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The Walker Cup 2023, The Old Course at St Andrews, 2-3 September: Day One

GB&I lead at St Andrews after "A hard-fought day"

From The R&A, Walker Cup News: 

Great Britain and Ireland lead the United States of America 7½-4½ after day one of the 49th Walker Cup at St Andrews.

Stuart Wilson’s side are bidding to win the trophy back after three consecutive defeats in the biennial encounter and take a three-point lead into tomorrow’s second day at the home of golf.In glorious conditions in front of large crowds, John Gough and Calum Scott were the stand-out performers for GB&I after delivering two points each from the first day of play.

“It's obviously been a great day result-wise for GB&I, but it's been hard-fought day,” said Wilson. “I think that would be the message."  Read more

From Sky Sports:

John Gough of England won both his matches Saturday at St. Andrews and Great Britain & Ireland built a three-point lead over the Americans in the Walker Cup for its largest opening day margin in 34 years.

GB&I has not won the Walker Cup since 2015 but earned a 7.5-4.5 lead over the United States at St Andrews, its largest lead since the same score in 1989 at Peachtree Golf Club in Atlanta. 

Gough and Matthew McClean held on for a 1-up victory in foursomes as GB&I set the tone by taking three of the four team matches.  Read more

Intro

The R&A, Walker Cup News

RandA live scoring

Omega European Masters 2023, Crans-sur-Sierre, Switzerland, 31 Aug - 3 Sept, Day 3

Matt Fitzpatrick seems very much at home in the Alps, leads by two into final round

From DP World Tour News:

England's Matt Fitzpatrick put himself on course for a hat-trick of Omega European Masters titles with a third-round 67.

The former U.S. Open Championship winner, who turned 29 on Friday, combined seven birdies with two bogeys and a double bogey on the 13th to move to 15 under par.

Fitzpatrick, who became the first player since Seve Ballesteros to defend a title at Crans-sur-Sierre with his victories in 2017 and 2018, is two clear of Swedes Ludvig Aberg and Alexander Björk and Scotland's Connor Syme.  Read more

From PGA TOUR Daily Wrap-up, by The AP:

Omega European Masters

Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club

DP World Tour Leaderboard

Golf Live 24 Leaderboard

LET 2023, Women's Irish Open, Dromoland Castle, Co Clare, Ireland: 31 Aug - 3 Sept

Day Three: Anne Van Dam leads into final at Dromoland Castle, three shots ahead

From LET Blog, 2/9/23: 

Anne Van Dam fired another round of 66 (-6) at the KPMG Women’s Irish Open to hold a three-shot lead with one round remaining.

The Dutch star produced rounds of 69 (-3) and 66 (-6) on the first two days of competition to sit one shot behind 36-hole leader Diksha Dagar.

Van Dam got off to a good start with a birdie on the first and then rolled in another on the third before adding another on the ninth, she made another birdie on 11 before dropping her only shot of the day on the 13^th hole.

However, she bounced back and finished in style.  Read more

From RTE.ie:

A bogey at the last from Leona Maguire leaves her eight shots adrift of the leader Anne van Dam heading into the final round of the KPMG Women's Irish Open at Dromoland Castle.

Six behind at the start of play, Maguire need a good start, and she picked up her first shot of the day on seven. More birdies followed on 11, 15 and 16, but on the par-five 18th, she needed four to get down from 100 yards and finished with a successive 69.  Read more

From Irish Times, by Philip Reid:

Anne van Dam took matters into her own hands in the third round of the KPMG Women’s Irish Open at Dromoland Castle where the 27-year-old Dutchwoman, a phenomenally long-hitter off the tee, with drives averaging close to 290 yards, shot a 66 for a 54-hole total of 15-under-par 201 to claim a three-strokes lead over closest pursuer Lisa Pettersson of Sweden.

In effect, van Dam took control of her own destiny.  Read more

Dromoland Castle G & CC

KPMG Women's Irish Open

LET Leaderboard, Round Three

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LPGA 2023, Portland Classic, Portland, Oregon, 31 Aug - 3 Sept, Day Two

Perrine Delacour stays ahead in Portland; Sarah Kemp & Grace Kim easily make the cut 

From LPGA News, by The AP:

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Perrine Delacour held onto the Portland Classic lead Friday with another bogey-free round at Columbia Edgewater, shooting a 5-under 67 in perfect conditions a day after opening with a 63 in the rain.

"You had to adjust for the pins, especially on the wedges," Delacour said. "But it was definitely nicer. I mean, even though the bag is still wet from yesterday, but it was definitely nicer to be in shorts and polos instead of rain gear."  Read more

From The West Australian, by Staff Writers, for AP:

Defending champion Andrea Lee (71) and two-time winner Brooke Henderson (68) were in the group at 7 under that includes leading Australian Sarah Kemp.

After opening with a 66, Kemp dropped down the field with a 71 and is tied 25th.

Grace Kim shot a 69 to make the 4-under cut by one and is two behind Kemp.  Read more

From Yardbarker:

After a slow start in the afternoon wave, with just one birdie on the back nine at Columbia Edgewater Country Club, Delacour reached 14 under by getting birdies to fall at Nos. 3, 5, 6 and 7. She stayed bogey-free for the second straight day -- and has shot 10-under on the front nine over two days -- despite needing five more putts than she did during Thursday's round of 63 that gave her the lead.  Read more

From LPGA News, by Amy Rogers:

There’s a reason why many players who win, especially those who win for the first time, choose not to play the tournament the following week. Because it’s exhausting.

Megan Khang, who won for the first time on the LPGA Tour at last week’s CPKC Women’s Open, is playing once more this week at the Portland Classic.

And the newest winner in the women’s game is feeling quite tired.

Khang said she’s doing her best to take her time, pace herself, and not overly tax herself away from the golf course. The strategy has paid off through the first 36 holes.  Read more

Portland Classic

Macan Course, with gallery

Columbia Edgewater Country Club

LPGA Leaderboard

The Walker Cup 2023, The Old Course at St Andrews: 2-3 September

The Walker Cup 2023, on The Old Course at St Andrews

The Walker Cup is organised by the R&A and the USGA.

In 1921 a team of US amateur golfers crossed the Atlantic and arrived at the Royal Liverpool with one aim: To win the Amateur Championship at Hoylake. A match was held between the US team and a team of Brits, a day before the Championship.  The US team won, 9-3.  Three more contests were held annually, before the competition became biennial in 1925.

The Walker Cup employs a combination of foursomes (alternate-shot) and singles competition and was originally the format used for the professional equivalent Ryder Cup. In 2009, the number of singles matches on the second day was increased to 10, so that all members of the team play on this final afternoon.

From BBC Sport, by Iain Carter:

"GB&I hope St Andrews home comforts will help against US"

Great Britain and Ireland's leading amateur golfers are hoping to make home advantage count this weekend as they seek to win the Walker Cup against the United States for the first time since 2015.

There could be no more iconic venue for the historic match than the Old Course at St Andrews. The contest marks 100 years since the contest was first played in the United Kingdom.  Read more

From Golf News 24, by Mark Flanagan:

"GB&I massive underdogs… it’s not quite as simple as that!"

Tomorrow the 49th Walker Cup starts at St Andrews. One hundred years ago the second staging of the biennial showdown took place at The Home of Golf.  Read more

Omega European Masters 2023, Crans-sur-Sierre, Switzerland, 31 Aug - 3 Sept

Day Two: Matt Fitzpatrick leads on his birthday, is two shots ahead of brother Alex

From DP World Tour News:

Matt Fitzpatrick stayed on track to make it a hat-trick of wins at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club as he followed his opening 63 with a 65 to take a one-shot lead into the weekend at the Omega European Masters.

The Englishman was champion here in 2017 and 2018 and continued his love affair on his 29th birthday as he moved to 12 under ahead of Swede Alexander Björk, who carded a 64.

Fitzpatrick's younger brother Alex was then at ten under after a 65, a score matched by Frenchman Romain Langasque who was also two shots off the lead.  Read more

From PGA TOUR, by The AP:

Omega European Masters

Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club

DP World Tour Leaderboard

Golf Live 24 Leaderboard

LET 2023, Women's Irish Open, Dromoland Castle, Co Clare, Ireland: 31 Aug - 3 Sept

Day Two: Diksha Dagar continues her lead in Ireland

While Diksha Dagar stays one ahead at Dromoland Castle leading into the weekend, lone Aussie Kirsten Rudgeley is four from the lead, T10, 6-under par. Ireland's own reps, Leona Maguire and Olivia Mehaffey are also well inside the cut line, 4-under.

From LET Blog, 1/9/23: 

Diksha Dagar fired a round of 69 (-3) on day two of the KPMG Women’s Irish Open and leads by one shot at the halfway stage.

The Indian star held the overnight lead but didn’t get off to the best start with a bogey on the first at Dromoland Castle.

However, she soon found a rhythm rolling in back-to-back birdies on five and six before another dropped shot on 14.  Read more

From RTE.ie:

Diksha Dagar retains her lead at the halfway mark of the KPMG Women's Irish Open in Dromoland Castle with Irish pair Leona Maguire and Olivia Mehaffey six shots behind her.

Indian Dagar followed her opening-day 65 in Clare with a two-under 69 that was enough to take her to 10 under par, one shot clear of Dutchwoman Anne van Dam (66), American Gurleen Kaur (69) and France's Emma Grechi (69). Anne-Lise Caudal (68), also of France, is a shot further back in fifth.  Read more

From Belfast Telegraph, by Brian Keogh:

Dromoland Castle G & CC

KPMG Women's Irish Open

LET Leaderboard, Round Two

Golf Live 24 Leaderboard

Meet Shay Knight, Viktor Hovland's Australian (Sydneysider) caddie

Just after their win at the BMW Championship, Shay Knight, caddie for Viktor Hovland, joined Shane and Marty in the PING Tour Truck. They discussed Viktor's recent success, the prep work that he puts in ahead of a tournament, and how and why their on-course relationship works.

From The Age, by Adam Pengilly:

In just one week, a former North Sydney Bears ballboy earned more than NRL superstars Latrell Mitchell, Cameron Munster and Reece Walsh do collectively for an entire year. His job? Primarily carrying a golf bag around for 18 holes each day...

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Having long given up his landscaping career too, Knight has made his name as one of the best caddies in golf, the man behind world No.4 Viktor Hovland, who last week won golf’s richest prize as FedEx Cup champion, a $28 million bonus for being the best player on the PGA Tour last season.

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Working for a professional golfer can involve being many things: mentor, adviser, friend, travel companion, psychologist, cleaner, the list goes on. But when he started out, Knight asked legendary caddie Mike “Fluff” Cowan, who was once on Tiger Woods’ bag, for just one bit of advice.

“Turn up, keep up and shut up,” Cowan told him.   Read more

LPGA 2023, Portland Classic, Portland, Oregon, 31 Aug - 3 Sept, Day One

Perrine Delacour leads in Portland; Sarah Kemp three shots back, T6

From LPGA News, by Amy Rogers:

The tough weather conditions have been all the talk amongst the players who went out in the morning wave on Thursday at the Portland Classic. But as tough as it was, with temperatures just creeping into the mid to lower 60s along with non-stop rain, leave it to the one player who managed to climb to the top of the leaderboard on Thursday morning to describe her round as ‘easy.’

Perrine Delacour was just in the zone.

Totally unaware and unafraid of what she was achieving on the golf course, the Frenchwoman got off to an idyllic start, beginning her day at Columbia Edgewater Country Club with a birdie at No. 1.  Read more

From The West Australian, by Staff Writers, AAP:

Sarah Kemp has made an impressive start to the LPGA's Portland Classic, firing an opening-round six-under 66 in difficult conditions in Oregon.

The 37-year-old Sydneysider is in a group of five tied for sixth, trailing Frenchwoman Perrine Delacour by three shots at Columbia Edgewater Country Club.

Kemp's only blemish on a wet Thursday came on the par-4 18th after earlier draining seven birdies.  Read more

Portland Classic

Macan Course, with gallery

Columbia Edgewater Country Club

LPGA Leaderboard

Omega European Masters 2023, Crans-sur-Sierre, Switzerland, 31 Aug - 3 Sept

Six way tie at the top on Day One at Crans-sur-Sierre

From DP World Tour News:

Two-time champion Matt Fitzpatrick was part of a six-way tie for the lead after a low-scoring opening day of the Omega European Masters.

The Englishman put on a brilliant display as he carded a bogey-free 63 that left him at seven under alongside countryman Eddie Pepperell, Dane John Axelsen, Spaniard Nacho Elvira, Malaysia's Gavin Green and Japanese Masahiro Kawamura.

Swede Ludvig Aberg, Scotland's Scott Jamieson and German Yannik Paul were then a shot off the lead at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club, with more on the line than just the trophy this week in the final qualifying event for the European Ryder Cup team.  Read more

From PGA TOUR, by The AP:

From The Scotsman, by Martin Dempster:

German Yannik Paul looks determined to make Bob MacIntyre sweat as the pair battle it out for an automatic spot in Luke Donald’s European team for the Ryder Cup in Rome.

Playing in the same group in the first round of the Omega European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre in Switzerland, Paul produced a strong start in his bid to oust MacIntyre in the final qualifying event.  Read more

From The Irish Golfer, by Rian Noctor:

Two-time champion Matt Fitzpatrick is part of a six-way tie for the lead after a low-scoring opening day at the Omega European Masters.

The Englishman put on a brilliant display as he carded a bogey-free 63 that left him at seven-under-par alongside countryman Eddie Pepperell, Dane John Axelsen, Spaniard Nacho Elvira, Malaysia’s Gavin Green and Japanese Masahiro Kawamura.

Fitzpatrick told the media he was delighted with his day’s work. “I played brilliantly. I Only hit two bad shots, one I got away with and one I got up and down, so that’s as good as I’ve played for a while".  Read more

Omega European Masters

Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club

DP World Tour Leaderboard

Golf Live 24 Leaderboard