Walton Joins Turnberry Ranks at Senior Open

Philip Walton will mix with the greatest names of golf this week as the Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex tees off at Turnberry in Scotland. Although Walton missed  The Open when it was last played on the Ailsa Course, the Malahide golfer did qualify for the previous year at Royal Birkdale.

This week  the Turnberry field includes Greg Norman, Gary Player, Tom Lehman, Fred Couples, Larry Mize, Tony Jacklin, Sam Torrrance and Ian Woosnam, who beat Walton in a play off at the Carrolls Irish Open in 1988.

Another name returning to Turnberry - after nearly winning The Open in 2009 as a Senior - is Tom Watson, who has a long link with the course.

So it was appropriate that Watson unveiled a plaque to commemorate that famous Duel in the Sun with Jack Nicklaus 35 years ago at Turnberry on the eve of the Senior British Open.

In 1977, Watson hit a 7-iron approach within two feet of the 18th hole in beating Nicklaus in a head-to-head battle to seal the second of his five British Open titles. The weather was remarkably similar 35 years later for the plaque's presentation on the right side of the final fairway.

Watson says "I remember hitting the shot which meant so much to me and so many other people."

Watson will tee off Thursday alongside another former British Open champion at Turnberry, Greg Norman, plus Roger Chapman of England, who has two senior majors this year.


The other Irish players in the field are Mark McNulty, Des Smyth and Eamonn Darcy.

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Harrington Going to Reno-Tahoe Open

Officials for the PGA's Reno-Tahoe Open say they've landed a commitment from Padraig Harrington.

The former PGA Tournament champ and two-time winner of the British Open will be making his first appearance at Montreux Golf & Country Club.

Tourney director Jana Smoley says Harrington is a big international addition to the field that begins play Aug. 2.

A five-time winner on the PGA Tour, Harrington has won more than $1 million this season and ranks 62nd in FedEx Cup points. He's not eligible for the World Golf Championship event the same weekend in Ohio because he isn't ranked in the Top 50.

Other major winners committed to Reno so far are Rich Beem, Shaun Micheel, Todd Hamilton, John Daly, David Duval, Lee Janzen and Mike Weir.

Harrington’s thoughts have also turned to the season’s final Major at Kiawah Island as he hopes to force his way into the Ryder Cup reckoning - having played in every time since he made his debut in 1999.

Brooms and Bellies Under Review

The R&A and the USGA are in discussions regarding long putters that could see them banned by 2016.

Ernie Els became the third winner of the last four majors to use the controversial belly putter, and authorities will continue to discuss the issue of 'anchoring' in the weeks ahead.

Peter Dawson, chief executive of the Royal and Ancient Club, said that while a decision could be made by the end of the year, the success of Els has no bearing on it.

"This decision has not been taken, but I think we are going to say something in a few months rather than years," Dawson said.

"There are further discussions to be had, but if the rule is changed it would come into effect on January 1 2016.

"Let me say that the Open Championship result does not have a direct bearing on the discussions about long and belly putters. They were going on well before what has happened.

"The situation is that the R&A and the USGA do have this subject firmly back on the radar.

"We appreciate that there is much speculation about this and that we need to clarify the position as soon as possible.

"The initial determination has been that we are examining the subject from a method of stroke standpoint rather than length of putter standpoint."

Dawson added that more and more players who have not 'failed' with a conventional putter are joining the ranks of players reaching for a longer club.

"The objections I find from those who object at professional level, at elite level, are all about 'If people have become failed putters in the conventional way, why should they have a crutch to come back and compete against me when I haven't failed in the conventional way'," he added.

"That's the general argument one hears, but we're also seeing now people who can putt perfectly well in the conventional way thinking that an anchored stroke gives them an advantage.

"I think that's the fundamental change that we've witnessed in the last couple of years.

"Anchoring is what we're looking at, method of stroke, and it's all about putting around a fixed pivot point, whether that fixed pivot point is in your belly or under your chin or on your chest. I don't distinguish."

Ian Poulter added his thoughts to the argument, telling Sky Sports he was against the use of an anchor.

"It's a interesting one - three of the last four majors have been won by people using belly putters," he said. "Should they be used? I dont think they should be, you shouldn't be able to anchor them with the butt end of the club, it certainly makes it easier.

"It's definitely an advantage on certain putts. If you're able to anchor the club you then have a way of stopping rotation, so theoretically the club should swing back through the impact position squarer if the butt-end is anchored.

"They're are definitely looking at that to see what it is they can do, if anything at all."

McIlroy Slips Rank as Woods Promoted

The Official World Golf Ranking released Monday saw Tiger Woods tie for third at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, help him leap Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy in the rankings this week. The finish, which was Woods' best in a major since his runner-up at the 2009 PGA Championship, saw McIlroy fall to No. 3, Westwood to No. 4 and Webb Simpson rounds out the top 5.

Open champion Ernie Els vaulted from No. 40 to No. 15.

Woods had been sitting in the No. 4 spot since June 3 after his victory at the Memorial Tournament. Woods returns to the No. 2 spot that he vacated on Jan. 16, 2011.

Returning to the second spot also makes him the highest-ranked American since Phil Mickelson was No. 3 the week of April 3, 2011. Five of this week's top 10 are from the U.S., including Bubba Watson (No. 7), Jason Dufner (No. 8) and Matt Kuchar (No. 9).

Woods' return to the top 2 in the rankings is remarkable considering he was ranked No. 50 or worse from Sept. 25 through Dec. 3 in 2011. His victory at the Chevron World Challenge, an unofficial event that carries world-ranking points, bumped him up to No. 21, but he finished the year at No. 23.

His victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational two weeks before the 2012 Masters put him back in the top 10, at No. 6, and he hasn't been worse than No. 9 (May 27) since.

Despite his rise in the rankings, Woods is still working on parts of his game that made him a finisher in majors. That work mostly centers on distance control - off the tee and in the fairway.

"I finally feel like I'm really healthy. And I've got my pop back in my swing. So I'm hitting the ball distances I know I can," said Woods, who will next play at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Aug. 2-5 at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.

"Unfortunately when I get out here with a little bit of adrenalin, it goes a little bit further, too. It's a combination of having my strength and my speed back, at the same time playing tournament golf. It's not that far off."

Woods Dreams Bunkered at Sixth

Tiger Woods reflected on the one horrific hole that effectively ended his chances of Open Championship glory on the final day at Royal Lytham.

The three-time champion had made a solid start in the blustery conditions, reeling off five opening pars while most of the leaders were frittering shots away.

But Woods came to grief at the sixth, where he took two splashes to escape a greenside bunker and then three-putted to run up his first triple-bogey in a major since 2003.

"The problem is if I played left I wasn't assured I could get it to the gallery and get it out of that slope because if it rolls back in the bunker and I'm on the downslope then I've got no backswing," he explained.

"The game plan was to fire it into the bank, have it ricochet to the right and then have an angle to come back at it. Unfortunately it ricocheted to the left and almost hit me."

Woods battled on, chipping in for birdie at seven and picking up further shots at 10 and 12, but he bogeyed the next three before a closing birdie capped a three-over 73 as he finished four behind Ernie Els.

"Overall I'm pleased with the way I played, unfortunately just a couple here and there ended up costing me some momentum, especially at six," Woods added.

"Again, I left a lot of putts short out there. The greens were a little bit slow and I tried to put some more hit in my stroke but they were dying off the front of the lip."