What a remarkable finish to The Open Championship.
For a long time it looked as though Australian Adam Scott was cruising to the 2012 edition of golf's longest running major and with it his maiden major championship.
However an almighty collapse in the final few holes let popular South African Ernie Els in to steal the claret jug from Scott.
Whilst the headlines will inevitably be about Scott's choke which was utterly remarkable, nothing should be taken away from Els's second Open victory and his fourth major victory overall.
Els began the day six shots behind Scott and went out in a disappointing two over par 34.
An immediate birdie on the 10th hole gave Els the impetus to kick on and when he holed a superb putt on the 18th to finish on -7, suddenly the pressure was on Scott.
And he choked big time. The Australian had led by four shots with four holes to play but bogeyed them all, including a missed 10 footer at the last to hand victory to Els.
Comparisons were instantly made with the epic collapses of Jean Van De Velde in The Open at Carnoustie in 1999 or Scott's childhood hero Greg Norman's meltdown at The Masters in 1996.
However, only Scott will know where and how it all went wrong. He undoubtedly has the talent to win Majors but it will take him a long time to get over this loss.
Let's focus on Ernie Els now though. You would be hard pushed to find a more popular man amongst the golfing public.
His speech at the end showed what a classy guy the 42 year old multiple major winner is.
Els's first thoughts were for his buddy Adam Scott. How many other golfers would have done that?
He also paid tribute to Nelson Mandela and the work he has done for South Africa over the last two decades. The man known as 'The Big Easy' has certainly done his fare share as well.
As for his golf on the course, his back nine was simply flawless. With the wind picking up and the pressure mounting, Els held his nerve to shoot an incredible 32 coming home.
It had been ten years since Els had won The Open in a play-off at Muirfield, but on the closing stretch this Sunday he had the look of a man who believed it was his time again.
He did require some help from Scott but he put in a lot of the groundwork himself.
Els showed their is life in the old dog yet and I wouldn't bet against him adding to his four Major titles.
Once again Open Sunday provided a bundle of dramatic viewing as it so often does.
Bring on Muirfield in 2013.
Sunday 22 July 2012
Wednesday 11 July 2012
The Perfect Warm-Up For The Open?: A Preview of the Scottish Open
Last year Castle Stuart links golf course near Inverness staged the Scottish Open for the first time after it had been staged at Loch Lomond since 1996.
It was heralded as a bright new start for the Scottish Open, since Castle Stuart is a true links course designed to help the world's greatest golfers fine tune their game before heading to play The Open the following week.
However, the event was marred by dreadful weather with landslides couple with heavy ruin ruining the course and reducing the event to 54 holes.
The course was also criticised by many for being too easy with current World Number One Luke Donald shooting a 19 under par total for the three rounds with many other low scores being shot in the Moray Firth.
I have even had many local club golfers tell me that due to the wide fairways and generous pin positions they didn't find it an overly taxing golf course to play.
Despite all that many of the worlds top golfers including Donald, Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els are all heading to Scotland to take part.
They obviously feel it is the best way to make sure their golfing game is inch perfect before The Open starts in two weeks at Royal Lytham and St Annes.
It is clearly a better test for them than the parkways of Loch Lomond. Whilst Loch Lomond was a fantastic venue to visit for spectators, there was always a feeling it simply wasn't the right challenge for the world's best before they tried to win the Claret Jug.
Conditions this week surely can't be worse than last year at Castle Stuart so first and foremost golf fans will be able to get a better picture of how good a course it is.
And of course it is a fine golf course. They didn't pick Castle Stuart out of thin air and Aberdeen Asset Management wouldn't be sponsoring some middle of the road tournament.
With the Irish Open being played in Portrush a fortnight ago, most of the best golfers in the game will have had some fantastic links golf experience so close to The Open.
Castle Stuart might not have lit the golfing world up last year, but the Scottish Open is still an absolute jewel in the crown of the European Tour and the four days near Inverness should provide thrilling golfing action.
As for those to watch, here's my select five:
Luke Donald: The defending champion and World number one. He might have dipped slightly recently but his short game is tremendous and anyone putts as well as he can is always going to contend in most tournaments.
Paul Lawrie: With a Scotsman not winning the event since 1999, the pressure is always on the home golfers, but Lawrie surely has to be in with a chance. He has been in great form this season, enjoying a great comeback as he strolls through his 40s. Always a good links player, Lawrie could finally end the wait for a Scottish winner.
Francesco Molinari: The Italian is my tip to win this week despite having not played the course before. He finished in the top ten at Portrush before ending up in second place at the French Open last week. His game should be suited to the course and with his great form going into it, he is a major contender at Castle Stuart.
Padraig Harrington: A twice Open winner in fine form, the Irishman ticks all the boxes to have a great week at Castle Stuart. Harrington simply thrives in links golf, which can't be said of many golfers these days. But perhaps save your money for him at Royal Lytham the following week.
Stephen Gallacher: Another Scotsman who has had a fine season with two runner up finishes, Gallacher is also a fan of links golf. He always enjoys playing on home soil and with his ball striking exemplary at his best he could creep under the radar.
It might be one of these golfers, but knowing the nature of golf at the moment(and my tips!) it probably won't be.
It was heralded as a bright new start for the Scottish Open, since Castle Stuart is a true links course designed to help the world's greatest golfers fine tune their game before heading to play The Open the following week.
However, the event was marred by dreadful weather with landslides couple with heavy ruin ruining the course and reducing the event to 54 holes.
The course was also criticised by many for being too easy with current World Number One Luke Donald shooting a 19 under par total for the three rounds with many other low scores being shot in the Moray Firth.
I have even had many local club golfers tell me that due to the wide fairways and generous pin positions they didn't find it an overly taxing golf course to play.
Despite all that many of the worlds top golfers including Donald, Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els are all heading to Scotland to take part.
They obviously feel it is the best way to make sure their golfing game is inch perfect before The Open starts in two weeks at Royal Lytham and St Annes.
It is clearly a better test for them than the parkways of Loch Lomond. Whilst Loch Lomond was a fantastic venue to visit for spectators, there was always a feeling it simply wasn't the right challenge for the world's best before they tried to win the Claret Jug.
Conditions this week surely can't be worse than last year at Castle Stuart so first and foremost golf fans will be able to get a better picture of how good a course it is.
And of course it is a fine golf course. They didn't pick Castle Stuart out of thin air and Aberdeen Asset Management wouldn't be sponsoring some middle of the road tournament.
With the Irish Open being played in Portrush a fortnight ago, most of the best golfers in the game will have had some fantastic links golf experience so close to The Open.
Castle Stuart might not have lit the golfing world up last year, but the Scottish Open is still an absolute jewel in the crown of the European Tour and the four days near Inverness should provide thrilling golfing action.
As for those to watch, here's my select five:
Luke Donald: The defending champion and World number one. He might have dipped slightly recently but his short game is tremendous and anyone putts as well as he can is always going to contend in most tournaments.
Paul Lawrie: With a Scotsman not winning the event since 1999, the pressure is always on the home golfers, but Lawrie surely has to be in with a chance. He has been in great form this season, enjoying a great comeback as he strolls through his 40s. Always a good links player, Lawrie could finally end the wait for a Scottish winner.
Francesco Molinari: The Italian is my tip to win this week despite having not played the course before. He finished in the top ten at Portrush before ending up in second place at the French Open last week. His game should be suited to the course and with his great form going into it, he is a major contender at Castle Stuart.
Padraig Harrington: A twice Open winner in fine form, the Irishman ticks all the boxes to have a great week at Castle Stuart. Harrington simply thrives in links golf, which can't be said of many golfers these days. But perhaps save your money for him at Royal Lytham the following week.
Stephen Gallacher: Another Scotsman who has had a fine season with two runner up finishes, Gallacher is also a fan of links golf. He always enjoys playing on home soil and with his ball striking exemplary at his best he could creep under the radar.
It might be one of these golfers, but knowing the nature of golf at the moment(and my tips!) it probably won't be.
Sunday 8 July 2012
I Share Your Pain Andy Murray
The wait goes on then.
Andy Murray's defeat to Roger Federer in today's Wimbledon final means that Fred Perry is still the last British man to win a Grand slam all the way back in 1936.
As someone who has followed Murray since he burst on the tennis world as an eighteen year old in 2005, this defeat was the hardest loss to take.
It was heartbreaking to see the Scot breakdown on court after his defeat to the Swiss maestro.
Like many others I couldn't help but share in Murray's tears whilst watching at home.
Murray knew this was a real chance to finally become a Grand Slam champion. And he knows he won't get many better chances.
However, it should be made clear that Murray played absolutely superb and was beaten by the greatest man to ever pick up a tennis racket.
Murray should feel absolutely no shame in that.
In yesterdays blog (http://www.ewansworldofsport.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/legend-v-pretender.html) I tipped Murray to break his Grand Slam duck and beat the six times Wimbledon champion in five sets.
It wasn't to be though as Federer showed his class and experience were well and truly back.
For a while it all looked so good for Murray. He came out the blocks firing and instantly broke his opponent's serve.
Whilst Federer came back strongly, Murray dug deep and broke Federer superbly in the ninth game of the set before going on to take the opening set.
I was ecstatic at this point. In three Grand Slam finals to date Murray had never won a set.
Now he had got over that hurdle at least and as the second set began Murray was well on top.
He had his chances to really take control but Federer showed his quality to save numerous break points.
However when he broke Murray in the 12th game of the set to ultimately take it, it came out of nowhere.
Like the 15,000 fans inside Centre Court, I was completely stunned. A couple of points and suddenly it was a level game.
If there is one person you don't want to hand an opportunity to in a Grand Slam final, then it's Roger Federer.
As the third set began, Murray looked out of sorts and was thankful for the half-hour rain break.
The Swiss man though is the greatest ever indoor player and after the delay looked even more menacing as his ball-striking was out of this world.
Murray just had no answers despite fighting till the very end.
There were a couple of opportunities early in the fourth set but Murray just couldn't make them.
And that's the difference between winning a Grand Slam and not winning one unfortunately.
But let's not hear any allegations of Murray being a 'bottler' today. He was beaten by the better player on the day.
A player that has now won a record equalling seven Wimbledon titles and an incredible 17 Grand Slams in total.
Murray may feel right now that he will never have a greater chance of winning a slam due to Rafa Nadal's early exit and the fact he was facing the supposedly ageing Federer in the final rather than Novak Djokovic.
Federer though proved in his 24th slam final that class truly is permanent and with his trophy, he also returns to the world number one spot.
A remarkable achievement for someone who many had written off including myself.
In 2012, Murray has shown huge signs of improvement under the watchful eye of new coach Ivan Lendl.
Lendl, an eight time Grand Slam champion has instilled a new level of focus in the Scot and has certainly made him more confident in believing he can beat Djokovic, Federer and Nadal in the slams.
Yes, he might not have got over the line yet but his coach Lendl didn't in his first four slam finals.
The brilliant Croatian Goran Ivanisevic took 48 slams to finally win one. Murray has only played 27.
And I believe the Scot will certainly win a slam one day. Maybe.
Andy Murray's defeat to Roger Federer in today's Wimbledon final means that Fred Perry is still the last British man to win a Grand slam all the way back in 1936.
As someone who has followed Murray since he burst on the tennis world as an eighteen year old in 2005, this defeat was the hardest loss to take.
It was heartbreaking to see the Scot breakdown on court after his defeat to the Swiss maestro.
Like many others I couldn't help but share in Murray's tears whilst watching at home.
Murray knew this was a real chance to finally become a Grand Slam champion. And he knows he won't get many better chances.
However, it should be made clear that Murray played absolutely superb and was beaten by the greatest man to ever pick up a tennis racket.
Murray should feel absolutely no shame in that.
In yesterdays blog (http://www.ewansworldofsport.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/legend-v-pretender.html) I tipped Murray to break his Grand Slam duck and beat the six times Wimbledon champion in five sets.
It wasn't to be though as Federer showed his class and experience were well and truly back.
For a while it all looked so good for Murray. He came out the blocks firing and instantly broke his opponent's serve.
Whilst Federer came back strongly, Murray dug deep and broke Federer superbly in the ninth game of the set before going on to take the opening set.
I was ecstatic at this point. In three Grand Slam finals to date Murray had never won a set.
Now he had got over that hurdle at least and as the second set began Murray was well on top.
He had his chances to really take control but Federer showed his quality to save numerous break points.
However when he broke Murray in the 12th game of the set to ultimately take it, it came out of nowhere.
Like the 15,000 fans inside Centre Court, I was completely stunned. A couple of points and suddenly it was a level game.
If there is one person you don't want to hand an opportunity to in a Grand Slam final, then it's Roger Federer.
As the third set began, Murray looked out of sorts and was thankful for the half-hour rain break.
The Swiss man though is the greatest ever indoor player and after the delay looked even more menacing as his ball-striking was out of this world.
Murray just had no answers despite fighting till the very end.
There were a couple of opportunities early in the fourth set but Murray just couldn't make them.
And that's the difference between winning a Grand Slam and not winning one unfortunately.
But let's not hear any allegations of Murray being a 'bottler' today. He was beaten by the better player on the day.
A player that has now won a record equalling seven Wimbledon titles and an incredible 17 Grand Slams in total.
Murray may feel right now that he will never have a greater chance of winning a slam due to Rafa Nadal's early exit and the fact he was facing the supposedly ageing Federer in the final rather than Novak Djokovic.
Federer though proved in his 24th slam final that class truly is permanent and with his trophy, he also returns to the world number one spot.
A remarkable achievement for someone who many had written off including myself.
In 2012, Murray has shown huge signs of improvement under the watchful eye of new coach Ivan Lendl.
Lendl, an eight time Grand Slam champion has instilled a new level of focus in the Scot and has certainly made him more confident in believing he can beat Djokovic, Federer and Nadal in the slams.
Yes, he might not have got over the line yet but his coach Lendl didn't in his first four slam finals.
The brilliant Croatian Goran Ivanisevic took 48 slams to finally win one. Murray has only played 27.
And I believe the Scot will certainly win a slam one day. Maybe.
Saturday 7 July 2012
The Legend V The Pretender
Tomorrow Andy Murray will become the first British male tennis player to step out on Centre Court in a Wimbledon final since 1938.
He will follow in the footsteps of Bunny Austin who was defeated in that final by American Don Budge 74 years ago.
If he wins, Murray will become the first British man to win the title since Fred Perry completed a hat-trick of wins in 1936.
But standing in his way is arguably the greatest man to ever pick up a tennis racket in the shape of Roger Federer.
The legend from Switzerland is bidding for a record-equalling seventh Wimbledon title to match Pete Sampras, whilst Murray of course is desperate to land that elusive first grand slam title at the 27th time of asking.
So who's going to triumph come Sunday evening at SW19? A case can certainly be put forward for both men.
Federer simply has to be the favourite due to his unbelievable grand slam record having collected a record 16 majors, whilst Murray has lost the three major finals he has been in including two defeats to Federer at the 2008 US Open and the 2010 Australian Open.
At times in this tournament Federer has looked vulnerable, particularly in the third round when he was two sets down against Julian Benneteau but also in the following round when Belgian Xavier Malisse took a set off him and was leading 2-0 in the fourth set, before the Swiss stepped it up a gear.
However, yesterday Federer was simply sublime against the reigning Wimbledon champion and World number one Novak Djokovic.
He had been comprehensively beaten by the Serb in the French Open semi finals a month ago when he looked out of sorts but on Centre Court yesterday the true form of Federer was out on show.
It might have taken him four sets to win the semi-final but the Swiss man always seemed in control. His serve was simply superb and the backhand passing winners were constant.
The performance was the best I had seen Federer at the latter stages of a slam for a couple of years and he looks ready for a seventh Wimbledon crown having fallen at the quarter final stage in the last two years.
Does that mean I'm ruling Murray out of tomorrow's final? Not at all.
I've seen a different side to the Scot's game since he started working with the legendary eight-time Grand Slam winner Ivan Lendl at the start of this year.
He was very unfortunate to lose in the Australian Open semi finals to Djokovic in an epic semi-final lasting almost five hours weeks after Lendl was brought on board.
Lendl has certainly brought a new controlled focus to Murray's game. He doesn't show his emotions as much on the court as he used to.
His second serve, forever a weakness in Murray's game has been a lot stronger throughout this years Wimbledon whilst some of his winners on both his forehand and backhand have beggared belief at times.
But to win tomorrow Murray must remain focused and be aggressive. As someone who has watched Murray since he burst through in 2005, he has been far too cautious in his finals and has displayed an extremely fragile mental attitude.
The Andy Murray of 2012 is different though. He seems more in control. He knows he won't get too many better chances than this. He showed that in spades against David Ferrer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter and semi finals respectively.
The pressure of course will be tremendous. There are rumours that the Queen and David Cameron might be there watching as well as the millions of fans back home with their televisions.
Murray is very unfairly tagged a bottler by many who simply don't know enough about tennis.
Let's hope that he completes a historic victory tomorrow to deny them the chance to come out the woodwork.
And I think he will do it. In five gruelling sets.
He will follow in the footsteps of Bunny Austin who was defeated in that final by American Don Budge 74 years ago.
If he wins, Murray will become the first British man to win the title since Fred Perry completed a hat-trick of wins in 1936.
But standing in his way is arguably the greatest man to ever pick up a tennis racket in the shape of Roger Federer.
The legend from Switzerland is bidding for a record-equalling seventh Wimbledon title to match Pete Sampras, whilst Murray of course is desperate to land that elusive first grand slam title at the 27th time of asking.
So who's going to triumph come Sunday evening at SW19? A case can certainly be put forward for both men.
Federer simply has to be the favourite due to his unbelievable grand slam record having collected a record 16 majors, whilst Murray has lost the three major finals he has been in including two defeats to Federer at the 2008 US Open and the 2010 Australian Open.
At times in this tournament Federer has looked vulnerable, particularly in the third round when he was two sets down against Julian Benneteau but also in the following round when Belgian Xavier Malisse took a set off him and was leading 2-0 in the fourth set, before the Swiss stepped it up a gear.
However, yesterday Federer was simply sublime against the reigning Wimbledon champion and World number one Novak Djokovic.
He had been comprehensively beaten by the Serb in the French Open semi finals a month ago when he looked out of sorts but on Centre Court yesterday the true form of Federer was out on show.
It might have taken him four sets to win the semi-final but the Swiss man always seemed in control. His serve was simply superb and the backhand passing winners were constant.
The performance was the best I had seen Federer at the latter stages of a slam for a couple of years and he looks ready for a seventh Wimbledon crown having fallen at the quarter final stage in the last two years.
Does that mean I'm ruling Murray out of tomorrow's final? Not at all.
I've seen a different side to the Scot's game since he started working with the legendary eight-time Grand Slam winner Ivan Lendl at the start of this year.
He was very unfortunate to lose in the Australian Open semi finals to Djokovic in an epic semi-final lasting almost five hours weeks after Lendl was brought on board.
Lendl has certainly brought a new controlled focus to Murray's game. He doesn't show his emotions as much on the court as he used to.
His second serve, forever a weakness in Murray's game has been a lot stronger throughout this years Wimbledon whilst some of his winners on both his forehand and backhand have beggared belief at times.
But to win tomorrow Murray must remain focused and be aggressive. As someone who has watched Murray since he burst through in 2005, he has been far too cautious in his finals and has displayed an extremely fragile mental attitude.
The Andy Murray of 2012 is different though. He seems more in control. He knows he won't get too many better chances than this. He showed that in spades against David Ferrer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter and semi finals respectively.
The pressure of course will be tremendous. There are rumours that the Queen and David Cameron might be there watching as well as the millions of fans back home with their televisions.
Murray is very unfairly tagged a bottler by many who simply don't know enough about tennis.
Let's hope that he completes a historic victory tomorrow to deny them the chance to come out the woodwork.
And I think he will do it. In five gruelling sets.
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