 'Hit miles left', but if you hit miles left you have no angle. It forces you to be more strategic in how you play. Your touch has to be great as you will have a lot of long putts that break in three or four directions.
"Many past champions have had great short games, as well as great imagination and ball control. It’s a fantastic course. What genius it took to lay it out that way.”
Woods was not quite so enthusiastic under the steady rain of Adare, despite showing playing partners A P McCoy and Mick Fitzgerald the way with a respectable three-under-par round of 69, 10 shots better than his mediocre first round on Monday.
Around 10 children broke through the security cordon on the ninth tee but, as his mood darkened, these would be about the only autographs he signed before Air Force Tiger took to the skies once more.
Team-mates racing jockey AP McCoy and the now-retired Mick Fitzgerald described it as a dream come true to play with the golfer.
"There were no lows, it was highs all the way," said McCoy, who plays off a handicap of 14.
His caddy and best friend, Irish champion jockey Ruby Walsh, described Woods as a "gentleman" who was great company over the 18 holes.
McCoy, from Co Antrim, hooked a drive on the sixth hole and his ball struck seven-year-old Stephen O'Loughlin, of Beaufort, Co Kerry, on the leg.
"I heard him crying when I got down there, so I got Tiger to sign a cap and gave it to him," he said. "Funny enough, that stopped the crying."
McCoy said Woods was very chatty and although he was not really interested in horse racing, he asked him a lot about a jockey's weight, hydration and diet regime.
But Woods remained elusive to most, only briefly breaking a self-imposed ban on signing autographs for any of the thousands of fans who thronged into the five-star resort. Around ten children broke through heavy security on the ninth tee and were given an autograph - but many more were rebuked. The star did take time to give signatures to several disabled children waiting for his arrival at the 18th.
Amateurs taking part in the invitational event have to fork out around £34,000 each for the pleasure of sharing a round with one of the game's biggest names.


It's not all bad for Tiger ... he's driving the ball longer than ever!

Tiger Woods switched Nike balls for the ATandT National. His new ball has a slightly firmer cover and spins less than the old one, writes James Achenbach on the GolfWeek website
This exact model will not be sold at retail, although it can be found on the U.S. Golf Association’s conforming list (Nike One, with a star symbol between the two words).
“It is the exact same construction as the Nike One Tour D (available to consumers), with the exception of a slightly softer cover,” Nike spokesperson Beth Gast said.
Woods must have liked it. His official driving average for the week was 324.8 yards, second in the field. He is averaging 293.3 yards this season.
In the second round, Woods outdrove the long-hitting Dustin Johnson, with whom he was paired, by 26 and 10 yards on the holes where drives were measured

Americans swop places for next week's Open

 Anthony Kim, David Toms OUT, Ricky Barnes, Davis Love IN
FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
Anthony Kim, third in the Masters in April and third in the current United States Ryder Cup table, is out of next week's Open Championship. A persisitent shoulder injury means David Toms, a former US PGA champion, also will miss St Andrews.
Heading for St Andrews instead will be their fellow Americans Ricky Barnes and Davis Love.
Kim, the world No 11, has not played since the start of May, when he went in for surgery on a thumb injury and was told he could expect to be out of action for 10 to 12 weeks. That was nine weeks ago.
The 25 year-old played on for a while earlier this season knowing he had a torn ligament the past few months, but said: ''Compensating for it was starting to cause other issues, including a sore shoulder.''
Kim's top priority is to regain fitness for the Ryder Cup. He was a star of their victory two years ago, thrashing Sergio Garcia in the top singles.
Toms has played the last four weeks in the States, but has been battling with a shoulder injury for months.
Barnes and Love come in as the highest non-exempt players on the world rankings - they are 64th and 68th respectively - having missed out by two and five strokes at the qualifying event in Texas in May.
First reserve now is Australian Jason Day and if two more players drop out England's Brian Davis, twice a runner-up in America this season, will receive a call-up.
Love's reprieve means the 46 year-old will extend a run of playing every Open Championship since his debut in 1987. His best finishes were fourth at Sandwich in 2003 and fifth at Royal Troon the following year, while the 1997 US PGA winner was sixth in the US Open at Pebble Beach only three weeks ago.

Solid start by Scots in defence of European title

FROM THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION WEBSITE
Scotland sit in a tie for third spot behind first round leaders England after their defence of the European Amateur Team Championship got underway in Sweden.
Ross Kellett was out early and got the Scots off to a good start, posting a two-under par 70 which was matched by Amateur Championship runner-up James Byrne in the afternoon. Michael Stewart, who like Kellett was a member of the victorious team twelve months ago in Wales, dropped a shot on the last to finish level par and Greg Paterson recovered from a double-bogey seven at the 13th hole to record a creditable one-over par 73.
Philip McLean and Kris Nicol, making their full Scotland debuts, were two-over and four-over respectively with the Fraseburgh man’s score non-counting to leave the Scots on one-under par overall, six shots behind the English.

FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND
Leading eight teams after second round will qualifying for championship match-play flight
Best five scores per team count daily.
354 ENGLAND (C Paisley 68, L Canter 70, T Lewis 70, E Pepperell 73, T Fleetwood 73, B Hemstock 74).
355 DENMARK.
359 FINLAND, SCOTLAND ( J Byrne 70, R Kellett 70, M Stewart 72, G Paterson 73, P McLean 74, K McNicol 76).
362 WALES (J Frazer 70, R Pugh 72, O Farr 73, R Enoch 73, B Westgate 74, A Jones 75).
367 GERMANY.
368 ITALY, NORWAY.
369 FRANCE, NETHERLANDS.
370 BELGIUM.
372 SPAIN.
373 PORTUGAL.
374 IRELAND (D Lernihan 71, P Cutler 74, A Dunbar 75, P Dunne 76, P Murray 78, C Curley 80), Sweden.
379 Austria.
381 Switzerland.
383 Iceland.
391 Poland.
395 Slovakia.

EUROPEAN BOYS' TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Klassis GC, Turkey
FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND
Leading eight teams after the second round qualifying for the championship flight.
351 England (C Lloyd 64, P Lockwood 69, L Harper 71, N Newbold 73, J Burnett 74, G Eason 75).
356 France, Denmark.
357 Austria.
358 Italy.
359 Belgium.
363 Netherlands.
364 Norway.
366 Germany.
368 Spain, Wales (O Baker 70, L Jackson 72, D Boote 73, Z Galliford 74, O Mottram 79, C Melding 79).
369 Ireland. (J Hopkins 70, D McElroy 70, C Selfridge 72, S Barry 75, L Harnett 82, K Lynch 90).
375 Switzerland, Portugal.
377 Czech Republic, Finland.
378 Scotland (G Forrest 73, S Gibson 74, S Fairburn 75, J McDonald 78, L Johnston 78, P McPhee 80).
384 Turkey.
386 Sweden.
396 Slovenia.

Open 2010: prize money increased by £100k

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
The winner of next week's Open Championship at St Andrews will receive £850,000 - an increase of £100,000 on the amount Stewart Cink took home from Turnberry last summer.
The total purse goes up to £4.8 million, up £600,000, with Royal and Ancient Club chief executive Peter Dawson stating: ''The Open Championship sits at the forefront of world golf and it is appropriate that our prize fund reflects that position in the game.
''Over the last 18 months we have had to take account of the pound's weakened position against the US Dollar and the Euro and we have increased our prize money accordingly.''
It is the first increase in the money on offer since 2006, when Tiger Woods won £720,000 at Hoylake.
The world No 1 returns to St Andrews next week trying to lift the Claret Jug for the third time in a row there. He trounced the best of the rest by eight shots in 2000 and by five in 2005.
Next week's runner-up will pick up £500,000 and even the player finishing 156th and last will earn £2,250.
Open prize fund increased by £600,000 to £4.8million.
Despite this, the Open prize-money is still slightly less than the three other majors. The Masters, US Open and USPGA Championship are all listed as carrying a £4.9m prize fund this year, with just under £890,000 going to the winner.

E-mail from Morag Cunningham

SCROLL DOWN TO READ MARTIN DEMPSTER'S ARTICLE ON THE OPEN
CHAMPIONSHIP BEING GOOD VALUE FOR MONEY FOR SPECTATORS

£60 is definitely TOO MUCH in the current economic climate.
This represents a 40% to 50% increase on the ticket price the last time the Open was at St Andrews five years ago (I recall the ticket price was £40 or £45 then). There is basically a £5 premium on the ticket price every year.
And there is a £10 charge to park in a field.
It is great that Under-16s are admitted free, but many families are like ours, with older (still in education) teenagers, therefore £240 admission for us all to go, plus transport, the bill rises to over £300.
Yes, concert tickets are equally over-priced, but in that case, (a) you have a guaranteed seat and (b) you are enjoying a spectacle which cannot be also seen on TV.
I’m afraid after last year at Turnberry where the costs, along with the horrendous traffic and the long wait getting into the venue, we will be voting with our feet and watching at home (where we will probably see more of the actual golf!)
I would advise anyone interested in watching live golf to go to Loch Lomond instead (this week).

Morag Cunningham
----------------------------------

Oh, yes it is, says Graham Leggat

Definitely worth it. A whole day's entertainment from 7am till almost 9.00pm for £60, watching world stars at the top of their profession. What other entertainment could match this?

Graham Leggat
Peterhead

And Debbie Watt agrees

Where else can you see so many top sportsmen at the one venue and get the opportunity to see them all for £60? How much were people paying last week for a Centre Court ticket just for the Andy Murray match? Or to see some of the most over-paid sportsmen running around for 90 mins at a Premiership football match?
At the Open you can watch past champions, the world's top golfers at the moment and future champions all day long.
Take the kids for free and it is an event they will never forget.
It really is one of the best sporting events WORLDWIDE and I think value for money compared to others.
I'm sure this years Open will not disappoint!

Debbie Watt

David Kidd: Scot's whirlwind rise from obscurity

FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE

By MARTIN KAUFMANN

Growing up in Scotland, David McLay Kidd said his dream was to be an assistant (golf course) superintendent or even, with a little luck, a head superintendent like his dad, Jimmy. Then came a fortuitous meeting with Mike Keiser and, eventually, the assignment to build the first course at Bandon Dunes Resort on the southern Oregon coastline, a job that gave him rock-star status in the world of golf architecture.

Kidd was recalling his whirlwind rise from obscurity recently as he showed me and some other writers around Huntsman Springs at Driggs, Idaho, his newest creation and clearly one of his proudest accomplishments. At Huntsman Springs, owned by billionaire executive and philanthropist Jon Huntsman, Kidd moved a tremendous amount of dirt – north of 4 million cubic yards, by some estimates – to add elevation to a flat piece of land and bring nearby wetlands up into the course.
“This was the pinnacle of my career so far. . . ” Kidd said. “We got to showcase our creativity with a client who was pushing us in that direction.”
How did he get here? I asked Kidd how he had secured the plum Bandon assignment at such a young age, with a modest résumé. He recalled that prior to meeting with Keiser, he had seen the list of architects interviewed for that job. It included all of the A-list names. So Kidd figured he had nothing to lose.
In his interview, the Scot told Keiser that he suspected he was just a rich, clueless American trying to build a faux links. Kidd said Keiser apparently liked his swagger because the owner kept bringing him back to work on the project, finally awarding him the commission.
Kidd acknowledged that he ran the risk of being seen as the one-hit wonder of golf architecture.
“People said, ‘Sure he did a great job. It was a great site. You’ll never hear from him again,’ ” he said.
After Bandon Dunes, Kidd said he wanted to use the decade of his 30s to build a portfolio of courses in a variety of genres – courses built in the mountains and valleys, inland and on the ocean. He wanted to show that he was capable of a repertoire that went well beyond building seaside links.
He feels comfortable with the portfolio that he has produced, which includes The Castle Course, St Andrews  and Machrihanish Dunes in Scotland, Tetherow in Bend, Oregon, Nanea in Hawaii, the Montagu Course in George, South Africa, and TPC Stonebrae near San Francisco.
David Huntsman, who is running his father’s real estate operations, asked me if I thought Kidd’s work was unique from that of other architects. Having recently visited Tetherow and The Castle Course, I told Huntsman that my impression was that Kidd’s designs truly were distinctive – that not everyone will love his work, but that they’ll remember it.
Kidd abhors so many of the modern, cookie-cutter designs.
“I hate these courses that are ‘sublime,’ ” he said. “All of the hazards are up in your face. Everything is simple and boring and sublime. The courses are formulaic. It’s a dogleg left and there’s a bunker on the inside of the dogleg and one on the outside. The greens are shaped like skulls with a bunker on either side.”
Kidd is anything but formulaic. In a recent article, I said that it appeared Kidd’s greatest fear was that golfers might view his work indifferently. He seemed pleased with that assessment. He wants to push golfers’ buttons, to mess with their heads, but ultimately for them to walk off the 18th green thinking they had a good time.
To that end, he acknowledges that he might have lost sight of playability at times over the past decade. For example, the green complexes and fairway mounding at The Castle Course and Tetherow have been softened since their openings.
“I’ve never gone (back to) a golf course and made it harder,” he said. “But I have gone back to courses and tweaked things to make them a little easier.”
At Huntsman Springs, he said he continually reminded senior associate Nick Schaan to keep in mind playability, which he equates to big greens. Though Kidd didn’t want to be defined by his first major triumph, he has embraced the lessons he learned from the Bandon experience.
“Bandon’s so easy and playable, and that’s what gave me these opportunities, so let’s stick to that,” Kidd said.

O'Hara, Drummond, Coltart called into Scottish Open field

There are now 14 Scots in the field for this week's Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond. Steven O'Hara, Scott Drummond and Andrew Coltart were called up off the reserve list yesterday following three withdrawals.

Westwood has calf injury problem ahead of Open

FROM THE BBCSPORT.COM WEBSITE
Britain's world number three Lee Westwood has been told to "have complete rest this week", according to his management company.
"Lee is hopeful [of playing], but they just have to monitor the injury and see how it progresses over the next week," said spokesman Martin Hardy.
Westwood has scrapped plans to practice at St Andrews on Thursday and is now aiming to be there on Monday.
The Englishman, 37, suffered the injury to his right leg while playing in the French Open at the weekend.
He recalled: "I had a three-iron at the third from a ball-below-feet lie and I think I just tweaked it. After that I could hardly put any weight on it."
Tests in a Paris hospital at the weekend proved he did not have a blood clot, and he flew home on Sunday night.
Hardy added: "Lee has got a slight tear in the muscle close to his calf in his right leg and he's been told by his doctor to have complete rest this week."
Westwood had been due to play in the J P McManus Pro-am, along with Woods, in west Ireland on Monday and Tuesday, but he pulled out in order to have an MRI scan.
He missed out on the Open title by only a shot at Turnberry last year, and is second favourite behind Tiger Woods to win his first major at St Andrews.
Westwood has been playing the best golf of his career in recent months, with second place at the US Masters in April and victory at the St Jude Classic in June.

Open's £60 a day to spectate is excellent value for money

FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE 
By Martin Dempster
AT the start of a three-week golfing bonanza in Scotland, do followers of the game in the home of golf really appreciate how lucky we are in comparison to many other countries, most notably our English neighbours?
It's a question which sprang to mind in the wake of comments heard from golfers regarding the £60 pay-at-the-gate price for a competition day ticket at next week's Open Championship at St Andrews.
This, it was felt in some quarters, is "a bit pricey and a lot more than it used to be." That is an opinion which is correct on one front, certainly; it is more than it used to be but so, 10-20 years on, is everything else in the sporting world and entertainment industry.
Paying £60 for a day at The Open - the practice days range from £15-£40 - can still be regarded as excellent value for money. You can, after all, be there from the crack of dawn until late in the evening, at least on the opening two days, and, what's more, you're not just coughing up to go and see one person.
When Michael Buble performed in Glasgow recently the tickets cost £55, while a performance by Pink, at Hampden ten days ago, was a £50 affair. Yes, both performers had supporting acts but, in comparison, golf fans heading for the 150th anniversary of the Open Championship are getting the better deal.
Some fans, of course, will only really be interested in getting a glimpse of Tiger Woods. He'll not only be bidding to become the first player to win three Opens at St Andrews but is also making his first appearance on Scottish soil since the bottom fell out of his family life on the back of some extraordinary off-the-course activities.
However, the beauty about an event like the Open Championship is that, no matter what group you come across on the course, there's a good chance it will have someone in it that you'd probably have paid decent money just to watch in isolation. Take Tom Watson, for example. How much was his performance at Turnberry last summer worth on its own?
It was the same with Greg Norman 12 months earlier, when the Australian rolled back the years to mount a strong challenge over the opening three days at Royal Birkdale and there's every chance that another golden oldie, Sandy Lyle perhaps, will provide some additional entertainment over the Old Course.
What is often forgotten is that children under 16 are admitted free to the Open when they are accompanied by an adult (although applications for these tickets have to be made in advance of the event). Next week at St Andrews, a parent could head along to watch the world's top golfers in action with their two kids and it will only be cost £60 to get through the gate.
Proper exhibition tent apart - a subject for another day - the Open Championship is still one of the highlights of the sporting season and, this year, Scottish golf fans are certainly being spoiled what with the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond before it and the Senior Open Championship at Carnoustie straight after the St Andrews event.
Both those events offer exceptional value for money as well. At Loch Lomond, where no less than 10 major winners, including three current of the current ones - Phil Mickelson, Graeme McDowell and Y E Yang - are in action, the cost for a competition day is £30, while the chance to watch the likes of Watson, Lyle, Sam Torrance, Tom Lehman, Corey Pavin, Gary Player and many other stars of yesteryear tackle the mighty Carnoustie for the first time as seniors is just £25 on the equivalent days.
Later in the year, the spotlight will be on Gleneagles when it hosts the final counting event in the race to be in Colin Montgomerie's Ryder Cup team and, a few weeks after that, some of the world's top players will be back in Scotland again for the Dunhill Links Championship at Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and St Andrews.
Five top events in the one country in the same year. Yet, in England, where they've got more players in the world's top ten at the moment than ever before, the BMW PGA Championship, held at the European Tour's headquarters at Wentworth, is the only tournament of note being staged there this year.
We're a lucky bunch when it comes to our golfing fare, something worth bearing in mind before complainig about prices, traffic jams or suchlike over the next three weeks.

Is the Open worth £60 a day to spectate? You can E-mail your view to Colin@scottishgolfview.com

Tom Watson and Tiger Woods kept apart in Open curtain-raiser

FROM THE SCOTSMAN.COM WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
Tiger Woods and Tom Watson were spared what might have been an awkward link-up by the R&A when the teams were announced yesterday for next Wednesday's Open Champions Challenge on the eve of the 150th Anniversary Open at St Andrews.
Five-time champion Watson said he believed Woods, winner of the last two Opens on the Old Course, had to "show some humility" when he returned to the game earlier this season after the world No. 1 took an indefinite break to tackle the issues in his private life which surfaced at the end of last year.
Watson also called on Woods to refine his on-course behaviour, saying: "I feel that he has not carried the same stature as other great players like Jack (Nicklaus], Arnold (Palmer], Byron Nelson, the Hogans, in the sense that there was language and club throwing on the golf course. I think he needs to clean up his act and show the respect for the game that other people before him have shown."
Woods' form since returning to action this year has been patchy, and following a lowly finish at the AT and T National in Pennsylvania at the weekend his golf showed little improvement yesterday when he shot a seven-over-par 79 in the first round of the J P McManus Invitational Pro-Am at Adare, near Limerick.
However, few of the 40,000-strong crowd which swarmed to the course to see Woods appeared to share Watson's sentiments as they accorded him a rapturous reception. Woods is planning to jet back to America tonight before returning to St Andrews next week.Whether the R and A took Watson's remarks on board at any stage is debatable, but the veteran and Woods will not be joining forces in one of the seven teams that will take part in a four-hole challenge similar to that held during the Millennium Open on the Old Course.
Watson, who came agonisingly close to equalling Harry Vardon's record of six Open Championship wins at Turnberry last year, is in a three-ball with Tom Weiskopf, the champion at Troon in 1973, and Ernie Els, who won at Muirfield eight years ago. Each of the teams has been appointed a captain, with that honour being afforded to the most senior player in the group, which is Weiskopf in the case of his team.
Due to the fact he's unable to play at the moment on medical grounds, four-time champion Peter Thomson will be a non-playing captain of Woods' group, which also includes Sir Nick Faldo, the winner at St Andrews in 1990, and Mark Calcavecchia, who claimed the Claret Jug at Troon in 1989. Between them the players in that group have 12 Open Championships to their name.
Sandy Lyle is in a group with Roberto de Vicenzo, Ben Curtis and Tom Lehman, while Paul Lawrie lines up with a fellow Carnoustie champion in Padraig Harrington, as well as Lee Trevino and Tony Jacklin.