Watson & Cink shoot up world rankings

Following their playoff for the Claret Jug at Turnberry this weekend, former number 33 Cink and 1374 Watson moved to 9 and 104 respectively.

Cink will hope to move on from his first major and claim more - following the example perennial also-ran Padraig Harrington set in 2007. However it's more likely he'll join the ranks of Ben Curtis and Lucas Glover in the "nice guys who won a major" category. Sorry, Stew.

The world rankings in golf are somewhat farcical - it's basically a case of who can get to number 2 behind Tiger, or number 3 behind Phil these days.

New world rankings:

1 Tiger Woods 10.82pts

2 Phil Mickelson 8.53

3 Paul Casey 6.60

4 Kenny Perry 6.21

5 Sergio Garcia 6.02

6 Steve Stricker 5.88

7 Henrik Stenson 5.88

8 Geoff Ogilvy 5.74

9 Stewart Cink 5.04

10 Jim Furyk 5.01

11 Vijay Singh 4.84

12 Martin Kaymer 4.80

13 Camilo Villegas 4.69

14 Lee Westwood 4.65

15 Sean O'Hair 4.39

16 Padraig Harrington 4.33

17 Anthony Kim 4.22

18 Robert Karlsson 4.21

19 Ian Poulter 3.97

20 Lucas Glover 3.94

Twitter Watch: John Daly checks out Turnberry

John Daly is a big character on the tour - he's had the highs lows and the gastric band inbetween. So it's little surprise that such a big character as John is on Twitter and giving his fans what they want - a piece of the grip it 'n' rip it philosophy.

In typical Daly fashion, the first photo is of the local ASDA (UK Wal-Mart equivalent).

John took time out to "hare some British Open time with my twitters" via his Twitter page and we thought we'd bring you the highlights.


"and let there be WAL-MART folks--right down the street"


"Waiting to play thru----Tiger 1 hole in front of us"


"Tiger putting on 17"


"Hole 10"


Another BIG backswing - "Hole 6"

Twitter Watch: Poulter checks out Turnberry

Love or hate Ian Poulter, he's certainly a character. And where better for this natural extrovert and dodgy speller to spread his wings than on current social flavour of the month Twitter. He's got around 250k followers - still some way off American Stewart Cink on over 500k but he's catching.

Ian's Twitter feed.



The master and the apprentice?


View from the 10th tee.


View from the 11th tee.


View from the 12th tee.


View from the 13th tee.



View from the 14th tee.



View from the 15th tee.




View from the 16th tee.




View from the 17th tee.




View from the 18th tee.

Levet In; Quigley Out: Open Championship, Turnberry

Frenchman Thomas Levet was the beneficiary of Brett Quigley's decision to turn down a spot at this week's Open Championship at Turnberry, Scotland.

American Quigley was in thanks to his second-place finish at the John Deere Classic on the PGA Tour but declined. This meant Levet was the next available candidate according to the world rankings - he is currently 82nd in the world.

"My heart's not into playing the British [Open]," Quigley said. "I know that sounds crazy for a major, the Open at Turnberry, and I love the golf over there.

"There are a million reasons to go - I just feel like it's going to be better for me to go to Milwaukee and go with my family."

His loss is Levet's gain:

"I'm playing well and I hit the ball low, which you need to do at the Open.

"I still knew I could get in by playing well at either the French or Scottish Opens, but I didn't realise until last Thursday that I was high up on the reserve list."

Kaymer clinches Scottish Open

Martin Kaymer won his second tournament in a row by adding the Scottish Open to the French Open title he won last week. He finished with a fourth round 69 at Loch Lomond, two shots clear of Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin and Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano

The 24 year old German golfer now stands at 11th in the world rankings following back-to-back victories and must surely be in contention for a good Open Championship performance.

"Everyone asks me about the third win in a row,'' Kaymer said, "We are playing a major next week. And the field is going to be the best we have all year long.

"After last week and this week, I feel really good,'' he said. "My game is solid, so hopefully, I can keep it up.''

The talk now is of Kaymer winning a hat-trick of titles - the last man to win consecutive tournaments on the European Tour before an Open was Ian Woosnam in 1990. The omens aren't good though - Woosnam finished tied for fourth

CLUBHOUSE SCORES: GB & Ire unless stated
-15 M Kaymer (Ger) -13 R Jacquelin (Fra), G Fernandez-Castano (Spa) -12 S Kjeldsen (Den), A Scott (Aus)
Selected others:-10 L Westwood, R Fisher -9 M Laird -8 S Webster -7 G Ogilvy (Aus), E Els (RSA), D Clarke, MA Jimenez (Spa) -6 K Ferrie, D Lynn, J Donaldson

Padraig Harrington wins third straight Irish PGA title

Padraig Harrington claimed the Irish PGA Championship for an incredible third straight time this weekend, with a 7-shot victory from nearest competitor Brian McElhinney.

It marks a timely return to form for the popular Irishman ahead of his defence of The Open Championship at Turnberry on Thursday. Prior to this even Harrington had missed the cut on five straight occasions.

If you haven't heard of the Irish PGA, it's because it isn't sanctioned by the European Tour - or indeed any tour. But being an Irishman, Harrington likes to use it to get ready for the British Open. Harrington has now won it six times.

"Obviously any time you tee it up in a tournament your want to win it. Whatever that tournament is it's always very pleasing to win. It's a nice feeling especially as I haven't been in that winner's enclosure for a little bit now so it's always nice to get a win in the bag,"

Winning it worked for the last two Opens - could it be a hat-trick of claret jugs too?

"Winning is a habit, there's no doubt about that. The more you win the better, regardless of where you are doing it. It's important to get out there and win. Yeah, it is important to win this week. The magnitude of the tournament is not as great as next week but winning is a habit and it's always good to be in winning form."

Ten best rounds in the British Open Championship

1. Paul Broadhurst, St Andrews, 1990
Broadhurst was the first player to shoot 63, a feat that has never been bettered.

2. Greg Norman, Turnberry, 1986
A course record 63 on Friday set Norman up for his first Open.

3. Paul Lawrie, Carnoustie, 1999
Many forget Lawrie hit an excellent 67 in awful conditions to make up a 10 shot deficit. That's because Jean Van De Velde self-destructed in front of the gallery, and even got his feet wet.

4. Jodie Mudd, Royal Birkdale, 1991
So nearly a 62, Mudd missed a 20 footer at the last to card an impressive 63.

5. Isao Aoki, Muirfield, 1980
Aoki break the course record set hours earlier with a stunning 63.

6. Ian Baker-Finch, Royal Birkdale, 1991
A third round 64 helped the Australian to a surprise victory.

7. Jack Newton, Carnoustie, 1975
Newton fired a course record 65 but lost to Tom Watson in a play-off.

8. Tiger Woods, Royal Troon, 1997
In his second performance at The Open, a young Woods carded an impressive 64 and got himself into the mix. Though he didn't win the trophy, he won many fans and headlines alike. It remains Woods' best round at The Open.

9. Tom Watson, Turnberry 1994
A second round 65 gave the 44-year-old Watson the half-way lead.

10. Colin Montgomerie, Royal Lytham & St Annes, 2001
The Scot hit 65 for a lead of three shots in the opening round but still failed to win the Claret Jug.

Top ten Open champions

1. Harry Vardon

Younger Golf fans may not know the name but you should - he won six Opens, more than any other. A record that I doubt will be broken for a very long time.

2. Tom Watson

Waton won five Claret Jugs on five different links golf courses. A fabulous player, his highlight being the "duel in the sun" victory at Turnberry in 1977. It lives long in the memory as the sun hasn't been spotted in the region since.

3. Peter Thomson

Thomson won five Opens and richly deserves his spot at number three. The victories came in just a twelve year span too.

4. James Braid

Braid won five Opens from 1901-1910 and retired in 1912. Some record!

5. Young Tom Morris

Admittedly Young Tom did compete in a different era with less competition but he still won the title four times and also holds the record for youngest winner - 17 years and 181 days.

6. Old Tom Morris

Old Tom also won four titles and holds the record for oldest winner - 46 years and 99 days.

7. Jack Nicklaus

The greatest golfer of them all surprisingly only notched 3 Opens in his 18 major haul. Jack always gave it his best and was unlucky not to add more titles.

8.Tiger Woods

The man who would be king has three titles - so far. Who'd bet against Woods adding more before his career is over? Not me.

9. Seve Ballesteros

The charismatic champion won three Claret Jugs and his extraordinary recovery game earned him the nickname of "car park champion" in 1979.

10. Nick Faldo

Faldo won three Opens and put Britain back on the golfing map. The abrasive Englishman has more under-par rounds at the Open than anyone else.

Top ten Open Championship debuts

With the third major of the season fast approaching, people are looking to Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson to step up and claim it. But the Open has a history of throwing up unlikely winners. In this article we take a look at the men who have won it at the first attempt.

1. Tom Watson, Carnoustie, 1975
Watson won at the first attempt in a play-off against Jack Newton. The American would go on to win five Opens in total, eight majors overall.

2. Ben Hogan, Carnoustie, 1953
Ben Hogan also won at the first attempt, in a play-off and at Carnoustie. This was the last of Hogan's nine majors.

3. Willie Park, Prestwick, 1860
The Scotsman has gained fame for being the first Open champion. The field at that time contained just eight golfers. Park went on to win four claret jugs in total (okay, okay, so they weren't actually jugs until a good while later.

4. Ben Curtis, St George’s, 2003
Curtis was an unknown before the championship and is hardly more famous now.

5. Tony Lema, St Andrews, 1964
Lema won this major just two years before his career was cruelly cut short by an aircraft accident. This was his first visit to St Andrews.

6. Tom Kidd, St Andrews, 1873
Kidd won the first Open ever to be played at what came to be known as the home of golf.

7. Harold Hilton, Muirfield, 1892
Amateur Hilton was the second Englishman to win the Open.

8. Jock Hutchison, St Andrews, 1921
A play-off victory made Hutchison the first American champion.

9. Denny Shute, St Andrews, 1933
Shute won three majors but this victory was his first and perhaps best.

10. Mungo Park, Musselburgh, 1874
Park was brother of Willie (#3) perhaps most famous for going to sea for twenty years only to return and claim the Open championship in his hometown.

Open Championship purse confirmed

Next week's British Open Championship at Turnberry has bucked the downward trend in golf by offering the same purse as last year: £4.2 million.

The winner will take home a cool £750,000.

However, due to the pound's increase in value against the dollar, any potential American champion would take home $282,236 less than 2008's championship at Royal Birkdale.

Lyle storms out of Open

1985 Open champ Sandy Lyle has walked off the course after just 10 holes citing the "demanding" course and saying "the rough is so heavy in the wet that if you get out of position it's just so hard."

Lyle had just took par on the 10th and was 11 over par when he decided to call it a day. Conditions have been testing to say the least.

"I just couldn't score and I couldn't swing the golf club in the end. I just thought I was doing myself more harm than good.

"For me, with the glasses and waterproofs, I couldn't get any momentum going at all so I thought I was best to call it a day."

Lyle has history of walking off at Birkdale: he did the same in 1991.

"I don't make a habit of it. I did it in 1991 when I didn't realise I was out of bounds until I got down there but I was way over the cut line and so I said I wasn't going back for the sake of finishing the hole.

"This is the only course I have walked off twice, which is not good."

Opinion

As a higher handicap player I can understand the feeling of simply having had enough and packing up, but as a former champion in a global event? I think it's a little pathetic in all honesty. At least finish up your round and see where you find yourself - scores will be high.

Lyle has little to prove, having won majors and numerous events in his career, but this is a poor show on day one. I'm certain this fine old course will take more casualties before this event is over.