Category: Celebrities

TROON,Scotland — Only a chosen few are awarded “The Stop.” It is both earned and conferred, and always cashed in at the Swilcan Bridge. The legend makes his way over the crossing, pauses, perches his leg up on the stone ledge, turns away from the Old Course and toward the fans to his right and behind him, then back to the town of St. Andrews and to the people craning their necks from pubs and hotel windows to say they saw it, and waves. The Stops of yesteryear are run annually on Open broadcasts and pictures of The Stop are plastered in clubhouses across the world, because The Stop matters, a graceful transition of a golf legend from the pangs of now into the gloss of the past.

Tiger Woods was bestowed The Stop in 2022. It made sense; he was nine over through 35 holes, 20-something shots behind the leader and miles from the cut. He was just 46 years old, but his return from a savage car accident raised plenty of questions about an already tenuous future, and with the R&A likely deviating from its tradition of hosting the Open at the St. Andrews every five years it was unclear when the Auld Gray Toon would host again … and what type of shape Woods would be in when that time came.

Woods is a student and historian. He is well aware of The Stop. What it means, to himself and to others. Over the past decade, he had preached a cognizance of the finish line. And yet, knowing what was ahead, Woods glided over the most famous bridge in golf, stride unbroken. He did raise his hat to the heavens, a concession made by his brain, but his legs were taking direction from his heart. At the 150th Open, Tiger Woods was given The Stop. He kept walking.

“I hope people remember Tiger as Tiger was, the passion and the charismatic aura around him,” Colin Montgomerie said in an interview with The Times of London last week. “There is none of that now. At Pinehurst [for the U.S. Open], he did not seem to enjoy a single shot and you think, ‘What the hell is he doing?’ He’s coming to Troon, and he won’t enjoy it there either.” Montgomerie later added, in response to Woods’ comments last month that his competitive days may be numbered, “Aren’t we there? I’d have thought we were past there. There is a time for all sportsmen to say goodbye, but it’s very difficult to tell Tiger it’s time to go. Obviously, he still feels he can win. We are more realistic.”

To various extents for the last decade, similar eulogies have been made about Woods’ career—only for Woods to prove how much life he has left. Perhaps that’s partly why Monty’s remarks made the rounds. But as blunt as Montgomerie was, the collective response has been just as telling, because there has been little, if any, rebuttal. Montgomerie said what we all know to be true:

In sports, everything ends badly. Otherwise, it wouldn’t end.

Badly is a sober assessment of Woods’ golf as of late. More than as of late: Since winning the 2019 Masters he has failed to finish inside the top 20 at a major and has either missed the cut or withdrawn in five of the last seven. He’s played four rounds of an official tournament just three times in the last four seasons. This is partly an upshot of the fact he hardly plays at all. The last time Woods teed it up at an event that wasn’t a) a major, b) his Genesis Invitational or c) a silly-season event was in the summer of 2020. That is the profile of a ceremonial figure … which Woods was at the U.S. Open, in the field thanks to a special exemption from the USGA. He fought, but Pinehurst painfully illustrated it was a test he could not pass. Golf pounds its chest about its meritocratic fields but Woods, in his current form, is more celebrity than competitor.

last year in the first round at the British Open, Rory McIlroy was greenside in two shots at the par-5 finishing hole, yet five minutes later he fist-pumped a 10-foot par save. Why? McIlroy was nestled under the lip of one of Royal Liverpool’s nasty bunkers. He tried to play out sideways and failed. His second attempt required one foot in, one foot out of the bunker. The whole scene even sparked a minor rules controversy.

It all stemmed from a problem Scottie Scheffler warned about earlier in the week. “Here it seems like the faces of every bunker have almost a downslope going towards it,” Scheffler said last year. “I don’t think that’s something I particularly like in a golf course. I think it doesn’t reward the good shots as much.”

We’re used to seeing these chaotic scenes in pot bunkers at The Open, but last year the unusual shape of the bunkers that Scheffler alluded to made them particularly penal.

You don’t want to be in these bunkers,” 2009 Open champion Stewart Cink said of Royal Liverpool. “They’re so flat. The bottoms of them are so flat that if a ball comes in with any momentum, it’s just going right up to the lip and stop. There’s not a little upslope that helps you at all. They are very penal.”

The difficulty of bunkers being flat is exactly what Cink and Scheffler described. There is nothing preventing the ball from rolling underneath the face. This isn’t an issue, of course, on most American courses, where the bunkers naturally rise up to the lips, but on links with riveted-face pots, the bottom of the bunkers can be nearly perfectly level.

That’s how you get scenes like McIlroy on the 18th hole last year, trying to play sideways away from the hole and still not able to get it out.

But we’re likely to see far less of that this year at Royal Troon, as Scheffler says the R&A have raked the bunkers a little differently. Scheffler described in his Tuesday press conference that the bunkers are built up near the edges to encourage balls to filter back into the middle of the sand, as you can see below.

Last year in the first round at the British Open, Rory McIlroy was greenside in two shots at the par-5 finishing hole, yet five minutes later he fist-pumped a 10-foot par save. Why? McIlroy was nestled under the lip of one of Royal Liverpool’s nasty bunkers. He tried to play out sideways and failed. His second attempt required one foot in, one foot out of the bunker. The whole scene even sparked a minor rules controversy.

It all stemmed from a problem Scottie Scheffler warned about earlier in the week. “Here it seems like the faces of every bunker have almost a downslope going towards it,” Scheffler said last year. “I don’t think that’s something I particularly like in a golf course. I think it doesn’t reward the good shots as much.”

“You don’t want to be in these bunkers,” 2009 Open champion Stewart Cink said of Royal Liverpool. “They’re so flat. The bottoms of them are so flat that if a ball comes in with any momentum, it’s just going right up to the lip and stop. There’s not a little upslope that helps you at all. They are very penal.”

RELATED: Tiger Woods fired back at Colin Montgomerie, but Monty knows the truth

The difficulty of bunkers being flat is exactly what Cink and Scheffler described. There is nothing preventing the ball from rolling underneath the face. This isn’t an issue, of course, on most American courses, where the bunkers naturally rise up to the lips, but on links with riveted-face pots, the bottom of the bunkers can be nearly perfectly level.

That’s how you get scenes like McIlroy on the 18th hole last year, trying to play sideways away from the hole and still not able to get it out.

But we’re likely to see far less of that this year at Royal Troon, as Scheffler says the R&A have raked the bunkers a little differently. Scheffler described in his Tuesday press conference that the bunkers are built up near the edges to encourage balls to filter back into the middle of the sand, as you can see below.



Players are more likely to be playing from the middle of the bunkers this week at Royal Troon.

Luke Walker/R&A

“I love how they changed how they rake the bunkers this year with the more traditional sloping coming off the walls,” Scheffler said.

While this makes one of Royal Troon’s toughest features slightly less daunting, Scheffler says it makes the course play more fair and less reliant on luck.

“Last year I thought it was a bit silly how they flattened out each bunker,” he said. “The bunkers are still a penalty enough when the ball isn’t up against the lip. It was a bit of luck whether or not your ball would bury into the face because you have a flat bunker and a wall

This year, Scheffler says players have more of a fighting chance to get out of the deep bunkers, instead of being handcuffed like McIlroy. Since more balls will filter back into the middle of the bunkers this week, players will have the option to either take on the difficult shot and play straight ahead, or play it safe and go out sideways.

“It leaves more opportunity for great shots and risk and reward,” he says.

The U.S. Amateur returns to Hazeltine National this week for the first time since 2006, as the best amateurs in the world return to the Minnesota brute, whose narrow fairways and small greens make it a ball-striker’s delight.

One guy who may not view Hazeltine as fondly is Tiger Woods, who narrowly lost the PGA Championship at the course in 2002 and 2009, the latter of which the only time he lost a major after being the 54-hole leader.

That said, the course is the site of what Tiger has said is the greatest shot of his life. That came in 2002 on the 18th hole in the second round, when Woods was nestled under the lip of a fairway bunker, with the ball below his feet, over 200 yards from the hole, with wind howling off the left and towering trees between him and the green. He took 3-iron, picked it off the sand and hit it inside 20 feet. Oh, yeah, and he made the putt for birdie.

The U.S. Amateur returns to Hazeltine National this week for the first time since 2006, as the best amateurs in the world return to the Minnesota brute, whose narrow fairways and small greens make it a ball-striker’s delight.

One guy who may not view Hazeltine as fondly is Tiger Woods, who narrowly lost the PGA Championship at the course in 2002 and 2009, the latter of which the only time he lost a major after being the 54-hole leader.

That said, the course is the site of what Tiger has said is the greatest shot of his life. That came in 2002 on the 18th hole in the second round, when Woods was nestled under the lip of a fairway bunker, with the ball below his feet, over 200 yards from the hole, with wind howling off the left and towering trees between him and the green. He took 3-iron, picked it off the sand and hit it inside 20 feet. Oh, yeah, and he made the putt for birdie.

Immediately after, announcers called it “one of the best shots” they had ever seen, and last year, Tiger confirmed to TaylorMade that it was his best ever, saying he’s “never felt contact that solid in his life.” Given all the remarkable shots that he’s hit over his career, that Tiger picked this one should be proof enough of how difficult it was, but if you needed any more confirmation, the USGA has us covered.

A day before the opening round of the U.S. Amateur, the USGA asked a few competitors to try and recreate the remarkable shot. Take a look to see how it went.

Woof. By our rough count, that’s seven shots into the lip, seven cleared the lip but judging by the tracers and reactions, none found the green. And these guys had it easier than Woods, with what seemed like much less wind, far fewer trees between them and the hole, and the assist of 22 years of club technology advancements.

Judging by these attempts—and fails—let’s consider any debate about Tiger’s best shot over.

The U.S. Amateur began Monday with a field of 312 players competing over two rounds of stroke play at Hazeltine and co-host Chaska Town Course. After Tuesday’s second round, the field will be cut to 64 and six rounds of match play will determine the national champion.

Woof. By our rough count, that’s seven shots into the lip, seven cleared the lip but judging by the tracers and reactions, none found the green. And these guys had it easier than Woods, with what seemed like much less wind, far fewer trees between them and the hole, and the assist of 22 years of club technology advancements.

Judging by these attempts—and fails—let’s consider any debate about Tiger’s best shot over.

The U.S. Amateur began Monday with a field of 312 players competing over two rounds of stroke play at Hazeltine and co-host Chaska Town Course. After Tuesday’s second round, the field will be cut to 64 and six rounds of match play will determine the national champion.

Amerykańska część sezonu na twardych kortach trwa, a kolejnym wydarzeniem jest Cincinnati Open, znaczący turniej ATP/WTA, w którym mecze głównej drabinki kobiet rozpoczną się we wtorek. Tegoroczna edycja wyróżnia się silnym składem zawodniczek WTA, w tym najwyżej rozstawioną mistrzynią French Open Igą Świątek oraz zwyciężczynią US Open Coco Gauff. Jednakże, kilka czołowych zawodniczek WTA wycofało się z turnieju, co spowodowało, że na ich miejsce weszło kilka zastępczych zawodniczek.

**Lista zawodniczek WTA, które wycofały się z Cincinnati Open:**

1. **Marketa Vondrousova:** Mistrzyni Wimbledonu 2023 należy do grona znacznych absencji. Vondrousova, która nie mogła wziąć udziału w niedawnych igrzyskach olimpijskich z powodu przewlekłego urazu ręki, jeszcze nie w pełni się wyleczyła. Ten uraz był poważnym problemem dla czeskiej zawodniczki, zwłaszcza że była srebrną medalistką poprzednich igrzysk w Tokio. Jej obecny stan zdrowia budzi wątpliwości co do jej udziału w nadchodzącym US Open.

2. **Ons Jabeur:** Trzykrotna finalistka wielkoszlemowa z Tunezji również wycofała się. Jabeur przegrała z Naomi Osaką 3-6, 1-6 w National Bank Open w zeszłym tygodniu, a jej występ wzbudził obawy dotyczące bólu ramienia, który spowodował jej wycofanie się z Citi DC Open tydzień wcześniej. Trwający problem z ramieniem mógł wpłynąć na jej decyzję o wycofaniu się z Cincinnati.

3. **Barbora Krejcikova:** Mistrzyni Wimbledonu z tego roku również zrezygnowała z udziału w Cincinnati Open. Krejcikova ostatni mecz rozegrała w ćwierćfinale igrzysk olimpijskich, przegrywając z Anną Karoliną Schmiedlovą. Po intensywnym harmonogramie, który obejmował zarówno Wimbledon, jak i igrzyska olimpijskie, Krejcikova postanowiła wziąć dłuższy urlop, aby się zregenerować.

4. **Danielle Collins:** Mistrzyni Miami Open wycofała się z powodu kontuzji odniesionej podczas ćwierćfinałowego meczu olimpijskiego przeciwko Idze Świątek. Rok 2024 to ostatni rok Collins przed emeryturą, więc kontuzja jest szczególnie przygnębiająca. Nie wyleczyła się jeszcze z urazu, a jej forma na US Open pozostaje niepewna.

5. **Maria Sakkari:** Kolejna czołowa zawodniczka, która wycofała się z Cincinnati Open, to Maria Sakkari. Nie podano szczegółowych powodów jej wycofania, ale jej nieobecność dopełnia listę znaczących zawodniczek, które nie wystąpią w turnieju.

6. **Sorana Cirstea:** Sorana Cirstea również nie weźmie udziału w turnieju. Jej wycofanie się przyczynia się do zmian w drabince.

7. **Caroline Garcia:** Caroline Garcia, kolejna znana zawodniczka, która nie weźmie udziału w Cincinnati Open, również się wycofała. Jej nieobecność wpływa na konkurencyjność turnieju.