Higgins and Company in Russia

Getty Images

David Higgins to action days after the Open Championship, an event he failed to qualify for the after he discovered he was carrying fifteen clubs in  his bag at the qualifier in North Berwick at the start of July.

Higgins is joined by Michael Hoey, Alan Dunbar, Damien McGrane, and Gareth Shaw in an event that sees  the European Tour this week return to Russia for the first time in five years with the M2M Russian Open at the stunning Tseleevo Golf and Polo Club.

After three successful years hosting the Challenge Tour, this Jack Nicklaus designed course hosts European Tour competition for the first time with all three previous winners in the field looking to rekindle that winning feeling.

Spain’s Carlos Del Moral (2010), England’s Sam Little (2011) and Frenchman Alex Kaleka (2012) have also tasted success here and looking for repeat performances, as is the current course record holder, Tommy Fleetwood, who shot a six under par 66 in the 2010 M2M Russian Challenge Cup.

Michael Campbell, the 2005 US Open Champion, is joined by a host of European Tour champions including India’s most successful golfer, Jeev Milkha Singh, former Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year and Portugal Masters Champion Tom Lewis and six-time Tour winner Simon Dyson.

It is also an opportunity for some of the lesser lights to shine and secure their place among the game’s elite for next season, much as Peter Uihlien did in Madeira and Simon Thornton in St Omer, and for Russia’s golfers to showcase their emerging talent.

The three Russian professionals in the field are former tennis grand slam champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Andrey Pavlov and Konstantin Lifanov and they are joined by five Russian amateurs.

Russia has provided the launchpad for a number of players over the years, including Jamie Donaldson, winner of the 2012 Irish Open and this year’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Champions, whose first professional victory came in the Challenge Tour in Russia in 2002.

The last time the M2M Russian Open was played on The European Tour, Sweden’s Mikael Lundberg claimed the title in 2008. This was three years after he won the event for the first time in 2005 and he will hoping to become the first player to win the title three times. Indeed, Lundberg was the last player to win the same European Tour event for their first two Tour titles.

Tseleevo Golf and Polo Club, a classic Jack Nicklaus Design, has been carved out of mature forestland which adds character to the shape of all the holes combined with natural looking water features which compliment this majestic course. It has received rave reviews from those players who have faced the challenge over the last three years as one of the finest courses on the schedule.

Related articles

• Video: Golfer Rory McIlroy battles Jeff the robot in European Tour challenge
• Ambassador Hoey Visits Galgorm
• Magnificent Seven Ride into Carton
• McGrane in Scottish Open Mix
• GMAC Open to Muirfield Challenge
• Casey Irish Eagle Adds RESPECT

Claret Phil Knocks Rory to Number 3

Getty Images

Phil Mickelson moves up to No. 2 in thw World Rankings aftre his vocry at Muirfiled, four points average behind Tiger Woods, on the strength of his sixth victory in a major. Mickelson ranked No. 5 before the Open. Woods held his lead with his T-6 finish.

During 2013, Mickelson has a net gain of 193 points for the rankings, while Woods has a net gain of 164.

Missing the cut at the Open, Rory McIlroy drops a spot to No. 3 and reigning U.S. Open champion Justin Rose drops two spots to No. 5. 

Reigning Masters champion Adam Scott remains No. 4 after his T-3 finish at Muirfield.

Woods also tops the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, with Steve Stricker in second and Scott third; Mickelson rises to 14th.

The top 10 players in the Official World Golf Ranking as of Monday, July 22:

Tiger Woods . . . 12.64

Phil Mickelson . . . 8.63

Rory McIlroy . . . 8.61

Adam Scott . . . 7.72

Justin Rose . . . 7.71

Matt Kuchar . . . 6.54

Brandt Snedeker . . . 6.08

Graeme McDowell . . . 6.07

Luke Donald . . . 5.55

Lee Westwood . . . 5.21

Related articles

• Official World Golf Rankings 2013: Phil Mickelson moves up to No. 2
• Mickelson Ranks No. 2 in World Golf
• British Open Results 2013: How Top Stars Performed at Muirfield
• Mickelson goes to No. 2 in world golf rankings
• How Rory McIlroy Needs to Adjust Mindset After 2013 British Open Catastrophe
• World Golf Rankings 2013: Phil Mickelson back in the Top 5 heading into British Open

Major McIlroy Will be Back - Ian Poulter

W

Ian Poulter believes Rory McIlroy needs to go his own way to rediscover the form which brought him two major titles by the age of 23.

McIlroy missed the cut in last week's Open Championship at Muirfield, labelling his own play "brain dead" following an opening round of 79.

The 24-year-old Northern Irishman won five times last year, including his second major by eight shots in the USPGA Championship, to finish top of the money list on both sides of the Atlantic.

But he has yet to record a win in 2013 since a controversial multi-million pound switch to Nike in January, also damaging his reputation by walking off the course during his defence of the HondaClassic and bending a club out of shape during the final round of the US Open last month.

Asked if he had any advice for his Ryder Cup team-mate, Poulter said: "Stop reading the newspapers, stop listening to other people, go out there and do your stuff.

"There is a reason he was sought after by a new manufacturer and why they pay the big bucks because he is that good. He's just going to have to settle into the equipment, settle into himself being in a different environment now.

"The expectations after winning both money titles, there is some comedown after that. He just has to go out there and be himself."

Speaking at Woburn during his junior invitational event, Poulter added on Sky Sports News: "He knows how good he really is and the second he gets comfortable again you are going to see him winning golf tournaments.

"You don't win two majors by the age of 23 and disappear. Rory is here for a long time and he is going to be back at the top very soon."

Related articles

• The Open 2013: Rory McIlroy may turn to psychologist to halt slump
• Rory....Just Call Andy Murray
• British Open Payout 2013: Golfers Who'll Enjoy Bigger Payday at Next Major
• Open 2013: Ian Poulter and Bubba Watson find Muirfield hard going
• How Rory McIlroy Needs to Adjust Mindset After 2013 British Open Catastrophe
• The Open: Why has it all gone wrong for Rory McIlroy?

Harry Needs Putter for Major Four

Getty Images

Padraig Harrington grappled with demons of self-doubt on the greens, as he failed to register a birdie in his third-round 77, nine strokes worse than an impressive 68 by Garcia.

Harrington's faint hopes of carving out a top-10 finish at the 2013 Open expired.

After closing with a one-under-par 70 yesterday, Harrington finished in a share of 54th on 11-over, lamenting a paltry tally of six birdies in 72 holes at Muirfield, precisely the same as in last month's US Open at Merion.

Throw in a missed cut at April's Masters and it has been a fruitless and frustrating season for Harrington at the Majors.

Yet unlike Garcia, who took a complete three-month break from golf in 2010 saying, "I need to miss the game a little bit", Harrington is a relentless fighter.

No matter how torrid things get for him on the course, he will battle on. With three Major trophies on his sideboard in Rathmichael, he could rest on his laurels. "I could, but that won't happen," he insisted.

"A lot of pressure comes with winning a Major, including the frustrations of not getting that high again. The reward only comes when you stop playing, and I have no intention of stopping!"

Much was made in print of a tetchy remark by Garcia to a rules official on the way to the 15th tee on Saturday when he complained that telling Harrington they were no longer on the clock led to "the automatic handbrake" being engaged again.

Under the terms of their 'Valhalla Accord', neither will say a word against the other.

Yet Garcia's little exchange with the walking official and the couple of occasions he'd rushed to the next tee and was ready to go before Harrington arrived illustrated the Spaniard's frustration at the amount of time and attention his playing companion devoted to even the shortest putt.

Watching Harrington putt can be excruciating these days, though he insists there is no inclination to break the belly putter he has used since May over his own head.

Quite the contrary, in fact, as Harrington said: "I'm delighted with my putting!"

Instead, he attributed his failure to make birdie on any of the par-three or par-four holes at Muirfield to a continuing "lack of trust" in his reading of greens.

Never mind the swing changes Harrington infamously made after his world-conquering feats in 2007 and 2008.

He has slumped out of golf's upper echelons because of the negative impact the 2010 ban on box-grooves had on his wedge play and, principally, a marked decline in his confidence on the putting green.

Albeit controversial, the belly putter appears to have put manners on Harrington's stroke.

This leaves his difficulty reading and believing the line of longer putts as the Dubliner's biggest bugbear.

Languishing well outside the world top 50, Harrington is ineligible for the cash and point-rich Bridgestone World Golf Championship at Firestone next week, so he plays the Reno-Tahoe Open, where the modified stableford points scoring system will be anathema to a golfer struggling to make birdies.

After Reno, Harrington plays the PGA at Oak Hill, hoping to cement his place in the 125-man field for the first FedEx Cup play-off, The Barclays.

These are hard, frustrating times but the Irishman firmly believes redemption is just a birdie putt or two away.

With another forty plus year old winning at Muirfield, hot on the heels of a similarly aged Ernie Els in Royal Lytham and Darren Clarke at Royals St George at the previous Open Championship, Harrington knows there is still a reach major chance within reach.

Related articles

• Stenson getting closer to Sweden's 1st major
• Sergio García prospers despite frosty pairing with Padraig Harrington
• We Need to Talk About Padraig
• Lefy Wins Maiden Open at Muirfield
• Woods in the mix on another sunny day at Muirfield
• Stenson getting closer to Sweden's 1st major

Mickelson Adds Fifth Major

Phil Mickelson produced a storming finish to win his first Open Championship by three shots as Lee Westwood suffered more major heartbreak.

The left-hander broke free of a bunched field with four birdies in the last six holes to post a closing 66 - the joint best round of the week - and a winning total of three-under.

In landing his fifth major title - to add to his three Masters (2004, 2006 and 2010) and one PGA Championship (2005) - he also became the latest storied winner of the Claret Jug at Muirfield, joining a list of champions which includes Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Gary Player and Nick Faldo.

Westwood, who started the day with a two-shot lead as he went in search of a first major title, led by three strokes after a birdie at five. But he couldn't keep pace with Mickelson down the stretch and a closing 75 meant he had to settle for a tie for third with Adam Scott (72) and the fast-finishing Ian Poulter (67).

Swede Henrik Stenson was runner-up after a third one-under 70 of the week.

Getty Images

Mickelson was five shots behind Westwood when he teed off and appeared set for the minor places when he bogeyed the 10th to slip back to one-over.

But he birdied 13 and 14 to get into red figures and found himself in a tie for the lead when Masters champion Scott bogeyed 13.

Prior to that, it looked as if the Australian would atone for last year's late slip at Royal Lytham as he surged into the lead with a run of four birdies in five holes from the seventh to hit two-under.

But as Scott fell away with four bogeys in a row, Mickelson seized his moment.

The left-hander, who won last week's Scottish Open at Castle Stuart, smashed two shots onto the green at 17 and two-putted for birdie to extend his lead to two.

And after an excellent drive and approach at 18 he curled in a 12 foot birdie putt to post the clubhouse target of three-under which he knew was almost certain not to be beaten.

Westwood, on even par, still had a chance but needed to play the final three holes in three-under to force a play-off.

Bridesmaid

It proved too much. The Englishman, so often the bridesmaid in majors, bogeyed the 16th and then added two pars for a closing four-over 75.

Tiger Woods' hopes of a 15th major and first since 2008 hit the buffers early with three bogeys in the first six holes and it was damage he could never repair.

He eventually finished tied for sixth with fellow American Zach Johnson and Japanese youngster Hideki Matsuyama.

Poulter emerged from the pack after an amazing run of eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie from the ninth. That vaulted him to even par with genuine hope of victory but he played the last five in one-over to finish at +1."Hopefully it's enough to get into a play-off," was Poulter's assessment after signing for a four-under 67.

Stenson dropped out of a share of the lead after missing a 14ft par putt at the 12th and then failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker at the 13th.

Scott went out in front on his own on two under with a six-foot birdie putt at the 11th, where Woods recorded a second successive bogey to drop to three over.

Phil Mickelson, who had gone under the radar for most of the afternoon, birdied the 13th and 14th to move to one under.

Related articles

• Westwood on course for maiden major
• The Open Championship 2013 leaderboard: Lee Westwood still leading, Phil Mickelson tied for 4th
• The Open 2013 LIVE: Lee Westwood leads at Muirfield - action as it happens
• 2013 British Open leaderboard: Phil Mickelson takes commanding lead at Muirfield
• Westwood still 2 clear
• Westwood still 2 clear