🔴 LIVE AT THE RANGE | Monday | The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush

🔴 LIVE AT THE RANGE | Monday | The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush

Baby, every time everything Heat. Hey, Heat. everybody. Everybody Everybody everybody everybody Heat. Heat. Hey everybody. Everybody everybody everybody Everybody everybody. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Everybody up. Everybody everybody everybody every Heat. Heat. Six years ago, a Royal Port Rush delivered one of the most emotional chapters in open history when Shane Lowry roared on by the home fans, won by six strokes. Today we return to this rugged stretch of Northern Irish coastline where the world’s best will try and tame this links and win golf’s oldest and greatest championship. The big question is who will lift the clar jug this year? The world’s best together on the same stage for one last time this year. The Open Championship is about all of golf from all of time. I don’t believe it. Gust of wind, a hop of the ball. One more roll could be enough. And at the end of the journey, there may be a clar junk awaiting. Every great player who’s ever played the game has won that championship. The journey is long and filled with obstacles, of near misses, of heartache. But as the champion holds aloft the clar jug, we all know it’s bigger than golf. This is history. Such iconic moments over the years. And we are back for the 2025 Open Championship, the 153rd staging of the event. Just look at this landscape coming off the Atlantic there, overlooking the Dunloose course which will stage this prestigious event. We cannot wait for the action to begin all the buildup over the next three days for you. We’ve got every angle covered. Pretty special place to stand right here next to the Claret Jug and also next to Pete Finch. Absolutely delighted to have you back, Pete. Thank you. That was a wonderful introduction. It’s wonderful to be standing here by you as well on such an amazing setup here for the range as well. I think out the previous years that we’ve done this, this might be my favorite. Oh, it’s an absolutely fantastic place here at Royal Port Rush. Just tell us why the players love coming back here. It was first staged actually in Northern Ireland in 1951. We’ll speak more about the history in just a moment. Second stage in 2019. This is the third time ever that it’s been in Northern Ireland. I I think for me and I think a lot of the players, this is the ultimate test of Lynx golf. I think for many of the professionals here this week is probably their favorite links as well. Like the course, each hole is so individual. It changes direction so many times. The elevation differences from literally one hole to the next can be quite extreme. So there’s so many challenges. There’s so many unique little features of this course. And it’s in a part of the world which is just so ruggedly beautiful that every time you come here it’s it’s inspirational for a lot of the players. It’s stunning. And speaking to everyone around the place, they’re so excited that it’s back here. Shane Lowry last etched his name onto the trophy in 2019. It’s just around the front here. But he, my goodness, created such special memories. We can’t forget that new course record of 63 on on the Saturday of the Open in 2019. played some of the best golf of his life. Do you still get goosebumps thinking about his performance back then? Yeah, I mean it was such a special opening in many respects because all the all the pressure and all the eyeballs were on Rory Maroy obviously come back to Northern Ireland and all the hopes really of the of the island of Ireland were pinned on Rory and then all of a sudden kind of Rory falls away misses the court obviously very emotional and then Shane just comes through an incredible round on Saturday still the course record and sets himself up for that sixsh shot victory and the scenes afterwards it just meant so much to so many people and even think you’re back on it now. It was amazing. He loved celebrating, didn’t he, Shane? For a few for a few days afterwards. Went to Dublin. Uh, but one Well, he went to the Harbor Bar first. Yes, he did. Which a lot of the crowd actually have been talking about. Have you been Did you go? I I have been there a couple of times from what I remember. I don’t know. Oh, great. I think a bit of me is still there. Possibly, but I remember as well Shane talking about his daughter in the yellow jacket being at the back of the green on 18, bringing back such amazing memories. He’s done a feature recently walking down that 18th with Andrew Cotter and it just gives you goosebumps and actually that yellow jacket he’s now handed to his younger daughter. Absolutely fantastic. But in terms of you saying coming under under the radar so to speak with the attention being on Rory this year I listened to a press conference with Zander Schoff play the defending champion obviously won at Run in those battling those conditions at the weekend up in Scotland last year. He’s kind of coming in under the radar this year. we’ve got all the focus on on uh the Norish northern Irish players a little bit I think with Xander last year watching him play certainly Saturday and Sunday there was a real aura about him like he looked untouchable for a lot of those rounds and he’s had his injury problems at the start of this year and he’s not quite got back to the form that we saw. I mean he’s obviously a world class player. You do have to consider him a contender but I’d say there are other names up there that are more likely to walk away with this amazing trophy. Yeah. So many different storylines developing. So much to talk about. It’s it’s pretty special standing here and thinking about the history of Royal Port Rush. As I say, the first uh open here was 1951 won by Max Falner. The fashion back then was amazing. And then 2019, to get an open back here in 2019, quite a lot had to go on in the background. It was a what a 68-y year gap. Yeah. I mean, there were huge changes to the golf course to make it tournament ready for the modern game because as far as the design, it it’s a classic. It’s it’s a wonderful golf course, but obviously length and distance and the the kind of strength of the players nowadays, it does mean that some of these classic courses do have to be altered and that’s what they did. I mean, they transformed this incredible golf course into something truly world class, into something truly special. And and that happened around 2014, didn’t it? Yes, it did. Because we had all the Irish players winning majors 2010, 2011. So, it was a spur to to get the club to make those changes for it to be possible to be held here. Yeah, absolutely. And it’s now it’s now going to be looking like especially this week, we’ve had a fantastic run of weather. Last week, it was boiling hot yesterday. This week looks a bit more unsettled. So, we’re going to get Do you want that? I personally do. Yeah. because we’re going to get such changes as well within the weather like we’re going to have wind, we’re going to have sun, we’re going to have rain and the look of the draw at the open is something which is so integral to choosing a champion and it looks like this week if you get a morning afternoon or an afternoon morning it looks like it’s going to be absolutely crucial. Yeah, we were as we were getting the buggy in we were saying we we kind of want this inclement weather don’t we and the winds to pick up it makes it a a real battling the elements open championship a force of nature that’s for sure. Okay. Well, just to confirm the the weather prospects for today, it’s about 17°. What What’s the wind doing, Pete? Uh, the wind is doing whatever the hell it wants at the moment. But I would say that with Lynx golf, you need the wind to make it interesting. If it’s a little bit damp, but it’s still like even the longest, the best links course, these players can absolutely tear it apart. So, especially when you get down to the fourth and the fifth and the sixth and that little corner, if the wind is whipping there, it can make some of these holes so challenging and it can switch as well here. Yeah. So, it can come off the coast, it can go towards the sea because this isn’t a straight out and back links course, is it? It zigzags all over the place. You’ve got to be paying attention to almost every shot. Like there are so many courses, St. Andrews for example, like TR to an extent where you’re going to go out, you play the same win pretty much every hole, then you switch back and then you play differently. at this golf course it can change from one hole to the other and then if the wind switches then it can completely confuse a player and completely confuse a caddy. I mean those guys have really got their work cut out this way. Just to tell our audience why is this clar jug before we head to our commentary team. Why is it so special? Why do the players want to lift this? I mean you’re looking at the most famous trophy in golf. It’s so steeped in history. the names on here and the the legacy that goes with getting your name etched on this is truly unlike any other event. I mean the mass is obviously fantastic with the green jacket but to have a clar jug it means you are a complete golfer. It means that you’ve tested the some of the toughest conditions that you can and come out the other side and you know you got tiger you got such amazing players on here just down there you have. Thank you Pete. Your hand actually was quite close. Do not touch the clar jug. Keep your hands away. I’ll keep mine away as well. Right, we’ve got cameras everywhere. Top traces technology, all angles covered. Let’s get to our commentary team for now. Hope you’ve got a cup of tea. Settle yourself in. It’s going to be brilliant. The start of the open championship week. Let’s get to George Harper and to Simon Holmes. Yeah, thank you D. Welcome to live at the range. This is the viewpoint that you’re going to get to see a unique view. the driving range. Um, there it is. Two holes on the Valley Golf Course. Lots of targets. Give you an opportunity to see what the players do in preparation for the competition round. George Harper, we were out there yesterday. It is a great spot, isn’t it? Yeah, it’s simply stunning. Simon Holmes, the weather slightly different to yesterday. Uh, almost got a tan here in Port Rush, but it’s one of the most picturesque golf courses that the Open comes to. Uh it was one of my first opens back in 2019 and still is one of my personal favorites as you can imagine. Um we’ve talked about Shane Larry a lot and I’m sure we’ll talk about him even more over the coming days, but it was truly reme truly memorable. Yeah, there it is. That’s the 160 marker and HSBC, one of the great sponsors in golf and especially um you know this week a partner of the Open Championship. 160 is how old that bank is. So that means it’s founded in 1865 in British Hong Kong and it has gone global and we thank them for their amazing support bringing all of this to you. So we’ll have some of the players maybe take a shot at that marker. There you’ve got the big grand stand behind the driving range. It was very rainy this morning so it was kind of a quiet morning. Um, but there was one man who was out there, the 2019 champion, and I think that’s a big difference, George. You know, when the rain was pumping down, the Americans were all huddled under their umbrella. Shane just kept hitting. I think that’s a big advantage for him. It’s not something that phases him 100%. And you look back to 2019, the weather was miserable. He fought the elements and better than all of them. and by a country mile as well, winning by an immense sick shot. So, he loves this and I think if you are from this part of the world as a player, you wouldn’t mind a couple of days like this to maybe scare away some of the field, but it’s great to see him back. He’s had an amazing preparation. I was talking to him yesterday on the range. He’s been playing all over Ireland and Northern Ireland, Lynx Golf, different courses every other day and yeah, he’s licking his lips. No doubt about it. Yeah, it was it was that 63 really. He kind of won it on Saturday and he just had to hang on. Um, finally won by six from Tommy Fleetwood who who again must be kind of trending into this competition. Yeah, look, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if those two were going headto-head come Saturday, Sunday this coming weekend as well. Shane’s clearly been in good form, but hasn’t delivered on the big stage thus far this season. So, he’s had his eyes on this one for a while and um he’s put in so many hours. He’s visited Port Rush a couple of times um prior to this week. So, look, if he’s not going to he’s not going to lose this on lack of preparation. He’s as ready as he’ll ever be um for an open championship. So, so let’s just explain some of those numbers to you. So, we we are the whole of the driving range is lit up by top tracer technology. So what what happens you’re going to see players hit shots and then look across to their left where there is an enormous screen which basically shows that so um this is sort of like not normalized changes. So that’s exactly what the conditions want and it’s interesting to see them just kind of play around with the apexes. That’s the height of the ball. So obviously if you’re coming from the from the PGA Tour is just rip it up there. It’s like playing in a dome not here. So let’s have a look at the Larry swing. What you’ll notice as well, Simon, is Larry’s well on the left side of that range just so he’s got the best suit of the big screen as well for all these stats and facts. So just take you through. So um that the carry is just carry carry 160 ball speed guys look at a lot of that kind of 173 174 is kind of ball speed for um PJ tour average with their driver launch direction and apex. So a lot of work goes in. You’re going to see guys working with manufacturers this week because of the wind. You’re going to see them working with different sort of shot shapes as they know they got to work it around. We saw that yesterday. Yeah, that was magical. We were lucky enough to have a front row seat with Aldrich Porita, one of our recent PGA Tour champions, uh the young South African. He won the amateur championship at Royal Rhythm and Sans and now he’s gone on to do amazing things. But wow, watching him absolutely launch the driver. He’s one of the biggest on tour at the moment. Uh and it was just such a simple change, Simon. Um he was there with his manufacturer changing the shaft ever so slightly and the ball was quite spinny so he was losing it out to the right and then as soon as he changed that shaft bang one drive magic and it just it just started nuking it straight through the wind and it’s incredible Simon and you’ll you’ll love talking about this all week here at live at the range but the tiniest little changes in technology for these guys in particular is just so big. Yeah. Well, if you don’t have that technological support, um, you know, we’ll never hear of you. So, the manufacturer, the player skill combined with the technology combined with the the amazing fitting skills that those guys come out and they can just go, “Ah, I know how to fix this.” Yeah. And that’s right. The the manufacturers love to say, “Look, every player is different. We want to do what what the players want to do, but their job is just to make it a little bit of a cheat code, a little bit easier.” Yeah. So, let’s have a look at the Shane Lowry swing. What I love about this, you know, you see a lot of kind of tension. You see a lot of people trying to hit like rigid positions. Justin Rose hitting rigid positions. Ricky Fowler, JT. Um, and for me, the Lowry swing, the magic of the Larry swing is the freedom. It’s like if you watch this, there’s no tension. Softer arms, not so rigid, not so position conscious, much more kind of just playing different shots. Well, we we all know about his short game prowess, and it doesn’t look too dissimilar with driver at hand, does it? He is just relaxed, silky smooth. Look at that narrow stance and just full rotation as well. He just keeps going at the end there, losing that one slightly to the right, but he’s also joined there by Neil Manship, his coach. He’s been helping him out for a very, very long time. So, there you have it. Top Tracer will bring you all of the data, all the ball speed data that the players are working on all the time. Look at that high right side through Lowry just moving around. That’s the lower one. 78 ft of apex. So that’s kind of more of his bullet shot knowing that he’s going to have to play some crosswinds. Yeah, that’s the great thing about Port Rush. So Shane Lowry, we wish him well. You are watching live at the range from Royal Port Rush. Becoming champion golfer of the year is rarely a straight line. I got to play in my first open very fortunately in St. Andrews. As a golfer is most special place in the world to play an open there is incredible and I actually played quite well. Nicely done. 300 under through 10. I didn’t qualify in 2011. I didn’t qualify in 2012. 2014 I shot 65 in the final round actually to finish ninth which was pretty cool. I think that was my best finish ever in a major and then from 2015 onwards kind of all downhill at the open championship break a few eggs before you can make it. I was just going through such a bad phase of my career and then 2018 was cari where myself and my caddy split up and probably one of the lowest points of my whole career. I don’t think I’ve ever been in such good form going into an open. What a start. Shane moves to 11 on He’s leading the Open Championship. I get down onto the tea and I’m looking around. The crowd are going mental and I’m just taking it all in. I’m like, this is incredible. Oh, what a boys in Lowry. There’s no in between today. Like, it’s either going to be one of the best days of my life or one of the worst. What a time to throw in another birdie. I have to go and win. And that’s the way I felt and thankfully I did. Just swing. Visit golf.golf to find out more. Just swing. Visit golf.golf to get started. Why not give golf a go? Just swing. Swing wild. Swing weird. Swing wonky. Whoever, however, wherever. It doesn’t matter. Just swing. Head over to golf.golf to start playing. Find out where you can learn to play at golf.golf. Welcome back to Live at the Range with George Harper Jr. This are bird’s eye view. So, there’s a huge grandstand and it’ll be packed with people. Great thing about the grand stand if you’re coming out this week is you get to see so many shots. Players working with their coaches, working on the different ball flights that they need, all those little chipping greens, getting used also to Lynx turf. That was something that the guys were talking about yesterday, how the ball presents itself. Now there is Mateo Manisero and at 16 years old he won the 2009 Amateur Championship. Incredible, isn’t it? How nice is it to see him back in form? Uh such an exciting young golfer back in the day and to believe that last year at Trune was his first open championship since Royal Tron in 2016. So, a massive hiatus for someone who was lighting up the golfing world so early, but great to see him in form. The he was on fire at the Canadian Open when Ryan Fox went on to win in heroic fashion. So, yeah, great to see him back and swinging silky smooth, Simon. Yeah, we saw him yesterday working with Saurin Hansen. You remember Saurin Hansen, amazing player on the DP World Tour, just working. You can see the sticks down there. So, it’s very difficult, I think, when you’ve got so many different targets. You come to so many different ranges. They’re all kind of optically very different. So, he’s got a kind of a ball position um stick and an aiming stick. Just trying to make sure that his practice comes from exactly the right place. Yeah. Simon, how important is alignment? I hear a lot of professionals talk about it and in particular to amateur golfers is one of their biggest tips is just work on your alignment. How important is that for these guys as well? I I mean, can you imagine if I mean, if you know if you had like a fiveyard aim right and a and and the ball positioned threequarters of the ball further back, I don’t think you’d notice that, right? And so you you find these kind of unconscious errors that slip into your game. They find it at their level. You’re definitely going to find it, especially at your level, George. And and so you you just try to make sure you practice sort of, you know, very as as with as much structure as you possibly can because that’s at least one variable that you’ve eliminated. Yeah. Yeah. I can confirm my level as far from these bloss. I lost seven and five to Ryan Fox just last week. It’s not a disgrace. No, I thought I thought I held my own for a while there, but eight birdies later from Foxy uh yeah, really put me uh really humbled me. You lost to my two young sons. Hey, look. Let’s not get carried away. We got Matteo Manis here. Here we go. So, let’s have a look and see what he’s working on here. He is very much cruising into this warm up. That punch follow through that we’ve been seeing a lot of this year. Yeah. Okay. Almost like a little Tommy Fleetwood drill. Maybe trying to just control that club face through the ball. Kind of stop that rotation. And there’s a centrifugal force that makes the club face want to shut. You’ve got to be able to support that with your structure. So, I don’t want to start the week with really bold calls, but have we got a ride a cup bolter here? Oh, I love that. So, just a little rehearsal trying to find the feel. It’s something that never ends. You’re always working on it. I mean, we saw yesterday how much the players were grinding out trying to find the right fields. So, this is all just sort of getting into your playing fields. Body turn has to outra the the club head at delivery. You know, if you’re going to hold the line there, if you’re going to draw it, you’re probably going to let the club head go past you a little bit more. Matteo, you can see they’re kind of like arms very much vertical, almost underneath his shoulders. That’s more something that you see from a fade. Players see his hands close. and maybe just trying to take a little bit of that draw spin out of his game. Yeah, I feel like this is the club where he’s made massive inroads this season or the last couple of seasons. Watching him on the PGA Tour, his proximity to the hole was super impressive. Every time he was up near the top of the leaderboard, this is the club where he was absolutely clinical with. So, giving the grooves a little bit of a shine. That one goes back in the bag. What comes out next? Yeah, still just working up through his through his clubs there. Nine perhaps pitching wedge. Let’s have a look. So, a lot of structure for Matteo really trying to drill himself in there, the club back in there. So, it’s kind of got this little rehearsal. So, it’s like, okay, right, arms down. So don’t let those arms get too late and stuck behind you. Keep them in front of your chest. And you can see him there really trying to control that club face through the ball. So the hips will kick. And that little thorn off Tommy finish. That’s a great drill to work on to understand the sequence. You know what you’re trying to do is to get your really your lower body to fire first. Your second part is going to be kind of like let’s call it ribs or upper body to fire second and kind of at a delay catch up to those hips then the arms then the club face and if that sequence gets out you’re going to find a lot of different sort of shapes of starting line and spin. So you can see that face really kind of open through the ball there. Then it comes out and now trying to kick and hit it through. Probably a little bit more hook spin than he wanted there. So with a wedge kind of club head speed and ball speed match up and then as the what they call sort of as the ball gets hit with less and less lofted clubs there’s a that ratio will change up to a driver which gets to sort of like let’s suppose it was 100 milesPH of club speed be 150 mph of ball speed. So you kind of just working these numbers. The players know the numbers so well now. How nice and relaxing is Monday on the range in comparison to Tuesday, Wednesday. They all look like they’ve got all the time in the world here at the moment. It’s a great point, you know. I mean, you can tell there’s a lot of work going on in the Mateo Manisero camp here. He had Saurin Hansen with him yesterday afternoon. We saw I saw Saurin Saturday at the Scottish at the Genesis. So player and coach got to find your schedule, work it around. Let’s have a look. Yeah, kind of that small held off um finish there. Sorn off finish. And how important is that in Lynx Golf in particular? It’s obviously been working for him in the US, but that is going to be crucial with the wind and the elements this week. You know, if you speak to the American players, what they will come and tell you is that they mostly play kind of like dome golf, right? Which means you’re not really having to factor in. You might have to factor in the heat. Yeah. The humidity and the distance control. You’re not normally playing in a lot of wind, but that is not the case here. And so the skill set, you know, every single part of the of your game is tested over a Lynx golf course. your creativity, your visualization, your ability to to be able to hit those numbers when you know your seven iron might normally go 185 but it goes 155, right? And so that calibration I think of being able to work your way around the golf courses where especially on this type of a golf course where it’s not like okay I’m going to play nine holes with a wind right to left and then nine holes with a wind left to right. It’s they’re all over the place at Port Rush. I think there’s, you know, the caddy chat’s crucial. Yeah, we’re going to get a lot of good audio in the broadcast this week. And what was also very al interesting and unique to see was that the players when they rock up from the PJ tour, literally most of them will do a straight swap of their irons. So, talking to Drake and a couple of others yesterday, out they go and in come the UK uh irons. So the grind’s a lot flatter and they’ve um yeah really grinded that down to help with the tight lies out here on the links and it was just yeah it was really cool to see that it’s as simple as right these ones are in fresh ones fresh ones gone and and they’re fully equipped. So you can see there Matteo looking over his left shoulder and that is to see the huge screen which shows you exactly the same data as you have up the right side of our screen there. So, this is the working area of the golf course. And if you are here or you’re heading this way, it’s definitely worth a visit. It’s the most interesting place to see cuz you can see so many different golfers working their games. You’re going to learn a lot about maybe pick up a little tip from them about how to go about it, getting an improvement from your game. Yeah, that’s right. If I was a if I was a punter coming to the Open Championship, I’d certainly love to settle into the range. Uh the practice days are your best days. You get great access to the players. They’re more relaxed. You I’m sure you’ll get a few more autographs than game days. And and yeah, as you say, sitting here and if you like if your favorite players on there, you can just you can just lock in for 45 minutes and see every shot, which is which is very unique, very special about the open and and all other majors as well for that matter. Look at that. Don’t you wish your driving range looked like that? That’s just absolutely beautiful. So, so this is this is the done loose link. So, they’ve got two courses here at Port Rush and they’ve transformed this the other course into the range which is arguably a beautiful and equally as good venue on the left as well. Yeah, it is an amazing place. We had some very strong wind and rain in the night. Hopefully that’s behind us. So, Matteo working hard on those sequences. tendency is for a good player to get that club head too late. Bad players tend to get the club head too early compared to the body pivot. So, let’s have a look here and watch that left hip kick and that left leg straighten and clear. Beautiful. Look at that. You’d almost think the sun’s coming out. Things we love to see. Okay. So, Matteo Manosero, very interesting story, you know, exploded on our scenes at the age of 16, won the silver medal, won the amateur championship, and then kind of fell away. he won the PGA and then just fell away. You know, that can be that can happen. You can get to the point where he tried to add more power into his game, right? Changed his body, changed the amount of speed that he had, changed his rhythm and it lost it. So, you have to be who you are and I think he’s come back to that. Sauron Hansen’s a great coach coaching both of the Hoy guards as well and also a calm guy. You know, you got to be able to you got to be able to talk and you got to be able to listen as a coach. both skills, seven previous open championship appearances, which is quite a lot for any golfer, let alone the fact he’s missed eight years with a bad runner form. So, let’s have a look. 122, maybe an eight. Let’s have a look. Just little three quarter shots there. Just working. You see obviously aiming into in aiming into the trap there. Yeah, that’s great to watch. Yeah, just give yourself give yourself a goal. Give yourself a goal on every shot. There it is. And those dark shadows, those are those are those are shadows, which means the sun is out, which is a good sign. Who have we got the range filling up? Sean Norris there, experienced campaigner, South African Matteo. It’s It looks very rhythmical, doesn’t it? It looks like It looks like that’s kind of easy for him to do. Well, like you look at a lot of golfers and you mentioned Shane, how silky and naturally is like every single swing looks the exact same. So amazing scenes. Giants causeway the clar jug. The most treasured piece of hardware in our lovely game. That’s where we are. Royal Port Rush. Magical place, isn’t it? And we get to play Link’s golf on the top of that. What’s that? It is truly delightful all around this part of the world. Oh, in the background, the first appearance this morning of Darren Clark, the hometown hero. He’s He could be coming here thinking, you know what, I might just have one more shot. He’s got enough power. Yeah. Wow. He knows this knows this place better than most, that’s for sure. Oh, and look at that. There’s Dye. Should be getting the inside scoop for us. Yeah. He told me yesterday he’s hitting it fantastically well, but he and his putter are not talking. So, it’s not the first time I’ve heard that from Clarky. Now, Matteo just grinding that position, isn’t he? Really g grooving it out. Got to be in and out if you’re the the coach caddy. Yeah, there’s some caddyy jobs that uh that you’ve got to really earn your stripes, don’t you? Earn every dollar. But I liked it cuz the caddy was in the background there making swings, kind of trying to figure out the feel himself. So, he must be a player. Now, still just at that same club, 164 carry, 122 ball speed. looking to see his numbers. Working that field, isn’t he in a chat? So, there’s more time on a Monday than there is on a Wednesday evening. Don’t see too many smiley faces on a Wednesday evening as the game gets going. George, that’s it. That’s it. This is the great thing about live at the range. It’s the great thing about the Open Championship. It builds and builds and builds and by the time balls are in the air, we are ready to go. It’s one of the most enjoyable weeks in sport. So many different players can win. So many different equations. It’s crazy to think that there’s a massive streak going on at the Open with 11 first time champions in a row. 11 first time champions in a row. So it’s not been since Phil Mickelson since we’ve seen someone win the clar jug for a second time. So, who’s the new winner this year? Yeah. To be discovered, speaking of discoveries, uh, Dy Henwood. Die Henwood. Dye is down there on the range with Darren Clark. Well, thank you, Simon. Thank you, George. Yes, we’ve found the man himself, Darren Clark. Darren, a previous open champion. It’s starting to rain. It’s typical here, isn’t it? Oh yeah. Yeah. The past couple of days with it being so warm, not really typical, but um it’s not that cold. We’re just going to have showers on and off. This is fine. This is Lynx golf. This is what it should be. This is what we want. Um coming back here, obviously you hit the first T-shot in 2019. We all remember that that very early morning on the Thursday. Just tell us in terms of the level of goosebumps. I mean, you’ve played in Ryder Cups, major championships. What was that like? It was incredible. You know, I’d um obviously I knew I was going to hit the first T- shot for for quite a while before, but I was down here at 5:10 in the morning warming up, hitting pots, hitting chips, everything’s fine. And then whenever I get up and about walked off the putting green beside the first T and I walked down those steps onto the first onto the first T, it was and my intention was always to hit a little like a two iron or something and chase it out there. And then um I thought maybe I need something with a slightly bigger head. So, so, so he hit the driver headed down there and a nice shot. Nice second shot and hold the pot for three. So, it’s okay. Oh, happy days. He did well, didn’t he? You remember that shot? I mean, I mean, whenever you step on that tea, even if it’s not a moment, which actually means a lot. You got out of bounds down both sides and it’s nerve-wracking if even if you’re just having a little social round. So, never mind the first shot of the open. Yeah. No, it was cool. It was just all the emotions with, you know, the open coming back to Port Rush, um, with all of us, um, GMA, Rory, and myself being slightly involved to try and help it. And then to see it all come to fruition, actually take place was just incredible. It was So, as you say, I’ve been fortunate. I’ve won lots of tournaments around the world, but that was right up there with probably as nervous as I felt. Super special. We We’ve been speaking about how the Open Championship got back here in 2019. You guys obviously did a lot of hard work behind the scenes and you know an Irish Open was here in 2012. A lot of redevelopment the course right now. Just tell our viewers who are listening around the world. You what kind of condition what kind of links course is it and challenge? Yeah, it’s a very um Royal Port Rush is a very fair links. Um you know some links that we go and play you can get really strange bounces and fairways and stuff. This one doesn’t. This one if you play well you got to drive the ball well around Royal Port Rush. Um, I liken it to Royal Burkdale in that the fairways are very similar. Mirrorfield similarish where if you had a good T-shot, usually it’ll stay on the stay on the fairway. Um, as I say, it’s a very fair test. There’s no straight out and straight back in, which a lot of Lynx golf courses are. This moves everywhere the dog legs right to left, left to right, uphill, downhill. There’s quite a bit of elevation change here. So, a lot of the greens are just elevated, set up a little bit. It’s a wonderful, wonderful Harry Colt design. And if you look at the golf course, if you do hit it in the rubbish, um nearly every hole, Harry Cold has given you a little bit where you can sort of if you need to hack the ball up, there’s always a way you can feed the ball into the green here, which is very clever. Um but as I say, it’s a very fair test. It’s green right now at the moment and um I know they would like Gran, our the core superintendent here, would like a little bit more brown and a little bit more fiery. Um but because the rain we’ve had, that’s that’s been difficult. With that being said, um over the weekend there where it’s been so hot, the greens have firmed up massively because I played quite a bit last week and um the ball was stopping in the greens. This past weekend it has not been. So they have firmed up. Just depends how much rain we get now in the next few days. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, isn’t it, in terms of the weather forecast over the next few days. I mean, it’s just it’s just so changeable, isn’t it? I mean, it’s one of those courses. I know you saying you’re kind of back here last week as well and it was blowing 40 miles an hour. Today it’s blowing 10 miles an hour. Tomorrow we could be back to the same again. So, it’s a changeable kind of place to be. I mean, what’s your best around here? Um, I don’t know, maybe 62 or something. There’s a little hot afternoon that you can get plugged in if things aren’t going going too well. You’ve actually beaten the course record then, which is 63. No, it was a long time. I’ve been playing golf here at Royal Port Rush since I’ve been 13 years old. So, that’s 40 43 years ago. So, I’ve been playing golf a lot and I’ve seen all the changes, you know, what the RNA have done and Martin Neighbor coming in and making the changes to bring it up to what they want the open champions to be with new TE’s and everything. You know, I still find myself going out and playing this past couple days a new T on four, the back tea on 12. You know, four used to be hit past the bunkers in the middle, keep it in bounds, hit it past those, and then you’d hit a seven iron in. Past couple of days when I was playing last week, I was I was hitting and I’m not the longest, but I’m not the shortest. I was I was almost hitting two woods into number four uh number 12 five iron into an elevated green which is like an upturn saucer. So those are not the holes that I used to play when I was a young guy here. Obviously I hit it further but it’s just the whole challenge of it is way uh stronger um big improvements they’ve spent there and I spent a lot of money here along with the golf course to to bring it up to what guys would expect of an open championship. And we love we love Calamity Corner and the drama that unfolds after that. Are you 16? My goodness. I mean, what’s the variation in clubs you can take? Hit it left. Hit it left. Don’t Don’t even Bobby Locks, hit it in there. He made four threes in 1951. And I’ve played it enough to know that if you start taking on any flag up the right half that far, you’re right half of that green, you’re asking for trouble. So, it’s a it’s a bail out left. If you push it a little bit, then it gets on the green. That’s fine. Um, but if not, the only place to miss it is left. And Bobby locks to that that little swing in there. And then you got a pretty straightforward up and down from there. And and 18. We were walking down it the other day. Absolutely. It’s just so spectacular with the with the amphitheater. You coming back as an open champion, but what is it what is it like? You still got quite a few obligations to do. Well, I’ve got a few bits and pieces to do, you know, this evening. Um, Royal Port R7, the ninth hole after me, which is a huge honor for me. Uh, there’s two other there’s two other holes. That’s such a tough hole into wind. Yeah. Oh, it’s brutal. Yeah, I think they’re just looking forward to me making double on Thursday on the first hole or something, but um on the ninth, but they’ve named the hole after me. So, there’s only other two other holes here. ones. Um the fourth which is uh named after Fred Dailyaly and the sixth which is named after Harry Colt the designer. So I’m the third one. They’re named after night. They have a little function for me tonight um over there with GMAC. They’ve named a whole lot after GMA as well down on on the other course here in the valley. So we got a little bit of thing to do. But I’ve had a little bit of media. Yeah, I’ve had a little bit of media and people want to know this that and the other and stuff. But it’s it’s brilliant. you know, as a open champion this year, the last time in 2019, you know, I really wanted to play well and perform. Um, I still do this year and I managed to contrive to make I think a seven on the last uh on the last hole in 2019. I missed a couple of one. Not that I have a long memory or anything, but um but you know, this this this week I’m going to obviously I want to play well because I know the golf course like the back of my hand, but I’m going to really just two minutes away up there. Um but I just want to really try and enjoy the week. you know, we’re going to have big crowds. Um, we’re going to have a little bit of inclement weather. We’re going to have the wind. We’re going to have the rain. And that’s I couldn’t ask for more. I don’t need it flat still and um bright sunshine cuz otherwise um I may be departing early. I may be departing early anyway, but but you know massive support. The more um the more the weather’s a little bit uh inclement, the better. Yeah. Favorite hole, Darren? Favorite hole? I should say mine. It’s definitely the nine. I should say nine. Um, favorite hole is probably I’d have to say the the the fifth is pretty cool. The fifth the fifth is going to catch a lot of people out this week. White rocks drivable puffle. Yeah, they’re going to hit it just over the back of the green. Think they’ve hit a good shot and it’s going to go out of bounds. Just trickle out of bounds. That’s going to catch people. Probably the fourth because it’s such a hard ho out of bounds in the right bunkers in the left. It’s just but the way it’s so now but the way that Harry Court designed it whenever the greens just lay it into the natural topography there into just into the mines. He’s done that a lot out here and very clever and it’s just it’s a really hard hole but that would probably be my favorite one out here. Is that your favorite hole? I mean it’s such an early make or break hole like early in the round. I mean the first is tough but then second and third yeah you can get you can make some numbers there but the fourth is just a straight up got to hold your nerve. You got to hit a great T- shot without bounds there and bunkers now. But it’s it’s just a brutal hole, especially if the wind is into Exactly. There is there’s a few there’s a few T- shots out here where you just got to saddle up and hit one. There is no there is no option. There is no other player. You know, a lot of the guys I’m sure will have driving irons in here and what have you, but there’s a few T- shots that that ain’t going to work. You’re just going to have to stand up there and hit a proper golf shot. And the fourth is one of them. And that’s one as well. You stand on that back the new back tea as well. And the you’re always looking for something to aim at. Yeah. And there’s a hedge out there about 270 and it draws your eye straight away. You’re like, “Okay, that’s where I want to aim.” And then you look to the right and there’s the out of bounds. I’ve been over that hedge quite a few times. Right. Okay. Brilliant stuff. Oh, Darren, you’ve been an absolute joy and we wish you the best of luck. Thank you very much. Well, I hope uh I hope all the viewers enjoy it as much as what I’m sure all the players. The last time we had a wonderful um recept. The course was received unbelievably well from all the players and I hope they’re going to do it again this time. So, it truly is a very very special place. is honestly the feedback is fantastic from the players. They absolutely love it. Best of luck. We’ll be following you and I’m sure a lot of this crowd will as well. Yeah, we’ll have a bit of fun. Great stuff. Awesome. We’ll let you get back to practice. Great stuff. Oh, always good to chat to Darren Clark, former open champion. We’re going to have a little walk in just a moment, but let’s get back to Simon George. That was a great chat. Thanks. Yeah, Darren Clark, such a proud and knowledgeable golfer, especially of this area. He’s been an incredible ambassador um at this event. Incredible champion. So emotional that victory, wasn’t it? Yeah, it was amazing and good to have the local. He truly is a host. I remember watching him and following him through the practice rounds in 2019 and he had all sorts of golfers trying to join him to grab a slice of his intelligence, his IQ around his links here. Everyone wanted to play nine holes and and he was getting it from all angles. But how crazy is it to think we’ve just seen Matteo Maniserero on the range having seven previous open appearances. How about this? 32 of them for Darren Clark. He has been there, done that on many, many occasions. Yeah, he is a great champion. How about that? Keegan Bradley. Now, Keegan Bradley, RDER Cup captain. What’s your opinion, George, on I mean, at world number seven, he’s 100% in the top 12 American players and he’s in form and he’s just won. Can you be a playing captain at the Ryder Cup or is that something he should be trading in right now? Yeah, I think I think you’ve probably got to I guess hand it over nice and early so everyone gets the process and gets everything in check because let’s be honest like I’ve always been thinking no no he’ll he’ll just stick to his role but the stats, the facts, the rankings do not lie anymore. So well the best thing he can do for his team is play. I have I have a question for you. What about we call up Tiger Woods? Tiger Woods is not playing. Tiger just won’t do that. He could Why not? Tiger will captain the side when he wants to do it and he wants the full glory of two years leading into it as well. He’s not going to pop in and fill in. This is Tiger Woods. We’re talking Tiger Woods in New York. Please, no chance. Oh, I think we give Tiger the call. Get him back out. Have a look at See what he’s doing. Tiger wants to do it when it’s the perfect time to really lift the RDER Cup and turn it into pandemonium. But now is the perfect time, George. Well, there is still a a little bit of time before the RDER Cup, but look, he’s obviously got a a great team behind him. A fair few two, three, four IC’s to help him out there. So, look, let’s be honest, he’ll be heavily involved whether he’s playing or not. So, um yeah, it’s it’s hard to deny his form and all of all people, Tommy Fleetwood would probably hate to come up against him. Oh god. come that time of year as well. It was uh so tough to watch if you’re a European fan, that’s for sure. But full credit to him. He really lifted the look. Aiming club down just to get his orientation going just to recalibrate. Always looks like he’s got incredibly long legs and very very short arms. Always looks like a lot of squat in his address position. Is he using using kids clubs? But they do. They like some people you look at Adam Scott, right? Adam Scott has no squat at all in his lower body. Every single angle, but it’s a lot of flex. It’s like there it’s almost like having to go down and then down and up. Tony Fen now a bit the same. Very similar. Probably even more so with Tony. So, Keegan Bradley just working at around that 150 yard carry number. Tony Fen now is a name I’m looking forward to seeing this week. Been a little bit quiet as of late, but in 2019 he was third here at Royal Port Rush. So, this could hopefully bring back some good memories for him. Yeah, Tony. So many putting changes, so many putter changes. Change of style, change of address, change of putter. So, obviously not quite on form now. Keegan just an aiming club down chatting to his coach there. Flags and anthems is the banner there. There we got close in. Look at the footwork moves into that left heel. Kind of almost like the outside of left heel. That left leg is posted just getting used to the ground. He’s got the full USA equipment, doesn’t he? The full branding. So there we are. That is the grandstand view of the driving range. We are live at the range bringing you all of the action pre the preparation action I would say. So what goes on behind the scenes talking to the players their viewpoints. We’ve got top tracer technology sort of which shows you what the players are looking at when they look down at those uh launch monitors. They are looking to see the numbers we are going to show you that will appear. And if you see the players looking over their um left shoulder, that’s because there’s a huge screen there. So, oh, Keegan Bradley going with a bit of stabilization. Maybe keeping a bit of height there. That was an interesting one. So, yeah, got to keep heads head still. And as you can see here, the world rankings and deservedly so. She Maroy Schoffé both Scotty and Rory showing enough last week at the Scottish Open Takumi Canya in the foresight there. Yeah, Keegan Bradley number seven in the world. So let’s have a look see what he’s working on. Okay, stabilizing maybe staying not not drifting so much. Maybe staying a little bit more center. The idea of weight shift is probably weight shift. I’ve never liked the words of weight shift because you’re really just trying to sort of stay in a nice tube and kind of shift the pressure more under your feet. So weight shift always implies sort of drifting off to the right makes it hard to come back to the left. So Keegan working on real serious basics. Here we go. You can see in the distance there the 160 marker. That’s a new addition for this year. And we are celebrating the birthday theund what do we be 180 1865 160th birthday of our sponsor HSBC bank who has been with golf taking it forward so our journey has been linked to their journey very important to have those kind of really stable long-term partners Golf in very good hands and no better place than the RNA’s figurehead event, the open championship. We are at Royal Port Rush, George Harper Jr. Magical. Oh, it’s it’s simply amazing. So many good memories here from Royal Port Rush, both on and off the course. The local fans well from the whole country travel far and wide to be here and they truly truly love their golf. And hopefully later in the week we have one Irishman at least in the mix because it was truly electric in 2019. The pandemonium around the 18th. I remember the 18th fairway. It was a stampede. It was like I was Simba and the Lion King for a moment there. Absolute crazy scenes as Shane Larry was cruising up with a six shot lead or a seven shot lead at that time. Uh so yeah, it was it was incredible scenes. If it’s half as good as it was then, it’s still going to be a superb week here in Port Rush. The the Irish can do a party, can’t they? Have you noticed that? All they can. All they can. Yep. It’s uh it’s going to be a tough week not to burn the candle at both ends. Um, discipline, George. That’s always been our motto, I’d say. Yeah. Well, I have somewhat grown up as well, which is unbelievable. I know. Um, but no, very excited. So, we are looking at Keegan Bradley, US Rider Cup captain. That traditional little flip that he does, just taking the tension out and now working with his coach, trying to keep stable. Let’s have a look. So, watch how the weight moves into the outside of that left heel. That’s what you want to do. You don’t want to get stuck back behind it. That’s going to make the club head go past you or you’re going to hit it low in the face. You’re going to thin it. That is an amazingly good sign. Keegan Bradley, an American, taking off his waterproof jacket here at the Open Championship. That is the first time we’ve seen that this week. That is a signal. Huge moment. Huge moment in this championship. Feels like a feels like a perfect day uh in terms of lengths, a bit of rain, the cloud cover, and and clearly it looks like there’s a bit of breeze out there. So, just working on some basics. I mean, first arrival, first shot, straight into a drill, working with his coach. There we go. Always a little bit of wind here. Yeah, you can see that Keegan does move off the ball quite a lot to the right and then back. So maybe trying to decrease the amount of movement that he works off the ball, trying to can make it easier to work through the ball. Got to hit down. So these guys would hit down probably like 4° something like that. So it’s very much ball pivot and you want to keep swinging through the ball. So you hit down on the ball to make it go up. You don’t want to hit up on the ball. It’s a big kind of amateur mistake. And compressing it through the wind here is so important, isn’t it? You’ve got to have such a strong ball flow. Yeah, I think that if you have a lot of sides spin on your shots, it’s going to be much more difficult to control those carry numbers. So, we’ll see from the side slab here, which appears on the right side of your screen from time to time. And you can see Keegan will have a look across there or down at his computer. There it is. There’s the side slab that brings That’s Top Tracer technology. That is us bringing you all of the details about the golf shot. So 128 ball speed, 92 apex. That’s just his normal golf shot. That won’t be a Lynx golf shot. Lynx golf shots about 60 to 50 apex, a little bit of curve. You mentioned how important your carriers and yardages, but how about run out as well here at Lynx Golf? Takes a while to gauge that. That’s why it’s not all about just the numbers here. You’ve got to become an artist. A a mathematician doesn’t win an open. You’ve got to become an artist. You’ve got to be creative and adapt to the conditions. There it is. Consistency. Little baby movement from right to left there. We mentioned the beauty of Port Rush and this personifies it. Look at this alluring links. Truly delightful week as everyone chases the clar jug. Welcome along to the open. It’s everything you wanted and more. As fantastic as that. quite an extraordinary day on the tea. Yeah, she was staring this one down and for good reason. Look at this. Just delightfully done. She’s on top of the world. Going directly at the hole. Tell you what, of course. Oh, get in there. There’s something about the AIG Women’s Open. Oh my goodness. So, still down here on the range and delighted to be joined by Matteo Manisero. Mate, we spotted you uh having a little practice next to Darren. Really good to see you here at Royal Port Rush. You um you didn’t play in 2019. We’re just speaking off camera a little bit about your your play in Open Championships. You played at Royal True and then there was a bit of a gap. So, you didn’t play in 2019, but you’ve played the course before. I’ve played the course before 2012. You remind me the Irish Open was was here. I I have nice memories, but not about the weather. I remember that week was was really really tough. So, um, two different holes, obviously. Um, yeah, I I I have good memories, but I have a bit blurry memories to be fair. I’m I’m going to go out now and see the course and and have almost like a first impression to be fair. So, I’m I’m really looking forward. I wasn’t here in 2019, which I remember watching on TV being an amazing Open Championship. So, yeah, I’m looking forward to be to be playing this year. Great. So, we’ve been talking about your performance over the last sort of 12 18 months. how brilliant that you went on the DP World Tour last year and your recent performance in the Canadian Open and you you were right up there. It’s a great story just this comeback. We love bounceback ability. Um how are you feeling right now about everything? Well, I’m I’m feeling good as obviously last two years have been have been really nice. Um getting back confident about my game and about all the side work that obviously we put in to be able to compete. I feel like I have a structure that kind of allows me to uh some weeks have have the right week and like Canada for example and and be up there and experience things that maybe early in my career I I I didn’t like you know being in contention on on the PGA tour. It’s a it’s a hard task but it was you have to go through days like that you know so I I was really happy to to be in it. Uh wasn’t the best finish but it was still a good week. So I’m I’m happy overall. Uh this season has been a lot of learning also uh being in America most of the time. So yeah, it’s it’s all really nice. Just uh know golf is golf is is hard uh because you have to stay at a really high level, but I again I feel like I have a good structure to stay uh at that level and that’s what I’m trying to do week in week out. Yeah. Pete, your life’s very structured, isn’t it? Oh, I’m I’m super structured. I’m like a bit of scaffolding right now. Um, with then going into weeks like this, obviously we talk about your structure. Is there anything you’ll change within your bag within your game to try and adapt to Link’s conditions? So, obviously saw you working with an alignment stick out on the range. Why was what was the thinking there? Uh, so I I don’t really change much of whatever I do uh you know normally in a normal week. So, that’s a drill that I always do when I’m on the range. It’s like there’s two sticks makes a cross. one is the center of my of my swing basically. Um and and the other one just aligns me. So I always do that. But say this week obviously the basic adjustment is having a two iron which I don’t you normally have. I have I have a hybrid but this week it’s a two iron in the bag and last week too. So that’s the first adjustment. Some players adjust their wedges because of the firmness of the ground. Uh I I don’t I’m happy with the one I have. I I don’t want to change too much. Um and I guess links golf is about having uh imagination and first of all so you have to see shots uh you have to be brave to to try them sometimes and because you can be a bit braver if you practice them. So that’s one thing that you know got to do practice those shots. Uh, and it’s starting point, you know, having having the ball under control where it starts. Then you play with trajectories a lot, but you need to know where it starts because we’ve got a lot of crosswinds and things like that. So, I would say that’s the the once we get the starting line uh dialed in on links, we’re we we we sleep well. Absolutely. You were thinking about Royal Tron last year. I think it was a tied 31st finish, which is not bad at all. But how much imagination and creativity did you need a year ago? Uh, loads. Yeah, Royal Trun is a is is a is a different course, I think, because it has you can have a really easy beginning stretch and then all of a sudden you turn the corner. It’s you’re trying to, you know, fighting for life there. Really? Especially that Saturday with the weather. Yeah, exactly. Luckily, Saturday I played early enough so that I didn’t have to be driver into 17. Yeah, exactly. But that’s what could happen in links and you have to be prepared a bit for for anything and it’s the beauty of it also. So, but again, yeah, Royal Trune, you have a lot of holes uh starting with one wind direction. So, when you switch, it’s a sudden switch and it’s not that easy to adjust. Uh it’s not so much like that here. uh it’s not what come and going. So I guess that um helps being prepared for the wind because you play one shot one way and then the other one is the other way. So you you mix which makes it easier. But uh I think T- shots throughout the golf course shots into the greens I think are harder here than than Truman possibly. So we’ll see. Can’t wait. And Darren Clark has got a hole named after him. It’s the ninth and it’s pretty much into wind, isn’t it, Pete? Well, well, the day I played it was into wind and I just about made the fairway, but but watch out for Clark’s hole the ninth. He’s giving you a wave. Try and make some birdies on that. It’s not easy. Uh but enjoy yourself. Listen, wish you the best of luck. Really great to to see these results and uh you know, you feel like you’re going in the right direction with everything. And yeah, golf’s not easy, is it? No, it’s not. But sometimes it feels like it. We try to have that week. Great stuff. Thanks for your time. Awesome. Thank you very much. Take it easy. Thank you. Fantastic to hear the insight. That is that’s our show. That is what that is what you were going to get live at the range. The thoughts, the preparation of what you’re trying to do, George. This is kind of what we expect to have on a normal pattern of weather here. I don’t think we’ll get normal here. One thing I’ve learned from Port Rush is that you’ll get a bit of everything, which is entertaining, challenging, no doubt. There is a little bit of wind, not too much at the moment, but the prevailing wind normally comes from the west northwest. So, it’s going to be a challenge, but I really do hope there are a couple of days where the players do get challenged by the elements. That’s what it’s all about here at the Open Championship. Yeah, there it is. That is the driving range. It’s going to be the busiest place Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, maybe slows down a little bit of Thursday. This is all pre-prep. We’ve got lots of different features for you, especially top tracer technology that that is that is really the ball data that the players are working on. Coaches are working with players, manufacturers are working with players. And there the classic swing of Patrick Kentlay. A player kind of informed this year, but no real fireworks. Not like, okay, wow, we’ve had we played amazing here. He played amazing. It’s kind of like ho harm. Well, that kind of sums up Patrick Hantley really, doesn’t it? But he will be disappointed. Miscut at Quail Hollow and Oakmont. So, two two majors where he’s probably let himself down to his personal standards, but he’s the type of guy that’s always there thereabouts, isn’t he? You get the feel that he is. He He’s He’s He’s able to bring a lot of game. Doesn’t make too many mistakes. It’s just something missing from his overall package. we kind of were looking to him to be one of the guys kicking on and we’re talking about someone who’s a world number 20 so it’s like he’s doing all right but but compared to the talent and the chat that we had 5 years ago I don’t feel like those two have matched up yeah for sure he’s uh you know he was tied 36 at Augusta at the start of the year so he’ll have he’ll have the bit between his teeth he he’ll feel like he’s let himself down in the big four m in the big three majors so far so look he doesn’t mind Lynx golf uh he’s played here plenty many of times. Played here six times. His best at being a tied eighth at St. Andrews. So I think he’s got unfinished business here at the Open. Tied 25th at Trune last year. 33rd at Royal Liverpool. So he’s only missed one cut here at the open, which is pretty consistent, especially for an American. Keeping those grooves nice and fresh. Need every bit of purchase you can find here on Lynx Golf. Yeah, he’s got a very strong team. We’re talking to Joey Lava yesterday. Here we go down the line. He is always so well lined up, so simple. It’s a very clean action, isn’t it? So, it’s almost like, okay, you know, okay, so what could go wrong with that? Like, how can’t you hit good shots all the time? That’s such a good swing. Swing smooth. I’m going to put the ball here. Yeah. And do nothing else. Jamie Mulligan, that’s his coach. Is Jamie Mulligan has has made the trip over. That’s a strong team. Kentlay, Lava, and Mulligan. See what they can do this week. Yeah, Joey Lara got the all clear from Tiger Woods to have a crack with Kentlay. I was talking to him yesterday on the range, Joey Lara. And we decided that we met when he was was like 1988 1988 and he was caddying for Ken Green. Okay. Right. Ken Green and then Freddy Couples. Wow. Then Tiger, now Kentlay. That’s that’s good stock. That that gives you that’s massive credibility, isn’t it? That just is means like how so how good are you? Well, this is how good I was, you know. And the amazing mast’s victory for Woods who was on the bag. That was Joey Lar. So yeah. Well, to think what he went through with Tiger as well in terms of not playing much and the fighting of injuries and and sticking by his man. So 2019 would have been truly special. I was lucky enough at the open at St. Andrews to walk a couple of holes with him and Bones. So, we did we did an interview piece where we pick their brains about everything they’re looking at as they study the course. And it is truly impressive. These these caddies, they’re not just carrying the bag. That is for damn sure. The effort, the time, the stats, the the numbers, everything that they do, it helps so much for their player. Oh, yeah. Massive. that you know just sort of like the the knowledge that they can build so quickly around a golf course. They see what they need to see. It’s a real art. So Kentlay stands kind of pretty far away from the ball. That’s that’s sort of a pattern that we would would sort of assume he’s going to be a bit more of a draw shape. Guys who stand very close to the ball Morawa Ram Ludvig like very much arms up and down very much underneath their shoulders. more of a fade kind of keeping the club face slowing down that club face rotation. Maroy stands more away from the ball. He’s a drawer. So, Kentlay, you can see with his outside foot, Simon, the tension on on the outside of that front foot here really leans into it. Yeah. And that’s just with a wedge. Yeah. Into that left heel. That’s where you want the face to go. Everything’s in slow motion for Kentley, isn’t he? He’s in his own world. Get a sense of that. Well, he spiced things up in Rome, didn’t he? Hatgate. Hatgate. First sort of emotion or somewhat personality I’ve seen from Patrick in some time. Darren Clark literally chipping away in the background. Okay, Kentley just cruising through some wedges, getting used to the turf, getting used to the wind. There is Joey Lava. There he is in the Apollo hat. He has he has seen some stuff, hasn’t he? I I do think that matters when you get under the kosh and you turn around to your bagman and your bagman’s that man. Yeah. Well, he got vocal in Rome as well. So, a good strong personality, someone who’s got your back every shot. Yeah. The Caddies travel the world. Loyal. They have to be What do they have to be? What’s a good caddy got to be? You got to be bulletproof. You’re going to take some flak. Yes. got to know when to chat, when not to chat. You’re going to get blamed for things. What are you? So, you’re you’re a babysitter, a psychologist, a mathematician. You’ve got to do the numbers. It’s an it’s an amazing game, isn’t it? The best and obviously core strength. Uh those bags are not light, especially at the open with Yeah. 700 pairs of waterproofs and all sorts. Here we go. These are Can shots just working through 165. I’d say that’s probably just an eight iron for him. I’m looking just have a look just see his consistency. That was 165. Let’s have a look. Looking forward to seeing the hang time later in the range sessions when the drivers are hanging into the wind. 165 the last one. 169 this one. Incredible calibration the players you know just picking out you know if you if you think about it especially when the links little bit of a different lie little bit of wind into elevated down it was like there’s so many threes and fours of yards to factor in so this is three minus that’s three plus you know it’s that odd and I can only pitch it on the front of the green cuz if I pitch it too far up it will run it’s it’s an incredibly precise game it’s like got to throw a dart into the exact right place and it’s certainly Not all about playing at pins as well. Using the unvations and knowing the safe areas to land it are so important around here. Here we go. Can’t just working through what we think is an eight iron there. It’s almost like that the hands just hold the club. He’s just turning his body. It’s a beautiful action. It’ll be interesting to see how he goes this week. has not been in the form he wanted about that. That’s very peaceful out there. One man and his horse and a devil’s causeway. The clar jug. And the winner of the gold medal, champion golfer for the year. Winning the open changes a life. A hero at 22 and the first Spaniard ever to win the title. A name remembered, a legacy secured. Open champion Jack. But look beyond the champion and you’ll see that maybe there’s a little more to it. From first swings to final parts. From the back streets to the big stage. From the inner cities to the outer reaches. The open’s impact stretches far beyond the fairways. Every ticket, every fan, every roar drives our mission to shape the future of G. Removing barriers, protecting the land, honoring the past, leading for tomorrow. So yes, the open is lifechanging, but what begins as a moment for one creates a game for us all on the tea. Yeah, she was staring this one down and for good reason. Look at this. Just delightfully done. She’s on top of the world going directly at the hole. Tell you what, go. Oh, get in there. There’s something about the AIG Women’s Open. Oh my goodness. Golf coming up. We are the Open Championship and we are live at the range. There’s the scene. 24th to the 27th of July is is the senior open that’s at Sunningale. That’s magical. And then the AIG Women’s Open 31st and into August at Royal Pall R&A Magic. We are at the 150th 4th. And if you want to come and join us, you have to enter the ballot. This is a packed out place. 250 plus thousand tickets sold. So, enter the ballot. Scan that QR code and hopefully you’ll be able to join us next year. That is our overhead. That’s what the gallery are looking at. Players starting to go out. The gallery going out with their home favorites. Shane Lowry is out there. the far right of the screen, Darren Clark. No one more passionate about this golf course and this part of the world than Darren Clark. So, Kentlay in the white hat as we move in to join him. Very methodical, George, isn’t he? It’s like slow motion everywhere. Agree with that? Yeah, absolutely. Um, almost boringly so. He is just barely moving. Very simple, very quiet, very relaxed. And I guess that’s what happens on Monday at the Open. A lot of people are arriving today, especially if you played in the Scottish Open. It’s all about acclimatizing, knowing you where you are, getting your bearings at these major venues. There’s so much going on both inside and outside the ropes. So, finding your way to the range. How long is it going to take from the range to the first te which you need to know when it comes to Thursday? Every little timing counts. When do I have to leave the locker room to get to here to get to there to get to there? It’s a somewhat of a Yeah, that’s a very good point. Like to get your rhythms going. I like that. Yeah, that’s that’s chat. So 210 is is Kently hitting a six line that far? Yeah, that’s a six. Yeah, amazing the speed there. So just having a look at the footwork there. Very deliberate kind of works into the inside of that right foot and then watch him finish. Pushes across to the outside of that left heel. Just shifting the pressure. That straight left leg. Some fresh wheels for the open. No doubt. Here we go. Evidence of the six iron. Yeah. Slowly making his way up and it looks like he’s just pulled a driving iron out of the bag. Yeah. It’s interesting, you know, watch him. He’s always He’s always move. It’s not just throws it down, it’s moving the ball around. And that’s Link’s turf. You know, the Americans are used to seeing the ball present itself much higher. Their grasses are much stronger. They hold the ball up in the air. Slightly spongy. And yeah, and ours links is the ball sits on the ground. So, let’s have a look. This is a club specially put in for this week. You’ll see a lot of that throughout the range sessions. A lot of testing of two irons, different driving irons because a lot of players haven’t used them in some time but heavily rely on them throughout this week. Okay, let’s just have a look. A little bit more wind. You can see Canley’s pants just moving there. There it is. Perfect little waggle. and dispatched. Looks like that was a little higher by the way that he would work there. So, guys, working through it. We can take you out now out onto the golf course. We’re going to take you have a look at the what is now the 16th hole. Calamity. This is it. 16th. Brutal. Yeah. And for those at home, this is an absolute killer of a hole. There’s some islands in the distance which you can’t see from this footage, but they’re called the scaries. And when you’re on the tea, if you look at the right and if you look straight, you get the scaries. There is nothing fun about this hole. It’s extremely intimidating. That huge drop off to the right runs parallel with the driving range, but it is a donkey of a hole. 230 odd, 234 to get there. And the wind is traditionally humming off the left. And right there, that is a bad miss. Later in the week, I saw Minwe miss three in a row out there yesterday playing a practice round. It is literally calamity corner. Yeah, we heard from Darren Clark when he was speaking to Dye to say just hit it down the left. A bad shot. You know, middle of the green is a bad shot. So, let’s have a look. So we can take a canlay shot off the driving range and with our top tracer technology put it out onto the golf course just to give you a sense of what the golf course looks like. The 16th is perched and there’s a massive cavernous cliff of horrific fescue grasses all the way down the right. So it’s the discipline. You can see the flag. The flag only shows you where the hole is on a Lynx golf course. It does not mean you have to aim there. No. We heard Darren Clark talking about it earlier in the broadcast. If the pin’s on the right, don’t you dare go near it or else you’ll find yourselves in trouble. There it is. Patrick Kentlay. His major championship record. Best is third. It’s decent. Tied eighth in 2022. So interesting. not to have really peaked been part of a competition really more than that. So Kentlay working graphite shaft long iron again just fiddling the rain fiddling the ball position there on the ground and just getting used to the flight. Let’s have a look at that carry. Yeah, 250ish. Just kind of working it down. So, Kentlay working in some new clubs, especially for this week, the test of Lynx golf courses. Now, a man of the moment we must talk about and we’re excited to hear from is Richard Ted. Look at this. At West Lanks, an 80yard Eagle chip. He was in a four-man playoff. And if you’ve ever seen a more dramatic way to punch your ticket to the open, this is it. He will be the first ever Estonian to play this week. And we’re lucky enough to chat to the man himself. He is now with D. So many story lines down here at the range and really happy to be with Richard Tedar from Estonia who qualified at West Lanc on the third playoff hole. Richard, it was dramatic. My goodness. It’s a a social media moment that’s gone crazy. You chipped in. How are you feeling right now? Uh, it’s very overwhelming to be honest with you. Um, all the people here, it’s it’s it’s just just a dream. Feels like I haven’t woken up from a dream, but here I am, which is fun. Listen, Pete, you were watching it. That chip in on the third playoff hole. I mean, I was magic. Yeah. I mean, I was going through final qualifying. I’d just come off the last green and I was obviously disappointed I didn’t make it. Um, and I thought, yeah, well, you know, open qualifying. It’s so annoying. I hate this. Why am I doing this to myself? And then I literally opened up Instagram and Richard’s pitching was there and it was honestly it was one of those moments that it’s kind of like for me it’s what the open is about, you know, it’s about people being able to get here. It’s fulfilling dreams and yeah, it was such a amazing moment and just the reaction and everything was fantastic. Like you said, it’s it really kind of started to hype up the Open. It really made Open qualifying in many respects. It’s the most kind of viewed clip from there from anywhere. Yeah. You you’ve obviously watched the clip a few times. And what’s the feedback been from family and friends? Um yeah, I’ve watched the clip way too many times. Um still watch. You might watch it again. We’re just going to get out now. Just going to get out again. I’ve seen it today quite quite a few times. It’s all over the place. And what were you what were you thinking playing the shot? Um, where was the third playoff hole? We we played hole 10 already. So, um, made par. I told my caddy if we somehow end up here again, I think I hit it really close. And, um, just hit the perfect golf shot and, um, just wouldn’t change a thing. Really? Yeah. I can see Dan behind you, your caddy. He’s smiling ear to ear. It just fantastic. Really, really wonderful. But just in terms of playing in a qualifier, Pete, you played it so difficult to to keep your nerve when everybody wants to there. So only a very few number of spots up for grabs. How did you do? What was your sort of mental attitude going into it? Well, I was just trying to take it shot by shot, hole by hole. I mean, I was I was in I was in for the qualifying uh by two shots on the last te. Uh, ended up hitting it right, had to play another ball, end up in the rough, had to chip out, chipped it to 15 feet, and then I knew what what that put was going to mean. I mean, either miss it and go home or make it and have a chance. So, really happy I made that play. So, you made it to get into the to the playoff. Never a good double bogey. It wasn’t straight getting a double bogey on the last hole, but to have that ability to come back and regroup is really impressive. You’re 20 years young. And you were saying, “Oh, I’m old now.” He’s not old, is he? At 20. Fabulous to be here at Royal Port Rush. Lynx Golf. Do you do you enjoy Lynx golf? I love Lynx golf. Um I think it suits my game really well. I had the ball quite far and the ball rolls out quite a bit here. So, uh and I’m a pretty decent putter here on the link, so it’ll be loads of fun. We like to hear that. You know, I I’ve never been that confident. So, I mean, it was could possibly be why. No. Pete, you’re a brilliant golfer. Didn’t quite make qualifying, but he’s going to try again next year. Richard, definitely. But um tell us, you know, your your your mum’s flown in, your your girlfriend’s flown in, you’re the first player from Estonia to qualify for an open championship from the the Baltic region. In fact, Baltics. Yeah. Yeah. So, you must feel incredibly proud. Yeah. I mean, it’s an honor being the first Estonian to be here and um play golf in front of all these people and compete with the best in the world. Um I’m excited. Do you feel quite comfortable in front of people? Yeah, I I like when the crowds are walking with me and stuff. It’s um gotten quite used to it, like the British AM and stuff. Uh yeah, I love it. You’ve been in Ireland for what, a week? You’ve been in Keani. What have you been doing? Uh we had a European team championship there with uh with the boys, so it was it was loads of fun. Great stuff. You did you did okay. Not too happy. Yeah, I mean performance wasn’t wasn’t the best for the team, but we all have fun, so that’s all that matters. I’m sure you played very well. I just spoke really quickly to your coach, David. He’s been with you since you were 10. So So 10 years in total. How important is it to have that close team around you? Uh that influence. Um I mean I started working with him actually two months ago. Um Oh, he said when he was when you were 10. Uh I saw him for the first time when I was 10, but um yeah, we’ve been working together for like 2 months and it’s it’s been a hell of a two months to be honest. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It’s um it’s pretty fresh, but it’s uh it’s fun. I was going to say cuz what’s the actual golf like? So in the the Balkans region, so you got Estonia, you got Latvia, you got kind of Lithuania all along that coastline. I mean, obviously it’s not it’s not produced a player to play in the open yet. So, as of something been going on over the past few years to actually bring golf to a new audience there. Um, yeah, I mean, the game’s growing. Um, always growing, which is fun to see loads of loads of little kids starting to take the game up and um I’m sure it’ll be it’ll be growing much much more over time, especially now I’m here. So, hopefully I’ll be a good motivation to uh some younger kids. Great. You’ve been doing all your numbers and I’ve just seen actually most people have a two two iron in the bag this week. How far do you hit your two iron? Uh two iron carries about 240 250 meters like 270 280 yards. So all our viewers out there, does your two iron carry 280 yards? I would I think pro probably not. Richard, it’s really great to meet you. Best of luck this week and enjoy the links and we hope to see you near the top of the leaderboard. Yeah. Awesome. Great. Right. Take care. Cheers. Thank you. Welcome back to Live at the Range. A lovely interview with Richard Teter, a true personality and uh massive Estonian pride. Can you believe there’s only 10 courses in Estonia? He learned English by watching YouTube and and just learning off that. So, pretty impressive. And uh it was enjoyable to hear him celebrate such an amazing chip. And I also hear that at 3:00 a.m. he was getting a late night kebab to celebrate making the open which is pretty cool. I like the way he rolls. We were covering him in when he was at the amateur of Royal St. George’s. Ah, the local hero quickly distracted in his shorts Darren Clark. There it is. If you speak to Clarky now, he mostly talks about his fishing, does he? He certainly does. I can’t remember. Is it a tarpon? Is that a fishing? Another thing we’ve got in common now. Fantastic. I’ll let you guess what the first one was. Ian Garbert listening to Clark’s chat. What a win that was. Incredible. So emotional, wasn’t it? Royal St. George’s. I was screaming. I was doing I think I was doing it with Rob Lee and we’re screaming at our television screens as he was coming down the stretch to keep it going. What a man. A great recon tour. Look at those. All of the different targets to hit at. You can move yourself. You can see the wind is definitely coming from the right across you to the left. You have to factor in how much does your shot shape get moved by this particular wind. You need to go out into the course, calibrate all of those different start lines. Two different holes. two different targets. 2011 Royal St. George’s where the amateur was seems like a while ago, but what a win it was for Darren Clark. Hard to forget his press conference afterwards as well. One of the greats. He’s one of the greats. You know, he’s always been himself chatting away. Champion golfer. That is what it’s all about this week. The champion golfer of the year. You go down in the history of our game. So I would say probably just giving someone the benefit of his advice there. 56 oldest players. KJ Choy, great to see him in the mix. At 56, what’s happened to what’s happened to Todd Hamilton and they’re just and the Owls haven’t made the trip. Well, they’ve just decided that this isn’t quite their venue, I’d imagine. Um Lee Westwood, how about him making it through final qualifying? Great. Amazing. Yeah, fantastic for Lee to make it seven under total in 36 holes at Dun. Donald cruised in, walked the course in the rain the night before and Bob’s your uncle. Easy as you like. Welld deserved. Clarky and Lee Westwood. What they what they did for Europe in those RDER Cups. They just kept taking down. Took down Mikkelson. Took down Tiger Woods. Took down whoever who came to them, great friends, a great team. Rder Cup is not that far away. This is the last major of the year. Can you believe it? Summer has just arrived and it’s the last major of the year. So, Clarky, come on, mate. Stop talking. Hit some shots. Now, not far from Darren Clark is this big unit in Ryan Peak, the 32year-old Australian, originally from Perth and he made his way here through winning the New Zealand Open. One very special to my heart obviously, but he is a seriously good story. um a very very much a redemption journey as well. A promising young junior, but then served 5 years in prison after joining a biker gang and was convicted of assault at 21. So, not only has he gone through all of that, he has fought back and become a great golfer. And it must be so special for him to be here this week. I’m certainly going to make an effort to go catch up with him when I get back on course throughout the rest of this week. but he shot a final round 66 to win the New Zealand Open by one stroke. So he was the first lefty to do so since Sir Bob Charles. So that is Ryan Peak, a big intimidating figure. I’ll tell you what, if you’re coming headto-head with him in a final round, uh you’ll certainly know about it. But yeah, pretty pretty crazy story. Um to have come back from where he has he’s had visa hurdles as well um to get into different countries, all sorts of immigration troubles. So yeah, it’s um it’s pretty awesome to see what he’s done. Well, this is the open championship. So it it’s it’s it is as it says if you can get through the hurdles, get through the doors, you will arrive at the greatest the greatest competition we have in our game. Yeah, it is certainly open to all. Yeah, what a great story and we wish him well. Funny enough, you never bloke though. Yeah, not only does he have visa hurdles and obviously a criminal conviction to his name as well, he’s got a fear of flying, too, just to chuck that cherry off. Does he really? That’s a pretty That’s a pretty hot combo for to be a touring pro. Yeah. Yeah. Tough gig. No doubt about it. But he was a green keeper back in the day. It’s where a lot of people start. But uh yeah, he owned earned pro status in 2022 and full status on the PGA Tour of Australasia in 24. So it’s a really good comeback story and a quick revival and launch to the Open Championship. So he’s a true character as well. He’ll have a few stories to tell, I’m sure, about it. I can imagine. So just working a driving iron in. He did that. Yeah, that’s his that’s his natural ball flight. that low cuty sort of shot. So, I think he’ll be able to get it around here. Okay, let’s have a look. Just a driving around like a 250 carry of 150 miles an hour of ball speed. Little flatter that one only 68° of apex. He had this perfect wind on Calamity 16th yesterday where it was hissing into and off the left and he just played that little baby fade at the left edge and then it straightened it towards the flag. So if it’s if it’s that consistent win throughout the week, Calamity will probably be easier for the left-hander. Is that 3wood or is that a mini driver? Yeah, that’s that looks like a mini driver, right? Yeah. Let’s have a look. Kind of steep on it. Yeah, still hitting down through the ball there. Very much so. So, we will leave him. That’s the view from behind the driving range. Look at all of those different targets to hit to. And let’s see who else is down there. Oh, from Japan. Decki Matsuyama. Mast’s champion. Him of the paws. just getting maybe some of those kinks out from a flight that he’s had there. World number 12. Be great to see him be a strong part of this. I’d like to see that. I like the way he plays, behaves beautifully, you know, plays plays golf in a really nice way. Yeah, true gentleman and a scholar. Feels like it’s been a while since his 2021 Masters victory, but you get the sense that he’s got it in the can to do well here. Such a clinical and rhythmic golfer. Yeah, it’s interesting. Let’s have a look at that sort of back swing pause. It’s It’s like if people always say, “Okay, listen. Okay, I’m going to I’ll be slower at the top.” And then you film it and it’s a this looks like a swordsman looks like Zoro, right? So you get you that’s what happens in a lot of different lot of swings. And this was a drill that he did to kind of slow his transition speed down. Let’s have a look at those feet. I mean legs like legs like a powerlifter first of all very stable. It it surprises me immensely that his best finish is tied sixth at the open championship which was 2013 in Murefield and I guess the last five or so years he’s missed a couple of cuts T68 T13 at Royal Liverpool. So it really does surprise me he hasn’t hasn’t really gone deep into the open at any stage. Just some interesting stretches there. So very very stable. Got brand new trousers out. Crease lines still in there. Oh, swinging a miss. Sold the crowd a dummy. Here we go. Fresh pants clearly. Oh, just maybe getting out some of the creeks here. So stretch and burn. Feels like a while ago since century as well. I remember a couple at the start of the year. 35 under par. That’s right. Yeah. 35 under par in four rounds of golf. Yeah. Yeah. Mental. Got hammered. Now, let’s have a look. So, almost up to the top and everything stops and then those hips just lead him down. So, that’s that’s kind of I’d say that’s only a semi Hideki in a way cuz they the PS used to be longer. So, he’s just kind of worked around it. So he used to have a lot of flash speed at the top of his down swing the end of his back swing transition. And so the drill was stop and then go with the legs. It was a drill that he did a practice drill. And then he hit it he did better with a drill than he did with his real swing. So he just played with a drill. So for the people listening at home, what is or is there a benefit to the pause? Like what should people at home do? Should they try it? Yeah, I think it’s it’s a skill to have. So, I think the biggest benefit that I see is it actually completes the back swing, right? Because you you think you’ve got all So, you’re standing there, you’re on Calamity, it’s pumping wind, you’re going to dump it in the right rough. You know you are. You get up there and you go, “Okay, I’ll swing smooth.” And then you something else happens. Another person takes over and you go, “Wait, what happened there?” And you get halfway up and then you decide to go. You know, I don’t know who’s in charge here, but your legs start to go. you don’t slot it in the top of the back swing and you and you you duff it. So, I think the the claustrophobic nature of the environment of the golf course makes us change our swings and what we normally do is not like we go longer and slower. We go shorter and faster as we panic, right? So, I do think that I do think there is a benefit of at least knowing where that top of the back swing is and trying to get there. So, let’s have a look. Boom. Stop and go. Yeah, that is a lot quicker than his usual, isn’t it? Yeah. So, not so much pause. Now, he does naturally hit the ball, at least when I’ve been watching, as high as anyone that I’ve ever seen. So, let’s have a look here. The manufacturer. Here we go. Fresh irons is hard at work. You can see as the player says, “These clubs are no good. Find me new ones.” Yeah, if you are only just tuning in, we were talking earlier about the a lot of the players coming from the PGA tour from the US and literally straight swapping their irions out once they get to Lynx Golf. The grind of the club so much different, so much flatter so they can get closer to the soil. Yeah, it is interesting because the Japanese have been making fantastic irons, you know, and and I I don’t know if it’s they always te slightly sharper. So, here we go. First par three on the golf course here at Royal Port Rush is a very sort of tricky and tempting hole. Going to have a look and see how Matsayyama would be fairing if we superimposed his shots. Here we go. Let me see if this club is any good. There it is. The third 162. So, let’s see. Give you a sense of what it looks like to be out there. We’re going to pretend it’s a back right pin. The front left trap is no good at all. And there’s movement on the greens. It’s a tremendous starting stretch here at Port R. It. It’s a tremendous starting stretch, isn’t it? You look at the first hole, which is just beautiful on its own and elevated green, but then you go the par four first and then a par five, then a par three, and then stroke hole one, and then obviously the most beautiful, the fifth hole as well. So, it’s just a great start and one that you want to be tuned in for every shot, especially when it gets later in the championship there. So, long long on any of these links holes is no good. New new it gives you a sense of what the players see. Incredible undulations, the beauty of the fescue grasses. Matsuyama as he brought the game he needs to conquer this. It’s a lot of chat. A lot of chat. Okay. So on the right side of the screen, the third hole on the left side of the screen. Looks down. Is that any good? Certainly consistent and he’s throwing dots at the third hole. You could sell that on a Sunday. Interesting to see. Can you imagine coming on a Monday and you go whole new set of clubs? You know, obviously he’s manufacturer in in preparation. Well, that’s why I think a lot of players playing in the Scottish Open. A few positives with that, the trucks are all there, the manufacturers are all there, and they spend a lot more time last week getting that all sorted, doing all the tech stuff. So, when they come here, it is purely focusing on golf. So, there’ll be a few players having to juggle more than just warming up and more than getting into the groove and course management. Whereas the players in Scotland, they’ve done all that. Their clubs are in the bag. They’re ready to go. They’ve been used for four tournament rounds of golf. So yeah, it’s a fine balance, but um it’s so intriguing to see how different people approach playing in a major. Welcome back to Live at the Range bringing you the preparation scenes. It’s a unique um sort of part of this competition. All the work that was done on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday was kind of invisible to the audience, to you, the viewer, before the creation of this show. And it’s really a fascinating watch. Got Hideki Matsyama down on the range. Just been delivered. A brand new set of golf clubs working on his game trying to get ready. Hits it really high. You’re going to see the apex numbers are always pretty much like 115 120 ft. Wow, that is high compared to what we’ve been seeing this afternoon or this morning. So that’s his natural pattern. Really does launch it. Certainly I like if I’m standing on the range I certainly don’t remember it being you know the highest I can remember. So here we go. Hideki semi pause and then watch this set and legs and everything else just comes flying through. So looking at that like he just turned that over a hair more than he wanted. Feels like the longer the club the longer the pause. Yeah that could easily be. So yeah it’s just interesting. must be I mean I don’t know how conscious it is but if it’s conscious it must be must be hard to do. He’s always done it like as far as we can remember. He came out as an absolutely smoking hot amateur golfer from Japan and who can who will ever forget that amazing scenes where his caddy bowed to the golf course. I love that kind of respect of the environment where you are. So amazing Mast’s victory Russell Henley in the red shirt. The Americans are piling in now, guys who are up in Scotland. Here we go. Hideki Matsyama dispatching another one up into the sky. The range is certainly getting busier. Every minute another player turns up. And that’s why we’re excited to be here to show you every little bit of detail leading into the 153rd Open. So many different story lines, aren’t there? Spoke to Richard Ta from Estonia. He found his way here. Hideki Matsyama. The pause. It’s like a It’s like a pause and then an absolute rip of those legs, isn’t it? Maybe it’s just a sequencing drill for him just to make sure he completes that back swing before the aggression of those very, very strong legs. But I got to say like Hideki’s great when Hideki is playing well or maybe just putting well, it is the sort of game that you think, you know what, that’s that could be this could fit this tournament. That that that ability to perform under pressure. You feel like he’s he’s got the mental side of it very much wrapped up. Yeah, for sure. Oh, he hated that. Don’t know if that was a an an injury or just a duff or whatever it was. The grimace. Just all of the above, wasn’t it? Just getting the cobwebs out. Saw him doing some stretching. Stretching of his hips, stretching of his head, stretching of his back. Maybe feels a little bit stiff. Long flight arrive here. It’s cold. It’s not that cold. No, it’s No, it’s delightful to be honest. Here we go. So, what an ambassador for Japanese golf. Yeah, kind of. That club sets a little bit off the line there. Just having a look. That’s coach just filming. Am I in the right sequence? Are these the right spots? Looking at the grind of the clubs. Is this going to perform on this links turf? Firm and lynx turf. You know, the golf courses in America tend to be tend to be a little bit more lush. Ball sits up on a little bit more grass. Hideki, we think, is just putting some brand new clubs into play right now. So, clubs going in, the bag, clubs going out. The decki just getting some cobwebs out. That’s how I feel all the time. He’s pretty flexible, isn’t he? He’s a unit of a guy, but I mean, his shoulders are up by his ears there. Shoulders up by his ears. Can you not do that? I don’t think so. Oh, what if you’re on the phone back in the days and you don’t have a your hands free? You chuck the shoulder up to the air. Yeah, that’s wedge the phone in there. Right. Hideki very dissatisfied by the last couple of shots. Doesn’t feel loose. Doesn’t feel ready. Hasn’t got the sequence. He’s looking at what you are looking at. So 209 carry. I’m going to say it’s like a sixiron for him. His normal apex, but I bet you probably like 115 ft, maybe even higher. 120. Little bit better shot there. Little baby fade into the wind. Oh, he’s changed clubs on us. About that 240. So, let’s have a look. Fresh grips. What do you think? Four iron. Yeah, for sure. Okay. Four iron. Hidei wide stance cavity on the back of that. So that looks that club looks like it’s been hit before though. That’s that must be one of the new ones. So maybe it’s the scoring irons that are going in fresh. That sweet spot’s still glowing to the air a little bit. And Oh, you want to be that ball, would you? Absolutely hates it. Put that one away. Get rid of it. Hates it. Disgusted with the last three shots. Matsuyama. Beware the injured golfer, though. That’s what they always say, isn’t it? So, let’s have a look. It’s very calm to the top and then those hips really drive. So, a lower one. Apex 61. The coach is filming the manufacturers trying to fire the equipment. The caddy’s just keeping his head down, trying to stay out the way till his man has got everything he needs. It’s always reassuring when the player turns around to the coach and said, “Okay, what’s wrong?” Yeah. What they what they tend to do is just take a few videos and check everything’s in place. Sometimes after a long flight, the simplest little things can change. We saw Justin Thomas researching into that at the Scottish last week. And they’re not looking at too much, just the basics, making sure they set the week off in the right way. And here is the big screen, Simon. This is where the players get almost our view as well. Yeah, we’re we’re seeing what they’re seeing. So, this is all powered. Um, great innovation by top tracer technology. And so, they basically light up the driving range. This is ball data only. Ah remember that Minardi amazing. So Henley has got one up in the air. So that is on the driving range and that is also brought to you and in the background just cruising up for the first time today. Welcome Scotty Sheffller. World number one has just joined us on the driving range. He made the trip over from Scotland. So we will join him. And there it is. The cliffs, the links all powered and mixed up together. Welcome along to the open. It’s everything you wanted and more. That’s fantastic. Absolutely brilliant. Quite an extraordinary day on the tea. Yeah, she was staring at this one down and for good reason. Look at this. Just delightfully done. She’s on top of the world going directly at the hole. Well, of course. Oh, get in there. There’s something about the AIG Women’s Open. Oh my goodness. Just swing. Visit golf.golf to find out more. Just swing. Visit golf.golf to get started. Why not give golf a go? Just swing. Swing wild. Swing weird. Swing wonky. Whoever, however, wherever, it doesn’t matter. Just kidding. Head over to golf.golf to start playing. Find out where you can learn to play at golf.golf. Welcome back live at the range Monday morning. The calm before the storm. George Hopper. It certainly is. But the storm is growing. It is brewing because the world number one has just cruised on to live at the range. That’s when you know it is go time. The best in the business from all across the globe reside here now in Port Rush, Northern Ireland. There he is. Hat off. Don’t normally see that. Very interesting process, isn’t it, Scotty Sheffller? It’s like, look at that. like check the grip, check the face. You see him do that a lot. He’s got a practice club with a a molded grip on there. Very much a fade action. Sam Burns, that’s his buddy in the background. Certainly see the tan line without the hair. Can’t you? Oh, let’s cover it up. Come on. Get Get rid of it. There we go. Oh. Oh no, just a little bit tight. Haven’t had a haircut in a while, so it’s just filling out the hat. There we go. There we go. Clarky grip, hands in pockets, holding office. He’s half spectator, half player this week, isn’t he? He’s got a lot of chat. Just holding court, enjoying his week in the spotlight. Yeah, very interesting action. A lot of chat about his footwork, but not about his performances. Pretty clearcut there, isn’t it? Somehow battled away to a T7 at Oman as well, which is arguably a bad week for him, but just super impressive, super consistent, and he is at the top and of amazing field and consistently as well. Yeah. So, let’s just sort of understand the Scotty Sheffler action. So, wait for him to have a hit. New glove. That doesn’t feel quite right. What else you got for me, Ted? New glove, please, mate. It’s no good. Or maybe he’s just kind of breaking in gloves. You often find that, you know, just kind of getting like four or five or six that this week really fit properly. you you’re kind of figuring, okay, I’m going to probably have three or four gloves in use if it’s going to be rainy. Well, you’re not sure you remember Brian Harmon winning at Royal Liverpool, but he had about 20 gloves under the umbrella. And you’re right, like when you do get a fresh mitt out of the packet. It’s quite stiff and quite you’ve got to stretch it out a bit. So, you’ll rotate about five or six over the next couple of days. So, they all feel slightly molded as you mentioned. Yeah. So, all the little details count. Let’s have a look. This is a pretty This looks like a pretty brisk warm up. I guess he must be going out with Sam Burns fairly soon onto the golf course. That would be a great watch. And there you go. Those are his records at the open. His results trending nicely. Never out of it. Two top 10s. just hoping to be able to hoist the most important championship trophy in the game. Yeah, you get the sense it’s um the career grand slams certainly on his mind and this feels like the hardest leg for him. So, he’ll have ultimate focus this week. That that’s Yeah, it is. It’s like it’s hard to know what suits him, what doesn’t. I mean, the best part of his game, you can’t see it cuz it’s in his head, right? His mental side’s amazing. Look what he did at the PGA when everyone was kind of flying up the leaderboard at him. So Scotty checks the face, hands on the club. Have I got my grip? And so what happens to him? Very, very vertical hand path. Hands on. He’s got his aim. He’s got his training club in there. You can see with the um reminders of where his hands need to go. How crazy is this? You know, think of all the amateur golfers. Think of the beginner golfers that use the same tool and then our world’s best player is still using it. The the challenges in golf are the same. You just get closer to perfecting them. All your mistakes are more small. It’s not it’s it’s we play what they play. You know, that’s the magic of the game. And you know, and it’s all about your game, isn’t it? It’s like if you’re if you’re 5% better than I am at tennis, I never beat you, right? You don’t have a good game. I don’t have a good game. And that’s not true in golf cuz we go around like next month you guys could come and play on this golf course and and walk the test that these guys felt and and that’s one of the magical parts of our of our game. So the Scotty Sheffller footwork and and what you have to understand is like he he moves very little by the time the club head is parallel to the ground. He’s already moving left, right? And then he just keeps moving and moving left. So when that left foot is rolled to the outside and even as he gets into the longer club, bounces, it’s only just supporting himself, it kind of like almost feels like he jumps like he gets so much vertical force off that left leg. Very high left arm, very steep left arm plane, which which faders do. Monty Feder, he had the same. So working with his hands on the club. Now watch that left foot. So you’ll see it kick. This is only probably a ner, so it won’t be that much, but it kicks and jumps. Interesting to watch him at the Scottish Open last week. Seemed to uh wow get real relatively aggressive on the putting greens when he was missing a few short putts. Couldn’t understand how the ball didn’t drop on a few occasions. No, I I I think he’s calm as he seems to us, right? But I mean, he’s I I’ve never he is like tigers in the competition. He’s like he he will be the last man standing. He he will die on the course to try to get one extra shot. I love that about his game. So high left arm, two training clubs, two aiming clubs getting his pictures right. Extremely high left arm, isn’t it, Simon? Yeah, it’s it’s it’s very steep the left arm. So Scotty Sheffller’s last nine results from the Masters. So fourth kind of hoham. Um and then CJ win PGA Championship win. Fourth win, seventh, sixth, eighth. Um that tied eighth intrigues me because that’s almost like a perfect warm-up for the open. You gets your blood pumping enough. He’s worked out plenty over the last week. So, ominous signs for the rest of the field. Yeah. And he wasn’t super hot. He had that hand injury which he kind of said took a while for him to get used to. But I would say the Sheffller team, the Sheffler camp game is back on forward. Three wins and a fourth in a month. That that’s kind of like Tiger Wood stuff. You know, you hear guys saying, “Ah, you know, I I’ve just won. I’m exhausted. I’m taking three weeks off.” And not Scotty Sheffller. Where’s the Where’s the next competition? So, that is the best man in our game. Stands very close to it. Hands close to his body, left arm high, goes left early, and then just working that ball up to the apex and drops it down. I think he feels the face as well as anybody that I can see in the game right now. those little microc calibrations that he makes. Superb at that. Amazing to think that when he played his first open at Royal St. George’s, we barely barely looked at him. Barely knew who he was. Well, he he he did come out, I would say, as a as a as a hot hot college player, and there were many. What? Yeah. And then and then he went on to he went on to cornfairy. Finished top of the pops in cornfy and then he came out. It didn’t take him long. I think you know the putting on the tour was something that he you know maybe the green speeds or just finding the lines something he’s worked on a lot. Phil Kenyon putting whiz putting guru putting whisperer has helped him a lot. I actually flash back to the Waste Management Phoenix Open. was one of my first ever gigs in America and Scotty Sheffller was one of my first ever interviews and I believe that I was one of his first ever interviews because he’d just come from the cornfy tour and people are like oh you need to go talk to this this shlla guy and I was like is that are you talking about Schae or Sheffller and it was a little bit of confusion I’m like oh yeah right so went and played a hole with him and and spent a good 20 minutes and it was great fun and and at the end I kind of jokingly said oh I remember the name and I didn’t remember the name and boy oh boy do I remember it now. Absolutely incredible looking back at the video and seeing the same swing but yet so unrecognizable back then. Still a lovely guy. Oh a great interview. He’s a very he’s such a polite guy. so so respectful and and golf is always lucky like we’re so often times our great champions are great ambassadors global ambassadors for for our game that I think that’s such a a crucial part we’ve been maybe we haven’t been lucky but like for me the best the best professional of maybe of all sports Arnold Palmer man he had time for everybody and I think that you know bless him he he created a legacy where pe where his way of behaving to the fans who are the who are the heartbeat of our game set set a benchmark set a set a respect. So Sheffller, here we go. Let’s have a look at that left foot now. A little bit more action. Yeah, it’s like a landing the way that that left side launches up and then comes back down to the ground. So, you can clearly see this is a relatively quick range session, purely a little warm-up session as he’ll go get his bearings at Port Rush. Not sure if he would have ever been here before. No. So, little bit of chat. I’d love to see his ketty sort his collar out as well. His golf swing seems to be in fine shape, but but that collar needs to sort out. Someone who might be able to do that is D. Stewart. She’s down on the range. What can you see down there, D? Thanks, George. We’re actually just by the putting green and Pete and I have been having a look around, scoping the place out. You’re treated so incredibly well here. You get your your clean golf balls to go and do your putting. And if we head this way, this is the players are actually just dropped down where those buggies are and uh take a quick walk over this putting green. Do a bit of uh practice and then here is the range. You can see the driving range. This is the walk that you make. And just to our left hand side in just a moment, George and Simon, you’ve been speaking about him, the world number one Scottish Sheffller, arriving here at Royal Trune, ready for the Open Championship. Ah gosh, the breeze really is picking up. But really great to see the world number one. Um, of course has played in a handful of opens now. Tied seventh, I believe it was at Sor Trune last year. Uh, Link’s Golf, Scotty Sheffller. What’s your assessment of uh, of his golf on Link’s courses? So, I mean, tied seventh was his best finish and Lynx golf has so many of the ingredients that you would expect suit him down to the ground. I mean, obviously he’s the best player in the world anyway. We already know that. But the creativity, he’s so good around the greens, his chipping and his pitching. He’s obviously got distance. The biggest problem is when he gets on the greens. So, we all know that, you know, he’s been a bit of a hot on a cold putter across his career. Over the past three years, he’s really figured something out working with Phil Kenyon. But, as soon as the greens get a little bit slower, he really struggles with pace and read. And that’s been the biggest problem. that’s been his downfall, you would say, you know, but if he could overcome that, then there’s he’s got everything else in in within his game which would make him a fantastic open champion. But it does seem to keep coming back to it. And the Scottish Open last week, it was just the same. He played unbelievable just in horny pots. Yeah, Scottish Open coming off fresh off that at the Renaissance Club. That was a a top 10 finish, wasn’t it? Finishing tied eighth. Just having a little chat with this caddy there. um some in-depth chat. Couldn’t quite hear what he was saying, but it’s such a privilege to watch him in bay number two as he smashes the driver down. How far’s that gone? Um I mean he carries it around 300. He’s not actually the longest hitter on tour by any means, but he just does everything so incredibly well. Yeah. And I remember this um kind of last year as well. 280 carry I’m just hearing actually from our top tracer technology kind of just into wind off the right. That’s yes, that’s more than more than acceptable. He’s not he never really looks that comfortable on the range. Like if you go down this driving range, there are so many amazing ball strikers. Actually, randomly, Scotty doesn’t stand out that much. But once you get him on the course and once you see him like have his creativity come out and his iron play, his distance control, that’s where he really kind of shows. That’s what’s really special about him. Yeah. And speaking to a few people this morning, actually our our chat was about Scottish Sheffller. And as I was walking here, a few of the the guys and girls were really excited about seeing him. They all talk about his demeanor and the way he conducts himself and his composure. We all wish we could bottle it. We could buy it from somewhere. But it’s it’s a a magic ingredient, isn’t it? It takes work though. It takes work. I mean, Ted Scott is caddy. really did consider not working with him because he used to be in his younger days quite fiery on the golf course, quite an angry golfer, but he’s managed to channel it. He’s managed to understand that by keeping calm, by keeping everything under control, he can then control his golf ball better. Yeah, it’s amazing how often that happens. But you do see a boil over every now and again. He gets frustrated just like everybody else. But you would expect that from someone who is so competitive, who wants to win so much. There’s there’s no way that he wouldn’t have that. but he can control himself now and you know he’s by far the most consistent player of the the modern era. If you are down at the range you can see all the the stats on the the massive screen to the left hand side which the players I mean they use this don’t they? It’s really important info data that they collect at the start of the the week. Yeah. And what they’ll use as well, I mean, they’ve got the the top tracer tech here, which is great. They’ll have multiple launch monitors down as well. What they really want to find out, what they really want to understand is how the ball is affected by temperature, by wind, because a lot of these players who are full-time on the PJ tour, yeah, like generally this time of year, the conditions they’re going to be playing on, it’s going to be 90° plus, it’s going to be really hot. Like generally the air might be a little bit thinner. You come over to Northern Ireland, it’s chilly. The air is thick. You know, it is pea soup out here sometimes. So, that is going to affect how the ball flies. And they do need to realize that around this golf course, you might be landing it well short the green anyway and running it up. So, you all these calculations are getting done now so by the time the tournament comes around, they understand what they’ve got to do. Will Will Scotty have a one iron in his bag? Um, I think it’ll probably have a two. I think I think most of these players will be into the tour trucks which are just the right hand side this range and they’ll be adapting their equipment. Mostly they’ll be taking some grind off the wedges uh and putting a a low lofted iron in the bag. I I think apart from that there’s not loads which is going to change. We’re going to catch up with Cameron Adam, one of the amateurs who’s playing and uh I think he’s got a one iron. We’ll check we’ll check that out. But it’s a as you say you got to adapt to to the links course. I’ve just seen Brian Harmon flash up. My goodness, what memories from a couple of years ago. If you’re down here at the range, there’s so much to learn. Uh Fred Daly, winner of the Open Championship in 1947. He just came up on the screen. Where did he win? Do you remember? What were his numbers like? He’s still going strong. Still going strong. Fred. Uh Fred Fred uh when it’s Royal Liverpool. That was it in 1947. This place is steeped in history. We’re going to speak a lot more about the history and people are going to have a little bit of a wonder, but for now, let’s get back to the commentary team. Thank you guys. Yeah, Scotty Sheffller, world number one. The spotlight this week would be very much on what he does. What a view D Pete have down there. Right behind the best in the business. So Scotty is out of here. We think to have his first practice round. I think he will have Sam Burns for company. I think that was last year’s winner, last week’s winner. It’s very excitable. Let’s see who he picks up on the way. Well, he can’t walk far now without being distracted, can he? Cuz Burn’s just going to go with him. Yeah, Sam. Let’s go, baby. Hit one drive and we’re out of here. That’s the chat. Hold it back, Sam. You finish your warm up, young man. Don’t let the big boy call the shots. Look at that. If you’re just tuning in, it was raining earlier this morning, but not anymore. Yeah, Scotty Sheffller heading out with Sam Burns for the first practice round. Probably the guys trying to get 18 done in today, nine tomorrow, nine Wednesday, and just try to get all of the lines off the TE’s. That’s it’s a it’s a complicated golf course to learn. You’ve got left to right wind and a right to left dog leg. It’s all sorts of combinations. So, whatever you can imagine is out there at Royal Port Rush. Yeah. Very rarely, if ever, you get two holes going in the same direction here, which is super impressive and intriguing. Yeah, it is. Yeah, it is. So, uh a magical links. So now you have to take a buggy down to the first tea. Sam Burns and his buddy Scotty Sheffller keeping it loose. He still hasn’t fixed his collar, George. That’s I think Oh, it’s diabolical. Is that doing your head in? Absolutely. Is it Tyler Woods sometimes does it and it’s just such a simple fix. It is, you know, it’s not their first time wearing a jump. So, you think he would he wouldn’t be smiling like that if he knew he had half one in and one out. No, Tim Sa New Zealand cricketer same issues. Does hit him. Really does. That’s very upsetting. So, there they go off for their first practice round. We are live at the range bringing you all the action from what is the headquarters of golf for these first three days. So we have seen players coming to warm up. We are live at the range bringing you all of the action. Scotty Sheffller. Fascinating to watch him warm up. George. Yeah, we certainly have the best view. And speaking of views, NC’s been out on course looking at some of the feature holes here at Royal Port Rush. This is the best seat and you’re about to get the best view. Come on then. Time to go to work. So this is the opening hole at Royal Port Rush. A relatively short hole in fact, but most players will keep the driver in the bag and instead pull out the long iron to take these two fairway bunkers out of play. Now you’ve got internal out of bounds on either side of the hole, making it feel quite claustrophobic. Back in 2019, we had home favorite Rory Maroy with the nation’s hopes upon his shoulders. And this is what happened next. Don’t tell me on the wrong side of the white line. Even the best get nervous. Even if you do hit the perfect T-shot, the difficulty doesn’t end there. With the second shot to approaching this green uphill without being able to see the putting surface, the majority of it does slope back to front. But this first third is a false front. Pitching there, you could end up at least 50 yards away, if not in that bunker, short left. Alternatively, some players might try and favor the right hand side to play a little bit safe, but then you overcook it. you’re gonna leave yourself an absolute stinker down the hill making it difficult up and down. Alternatively, on the left hand side, you’ve got another bunker there playing hide-and-seek pretty much. And you’ve got the rough long left, too. Trust me, you don’t want to be there because it’s going to feel like you’re chipping up and over a mountain. You make a four on this opening hole, you’re sprinting to the next tea. When you think of Lynx golf, you think about playing golf along the coast, which we are, of course, to a certain degree. But starting off with the fifth is probably when we get a real good view. And this being the most scenic stretch of the golf course, you’re standing on that elevated tea box with everything in front of you. Now, this is a drywall path four dog leg left to right. Some players will opt to play the long iron down the left corner. Others will absolutely be tempted to take on this drivable par4 at just under 400 yards. It might be a driver or a fairway metal depending on that wind direction and strength of course. But they have to make a calculated decision because if you go for this anything along you’ve got the out of bounds where chaos truly meets beauty and probably the world’s biggest water hazard. Now, this is the most exposed part of the golf course where the nature and the elements of nature will truly show its teeth. But up next, you’ve got the par 3 six. You’ve got the instant change of direction. You can hear the waves crashing out on this corner. Don’t get distracted by these views because you’ve got that coming up next. And that looks like it’s got my name on it. Now, that is some path three. Par 57th visually is one of the more dramatic holes cuts amongst the dunes, especially with that one all the way down the right towering over you. And when you’re standing on that tea box, it really feels like it’s you against the golf course and you’ve got these two fairway bunkers staring right back at you. Starting off with this one on the right hand side could be in play of course win dependent but ahead of the open in 2019 they made a couple of changes and this was one of two holes where they did just that putting in that tiny bunker in the left corner. Despite only being so small it will catch a fair few players out and depending on your positioning it will determine whether or not you can take on this par five in two or not. The fairway snakes all the way gradually uphill. It will present some eagle opportunities if not birdies. Anything slightly weward you could get punished. Undulations a classic feature when it comes to links golf courses and they have their pros and cons. You can definitely use them to your advantage. We’re on the 10th happens to be called the Himalayas and this is a great example where you could hit the perfect T-shot and everything is spruced into place. Alternatively, you could hit an absolute pear and just get an unlucky bounce and end up in no man’s land. But that’s the beauty of this game and the stage that Royal Port Rush presents itself. Alternatively, you can get quite unlucky and get varied lies. Here’s a great example where the ball is below my feet and imagine I’m standing over this with the wind howling from the left. Not only is it going to test my skill set, but also my balance and everything else that comes with it. That’s that’s not easy for sure. Anyway, the green over here is one of the most undulating one yet. Let’s go have a look. Racia, come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. No, that’s not fair. You’ve got four wings and I’ve only got two legs. Anyway, tender is a great example of how everything valleys in and you could definitely use it to your advantage. But the beautiful thing about the open and how it sets itself apart from all the other tournaments and championships is that you can have a particular lie. You can put five different clubs in someone’s hand and there can be a multitude of ways you can pull it off. Yes, sometimes the result might be good, other times it might not. You can use the ground, you can take it out of play. Say this back flag, pitch it about there. That’s going to ride in. Alternatively, pitch it in the same spot, maybe with a bit of height. I mean, ideally, I really wanted that to come back just to show you the severity of it, but even that, that’s not a good place to miss. There’s a reason why I’m not a runner, right? Imagine if you were about to hit this t-shirt. That’s it. From that tea box to this green. Respectfully, I think the majority of us would genuinely struggle to reach this green, especially if it’s howling wind into. From 236 yards and it only gets from bad to worse because there’s no place truly to lay up. Anything just short or right at this green, you get swallowed up by this steep chasm. And even for demonstration purposes, with all due respect, I’m not going to go down there because I think if I go down there, I’m not making it back up. But here’s a little history lesson for you guys. Back in 1951, Bobby Lock. He actually was a smart man cuz he played it down the left. And to this day, they call this the Bobby Lock hollow. That was his safe slice. That’s where he could play from and see the whole green right in front of him. Trust me, from back there, this is a tiny target. This is the final test here at Royal Port Rush. It’s a demanding T-shot with the out of bounds running all the way down the left and on the flip side, you’ve got those googlyeyed bunkers staring right back at you. Now, if and that’s an if you can hit this intimidating fairway like Shane Larry did back in 2019 after he struck that second shot realizing that this was his moment walking down the fairway taking in the energy and the atmosphere that the final hole presents. Seeing his name up on that leaderboard and catching a glimmer of his family, he celebrated walking in between these two bunkers with both hands raised, realizing that this was his moment. Who will walk down this hole and become the 153rd champion golfer of the year? And the winner of the gold medal, champion golfer for the year. Winning the open changes a life. A hero at 22 and the first Spaniard ever to win the title. A name remembered, a legacy secured. Open champion Jack. But look beyond the champion and you’ll see that maybe there’s a little more to it. From first swings to final pass. From the back streets to the big stage. From the inner cities to the outer reaches. The open’s impact stretches far beyond the fairways. Every ticket, every fan, every roar drives our mission to shape the future of G. Removing barriers, protecting the land, honoring the past, leading for tomorrow. So yes, the open is lifechanging, but what begins as a moment for one creates a game for us all on the tea. Yeah, she was staring at this one down and for good reason. Look at this. Just delightfully done. She’s on top of the world going directly at the hole. Tell you what, oh, get in there. There’s something about the AIG Women’s Open. Oh my goodness. One other story we found on the range is Cameron Adam who won the Open Amateur Series. Cameron, it’s so exciting that you’re here at the Open Championship. How you feeling? I’m I’m buzzing. It it’s great, you know. Um it’s it’s a new experience for me being here with all the guys that I kind of watch week week to week. So, um yeah, I’m really excited to be here. Pete and I just spotted you and oh my goodness, he’s through open amateur series. just tell a lot of viewers at home what that encompasses. Yeah, so the open amateur series is a a kind of a ranking system um based over the links trophy, the British AM, and the European AM, which are kind of the three major amateur events um that get played three weeks in the spin um over in Europe. So the person that picks up the most uh world ranking points from those three events gets in. So you’re constantly checking websites and looking at where you are pretty much. Yeah, I’ve got kind of friends and family creating spreadsheets and all sorts looking at it all. So yeah, listen, you’re one of nine amateurs in the field and Pete, let’s just have a quick look at in Cameron’s bag because we we spotted a couple of one irons. Are you taking just the one one iron out? Yeah, it’s it’s it’s very rare where you see that number in a golf bag anymore. Not many people can hit a one iron. No. Yeah, it’s definitely it’s something that I’ve toyed with. Um I’ve kind of had it in and out for a few years, different models. Um but yeah, I kind of substitute three-wood and one iron. Um just trying to get this properly sorted for the links. Oh, I was going to say what loft is on the one iron. Oh god, I can tell you. Maybe 16. 16. I don’t know. I find out. Yeah, I tell the guys at Titless, make it work. And that’s the problem. Like once you get to like having a really good player, like they don’t care. As long as as long as it goes around where they want it to. And it’s got some It’s actually got some lead tape on the back, I believe. There we go. Why Why’ you put tape on the back? Uh that’s just to get the swing weight up. We were just talking about that um just now. Um but yeah, I’m very much as you you guys make it work and and it goes. I don’t care how it looks or what it does if it’s working and doing the job that I want. So that’s just got the swing weight up to to stop it going low right for me. I think one of the the cool things about the experience is to say be here with a lot of guys that you watch every week and get treated Yeah. like one of these guys as well cuz I noticed this on kind of Scotty’s uh Instagram yesterday. So limited edition merch. I love that. Look at this. That’s pretty awesome. That’s going to be treasured for for my life. You know what’s his or her name? Oh, I don’t know yet. Depends how well she butts. Well, your Scottish is We’ll see. We’ll see if it’s on there for the second round. Bonnie, come on, Bonnie. Come on. Maybe. Could I nickname her Bonnie? Absolutely. That sounds good. Good stuff. Well, if you put Well, it’s down to it’s down to me and Pete. Great. Listen, it’s, you know, that first tea. Can you imagine standing on that first tea and playing here at Royal Port Rush? that that’s something that we’ve spoken about and um I’ve been doing a bit of work with my my mental guy and we’re just like we’re I can’t prepare myself for what it’s going to feel like. So um I’ve just got to trust that I’ve been in that situation before um and I’ve hit good shots in those situations. So I’m I’m excited to get there um on Thursday and I’m just going to have to kind of see how it feels and how it goes. Do you do a lot of visualization? And I’ve just been at Wimbledon actually and a few of the guys who were walking onto center court for the first time, they they replicated it beforehand and really got themselves in that mindset. So when you’re practicing this week and standing onto that first tea, will you actually be doing a bit of work there? Yeah, 100%. I mean, it’s like I’m only human, you know. I think you growing up, you you run through your head like like I’m going to go play in an open. This is the first T-shot of the Open. I’ve got a sixfooter to to win the open, you know, like it’s almost feels like it’s been years, you know, you always build up those mental pictures. So now it’s actually real and especially the last couple weeks when I knew that I was going to come here just trying to picture a good shot and you know make good memories so that when I go there I’ve just got a positive bank to feed out of and yeah, I can go play my best. Yeah. Great. So Bob McIntyre is one of your good mates. Yeah. Yeah, he’s he’s been great with me. So um I’m going to play with him tomorrow and hopefully learn a bit. He’s obviously got a good track record around here. He finished sixth here. Um, so yeah, hopefully learn a bit off him and he’ll keep me going well. And you’re a lefty. Is is this a good or a bad thing for Roport Rush P? I mean, everyone knows like left-handers swinging better than right-handers. Uh, there’s something there’s just something in the way it looks. So, I would say it’s a big advantage and I think you and I think with like being obviously first open and there’s there’s things to play for as well if you are an amateur. So, obviously you want to make the court, you got the silver medal. you know, you got there’s so much to actually aim for and obviously joining that kind of elite company that got a silver medal as well would be amazing. Yeah, you know, like I’m really close with Callum as well, so getting to watch him win the silver medal last year was pretty special. So, yeah, just trying to follow in his footsteps. Great. Cameron, we wish you luck and we hope to speak to you again at some point. Great stuff. That’ be great. Thank you. One iron in the bag. Yeah. from. Fantastic to hear from the amateurs. Such a crucial part of this competition. Always been a feature. That’s exactly right. There’s nine amateurs in the field this week at the 153rd. And there we go. A very, very good list. Connor Graham, he mentioned from Scotland. We’ve got Ethan Fang, our amateur champion. Made a birdie on the last at Royal St. George’s. Simon, what a moment that was. Clutch moment indeed. And you’ve seen an even clutcher moment with Richard Ta earlier in the show. He made an eagle hold out from 80 yards to win in a fourman playoff and get through to his first and Estonia’s first open as well. So, a great list of amateurs vying for the silver medal. Yeah, people powering pounding in. It’s Monday morning. We are live at the range. That’s our sort of worm cam view that we have. Zooming in center frame that is Tom Kim who’s catching a lesson. He’s been in miserable form his last top 10 was back in Pebble Beach. So he is not in form at all. He is 94th in the FedEx as well. So he exploded on our scenes at the Windom. Yeah. Well, he’s currently 61st in the world and he’s got as high as number 11 in the world. So a really promising talent is is Tom Kim and and he has been really grinding with his coach there. And here’s what they were doing earlier. Simon just looking at work on the shoulders and sit this shoulder alignment. Okay. So, that’s kind of a feeling of trying to get your chest maybe to finish the back swing as opposed to your arms finish the back swing. Let’s see what we can pick up from there. So, he that’s kind of like getting that that right arm too narrow. So, what you don’t want to have, and this was Tiger’s big thing that he used to hate about his swing, when his chest stopped turning and his arms kept going, kind of those running arms and they get deep and narrow and then that tilts you out of position as you try to make space. So, let’s have a look and see what Tom is up to. Maybe those hands maybe feeling a little bit more radius. That right arm is is really the radius arm. Very rarely in a tour player will that thing bend more than kind of 90 degrees. So if it bends more than 90 degrees, it kind of gets to elbow first, too grip first, and then you’ve got to kind of flip the face otherwise you’re going to block it, right? So fascinating. This is Monday before the open and Tom, I mean, he’s listening to what he’s saying there. Yeah, he’s What am I doing? So keep that left arm a bit more on my chest. slightly uncomfortable almost trying to work his game out. A lot of players have to do this. See where that right arm sets. Okay. Well, that was a swing and a miss. He didn’t like that chat from the coach. Played in three opens. St. Andrews and then Royal Liverpool. He came tied second. So, a seriously impressive run there. Came home really strong and then missed the cut at Trun last year. So, mixed results, but he’s got it in him. Tom, can he get this one right? Does he get the feeling? Can he blend it in? That one’s gone now. Not your usual grouping of these consumate professionals. That’s how he’s kind of been playing though. His long game’s not been great. Remember what he did in that President’s Cup? Quail Hollow took some fire to a very strong US team. So let’s have a look see. So little bit more of a shot. So he’s had a few practice shots. Now this is a this that’s a great thing to do. Don’t just machine gun golf balls. Get your orientation right. So eight iron in hand by the looks. There he is, Simon working on that right elbow. Yeah, just definitely matching something up. Chest to the turn. Arms to the chest. Wow, there is a lot going on here. certainly having to work hard mentally to kind of picture the process that he’s got going there. So, we’ll leave him for a few minutes with his thoughts. Taking a look at the driving range. Getting more and more occupied. guys guys like guys like Scotty Sheffller just kind of warmed up 30 balls gone. Tom Kim catching full on instruction. Yeah, he’s certainly prioritizing technique over course research at the moment. And yeah, that’s not abnormal, especially on a Monday. No, it’s it’s it’s the game, isn’t it? It’s like you’ve never got it. you’ve never got it. So, just trying to tune up his swing a little bit. Maybe match match a few things up a bit better. Great atmosphere down on the driving range. And keep your eyes on the archway there, the entrance to the driving range. is going to be Ricky Fowler. Crowd favorite Ricky Fowler. Water cup in hand. We will soon see his swing. Darren Clark heads out. He will give Ricky Farah a welcome to my home. Darren Clark’s still there. He’s been on that range for hours chewing the fat. Yeah, he’s had more cigarettes than range balls. Well, no doubt the driving range is heating up. This is the place to find a swing, tune up, warm up, figure out what clubs you’re going to need. Have I got the right driving iron? Have I got a club that keeps the ball down? Or like Tom Kim, have I got a golf swing? What has happened to my golf swing and how can I fix it? That it is coach in the hoodie there. Catching a lot of instruction just trying to tidy up his pattern of shots. Maybe a little seven iron there. So maybe kind of looks like he’s trying to stop maybe like an upper body lean onto it. Certainly quite a lot of things going on. So definitely feel like there’s something with the arm swing and the chest turn in the back swing. A bit more radius. We we we saw them kind of chatting about that. Maybe trying to keep that left arm on his chest which will help him keep his chest over the ball. Make sure that he exit exits left and the ball starts straight. Looks like a cleaner pattern. Yeah, dispersions clearly tightened up nicely. Seems to be more dialed in, warmed up ever so slightly. Yeah. So, to answer your question, do do tour players think about anything when they’re playing golf? Yes, they do. Not a huge rolodex of thoughts. That’s not what you want. So, there we go. Ricky Fowler happy to be here. He loves playing, getting his game on the road. Loves being on there. That’s not number he would like. He doesn’t want to be one4 in the world. No, but he’s at least shown some signs this season. 18 PJ tours and made 14 cuts. So, look, he’s he’s getting there, but he’s just he’s an entertainer. He’s one of our favorites. And he went through that golden season, what was it, 2019 maybe? and he was there so close at every major and it’s just such a shame to not see him feature more. You you felt like he did have the game for an open. He is a shot maker. He’s not sort of a a robot with the same shot. Now those are the feet of Tom Kim. In 2019 he was tied sixth here at Port Rush. So he’s obviously got some good memories here. balanced footwork. Kim working hard on his technique. So, he’s got a smile on his face, which is good. But given how much data he’s absorbing this late before the gun goes, George, question mark over his his skill package at the moment. Has he got what it takes? Yeah, he’s fighting something. He’s I’ve seen him on the range quite a few times in the past and never have I seen what I’ve what I’ve just witnessed in the last 5 10 minutes. He is certainly overanalyzing. Well, not over analyzing, but he is trying extremely hard to find something in time for this week. Yeah, that’s kind of the stinger shot. Anything you see around 70 apex is them trying to kind of flight the ball down for the crosswinds or into the winds that you’re going to have around this really a golf course that moves in all different directions. Every single shot will be challenged. Tom Kim has always kind of been a medium hitter. 173 ball speeds kind of PJ tour average. So maybe just hitting a few looseners before he gets going. Yeah, he’s far from dialing it up if he’s only going two, five, seven yards carry. That is Yeah, that’s very much a little silky smooth warm up. So interesting to see how much instruction the players are continually fighting. I mean that’s one of the drives that you have. How can I keep improving? You know the tour is so competitive that if you don’t keep improving 25 guys will go straight over the top of your back and you’ll be and you’ll be ended up he’s not in FedEx Cup. you know, with the smaller with the smaller PGA Tour field starting next year, he’s got to be thinking, you know, I I’ve got to get I’ve got to make sure I keep my exemption. Crazy to think. So, from face on, keeping those angles, keeping that left arm, we think a little bit more on the chest. Don’t get it separated. You can’t keep rotating if it gets separated. It looks pretty balanced. The sun is shining here with live at the range. Players are starting to flood to Royalport Rush and what a setting it is. You can see in the distance the 16th T. There will be plenty of drama there later in the week. But the range is looking glorious. Two courses here at Port Rush. This is part of the Dunloo Links. Equally as beautiful as the main track which will be in full flight this week. Tom Kim. We’ve seen a lot of the world’s best on the range this morning. We’ve seen some silky silky smooth routines, but it’s interesting to see players like Tom fighting a few little demons here and there, but there’s time. There’s still a little bit of time. It doesn’t take much for these guys to flick a switch. No, I think I think that’s why they’re so willing to to be keep working on it cuz they can, you know, swing’s just a tool. It just propels the ball. You still got to plan and map your way around. So Tom given us some great entertainment. Loads of swings captured to be recorded and analyzed. Tom just trying to visualize what he’s working on, how he’s going to get the feel, what he’s got to adjust. Simon Shanks in the just of one of the coaches there coming into vision. Blue skies, shadows, right to left wind on the range. That’s why Darren Clark was far to the left of the range hitting into the wind. So amazing scenes. The warm-up, the start has begun. Yeah, it’s always interesting. So, our driving range is lit up with technology. Can’t see it, but we can see everything, all the ball data. And what we can do is record the warm-up sessions. So Shane Lowry and Scotty Sheffller. Shane in the black, Sheffler in the red. Fascinating to see all of the different shots. This is just them warming up before they go. And for most amateurs golfers, that’s more golf balls than you hit in two months. So that’s why they’re that’s why they they’re peak. And these this is not a driving this is not a session. This is a warm-up session. So couple of shots working through the wedges and you can see just work up. Scotty Sheffllers was very brisk, wasn’t it? 20 25 balls, that was it. Yeah, he was in and out. He’s obviously just played a full tournament down in Scotland. So, doesn’t need to be a range rat and needs to just look after the body and manage it because a lot of players prepare for Thursday, but you need to prepare for Sunday if you want to win the open. Yeah, you do. So, these are fascinating views. And on the range is Dy Stewart. Oh, thank you Simon. Thank you George. You’ve been doing a sterling job up in the coms box. Getting a little bit windy here on the range. Pete, let’s take a little bit of a walk and the sun is out which is marvelous. I mean playing this golf. I actually played it about a month ago. We did a special feature for the RNA. It was absolutely fantastic. But you had four seasons in one day. The ninth hole which is now called Darren Clark’s hole. It was into wind and I just about made the fairway. If you played Royal Port Rush here, you’ll know what I mean. Had a great cup of coffee with Harry in the halfway hut and then went on to the 10th hole, which is one of Shane Lowry’s famous holes from back in 2019, his second shot. It was one of the iconic shots of the tournament, wasn’t it? On the way to that 63 on the Saturday. But right now, we’ve got the players here. They’re all starting to practice. They’re all flying in. I saw Dan Brown who’s obviously won recently on BMW International Open. He’s in it just his sort of tracksuit bottoms right now. Did you see him? He’s not in his golf gear. He’s very He’s very chilled. Yes. If If you If you do want someone new to follow on social media, he’s a great guy to follow. Oh, is he? Tell me why. He I I’ve never known like a golfer to like kind of care less about being like a pro. You know what I mean? It is very down to earth. Very down to earth. Great follow. Like a a man of the people. Let’s keep Let’s keep going. as Kevin, our cameraman, walks backward, which is a a skill in itself. We’ve got everyone from CBS, from the Golf Channel, um NBC, everyone flying in from all around the world. And why why wouldn’t you for the greatest major championship, the Open Championship, but what have you seen? Players are just sort of getting, you know, finding their feet right now, aren’t they? On the Monday, I would say up to this point is quite relaxed. Like there’s a lot of people saying hello, catching up. of mind have seen each other for quite some time just getting loosened and heading out onto the golf course. It doesn’t it just feels like a nice reunion right now. It doesn’t feel like somebody is about to make history and I think that will start ramp as the week goes on. Yeah, it all starts obviously on Thursday very early tea shop. We spoke to Darren Clark who was who hit the first tea shop back in 2019. He said the nerves my goodness he felt them. Don’t forget this is the third time that the open has been here at Royal Port Rush. 1951, 2019, and now 2025. The stage is set. We’re going to be back this afternoon, aren’t we? Yeah, we got a couple hours. I know. Hopefully the sun stays out. We’ll see you at 2:00. All the stories, all the analysis, cameras everywhere. We promise we’ve got you. See you at two. Let’s take a little Let’s take a little bit of a Let’s take a little bit of a little bit of a walk and the sun. A little bit of a walk and And the sun is out which is marvelous. I mean playing the Every everybody everybody everybody Heat. Heat. everybody. Everybody everybody Everybody. Everybody up. Everybody everybody everybody Everybody everybody everybody everybody everybody Everybody everybody everybody everybody every The natural grandeur of the Giant’s Causeway could hardly be more symbolic. This is the coastline of Northern Ireland, a nation that’s laid down the stepping stones to a bright future. An integral part of the healing process is sport and at the forefront golf with Royal Port Rush welcoming back the game’s most cherished championship. But this iconic clarret jug is no stranger to a country that’s produced two modern-day winners. The champion golfer of the year is Darren Ml. Then an extraordinary talent realized his dream. The open is the one that we all strive for. To be able to hold this flower jug is an incredible feeling. Both men were instrumental in guiding the open back to Port Brush following an absence of seven decades. In that time, this coveted piece of silverware has been presented either in Scotland or England. Not since 1951 when crowd-pleasing Englishman Max Faulner overcame rain soaked conditions to win by two shots have these mighty links been the backdrop for open glory. Now though Gulf’s original championship is back and a new winner will be crowned. A very special day in the sporting calendar brings us to this stunning part of the world as the Open returns to Northern Ireland and Royal Port Rush for the first time in 68 years. After such a wait, thousands of alarm clocks were set pre-dawn to be there for Northern Ireland’s major moment. The honor of striking the opening T-shot went to the man who launched this country’s golfing renaissance. I was down in the range at 5:30 and that tea time was 6:40 and I was totally cool with it all until I walked down the steps. The stand was completely full and all of a sudden I walked down there and thought, “Oh, all sorts of stuff going through my mind.” On the tea from Northern Ireland, Darren Clark. So, my original uh plan had be to, you know, take a two iron. I thought I probably need a slightly bigger head than the two iron. So, I went with driver. Well, I I can’t imagine a better start for Darren Clark. If you don’t have those butterflies going a little bit, you know, we’re in the wrong job. We all get them. Nerves conquered, Clark could exhale and target the first birdie of the 148th Open Championship. I think at about 147 uphill um flag at the back leftand corner. So I knew if I pitch it right, it’s going to kick and run in there and uh hit a good solid down iron and turned it over maybe about 20 ft and get up there. It was one of those sort of moments that I sort of I could have closed my eyes and hit the P. I had the feeling that it was going to go in. Well, he had a big chair when he arrived on the first te. Imagine if he holds this one, you know, hit the clock and sure enough ball goes in the hole and the people up behind the stand and everything there were bit as pleased as I was. So, it was a good start. That was a hope shared by Clark’s fellow countryman Rory Maroy. He shot a course record 61 on the Denoo links as a teenager and was installed as the title favorite. I felt good going into the week. I’d had a pretty good year up to that point. I had two wins. I met with the history of of playing Port Rush a lot and what I’ what I’d been able to do there in the past. You know, I felt like it was a really good opportunity for me to, you know, try and get my name on that Clark jug for a second time. on the tea from Northern Ireland, Rory Mroy. Whenever my name was announced on the first tea, remember putting my ball on the ground, putting the tea in there, and I, you know, I I felt nervous, physically, a little nervous. Part of his birthday present when he was 10 years old was a trip to Royal Port Rush where he met Darren Clark. And he must have thought about this moment his entire life. And here it is. Let’s go. I turned it too much with the wind and it kept going. I think it only went out of bounds by a yard or two, but obviously not the ideal way to start the open championship whether it be at Port Rush or anywhere else. I teed the second one back up and, you know, hit it and that was fine. It was in play. When I got up there, the the lie for my I guess now it would mean my fourth shot wasn’t great. There was a bit of long stuff around the ball and and I thought though I could I could muscle something through there and get it up to the front right part of the green. This is left. Oh, that’s what I feel. Oh, there you go. There we go. The ferns. That fourth shot went in the ferns on the left side of the green and I had to take an unplayable But I guess at this point I’m I’m just trying to make the best of what I have. You know, it’s a pretty bad start, but it’s not you. It’s not as if I was out of the tournament even by missing that putt on the first green. Okay, I’m four over par. But I just said to myself, it’s a sort of pretty tough day. You know, if I can get back to even par for the tournament, that was that was my goal. Such an unthinkable start had served to illustrate the perils of Port Rush. But up ahead, an Irishman with a poor open record was going along nicely. In the wake of four consecutive missed cuts, she and Larry felt the need to seek the advice of both his coach and Kar. He’s nearly made it. What a shot. I wasn’t feeling great Wednesday evening. I was feeling a bit anxious, a bit nervous about what was ahead of me. Um, we just went, we went for a coffee and we just laid it all out on the table. Like, you know, we were just very honest with each other. It was like a weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders after that conversation. And obviously, I went out Thursday and I performed pretty good. With a 67, Larry set the clubhouse lead. He was able to fly a little bit under the radar in terms of of the focus on the on the olster. And I remember him saying on Thursday, I’m not on under the radar anymore. He knew his game was there. He knew he was in a good spot. He knew what he was going to be doing going forward. Likewise, with reasons to be cheerful, Darren Clark on track to achieve his goal of making the cut following a level par 71. The second half of the opening day would be marked by pulses of heavy rainfall. Guiding the world number one was his long-term caddy Ricky Elliot who grew up playing and carrying on the Dunlush links well before helping Brooks Kipka capture four major titles. Not many of my friends or anybody had met Brooks before and he came around to the house I grew up in and and my mom made him a cup of tea even though he doesn’t drink tea but he drunk it anyway. The first day that the gates open and I didn’t really know what to expect and obviously Brooks had never been there before but from me being there he was he was one of the the favorites. The support that he got and hearing my name a lot is is something unique to me. You got the feeling there’s a lot of people behind him. Kapka teed it up on the back of a sparkling sequence of four wins and two runner-up finishes in his nine most recent major starts. Almost inevitably the American found himself in contention yet again. An opening 68 saw to that. Franchesco Molinari became the first Italian to lift the clar jug at Carnisti 12 months earlier. But at Port Rush, the defending champion struggled to an opening 74. The 13th hole at Port Rush is known as feather bed due to the soft landing needed to keep the ball on the green. On day one, Argentina’s Ameliano Grio played the perfect T-shot as he carded the Open’s first hole in one since 2016. How about that? That ace was a moment to remember for go on an otherwise disappointing day. Meanwhile, Rory Maroy was about to suffer another blow of the 16th, aptly known as Calamity Corner. frustrated and now five overpower. Who would have thought it? Back on the first where Maroyy’s misery began, the competitively rusty mast’s champion was about to test his body. On the tea from the USA, Tiger Woods, there was a feeling of weather being included that the that the back was not going to be perfect. He needed something hot to really help his chances. And so one on one hand, he hasn’t played since the US Open. On the other hand, the weather is a bit u chilly, not good for his back. And so all these things start stacking up against him and I think that’s what brings the the expectations down. Tiger’s T-shot and the grimace that ensued hinted at what was to come. Experiencing pain of a different variety was Maroy. He started with a quadruple. He’s finishing with a triple 79 eight over par. You know, I knew I had a lot of work on my hands to try and, you know, make the weekend and uh obviously pretty disappointed, pretty dejected after after that first day, but it’s golf, right? And and you know, some days these these things happen. Uh, it just so happened to be that, you know, I had, you know, one of my worst days at a time when I wanted to produce something that was close to my best. Maroyy’s dream had been transformed into a nightmare. And behind him, Tiger, a contender right to the end at Carnisti in 2018, was also toiling. His first round 78 seemed light years removed from victory at Augusta only 3 months earlier. While these two giants stumbled, Ryan Fox created history, becoming the first player to break 30 on the back nine at an open. That’s a great finish to a round of golf. The New Zealander achieved that with six birdies in his final seven holes. And as the early evening weather improved, a fearless Spaniard took full advantage. Oh, lovely birdie for John Ram. Ram began encouragingly with a 68, but topping the leaderboard after day one was an American with RDER Cup pedigree. That was JB Holmes, who finished third at Royal Trune in 2016. Ignoring an early mistake, Holmes was outstanding and on the 18th puttered for a 66. Five under path, started with a bogey and then flawless from there. Oblivious to the drama created by others, Holmes had solved the mystery of how to tame Port Rush on a day when colossal past achievement supplied no guarantee to success. So, just absolutely perfect conditions here and a beautiful morning on this Friday, day two of the 148th Open with Port Rush in a kindly mood. Upwardly mobile movement was on the cards. Australia’s Cameron Smith took advantage posting a 66 to be six under par. On that same clubhouse total was South Africa’s Justin Harding round in 65. Inspiring even louder cheers was the joint runner up at Carnisti in 2018. Justin Rose also reached sixunder helped by an eagle on the 12th. But at the forefront of the English bid to win an open for the first time since Sir Nick Faldo in 1992 was Tommy Fleetwood hitting form at the right time after a low-key season. I’d played okay. I’d been pretty consistent, but nothing very special. But coming into that week, my game was in pretty good shape. Felt pretty calm and sort of quietly confident that I was playing better again. And we had a plan. Fleetwood made his first bogey of the championship at the opening hole, but soon rediscovered his touch. And by the time Tommy arrived on the 18th green, the clubhouse lead was within his grasp. I hold a good put on 18 to finish the day, which is great. you know, first half of the tournament’s done, you’ve hold the put on the last and you feel really good and it put me up there and you know, sort of leaving the course on Friday cuz teed off early that you, you know, you were up there going into Saturday. The downside for Fleetwood was the conditions remained relatively benign and overnight leader JB Holmes picked up his threat of excellence from Thursday. Competent in all departments, this two-time RDER Cup player from Kentucky eventually signed for a 68 and 800 par at the midpoint of the championship. Holmes was leading the American charge, but Major Specialist Brooks Kepka remained in touch. His presence loomed large heading into the weekend. As morning turned to afternoon, the breeze strengthened, but that didn’t prevent Shi and Larry enjoying the perfect start to his second round. So, the guys that played in the morning, they got some nice weather. It looked like they were getting a better side of the draw. You know, I knew I was going to have to shoot a decent score if I was going to keep up with the leaders, but I didn’t want to force it. I hit two lovely shots into the first. I played the second well, and I hit lovely shine to the third. All of a sudden, I was three under three and I was flying. I was off and running. I was just hitting it in close in every hole. What a start. And Shane Lowry is one off the lead. Meanwhile, Lee Westwood was turning back the clock. Despite finishing in the top three nine times, a major win remained elusive. Could the 46year-old finally fulfill his ultimate ambition? The Open Championships tournament I love. It’s my favorite tournament of the year. You know, I’ve not been in a contention in a major for for a while, probably since the Masters when Danny won. And uh you know, it was nice to get back in there and and play well. In his 25th Open, Westwood went low in the back nine, joining Fleetwood on seven under par. Fantastic shot from Westwood. Anytime you’re in contention, a major championship, it’s always exciting and uh and you know, you do have those thoughts about winning and things like that, but uh the more often you’ve been in those situations, the more often you know, you learn what to do. Yes. Well done, Lee Westward. Four birdies in six holes. Could it be Lee Westward’s time to win a major? The afternoon took a turn when rain whipped in off the sea. In the wake of his first round 78, Tiger Woods faced a n impossible task to make the cut. But a one underpar second round underlined those famed fighting qualities. Tiger departed together with Phil Mickelson. The first time that pair both missed the cut at a major for over two decades. But nothing could dampen the unbridled enthusiasm surrounding Larry. I’m getting feeling he’s starting to feed off these crows. Rory had obviously struggled the first day, so maybe the crowds weren’t as big with him and all the crowds were coming to me and it was just incredible. That thunderously received birdie at the 10th gave Larry a two-shot lead. Up ahead though, Darren Clark was experiencing vastly differing emotions after a nightmare 18th caused the former champion to miss the cut. Three under after five in round one and up seven up the last. To go from the elation of the first two on Thursday to making treble on Friday on the last to miss the cut. I can’t describe how bad I was feeling after I came off there. I think I lost a power of speech for about a day after that, unfortunately. And but sometimes our sport, that’s just the way it is. Sometimes it’s hard. Although not so damaging, Larry’s closing stretch was disappointing. A bogie on 14 was compounded by an uncharacteristically ill judged chip at the last. I finished around pretty badly on Friday. It was something that helped me going forward, but I was obviously in a great position going into the weekend. And it’s a bogey at the last, but still a round of 67. He will go into the weekend tied for the lead. That left the most intriguing subplot to play out. Could Rory Maroy possibly recover from his soul destroying opening round? I sort of reset after after that first night and then came back out the next day and I I had a clear target in my mind. I thought that if I shot six under par and get back to one over for the tournament that that had a real possibility of making the cut. As the round progressed, the improbable grew ever more possible. Well, well, well. Suddenly that cut is looking exciting. Yeah, I made three in a row. um to get to five under par. And at that point, I thought, okay, you know, I have a I have a pretty good chance here to to make the cut. And I think everyone else at that point knew as well, two more birdies was what what was going to be needed. Visiting the sand on the 13th briefly halted momentum, but Maroy immediately retaliated for me. The birdie of the day was 14. Um I had driver six iron into that. It was probably the toughest hole of the day and held the putt. Get in there. Straight in for Michael Roy. A little punch in the air. Look at the crowd. Whoa. You think he was leading? If I could have had one shot back, it probably would have been the wedge shot into 15. I was maybe a little pumped up, a little bit bit of adrenaline. Hit it into the back bunker. I still was able to save par, but it was a great opportunity to make birdie. As Maroy battled manfully for weekend involvement, so did another favorite son of Northern Ireland. Graeme McDow struck his approach to the last knowing a par would guarantee his walk down the 18th on Sunday. It would be mission accomplished. On an increasingly murky evening, the spotlight now shone squarely on Maroy, dealing only in the currency of birdies and urged on by a nation. The cheer on 16 when I made birdie like I still I get goosebumps. It was it was a really cool evening and the fact that it was 7:00 at night and it was a sort of gray sort of misty wasn’t very nice and people still stayed out there cheering me on to the very end. It’s something that that meant a lot to me. I don’t don’t get very emotional over golf but you know that day was it sort of got the better of my emotions and um you know it was hard to keep it together for for all those 18 holes. Never before had an open been so electrified by someone merely trying to make the cut. Everyone was willing in this pot on the 17th. The reality was now stark. Only a birdie on the 18th would suffice. The effort had been herculean. The reception Roy received that of a hero. Anytime I think back, especially that walk up 18, it felt the same as walking up the 18th hole at Hoy Lake when I won. That second round was one of the most enjoyable rounds of golf I’ve ever played. I think it felt like what I imagined it would have felt like on Sunday if I had have been in contention. At least I got a a little glimmer, a little uh a little taste of of what it would have been like. They prayed for one last Maroy miracle, but sport isn’t scripted. I’ll look back at Port Rush with nothing but fond memories because it was a great experience for me. feel like I really connected with the crowd and hadn’t played in front of a home crowd like that in a long time. The darling of the galleries came up just short, but with an Irishman sharing the lead, the weekend was rich with promise. Tickets for Port Russia’s return sold out days after the previous championship with over 237,000 setting an attendance record for an open staged outside of St. Andrews. Those fortunate enough to be there for round three congregated at the first hole to support local boy Graeme Madaw. Saturday was special. um you know to make the cup was was very important to me first and foremost but uh it was a special morning and and to be out there as the only Northern Irish player left in the field that the fans really kind of took me with them and it was a special special experience dealing with a tricky northwesterly wind. This former US Open champion moved under par and consequently onto the fringes of contention. One more thing to consider then for the main protagonists, the later starters, as they began to arrive. Following a birdie on 17, Madal found the fairway at the last, but his ball trickled into an awkward divot. It was funny when the shot left the club because of the sound underneath the ball, I couldn’t really feel it strike very well. And then the ball was in the air, I said, I don’t think I got it all. Go hard. But when it landed and I heard the crowd react, I knew it was pretty good. And uh it was a it was a great feeling walking onto that last green and and you know having a tap in to shoot three under. And at that time I thought that was a pretty good score. Well, that’s a birdie birdie finish for McDow and from the cut line right up into a share of 30th position. That just shows you how hard it’s playing out there. Saturday early was tough. You know, there was probably a it was a 12 15 mph breeze out of a slightly different direction as well. But as I was finishing, I could feel the wind laying down and I was like, “Don’t you dare.” The testing conditions were gone with the wind. McDow’s fears would be realized. Danny Willitson exploited the comparative calm, signing for a 65, aided by this artistry. He’s actually played it perfectly. Will it reach seven under? Ricky Farer, who had flown under the radar to this point, potted his way to 800. And likewise, gathering momentum, 2017 open champion Jordan Spith. Come on, hit the wind. That’ll do quite nicely. He closed out the day seven under. Not everyone thrived. Cameron Smith stalled with a level par round. And Justin Harding followed his excellent second day 65 with a mediocre 74. Stop. Stop. Stop. Oh no. Out of bones. Friday had seen the exit of two headline makers, but at the open there’s never a shortage of storylines. It was set up beautifully for another remarkable open championship. Uh, but I still felt a huge deflation just because Tiger was gone and Rory was gone and I think it took until the middle of Saturday and had so many possibilities and you had that big name, lurking name, that Kepka fella who just never goes away. The calm but confident world number one was right there. Two frontline birdies carried Capco within touching distance of the lead. By now the penultimate group were on the course and Tommy Fleetwood had an opportunity to make the ideal start. Big thing that we were doing all week was staying really sort of calm and very present. So like just didn’t let it really get ahead of me at all. Um and Lee soon put a stop to that anyway because he birded the next four holes while I was paring. So it felt like I had no momentum. Fleetwood’s playing partner and fellow countryman seized the outright lead. Greatly assisted both practically and mentally by his caddy and fiance Helen Story. She just keeps me in a really good lighthearted frame of mind and you know when I look like I’m getting a little bit stressed she knows what to say and we’ve never had any arguments out on the golf course thanks to a birdie at the fourth his third in succession. Westwood vaulted to prominence. This universally popular figure was thoroughly enjoying himself. But in the group behind, JB Holmes was also in the zone. He consolidated on a birdie at the second by getting the measure of the third. Playing in the final two ball alongside Holmes, team Larry consisted of Shane and Bo Martin, Larry’s caddy for less than a year. I had actually was thinking of leaving the caddy business. I was actually involved in another business with another friend of mine. Shane phon me himself and he asked me to be interested and I actually had to say well I would be interested but I’m actually not I’m doing something else at the minute. He’s a great person to have on your bag because nothing is too big. The consequences of failure are not that bad with him and the relationship has just grown and we’re now very good friends. With the correct club in hand, Larry set up his first birdie of the day. He and Bo were off and running. Having started Saturday three off the lead, Dylan Fertelli briefly entered the equation. What a shot from Felli. But that proved the pinnacle for the South African who shot a 70 to ultimately lose ground. In the market for similar creativity on the fifth was Fleetwood. That birdie was followed by another at the seventh as he joined Westwood and Holmes in sharing the lead. The link’s expertise of John Ram were still shining bright just two weeks after winning the Irish Open at La Hinch. The Spaniard shot 68 for seven under. Like every other title hopeful, Justin Rose knew moments of magic were essential to remain in touch. Eagle chance. He’s got it. That the standout moment in a Saturday 68, which propelled Rose to 9 under. The afternoon was ebbing and flowing, but the picture was about to become much clearer. Shane moves to 11 under. He’s leading the Open Championship. One hole ahead, Lee Westwood was about to make an uncharacteristic error. From there, a bogey came as no surprise. In contrast, Fleetwood continued to fly. Fourth birdie of the round for Tommy Fleetwood and he moves to 11 under par. And shortly afterwards, Larry suffered a rare interlude of inaccuracy. I hit a bad T-shot on 10. Well, I pulled it a little bit and I was I was up on the bank on the left. Didn’t know what the lie was going to be like. Got up there. It was it was a bit iffy. Chip hole is seven. I suppose we looked at the lie. Thought the ball was going to come out okay. And in those shots, you know, with the wind off the right, you don’t really want to be hitting it too hard or you can just feel like you’re going to lose the shot right to left. Anyway, you can always It was a perfect yardage for an eight iron, but you know, I felt like if I just hit eight iron that it could snag in the roof and come out left. But if this comes out hot and pitches like five on the green, does it go trigger the green? Like it’s very unlikely just on the angle. Do you know what I mean? Cuz it’s going to run up one of those banks. But if it runs up one of those banks too hard, it goes into that roof then. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. But then you can use the other bank to pitch down looking for. Do you know what I mean? Where the flag is in the part of the green. I just feel like if I hit a chance of going left. That’s a club. You know what I mean? Okay. Okay. All right. Yeah. We both agreed that it was uh you know it was a seven iron and I could just chop down on it and hold it. The bikes were always going to help us and the pin was in the narrowest part of the green which means the bank are going to help you more cuz they can go up and down it. Listen to the roar as the spectators realize that Shane Lowry and Bo his caddy had worked it out perfectly. You know, the shot worked out pretty much as we called it, which was nice to see. That was a big shot, you know, because you you make bogey there, all of a sudden you’re you’re on the back foot a little bit, but the momentum was always with me, you know, it was always I was always moving forward. That’s a good 12 under. Cheers filled the air. The intoxicating ground swell generated by something memorable in progress. Under the steerage of Ricky Elliot, Brooks Kapka clocked off at nine under. Frustration on the greens was the theme until leot on a day of what might have been for the world number one. And finally on Port Russia’s final hole, Tony Fenau had no need for a putter. Now here’s the way to finish a day. That outrageous birdie lifted the big man from Utah to seven under. As for Westwood though, he could empathize with Kepka. After such a red-hot start, his putter had grown increasingly uncooperative. Things like that happen. I probably didn’t hit it close often enough. You know, I kept leaving myself 30, 40 ft or, you know, the closest I’d get was 20 ft. And, you know, those kind of puts don’t go in very often. Bogey for Lee Westward at 15. The ball just wouldn’t go in. The same could be said for Fleetwood to get tied for the lead. Oh, while others began to look mortal, Larry and Caddy were serving up golf from the gods. That’s exactly where to hit it cuz it be a bit slower. You know what I mean? Yeah. Want me give you good give me a good target. Yeah. I got a little dot left the bag underneath that. Yes, I see it. Yeah, that’s good. All right. Okay. Like I was playing a very special round of golf. I was in the zone. like you don’t get in the zone an awful lot as a golfer, but I felt like I was going to birdie every hole. Wow, that was great contact there and a brave shot. A birdie on 15 would assert Larry’s authority as his joyous fan base watched in awe. Oh, nice stroke, nice rhythm, nice pat. And it’s a twoshot lead for Shane Lowry. The crowd, they were like sucking the ball into the hole. It was crazy. 6 under par. Danny Willlet scores the best score of the day. He’s tied with that in the final group, leading the open. A majestic move, but at the 16th, potential calamity always loiters. We’d played the golf course 3 weeks previous. Myself and Shane hit through the back of the green. So, we’ actually looked at where we’re going to land the ball during the tournament and there’s a little ridge like 10 short where just in front of the little swale on the left hand side. So, we were always going to try to pitch it around the front. We both agreed that if I just hit it up the left side of the green with a little C forearm, uh, that’ll be perfect. say if he was really honest, he probably say pushed it about three or four yards. And I’m not going to lie, I did push it a little bit. I wasn’t aiming at the flag. The moment I hit it, I was like, “Oh, this is good.” Yeah. Oh, it’s just magnificent. The best shot we’ve seen all day at 16. He punched me afterwards cuz I said, “You pushed that, didn’t you?” and he laughed. But the impact of any great shot is diluted if the subsequent putt doesn’t fall. He’s got it. He’s got it. Leading the open and in touch distance of a new course record. You know, it was great to hold that P because birdie there, you feel you’re definitely picking a shot up on the field. I was almost like greedy out there. I wanted to birdie every hole and I felt like I could birdie every hole and it was an incredible feeling, like an incredible place to be in. And doing it with them crowds watching it, it’s the most incredible day I’ve ever had in the golf course. The downwind 17th offered another chance for a birdie in what was becoming one of the great open rounds. This is just magnificent. This is just extraordinary. Something is going to wake me up any minute. You don’t really get to know how good a player’s game is until you really stand beside him. But to do it there, getting cheered on the way wall was hing off every green, every tea. It was a bit surreal if I’m completely honest. A fourshot lead for Shane Larry. Three in a row. Just the 18th to come. Although inevitably overshadowed, Larry’s closest pursuer was applying the final touches to an impressive round of his own. Jame was behind and he was holding some putts, making birdies and you can hear all those cheers. So it almost feels come off he shot five under in the third round played like flawless and you’re almost like a little bit disappointed and it was like important to not look at Shane’s round and think that you know like it wasn’t a great round cuz it really was. 66 for Tommy Flickwood and he’ll have Shane Lowry for company tomorrow. you finish the round and you have a lot of press to do and you never really switch off until you actually eventually leave the course and you kind of drive back and you’re looking out the window and at the end of the day your my ultimate dream as well as any British golf is to win the open. Your lifelong dream is alive. Yet for Larry the record books beckoned. A birding on the last would yield an unthinkable 62. the joint lowest round in a major championship. Goodness me. Almost perfection from Larry every hole today. Larry had found himself in this position before having established a fourshot lead after three rounds in the 2016 US Open at Oakmont. Then he faded into a tie for second. But this felt different. It had been a truly epic performance as was his reception on the 18th and history was still on the line. I actually didn’t know that he had a put for 62 in the last green. Genuinely, I knew we were going pretty low. I’m not too sure if I really knew I but I was just trying to make birdie and see if it dropped in and I thought I had it to be honest. Oh, what a round of golf. 63. It was an incredible feeling like doing it with them crowds watching it. It was just the most incredible day I’ve ever had in the golf course. I nudged Bo. I said, “Look up there.” I said, “At least I won’t have to answer too many questions about Okmont now for ahead. I was doing my press and about three questions in it was asked and I was like finally someone’s asked it, you know. Um, and I just laid everything out on the table. I said, I think I’m a different person than I was then. I’m a different golfer and I probably didn’t fight hard enough in Oakmont and I said, “One thing’s for sure on Sunday in Port Rush, I’m going to fight as hard as I can to win that tournament.” Play some music for these guys. Larry had conjured up around for the ages, but the most scrutinized day of his life lay ahead. The beguiling coastline of Northern Ireland, molded over millions of years, and on Sunday, July the 21st, 2019, the backdrop for a single monumental day engulfing folklore. After such a long wait for the open to make its way back to Port Rush, thousands turned out to witness a coronation. 12 months earlier, it was King Francesco and in the closing round this time, Molinari was Regal, an eagle on the 12th, helping the Italian post a 66 in the relative calm of the morning. He eventually tied for 11th, assisted by a marked deterioration in the weather. Tier Hatton also made the most of his early start. Ball striking instrumental in reaching five under, securing a share of sixth alongside Danny Willlet. Such was the threat of stormy conditions. Tea times were brought forward by two Rs. Good news for the leader who quite naturally was afflicted by butterflies. So in the morning, I struggled to eat my breakfast. I didn’t have any lunch. There was a bag of nerves. But no, it’s only human. your lead four shot lead in the biggest tournament of your life. The perils of Port Rush were being laid bare as the wind stiffened. John Ram’s challenge had slowly faded over the weekend and a 75 saw him relegated from the top 10. Oh, Jordan, that’s bad. Similarly, Jordan speed struggled. He ran up a 77 to drop into a tie for 20th. deep stuff. But no matter the conditions, the final round of any whooping produces magic, such as this from Lee Westwood at the third. Having opened with a double bogey, Ricky Filer found the perfect response. Three straight birdies after the poor start. The Californian would end the day in a log jam for sixth. As the squalls began to turn ugly, not even the world number one was protected. That set the tone for a run of four bogies on the opening four holes and persuaded playing partner JB Holmes into a club change. His initial T-shot was even worse and symptomatic of what was to follow. Implosion and a round of 87. Larry also found potential trouble off the first tea, affording Fleetwood an opportunity to inflict an immediate blow. Yeah, there could be a sudden turn around here. Four shots isn’t a lot. Um especially in an open like with conditions and anything can happen. By the time that we got to the end of the hole, I had seven, eight feet for birdie. Shane’s got six feet for bogey. Tommy holes that and I miss, you know, it goes back to a one-shot lead. All of a sudden, Oakmont does start coming into your head. Last round of the open. Are the nerves jangling? Absolutely. Well, you don’t often see that, do you? A little fist bump with a bogey putt and the gap is three. That was very important two minutes in the whole scheme of things. He had said to me in the past that I think it was on the 14th in Oakmont that you know he was only one behind and he felt like he’d thrown it away when he really hadn’t and he learned a lot from that. On the second both potted for birdie on the same line but Fleetwood was appreciably closer. Larry didn’t just miss. It supplied a useful read for his rival who was aiming to cut the deficit even further. Just a par still three in it. Another wasted chance. And worse still, Fleetwood was in danger of boogieing the third. That’s it. The lead’s four again. I needed to press better earlier on which I didn’t do. Sensing blood, Li went on the offensive. A clinical burley at the fourth extended his lead to five shots. Like all great champions, Brooks Kepka’s head refused to drop. An Eagle two on the drivable fifth elevated his spirits. But by now, winning yet another major depended on the resilience of others. He hung in there well. He had a bad start there on Sunday and he kept going and anything can happen at any point, especially we knew there was a lot of bad weather coming in. Kapka couldn’t be ignored, but Larry’s chief challenger remained Fleetwood, who had an eagle look of his own at the fifth. Fleetwood’s putter stone cold, but that wasn’t an issue for Larry. Backto back birdies for the big Irishman. He’s back in control. The birdie on four and five really set me down. Tommy’s going to be have to push really hard to make birdies where we can just play into the middle of the greens. Larry was flying high, but menacing clouds were scutting in just as the forecasters predicted. Yet for Robert McIntyre, a European Tour rookie on his major debut, the sanctuary of the clubhouse beckoned. With a closing 68, the young Scott guaranteed a top 10 finish. The anticipated delu soon arrived, but nothing, it seemed, could deter L’s fan base, but it did affect the focus of their support. The weather was horrendously bad. I’ve never seen rain like that on the golf course. And then the T- shot on nine was just I mean the rain was so bad that God know I didn’t know where it was going to go if I hit driver. So I had to iron off the tea. Made bogey there. But I kept on telling myself bogeies weren’t going to hurt me. You know if I made the odd bogey I could still I could still go on and win this thing. The weather was eroding Larry’s lead and the patience of Justin Rose. The Englishman carded a 79. That is a solid straight shank. Lee Westwood’s perseverance would be rewarded with a share of fourth place, ensuring his spot in a 26th consecutive open at Royal St. George’s next year. The final group were now at the par 313th where Larry faced a testing up and down. The bunker save on 13 was huge. And you’re thinking for a minute if this is going to get really tight at the end, it’s going to take one mistake by Shane. And it turned out to be one mistake by Tommy. After finding a fairway bunker then greenside rough Fleetwood fatally faltered on the 14th went wrong you know made double and definitely walking off that green there was that sense of deflation and then sort of the realization on the 15th too was that yeah it’s probably too much now Larry’s lead was expanding and with his proud father Brendan watching on at the 15th the now runaway leader was about to remove any lingering doubt I hit a lovely lot wedge to maybe about 8 ft and and that just puts so much pressure on him. He’s five behind with four holes to play and I’m into 8 ft. So I put so much pressure on him and then he doesn’t make birdie and I stood over that point and I said this is it. Like I hold this like I I feel like I can win from here. What a time to throw in another body. Larry’s major milestone was rapidly approaching, much to the delight of fans and family alike. Tony Feno had stealthily risen up the leaderboard on Sunday. He couldn’t quite manage a birdie at the last, but regardless, the satisfaction of third place was his. And although this historic day wasn’t officially over, the engraver could confidently etch the name of Larry onto the modern champions band that encircles the base of the clar jug. As for Kepka, his place in the pantheon of open champions will have to wait. He tied fourth. Another stunning major performance by Brooks Keeper. not quite able to add to his four wins in the last two years. Brooks finished out. He he hugged me and he just went, “Sorry I couldn’t win it for you, mate.” I think at times he was maybe trying a little bit too hard for me. All eyes were now trained on Larry and the most unforgettable walk of his life. just before I got down to the ball and I I kind of walked around the corner where you could see the flag and I could see um my daughter was wearing a yellow jacket that was very, you know, visible. You’ll be able to see it. So, I could see my family and I started to like I almost cried and I said to Bo, “God, I’m welling up here.” And he goes, “Well, cop yourself because you’ve got you’ve got a shot to hit here. Once I hit that, I hand him a club. I told him I loved him. I spent the dark nights holding thinking I was going to win the open championship. We are Lynx players. That’s what we grew up doing. It’s the championship that we want to win. It’s was just a pretty unbelievable feeling. Fleetwood had also starred in a remarkable championship, finishing second, succumbing only to an inspired rival. No doubt about it, there was only one deserving winner, which was Shane. He played the best golf throughout the week and he totally deserved it and it was an amazing moment for him and his family. And I’m pleased that I was there up front and center to see that moment. Um, I just wonder I can just look to the future and know if it’ll be me. But now it’s all about the winner. I couldn’t believe that it was me standing there on 18 and you’d love to be able to stand there for longer because it’s so hard to take everything in. But just to be able to knock that foot in and lift your hands up and, you know, hug Bo and and see my family is just incredible. The return of the Open to Royal Port Rush has been an absolute triumph. And just to set the seal, an unforgettable week, Shane Li is the open champion. Larry had stared down his demons and stood firm. Swimming through a sea of emotion under the most incredible pressure, he emerged as the leading man, morphing dreams into reality. I think he’s one of the best players in the world. I’ve thought that since I started working for him. I think he thought he was one of the best players in the world, but he proved to himself how good he really is. And that’s what I’m proud of him for. The winner of the gold medal and the champion golfer of the year is Shane Larry. I never thought I would do it. You know, if you were to put down on paper all the tournaments I’m going to play in in my whole career, which one would you really, really, really want to win? That would probably be it. Like see it. How lucky am I been able to do that? Six years ago, a Royal Port Rush delivered one of the most emotional chapters in open history when Shane Lowry roared on by the home fans, won by six strokes. Today, we return to this rugged stretch of Northern Irish coastline where the world’s best will try and tame this links and win golf’s oldest and greatest championship. The big question is who will lift the clar jug this year? The world’s best together on the same stage for one last time this year. The Open Championship is about all of golf for all of time. I don’t believe it. Gust of wind, a hop of the ball. One more roll could be enough. And at the end of the journey, there may be a clan junk awaiting. Every great player who’s ever played the game has won that championship. The journey is long and filled with obstacles, of near misses, of heartache. But as the champion holds aloft the clar jug, we all know it’s bigger than golf. This is history. Such iconic moments over the years. And we are back for the 2025 Open Championship. The 153rd staging of the event. Just look at this landscape coming off the Atlantic there, overlooking the Dunloose course which will stage this prestigious event. We cannot wait for the action to begin all the buildup over the next three days for you. We’ve got every angle covered. Pretty special place to stand right here next to the Claret Jug and also next to Pete Finch. Absolutely delighted to have you back, Pete. Thank you. That was a wonderful introduction. It’s wonderful to be standing here by you as well on such an amazing setup here for the range as well. I think out the previous years that we’ve done this, this might be my favorite. Oh, it’s an absolutely fantastic place here at Royal Port Rush. Just tell us why the players love coming back here. It was first staged actually in Northern Ireland in 1951. We’ll speak more about the history in just a moment. Second stage in 2019. This is the third time ever that it’s been in Northern Ireland. I I think for me and I think a lot of the players, this is the ultimate test of links golf. I think for many of the professionals here this week is probably their favorite links as well. Like the course, each hole is so individual. It changes direction so many times. The elevation differences from literally one hole to the next can be quite extreme. So there’s so many challenges. There’s so many unique little features of this course. And it’s in a part of the world which is just so ruggedly beautiful that every time you come here is it’s inspirational for a lot of the players. It’s stunning. And speaking to everyone around the place, they’re so excited that it’s back here. Shane Lowry last etched his name onto the trophy in 2019. It’s just around the front here. But he, my goodness, created such special memories. We can’t forget that new course record of 63 on on the Saturday of the Open in 2019. played some of the best golf. Do you still get goosebumps thinking about his performance back then? Yeah, I mean it was such a special opening in many respects because all the all the pressure and all the eyeballs were on Rory Maroy obviously come back to Northern Ireland and all the hopes really of the of the island of Ireland were pinned on Rory and then all of a sudden kind of Rory falls away misses the court obviously very emotional and then Shane just comes through with an incredible round on Saturday still the course record and sets himself up for that six shot victory and the scenes afterwards it just meant so much to so many people and even think you’re back on it now. It was amazing. He loved celebrating, didn’t he, Shane? For a few for a few days afterwards. Went to Dublin. Uh, but one of Well, he went to the Harbor Bar first. Yes, he did, which a lot of the crowd actually have been talking about. Have you been Did you go? I I I’ve been there a couple of times from what I remember. I don’t know. Oh, great. I think a bit of me is still there possibly, but I remember as well Shane talking about his daughter in the yellow jacket being at the back of the green on 18, bringing back such amazing memories. He’s done a feature recently walking down that 18th with Andrew Cotter and it just gives you goosebumps and actually that yellow jacket he’s now handed to his younger daughter. Absolutely fantastic. But in terms of you saying coming under under the radar so to speak with the attention being on Rory this year I listened to a press conference with Chalay the defending champion obviously won at Ry Trun in those battling those conditions at the weekend up in Scotland last year. He’s kind of coming in under the radar this year. We’ve got all the focus on on uh the Norish Northern Irish players a little bit. I think with Xander last year, watching him play certainly Saturday and Sunday, there was a real aura about him like he looked untouchable for a lot of those rounds. And he’s had his injury problems at the start of this year and he’s not quite got back to the form that we saw. I mean, he’s obviously a world class player. You do have to consider him a contender, but I’d say there are other names up there that are more likely to walk away with this amazing trophy. Yeah. So many different storylines developing. So much to talk about. It’s it’s pretty special standing here and thinking about the history of Royal Port Rush. As I say, the first uh open here was 1951, won by Max Falner. The fashion back then was amazing. And then 2019 to get an open back here in 2019, quite a lot had to go on in the background. It was a what a 68y year gap. Yeah. I mean, there were huge changes to the golf course to make it tournament ready for the modern game because as far as the design, it it’s a classic. It’s it’s a wonderful golf course, but obviously length and distance and the the kind of strength of the players nowadays, it does mean that some of these classic courses do have to be altered. And that’s what they did. I mean, they transformed this incredible golf course into something truly world class, into something truly special. And and that happened around 2014, didn’t it? Yes, it did. Because we had all the Irish players winning majors 2010, 2011. So it was a spur to to get the club to make those changes for it to be possible to be held here. Yeah, absolutely. And it’s now it’s now going to be looking like, especially this week, we’ve had a fantastic run of weather. Last week, it was boiling hot yesterday. This week looks a bit more unsettled. So we’re going to get Do you want that? I personally do. Yeah. because we’re going to get such changes as well within the weather. Like we’re going to have wind, we’re going to have sun, we’re going to have rain and the look of the draw at the open is something which is so integral to choosing a champion. And it looks like this week if you get a morning afternoon or an afternoon morning, it looks like it’s going to be absolutely crucial. Yeah, we were as we were getting the buggy in, we were saying we we kind of want this inclement weather, don’t we? And the winds to pick up. It makes it a a real battling the elements open championship, a force of nature, that’s for sure. Okay. Well, just to confirm the the weather prospects for today, it’s about 17°. What What’s the wind doing, Pete? Uh, the wind is doing whatever the hell it wants at the moment. But I would say that with Lynx golf, you need the wind to make it interesting. If it’s a little bit damp, but it’s still like even the longest, the best links course, these players can absolutely tear it apart. So, especially when you get down to the fourth and the fifth and the sixth and that little corner if the wind is whipping there, it can make some of these holes so challenging and it can switch as well here. So, it can come off the coast, it can go towards the sea because this isn’t a straight out and back links course, is it? It zigzags all over the place. You’ve got to be paying attention to almost every shot. Like there are so many courses Andrews for example, like TR to an extent where you’re going to go out, you can play the same win pretty much every hold day, you switch back and then you play it differently. at this golf course, it can change from one hole to the other. Then if the wind switches, then it can completely confuse a player and completely confuse a caddy. I mean, those guys have really got their work cut out this way. Just to tell our audience, why is this claric jug before we head to our commentary team? Why is it so special? Why do the players want to lift this? I mean, you’re looking at the most famous trophy in golf. It’s so steeped in history. The names on here and the the legacy that goes with getting your name etched on this is truly unlike any other event. I mean, the Master’s obviously fantastic with the green jacket, but to have a Clar Jug, it means you are a complete golfer. It means that you’ve tested the some of the toughest conditions that you can and come out the other side and you know, you got Tiger, you’ve got amazing players on just down there. You have. Thank you, Pete. Your hand actually was quite close. Do not touch the clar jug. Keep your hands away. I’ll keep mine away as well. Right, we’ve got cameras everywhere. Top tracer technology, all angles covered. Let’s get to our commentary team for now. I hope you’ve got a cup of tea. Settle yourself in. It’s going to be brilliant. The start of the open championship week. Let’s get to George Harper and to Simon Holmes. Yeah, thank you, D. Welcome to Live at the Range. This is the viewpoint that you’re going to get to see a unique view, the driving range. Um, there it is. Two holes on the Valley Golf Course. Lots of targets. Give you an opportunity to see what the players do in preparation for the competition round. George Harper, we were out there yesterday. It is a great spot, isn’t it? Yeah, it’s simply stunning. Simon Holmes, the weather slightly different to yesterday. uh almost got a tan here in Port Rush, but it’s one of the most picturesque golf courses that the Open comes to. Uh it was one of my first opens back in 2019 and still is one of my personal favorites as you can imagine. Um we’ve talked about Shane Larry a lot and I’m sure we’ll talk about him even more over the coming days, but it was truly reme truly memorable. Yeah, there it is. That’s the 160 marker and HSBC, one of the great sponsors in golf and especially um you know this week a partner of the Open Championship. 160 is how old that bank is. So that means it’s founded in 1865 in British Hong Kong and it has gone global and we thank them for their amazing support bringing all of this to you. So, we’ll have some of the players maybe take a shot at that marker. There you’ve got the big grand stand behind the driving range. It was very rainy this morning, so it was kind of a quiet morning. Um, but there was one man who was out there, the 2019 champion. And I think that’s a big difference, George. You know, when the rain was pumping down, the Americans were all huddled under their umbrella. Shane just kept hitting. And I think that’s a big advantage for him. It’s not something that phases him 100%. And you look back to 2019, the weather was miserable. He fought the elements and better than all of them and by a country mile as well, winning by an immense six shot. So he loves this and I think if you are from this part of the world as a player, you wouldn’t mind a couple of days like this to maybe scare away some of the field. But it’s great to see him back. He’s had an amazing preparation. I was talking to him yesterday on the range. She’s been playing all over Ireland and Northern Ireland, Lynx Golf, different courses every other day and yeah, he’s licking his lips. No doubt about it. Yeah, it was it was that 63 really. He kind of won it on Saturday and he just had to hang on um finally won by six from Tommy Fleetwood who who again must be kind of trending into this competition. Yeah, look, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if those two were going head-to-head come Saturday, Sunday, this coming weekend as well. Shane’s clearly been in good form, but hasn’t delivered on the big stage thus far this season. So, he’s had his eyes on this one for a while. And um he’s put in so many hours. He’s visited Port Rush a couple of times um prior to this week. So, look, if he’s not going to he’s not going to lose this on lack of preparation. He’s as ready as he’ll ever be um for an Open Championship. So, so let’s just explain some of those numbers to you. So we we are the whole of the driving range is lit up by top tracer technology. So what what happens you’re going to see players hit shots and then look across to their left where there is an enormous screen which basically shows that. So um this is sort of like not normalized changes. So that’s exactly what the conditions want and it’s interesting to see them just kind of play around with the apexes. That’s the height of the ball. So obviously if you’re coming from the from the PGA Tour it’s just rip it up there. It’s like playing in a dome not here. So let’s have a look at the Larry swing. What you’ll notice as well Simon is Larry’s well on the left side of that range just so he’s got the best seat of the big screen as well for all these stats and facts. So let’s take you through. So um that the carry is just carry carry 160 ball speed guys look at a lot of that kind of 173 174 is kind of ball speed for um PJ tour average with their driver launch direction and apex. So a lot of work goes in. You’re going to see guys working with manufacturers this week because of the wind. You’re going to see them working with different sort of shot shapes as they know they got to work it around. We saw that yesterday. Yeah, that was magical. We were lucky enough to have a front row seat with Aldrich Porita, one of our recent PGA Tour champions. Uh the young South African. He won the amter championship at Royal Lith and Sedans and now he’s gone on to do amazing things. But wow, watching him absolutely launch the driver. He’s one of the biggest on tour at the moment. Uh and it was just such a simple change, Simon. Um he was there with his manufacturer changing the shaft ever so slightly and the ball was quite spinny so he was losing it out to the right and then as soon as he changed that shaft bang one drive magic and it just he just started nuking it straight through the wind and it’s incredible Simon and you’ll you’ll love talking about this all week here at live at the range but the tiniest little changes in technology for these guys in particular is just so big. Yeah. Well, if you don’t have that technological support, um, you know, we’ll never hear of you. So, the manufacturer, the player skill combined with the technology combined with the the amazing fitting skills that those guys come out and they can just go, “Ah, I know how to fix this.” Yeah. And that’s right. The the manufacturers love to say, “Look, every player’s different. We want to do what what the players want to do, but their job is just to make it a little bit of a cheat code, a little bit easier.” Yeah. So, let’s have a look at the Shane Lowry swing. What I love about this, you know, you see a lot of kind of tension. You see a lot of people trying to hit like rigid positions. Justin Rose hitting rigid positions. Ricky Fowler, JT. Um, and for me, the Lowry swing, the magic of the Larry swing is the freedom. It’s like if you watch this, there’s no tension. Softer arms, not so rigid, not so position conscious, much more kind of just playing different shots. Well, we we all know about his short game prowess, and it doesn’t look too dissimilar with driver at hand, does it? He is just relaxed, silky smooth. Look at that narrow stance and just full rotation as well. He just keeps going at the end there, losing that one slightly to the right, but he’s also joined there by Neil Manship, his coach. He’s been helping him out for a very, very long time. So, there you have it. Top Tracer will bring you all of the data, all the ball speed data that the players are working on all the time. Look at that high right side through Lowry just moving around. That’s the lower one. 78 ft of apex. So that’s kind of more of his bullet shot knowing that he’s going to have to play some crosswinds. Yeah, that’s the great thing about Port Rush. So Shane Lowry, we wish him well. You are watching live at the range from Royal Port Rush. We are the Open Championship and we are live at the range. There’s the scene. 24th to the 27th of July is is the senior open that’s at Sunningale. That’s magical. And then the AIG Women’s Open 31st and into August at Royal fourth call RNA Magic. We are at the 150th fourth and if you want to come and join us, you have to enter the ballot. This is a packed out place. 250 plus,000 tickets sold. So, enter the ballot, scan that QR code, and hopefully you’ll be able to join us next year. That is our overhead. That’s what the gallery are looking at. Players starting to go out. The gallery going out with their home favorites. Shane Lowry is out there. The far right of the screen, Darren Clark. No one more passionate about this golf course and this part of the world than Darren Clark. So, Kentle in the white hat as we move in to join him. Very methodical, George, isn’t he? It’s like slow motion everywhere. Agree with that? Yeah, absolutely. Um almost boringly so. He is just barely moving. Very simple, very quiet, very relaxed. And I guess that’s what happens on Monday at the Open. A lot of people are arriving today, especially if you played in the Scottish Open. It’s all about acclimatizing, knowing you where you are, getting your bearings at these major venues. There’s so much going on both inside and outside the ropes. So, finding your way to the range. How long is it going to take from the range to the first tea, which you need to know when it comes to Thursday? Every little timing counts. When do I have to leave the locker room to get to here, to get to there, to get to there. It’s a somewhat of a Yeah, that’s a very good point. Like to get your rhythms going. I like that. It’s Yeah, that’s that’s chat. So, 210 is Is Kently hitting a six iron that far? Yeah, that’s a six. Yeah. Amazing the speed there. So just having a look at the footwork there. Very deliberate kind of works into the inside of that right foot and then watch him finish. Pushes across to the outside of that left heel. Just shifting the pressure. That straight left leg. Some fresh wheels. for the open, no doubt. Here we go. Evidence of the six iron. Yeah. Slowly making his way up and it looks like he’s just pulled a driving iron out of the bag. Yeah, it’s interesting. You know, watch him. He’s always he’s always move he’s not just throws it down. He’s moving the ball around and that’s Link’s turf. You know, the Americans are used to seeing the ball present itself much higher. Their grasses are much stronger. They hold the ball up in the air. Slightly spongy and ours. Yeah. And ours hit our links is the ball sits on the ground. So let’s have a look. This is a club specially put in for this week. You’ll see a lot of that throughout the range sessions. A lot of testing of two irons, different driving irons because a lot of players haven’t used them in some time but heavily rely on them throughout this week. Okay, let’s just have a look. A little bit more wind. You can see Can’s pants just moving there. There it is. Perfect. Little waggle and dispatched. Looks like that was a little higher by the way that he would work there. So guys, working through it, we can take you out now out onto the golf course. We’re going to take you have a look at the what is now the 16th hole. Calamity. This is it. 16th. Brutal. Yeah. For those at home, this is an absolute killer of a hole. There’s some islands in the distance which you can’t see from this footage, but they’re called the scaries. And when you’re on the tea, if you look at the riot, and if you look straight, you get the scaries. There is nothing fun about this hole. It’s extremely intimidating. That huge drop off to the right runs parallel with the driving range, but it is a donkey of a hole. 230 odd, 234 to get there, and the wind is traditionally humming off the left. And right there, that is a bad miss. Later in the week, I saw Minu Lee miss three in a row out there yesterday playing a practice round. It is literally calamity corner. Yeah, we heard from Darren Clark when he was speaking to Dye to say just hit it down the left. A bad shot. You know, middle of the green is a bad shot. So, let’s have a look. So we can take a canlay shot off the driving range and with our top tracer technology put it out onto the golf course just to give you a sense of what the golf course looks like. The 16th is perched and there’s a massive cavernous cliff of horrific fescue grasses all the way down the right. So it’s the discipline. You can see the flag. The flag only shows you where the hole is on a Lynx golf course. It does not mean you have to aim there. No. We heard Darren Clark talking about it earlier in the broadcast. If the pin’s on the right, don’t you dare go near it or else you’ll find yourselves in trouble. There it is. Patrick Kentlay, his major championship record. Best is third. It’s decent. Tied eighth in 2022. So interesting. not to have really peaked been part of a competition really more than that. So Kentlay working graphite shaft long iron again just fiddling the rain, fiddling the ball position there on the ground and just getting used to the flight. Let’s have a look at that carry. Yeah, 250ish. Just kind of working it down. So, Kentlay working in some new clubs, especially for this week, the test of Lynx golf courses. Now, a man of the moment we must talk about and we’re excited to hear from is Richard Ted. Look at this. At West Lanks, an 80yard Eagle chip. He was in a fourman playoff and if you’ve ever seen a more dramatic way to punch your ticket to the open, this is it. He will be the first ever Estonian to play this week and we’re lucky enough to chat to the man himself. He is now with D. So many story lines down here at the range and really happy to be with Richard Tedar from Estonia who qualified at Westlanks and won on the third playoff hole. Richard, it was dramatic. My goodness. It’s a a social media moment that’s gone crazy. You chipped in. How are you feeling right now? Uh, it’s very overwhelming to be honest with you. Um, all the people here, it’s it’s it’s just just a dream. Feels like I haven’t woken up from a dream, but here I am, which is fun. Listen, Pete, you were watching it. That chip in on the third playoff hole. I mean, I was magic. Yeah. I mean, I was going through final qualifying. I’d just come off the last green and I was obviously disappointed I didn’t make it. Um, and I thought, yeah, well, you know, open qualifying, it’s so annoying. I hate this. Why am I doing this to myself? And then I literally opened up Instagram and Richard’s pitching was there and it was honestly it was one of those moments that it’s kind of like for me it’s what the open is about, you know, it’s about people being able to get here. It’s fulfilling dreams and yeah, it was such a amazing moment and just the reaction and everything was fantastic. Like you said, it’s it really kind of started to hype up the Open. Like it really made Open qualifying in many respects. It’s the most kind of viewed clip from there from anywhere. Yeah. You’ve you’ve obviously watched the clip a few times. And what’s the feedback been from family and friends? Um yeah, I’ve watched the clip way too many times. Um still watch. You might watch it again. We’re just going to get out. Just going to get out again. I’ve seen it today quite quite a few times. It’s all over the place. And what were you what were you thinking playing this shot? Um, where was the third playoff hole? We we played hole 10 already. So, um, made par. I told my caddy if we somehow end up here again, I think I hit it really close. And, um, just hit the perfect golf shot. And, um, just wouldn’t change a thing. No, really. Yeah. So, you can see Dan behind you, Y, Caddy, smiling ear to ear. It just fantastic. Really, really wonderful. But just in terms of playing in a qualifier, Pete, you played it. So difficult to to keep your nerve when everybody wants to there. So only a very few number of spots up for grabs. How did you do? What was your sort of mental attitude going into it? Well, I was just trying to take it shot by shot, hole by hole. I mean, I was I was in I was in for the qualifying uh by two shots on the last TE. Uh, ended up hitting it right, had to play another ball, end up in the rough, had to chip out, chipped it to 15 feet, and then I knew what what that part was going to mean. I mean, either miss it and go home or make it and have a chance. So, really happy I made that play. So, you made it to get into the to the playoff. There’s never a good double bogey. Getting a double bogey on the last hole, but to have that ability to come back and regroup is really impressive. You’re 20 years young. You were saying, “Oh, I’m old now.” He’s not old, is he? At 20. Fabulous to be here at Royal Port Rush. Lynx golf. Do you do you enjoy Lynx golf? I love Lynx golf. Um, I think it suits my game really well. I hit the ball quite far and the ball rolls out quite a bit here. So, uh, and I’m a pretty decent putter here on the link, so it’ll be loads of fun. We like to hear that. You know, I I’ve never been that confident. So, I mean, it was could possibly be why. No, Pete, you’re a brilliant golfer. Didn’t quite make qualifying, but he’s going to try again next year. Richard, definitely. But um tell us, you know, your your your mum’s flown in, your your girlfriend’s flown in, you’re the first player from Estonia to qualify for an open championship from the the Baltic region, in fact. Baltics. Yeah. Yeah. So, you must feel incredibly proud. Yeah. I mean, it’s an honor being the first Estonian to be here and um play golf in front of all these people and compete with the best in the world. Um I’m excited. Do you feel quite comfortable in front of people? Yeah, I I like when the crowds are walking with me and stuff. It’s um gotten quite used to it like the British AM and stuff. Uh yeah, I love it. You’ve been in Ireland for what, a week? You’ve been in Keani. What have you been doing? Uh we had a European team championship there with uh with the boys, so it was it was loads of fun. Great stuff. You did you did okay. Not too happy. Yeah, I mean performance wasn’t wasn’t the best for the team, but we all have fun, so that’s all that matters. I’m sure you played very well. I just spoke really quickly to your coach, David. He’s been with you since you were 10, so so 10 years in total. How important is to have that close team around you? Uh that influence. Um I mean I started working with him actually two months ago. Um Oh, he said when he was when you were 10. Uh I saw him for the first time when I was 10, but um yeah, we’ve been working together for like 2 months and it’s it’s been a hell of a two months to be honest. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It’s um it’s pretty fresh, but it’s uh it’s fun. I was going to say cuz what’s the actual golf like? So in the the Balkans region, so you got Estonia, you got Latvia, you got kind of Lithuania all along that coastline. I mean, obviously it’s not it’s not produced a player to play in the open yet. So, as something been going on over the past few years to actually bring golf to a new audience there. Um, yeah, I mean, the game’s growing. Um, always growing, which is fun to see loads of loads of little kids starting to take the game up and um I’m sure it’ll be it’ll be growing much much more over time, especially now I’m here. So, hopefully I’ll be a good motivation to uh some younger kids. Great stuff. You’ve been doing all your numbers and I’ve just seen actually most people have a two two iron in the bag this week. How far do you hit your two iron? Uh two iron carries about 240 250 m like 270 280 yards. So for all our viewers out there, does your two iron carry 280 yards? I would I think pro probably not. Richard, it’s really great to meet you. Best of luck this week and enjoy the links and we hope to see you near the top of the leaderboard. Yeah. Awesome. The calm before the storm. George Harper. It certainly is. But the storm is growing. It is brewing because the world number one has just cruised on to live at the range. That’s when you know it is go time. The best in the business from all across the globe reside here now in Port Rush, Northern Ireland. There he is. Hat off. Don’t normally see that. Very interesting process, isn’t it? Scotty Sheffller. It’s like, look at that. Like, check the grip, check the face. You see him do that a lot. He’s got a practice club with a a molded grip on there. Very much a fade action. Sam Burns, that’s his buddy in the background. Certainly see the tan line without the hat, can’t you? Oh, let’s cover it up. Come on, get get rid of it. There we go. Oh. Oh, no. Just a little bit tight. Haven’t had a haircut in a while, so it’s just filling out the hat. Here we go. There we go. Clarky grip. Hands in pockets. holding office. He’s half spectator, half player this week, isn’t he? He’s got a lot of chat. Just holding court. Enjoying his week in the spotlight. Yeah, very interesting action. A lot of chat about his footwork, but not about his performances. Pretty clearcut there, isn’t it? somehow battled away to a T7 at Omont as well, which is arguably a bad week for him, but just super impressive, super consistent, and he is at the top and of amazing field and consistently as well. Yeah. So, let’s just sort of understand the Scotty Sheffller action. So, wait for him to have a hit. New glove. That doesn’t feel quite right. What else you got for me? Ted, new glove, please, mate. It’s no good. Or maybe he’s just kind of breaking in gloves. You often find that, you know, just kind of getting like four or five or six that this week really fit properly. You you’re kind of figuring, okay, I’m going to probably have three or four gloves in use if it’s going to be rainy. Well, you’re not sure you remember Brian Harmon winning at Royal Liverpool, but he had about 20 gloves under the umbrella. And you’re right, like when you do get a fresh mitt out of the packet, it’s quite stiff and quite you’ve got to stretch it out a bit. So, you’ll rotate about five or six over the next couple of days. So, they all feel slightly molded as you mentioned. Yeah. So, all the little details count. Let’s have a look. This is a pretty This looks like a pretty brisk warm up. I guess he must be going out with Sam Burns fairly soon onto the golf course. That would be a great watch. And there you go. Those are his records at the Open. His results trending nicely. Never out of it. Two top 10s. Just hoping to be able to hoist the most important championship trophy in the game. Yeah, you get the sense. It’s um the career grand slams certainly on his mind and this feels like the hardest league for him. So, he will have ultimate focus this week. That that’s Yeah, it is. It’s like it’s hard to know what suits him, what doesn’t. I mean, the best part of his game, you can’t see it because it’s in his head, right? His mental side’s amazing. Look what he did at the PGA when everyone was kind of flying up the leaderboard at him. So, Scotty checks the face, hands on the club. Have I got my grip? And so, what happens to him? Very, very vertical hand path. Hands on. He’s got his aim. He’s got his training club in there. you can see with the um reminders of where his hands need to go. How crazy is this? You know, think of all the amateur golfers. Think of the beginner golfers that use the same tool and then our world’s best player is still using it. The the challenges in golf are the same. You just get closer to perfecting them. All your mistakes are more small. It’s not it’s it’s we play what they play. You know, that’s the magic of the game and you know, and it’s all about your game, isn’t it? It’s like if you’re if you’re 5% better than I am at tennis, I never beat you, right? You don’t have a good game, I don’t have a good game. And that’s not true in golf cuz we go around like next month you guys could come and play on this golf course and and walk the test that these guys felt and and that’s one of the magical parts of our of our game. So the Scotty Sheffller footwork and and what you have to understand is like he he moves very little by the time the club head is parallel to the ground he’s already moving left right and then he just keeps moving and moving left. So when that left foot is rolled to the outside and even as he gets into the longer club bounces it’s only just supporting himself. It kind of like almost feels like he jumps like he he gets so much vertical force off that left leg. Very high left arm, very steep left arm plane which which faders do. Monty faded. He had the same. So working with his hands on the club. Now watch that left foot. So you’ll see it kick. This is only probably a nine, so it won’t be that much, but it kicks and jumps. Interesting to watch him at the Scottish Open last week. Seemed to uh well get relatively aggressive on the putting greens when he was missing a few short putts. Couldn’t understand how the ball didn’t drop on a few occasions. No, I I I calm as he seems to us, right? But I mean he’s I I’ve never he is like tigers in the competition. He’s like he he will be the last man standing. He he will die on the course to try to get one extra shot. I love that about his game. So high left arm, two training clubs, two aiming clubs getting his pictures right. Extremely high left arm, isn’t it, Simon? Yeah, it’s it’s it’s very steep the left arm. So Scotty Sheffller’s last nine results from the Masters. So fourth kind of hoham. Um, and then CJ win, PGA Championship win, fourth win, seventh, sixth, eighth. Um, that tied eighth intrigues me because that’s almost like a perfect warm-up for the Open. You get your blood pumping enough. He’s worked out plenty over the last week. So, ominous signs for the rest of the field. Yeah. And he wasn’t super hot. He had that hand injury which he kind of said took a while for him to get used to, but I would say the Sheffler team, the Sheffler camp game is back on forward. Three wins and a fourth in a month. That that’s kind of like Tiger Woods stuff. You know, you hear guys saying, “Ah, you know, I I’ve just won. I’m exhausted. I’m taking three weeks off.” And not Scotty Sheffller. Where’s the where’s the next competition? So, that is the best man in our game. stands very close to it, hands close to his body, left arm high, goes left early, and then just working that ball up to the apex and drops it down. I think he feels the face as well as anybody that I can see in the game right now. That those little microc calibrations that he makes superb at that. Amazing to think that when he played his first open at Roy St. Georgees, we barely barely looked at him. Barely knew who he was. Well, he he he did come out, I would say, as a as a as a hot hot college player and there were many. Yeah. And then he went on to he went on to cornfairy. Finished top of the pops in corn ferry and then he came out. It didn’t take him long. I think, you know, the putting on the tour was something that he, you know, maybe the green speeds or just finding the lines, something he’s worked on a lot. Phil Kenyon, putting whiz, putting guru, putting whisperer has helped him a lot. I actually flash back to the Waste Management Phoenix Open. It was one of my first ever gigs in America. And Scotty Sheffller was one of my first ever interviews. And I believe that I was one of his first ever interviews because he’d just come from the corn ferry tour and people are like, “Oh, you need to go talk to this this Sheffller guy.” And I was like, “I was that are you talking about Schae or Sheffller?” And it was a little bit of confusion. I’m like, “Oh, yeah, right.” So went and played a hole with him and and spent a good 20 minutes and it was great fun and and at the end I kind of jokingly said, “I remember the name.” And I didn’t remember the name and boy oh boy do I remember it now. Absolutely incredible looking back at the video and seeing the same swing but yet so unrecognizable back then. Still a lovely guy. Oh, a great interview. He’s a very he’s such a polite guy. He’s so so respectful and and golf is always lucky like we’re so often times our great champions are great ambassadors, global ambassadors for for our game. I think that’s such a a crucial part. We’ve been maybe we haven’t been lucky but like for me the best the best professional of maybe of all sports Arnold Palmer man he had time for everybody and I think that you know bless him he he created a legacy where pe where his way of behaving to the fans who are the who are the heartbeat of our game set set a benchmark set a set a a respect. So Sheffller, here we go. Let’s have a look at that left foot now. A little bit more action. Yeah, it’s like a landing the way that that left side launches up and then comes back down to the ground. So you can clearly see this is a relatively quick range session, purely a little warm-up session as he’ll go get his bearings at Port Rush. This is the best seat and you’re about to get the best view. Come on then. Time to go to work. So this is the opening hole at Royal Port Rush. A relatively short hole in fact, but most players will keep the driver in the bag and instead pull out the long iron to take these two fairway bunkers out of play. Now you’ve got internal out of bounds on either side of the hole, making it feel quite claustrophobic. Back in 2019, we had home favorite Rory Moy with the nation’s hopes upon his shoulders. And this is what happened next. Don’t tell me on the wrong side of the white line. Even the best get nervous. Even if you do hit the perfect T-OT, the difficulty doesn’t end there. With the second shot to approaching this green uphill without being able to see the putting surface, the majority of it does slope back to front. But this first third is a false front. Pitching there, you could end up at least 50 yards away, if not in that bunker, short left. Alternatively, some players might try and favor the right hand side to play a little bit safe, but then you overcook it. you’re going to leave yourself an absolute stinker down the hill, making it a difficult up and down. Alternatively, on the left hand side, you’ve got another bunker there playing hide-and-seek pretty much. And you’ve got the rough long left, too. Trust me, you don’t want to be there because it’s going to feel like you’re chipping up and over a mountain. You make a four on this opening hole, you’re sprinting to the next tea. When you think of Lynx golf, you think about playing golf along the coast, which we are, of course, to a certain degree. But starting off with the fifth is probably when we get a real good view. And this being the most scenic stretch of the golf course. You’re standing on that elevated tea box with everything in front of you. Now, this is a dry ball par left to right. Some players will opt to play the long iron down the left corner. Others will absolutely be tempted to take on this driveable par4 at just under 400 yards. It might be a driver or a fairway metal depending on that wind direction and strength of course. But they have to make a calculated decision because if you go for this anything along you’ve got the out of bounds where chaos truly meets beauty and probably the world’s biggest water hazard. Now this is the most exposed part of the golf course where the nature and the elements of nature will truly show its teeth. But up next you’ve got the par 3 6. You’ve got the instant change of direction. You can hear the waves crashing out on this corner. Don’t get distracted by these views because you’ve got that coming up next. And that looks like it’s got my name on it. Now that is some par three. Par 57th visually is one of the more dramatic holes cut amongst the dunes, especially with that one all the way down the right towering over you. And when you’re standing on that tea box, it really feels like it’s you against the golf course and you’ve got these two fairway bunkers staring right back at you. Starting off with this one on the right hand side could be in play of course win dependent but ahead of the open in 2019 they made a couple of changes and this is one of two holes where they did just that putting in that tiny bunker in the left corner. Despite only being so small it will catch a fair few players out and depending on your positioning it will determine whether or not you can take on this par five in two or not. The fairway snakes all the way gradually uphill. It will present some eagle opportunities if not birdies. Anything slightly weward you could get punished. Undulations a classic feature when it comes to links golf courses and they have their pros and cons. You can definitely use them to your advantage. We’re on the 10th happens to be called the Himalayas and this is a great example where you could hit the perfect T-shot and everything is spruced into place. Alternatively, you could hit an absolute pearler and just get an unlucky bounce and end up in no man’s land. But that’s the beauty of this game and the stage that Royal Port Rush presents itself. Alternatively, you can get quite unlucky and get varied lies. Here’s a great example where the ball is below my feet and imagine I’m standing over this with the wind howling from the left. Not only is it going to test my skill set, but also my balance and everything else that comes with it. That’s that’s not easy for sure. Anyway, the green over here is one of the most undulating one yet. Let’s go have a look. Race you. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. No. That’s not fair. You’ve got four wings and I’ve only got two legs. Anyway, tent is a great example of how everything valleys in and you could definitely use it to your advantage. But the beautiful thing about the open and how it sets itself apart from all the other tournaments and championships is that you can have a particular lie. You can put five different clubs in someone’s hand and there can be a multitude of ways you can pull it off. Yes, sometimes the result might be good, other times it might not. You can use the ground, you can take it out of play. Say this back flag, pitch it about there. That’s going to ride in. Alternatively, pitch it in the same spot, maybe with a bit of height. I mean, ideally, I really wanted that to come back just to show you the severity of it, but even that, that’s not a good place to miss. There’s a reason why I’m not a runner. Right? Imagine if you were about to hit this T-shirt. That’s it. From that T- box to this screen. Respectfully, I think the majority of us would genuinely struggle to reach this green, especially if it’s howling wind into. From 236 yards, and it only gets from bad to worse because there’s no place truly to lay up. Anything just short or right at this green, you get swallowed up by this steep chasm. And even for demonstration purposes, with all due respect, I’m not going to go down there because I think if I go down there, I’m not making it back up. But here’s a little history lesson for you guys. Back in 1951, Bobby Lock. He actually was a smart man cuz he played it down the left. And to this day, they call this the Bobby Lock hollow. That was his safe place. That’s where he could play from and see the whole green right in front of him. Trust me, from back there, this is a tiny target. This is the final test here at Royalport Rush. It’s a demanding T-shot with the out of bounds running all the way down the left. And on the flip side, you’ve got those googlyeyed bunkers staring right back at you. Now, if and that’s an if you can hit this intimidating fairway like Shane Larry did back in 2019 after he struck that second shot realizing that this was his moment walking down the fairway taking in the energy and the atmosphere that the final hole presents. Seeing his name up on that leaderboard and catching a glimmer of his family, he celebrated walking in between these two bunkers with both hands raised, realizing that this was his moment. Who will walk down this hole and become the 153rd champion golfer of the year? And the sun is out, which is marvelous. I mean playing this golf was I actually played it about a month ago. We did a special feature for the RNA. It was absolutely fantastic. But you had four seasons in one day. The ninth hole which is now called Darren Clark’s hole. It was into wind and I just about made the fairway. If you played Royal Port Rush here, you’ll know what I mean. Had a great cup of coffee with Harry in the halfway hut and then went on to the 10th hole which is one of Shane Lowry’s famous holes from back in 2019, his second shot. It was one of the iconic shots of the tournament, wasn’t it? On the way to that 63 on the Saturday. But right now, we’ve got the players here. They’re all starting to practice. They’re all flying in. I saw Dan Brown, who’s obviously won recently on BMW International Open. He’s in it just as sort of tracksuit bottoms right now. Did you see him? He’s not in his golf gear. He’s very He’s very chilled. Yes. If if you if you do want someone new to follow on social media, he’s a great guy to Oh, is he? Tell me why. He I I’ve never known like a golfer to like kind of care less about being like a pro. You know what I mean? It is very down to earth. Very down to earth. Great follow like a a man of the people. Let’s keep let’s keep going as Kevin, our cameraman, walks backward, which is a a skill in itself. We’ve got everyone from CBS, from the Golf Channel, um NBC, everyone flying in from all around the world. And why wouldn’t you for the greatest major championship, the open championship, but what have you seen? players are just sort of getting, you know, finding their feet right now, aren’t they? On the Monday, I would say up to this point is quite relaxed. Like there’s a lot of people saying hello, catching up. Mind seen each other for quite some time, just getting loosened and heading out onto the golf course. It doesn’t it just feels like a nice reunion right now. It doesn’t feel like somebody is about to make history. And I think that will start ramp as the week goes on. Yeah, it all starts obviously on Thursday. Very early tea shop. We spoke to Darren Clark who was who hit the first tea shop back in 2019. He said the nerves, my goodness, he felt them. Don’t forget this is the third time that the open has been here at Royal Port Rush. 1951 2019 and now 2025. The stage is set. We’re going to be back this afternoon, aren’t we? Yeah, we’ve got a couple hours. I know. Hopefully the sun stays out. We’ll see you at 2:00. All the stories, all the analysis, cameras everywhere. We promise we’ve got you. See you at two. Oh, it’s in. It’s in the rain of the wind. Here she comes. Oh, no. I don’t believe it. This is just extraordinary. Good afternoon. We are live at the range. It is Monday of the 153rd Open, the Royal Port Rush. Sunny pictures now. Great crowds just coming out. We have had a bit of Mother Nature showing up. A little bit of a delay. Players had to come in off the golf course. A weather alert. We have resumed normal function and fantastic scenes as we bring you all of the pictures from the driving range. The driving range is lit up by Top Trace with lots of technology, the same technology as the players use. There it is. There is our worm cam view. Don’t often get to see balls hit over a camera. Little bit of rain just zipping around. There it is. It looked nothing like that 30 minutes ago. I can tell you showers are forecast. 18° a little bit of wind. It’s a typical Lynx day and we want a bit of that to really show off the links. here with Tim Barta who’s been out on the golf course having a cruise around. Any initial thoughts, Tim? Yes, it looks quite difficult to me. Um, lots of elevation changes, lots of extremely wellplaced bunkers. Uh, obviously very dependent on conditions. Um, you know, we saw last time around there’s low score out there if the conditions allow and there it can get horrific as it did on the final day and people were shooting high numbers. So, it’s a it’s a fabulous golf course. I think tactically one of the most difficult to unlock. Of course, chatting to a couple of very experienced caddies this morning and they both said the same thing that coming up with a plan here is almost as difficult as anywhere in the world to play because there’s just certain holes you think what is the best way to play this hole and it really taxes them. So, yeah, it’s great. So much calibration needed if you’re going to get your hands on the clar jug. And one of those men has just arrived. The man who has got the grand slam of golf. We had a chance to have a few words from him. Okay. Good afternoon everyone. Welcome to the opening press conference of the 153rd Open. I’m delighted to welcome former Open Champion and of course current Mast’s champion Rory Maroy to the interview room. Rory, thank you for joining us today. Um I’d like to start just by asking you what it means to be back here competing in the open on home soil. Yeah, it um yeah, it it means an awful lot, you know. It’s um it’s weird. It doesn’t feel like six years has passed since since 2019. Um I think it’s amazing that Port Rush has this opportunity so soon after the last open to host again. Um and yeah, just you know, great great to be back. um you know I don’t spend a lot of time um in these parts anymore just with travel schedule you know living abroad all that stuff so um to be here to see a lot of familiar faces um you know even some of the you know every you know hole on the course has a different team of marshals from different golf clubs and then just to see people that you know I’ve met throughout the years um out there this morning was really nice but yeah it’s um it’s really nice to be back and obviously very very excited for the week. Okay. Well, thank you. We’ll start with Dan in the middle there, please. Rory, you spoke after the Masters about needing to find your next Mount Everest. Your last two starts have been really really solid. How would you describe how you’re feeling coming into this week, coming into how you’ve uh came into maybe the PGA or the US Open? Yeah, I’m I’m certainly um encouraged by how I’ve played the last two starts, especially last week in Scotland. Um yeah, it’s been I think the two weeks off after the travelers just to reset to get over here um bit of a change of scenery um has been has been really nice. Uh and yeah, like this is, you know, when I was looking at the calendar for 2025, this was, you know, this was the um the tournament that was probably um I don’t know, circled even more so than the Masters for for different reasons. So, it’s it’s lovely to be coming in here already with the major um and everything else that’s happened this year. So, um and I, you know, I’m I’m excited with where my game is. I I felt like I showed some really good signs last week and um you know feel like I’m in a good spot and and you know had a not that last week was a pure preparation week but it definitely um I feel like it put me in a good spot heading into here. Okay, next question. Back left swami. Yeah. Yeah. Ronnie U I mean the pressure is off the slam is there. The masters is there. Is it is the pressure off? I know there’s always a pressure. I mean now playing at home uh you also spoke about your schedule now you’re in now you’re kind of adding new parts of the world like my part of the world India so like um any comments on that and now does it mean that you will be seen more often in different parts of the world yeah I um I hope so you know I I there’s you know I’ve certainly um voiced my views and opinions about you know the top level of men’s professional golf maybe needs to get a little more um international in some ways and yeah I’m I’m excited to go to India I’ve never been before um so I’m excited just to take in a new place and and a new culture and um you know play yeah play in different parts of the world. I’m going to Australia at the end of this year as well. Um and I’ve always I always have I’ve always been a you know quite an international player and I’ve enjoyed going to different places and I just think at this stage in my career you know basically 18 years into my professional career to still be able to experience new things and playing new tournaments. Um you know that’s something that that means a lot to me. Okay Mark the front left there. Hey Rory. Um, what are your most vivid recollections of the emotional week here in 19 and and what do you take away from that that maybe helps you this week? Yeah. Um, I think I remember not um the ovation I got on the first tea on Thursday and not being prepared for it or not being, you know, ready for how I was going to feel or what I was going to feel. Um, and then the the golf on Thursday feels like a bit of a blur. I try to forget that part of it. But, um, I remember the run on Friday. Um, I remember, uh, I hit a, you know, I was making a charge and and, you know, you know, making a run to try to make the cut. And, uh, I hit a sixiron into the 14th second shot. And I remember the roar from the crowd. you know, it was sort of getting a little dark and it was overcast and um I just I for whatever reason like that’s the one thing I remember is that shot and that roar of the crowd and you know walking up to that green and getting a standing ovation and um you know that was that was um it was really special. You know, I I wish I had have been here for two more days to to get a bit more of that and experience it. But um you know, hopefully I I can change that this week. We come to the middle here. Next question. Rory, I think it was in full swing. You were talking about you and Shane’s relationship and you mentioned he can be kind of a good role model for you in some ways. I’m just wondering if there’s any traits of his or characteristics that you envy or wish to embody in in yourself. Yeah, I mean I’ve um yeah, Sheen and I have become, you know, we’ve always been close, but I think we’ve become very close over the the last um sort of five or six years. I think um once we both had kids or at least once I had kids or had a daughter and and I see how Shane is with his daughters um and I just think the you know when I say like a role model I just think about like how um how he is off the course, how he is able to separate his um you know his family life and his his normal life from from his golfing life. Um, and look, it it may be a little more I’m in a little bit of a different position, so it may be a little more difficult for me, but it’s definitely um a a place that I strive to be in to to be as um comfortable getting away from it as as he is in a way. and um enjoying enjoying the fruits of your success and and um you know sharing that with your loved ones and you know so that I think more more so that I mean that’s a you know one of my New Year’s resolutions was to have more fun you know and I think you know Shane is very good at having fun and you know I need more of that in my life. Uh next question back there number one. Yeah you Hi Rory. Um, just following on from trying to think positively about Port Rush, uh, what are your memories of breaking the course record as a 16-year-old? And speaking about that same kind of topic of being an artist instead of a scientist, how do you reflect on the golfer that you are now compared to the golfer that you were who broke the course record? Yeah, I honestly I don’t I remember a little bit of it. I don’t remember a lot of it. Um, you know, I know I was, I think I was nine under for the last 10 holes. Um, you know, I had it, you know, I had it going with the putter a little bit. It was, you know, it was certainly the first time I’d ever felt, um, like in the zone or that flow state or whatever you want to, whatever you want to call it. Um, and yeah, I, you know, I think as well like this golf course has changed. Like I still like it’s weird the way you know the the the original 17th and 18th have been taken out of this golf course and you know the new seventh and eighth have been put in but I still you know Harry and I were talking about the course last week and he’s like oh yeah on the 12th hole. And I’m like no that’s not it’s the 10th hole. He’s like no it’s the 12th. So like even now I still remember this course the way it was and and not the way it is for the open. And you I’ve only play, you know, I’ve only played I played the Irish Open in 2012, but it was still the the original golf course. So, I’ve really only played two competitive rounds on this new golf course. Um, so it’s a it’s a little bit different. And but um I think yeah, look, when I shot that 61 when I was 16, I I had a little bit of a clue of what I was doing, but I I certainly didn’t have as much of an understanding of of the game or of my game as as I do now. And I think, you know, in that 20 years, technologies evolved. Um, I don’t even think Trackmans were a thing at that point. So, like, there’s a lot of different things that have, um, happened to the game of golf that probably push you in the direction of a scientist more than an artist. Um, but as we all know, you know, the Open Championship and Lynx golf, you you need to show, you know, quite a lot of artistry to um to do well here. Becoming champion golfer of the year is rarely a straight line. I got to play my first open very fortunately in St. Andrews as a golfer’s most special place in the world. To play an open there is incredible and I actually played quite well. Nicely done. 300 through 10. I didn’t qualify in 2011. I didn’t qualify in 2012. 2014 I shot 65 in the final round actually to finish ninth which was pretty cool. That was my best finish ever in a major and then from 2015 onwards kind of all downhill at the open championship. Got to break a few eggs before you can make an omelet. I was just going through such a bad phase in my career and then 2018 was Carnusi where myself and my caddy split up and probably one of the lowest points of my whole career. I don’t think I’ve ever been in such good form going into an open. What a start. Shane moves to 11 on He’s leading the Open Championship. I get down onto the tea and I’m looking around, the crowd are going mental and I’m just taking it all in. I’m like, this is incredible. Oh, what a boys in Lowry. There’s no in between today. Like, it’s either going to be one of the best days of my life or one of the worst. What a time to throw in another birdie. I have to go and win. And that’s the way I felt. And thankfully, I did. Just swing. Visit golf.golf to find out more. Just swing. Visit golf.golf to get started. Why not give golf a go? Just swing. Swing wild. Swing weird. Swing wonky. Whoever, however, wherever. It doesn’t matter. Just swing. Head over to golf.golf to start playing. Find out where you can learn to play at golf.golf. Welcome back to Live at the Range. We’re here at Royal Port Rush for the 2025 Open Championship here with Inymet. Good to see you, Ins. You’ve just flown in. Absolutely. It’s great to be here. I just love the atmosphere. It’s the open. If if Kev, our cameraman, can pan around, we can see the ground stand. It’s absolutely packed. We’ve we’ve obviously we had a bit of a weather warning about an hour ago. Everyone had to get off the course. Bit of possible thunder and lightning in the area. It wasn’t to be. It was raining. Sun’s now out. You get four seasons in one day here, don’t you? I love that about the UK. And that’s the most amazing thing. Honestly, moments ago, this whole place was absolutely empty. Safety comes first, of course. And now it’s absolutely rampacked. And yeah, very envious of these amazing spectators just soak in all the action. It’s amazing. Welcome to the range. I’m going to show you as well if we can pan around and show everyone who’s watching wherever you are in your kitchen, in your garden, at work, possibly working from home. You can see the 16th, can’t you? The grandstand there overlooking one of the famous holes here, Calamity Corner. Pretty good view to go up there, isn’t it? It’s a beautiful but a scary hole. I mean, there’s no real layup on that path three. Anything short or right, you know, if you climb back down, you’re not going to make it back up. Uh, and interestingly, a lot of players, they actually play down to the left, that little hollow. It’s quite famous. It’s like hollow. Exactly. You get a great view of the green, but if you look at the kind of surrounding of the range, it’s the kind of characteristics of the dunes, the features, and you’ll see that out on the golf course and even simulated here on the driving range. It’s it’s definitely something we’ll see out this week. It really is. You can feel the wind, can’t you? that the elements are going to play a big part this week. Over the next few days, the weather report, it seems to be changing as I keep looking at it, but this is what we want for an open championship. Uh the players are going to be truly tested and it’s a pretty star-studded event as you would imagine when you’ve got an hour in the clubhouse or so coming back out. The the place here, the range is absolutely rammed with superstars. Who have you spotted? Oh, we’ve got a real bunch here so far. I mean, look, we’ve got Dustin Johnson, we’ve got Victor Hovlin, we’ve got Ricky Fowler, Patrick Hentley, we’ve got JJ. Yeah. I mean, it’s just quite a stared section. And maybe for some, you got Tristan Lawrence as well, who predominately plays on the DP World Tour, earned his status out in the PJ tour, playing much better of recent. So, yeah, it’s it’s really quite an amazing range so far. And I love watching players practice, especially this early in the tournament week, because it’s quite interesting how they actually tackle it. Some players, they love to kind of grind it out, start practicing. You know, the coaches are here, they can really focus and work on things. Other players, they feel like they’ve done that. You know, they’re here to play and how do they can they simulate the golf course out here on the range? You everyone’s got their different approaches. So, it’s really fascinating to kind of tune in. it. I spoke to Justin Rose a couple of weeks ago and we spoke ahead of the open championship and he says if you’re trying to find something, if you’ve not brought your game to the open to a major, you’re going to be in a bit of trouble. You got to do the work beforehand. You got to make sure that you play this golf course. Would you agree with that? 100%. And I think the most beautiful thing about the open, one of my kind of favorite features of this sort of championship is I think Scottish Sheffller summed it up really well last week at the Scottish. This is a great example how you could have one particular line shot and you can play five different ways. Yeah, there’s a real multitude and how you can kind of pull something off and Link’s golf course is kind of designed around using the ground or you can kind of take it out to play and I love that sort of versatility that we get and then throwing crazy weather that changes every 5 seconds. There’s so many variables in this kind of game in this sort of stage that we absolutely adore. Yeah, we do. I I played the course about a month ago and going down the ninth hole, it was pretty brutal. Into wind, into rain. We waited in the halfway hut. 10 minutes later, all the locals said, “Just you wait. It’s going to be sunny in a moment.” And it was playing the 10th. And it’s a bit like today, isn’t it? You know, after they they all do. We’re going to do a little little walk actually if we can down uh down the range. But we don’t want Kevin, our cameraman, to to walk into anything, but we’ll uh That’s the hardest gig really. It’s really He’s doing a brilliant job, isn’t he? And then the caddy is protecting it. Nearly went into a couple of bags. But um it’s yeah, we’ve got the the grandson to our right. Everyone’s here on our our left hand side, but as you say, you’ve just you’ve just arrived. And today it’s about getting to know the property, finding your hotel, sorting out your equipment as well. We’ve seen a lot of two irons in the bag. Would you expect that? And and a one iron. We’ve seen one one iron so far. Wow. A little butter knife. I love that. Uh yeah, I think typically in terms of what a Monday would look like, especially if you’ve maybe just come from the Scottish, there’s a certain degree of maybe taking a lot easier, get like you said, just kind of getting your bearings. Uh taking your time, maybe just doing a basicote check as well. You know, just fine-tuning, making sure your fundamentals, you know, your alignment’s great, you’re you’re feeling good, and it’s all about mapping out the golf courses as well. So golf being an individual sport, it’s a team effort, too. Caddies will be going out there, you know, really mapping out the strategy. You know, what’s my finish line? You don’t really want to pick out your start line cuz that could change throughout the week. So, it’s just really kind of gauging that sort of confidence and being comfortable with your arena. Absolutely. You did a a drone shoot here which we’ve seen which was brilliant and you were throwing golf balls on the green and they were going in all sorts of directions. It just shows how much the undulation plays a part and all these elevations as well. We spoke to Darren Clark earlier of course a former open champ and and lives literally a stones throw away. case as he knows this course like the back of his hand, but anything can happen once the wind picks up. You don’t know exactly where the ball’s going to go. Yeah, you could pitch the ball in the same spot, but two different trajectories could result into two completely different outcomes. One’s a great example with that false front. Uh, you know, anything pitching in that front section, you could just end up 50 yards away. You know, it can make you look like a fool at times, but this game is hard. It It certainly is. Actually, mate said occasionally it’s easy. So, we want to speak to him more about how he makes it so easy. Um, listen, we’ll keep you up to date with what’s going on here. We’re on Rory watch as well. He’s just been in the press conference and he says he wants to have have fun here in Northern Ireland. He’s meeting up with mates and and family. He said, “Gosh, we can’t wait to see him, can we?” But for now, let’s get to George. He’s out and about. George, where are you? Yes. Hello everyone. It is great to be back at the open here in Port Rush. I am your man on the ground for the week. I’ve been in the commentary box this morning, but now I am off the leash and I’m excited to be here. It’s such a good setup. Once again, the RNA have done an amazing job. We’ve got the open clubhouse here. So, we’ve just seen a cohort of players rushing off after the little rain delay. So, there is plenty of the best talent here at Royal Port Rush. And they come along this massive gang way uh down to the first tea and the practice screen. But look at this. Just a reminder, this is a Monday, but the crowds are massive. And I’m here to take you behind the scenes. if you’re not here as part of this great crowd, my jobs to take you where you would want to go. So, please leave us some comments, but also we’re going to get some interviews with as many players as we can over the next three or four days. Uh we’ll be doors stopping a lot of them. It’s pretty hectic out here because there is literally so many players that are just the best of the best. So, here is the putting green. Uh a lot of the players will start here and finish here. Relaxing. We’ve got Cameron Smith out there. Tommy Fleetwood’s out there. It just gets better and better. So, it’s an amazing setup. And you can see here the fans arrive through this shoot. And can you imagine this walkway later in the week when the crowds are everywhere, the players are on fire, Sunday afternoon, the juices are flowing. It’s going to be great. And then, as you can see, the first tea. So, it’s can be quite a nervous walk at times, especially if you are in contention. But long story short, I was here in 2019. Lots of memories, lots of good, some bad. But this first hole looking straight up the shoot here, absolutely stunning. Uh, a few a few bad memories if you’re Mr. Maroy who’s in the press center, but there’s a lot of good memories for players like Shane Lowry and whatnot. Got some great golfers on here. Look, we got young Daniel Hillier from New Zealand there. Arsh Bart is out there. It just doesn’t stop. So hopefully when I head out on the course over the next few days, I can give you all the very best access and interviews that I can. So keep in touch and uh hopefully we’ll see you very shortly with some of the best in the business. Yeah, fantastic George catching all of the most indepth sort of ideas and thoughts from the players. We are live at the range. This is sort of the view from this from the grand stand out onto the driving range. Two holes make up the driving range. There you can see all of the different targets. Tim Bart, one of the best ranges you’ve seen. Certainly. Yes. So I mean the number of targets is going to please the players because obviously with the different wind conditions you like to be able to hit the ball in particular directions so you’re not fighting a wind that you’re particularly uncomfortable with. I know Jack Nicholas as a fader of the ball hated practicing in a left to right wind and on occasion if that was the only option he wasn’t allowed to go at the other end of the range. He’d say, “Well, I won’t practice then cuz it’s going to spoil my swing.” So people do like to hit the ball in particular directions and and wind conditions that they enjoy. Um, and therefore with the variability of the targets here, they’re able to maybe switch around a little bit and hit it into the wind more if that’s what they want to do or practice in a left to right wind if they’ve been struggling with that. As Rory talked about last week at the Scottish Open, he said just off the tea, I’m just not quite comfortable in that left to right breeze. The practice ground then turned left to right over the weekend and he said he was able to work on it and fix it. So yeah, it’s interesting. The west north west northwest is the prevailing wind here. So here we go. Here’s our worm cam. don’t often get to see a player hit over your head. It’s quite an interesting angle, isn’t it, S? Both of us being coaches to actually film from so you can actually see the impact position and how open the hips are and how square or whatever the shoulders are at impact. It’s a great angle on a coach. I think that’s what that’s what we see here. So, um, you know, probably if you think about if you had a parallel line or a stick on the ground at impact on average, most of the players would probably be like 30° open to that with their hips and not that far off that with their chest. So, you can see how how much, you know, look where he’s rotated to. He’s he’s hitting he’s rotated sort of like if the target’s 12:00, he’s finished at sort of 10:00. It’s like so completed. I think that’s what’s probably an amateur, an amateur hits to the ball and hopes he’s done. Whereas a pro, the ball just gets in the way of this of this amazing movement all the way through. So, let’s see who’s out there. The stars have arrived. Scotty Sheffller out on the course. So, As we move down, Tom McKibben from Ireland, see all of your stars trying to find, you know, what what do you think, Tim? If you’ve come from the PJ tour and you come to Lynx golf, what’s the one or two biggest adjustments that must be the most difficult to get your head around? Well, obviously on the greens, particularly on a links course, the greens are going to be significant slower than they they are at home. So, they’re going to have to adapt their technique to suit that. Um, and it’s so instinctive, isn’t it, reading greens, um, and you get so used to being dialed into a 12 or 12 and a half on the stim meter, fairly quick greens, in other words, then suddenly you’re faced with something that runs two feet slower over a relatively short distance. And you’ve got to suddenly recalibrate completely. And and Scotty Sheffler suffered with that last week. He he really didn’t find the speed of the grids at all. So hopefully this week, having had that experience, he’s closer to dialing in his numbers. And um, so that’s the biggest adjustment they have to play. Plus, I think the wind over here is so much heavier than it is in America that it has a much greater effect on the golf ball. So, guys look at it and they sort of calibrate and think, okay, well, into a 20 mph wind, I’m going to hit so much um less far with my five iron. But over here, the wind is so much heavier that it has a much bigger impact. So, these are all things that the guys coming from America would really have to grind away at and try and figure out. Yeah, it was funny because, you know, Tiger always had the reputation of being sort of the biggest grinder of hitting golf balls. Well, I watched him at the open. Um, he’s he spent most of his time in the putting green. Um, it was amazing. So, you have to now enter a ballot to come and join the greatest show on grass, which is the open championship. Can scan that QR code and enter the ballot for next year. Um, it is, you know, it’s a and it’s a family show. Like, don’t in any way hesitate to bring your kids. There tons and tons of stuff to do in the enormous tented villages that we have out here. Super important. Yeah. So, last year’s winner, Sandra Shalay, spent a few minutes with our own Henny Zul in the open zone. Let’s join them now. Ladies and gentlemen, a very warm welcome to our defending champion golfer of the year, Zambber. Hey, Zambber. Good. How are you? What’s going on? Good to see you. Nice to see you. Good to see you as well. Now, you have sadly just had to hand back the clar jug this morning. That’s correct. What are some of the emotions coming back on site at an open championship? Uh yeah, I mean, you know, with the venue changing, it feels uh a bit new, I guess. Um but yeah, bitter bittersweet to give it away. Uh definitely motivation to to try and hold it again for a year. Are some of the memories from last year flooding back to you? I know obviously it’s a different venue, but a lot of the buildout very similar and it’s the open championship. Yeah. Um RNA does a great job with the buildout. It literally feels the exact same, just sort of twisted a different direction. So, a lot of a lot of similar feels, a lot of similar familiar faces. Um and yeah, just really I remember last time I was here, I enjoyed playing the course a lot. So looking forward to sort of relearning it and uh preparing for the week. Uh well in terms of some of those familiar feels and memories, we’re going to show you a few highlights from your final round last year at Royal Trune. Uh it was low round of the tournament. It was a 65 bogey free to get it just bump up the hill. Talk us through this. Yeah, this was a a bad spot and um you know when you’re trying to win a tournament, you have to sort of get away with certain things and one of those where you sort of get guess how it’s going to come out and it came out perfect. uh at the turn. This was again another little save for you. Yeah, this was actually not not a terrible place to leave it. Nine’s a a really brutal brutal hole and um when you walk away with a four, you’re you’re you’re ecstatic. I mentioned it was a bogey 365. This on 11 kicked off a stretch of four birdies in six holes. Yeah, it just it feels, you know, looking back on it just feels like a little bit of luck, you know, to to hit a pitching wedge. Yeah. I mean to hit a pitching wedge to 3 ft on 11. Um you’re trying to walk out of there with four, maybe five and and feel good about it. And then this was the moment down 18. What were some of you the emotions that you were feeling at this point? Just hit the green. Um you know, there’s there’s some some deadly bunkers around this around this hole and my goal was just to hit the green. You know, luckily it was it was downwind and there’s no better hole to to have a two- shot lead on hitting iron off a tea. Uh so an incredible walk down 18. Uh really cool to share that with Austin and yeah it’s uh it’s the best walk in golf. Uh now this was your second major victory and second major in that calendar year. The first one being PGA at Valhalla. What did that first major give you that perhaps you utilized here in the final round? Just a lot of confidence. You know I feel I I kept saying just just give me a chance. You know just sort of this newfound belief um clipping the first one at Valhalla and um my goal was to just get myself in contention. So Saturday was a really big day for for us and put myself in in a good spot and uh was able to to pull through on on this Sunday. Just in terms of that first major giving you a lot of confidence to do what you did here 12 months ago. Obviously as fans and in the media we talk about lot a lot about what the players do and you know what you’re winning or not winning and where your game is at. But for you personally, how does that feel and how does that story or narrative feel to just get that weight off of your shoulders and to to move forwards? Yeah, it was it was incredible. Um, you know, definitely some whispers I heard of of of being close often and not getting over the hump. So, just a big monkey off my back and um, you know, the the the hope is to, you know, it’ll free myself up moving forward in in future majors. Um, since then, you had a little bit of an injury over the winter, but you’ve been building yourself back up. Last week, top 10 finish. Where’s the game at now? How’s it feeling? Yeah, I I’ve been trying hard to to get back, you know. Um pretty pretty humbling uh experience there. Sort of my first injury. Uh a lot of firsts u you know first first couple majors and first injury. Um you know I was sort of felt like I was on on cloud nine for a little bit and then uh got struck off of it. So been trying to find my my way back up to to the top of the mountain. Yes. Uh well hopefully what we’re about to do with you will kickstart that climb up the mountain. You’re halfway there. We’re just going to help you to summit hopefully. Um, we’ve got our Shane Lowry challenge that we’d love for you to take on. So, back in 2019, he’s walking up 18 with a two-shot victory, two shot lead. Um, and he had 175 yards into that final green. Okay, this is the shot here that we have recreated on our mat. Now, you’re used to a bit of simulator technology um, having played in TGL, but with our platform golf mat, we’ve got it. It was a little bit below his feet. The ball, it was uphill to the pin. Okay. So, we’ve got that here. All right. And we’ve also got our causeway Giants Causeway Stones there, which is where the pin was. Um, so nearest is off the top of my memory, I think it was 15 yards to beat. Okay. 15.1 yards. I’m hearing 45 ft. Um, yeah, like I said, winds down off the right 175 nearest on the spot. Haven’t even swung a club today. Wish me luck. Um, but do you feel nah? I feel like you look like fairly flexible. You’d be fine. Yeah, right. You know, just talking about how I was just injured and here I am swinging ice cold. But you’re an athlete at the peak of his game. Yeah, we’ll just won’t even use a glove. All right. I mean, feel free to have a few stretches. Don’t let me No worries. I don’t want to keep everyone waiting here. Uh, so is this normalized? Uh, yes it is normalized. You know what? I’m gonna club up here, ladies and gentlemen. Okay. Play it safe. 175. What have you got? I have a seven iron now. Okay. Okay. I’m feeling this for you. Are you? Yeah. I’m not feeling very good about this to be completely honest. One of us is. 175. Oh, Xander. Catch a break. Okay. Got some odds to find out. Pretty good for me. 10.5 yards. You are the current leader. We’ve got our replay in coming here just so that you can embody this flight. Absolutely cold. First shot of the day. It was. Yeah. It I know. Looks like I’m done warming up. Exactly. You don’t need to hit the range now. It’s overrated. Here we go. Look at that. All right, that was good. Taking it. What is your uh current swing thought? That’s a dark hole you don’t want to crawl into there. Got a few going. Just one. Um the top one. Do you actually have a few on the go? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oh, come on. Give me the full what’s going Oh, it’s I’ve been working a lot with Chris Como and um my swing used to be sort of shut really shut and laid off and uh for you know a year or two I was pushing getting the club more online and this year when I came back from injury for some reason it was short and really across. So for the last you know month we’ve been trying to get it back to being more laid off which is a horrendous feeling. Is it? Yeah. So that looked all right. Well that was looking good. Yeah, that’s working well. Um, last year I seem to remember that you played a practice round big money match with JT. Similar plans this year. Is that like a good luck thing that you’re going to keep going? Uh, we actually spoke about it. Uh, it’s been a while since um since we played played a match. But, um, yeah, I think I’m I’m going to go out this afternoon around 1, maybe play, you know, 18, hopefully hopefully nine and see how I feel. But, uh, yeah. Um, I need to warm up before I play any money matches. No, no, you don’t. Not from what we’ve seen. Xander, thank you so much for joining us and very best of luck this week. We’ll give you a final chance to say goodbye to the clar jug for now. Not touching it yet. No. Thank you so much. Thank you. Xander Shelf had an injury weight training. Can you believe that of all the things? So, um, just knocked him off piece completely. Comes across as a charming guy, doesn’t he? He’s been a good open champion. He really has been a good open champion. I was there this morning, um, conducting the sort of interview when he handed the trophy back and I said, you know, you explained last year how incredible the feeling was to receive the cleric jug. Describe your emotions handing it back and he said, “It sucks and I want to get it back on Sunday.” So yeah, a good guy, good sense of humor and uh we look forward to seeing him play this week. Having a top 10 last week, obviously he’s acclimatized very well. He’s coming back to form after the injury as we know. So I wouldn’t count him out at all this week. He’s a very very good player in these sort of conditions. Yeah, he was a great champion. Now JJ Spawn is a US Open champion at Oakmont of all places in an unbelievable fashion. Tim, did you have a chance to have a closer look at that? Oh, absolutely. It was incredible, wasn’t it? I mean, the start to the final round he had was just brutal. He hit the pin at the second. The ball ricocheted off the green. He made a bogey, made four or five bogeies in his first six holes, and you thought, “Well, JJ’s races run. He’s out of it.” And then the rain delay came. He regrouped, came out and played phenomenal golf. Um, apparently, partly because he’d had a chat with, I think, Justin Thomas, and they were talking about how Tiger had said to Justin at one stage, you know, if you’re four or five behind in a major, even with nine holes to go, just hang around. Stay there. Don’t chase. Don’t go chasing pins trying to catch up because incredible things happen in majors. And JJ had that ringing around in his head thinking, “Okay, Tiger, the main man, said just hang around, hang around, see what happens.” And suddenly the leader makes a couple of bogeies and he’s right in the race. And he converted it with a beautiful 64t putt on the final green, which was the fairy tale. So JJ Spawn, the fourth and final major of the year, is here right now. JJ Spawn, an incredible victory with some big guns behind him. Not the guy we thought he was going to win. We are live at the range. This is the centerpiece, the focus. The guys working on their games, working on their co with their coaches, finding a swing that suits these conditions. putting new clubs in the bag. Do you think, Tim, that that’s an easy thing to do, just slot in a new club that’s a new number to flight it down? Absolutely not. But obviously, it depends on the makeup of your bag. If you, for instance, have a lofted wood in there that normally you enjoy flying high in America and landing softly on par five greens and suddenly you come over here and you need a two iron in there to keep it under the breeze and find some narrow fairways in these first farm running conditions. Then the fivewoods out, the two irons in, and they obviously spend these days just dialing in exactly what number they want in terms of what loft they want and what sort of configuration they want for the club to to suit the type of ball flight they’re trying to create. Obviously, also they with the short irons, they sometimes change the short irons because of the bounce on the bottom of the club, the amount that the back edge of the club is below the front edge, the leading edge. Um, in America, they tend to have quite a lot of bounce there because of there’s always grass under the ball here. It gets very tight. So uh therefore they change those Brooks Kepka for the first time with Pete Cowan dispensing wisdom behind him. Pete Cowan, what a great man he is. Loves coaching golf, doesn’t he? Couldn’t Couldn’t Where’s his home away from home? It’s the driving range. Wherever people are hitting balls, Pete Cowan would love to be there. Yeah, I’ve been talking to him for 30 or 40 years about the golf swing, and he’s just so enthusiastic, so knowledgeable, and he keeps talking about, you know, one day I’m going to pack it up and retire. He never will. He loves being Pete Cow. He loves being on the range and imparting his incredible knowledge to these players, coached to so many major champions. You know, sometimes half of each Ryder Cup team is coached by Pete Cow. It’s extraordinary the number of players that he has. But I’ve I’ve certainly learned a great deal from him over the years. Yeah. So, Kepka ran close here the last time. Do you always fancy Kepka someone like his game around a Lynx golf course? And and as he’s shown in the past, he’s, you know, five time major champion and he steps up to these big occasions. This is what he lives for. You know, he he has a better record in majors than he does in regular PJ tour events or regular events. He’s played around the world. So, he is inspired by these these championships. He loves to be tested. He’s got a great temperament to go out there and and know when to attack a golf course and when to defend and he’s a great craftsman in that respect. Hasn’t perhaps been in the greatest of form recently, but uh occasional flashes of the old brilliance which suggest that he could come and and contend again. And again with Pete alongside him. He obviously worked with Claude Harmon for a long time, but they’ve parted company again having party company many times in the past. They seem to get back together. But at the moment he’s working with Pete Karan and just trying to hone that very unique swing that he has. Yeah, it’s a sort of a kind of a left early stay left steep, isn’t it? So here is the exactly the the stats. So Top Tracer technology is bringing you all of these numbers. Um one uh 342 carry yards annoyingly powerful. looks fairly efficent 173 balls speed’s kind of PJ to that’s a little hotter ke built like a linebacker as much as he’s built like a golfer so you’re always expecting him to have more juice in the tank 113 apex 120 110 that’s kind of the range for PGA Tour we’re going to see him probably drop a few down just trying to flight them lower 70 apex 60 to 70 apex is kind what we’re expecting on kind of a stinger shot and it’s a quite a big adjustment to drop that much from your normal pattern. Yeah, absolutely. But a crucial score to have in these conditions because when you’re playing a links course, if you get that down breeze and it’s a long par five or par five here, 600 yds plus, you want to be able to launch one high and really ride the wind and then you get into a strong headwind, you need to be able to keep the ball out of the breeze as much as you can. So the ability to control your trajectory and control the flight of the ball absolutely crucial particularly when the breeze gets up on a link’s course. Yeah, there’s so much technology now in the game. You can just call your manufacturer in to say I want this minor tiny adjustment. You see the the the big massive trucks behind the driving range to the left of our picture, the right of the range as we come on. So this is teed down a bit lower. See if that was flighted down. Be interesting to see what Kepka’s campaign looks like this week. We always think of him as a major a major contender. A guy who shows up mentally for the big occasion. Yeah, very definitely. As I say, he seems to be inspired by the majors and particularly the tougher tests. So, you put him on a a really difficult golf course and he’s got the mentality to get around it and figure out what a good score is. And that’s a real value that you need to understand on a on a day that you go on a golf course, what represents a good score. Understanding that some days level par is a great score and how do you achieve it? How do you nerdle the way round the golf course, take the risks out of play in the way that Tiger took all the bunkers out of play at St. because he knew they were virtually a penalty shot. So having a tactical attitude to links golf particularly and and saying to yourself right what represents a good score how am I going to shoot it and he has that particular talent in in bucket loads. Yeah, it is. I think you know not not to say PJ Tur is kind of like you know onedimensional but it does seem to be many occasions like a stampede to 22 24 underpar and certain players where good score is where a good score is around four five six under and you have to grind it out. I always think Rose is good at that. He’s another one of those different view from behind now. Now the the guy next to him can pump it out. I can tell you that. So if you think Kepka’s long, Aldrich Podgita in the shorts is seriously long. Well, he hit one off the first TE in Scotland last week. First shot of the of the tournament off the first TE at the Scottish Open. 401 yards. Admittedly firm fairway, slightly downwind, but 401. Yeah. Well, I was I was chatting to him yesterday on the driving range. He was warming up. He’s just going through a few different drivers. A driver that he can get the ball more up in his stance. He’s trying to get it more up to his left toe and then trying to not get the spin too high. And I mean, he had he was practicing with 128 mi of of of club head speed. Hit two balls yesterday just working on his game at 200 mph ball speed. Um and I if you can control that, he’s got a short game. He’s just won. Absolutely. One on the PJ tour. Threatened to win the Ned Bank last year. So he he really isn’t. What is he only 20 years of age? It’s incredible the the young fellas coming through who who are just ready to play Lud Vayberg when he came out straight away ready to win on the tour straight out of college. They’re so well prepared now and their attitude is well I’ve seen others do it so why shouldn’t I be able to do it you know it used to be well you came on tour and you worked for three or four years to try and get yourself in a position where you felt you had the experience and the knowledge to actually win. These guys come straight out of the box and do it. It’s unbelievable. Yeah, that is that’s a really good point. How fast the guys get ready and when when they when they come out they they stand up tall, show their faces and try to win. So Kepka, faithful caddy Ricky Elliot in the background. great friends as well as a great caddy which I think is is part of Brooks’s success is the trust he has in Ricky Eller and Ricky’s experience of this type of golf particularly links golf extraordinary a great player in his own right really you know fine player so when he talks about links golf and what the right shot is Brooks listens no I I think that’s right so um a lot There’s a lot that goes into it, isn’t there? I mean, you’ve got a manufacturer, you’ve got your your coach, your caddy, the calibration of all of these different things that come together. So, there it is, Brooks. Those are his wins. Those two back-to-back US Opens. Um and then the 1819 PGA that then he kind of disappeared a little bit, lost his game. He had quite a bit of left leg injury, which he says come from his golf swing. And he and he he had made the decision, okay, and he’d been given advice, okay, you’re going to have an operation, but probably the knee won’t be as good ever, right? I mean, that that’s that that’s a that’s a that’s a body blow, isn’t it? Absolutely. And and it stalled him, as you can I mean, from the results there, he was on his on his path to, you know, obviously the Grand Slam. You’re looking at that stage, he won five in quick succession in a 5year spell. So, you’re looking at him and thinking, yeah, he could go on and win a Masters without any doubt and potentially an open championship as well. And we’re looking at the guy that could beat Rory to the sixth person to become the Grand Slam um champion, but uh stalled by the injury and getting back to, you know, some sort of form. He’s he’s he’s won a number of times on the lift tour obviously over there. So, he’s proved he’s uh he’s still well capable of winning when he gets in the hunt, but the consistency hasn’t quite been there in recent times. And when he gets back to that consistency, which maybe Peter can help him do, then watch out. I I agree with that. I I think that Kepka has got swagger, hasn’t he? You know what I mean? But like he’s he he walks the walk. He’s ready for the tough fight. Um, and he’s got a good game face. He’s he he can play golf under pressure. I think that’s the big thing, isn’t it? You know, I always think there are like five or six guys at any one time who can really do their swing under pressure. He always seems like it stays stable. He can He rises. Yeah, he definitely rises. I mean, we’ve seen that in in the majors. He’s he’s won. There have been times when it’s been going against him and he just sticks in there and grinds it out until it turns and then suddenly the buries start to arrive again and he’s off. So he is a wonderful wonderful golfer and I say just hampered by that knee injury otherwise you know where would he be right now he may have six seven eight majors up already if that hadn’t happened. Yeah. So, wind has changed a little bit. Podrick Harrington grinding it out. Played last week, plays the seniors. He’s won on the seniors. He’s won majors on the seniors. Keeps his fitness up. Here we go. Kepka out the park. 335. So, I think the winter’s changed a little bit. So, we’ll leave him for a few minutes. So pretty much the wind rising and changing when we first here was here this morning. Definitely straight across maybe hurting a hair. It does move around and and as we go out onto the golf course with all of the c all of the holes moved in all sorts of different directions, it’s a very complex um test. Hard to maybe practice all of these different shots you’re going to need on the range. Absolutely. And and again, a real challenge for the Cadis because as you say, all the holes run in different directions and the wind does move during the day. So normally they go out and say, “Okay, if the wind’s blowing out of the north, I know on this hole it’s going to come from right to left and on the next hole it’s going to come from left to right.” But if it’s moving, it’s not like St. Andrews where you’re out and back and you can say, “Well, I can feel the move and it’s going to be the same on every hole coming back in.” Here you’re constantly having to recalibrate and figure out where that breeze is. And if it’s a bright sunny day and there aren’t too many clouds around to read, then it can be a challenge. Yeah, just getting those angles. Kept definitely working with a couple of different drivers. Just having a look at the stats th those stats they’re looking at they’re exactly the same as you can see brought to you by Top Tracer the ball speed I think that’s standard for Kker maybe just looking at launch the apex obviously 121 ft that’s his stock shot there and just maybe looking at how different clubs react what’s the spin going to be before you find what they call your gamer So, Kepka obviously working hard on T-shots. T-shots going to be crucial around here. The rough is heavy. Seems pretty happy with his golf swing to me. He’s not questioning in any way the technique. Okay, far right side is a huge like scoreboard and within that you can see all of the scores and the players will look over their left shoulder to have a look at that. So down on the driving range. Let’s go down onto the range and hand over to our own Dy Stewart. Catching with Sergio Garcia on the range and we’re just talking about your bull here actually Sergio. This is what what’s his name? Aavache is his name. Adav. Got it now. Yeah. Is the color is the black color. The black shiny color that the bulls in Spain you know they have different colors depending which they have different names depending which color they are. And yeah. So, um, yeah, this is he looks he looks pretty cool. Has he brought you some luck? He’s I think he’s done well through the years. So, I think so, too. Yeah. Listen, welcome. Welcome to Royal Port Rush. In’s just flown in as well. So, it’s I’m just eyeing this bull up. Do you not have any sort of jewelry on it? I think it can rock a couple of diamonds or something possibly. He doesn’t need it. We don’t want too much blink out there. Much club equipment change for a stage like this this week? No, not for me. I I usually try not to change too much. Uh mostly because, you know, throughout the year I’m playing with a with a setup and uh if I come here and I and I start changing uh things, then I have to think about how that club reacts, how it flies and everything. So, the good thing for me is that I can bring the ball down or up uh if I want to. So, um you know, even if I’m hitting a firewood, I can, you know, back foot it and and keep it under the wind if I need to. Obviously, you bring in plenty of experience into a week like this, but you’ve been around for a while and if you look at a lot more of the kind of modern golfers, they do tend to make a lot more changes. So, from what you’ve seen, have you noticed many people making what do you think that ratio is like? Uh, I mean, I think it’s a little bit of everything. I think that some guys like to put in like a like a two iron and, you know, instead of maybe having a fivewood or a sevenwood that they might usually have. Um, I think that would be the biggest change that I usually see on on an open. Um, but um, you know, for me, I feel like, you know, I can I can manage with what I have and uh, you know, with my game. Royal Port Rush. Do you like it here, Sergio? You played in 2019. Yeah, only played it once. Uh, but yeah, it’s it’s a solid golf course, obviously. Uh, like any open, very weather dependent. Uh but uh but yeah, I think it’s uh I think it’s a golf course that uh it has a few really got really strong test uh and at the same time then it gives you a couple of holes here and there where you can uh you feel like you can you can have a little more of a chance of of making a birdie or or even an eagle. So it’s a good mix of holes and uh you know it should be should be a fun week. We can see the 16th actually. I’m sure you remember Calamity Corner and then coming in you’ve got Purgatory the 17th which is a great name for a golf hole and then 18th obviously towards the amphitheater but do when you come back to major championships especially you know with your history of opens do you go down memory lane and and bring up those brilliant memories of opens to get you going? Oh, without a doubt. Obviously, you know, I’ve always said it that I’ve been very fortunate the way that uh that people have treated me all over the world, but but especially here in in Gerby turn Ireland uh and Northern Ireland. Um you know, it’s been super special for me. uh you know the love that they’ve they’ve always shown me uh I guess mostly because of my RD cup history and stuff but uh I think that uh I’ve always enjoyed I’ve always enjoyed that walk on 18 uh on on the weekend especially and and with a chance of winning the open. So um you know I’m looking forward to to having a good week and and feel that again. How how’s your game? Uh game is good. Uh yeah I played really well last week. Uh unfortunately I didn’t I didn’t I didn’t hold out as as well as I I would have liked to. Uh but I felt like um you knowve I’ve been working on my game. Uh the last couple of months has been a little bit off but I think I figured out what it was. You know it was a little bit of ball position and stuff and I felt like last week I was uh even on tough conditions at Balorama with wind and stuff. Uh I was in in very good control of of what I wanted to do uh with the golf ball. Uh, so that’s that’s positive and um, you know, I just got to keep building on it this week. Yeah. Listen, your your life’s changed over the past few years as we know. Are you are you enjoying what you’re doing with Liv? Yeah, I love it. Yeah, I think it’s I think it’s great. I love the the team aspect of it is is what I love the most. Uh, how you can create some great relationships and and build something that, you know, hopefully will last uh for for many many generations. Um, you know, I think that uh it’s uh you know, it’s an opportunity that uh that some of us get and and um um I love that that team spirit. You know, I’ve always loved I’ve always loved football, you know, I’ve always loved the Ryder Cup. So, um all those things kind of uh really uh really drive me and uh you know, I’m really enjoying it. I know you’re a tennis fan as well. Did you watch Wimbledon? I did. Yeah, I did. Unfortunately, my boy Carlos. Yeah. But it was a good it was a good final sinner. Uh Janik played amazing I thought. Um and um you know but uh you know it’s I think we’re going to see some some amazing finals with those two in in the future in the in the in the very near future. It was so exciting. Final question is can can you win an open? Come on. I mean that’s why we’re here. Uh I mean obviously we’ve got the faith. Yeah. Yeah. No, for sure. Uh obviously it’s uh you know I’m 45 and and I know that you know my my chances kind of keep getting a little bit smaller but uh but I feel like my game is still there. Uh and I think that any given week uh at the level that I I know I can play I for sure can you know some of the guys have done it. Uh so so why why not? And it would be a dream come true. Uh obviously everybody knows how how much I love the Open and and uh what it would mean to to win it. But uh even even if I don’t, you know, to to be able to to have the history that I’ve had and and to be able to play as many opens as I’ve had, it’s it’s already a a great achievement for me. Oh, so good to see you. A lot of the crowd supporting you. I heard your name quite a few times walking around. We wish you best of luck. Thank you. Thank you, guys. Thanks, thank you. Have a good week. Hope this brings you luck as well. Yeah. Just swing. Visit golf.golf to find out more. Just swing. Visit golf.golf to get started. Why not give golf a go? Just swing. Swing wild. Swing weird. Swing wonky. Whoever, however, wherever. It doesn’t matter. Just swing. Head over to golf.golf to start playing. Find out where you can learn to play at golf.golf. on the tea. Yeah, she was staring this one down and for good reason. Look at this. Just delightfully done. She’s on top of the world. Going directly at the hole. Well, of course. Oh, get in there. There’s something about the AIG Women’s Open. My goodness. Yeah, fascinating to hear from Sergio Garcia. Always felt him as a sort of a shot maker. He’d be one of those guys who would have had his hands on the clar jug. Yeah, about five times I would have said. I mean, literally such an incredible control of his trajectory and his ball flight and all the different shapes required. I think probably the putter has just held him back. You know, so many times you’ve seen him get in contention and those putts just haven’t had the momentum on them to carry them into the hole. Um but but for a a bulky putter, I’m sure he would have been an open champion and you know, may still have one in him. Yeah, it’ be great. Well, a man who’s got two in him. Connie and then back to back at Burkedale Podrick Harrington and the last man to successfully defend. So Xander Sherflow trying to emulate what he did in 2007 2008. Now Podrick is in form. He’s just won the second US senior Open at the Broadmore. He was he made the cut in Scotland Genesis. Um it’s rare that we see I mean longevity as a as a sort of a as a major theme you know Harrington Langanger those guys the the being able to keep your game going through all the generational changes is an exceptional talent Harrington maybe the next Langer for you. Yeah, absolutely. It’s a question I’m stored up on him actually for the next interview I do with him on course because we do those on the on the DP World Tour and I’m going to say to him, you know, are you your generation’s langanger? Will you ever stop playing competitively? You know, will there ever be a point you think, do you know what? I’ve done enough because he just loves it. He cannot walk past a golf ball on the range. He he said to me one, I can’t walk past one. I have to hit it. If I’m walking off and there’s three stray balls there just as I’m leaving, I’ll grab a seven and hit them. He has incredible enthusiasm for the game. He still believes he can win a major championship. There’s absolutely no doubt about that. Not a senior major, this major champion. No, I agree. And you have to say with the power that he possesses because he hits the ball as far as most of the young bucks do cuz he’s worked so hard on on retaining his fitness and his strength and his speed. He’s worked incessantly on speed and power and club head velocity and impact to create the distance that he needs to to be competitive. That he’s got the length to play. He’s got the guile to play. He always says to me when we get to a Lynx course, I feel I’ve got a shot advantage over just about everybody in the field cuz I understand it better than anyone else. So he understands the craft and and playing a Lynx course and how to play it and how to use the contours and when to play the right shot. And you know, he’s open enough to say, I genuinely feel when I turn up at a links course, I’ve got a one-shot advantage over virtually everybody in the field. Your thoughts on the on the Tom Watson Stewart Sync playoff? Oh goodness. Yeah. Can you forgive Stuart Sync for that? No, no one ever can. It was the most incredible thing, wasn’t it? Tom Watson threatening to win at the age of 59 and 3/4. I mean, it was ridiculous. And but for a firmer bounce than you might have expected on the 18th, he would have done it. So, ah, I still can’t look at I know Stuart Sink and and he he just covers his eyes or he does his hands like that cuz he knows what I think. Anyway, no, he’s a good chap Stuart Sink. Um, so Harrington, is it so what is the what is the major thing you would say? Is it the love of the game that keeps you going? That’s the whole thing. It’s just how much you love the game that keeps you going. Adam Scott’s long and and good. Harrington long and good. Langanger the best ever. Yeah, it’s interesting. Harrington loves the game. He loves to compete. But yet, when I’ve spoken to him on one occasion, we were talking about the way psychologists work with golfers and he said the weird thing is he always if I say white, he’ll say black. He always likes to disr I love to interview him because I know exactly what’s going to come up. But when I was talking about psychology and and the sort of recommendations that they make to golfers, he said, “Well, psychologists won’t have the word fear mentioned.” He said, “But my whole career is based on fear. Fear of failure. I’ve worked as hard as I have because I didn’t want to fail.” And even when I won my major championships, it was still I need to work harder and harder and harder because now the expectations are higher and and therefore the fear of failure is even bigger. So although he loves the game and he loves to compete, he’s also driven by a fear of failure, which is an interesting sort of Yeah, that is fascinating. Yeah. Yeah. So Harrington, new glove on just w just warming up a few gloves. You’re probably going to need four or five good playing gloves this week that you’re happy fit in. You’re happy that hit. Yeah, absolutely. These have all come out of the playing truck there. Interesting. Last week’s champion, the Scottish Open got her up. I’ve never seen anybody do what he does. He doesn’t do the glove up. He just leaves it open which is kind of weird. I mean he gets the grip from the leather I suppose but at the same time is is it moving? Is it slipping you’d imagine? So yeah that was strange. So let’s have a look at Podri swing. His first coach I think really that put him on track as far as I can see was our beloved Bob Torrance. You know very much sort of a rotary connected kind of a swing. Now I now I think he’s a peak. So there’s a lot of footwork there. It was interesting because when he came on tour, I think it was 1996 he came on tour and he won quite quickly. Won the Spanish Open quite quickly and at that stage he was really quite a poor ball striker. Really very poor to be fair but a wonderful short game. Got up and down it from anywhere around the golf course. Had a great attitude, great mind, but he realized that his ball striking ability wouldn’t allow him to get to where he wanted to in his career. So he went about working with Bob Ty now working with Pete Cowan to make himself a great ball striker to go along with the short game skills he has and the mental aptitude he has in order to turn into a major champion and obviously did it in spade with three of them. So but recognized his weakness is what I’m saying. He he didn’t although he’d won the Spanish Open he knew he wouldn’t be able to go on and win big big big tournaments unless he got the long game to match the short game that he had. That that’s interesting because that was exactly f Nick Faldo’s motivation was okay listen I’m a really nice player but under pressure my willowy long leggy swing won’t work so I I with this particular tool which is just my swing it’s not it’s not a part of me it’s just a tool which I use to hit the ball I need to change this tool to get better and better and and FA really did that Tiger did it four times right I mean you you’ve interviewed Tiger more than anybody else. Did you ever get a chance to chat to him about his motivation? Was it just a case this doesn’t work, I’m just I always felt like Tiger got bored and wanted to do something new? Yeah, it was kind of weird because I had him after he moved from Butch Harmon to Hank Haney and he knows Butch is a very good friend of mine and works for Sky Sports who I work for and so I think he saw it as a slightly loaded question which I suppose in a way it might have been. I didn’t think of it that way. I was just basically said to him, you’ve moved from Butch Harmon who with whom you’ve won seven majors and become world number one and dominating the game. How are you going to be a better player under Hank Haney than you were under Butch Harmon? And he didn’t really answer. He went round it, but he said, “I’m just trying to improve, and I think that’s the best way for me to do it. I think Hank can add an element to the game that I haven’t had with Butch.” And then obviously went on to work with um Sean Foley and others and whatever. So he was constantly like Harrington, you know, pushing himself to the next level, the next level, the next level. And again, asking Paul that that question, you know, people often say, having won three majors in 18 months, why did you go about changing your golf swing and trying to reinvent yourself? And he said, because I’m not Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods has got 14 majors at that time, I only had three. I wanted to get as good as he was get. When do you know when to stop improving is you know because we said why didn’t you just you know having won three majors in 18 months you’d think you’d settle for that and and continue to win them but he was pushing and pushing and pushing to try and reach Tiger’s level. Yeah, that’s that’s fascinating. So Podrick just I think using an app on his phone to get a bit of data from the machine behind him. So we just have a closer look at some of the numbers that he’s got. Peter’s now left Kepka and gone over to Harrington. He’s a fascinating point though because I mean I understand totally the desire to keep improving right and I mean we’ve seen that succeed and fail. Martin Kimmer was a fader, tried to draw it, disappeared off our screens. It’s a it’s a it’s a difficult thing to do, isn’t it? It’s a difficult thing to detach yourself from your swing or your pattern or certain body types just move in certain ways. Well, Victor Holland’s the latest example of it, wasn’t it? Victor Holland won the FedEx Cup and, you know, was on the path to world number one and then decided to make some changes to his swing. He’s now backtracking. time. Yeah, the open champion, the champion golfer of the year, Podrick Harrington two times. And then in an epic epic battle with Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson prevailed. Let’s get down and hear him and Dice Stewart. Pardon? With with George Harper Jr. Well, not a bad first interview of my week. Henrik Stenson, 2016 Open Champion. Welcome back. It must always feel special. It is indeed. Um, great to be back here at Port Rush. Um, played in 2019, obviously. And, um, yeah, it was a great week. I hear there’s going to be even more more people showing up this time around. So, yeah, I think we’re in for a good week. You’ve just come out. Are you seeing the course for the first time this week? And just walking a few holes, I see. Yeah, we’re going to walk 18. I got Fanny on the bag. you know, we don’t get to see each other too much these days, so it’s it’s going to be a fun week. She carried it for me in Dallas a couple of weeks back, so yeah, we got some catching up to do. And uh yeah, of course, looks looks great. Um like you said, I’ve just seen the first hole and um yeah, with with wind like this, it’s it’s always going to be a test. How important is it walking the course and what’s your usual routine at majors like this? Well, I’m walking it today. uh formalize some sort of a plan and then uh we’re playing nine tomorrow and nine on Wednesday and see if that plan is any good and any any changes needs to be made or if that’s what’s uh what the plan is for the week. Nice. And just briefly while we here on the first screen, it’s our first look at it as well. What can we expect later this week cuz it’s quite intimidating approach shot with it being so high, isn’t it? Yeah, I think that was one of the things that struck me when I came here the first time in in 2019 and and a lot of links courses you you feel like the greens are down at your level, but here you got quite a few shots where they’re a bit raised up and um as you can see here on the left side, it it goes down into deep bunker and deep rough and yeah, there’s I think there’s a quite a few places where there’s uh there’s a lot of that stuff you don’t want to have any part of. So yeah, you got to as always have control of your ball flight and and your spin and uh try and play smart. And finally uh to see fans again. Do they still love having an open champion back on course? Yeah, we uh we’ll get asked if you to sign a few things and be in a few pictures. Yeah. Nice. Oh, it’s always a pleasure to have you back, my man. Go well and we’ll see you shortly. All right, we’ll do. Cheers, mate. Back to you guys. Yeah, thanks George. Henrik Stenson, that was an incredible match play. really over 36 holes that he had with Mickelson, wasn’t it? Yeah, it was the only one to to rival the jewel in the sun, wasn’t it? 1977, Tom Watson and Jack Nicholas. We thought that will never be done again where two guys are just separated themselves on the field and they’re literally going shot for shot down the stretch and and Henrik and Mson did it um in incredible style. And the golf they played, I don’t know how far ahead, 11 ahead of third place, I think, something like that. Ridiculous. They just separated themselves. For two of them to do it was extraord Tiger winning by eight. Okay, he’s an exceptional human being. But for two of them to do it was extraordinary. Yeah, it is. So, we are head back to the range. Ooh, the power punch of Ryan Fox has been putting some fantastic performances together on the PJ tour. A tour you would think his talents would really shine. Well, he’s a very aggressive player, very aggressive player. And he loves to just go after a golf course and try and bully it. And in America with the conditions that they often play and with, you know, soft and power hitting being rewarded to the extent it is and he’s a very powerful individual as you can see from his build and the fact his shirt is untucked. He’s unleashing a few. Yeah, he is one of the nicest human beings on the planet. He’s just such a joy to be around. Amazing. He’ll give us a full show with a big driver. There it is. He has real problems with his left ankle. It it needs operating on to realign it and it hasn’t been able to be done or or they say it’s career threatening if he has it done it may not work and if it does he won’t be able to play again. So he’s chosen not to do it. If you watch his left foot is becoming more and more and more and more open. It’s spled outwards to try and take the pressure off. So just have a look at this muscle power 177. That’s he’s just he’s just teasing us with a few little warm-ups there. But two fantastic wins. He he’s a member at Fox Hills Golf Club. You often see him down there. He’s got all the time in the world for the members. All the time in the world for the juniors. So yeah, let’s have a closer look at his feet. Um pick up what you were saying there, Tim. If you look at the left foot, it’s going to be really widely spled. I mean, both feet are sort of 10 to two almost, but the left foot’s getting more and more spled as he goes on in his life because he’s just trying to take strain off that left ankle, which can at times give him real jip. Pretty sure he wears orthotics in his shoes as well to try and give himself some relief from the pain that he would suffer. And has he damaged that through golf, do you know? Or is it I don’t know. No, I don’t know. Probably through rugby and his dad was a famous New Zealand all black rugby player and I know he played every sport growing up. tennis, cricket, rugby, all the different sports and eventually turned to golf. So, yeah, watch the way he sets that left foot almost. I mean, not aimed at the hole, but not far off the direction he’s going to hit the ball. Just muscle power golf swing like a like a man kind of throwing a ball underarm, isn’t it? Very much right side driven, like skimming a stone. Yeah, it’s quite unorthodox in a way. I mean, he he loses a little bit of height in his golf swing. he gets the club coming down on a very steep plane at times and has to compensate for it. But he’s done a great job with Jamie Goff was his coach for a long time. I think he still is. Um and he hasn’t tried to change it. He hasn’t tried to to sort of say, “Right, we need to adjust this golf swing. We’re just going to work with what you’ve got.” Yeah. Maybe that he’s not working with Jamie now that he’s over in America. He may have found somebody over there to work with. I don’t know if you know. Yeah. So, just have a look at this lower body. Watch it. The way it kicks that left hip. It’s like it’s like he’s using that front leg as a as a high jumper is is is posting up going that vertical force. He’s really just tickling a few down there. These are just little openers. He if we if we text him and said, “Listen, you only got 180 ball speed. Did you know D 200?” He’d be like, “What?” No, he would accept that challenge. A winner of the Dunnel Lynx tournament up at St. Andrews and and Kings Barnes and Kusti. So very capable on a Lynx course. Very nearly won an Irish Open. had it stolen from him by Russell Knox with a couple of huge putts. One to get into a playoff and then one to win it. So, he has won, as I say, at the Dunhill links, but he’s also been very close to winning on other links courses. So, he enjoys this type of golf. It’s very creative golf, and it’s it suits his way of playing. He’s he likes to aggressive aggressively attack it, but I think he’s tempered that a little bit in the last couple of years. I think he now is capable of hitting an iron off the tea, which he wasn’t at one stage. It would always be draw the driver and take your chances. Yeah. Ryan Fox and and Darren Clark peas in a pod. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, they’d be fantastic company on the course and even better off it. I was just about to say the same thing. Yes, on the course they would be great fun. Off the course it would be potentially damaging. So just incredibly powerfully built, isn’t he? He comes from, you know, as I say, his father was was a a New Zealand rugby all black. His grandfather was an international cricketer. So he comes from sporting genes, if you like, and he’s he’s used that natural physique he has and the strength he has to to learn to play the way he plays. So Ryan Fox driver to a few wedges, just working on a few little droppers there, floating it down. You mentioned the two wins he’s had on the PJ tour and won them incredible style. chipped in for the first one and hit an incredible fairway wood close to the flag to the second one. So, he’s riding a crest of of confidence at the moment. There it is. Giants causeway. But that is the clar jug. And that is worth everything in the world in our game. on the tea. Yeah, she was staring this one down and for good reason. Look at this. Just delightfully done. She’s on top of the world. Going directly at the whole world. Of course. Oh, get in there. There’s something about the AIG Women’s Open. Oh my goodness. Just swing. Visit golf.golf to find out more. Just swing. Visit golf.golf to get started. Why not give golf a go? Just swing. Swing wild. Swing weird. Swing wonky. Whoever, however, wherever. It doesn’t matter. Just swing. Head over to golf.golf to start playing. Find out where you can learn to play at golf.golf. Welcome along to the open. It’s everything you wanted and more. Absolutely brilliant. Quite an extraordinary day. Yeah, fantastic to have the weather cooperate with us. We are live with the range bring to you, bringing to you all of the different combinations of work that go on behind the scenes. Some guys just hitting a few shots, loosening up. Other guys in-depth deep dive into their swings, working with the equipment manufacturers, um Tim Bart, a lot of stuff to do before the gun goes off on Thursday. Yeah. And obviously players with different agendas. Some players are happy with the way they’re playing and they’re just trying to conserve energy and keep things ticking over because they know if they get into contention on Sunday, that can be really taxing both physically and mentally. So they’re trying to conserve energy. Other guys are coming here saying, “I missed the cut last week. I didn’t play particularly well. What’s going wrong? Let’s have a chat with the coach, try and figure it out and try and particularly today because by Wednesday they want to have sorted it. So today they’re trying to analyze it and figure out what it is. Tomorrow they’ll work on trying to fix it and hopefully by Wednesday they’ll say, “Right, I’m comfortable now. I’m ready to rock.” Yeah. Well, only one man can host that clar jug. And a man who has done it in the past is down with D Stewart. Let’s hear from them. Brian Harmon on the range. Brian, good to see you. You flew in last night back here at Royalport Rush. You did play, we just spoke, you played in 2019. Um, just missed the cup by one stroke. Uh, yeah, I think it was the last guy on the field in 2019, so got here uh kind of late and and uh but but loved it from what I remember. It’s a really special place. You got a bit of rest today. What is the plan? Because everybody has just been in the clubhouse for an hour obviously with that little delay, but today tell us what you do for the rest of the day. Yeah, I’d love to get out and maybe play the front nine. Uh it’s hitting a great wind to practice in. Better win to play in. So, I try to get out and see a few holes and uh but you know, it’s I won’t spend a ton of time on the course. Um you know, the practice rounds can get you get pretty bogged down in those practice rounds sometimes. So, just trying to manage my time as well as I can. Listen, you’re an open champion. You won it a couple of years ago. What is it like coming back to an open championship venue? Are you being pulled in lots of different directions? Uh yeah, you just you just have to uh you have to know how to say no. Uh I was kind enough. You said yes to us. We’re so grateful. Thank you. Um so are our viewers as well. There you go. No, I’m I’m I’m happy to be here. Uh played the Scottish last week. Game game feels like it’s trending. Just just got to uh play a little smarter golf, I think. I know you travel all around the world constantly. I mean, what’s the secret to kind of rejigging your body clock and feeling ready, I guess? I I think just being able to sleep when the sun’s down and be up when it’s up. I think that’s the that’s the hardest part. Um struggled a little bit last week in Scotland. Had a little bit of jet lag, but when you get uh used to dealing with young kids, it it it certainly helps. A lot of my friends these days, eye masks is is a real thing. Do you sleep in eye masks? There’s no I sleep and I’ve got a big head, so none of them fit right. So, and they fall off, don’t they? They do. They’re not comfortable. No, they did give us a new eye mask this week, so I I’ll try it. But I just bring I bring electrical tape. I tape up all the little Oh, electrical tape. Yeah. What does that mean? In the UK, you guys love lights in your room. I’m not sure why. Little lights. Every outlet’s got the lights, you know? So, like a towel on the base of the door for the light in the hallway that stays on all night. I have friends like this. They have no lights. And then tin foil on the on Yeah. Oh, yeah. We got it. Oh, I’m glad you’ve got all these bases covered. I’m hoping this will inspire some good golf. Listen, we had to go back a couple of years though. It brought so much joy to so many people. You plotted your way to win an open championship. Do you do you sort of flood your brain with those memories when you come back here? I mean, I think about more about the way I was feeling that week. I think about the way um I try to put myself back into the the nerves and just kind of how I overcame those. So, I think about that more than like the individual execution of golf shots. So, just being in a mentally good headsp space to be able to, you know, just be in the process. Yeah. I mean, you can’t predict what’s going to happen. You get funny bounces over here and and uh it’s all about how you continue on, I feel like. Listen, we’d love to borrow some of that tape because I’ve got lots of lights in my hotel room. I got rolls of it. Great. So, Brian, you’re an absolute gem for stopping. Thanks for the chat and um we’ll hopefully catch you later on in the week. Sounds good. Thanks. Have fun. Thanks so much. Thank you. How about that? They think of everything bringing electrical tape to make a the blackouts in your room. There it’s another level of sophistication, another level of detail. In the old days, you’d go from the bar straight to your bed. No, now it is not like that. Much more professional. There you have the last five opens. You had the last five opens. Xander Shelf is our defending champion. We heard from him. Here we go. Worm Cam. Oh, and there we go. Yeah, Brian Harmon. That That was a That was the way he played the course with all sorts of superstars pounding at him. Amazing amazing mental fortitude to just keep his plan going. And and one comfortably, didn’t he? One going away basically. really did have command of his game that that week, trusted in his ability to to play the course the way he planned out and it really did work for him. Cam Smith winning at St. Andrews in 2022. Surely one of the best putters in the game of golf. Cam Smith just holds it from all over the place. Fine hitter as well, but the putting at times is insane how well he putts. Yeah, it was that it was the putter. It was like a VHS tape on the end of a stick, wasn’t it? It was a big old thing, like a like an branding iron, but it certainly worked. I don’t know if it’s still in the bag anymore. Well, as we zoom in, Sahala, that’s a very interesting swing to have a look at. Maybe we can spend some time with him. He has had a very serious neck injury, Tim. He has had like the last two months really played with that quite a few withdrawals. Yeah. Sad to see cuz he’s a very exciting golfer to watch. He really does like to take golf courses on and attack them. Got a a unique style as you say, a golf swing that’s totally unique to himself. Said as a youngster he was extremely crooked off the tea and it made him creative because he had to escape from so many difficult places. And now he still goes out and puts himself in difficult spots to challenge himself and and come up with the creativity and the shots and you know the mental fortitude to actually get himself out of them. So he’s not your run-of-the-mill sort of autonom autonom is it as a golfer just automatum. So I mean I I think what’s is he’s like a Houdini isn’t he? I mean he is he is not a good driver of the ball. his, you know, if you chat to him, he’ll say he’s always starting kind of that stuck under start right, go right. That’s his bad shot. So, let’s have a look at the Sahath routine. Can often get a few little knee dips and bends. Oh, there you go. There’s one. Left wrist is taped up. That’s new. unusual to see somebody stand over the ball for that long without any sort of waggle. Most people would create tension. They’d get tighter and tighter in their hands and forearms, but he doesn’t seem to do so. So, working through his bag, little driving iron slowly making its way out. Here we go. Definitely gives you the feeling of keeping it pretty loose and informal. Yeah, very much so. Very much so. Very chill character, isn’t it? I’m pretty sure I’m right in saying that when he came to St. Andrews open. He got in very late and the only accommodation available was in the student university and he took it and he had a blast. He came to the skyart one day and I interviewed him and I said someone’s told me you’re staying in student accommodation because there wasn’t anything at this late stage and he said absolutely right. He said I’m having great fun. He said very basic accommodation living in the student halls but you know he said they’re making me feel very welcome. They’re introducing me to some of the best places in St. Andrews. So we had a great time. Well, he was a superstar golfer himself at Pepperdine. Here we go. Now the left wrist. Oh, and the right wrist. I say that little bit of thumb twitching, but there one or two waggles and then there’s a good 10 or 15 seconds where he’s not waggling at all and and it’s getting a bit stationary. And as I say, a lot of people would develop a bit too much tension in their hands and wrists if they held on to the club that long without any movement. Yes. See used to put his club head down, but then he’d move his feet. Westwood used to never move. Yeah, it’s interesting. So, here we go. But you are getting ready for a really athletic movement. This weight’s going to move from from center to over to your right, back to your left, and a lot of rotation and coil and whatever going on all in one and a half seconds. So, you’d think you’d need motion. It’s a bit like watching a football goalkeeper save a penalty. They need to be moving in order to react quickly and move. And to stand still over the ball for for an elongated period would seem to be potentially making you static. Nothing like in his case, but it would in many of us it would create sort of that static feeling of of not having the the ability to move quickly when you need to. Now, I think he does use this club on quite a regular basis. So I wonder what that little dip is down there for. Maybe to push himself up and feel a bit taller. There he is. Watch the legs. Quite a bit of knee movement. Bit bit of a looser free action. You see see a lot of swings. Very rigid. Very very position conscious that looks like there’s a lot more freedom. A lot more feel of the face. Yeah. No bit more of a Shane Lowry sort of a swing. Exactly what I was going to say. Yeah. Shane Larry sort of attitude of I’m I’m going to swing this club head. I’m I’m not going to just coil up my body and uncoil it and expect the club head to find the ball. I’m going to physically swing this club head back and forward. It’s almost like the club head is swinging and the body’s responding rather than many players obviously the other way around. They rotate their bodies and the club sort of follows what the body tells it to do. Yeah. But this is very fluid and very free. And he does have all the shots. He can he can hit it right to left, left to right, high, low, all the shots in his bag. and just that inaccuracy off the tea that perhaps holds him back just a tiny bit. He’s been very successful, but he’s uh he’s got such a lot of ability and talent that if he can tidy up a little bit off the tea, he could be really dangerous. Yeah, it’s going to be interesting to see, you know, shot makers do well at at open champions. So, look for Sahath as we get closer to the drama of Sunday. So upper body, he’s got a very sore neck. So let’s have a look. Anything in the upper body that there’s kind of that little tilt back almost that Scotty Sheffller kind of tilt back stay back behind it. So Sahath, we wish you well. Hope you have a good competition. Okay. The driving range. Some have called it Misery Hill. Yes. For good reason. because we have all spent time out there grinding away trying to find the swing that Adam Scott possesses which he makes look so simple but is so difficult to recreate. Sahath working his driving iron. The purpose of that you have lots of little different dog legs. You’re going to be thinking, okay, you know, I need to avoid those fairway bunkers. The fairway bunkers are basically like water hazards. They’re one-shot penalties. So if it does get windy, what are the players trying to do just in terms of sort of flight it down, punch it, keep it running? Because it will run. Yes, absolutely. It’s just keeping it out of the breeze really. Just keeping the the penetrating low flight. You know, the nature of a golf ball is that it’s spinning backwards. With any club that you hit that has loft on it, the golf ball is spinning backwards. And the harder you hit it, the more it spins backwards and into a headwind. It will shoot up in the air and and potentially sort of stall and balloon and come back at you. So they try to find ways of taking the spin off it, keeping the ball down, keeping it out of that breeze. Yeah, there’s a lot of sort of stutter start on the hands and the grip moving there. Almost like the trigger isn’t quite stabilized in his in his swing yet. So for Zahath just working up through the top of his clubs now. There’s picks a much different target now. A little dip down with his knees and his head. Hands kind of moving all over the place. Feet moving. Yeah, fascinating to see all of the different ways of getting it done. Yes, it is. It’s always fascinating, isn’t it? Because at the end of the day, the only position that truly matters is impact. Where is that club coming from? Which direction is it traveling in? Is it square when it strikes the ball? Is it going to create the shape you want? So there are no prizes for pretty back swings. It’s all about creating the right impact position. And uh these guys all do it in their various different ways. Well, a man who’s done it in all sorts of different ways. One of the great minds in golf and very amusing is with Hennis Podrick Harrington. Ladies and gentlemen, I’m delighted to have in the open zone with me twotime open champion Padre Harrington. Hi Patrick, how are you? I’m great. Yeah. Yeah. How does it feel later coming back to open championships, but specifically coming back to an open championship on the island of Ireland? I both of those are very special. Look, haven’t won it, you come back and you you you take time to enjoy that. People say things to ask you questions and you do have to walk around like you have won it. You’re in the champions locker. But it is a bit more special obviously when it when it is in Ireland. Obviously our second time doing this at Port Rush and uh you know this is somewhere I would have played as an amateur. So coming back here and uh again trying to trying to soak it all in cuz it can go by very quickly and you you can get caught up in you know over practicing. The fact of the matter is it’s unlikely I’m going to forget how to play golf Thursday. So, I’m going to chill out Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and and and probably play, you know, probably play 18 holes of golf in that time and just take it easy and hopefully just be nice and fresh for Thursday morning. Uh, if we rewind back to your first open victory, Carnisti, that ended an Irish winner of the Open Championship in 60 years. It was a 60-year drought for that one. Um, at that time, were you aware of that? How aware were you of that moment in history for you? I wasn’t aware of it at that time, but I would have been aware of the fact that we hadn’t got winners. H I talked to some of the the sort of older distinguished journalists, Irish guys, and they just said that we had players that were good enough, but they just didn’t believe it. Now, it’s not that I believed it, but I didn’t know any different. I was sort of kept my head down, blinkered, whatever way you want to look at it. I I never really thought I couldn’t win. Whereas I think the guys that came before me, for whatever reason, they just let things get in their way, you know. Uh well, that belief saw you through to successfully defend your open championship title here at Burkeale. And in doing so, you were the first person since the early 1900s and know from what you’ve said, you’re not a big stats person, but to win an open championship, super special. To defend an open championship must have been unreal. Yeah, that that was a bit of validation to be honest. You know, my first one I obviously messed up the 72nd hole and while winning is very exciting, winning your first major is so exciting. Winning the open so exciting, it always leaves a little something wanting when you when you do that down the last hole. Whereas in Burdale, I you couldn’t have drawn out if you were 15 years of age and you were trying to write how you would win an open. I swung the club. Well, I I played in the wrong side of the draw. I played with in the last group. I played with Greg Norman. There was so much about it. I hit great shots and sudden they hit that shot in 17 that just came up there. That’s exactly how a kid would draw it up. But so my first one was very exciting. My second one was very satisfying. Just like really deep down satisfying. And and I think I was very aware and I think you know when you win one major, you always kind of want to get to two because you want to validate. You want to get past that. You know, you don’t want to be known as the guy who won one major. It can be quite a burden on players when they win one major. So to get a second one was incredibly satisfying. Really really what it really was. Uh now in terms of the Open Championship being on the island of Ireland, last time it was here at Port Rush, it was of course Shane Lowry that won in 2019. Uh there is this incredible legacy that’s being built in real time throughout history of Irish Open champions. And on that vein, you will be hitting the first t-shirt here at the Open on Thursday morning at 6:35 a.m. How does that feel? Well, I’m I am very proud at this moment to be selected to do it. It’s a great honor. Uh bit of nerves involved, no doubt about I might sneak out Wednesday night and take away all those white stakes down the left and the right. Uh you know, so I’m not an early morning person either, but no, you’re not. This is it’s such a big honor you I’m committed to it. Well, for us golfers, it can be an early start, but I’m going to show you how I’m going to do it. Actually, I might take a different approach and just Rolls-Royce it straight to the tea and just hit it. No warm up. I quite like that because that might combat any nerves that are jangling around. And in fact, we’re going to take a look at this first t-shirt. Look at what Padre has to face. Uh we’re going to ignore those white stakes cuz they won’t be there. Podre will go out on Wednesday night and remove those. But yes, this is the tea box here. Tea and ground. Tell me what you’re looking at, what you’re trying to do. Talk me through this. Obviously depends on conditions. You’re just trying to hit the fairway. So you’re very comfortable if you hit it this down short of these two fair these two bunkers. This one is dangerous cuz anything turning runs down into it. You’re going to get yourself in a lot of trouble. You’re very happy with a second shot. Hit it up onto the green two put and walk away with a par. It’s this is it seems like as we look there it’s very straightforward very easy hole and the wind has a big effect but in the tournament as we’ve seen we see many a player as I said falter on that hole. I don’t want to dwell on that, but uh yeah, it’s one of those holes that you can’t win it on the hole, but you can certainly lose it on the first hole. So, it’s a bit of a disaster hole and you want to get away from. Okay. Well, we are going to ignore the disaster. We’re going to go with the uh plan of you Rolls-Royce. Would you like me to announce you? Yeah, that would be okay. Bit of practice visualization. Yeah. Bit nervy for me. Um, first on the tea in the 153rd Open Championship, a twotime open champion, Podreg Harrington. Hi. Okay, I don’t know where we’re Let’s see where where would the middle of the fairway be? Let’s see where we’re pointing. Okay, wherever I hit it, I’m going to pretend it’s the middle of the fairway. Straight up at the Giants Causeway just there. So, what I’m going to do, Rolls-Royce, but the most important thing, because I know it’s going to be on camera, is I’m going to pose after I hit this no matter where it goes. First shot of the day. No warm up. And I’m just going to stand there, admire it. Little sub twirl. You flushed it. I did, actually. I did. Maybe I shouldn’t swing so hard in real life. I know we were joking, but I think that might genuinely be the plan. Oh, I’d like to do that. Yeah. Yeah. Let’s just cement that into your mind and your memory so you can get all of the good feeling. That was 309 yards. 309 yards. Little poke with a threewood just obviously a little bit downwind at the moment. You’re drinking from the fountain of youth. Yeah. I tell you what, it was Oh, God. Is it miss? Oh, perfect. Can I go down and put the ball there? I hit it already. Can I tell you what? You take the stakes away on Wednesday night and I’ll just run down and just put the ball there. Just fly 160 mph ball speed. No warm up. Well, yeah, probably get I could I could get it over 170, but it might go so straight. I’ll settle for the straight one, which which to be honest, the first hole is about. You’ll see a lot of people just swing one smooth there. Just poke it down there as I said. And and in links golf as well, the smoother you swing generally the less spin. So you you can be you can manufacture your way around the Lynx golf course by just depending on the different spin rates and things like that. So I might use that shot for sure. Um and in all seriousness, you are one of the most passionate, diligent people I know who is totally in love with the game of golf still despite the many distinguished years that you’ve been playing the game. What are your expectations and thoughts ahead of the week? There’s no doubt like all golfers, we we last about 20 years. 15 years onwards you start to burn out. 15 to 20 years that would have coincided with about 2015 16 when I would have got my my last win sort of on the regular tours. I found a new lease of life though, you know. I probably went through five five years of this is hard, this is difficult. H maybe just the the idea of the championship, getting on the championships, found a new lease of life. I have a I have a different way of looking at it. I spend more time enjoying my life around the golf rather than focusing so much on the competition. So, I know I’m going to practice enough. I know I do enough work in the gym. I’ve just got to make sure I I embrace all of all of golf and enjoy it. So I said it’s 2:00 in the afternoon and that’s the first ball I’ve hit today. So I I I’m never going to be totally relaxed, but I am a more relaxed version than I was 20 years ago. And that’s the only way I can do it. I What happens is you get older. You try and keep up with your young self, but that intensity is just too much. So you have to find a new way of doing it. And I I feel good. You know, I can compete on any one given shot with all these guys. Can I do it over 72 holes is a longer, tougher task, but you know, in my head, I could believe I can do it. I’m I’m I don’t believe I’m here to make up the numbers. I believe I can I can play good golf and I’m well capable of doing it. I’m under a bit of pressure to do it. Obviously, uh you know, these guys are really good. You know, the the strength and depth is is is deeper than back in my day. So, you do feel under pressure, but uh I’m certainly capable and and I believe I’m capable, which is more important. So, we we’ll wait and see. Uh, well, thank you so much for joining us. I know that everyone at home and here on site is going to absolutely love watching you out there at Port Rush. Thank you for your time. Hopefully. So, we’re looking forward to it. Thanks. Thanks, Eddie. Yes, fascinating to hear from Podrick Car. He’s he has I am joined by Henny Zul and and he has become a great educator is an entertaining educator on top of being a contender. You know, I said to him right before we did that piece, I said, “I have to say thank you to you, Podrick, because I saw a video that you did on social media where you said that a great golfer won’t necessarily love the game of golf, but if you love the game of golf, chances are you’re going to be a pretty good golfer.” And that was in regards to getting kids into golf. And he just said, “Make it this incredible experience for them.” and you’re very experienced of this of getting your boys into golf, but he said, “Let them run through bunkers, take them somewhere they can just be free and give them ice cream at the end and just have that positive mental connection with golf and just have it be fun.” Um, and I’ve done that. I embodied that and I’ve done that with my daughter and now she sees a speed golf specialist at Sunningale Heath and it’s great fun and she literally sprints around the golf course through bunkers and loves it. Yeah, there’s so many different ways of enjoying the game. Um, and it’s great to have all of our gallery come down. We do see more and more young people, people under 16 walking around the golf course, you know, and I mean, that’s a new thing, I think, at the Open. Henny. Yeah. And you know what’s really cool is that it’s not necessarily that they want to be professional golfers. There’s so many kids that I meet now that are like, I just love golf. I just like playing. I don’t want to take it anywhere. Just a great game. Yeah. No. Fantastic. Now Brian Harmon working on his game. He was a genius when he worked his way around. Hoy Lake picked up his win. Yeah. Fascinating to see. Brian Harmon. I mean, that’s one of the things that has happened in the men’s part of the game. I think Henny, there’s so few like if you think about 30 events on the PGA Tour with him being a much like a medium hitter at best, there’s only a few events where he’s actually competitive. The opens are always there’s always different ways of getting yourself around this place. Yeah, I think in a multitude of different ways with the open when you’re looking at it. And it’s it both in terms of distance and age. There’s not many tournaments where you can say that a golfer the age of Harmon or even Harrington and you’re looking at these guys and you’re going, “Yeah, you genuinely have a chance to win round pretty much any of the open.” Yes, exactly. 60. It has that incredible heritage to it. Um, and so for these guys, yes, obviously they prepare and they want to win week in week out, but I think when the open rolls around, there’s that extra special, right, this is a really genuinely good opportunity for me. I’m going to put a little bit extra into this. Yeah. Shot makers over power and he was he was incredible. He was so disciplined. I mean, he puted off the charts. So, but nevertheless, me held off Rahm, Rory, everybody. Yeah. And then followed that up by having a great Ryder Cup as well. Yeah. Amazing. So, just to remind yourself in not the best weather, this was Brian Harmon’s open victory. Certainly thought I could do it, but I have this really bad habit where I try to predict the future and try to figure out what’s going to happen. So being in the spot that I was in the golf tournament, having an active brain does not help you at all. Walking up the 18th was something that I had thought a lot about um for a long time. That’s when the that’s when it all hits you. I wanted that ball in the hole. I wanted that tournament over. I wanted to hug my caddy. I wanted to celebrate. I was really proud of what I had done and and um I wanted to take that moment, you know, for myself. As much as it is about the journey most of the time, for a brief second, I just I got to feel what it was like to to to see it all pay off for for just a minute. Yeah, magical scenes. The mind of Brian Harmon was on point that week. It’s a it’s a it’s definitely a over four days it will it will frustrate you. It will drive you mad. There’s a lot that the mind has to absorb over 4 days at an open henny. Yeah. And I think there may not be a disparity massively in terms of ball striking to what we’re seeing, but on the range beforehand, but when you’re playing a Lynx golf course especially, there is quite a disparity in that if you’re playing great, you feel like you’re playing a different golf course, someone who’s struggling because you’re just seeing different shots. You’re seeing different things. You’re not missing shots. you’re not getting into some of those lies and those mounds and you’re just seeing it and feeling it completely differently. So, yes, it is tiring, but actually when you play good golf on a Lynx golf course, it act I think it feels quite straightforward. Yeah, it’s certainly a conundrum. So, maybe just looking at some ball position. Oh, no. Just trying to find what square. So, if you’re at home and you think you’ve got problems, right, Brian Harmon, Open Champion, is just picking up a few tips from his caddy of what’s actually a square club face. What’s it look like? Aiming stick, ball position stick, and is my face square? Those are the fundamentals. But these are things that even Scotty Sheffller gets his sticks out week in week out. You have to stay on top of the basics. And people would sometimes laugh at me because even now in my little old retiree don’t play that much state. I still have to chuck sticks down on the range because otherwise I don’t know what on earth is going on. Where am I aiming? Was the feet aiming? Is the club back on the line of my feet? He’s working with his coach Justin Parson’s here who’s out of Sea Island in Georgia. So part of what I term the Sea Island massive. There’s quite a lot of PJ tour golfers out at Sea Island in Georgia. But I think it almost has this wonderful little um environment to it because these guys compete with each other week in week out when they’re on the PJ tour and when they’re home as well. So there’s a wonderful consistency. It’s a little bit like that Jupiter Florida. There he is. Justin Parson’s nicest guy on the planet. Works with a lot of um well pretty much I don’t know if there’s a player at Sea Island who doesn’t work with JP. Um but he’s home. This is his home country. Yeah. Yeah. And so in terms of the wisdom that he can impart to Brian Harmon, that’s quite significant. Yeah. How about that as a little pattern of shots? Very consistent. Let’s have a look. I mean, and that’s that’s his game. It’s a precision game, but I I just feel like a lot of times Let’s have a look see where he can put the fourth ball. The other thing as well is that Brian Harmon’s from Georgia, which the wind can blow there. Yeah. uh Sea Island. It’s a very windy place. So, in terms of how he’s going to navigate the wind, the wind on the range is really hammering you down and off the right hand side, which for a lot of players is an absolute flatflighted nightmare. Yeah. But he’ll he won’t be phased by that. He’ll know exactly how to handle those conditions. Yeah, it is interesting. It’s nice to see shot makers, you know, perform their magic when the game moves towards the 350 yard high bomb. I don’t care where it goes, if it’s in the rough or it’s not in the rough. And that positional play is lost. I think that the game is going the wrong way for that. The open I think makes the magicians, the shot makers, the Lowry, the Harmons shine, especially around the green. Yeah. And that’s an area that Brian Harmon excels in, his short game, a variety of different shots, being able to be creative. Yeah. No, fascinating to see. Well, we’ll leave Brian and we’ll go and find out what George Hopper Jr. is up to. I’ve now made it to the second hole. We’re joined by Curtis Luck from Australia. Now, Curtis, this is your first open. Uh it’s been a long time coming. Can you tell everyone at home, I guess, your brief story as how you got here today? cuz uh a few injuries later, you finally got to a major. Yeah. Um I mean, yeah, it’s been a weird year and a half for me. I’ve been injured um since May of 2024, so I’ve not been playing a whole lot of golf and sort of used a few of the Aussie events just to check in and see where I was at and have to string a good week together at the Aussie Open and finish second to qualify for the uh Open. Pretty crazy. And so this is what your third event back after injury. a pretty tough one to come back into. Yeah, I I believe this is my third event technically of the year. Um I’ve played probably I think six maybe seven all up since I originally got injured. Um so a few of those came last year, but yeah, it’s uh a little a little rusty. Yeah. Nice. And if we flash back uh to the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Korea where you were victorious, you got an entry into the Open, but you turned professional. So, how big of a full circle is it to finally be here and to play in such a prestigious event? Yeah, amazing. Um, obviously, yeah, 2016 and 17 were a really interesting year for me and I had a lot of options on the uh table and I felt at the time that it was best for me to turn pro and utilize some starts as a professional. Um, so yeah, I’m just pretty stoked to obviously be at the Open this year and uh what a place. Port Rush just uh is pretty incredible. Yeah. First thoughts on the course. You were here for a bit yesterday. What do you think of this amazing venue? Very tough. Yeah, very very tough. I think uh this one’s going to be uh a serious challenge this week. Um I got to walk nine holes yesterday and and get a little glimpse of what it’s like. Watched a few shots come in. It’s pretty firm. Um, I thought maybe with a little bit of rain here or there, uh, over the last few weeks, there could be a little bit of receptiveness this early in the week, but no chance. No cigar. All right, mate. We’ll let you enjoy the rest of your warm-up round, but best of luck this week. It’s good to have you here. Thanks, buddy. And the winner of the gold medal and champion golfer for the year. Winning the open changes a life. A hero at 22 and the first Spaniard ever to win the title. A name remembered, a legacy secured. Started again. But look beyond the champion and you’ll see that maybe there’s a little more to it. From first swings to final parts. From the back streets to the big stage. From the inner cities to the outer reaches. The open’s impact stretches far beyond the fairways. Every ticket, every fan, every roar drives our mission to shape the future of G. Removing barriers, protecting the land, honoring the past, leading for tomorrow. So yes, the open is lifechanging, but what begins as a moment for one creates a game for us all. on the tea. Yeah, she was staring this one down and for good reason. Look at this. Just delightfully done. She’s on top of the world. Going directly at the whole of course. Oh, get in there. There’s something about the AIG Women’s Open. Oh my goodness. Welcome back to live at the range to one of the most beautiful parts of the world here in Northern Ireland. This rugged Northern Irish coastline. It is the stage for the 153rd Open Championship here at Royal Port Rush on the Dunloose course. 2 miles east of here is Dunloose Castle. Dates back to the 13th century. This place really is steeped in history and my goodness, what a view over the course. It’s going to be spectacular over the next few days. We can’t wait for the action to begin. I’m here with Trey Neon. Trey, we’ve just got off one of these buggies. And as the players arrive here at the practice ground, this is where you get off and then we walk up here and we’ll encounter the putting green in just a moment. But Trey, tell us where you’ve been. You’ve recently been in Germany. We’ve just seen Dan Brown. We’ll hopefully catch up with him shortly. But what a great story from Dan and also his relationship to last year’s Open Championship. Yeah, he’s done unbelievable over the last well last year really since what he did what he did at Trun leading after two rounds I believe and he’s really embraced that kind of push start into his professional career won on DP World Tour now as well twice winner in Munich a couple weeks ago and he’s honestly he’s one of the nicest lads as well if we ever get a moment cheering he said oh you can absolutely come and chat with us he’s going to do everything lots of media he’s got he’s got his shorts on and his pulled up socks and tan Yeah, we’ve got all the fans here behind us who are waiting some tips possibly. And also our autograph hunters. Have you got lots of autographs today? Yeah, you got a few. You don’t want ours, do you? Who’s have you got Who’s have you got so far? Rosies and I got Luke Donald and who else? Look, it’s fabulous. What about you? Have you got the same people? Anyone else? Shane, Larry. Oh, that’s a big one. Rose, we’re a bit disappointed. We’re a bit disappointed in Darren, I have to say. Oh, no. We We’ll get him to come back. We’ll get him to come back. He was on our show this morning. What’s your name? Margaret Bradley from She’s given the surname as well. Margaret’s not happy. Are you Margaret? You got autograph call over here. You want a selfie? We’re actually live on television, sir. All right. Okay. Here we go. On a Monday. There we go. Perfect. So, yeah, that’s live on television, sir. There you go. Enjoy. Um, so these guys are all going to be waiting for autographs. And to my to my left hand side is Kev can pan round. This is a beautiful putting service, isn’t it? Fescue, 100% fescue. I was speaking to to Gary, the head pro here, saying that the green keeping staff have worked incredibly hard to get these greens absolutely perfect for the week. What do you make of your first impressions of the course? Oh, it’s unbelievable. Firstly, just looking out there how big and wide those sandunes are. They are unbelievable. Most links courses, they’re kind of I don’t know. You kind of get you don’t get as lost in this, but it’s like you’re driven by the the sandunes here and where to go and where to walk. And again, putting surfaces. Honestly, this is looking unbelievable and it’s shaping up to be um one of one of the top venues I think for an open. Do you know what I love? I love all the youngsters coming and inspiring the next generation. Everyone here sort of waiting for these waiting for the players to come and they do spend a lot of time signing autographs and saying hello. We’ve got Jason Day there who’s uh looking very looking in his cricket wise. That was me in 2014. That was I remember one of my first uh first opens I went to was 2014. Royal Liverpool. My goodness, you’re so young, Trey. Oh, it’s really good. Jason’s uh signing some and hopefully I’ll have a good week. Hopefully we can catch up with him at some point as well. So the putting green is here. It’s all really well organized and if we take a walk straight down, we can go to the driving range which is obviously where we’re based for the week bringing you all the action, all the coverage and George Harper Jr. out on the course and and our commentators, I’m sure you’ve heard them got top tracer technology. The data is really important for all these players. They want to get their numbers spot on before the major championship starts. That first T-shot we just saw was released on on social media that Podrick Harrington, I just had a quick word with his manager. He’s going to be hitting that first shot. I mean, what Podrick’s done for the game of golf is incredible, and I’m sure it’ll be a real honor for him to to hit that shot. Tell us, Trey, what else have you been up to? Where were you over the last few days? Uh, so I was actually in Scotland last week. I spent the Monday doing some video content actually with Matthew Jordan, who’s here this week. Oh, great. Um, master of links, grew up at Royal Liverpool, and he was just giving me a bit of an education actually. We did a little four iron bunker challenge. He was showing me how to get it out of a bunker with a four iron. And then how do you do that? Well, we might we might have time to show you at some point this. Brilliant. I’m sure a lot of our viewers would want to know that. It involves some loose trousers because you’ve got to get down nice and low. You don’t want any tight trousers on cuz you might get an accident happening down there. Mine are actually Mine are actually quite tight. I need to change trousers if I’m going to do that. You also caught up with Marco Pen. She was All the commentators last week were speaking about Marco and you mentioned his name actually to Luke Donald. What do you see in the guy? Oh, he’s honestly firstly he’s just one of the nicest lads ever, but the game he possesses, he is a monster of a driver of the golf ball when we hopefully we’ll catch him at some point, but he’s a tall lad. He’s very wide. He’s a proper athlete of a person as well. He’s some stature on the range. He create I mean, we’ll see the data at some point, but he’s up near 185 190 mph ball speed last week in Scotland, which is unbelievable. But I think we talk a lot about his long game and how far he hits it, but he’s also got an unbelievable touch around the green. So, I think he’s definitely going to be one to watch this week. Great stuff. Well, this is where a lot of the work happens. Actually, speaking to a few of the guys this morning, you don’t really want to be tinkering, changing too many things before a major starts, do you? So, is it these few days about just getting getting to grips with where you are and exactly what your plan is over the next few days? 100%. And I think on a Monday if if Monday’s probably there. If you’re going to find a swing or change something, Monday’s probably the day to do it. From tomorrow, players are going to be out on the golf course thinking strategy. How the hell do they get around this golf course that it’s going to be so difficult? And an open championship is always bounded by the conditions and whatever weather we might have this week. So, yeah, I think they’re just going to be finding little something and then whatever they’ve got, they got to play with it. Yeah, I’m just looking at at Patrick Reed actually. He’s been here for he’s been here for about 2 and 1/2 hours working on his swing. Uh I think he got here really really early this morning and then we had that bit of a weather delay. But uh Patrick, how how does he swing the club in your eyes? He’s kind of one of them traditionalist golfers. You’ll see him. They were very loose hands, loose wrists. By the way, he’s got an unbelievable short game. But I think he’s almost like his short game is so good. And then his long game’s a longer version of that. Watch his wrist here. He sets it up. He’ll give it a little waggle. He’s get he’ll get his feet in there nice and comfortable rehearsing that nice one piece takeaway. And then watch the release through here. Very fluent and classic, isn’t it? Just honestly, you can learn so much if you are uh at Royal Port Rush. Come down and sit in this grand stand. Kev, if you can p the grandstand here and see. It’s getting it’s getting really it was really busy before rain came down a little bit but people are coming in es and flows but it’s a fantastic place to pick up some tips. Okay, we’ll stay down here see what we can find but for now let’s get back to our commentary team. Yeah, great scenes. Great place to watch the golf. You see so many more shots when you’re sitting up in the grand stand than you do out on the golf course. Justin Rose instantly into vision. A very very nice finish last week. What about his masters? It’s like very rarely do you actually remember who finished second to someone. But I think because the way Justin Rose behaved and the way that he respected the stage and the occasion that Rory won, I think you would remember him based on his sportsmanship and his like respect to the game. I mean, it was an unreal round, wasn’t it? Was it six under par? Yeah. Final round. that pat on 18, he knew it was at stake and he still performed under the highest of pressures. I think had things not gone well for Rory, you could have soothed yourself as a golf fan with the fact that Justin Rose is a masters champion and that would have felt absolutely okay. It would have more than okay. Yeah. More than okay. Yeah. Yeah. More than okay. And you would have felt like Yeah. He went out there and he did earn it. Yeah. But then if we think back to 12 months ago at Royal Trune when he came through qualifying at Burnham and Barrow final qualifying, didn’t he finish runner up? Yeah, he was second. Yeah. Yeah. He’s someone that I think could absolutely We’re talking about older players winning an open. He is absolutely, as we fist pump here in the commentary box, one that could get it done this week. Next question. My next question, Henny. Could someone like Justin Rose do well around a golf course like this? I think we don’t even need to add in there someone like we can just say could Justin Rose do well around this golf course. Yeah, I think the answer is yes when we look at this. Tied 20th back in 2019. Arguably he’s playing better now. Yeah. 1998. Henny, the before you were born. No, no, I was I was 8 years old. I was I just started golf. Man, let me do the talking. I was pumping you up there. Sorry. Continue. Continue. the very young Henny Zul 21 starts 46 maybe some rows anyway so let’s have a look works really hard on his game he was he was out on the driving range for a long time on Saturday I was at the Scottish and just an hour and 45 minutes I mean Victor Hofflin came on play with Victor it was like literally Victor Hland 30 balls rose 120 balls by the way, which is no mean feat physically at that age, having played 18 holes in a grueling schedule. To be able to do that is very impressive indeed. I’ I’d say that he’s mentally stronger now than what he was back in 2019 or even at the start of his career. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. a lot of Justin Rose fans. Plays the game in a really, really nice way. It’s a great ambassador of the game as well. Yeah. Global. Yes. Yeah. Nice. I agree. A great guy plays golf in the right spirit. Always does the right thing. Works diligently. I think if you had a child in golf and you were thinking about who to tell them to look up to, Justin Rose, you couldn’t really pick a fault in that. Copy that child. Choosing. Yeah. On and off the course. So Fuji with his back to us with a hoodie. Long long serving caddy as Rose said he can’t live with him but he can’t live without him. So they keep their relationship going. Who are they chatting with? Is that Liam? That’s Liam from one of the manufacturers. So that must be some chat around equipment. Yes. A lot of players going back and forth in caddies to the tour trucks. So you said Monday is the day to figure it out to try and make some changes to get new wedges with different grinds on. Typically you want less bounce on a Lynx golf course, but maybe they’d have figured that out the week of the Scottish and then doing some fine tuning, finding out what works and what doesn’t. Yeah, that’s maybe a chat about the different golf balls, maybe talking about some spin numbers, what have you. So Justin Rose, you can’t get closer than you can. You can be second. I suppose you can get closer. Tied second last year. And then Burkedale again. Burkeale. And then St. Andrews 2015, his 23rd appearance. It’ be nice to put a one on that. Yes, I think he would love that. He would love that. And I mean that’s another thing of the the great part of the game is there’s so many different ways of playing the game. You know it’s like you look at the tennis and it’s so demanding like if you don’t have the speed to get to the ball by by Jovovic is such an exception. You you’ve you’ve you’ve got that tighter window. American football even less football even less. You know there’s there’s such shrinking windows whereas golf has this longevity. Tom Watson nearly 60 years old lost to Stuart Sink Rose. Maybe have a look at his numbers a little bit here. A bit more of a scientist Henny than a than an artist in a way. works works a lot of his positions. I would agree with that. So aiming club, arms hanging in towards him a little bit. That’s more because he’s going to try to fade it. The more your hands hang out away from you, the more you’re going to draw it. So Xander Shalay has his hands out. He’s a drawer. Rory hands away from him. He’s a drawer. Sheffller closer. Ludvigbo. there’s certain patterns that you can start to see kind of like you know those matchups um happen though. So Rose for me very much about his numbers, his angles much more routine around his game than let’s say as Shane Lowry for sure and I think you know to your point about the hands being high and low the reason for that is hands high club head comes a little more on the inside hands low club head comes a little more on the outside. Uh, I was missing a left door all last week. So, actually, this just given me a new swing thought. I know what you’re gonna say. My posture was out. My hands were high. That swing thought you gave me didn’t work. Well, it did. I just didn’t practice it. And my posture went out. But that just reminded me that my hands are probably a little bit too high. I need to zero. Dear dear work diligently on my game like Justin Rose. Well, there are two types of students. Some players can’t actually do it. And then there’s another group who I can’t actually remember what they’re supposed to do. It’s like that TV show, isn’t it? Can cook, can’t cook, can’t cook, won’t cook. Yeah. Anyway, here we go. Let’s move on swiftly. Rose always feels for me like and it’s interesting, isn’t it, when you watch players get older. For me, it’s like that hip speed is one of the things that decreases. You know, if you look at Morau, it’s like just lightning. Ludvig Lightning, you know, and then as you get older, Rose Scott, just I was looking at Darren Clark and I I used to coach Darren. I played college golf with him. He the fastest hips and legs you’d ever seen. And you can just see that that’s probably takes the punishment over time and just kind of slows down. That’s another thing you see, you know, faders typically have much faster hips. You know, Liam in the background just maybe putting us a different iron in the bag there. Let’s have a look and see. Maybe talking about the lie angle. Here we go. Rose arms hang in pretty neutral in his hands. Always has been that little sort of trying to keep the club head outside of his hands there. just holding that ball on the line, you don’t want that face closing down too much. You know, that’s one of the things with higher hands and the further they get away from you, there’s more rate of face closer. So, you need almost either to get ahead of it or to play that draw. Whereas, if it’s if it’s closer to you and you’re quicker hips like a Moraua, that club face stays much more stable through that hitting zone. Um, those are the different combinations. my associate Henny nodding and oh no now not nodding now hand hands in head. Yeah because this is everything that was wrong with my game last week had I just listened then I wouldn’t have missed it left and even further left and then left again. But on the plus side I know exactly what to do to remedy it. What are your thoughts on his footwork here? very on the outside of the left foot. Yeah, it’s it’s interesting. I think that, you know, it’s kind of giving giving yourself space to get the matchups as you get slower. So, let’s have a look. And, you know, much more planted, much more steady feet. You know, we see from some of the younger players, Scotty Sheffler in particular, much more, you know, dancing feet. The feet are just trying to balance the body. Justin Thomas has got both heels in the air, almost both toes in the air. So that huge vertical force is a modern part of the game. Rose is more kind of lateral and rotational kind of staying on a flat. So was working hard yesterday on just trying to keep those body angles look to us like keeping that left arm on his chest a bit more coming down. I always felt like when I watched him years ago when he wasn’t playing well, it was almost like that transition speed, you know, he got kind of almost like almost started the down swing too quickly and kind of got a bit wipey and then that left arm comes off his chest, gets stuck under it, kind of too grip first into the ball. Yeah, it’s interesting, isn’t it? Because you’ve got multiple different things going on and different points at which things can go wrong. You got the setup, height of the hands, and this is where someone like Justin Rose being so diligent is helpful because he stays on top of everything. Then you’ve got top of the back swing in that transition which speedwise can throw things off. And then you’ve got holding the hands off through the ball. Yeah. And the footwork. It is interesting. It’s like, you know, you look behind the best players and so many times you just see the best coaches standing there. It’s not it’s not a game I think you can play independently because the feedbacks that you need are so micro, aren’t they? But they make such massive mistakes once you get downstream towards impact. So Rose just working through some longer shots here. Holding that one up nicely. I think that’s kind of what he was trying to do there. Let’s have a look. Is that the Is that the uh Looks like a mini driver. Yeah, I would I would say so. There he is. What do you think, Luke? Do you think Luke Donald’s looking and saying, “Yeah, foregone conclusion, Justin. You are on my team or you’ve got to do something to show me.” I think Dro has done enough going to America as well. On top of that, I think he’s done enough, especially if you look at the dynamic within the team and the fact there’s a lot more younger players coming through. Who is your stalwart? who’s the one that’s going to guide them, help them be that almost vice captain or captain in the team room and lead the players, the younger guys. And I think Justin is perfect doing that. And he showed it with Bob McIntyre in Rome and how he led him to greatness really. And Bob went on and had a wonderful year. Rose never let him get a foot away from him. He just took him by the hand and took him all the way through. So yeah, given how he’s performed so far this year, I think the Masters put him firmly on the radar and then he’s been consistent since then. Yeah, I think that I think last week at the Genesis was important for him. He put some really good shots together. Was fascinating to see him go out there with Hovland on Saturday. Hopefully both of those players will be in our team in September. Amazing to think this is the last men’s major. We’re kind of done with the we go this PJ tour a bit, boom, FedEx, then a big break and then ride a cup and that’s the end of 2025. They come thick and fast these majors through the summer, don’t they? From Are you Are you a fan of that? Do you know what? I am a fan of the condensed season. I’m a fan of the season ending at the Tour Champs. And then you’ve got the full series events which essentially play for positions 51 on the FedEx Cup rankings upwards to see who gets what category for next year ahead of Q school. I am I’m a big fan of the season ending at Tour Champs cuz I didn’t like it rumbling on and being a wraparound season and ultimately I think the majors being squeezed up together are a product of that. Oh, stop it. Have a look at that. Justin Rose, you’d missed that. Kenny, you were looking at me. I was. Oh, you It’s like James Bond. I That’s unbelievable. I’ve never seen anything like that. Misses the ball. One foot up in the air. Doesn’t get it back in. But two back in, straight in the hand. Ball on the tea. I’m in luck because our esteemed producer has just said that there is a replay lurking around somewhere. Come on, Rosie with some different skills. I didn’t think we were expecting that. Not at his age. Do you think you could do that? You had that level of coordination. Dangerous level of coordination. Thank you, Henny. You’re going to add this to your repertoire. That was so impressive. Now you see now he’s got Look at that. See, no one’s he’s got seven people working for him. No one’s paying attention. He’s done it again. No, no, no, no. It wasn’t that. I suppose when you’re feel that’s well we’re just seeing some different skills now so non zone here we go miss one two a what you think of that iconic isn’t it hey I mean you don’t see that every day I am very grateful to our team for finding that for me because that is what I’m going to be practicing in the zone all week long until I get it you could actually have that as part of your challenge Yeah, the Justin Rose challenge. What’s it? What’s the keepyuppies? Well, I think of football skills there, which is concerning for me. You think the Americans wouldn’t be good at that? I don’t think I would be if I had to demo that. Well, you got the wrong shoes on for that. But I think Thank you. Here we go. Back on to Rosie. Still got tons of speed. Plenty of speed. 173 ball speed. still right on top of PGA Tour average. Here we go. So, Shane Lowry. Yeah. Wandering past. Yeah. Shane was up early. He was first on the range, I think. Had his rain has. Yeah. In the pouring rain. Now, here we go. Have a look at this. Look how open he is to us when he hits. Easily can see his belt buckle. See his how the rotation there finish that. Yes. I love that move from impact up to the fish. If you could bottle that and sell it, I think he would be a bazillionaire. A bazillionaire. Okay. Well, look at that peace and tranquility. But only on this side of the dunes. On the other side of the dunes. Fight. People fighting to become open champion. Welcome along to the open. It’s everything you wanted and more. That’s fantastic. Absolutely brilliant. Quite an extraordinary day on the tea. Yeah, she was staring this one down and for good reason. Look at this. Just delightfully done. She’s on top of the world. Going directly at the hole. Tell you what, oh, get in there. There’s something about the AIG Women’s Open. Oh my goodness. Just swing. Visit golf.golf to find out more. Just swing. Visit golf.golf to get started. Why not give golf a go? Just swing. Swing wild, swing weird, swing wonky, whoever, however, wherever. It doesn’t matter. Just swing. Head over to golf.golf to start playing. Find out where you can learn to play at golf.golf. He was walking away from me, but I grabbed him. European Rider Cup captain Luke Donald. Luke, good to see. I know you were trying to run away from me, but you’re here at Royal Port Rush. Never never never run away from you. Uh I am here. Yeah. just um literally as captain really just uh checking with a few players um just yeah uh you know again more more checking in talking to the players getting ready for um for Beth Paige because it’s not too far away is it? My goodness Trey it really isn’t is it September and two months away preparation has been crazy. You work so incredibly hard. We know the prep that you put into Marco Simone. Do you ever get a day off? There’s always days off. I’ve tried to prioritize a little bit more time with my family as well. So, I I I played I’m going to play probably 14 15 events this year. So, it’s it’s enough to be competitive and and see the guys, but um you know, when I’m not playing and I’m not thinking about the ride cup and with the family. Oh, that good stuff. Your gold’s been pretty good. You know, this bright sparks, bright sparks. You know, I wish it was a little bit better, but um you know, I have high high standards, I guess. Well, Trey, what we absolutely delighted. We cannot wait, can we, for the Ryder Cup? It’s one of our favorites at Beth Paige Black. It’s not going to be a pushover, though, is it? I mean, the Americans are going to be on fire. In terms of your team, do you have a basis of what you’re working from at the moment? Do you have, you know, your key players already already there? Well, you have you’re getting a better idea obviously after this week. This is sort of the last big big event um you know, before qualification. We you know, still till September 1st for for people to to try and impress me. But, uh yeah, I think um you know, there’s certainly um you know, some of the players from Rome are really shining through in the last few months. So, but uh we we’ll have to wait and see. Um you know, it’s it’s very interesting for me to watch to see how much it means to these players, how much they’re working at their games, how much they’re have a an eye on this week, but also an eye on on the Ryder Cup. What can you learn? What did you learn from 2023? I mean, it was success on every single level. But you you never stop, do you? You always want you’re always curious. You It’s a different uh a totally different um you know, challenge, I think, playing a way Ry Cup than it is a home one. So you need a different strategy. Um you know how how we deal with the crowd will be imperative and um you know the the kind of players we bring to New York. So um yeah we’re very very excited. Um I’ve had uh you know almost two two years to to work on this one. Had a little bit shorter time on Rome. So it’s been a little bit less stressful because it’s the second time around but uh you know certainly really enjoying the the process again. It’s been so rewarding uh to be to be captain for for so long. And h how much Luke does it throw a spanner in the works for you when you’ve got some of the youngsters that are popping their way through like Marco last week for example in Scotland he’s had a good week and gone out there with some of the world’s best and battle for a big championship. Yeah those are really good problems to have. You know the the bigger the pool of players you have to choose from the the better. So, uh, you know, it’s great to see some of these young guys like like a Marco who’s really really improved over the last few months and, you know, to stand up obviously and, uh, finish second in a in a world class field like like last week is really impressive. Uh, he’s playing this week again. Um, you know, again, he had a pretty solid, um, PGA championship, I think, and, you know, the more he can play in those big events, the majors, and test himself against the very best and get familiar with these big crowds, I guess, is get familiar with with good crowds, um, is is really important for someone like him. Is it hard not to immediately go to such experienced players? I mean Justin Rose who’s just walked past party you were chatting to obviously he’s been such a massive part of Ryder Cups gone by but is it hard to dis not dismiss them you know really close to the time? Well away Ryder Cups are a different pressure a different situation you know the crowd’s going to be pretty much uh you know against you and uh you know that’s something you have to deal with and and I think having a bit of experience does help with that. Um but again you you still need some current form as well. So be juggling all kinds of different things looking at uh what what we need to sort of make uh make the best 12 possible. And finally Royal Port Rush. What what you make of this place? You obviously you’ve been here. I have been here. I’ve never played the full course, believe it or not. I didn’t qualify in 2019. Um and uh I’ve been here on a few corporate outings and I think I saw about a month ago here. Played a few holes, but I haven’t se played the full 18. But from what I hear, it’s just a fantastic links. Um, and you know, um, I’m hoping just like it was 6 years ago, we have a European winner. So, uh, I’m I’m excited. Be excited to watch. Luke, thanks so much for your time and, uh, we’ll see you beforehand. But, you know, to all our viewers, best of luck at this year’s Ryder Cup. Thanks a lot. Thanks for having me. Excellent. Yeah, returning the Clair Jug is a little bittersweet. You know, it means obviously means I was the the open champ, which is uh an awesome feeling, but all good things come to an end. So, you have to reearn the possession of it. I think my memory sort of peel back. Sunday was obviously a really good round of golf. You know, true open golf I I felt. And then of course, you know, the walk the walk up 18 is something you never forget and something you want to relive as as many times as possible. I’m I’m really looking forward to to getting back on property. I remember liking Port Rush a lot when I played it. From what I hear, it’s it’s going to be completely sold out. It’s uh you know, potentially going to be one of the biggest opens ever. Growing up as a kid, that’s that’s kind of all you want to do is is play on the biggest stages and in front of the biggest best crowds. Yeah, the open’s completely different to to most majors just purely based on one, it’s links, and two, you have uh no idea what sort of weather you’re going to get when you’re on property. Lots of different challenges uh present themselves when when you’re competing in in in this tournament. Just something you stare at all the time. I’ll have to uh I’ll have to reearn this one. Sandra, great to see you. As well, welcome. Thank you. Great to have you here. Good to be back. Great to see you. Come this way. It’s fantastic to have you here. I’m afraid it’s time to to pass this back, unfortunately. I hope you’ve had a great year with it. I’m kidding. Thank you. Thank you, gentlemen. If I can just join you for a brief chat. Xander, you told us how incredible it was to receive the clar jug a year ago. How are the emotions now you’ve had to hand it back? Yeah, it sucks to be honest. Um, but uh definitely, you know, obvious motivation to to to win again and and to to get it back. Mark, your first open championship as chief executive of the RNA. How special to be part of this process of receiving the trophy and passing it on to a new champion? Well, very special. Zander’s been a great champion, so we’re delighted to have him back. looking forward to a good week ahead. Um, this also marks really the start of our championship week. It’s the culmination of lots of hard work from the RNA staff and lots of our partners. So, we can’t wait to get going. Mark, Port Rush is such a special venue. Tell us exactly why it’s perfect for an open championship. I think first and foremost, it’s a brilliant test of Lynx golf. Uh, we’ve got a great stage here for some of the best players in the world. It’s also just a wonderfully scenic golf course. Great views of the Causeway Coast and Dunloo Castle and the surrounding area. And I think it’s also special because the Northern Irish fans are so passionate about golf, knowledgeable. Last time out in 2019, noisy. So, we’re looking for more of the same this week. Sander, what does the clar jug mean to a guy that’s won it? A champion golfer of the year. It it’s a it’s it’s a dream. It’s it’s what we dream of as kids. Uh winning um my dad being European, it’s something that, you know, him him being my swing coach for quite some time. It’s definitely something that he he brought up once or twice uh while we’re preparing for tournaments and and as I got older. So, it’s it’s a moment we’ll cherish forever. Por Harrington, the last man to successfully defend. How do you fancy your chances? Yeah, I was just actually with Patty at the airport. So, um hopefully he can he can rub off some good vibes. Mark, as you say, this marks the start of this championship. How much anticipation and excitement are you now feeling? We’re underway. Xander’s here. The trophy’s back. Huge anticipation. The golf course is in great shape. Uh we’ve got 278,000 fans coming through the gates this week. Record attendance yesterday before the action really even gets started. So we’re ready to go and looking forward to crowning the next champion golfer of the year. Gentlemen, really appreciate your time. Good luck this week. Thank you. Okay, guys. Yeah. And with a handshake and the trophy pass, Xander Shalay felt almost felt like there was remorse there, Henny. Yeah. I don’t think he wants to give it back. He was saying to me in the zone when he came in that that gave him a huge amount of confidence and belief in his game and I think since then it’s been a little bit of a bumpy road with his injury and now trying to get back to it. That clar jug signifies the last big victory that he had and so I think yeah he’s very reluctant to let go of that and give it back because that means okay I’ve got to get another one quick. Yeah, it’s it’s a it’s very final, isn’t it? 2024 is over. That’s it. You’re done. 2025, it’s up for grabs. If you want it, you got every everyone’s got a chance. But I do feel that the open, the RNA, the traditions are kind of like a heartbeat of our game a little bit. Yeah, for sure. Well, I think especially anytime you have a connection to Europe, like you said, his dad’s from Germany and so it almost feels like a bit of a home major to him despite the fact that he was born and raised in America. It’s a bit more meaningful to him especially. Now, Phil Mickelson, an enigma in many ways, but what a talent. Yeah. I mean, an undeniable generational talent, isn’t he? what he did at Kioa Island being the oldest man to win the PGA Championship in a major and it was in style as well. He didn’t limp across the line there. Yeah. In terms of properties of golf course, is this fairly similar being firm and bouncy and windy? Yes. But we haven’t seen great stuff from Phil, anything great from him for quite some time. So, does he still have it or has he gone over the peak of the hill? Yeah, I would say he’s gone over the peak of the hill, but I mean he, you know, he has he he he created an aura around himself. He was such a sort of a massive risk taker the way that he played golf. And I mean, I remember talking to him and he said the one major that he could never really see himself winning because he played how how he played was the was an open and then it all changed at Murfield. So, Phil is here. One of the guys who’s a right-handed person playing golf left-handed copied his dad who was right-handed, so just mirrored it. Look at that. 128 starts in majors and six wins. Six wins. You have to remember one of the, you know, and 12 and seven on the on the runners up and thirds. A guy who played in the in the Tiger Woods era, you know, probably the hardest era to get results from. Yeah, for sure. Because if you think about the players that were around at that time, I mean, you had Ernie El’s, VJ Singh, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods. There was this, it was an incredible gold. Yeah. So full committee meeting here at team Mickelson. Yeah, the two chaps on the left are from Callaway. Just trying to dig into some equipment changes, equipment tweaks. Yeah, that’s that’s an interesting I I don’t think that we see, you know, if you go to the masters, you’re not changing your clubs. you know, you know, it’s it’s the open, it’s the links, it’s the wind, it’s the conditions. Those are the things that’s another element. Henny, we you’re on the range all the time. You see the the manufacturers on sort of a conveyor belt backwards and forwards with new bits of kit. I mean, if you have the wrong spin on a driver, you’re dead in the water. If you’ve got the wrong bounce on a wedge or a club, which is what he’s looking at, he’s looking at the back and he’s looking at the sole, then you’re struggling. It’s an uphill battle. Yeah. Well, we’re back on the range. This is live at the range. Let’s find Dice Stewart. So, just have a bird’s eyee view. This is this is sort of what the gallery is looking at. Players working on their games, trying to find the 14 clubs you’re going to take into battle. get yourself used to dropping the apex down from sort of, you know, 115 on PGA Tour down to sort of 70s, the stingers, all the different shapes and movements. So, it’s not at all the game that you have, you know, when you’re on PJ tour just reading at the numbers. There’s so many more factors. So, Oh, hello D. What you got for us? I’m waving. I’m glad you can see me. Well, I’m here with Brian. Brian Harmon, who’s agreed to do our challen Oh, there we go. Oh, Kev, my camera now has agreed to do our 160 yard challenge. We’re celebrating HSBC’s 160th anniversary. Brian, they’re clapping for you already. There are two there are two challenges. The first one is to hit the 160 yard marker in the distance. And the second challenge is to carry it exactly 160. Are you up for this? I’m up. I’m doing it. Hey, what you what you playing? Uh, I’m going to punch a seven iron cuz that 160 sign is actually 174. But Oh, okay. We’re not telling anyone that. Right. Here we go. Just just hitting it to see. And I’m going to let you know how you get on. We’ve got the tracer on you. We got all cameras on you. Here we go. Where’s that gone? Can you see it? Oh, it’s okay. It’s just just a little bit left. That went 151 yards, Brian. Oh, that looks good. That looks good. Oh, just the right. That was literally almost perfect. That was 165 yards. Just get in the middle of those two figures and you win a prize. I’m not sure what the prize is. I don’t know. We’re going to find one for you. Someone has to quickly rustle up a prize now. We’ve gone again. Third. Third try. That looks brilliant. Looks brilliant. Oh, it hit it. It did. High five. Did you see that? What I want? I want a car. Oh, you don’t win a car. You win a lift to your hotel apparently, which is not very much. We might get you a free coffee as well. There might be a latte in office. You drink coffee? I do. Yeah. Great stuff. Um, and the next challenge is to carry exactly 160. So, it doesn’t need to be too close to that board. What are you taking for this? We’re going to do a little saw off eight iron. Okay. Eight iron. So, we’re just carrying it 160. Just carrying exactly 160. Celebrating HSBC’s 160th anniversary. This is a good challenge for everyone at home to try, actually. That looks lovely. Okay. He’s saying 156. How do you know that? Oh, you’re looking at it. It’s is Yeah, exactly. You’ve got it. Okay, that’s 156 yards. You’re four yards off. You want that second prize. Okay, there. That’s going to be close. I can’t see. We can’t say. Hold on. Oh, it’s it’s 155. You’re five off. Just have a tiny little bit more. Just We want you to win this. Nervous. He’s nervous. This is more nerve-wracking than two years ago. Oh, it’s a beautiful shot. Beautiful. We’re tracking it. Tracking the carry. Come on. Be good. Oh, Brian, can I give you a high five? 158. That’s not bad at all. Um, how are you feeling after that challenge? Good. Yeah. Working on a little stuff out here. So, um, I mean, yeah, you’re right at the top of the leaderboard because you are first contender. So, congratulations. You’re winning so far. Winner by default. You’ve been a great sports. Thank you. We’ll go to commentary. See you soon. See you guys. Cheers. Yeah, fantastic work from Brian Harmon. Sorry for the technical issues that we had there. Everything is miles away from everything else. But you could just see from the way that he did that, you know, he was told to hit it 160, hits the board, then land it 160, 155, 156, 158. It’s that kind of skill set that he brings to these sorts of competitions, Henny. Yeah. And you know what? It’s not surprising given just how consistent he is. His ball flights earlier were mirroring. It’s very impressive indeed. Might not be the longest hitter in the world, but it’s incredibly accurate. Yeah. If you could give him a a big hitters T-shot and get him up there. Yeah. I think he’d be right up there. Top 10 most weeks. live at the range. Fascinating view. It’s a new product really. Been going a couple of years. you know, this whole aspect of the preparation before the gun goes on Thursday morning um has always been kind of only seen by those who come here. We bring you that show. Fascinating insights. We have the top tracer technology. So, all of the driving range is lit up by that. We can track every single ball. We saw the consistency of Brian Harmon as he went through the 160 challenge with Dye now on his three-wood shake of the head. Not what he wanted. Yeah, medium hitter at best. Not many courses really on the PJ tour suit him. Hilton Head, I think Valero, Texas, he won. It was windy. So just working on his game, working on his shot shapes. It’s a proper wind here though, Henny. You you were in the States a lot. It’s more like a dome golf over there. This is a different test. Yeah, undoubtedly. It’s actually pumping quite hard at various different points. And I think that’s something that the players just have to accept at open championships. You might get really lucky. Go early. who’s say 6:30 in the morning could be dead flat great make a great score and then it could start blowing it can die down. It’s truly one of those venues where you have every single season in one day. No, it is interesting. Nature and the course combined that is the test in front of them. Here we go. John Ram on the left. Oh, Tier Hatton. Let’s have a look. Great iron player, Till Ratton. He was one of my picks to do well in a major this year, if not snag one. I’m not putting it past him to not do very well here this week. Yeah, it’s a good shout. I mean, that was I think that’s really how Shane Lowry won in 219 was he just hit more greens than anybody else. Even though he didn’t hit that many fairways, he had put tons of balls from the right side in play. Tier’s a fantastic iron player. That is what he has done this year so far. Kind of showed at the Masters. Definitely showed at the Oakmont, which was very tough, very technical from Ter Green. Yeah, love watching him play. Never never 100% sure what you’re going to get from um from Tier, but nevertheless always worth a great watch. Smile on his face at the moment. Can turn quickly to a grimace though, Henny. Yeah, it can. But then it doesn’t stay that way. I just think he is one of those people that needs to let it out. I think if he bottled it up, he would be like one of those balloons that explodes or like whizzes around in the air. Oh, when the airs come out. Yeah, that his head, you mean? Correct. Well, I think how he plays and what he does is exactly what he needs to do for his personality. Yeah, he’s a great player. Great player. Okay, little takeaway drill for Tier. Just working on getting some lines going. So, little takeaway drill. Low hands. Maybe just trying to keep the club head outside of his hands. Has has a fairly sort of I’d say like a faders kind of an action. Yeah. Steeper arms. The club shallows a little bit when he comes down, but you can see quite a lot of angle between his hands coming down and the club coming out of his hands. Mhm. Just keeping the club head out. kind of one of those zippy hips faders like fast hips keeps the club head from passing his body takes the draw out of his game. So yeah, and quite deliberate on the way back to a nice transition. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We look at the speed and tempo the next time he hits one of or at least where the speed is. The speed’s at the bottom to the finish, not in the transition. And I think that’s a key thing of really good ball strikers. That is his bossing his manufacturers there. That’s Dom. Yes. So the players in constant communication with their manufacturers. Have I got the right package of clubs here? Is there anything that I could do that would even pick me up a half a shot the day? Important to know that that’s only on a Monday or Tuesday morning. Yeah. After that, we’re not seeing this from players and manufacturers. Manufacturers are usually out of here by Wednesday night. Yeah. They’re not tinkering around in the week. No, but I think that’s another one of the challenges. The open, you know, it’s different turf than they hit off all year long. You never played so much wind. There is results. His last five opens. Port Rush the last time 219 he really contended. Probably not so happy about the rest of that package. But nevertheless, yes, a contender this week. Let’s see. Tier dissatisfied. Lost it to the right. Yes, but I think has a a 5-second rebound. So, you think it resets? Yes, I do. I want to see the tempo of this swing. So, we see him go down into the ball. There’s his drill there. Get the feeling. Checking his points on the way back. Typically, golfers will check those two points. halfway back, club parallel to the floor and then top of the back swing and then impact and halfway through. Those are the points that people will look at. Yeah, fascinating to see the action, all the things behind the scenes. And if you want to join us or you want to be part of the gang, that is the co the QR code to our online shop. Now, I’m telling you, we have got the snazziest umbrellas you have ever seen. If you want to be part of the gang, you got to buy an open umbrella. I bought four last year. I gave them three of my best mates. We all go, we played the other day out in the pouring rain. four yellow umbrellas. We were the cool guys. Is that the descriptive word that you’re choosing? We were pretty cool. I I can I can accept that maybe but for that moment, right, we looked we looked we looked good. There’s a bit of a conundrum, isn’t there, where when you describe something that you do as cool, it immediately becomes less cool. I’m okay with that. Yeah, I’m okay with that. It was a moment in time. It’s passed. But but go shopping and if you want to be cool like me and my mates, get one of the yellow umbrellas. Anyway, moving swiftly on. Tier, that is his tour tracer data. So when you see him look down, he’s looking to see exactly that advice. That’s the ball data into the chat. Just watching Tur Hatton. Quite a bit of wind now. kind of down and off the right. Tier looking to see if what he sees and feels is happening on the data which we show you. There he is 23rd in the world. definitely going to be in our RDER Cup team in Beth Paige alongside his Liv um golf teammate um John Ram. Yeah. And it’s super important to him. Ryder Cup, it means the world to him. He’s delighted that he gets a chance, another chance to play. one of the highlights of his career and since the start of the year that is what his focus has been got the win in Dubai. Yeah. And that really was what he set his goal post out to be was Ryder Cup Beth Paige Black at the end of the year. That’s what I want. I think you know I think Tier’s handled all of that stuff incredibly well. I have a huge respect for the respect that he has continued to show to DP World and to and to Luke Donald and to our our RDER Cup. So full tick boxes on all of that for me from Tur. Let’s have a look. He’s working hard on something. He’s got a little position that he’s working on. Club parallel to the ground. So hands low kind of shaft out. I don’t think this will be one with the drill, but it’s a very slow start that then builds in speed, isn’t it? Yeah, I quite like that. I think that’s something that we can all learn from. He’s saying his pelvis is pushing forward at impact on the way down. I that could be the drill, you know. Right. Yeah. Could could be get it like a little behind him in the takeaway. He has He’s steep anyway, so if he doesn’t get that shallowing, he won’t be able to keep the angle. So, here we go. It’s so detailed, isn’t it? I think that’s what actors don’t understand. It’s super detailed. Am I doing exactly the pieces which I need to do to hit it any good? So, yeah, there was like eight little adjustments that went on there and it’s just over the ball in terms of his body. Making sure shoulders are back, pelvis was neutral. Yeah. Body angle was correct. Yeah. And all these things could be like millimeters off like your pelvis the tilt. Oh yeah. And you can’t even then you can’t even hit the ball. It’s an annoying game, isn’t it? It is so annoying. I don’t think I could overemphasize how annoying this is. Are you still annoyed from last week? Yes. There was some good stuff in there, but then there’s also wild that like a good swing can produce such horrific results and you look at it and you film it and you’re like, how? Yeah. Did you Did you do my little high right here? No, I just couldn’t get into the pivots. I just couldn’t couldn’t figure it out. Because also, it’s important to note that you can think about all these things. We’re seeing all these players make these little adjustments and have these swing thoughts on the driving range. You get out onto the course and you have to leave 90% of that alone cuz you can’t think about that and think about the target as well. You got to think about it. Golf shot, not golf swing. That’s the saying that we use is play golf, not golf swing. And so that’s why the players are so incredibly detailed here on the driving range because you just can’t be on the golf course. So that’s my roundabout way of excusing myself and saying, “No, I did not think about your wonderful swing thought while on the court.” Yeah, it was a genius swing thought. I can tell you that, guys. It was It was great. Here we go. You just have to remember it for it to work. That’s a different problem. We’ll work on that next time. Henny, please. I’m that person that walks into a room and goes, “What? What? What am I doing? Why did I come in here?” Yeah, the goldfish. The goldfish. Anyway, here we go. Just fascinating to watch. I mean, this is this is a very precise package of movements that Tier’s working on here. Really complex right into his little jump there. Little bit longer club. 150. That’s a driving iron. Yeah. So, he’s he’s trying to figure out, okay, how what’s the new combination of of clubs I’m going to put in there. Where does this fit in? I know I need a stinger. I know need something in that 60 to 70 ft apex that goes like 260 cuz it’s going to run. It’s quite green out there at the moment, but it’s firming up. Like you can just I was out there earlier at lunch and you can hear the balls landing hot. I mean there there’s a less a noise when they land. Yeah. No, there is. It’s going to firm up throughout the week. Although, no, I take that back as there’s just absolutely bucketed two loads of rain out there today. So, I think that’s helped the rough to be a little juicy, helped the golf course soften up perhaps. So, let’s head out to see what Trey Nan has got up to. He is with Dan Brown. Right, Dan Brown, we’re at the Open Championship, mate. And also, you’re a man in some serious form, aren’t you? Winning Munich this year. Caught up with you in Munich, didn’t I? And you was you was in some nice pre- round prep, wasn’t you, when I bumped into you on Wednesday. Yeah. Yeah. So, that was um quite unexpected. Um the last thing I was thinking about that week was the golf tournament, but obviously um was playing nice. Had three weeks off, I think, to um to prep for for these three weeks. Um, obviously starting in Munich and yeah, it was a nice way to start the little sort of swing off. And I caught up with you actually. I was just referring to Wednesday night. Little double Stein, wasn’t it? And that was the that was a pre pre round uh uh rep, wasn’t it? That that was a flavor for the night. Yeah. I told you I wasn’t going to have a beer and then I ended up getting roped into having a Stein. Yeah. Um, but that’s I think that’s a remedy. That might be It could be Guinness this week. It could It could be, but I’m not going to test the waters with that. Okay, we’ll leave that off for now. Um obviously such a good performance last year at Trunan uh tide temp got you into this year. How much are you looking forward to playing open championship here in Northern Ireland? Yeah I mean obviously from kind of the the minute the tournament finish you’re kind of raring to go again for the next year. It’s one of them where you put it in the calendar and you’re just yeah you’re you’re kind of getting excited before it’s even come around. And then um driving in this morning, got the ferry this morning. Driving in kind of you’re on top of the hill coming over. You can Yeah. And you can see all the grand stands and the course and everything. It’s a great view and uh yeah, it just gets you gets your juices flowing again. And how much from that performance last year? Obviously, you’ve had so much attention in media and fans. Seems like you’ve got so many more fans now from last year. How much has that performance in an Open Championship? What’s that done for your career? Yeah, it’s um I wouldn’t say it’s changed me as a person or anything sort of mentally, but I think I’ve definitely gained a few um a few extra fans, which has been nice. Yeah. Um and and this week, what do we make of the course? Have you been out there yet? I’ve not been out. I’m going to go out and do nine holes quite shortly. Um some bad weather coming in tomorrow. I’m not sure how much practice we can get done tomorrow. So, I’m going to uh I didn’t plan on doing downhills today, but kind of looking at the forecast for the next 3 days, I’m going to I’m going to nip out and try and get out on my own and and run around pretty quickly. Right. I’m not going to take up too much more time. I know that bad weather could be in tomorrow, but best of luck for this week, Dan. Thank you. Thanks, Daniel Brown. He’s turned into some player now. He really has. Alongside me, I’ve got Mark Ro. Mark, Open Championships. Just love him, Daddy. Yeah. Nothing better. Is that the highlight of every season, the highlight to be playing? It would be always a a season that you think you miss something just if you didn’t have that open championship players badge on your belt or on your cap. You you’d miss something. It was uh there’s nothing better. Yeah. You must have played in a fair few years. Yes. 13 in total. Yeah. Yeah. No, I think I was I was 12 or 13. I was actually first alternate for one, but I count that. Is that okay? Did you get a badge? I got a badge. Yeah, that’s okay. I love that. Yeah. No, you talk about Dan Brown there. What a performance uh in Munich, you know, an emotional performance. What a to get through the week given everything that was happening around him within his family at the time and friends really was one of the most emotional. I mean, I was with David How in the commentary box. We were actually both in tears at the end, were you? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it was. That must have been messy. Well, it was messy commentary the whole week. Looking down into Bryson Dambo here, right at the end of the range. Sometimes it’s good to get to, you know, if the wind’s in a certain direction, you want to actually I always found, don’t know about you Mark, but I wanted to practice into the wind. Yes. Not down. I think most professional golfers in the world of golf do not like practicing crosswind, do they? They And you’re absolutely right, Richard. They would prefer to be into the breeze rather than down the breeze. Uh Bryson looks like he’s analyzing something like he always is. Every second of every day I think there’s something going through his mind of a scientific nature. Well, yes, he is sort of known as a scientist, isn’t it? What um you know at this stage on a Monday, do you think any of these players really are trying to pick something up here? I know what it’s like Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. you just go through your normal practice routine. But yeah, I think to be honest with you, yeah, I think Monday you you can you can have a little, you know, maybe toy with some things, toy with a few different clubs, maybe different ball flights, different lofts on certain clubs. Are you starting to to get a feel for conditions, aren’t you? And I mean, look at it now. It’s breezy out there. We’ve had rain today, a little bit today. Apparently conditions tomorrow not great. And rain forecast during the week as well. So, you’re starting to factor all of those things in, but of course, you know, there’s no pressure right now. You can see he’s super relaxed. And this is, of course, a debulked version of Bryce. And at one point, yes, at one point he was even bigger. Now, he’s just super strong. He’s a super athlete. And, uh, you know, he’s uh, he’s always a threat in majors, isn’t he? He’s got a major championship mentality. I I always found going on the range that uh you know when you played in the open it it was it was to start with it was a little bit you were in awe as to who was actually coming onto the range. You know I I my first open was at Merfield in 1980 and let’s just have a look at Bryson Dammo’s results at the open championship. Not great in all honesty. Let’s be honest one one top 10. Yeah at St. Andrews and the rest has been indifferent which now maybe it’s the hard running first conditions, maybe it’s the little bit of breeze once he gets up, but he’s a much better player now. He’s a way way better player now. He’s um he he’ll be a threat. He’ll be he’ll I’m almost certain he’ll be in the mix this week. He won’t be too far off. I tell you who I’m going to go for as well. I I really fancy um I know he’s moving on in age, but I really do quite fancy Justin Rose to do really well this week. Yeah, coming off 68 63 last two rounds last week at Renaissance. That’s not a bad shout. You have got a TV at home. Very weak left hand. Look at that. Very weak left hand and very powerful biceps and a lot of club head speed. Lovely coastline here live at the range. 153rd Open Championship on the tea. Yeah, she was staring at this one down and for good reason. Look at this. Just delightfully done. She’s on top of the world going directly at the hole. Well, of course. Oh, get in there. There’s something about the AIG Women’s Open. Oh my goodness. Just swing. Visit golf.golf to find out more. Just swing. Visit golf.golf to get started. Why not give golf a go? Just swing. Swing wild. Swing weird. Swing wonky. Whoever, however, wherever. It doesn’t matter. Just swing. Head over to golf.golf to start playing. Find out where you can learn to play at golf.golf. Welcome along to the open. It’s everything you wanted and more. As fantastic as that brilliant quite an extraordinary day. Welcome back to live at the range. These players just coming towards the end of the first practice day Monday. There won’t be loads of them out there now. There may be a few dotted out on the course still. Mark, just having a little bit of chipping and putting and seeing how the ball rolls. Yeah, it’s um I’m surprised actually how many are still out there on the range. But um it’s not too bad right now, is it? It’s just cooling down slightly and as you can see, gentle breeze sort of down and just slightly off the right hand side on the on the driving range. Bryson animated as always, still talking, still chatting. Yeah, I I was just saying earlier uh Mark about, you know, you’re sort of in awe a little bit your first few opens as to who comes onto the range. I was saying 1980 was at Murfield for me and I went on the range and I was so scared I I I couldn’t hit past the six iron. You know, you thought I’m not going to hit a three here and shank it down right and take somebody out. So, and then all of a sudden there’s I hear this thudding shots behind me. Just thing shots. different sound and I turned around and it was Jack Nicholas hitting balls and it was you’ve been near and watched him hit balls. It’s a different sound Mark. Yes, I have a very similar Jack Nicholas story actually from Trune the open championship at Trune and I was hitting balls and there was kind of a kathuffle behind me and I thought who is it? I don’t want to look behind me but I had to over my right shoulder and Jack and Jimmy Dickinson had arrived. Jack Nicholas behind me put his balls down started his balls. I shanked the first three shots and Jimmy Dick was Yes. And Jimmy Dickinson was looking at me thinking, “What’s wrong with Rowey? What’s wrong with him?” So he he was so sweet at the time. He went, “Roey, can I introduce you to to Jack?” Just just because he knew. I was I was shaking like a leaf and that was really nice. Were you playing Were you playing with him or is it just an introduction? No, just an introduction for five minutes and uh it’s still one of the thrills of my life, you know. Definitely. Well, Bryson pounding away, isn’t he? Let’s take a look at the flat carry. Can’t really see what club he’s got. One. Hang on. 223. Um 146 ball speed. Hang time 6.8. I’m going to say I’m going to shock here, but I think that could be a sixiron. Do you Do you think? Yes. Yes. Downwind slightly off the right. 223. Could be a sixiron. It could. Yeah. Bit of right to left on it. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I mean that’s just crazy, isn’t it? When we, you know, we think of of of our distances over the years. Yes, the ball technology changed. Yes, the club tech technology changed and and Bryson has forearms like my legs. But I mean, at the end of the day, it’s still it’s incredible power when you see it and when you the the compression on the golf ball is a different sound. It is. Might be seven iron. Yes. Golf club’s all the iron’s all the same length, isn’t it? Let that one drift a little to the right there. Yeah, curve there. Three feet. That that’s obviously that’s important, isn’t it? As you say, there’s a bit of breeze off the right. Is he hitting a soft draw? No, he’s really hitting a straight shot and the wind’s just moving it that little bit. If you were playing into a a right to left breeze, would you try and hold shots up? How would you play, Mark? I I think that depends. But my given choice on a on a Lynx golf course in links conditions and strong winds was always never to ride it on the wind because you lose control of it. Firm, hard, bouncy conditions. I would always be trying to sort of shape it into it to control it. So you would have um you two clubs more probably. Yeah, definitely. But you wouldn’t use the wind as your friend, so to speak. You try and fight it. Yes, I would do a T-shot perhaps when I wanted distance. Yeah, I’d let the wind take it obviously because I want distance. But iron shots and wedge shots in particular, short iron shots. I’m always trying to cut them and feather them and hold them. Yeah. Well, some of these players might go, what are we now quarter coming up for quarter past 5? They might go out and play few more holes. It’s it’s certainly light till very late. It’s actually not a bad part of the day really, is it? You know that that it’s there what we call a gentle lynx breeze. I mean that would be anything up to 20 25 miles an hour. If you were exempt Mark for the Open Championship back in the day you used to qualify on a on a Sunday and a Monday. The Scottish Open used to finish on the Saturday. Would you would you if you were exempt would you be here on a Monday? No. No. I but in all honesty there were not too many years where I was exempt from my order of merit position my you know race to do by position as such. So I did either have to qualify at the Scottish which I did two or three times actually when you had the the spots as they did last week as well. Got through that way and also I went to the qualifying I had a couple of playoffs and got through in a couple of playoffs as well. Um so therefore you’re that’s taking care of your sun your Sunday and your Monday your Monday and your Tuesday. So um no I think I think Monday’s a rest day for me but I don’t think they’ll be doing much. I mean, they’re just getting a feel, aren’t they, for hitting a few balls and making sure there’s no little niggles anywhere in the body and everything’s running well. He’s just hitting three quarter shots here. These are very soft. 164 ball speed. We’re talking about a player that when he gets his driver out can get up into the 190s, you know, easy lazy power, Bryson. Well, it’s great we’ve got a sort of a top tracer, it’s called, following the flight of this ball. That always gives you a very good idea of what’s going on. He’s not happy with these. He’s just hiking these a little left. You got the apex at 119 there. A lot of the players will be on the range working on what I call windshots. You know, they’ll be working on trying to change the flight, keep the ball down. They might even be adjusting the loft on some of the clubs. The driving iron’s very important. These sort of two, what we used to call a one iron, but it’s now a two iron. strong two irons, strong three irons that these guys can get running. They can keep the apex of the flight down under 60 feet, get it running, chasing, use the ground contours. Very useful club to have in links golf. Did you Did you slow your swing down in the wind? Um, no. I didn’t really think about that to be honest with you. Um, I love playing. I loved playing in the wind. Yeah, me too. Absolutely loved it. Hated rain. Rain I couldn’t stand. But I think we’re pretty much the same, aren’t we? You have to put all those waterproofs on and all that. It’s a bit of food. Love watching his feet. I love the footwork. Oh, hang on. Just saying it’s uh I was just saying there, look at that. I said it’s quite a nice uh sort of early evening and then comes the rain again. It’s almost impossible. And it’s quite heavy as it comes. It’s like April show, isn’t it? Yeah. Yeah. There you go. There’s that little sort of that little sort of almost like a towhill towel quick sort of step that gets him going. That’s his rhythm tool. One or two players do that. They said Ben Hogan used to tap his from toes to his heels during his swing. And oh, lightning in the area. Yeah. Off you go. Can’t stay out there. No. Once they once if there’s lightning around, you have to immediately leave the course, leave the range, leave the putting green, and take cover. Guessing Bryson hasn’t heard the Hooton cuz he’s just No, I’m carrying on. If lightning strikes me, it’ll make no difference. Look at that. That is a moody sky coming in. It is. But, you know, it’s a good tip, isn’t it, for the uh you see Bryson Demer just hovering the club head just above the ground behind the ball to give yourself a nice solid one piece takeaway. Yes. Yeah. It’s um I always found I don’t think I ever grounded my driver as as long as I can remember. No, I remember that. It looks okay there, doesn’t it? Looks quite blue overhead. But just I think off to the right there is a very ominous cloud. And obviously lightning within 10 miles, isn’t it? If it’s within 10 miles. 10 or 15. It used to be 15, I think. Well, I think it’s 10. Do you? Yeah. Go 12 and a half. Should we? Yeah. Yeah, we’ll go 12 and a half. So, the horn’s gone off and unfortunately the players have to leave the range, the course and the putting green till it clears up. Becoming champion golfer of the year is rarely a straight line. I got to play my first open very fortunately in St. Andrews. As a golfer, it’s most special place in the world. To play an open there is incredible and I actually played quite well. Nicely done. 300 through 10. I didn’t qualify in 2011. I didn’t qualify in 2012. 2014 I shot 65 in the final round. Actually to finish ninth which was pretty cool. That was my best finish ever in a major. And then from 2015 onwards, kind of all downhill at the open championship. You break a few eggs before you can make an omelet. I was just going through such a bad phase in my career. And then 2018 was Carnusi where myself and my caddy split up and probably one of the lowest points of my whole career. I don’t think I’ve ever been in such good form going into an open. What a start. Shane moves to 11 on that. He’s leading the Open Championship. I get down onto the tea and I’m looking around. The crowd are going mental and I’m just taking it all in. I’m like, this is incredible. Oh, what a point in Lowry. There’s no in between today. Like, it’s either going to be one of the best days of my life or one of the worst. What a time to throw in another birdie. I have to go and win. And that’s the way I felt. Thankfully, I did. Just swing. Visit golf.golf to find out more. Just swing. Visit golf.golf to get started. Why not give golf a go? Just swing. Swing wild. Swing weird. Swing wonky. Whoever, however, wherever. It doesn’t matter. Just swing. Head over to golf.golf to start playing. Find out where you can learn to play at golf.golf. Well, that looks absolutely perfect, doesn’t it? But there’s not a soul in sight. No. Unfortunately, we’ve had the horn has gone off from the RNA, which means there’s lightning in the area. Yeah. Don’t you hate the horn? You know, just when you’re enjoying your practice and obviously safety, got to leave. And I doubt they’ll come back at this stage. which I can’t imagine will come back at this time in the evening. I think they’ll be off for maybe half an hour. Well, we’re going to show you uh we’re going to show you Henny now with uh Nick Taylor in the open zone and this was earlier on today and I hope you enjoy. I’m delighted to have the reigning Sony Open champion Nick Taylor here in the zone with me. Nick, thank you so much for coming in. Um you are having uh I think probably your most consistent season yet in terms of um results finishes. Obviously kicked off the year with that Sony Open victory, but I guess what have you been working on? What has been the difference that you’ve felt this season? Yeah, working on a lot of the similar stuff from last year just continuing that into this season. I feel like I’ve probably driven at my best this season. Uh accuracy wise, you know, I’ve tried to put a little distance on, but more so just keep it in the fairway as much as possible. And my iron games been very very solid all year. So, if I keep it in play, I give myself a lot of birdie opportunities. Um, so everything’s been kind of working. The putter has been more consistent this year than last season. Um, so everything’s just been kind of clicking. So, it’s I think a reason why my consistency has been better. Uh, when we’re previewing tournaments week in week out, obviously a big discussion point is different venues, conditions, stars of golf courses. Sony Open is incredibly low scoring. But you guys have to adjust week in week out to what you’re facing. How do you or have how have you prepared for Port Rush this week? You know, I played the Scottish last week, which I think is a great prep. Just just similar grass. Uh playing in windy conditions, the shots around the greens, trying to be creative. You know, I feel like Scotty talked a bit about last week that went viral, but you know, you can have five to six different options when you’re taking a chip shot or or putt it. So, you know, working that into this week. Um I actually came here in 2007 on a college trip, but I haven’t been back. So, I don’t really remember a lot of the course. I’ll see it some today and then the next two days and try to do as much prep as I can. Yeah, I’m sure a college trip is slightly different to being here preparing diligently as a professional. Uh to kickstart your week and to aid in your preparation, we are going to ask you to take on our Shane Lowry challenge. It might jog your memory of 18 because we’re going to recreate his second shot on 18 on Sunday, which is 175 yards. Uh we’ve got our Giants causeway stones out there as the flag. Uh, this is what you have to face. Our fly over here of the challenge. Have you hit shots yet today? I have hit a few. So, I know it’s a lot of helping wins. I got that going. Yes. So, you’re warmed up and ready to go. This is the equivalent in terms of the short game shots you were mentioning of walking up to the pin, taking a little look around it, cementing that in your mind, picking your stone out. Exactly. Ready to take it on. Do that front stone. Try to land on that one. The front stone. I like it. 175 yards. You said 175. Yeah. Um, and very similar, well, exactly the same I should say to Shane Larry shot. It’s a little, the mat is a little down and uphill to open. Okay. Very cool. You said what’s the closest so far? 10 yards. Okay. I like that you asked that question because that shows me where your mind is at. Well, one shot nearest the pin. All right. That’s way short. Let’s take a look. Well, I was trying to hit at 150 front right. Okay. Leaving it. He had a six shot lead, so I feel like that’s pretty good if I was in this position. 15 and a half yards. Okay. What did you hit? I hit a nine iron. So, I I was budging about 20 yards of help. Didn’t quite hit 155 yards, but that’s how it was going with with the Trackman using that. It was It’s a lot of help right now. So, doing this, be able to prep for the for the tournament is big. Um, in terms of major performances this year, tied 23rd at the US Open, which I guess is most similar in terms of condition and firmness of ground that you’d feel at an Open. Is that something that’s in your mind of confidence boosting that you’re going to try and build on? Yeah, definitely. I’ve I’ve performed better this year in the majors. Got comfortable playing late uh at the US Open. So hopefully I can put myself in that position. It’s a different animal here. The conditions can change, you know, in a minute. So being prepared for that, mentally prepared for that, I think is the biggest challenge this week. So going into Thursday knowing that anything can happen and be prepared for it. Well, hopefully we’ve given you some good feelings. Stepping into Shane Lowry shoes, hitting it front right on that green with the six shot lead. Good to see you on Sunday. That’s the plan. Nick, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. And a round of applause for Nick Taylor, a fivetime winner. Always good to hear from the players, Mark. Yeah, absolutely. And uh yeah, he’s having a very consistent season on the PGA tour, Nick Taylor. And he’ll come in here with a, you know, high hopes of a a good performance, but you know, links golf and the challenge of open championships very different to anything week in week out. So, it’s a it’s a learning process, isn’t it? does sometimes take uh quite a few years to learn how to to win on a link’s course. Well, talking about winning, Shane Larry was the winner here in 2019. It was time for him to face the the World’s Press for his pre-open press conference earlier on today. It’s great to be back, I suppose. I uh I was here a couple of weeks ago. Um, and I was here last year for the first time, but I was here a couple of weeks ago and all the grand stands were up and that’s when like stuff really starts to flow back to you. So, um, it was pretty cool to kind of get that out of the way. Uh, and then I I came up here yesterday. I played nine holes last night and nine this morning and yeah, great memories. Um, and I’m looking forward to the week, but obviously I know, you know, that’s that’s quite a while ago. And no matter what I done then, it doesn’t give me any god-given right to do anything special this week. So, uh, I just need to get my head down on Thursday morning and, um, get after it and see what happens. Okay, great stuff. We’ll go to the floor for questions. Microphone number one. Hi, Shane. Uh, some brilliant videos uh, from the night you won in 2019. Uh, can you just walk us through that night and the the celebrations or or what you can remember of it? Interesting. first question in it here to talk about golf and all anyone wants to talk about is drinking but um yeah I celebrated pretty well and uh I was um golf’s a funny game like where you you lose a lot more than you win and I’ve always been a firm believer that when you win you need to try and uh celebrate those victories so I did that that night. Okay, Don in the middle. Rory was in here saying that over the last five, six years, you guys have become really close and and he’s grown to really uh admire the way you’re able to separate your life from from golf and really get away from it. Uh what do you admire most about Rory? Um I think his constant work ethic. Uh I think um and yeah we have become quite close over the last number of years and I think it’s helped both of us. Um I think I help him but he helps me as well. I think um I’ve certainly feel like I’ve learned a lot from his work ethic and how I apply myself to the game now. um you know we spend a lot of time together and just uh you know you you go where we live in Florida like we all like there’s a lot of players live there and you go to the range and there’s never a day goes by where you get there and some of the top players in the world are not there so you’re like well if if all these guys are here you know we need to be doing it as well so it’s uh yeah I I think my biggest thing for him is how much you know he’s done everything there is to do in the game like he he finished that in April and uh you know his constant drive to get better every day is um admirable. Yeah. And then as a quick followup, I mean just going off that question before, there does seem to be this sort of like narrative out there that you’re this big drinker and big partyier. Yeah. Uh are you are you kind of over it or? Ah, look, I let people believe what they want to believe and I just kind of do my own thing and uh the people close to me know what I’m like. And h don’t get me wrong, I I do enjoy it from time to time, but I know when uh when I need to put my head down and work, um I know when I need to do that. You can’t be, you know, at the top level of any sport. Uh you know, if you’re not applying yourself well and I feel like I do it. Okay, next question is in the back from number four. Shane, welcome back to Port Rush. What have you made of the receptions to so so far? And also Podrick was the last to win it back to back. Have you been leaning into him for any advice? Yeah, there’s just back to back. I wouldn’t say back to back. It was six years ago. So, uh, Xander has a chance to go back to back this year. But, um, yeah, look, um, it’s amazing to be back. Um, it’s pretty cool that we’re back so quickly after, you know, such a short period of time. like this is we’ve only had five opens since the last open here in Port Rush, which is, you know, it just goes to show what the the RNA and the organizers think of this venue. I think it’s, you know, obviously I’m a little bit biased, but I think it’s one of the best venues and you look at it in this weather and I think it’s just incredible. Um, the golf course I played at this morning is I think it’s perfect right now. Um, I think it’s it’s ready for a great week of golf and I I think, you know, trying to judge the scoring, I think the scoring will be a little bit difficult. Um, and it’s going to play quite tough. So, uh, but yeah, it’s just it it is amazing to be back. Um, look, I’m there and I’m obviously there’s a lot of memories and there’s a lot of, you know, thinking back to what I did and I, you know, what I did was very special and to walk down the 18th hole with a six-shot lead. Um, I’m probably never going to do that again. So, I’m not going to try and replicate that this week. I’m just going to go out and, you know, try and play the tournament as well I can this week. I’ve I’ve prepared as well as I can for this tournament. I know I have. Um and then it’s just up to me to stay out of my own way on Thursday morning and go and get after it and see what happens. Okay, Mark in front. Hey Shane. Um regarding Rory, we talked to him a little bit earlier today and he was talking about how illprepared he felt stand going to the first te in 19 here with the agilation and he was taken a back by a little bit. I’m wondering if you can relate to that to any degree in how overwhelming that can be and if you and he had ever spoken about that, you know, that experience that he had in 19. Yeah, I um I I reckon that first se that morning in 2019 was the most nervous I’ve ever been on the on the first of a tournament. Uh and all you want to do is get the ball down the fairway and obviously Rory didn’t do that. So I I remember talking to him a little bit in the leadup to that and he did put a lot of pressure on himself and you know talking about been the biggest tournament he’s ever going to play and stuff like that but um you live and you learn and I’m sure he’s not going to do that this week and look it is a big event for all us Irish people here this week um it’s huge uh you know and we are going out and all all we want to do is give ourselves a chance come the weekend and if you give yourself a chance look you never know what could happen you do something very special so um but yeah we we’ve talked about it the odd time but not that Yeah, he he he doesn’t want to talk about what he did on the first hole. I don’t mind talking about what what I did, but uh yeah, no, not that much. Okay, Phil. Hi, Shane. Obviously, you took the decision not to play Scotland last week having a scorecard. Where did you play? What courses? And can you just talk a little bit about your love of Lynx golf and the difference it is to that target golf that’s so Yeah. So in the last two weeks I’ve played uh Port Maruk, the island, Baltrey, Waterville, Hogs Head, and the Dare Manner and miss anywhere else. Uh so I’ve played some of the best courses we have in the country. Um and I feel fortunate that I have that on my not my doorstep, but like you know, I can go do that pretty easily. Um I’ve only played Scotland once in the last eight or 10 years. Um, and then I went to Ho High Lake and missed the cut. So, uh, that that didn’t work out well. So, uh, yeah, I I I went and I I parked myself down in Waterville last week and I spent a week down there and I played played golf every day. I played a lot of golf and, you know, the weather was almost too good. That was the issue. H there wasn’t enough wind and um the, you know, the sun was shining too much. It was too warm. But, uh, it was it’s been an amazing couple of weeks. I haven’t been home to Ireland since Christmas as well. So, I’ve been home for the last 3 weeks. So, we’ve had, you know, I’ve had a nice time been back home and I feel I can kind of feel like a little bit rejuvenated and, you know, ready to go again. And I’ve had a busy season. Uh, and it’s about to be another busy kind of next sort of three or four months as well. So, um, yeah, I feel like I’m ready to go again. Heat. Heat. Welcome along to the open. It’s everything you wanted and more. That’s fantastic as that. Absolutely brilliant. Quite an extraordinary day on the tea. Yeah, she was staring this one down and for good reason. Look at this. Just delightfully done. She’s on top of the world going directly at the hole. Tell you what, of course. Oh, get in there. There’s something about the AIG Women’s Open. My goodness. Well, it doesn’t look too bad there, does it? Certainly on the left hand side of that screen, but there’s some nasty stuff around, Mark. Yes, lightning. You cannot stay out there when there’s lightning in the area. It’s too dangerous. So, that is why we have a of desolate scene over there on the the driving range. Everybody has to retreat, take cover. Stands as well. And the crowd. Yeah, everybody. It’s time to to clear out. And that’s what’s looming. I think they’ll have a few of those this week. I think these thundery showers. Yeah, we’re going to have a It’s so hot, isn’t it? It’s going to be a mixed bag. It’s as simple as that. The forecast has has been the longrange forecast has been for rain on and off. So, the players know that they’re coming here expecting to deal with that and that they’ll enjoy that in a way because that’s proper open championship links weather. Now, Mark, you were doing the BMW International the other week, weren’t you? I certainly was. And the winner was Daniel Brown. Okay. Well, I think we should uh have a little listen to him. is with Henny in the open zone earlier on today. Let’s come back to this championship, shall we? And last year um you had an amazing Thursday. You were last out, weren’t you on Thursday? I think I was second to last. I saw you on the Wednesday and I said to you, “When’s your tea time?” You go, “I’m out with the bins.” Yeah. Yeah. 4 4:16 it was. I can still remember it. Yeah. Yeah. It was um you coming home in almost the dark, weren’t you as well? And it was a 65. Did you shoot? Was it uh whatever six under was. Yeah. Here we go. Yeah. Here we go. This was the final part and the final green. Yeah. What was it? Tell everyone that cuz it’s almost a dream for to lead the open like when you’re young like this putt to leave the open. Tell us what it was like to lead the Open Championship. Um not too sure. I mean I I sort of went into the week if obviously it was my first major but I still wanted to perform. I didn’t want to just make up the numbers. Um, so I kind of I prepared how I would do for a for a normal event and I didn’t sort of big it up to be to be what it is. Obviously, it’s a huge huge event, the biggest the biggest we play really. Um but yeah, it was just a case of trying to manage manage myself the best I could, not do too much and not overdo kind of your practice days and and yeah, it was it was uh it was tricky sort of gearing yourself up for the quarter past quarter tea time. was um I was kind of the day before I was think I was thinking do I do I have a nap tomorrow before I go out or do I stay up late and then have a lie in and I I we I think I end up saying stay staying up till 2 a.m. to make sure I’ve stayed asleep for as long as possible in the morning. Yeah. Amazing. You said that this is the biggest event you play. I’m not sure it’s as big as the Shane Larry challenge that you’re about to take on here. Probably not. Okay. So, it’s uh 175 yards and uh you’re going to re try and recreate this shot. Shane Lowry in 2019, six years ago. Yeah. His second shot into the last 175. I mean, he was he was six clear at this point. He was home and hosed, but this was enough for Shane. Okay. So, we’re going to try and get you to recreate that now. 175 on a one and a half% slope like Shane. Okay. We’re aiming towards the mini Giants causeway. Excuse me for the oxymoron. Yeah, but there we go. What kind of We got a We’re downwind here, aren’t we? Yeah, we’re we’re sort of five o’clockish. We are five o’clockish. Yeah, if you want. Okay. What kind of club you thinking here? Um I’m thinking I mean I hit my 8 iron 164 165. Okay. I’m thinking down breeze. Take a little bit off that. Just a smooth one. That’s a hopefully. Hopefully. You’re talking a great game. Yeah. Has anyone uh anyone hit it yet? 31 ft is the closest so far. So, we’re going for it’s proximity. So, it’s closest to the pin. Okay. Which is the massive giant courseway out there. Yeah. Which is a pretty big pin. Tell us what you’re thinking about. So, we’re probably we’re probably looking to aim it hit quite a neutral one really. Okay. Like it. And aim it sort of three four yards right at target and then hope it drifts back. Okay. You only got one chance at this by the way. Make it a good one. Right. crowd get really get into it. Oh, keep coming round. Shot. That is I didn’t strike it. That wasn’t your best strike. It was a tiny bit thin. It was close to the huzzle. Okay. Should we have a to have a look back at it? Can we have a go again or not? Oh, he wants he wants another go already. Is apparently it was almost where Shane hit it to for 41 and a half yards. It was almost Look at that. It’s almost the same. Got the slope. That’s That’s seat. He want He wanted another go. I’m going to ask my producer, can he have another go? Cuz you can win the open from there with six shots, can’t you? So, I will take we’ll take want another go. Are you competitive that? Yeah. Yeah. The crowd want it as well. Yeah. Thought they’d come to see Just need to give it a bit more oomph. You need a bit more oomph. Yeah, you hit a good one in practice. You I’ve never seen anyone practice as much as you doing this shot earlier, Dan. Only hit two. It’s a better strike, Dan. Better strike, but it’s a bit left. Bit left. Should be good for number though. It was a good number. It was a good number. Oh no, that’s decent. There you go. Oh, you you could be leading here. 12 ft. Does that count though? Now, this is going to be a big issue. You’ve had a second go at this, but you’re the closest. We just edit the Shall we edit this? Shall we edit this and pretend that first one didn’t count? I think so. Yeah, I think so, too. Here we go. This is it. I mean, that’s pretty damn good, I’m going to say. Here we go. Shane would have held it from there. He would have hold it then. One by seven. Yeah. Easy game. Here we go. Here we go. Do you like watching you swing back, by the way? Yeah, it’s beautiful. I’ve worked hard at it. Here we Oh, here we go. There’s Look at that. Bit of spin. Bit of spin. Bit of spin. Yeah. There we go. Okay. Should we say you’re the new leader? Yeah. Go on. Well, go on then. Yeah. Go on then. Uh yeah. Big round of applause everyone for Dan. Um thank you. Uh Dan, have an amazing week. You were, as I said, you were kind of the story of last year. You’re going, I mean, if this has got anything to go by, you’re going to have a lot of people following you. So, have a You did tell them to applause before though. I I actually didn’t. You know what? That’s amazing. They just love you, Dan. Have a great week. Thanks for coming in. Thank you. Thanks, mate. Cheers. Done. Well, interviewing him there obviously was not Henny. That was Josh Ant-Man who uh was asking a few questions. Having a bit of fun there with Dan Brown. They’re still looking pretty gray, aren’t they? Now, earlier on, we’ve had our man George Harper out on the course running around like a gazelle. Let’s see what he’s up to right now. We’ve made it to one of the most beautiful parts on the course here at Rush the Fifth T. The little islands in the background, but this is a fun drivable. Welcome along to the open. Take a look at this. Ricky Fowler is in the house, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome back to the open Ricky. Lovely little baby fate. Ricardo. Go in’s the call. Go in’s the call. You’re joking. Okay. So, that’s about six feet. Now, let’s go join this dangerous duo of Arshade Bath here. Come with me. Ethan Fang, our amateur champion, Ethan Fang, on the tea there. Now, Arsh, welcome back to the open, mate. How does it feel to be back here at Port Rush? Man, the weather is unbelievable. So, it’s nice to uh play a couple practice rounds with no rain, so uh it’s great though. You know, fans are out here already and um it’s been a blast. Tell us what you boys are thinking about this hole. It’s beautiful, but uh but tricky as well. Yeah. Uh, obviously drivable when you got this this right wind of south. So, we’re only really trying to carry it probably 290 adjusted. Yeah. So, downwind, you know, 3-wood’s probably got a good chance of maybe sinking on the green, but it doesn’t put us in trouble. So, that’s exactly right. Now, we got Ben Griffin in this group as well, just sneaking a little 3-wood down there. I think 3-wood’s the play. Takes the back out of it, doesn’t it? That’s right. Yeah. Don’t want to go long. We don’t want to be on the beach this early in the morning. No, not really. You know, maybe after Sunday would be great. All right, get on that tea. All right, let’s go. Let’s see what you got. Looking like left edge of the green show. Yeah. So, you’ve got two books here. I do. Is what’s the reason behind actually got three to be honest with you. I got one from 19. I’ve got a uh provisional copy and then the the real book is in the bag. But uh Okay. Always prepared. Tried to be. Yeah. Is it straight down? No. Touch out of the left. Touch out of the left. This is absolutely stunning up here. Doesn’t get much better than this. Needs the wind to knock it. lands soft. It’s running off the hut. That’s an easy up and down from there. That’s a good spot. Should we test out driver while we’re here or No, I don’t want to lose a golf ball today. So, don’t want to lose it. Oh, that’s a cuddy little thing. And just before you go, how much do you love playing Lynx golf and coming over here from America? Mate, it’s fun, man. It’s uh you know you get so many different shots that you get to hit and then weather changes the golf course dramatically and so you know in the states it can play very similar here. You know we got a south wind today we could get a north wind and the golf course plays completely different. So it’s fun and you know as many people say the fans are so respectful and we we really enjoy playing in front of the people that actually care you know as much as these people do. So I I you know I love coming here. I feel like you got some magic hands. You got a lot of good touch. This should suit you a little bit, shouldn’t it, over time once you get used to it. Yeah, I think just over time getting to play it and uh you know, like I said, it changes so differently. And so, just getting adjusted to how much the ball’s going to curve and uh the weather and just being, you know, as prepared as you can. All right, my man. Best of luck this week. Thank you very much for your time. Always a pleasure. So, there we have it. The fifth T. It’s going to be a very fun spot, especially come championship days. Today it’s only playing a 3-wood, but later on in the week you’ll see the best of the business take driver. There is riskreward, but also a lot of fun. So if you are here at the open, there’s a great grand stand to sit on and it comes just after the hardest hole on the course, the fourth. So this is a real hot spot if you can make your way here at Port Rush on the tea. Yeah, she was staring at this one down and for good reason. Look at this. Just delightfully done. She’s on top of the world going directly at the hole. Well, of course. Oh, get in there. There’s something about the AIG Women’s Open. Oh my goodness. Just swing. Visit golf.golf to find out more. Just swing. Visit golf.golf to get started. Why not give golf a go? Just swing. Swing wild. Swing weird. Swing wonky. Whoever, however, wherever. It doesn’t matter. Just swing. Head over to golf.golf to start playing. Find out where you can learn to play at golf.golf. Heat. Heat. Heat. Welcome along to the open. It’s everything you wanted and more. as fantastic as that. Absolutely brilliant. Quite an extraordinary day. So this is the opening hole at Royal Port Rush. A relatively short hole in fact, but most players will keep the driver in the bag and instead pull out the long iron to take these two fairway bunkers out of play. Now you’ve got internal out-of-bounds on either side of the hole, making it feel quite claustrophobic. Back in 2019, we had home favorite Rory Maroy with the nation’s hopes upon his shoulders, and this is what happened next. Don’t tell me on the wrong side of the white line. Even the best get nervous. Even if you do hit the perfect T-shot, the difficulty doesn’t end there. With the second shot to approaching this green uphill without being able to see the putting surface, the majority of it does slope back to front. But this first third is a false front. Pitching there, you could end up at least 50 yards away, if not in that bunker, short left. Alternatively, some players might try and favor the right hand side to play a little bit safe, but then you overcook it. You’re going to leave yourself an absolute stinker down the hill, making it a difficult up and down. Alternatively, on the left hand side, you’ve got another bunker there playing hideand-seek pretty much. And you’ve got the rough long left, too. Trust me, you don’t want to be there because it’s going to feel like you’re chipping up and over a mountain. You make a four on this opening hole. You’re sprinting to the next tea. When you think of Lynx golf, you think about playing golf along the coast, which we are of course to certain degree, but starting off with the fifth is probably when we get a real good view. And this being the most scenic stretch of the golf course. You’re standing on that elevated tea box with everything in front of you. Now, this is a dry ball path forward, dog leg left to right. Some players will opt to play the long iron down the left corner. Others will absolutely be tempted to take on this drivable par4 at just under 400 yards. It might be a driver or a fairway metal depending on that wind direction and strength of course. But they have to make a calculated decision because if you go for this anything along you’ve got the out of bounds where chaos truly meets beauty and probably the world’s biggest water hazard. Now, this is the most exposed part of the golf course where the nature and the elements of nature will truly show its teeth. But up next, you’ve got the par 3 six. You’ve got the instant change of direction. You can hear the waves crashing out on this corner. Don’t get distracted by these views because you’ve got that coming up next. And that looks like it’s got my name on it. Now, that is some path three. Par 57th visually is one of the more dramatic holes cuts amongst the dunes, especially with that one all the way down the right towering over you. And when you’re standing on that tea box, it really feels like it’s you against the golf course and you’ve got these two fairway bunkers staring right back at you. Starting off with this one on the right hand side could be in play of course win dependent but ahead of the open in 2019 they made a couple of changes and this was one of two holes where they did just that putting in that tiny bunker in the left corner. Despite only being so small it will catch a fair few players out and depending on your positioning it will determine whether or not you can take on this par five in two or not. The fairway snakes all the way gradually uphill. It will present some eagle opportunities if not birdies. Anything slightly weward you could get punished. Undulations a classic feature when it comes to links golf courses and they have their pros and cons. You can definitely use them to your advantage. We’re on the 10th happens to be called the Himalayas and this is a great example where you could hit the perfect T-shot and everything is spruced into place. Alternatively, you could hit an absolute pear and just get an unlucky bounce and end up in no man’s land. But that’s the beauty of this game and the stage that Royal Port Rush presents itself. Alternatively, you can get quite unlucky and get varied lies. Here’s a great example where the ball is below my feet and imagine I’m standing over this with the wind howling from the left. Not only is it going to test my skill set, but also my balance and everything else that comes with it. That’s that’s not easy for sure. Anyway, the green over here is one of the most undulating one yet. Let’s go have a look. Racia, come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. No, that’s not fair. You’ve got four wings and I’ve only got two legs. Anyway, tender is a great example of how everything valleys in and you could definitely use it to your advantage. But the beautiful thing about the open and how it sets itself apart from all the other tournaments and championships is that you can have a particular lie. You can put five different clubs in someone’s hand and there can be a multitude of ways you can pull it off. Yes, sometimes the result might be good, other times it might not. You can use the ground, you can take it out of play. Say this back flag, pitch it about there. That’s going to ride in. Alternatively, pitch it in the same spot, maybe with a bit of height. I mean, ideally, I really wanted that to come back just to show you the severity of it, but even that, that’s not a good place to miss. There’s a reason why I’m not a runner, right? Imagine if you were about to hit this t-shirt. That’s it. From that tea box to this green. Respectfully, I think the majority of us would genuinely struggle to reach this green, especially if it’s howling wind into. From 236 yards and it only gets from bad to worse because there’s no place truly to lay up. Anything just short or right at this green, you get swallowed up by this steep chasm. And even for demonstration purposes, with all due respect, I’m not going to go down there because I think if I go down there, I’m not making it back up. But here’s a little history lesson for you guys. Back in 1951, Bobby Lock. He actually was a smart man cuz he played it down the left. And to this day, they call this the Bobby Lock hollow. That was his safe slice. That’s where he could play from and see the whole green right in front of him. Trust me, from back there, this is a tiny target. This is the final test here at Royalport Rush. It’s a demanding T-shot with the out- of-bounds running all the way down the left and on the flip side, you’ve got those googlyeyed bunkers staring right back at you. Now, if and that’s an if you can hit this intimidating fairway like Shane Larry did back in 2019 after he struck that second shot realizing that this was his moment walking down the fairway taking in the energy and the atmosphere that the final hole presents. Seeing his name up on that leaderboard and catching a glimmer of his family, he celebrated walking in between these two bunkers with both hands raised, realizing that this was his moment. Who will walk down this hole and become the 153rd champion golfer of the year? That was a great day, wasn’t it, Mark? I remember it very well. Shane Larry winning that award. Excellent. Okay, let’s have a look at the top trades. The longest hits of the day. No surprise, is there? Look at that pot heater. The animal, the beast that he is. He’s quite long, isn’t he? Oh, he is an amazing 20 years of age. World at his feet. Good captain there. 356 yds carry. Yeah, Milotsi popping one out there. So you don’t have him down as a long hitter, but little bit of breeze behind off the right hand side, but that pot heater, my goodness me, that might have been his three iron. Might well have been. It’s been an excellent day, all these kind of shots. And again, live at the range. We’ll be back tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. Thanks for joining us.

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