The Times - UK (2022-06-13)

the times | Monday June 13 2022 2GM 55

Sport

Care has been superb for Harlequins

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latest questions facing golf ’s

LIV rebels before US Open

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celled because of the pandemic. Jona-

than Caldwell, of Northern Ireland,

won last year, with England’s Alice

Hewson the highest-finishing woman

in third, two shots back. Yesterday,

Grant was the only female player to fin-

ish in the top ten.

Grant’s victory sparked jubilant

scenes on the 18th green as she hugged

Pontus Samuelsson, her boyfriend and

caddie, as well as her mother, Maria. “It’s

huge,” she said. “Just playing at home

and having the crowds here, my family

by my side, boyfriend on the bag.”

Grant’s father, John, played on the

Swedish Golf Tour. Her grandfather,

James, was also a professional and from

Scotland, emigrating from Inverness to

Helsingborg. Before that, he won the

1968 Scottish Boys’ Championship at

North Berwick — the same course

where his granddaughter landed the

British Amateur Stroke Play Champi-

onship 49 years later.

has been outstanding and he is now in
contention to secure a place on
England’s tour to Australia.
Jones will confirm his
squad for the three-Test
series — starting on
July 2 — next Monday
when the Saracens
and Leicester Tigers
players will be in the
frame after the Gal-
lagher Premiership
final.
There are concerns
that Anthony Watson,
who suffered knee
ligament damage in October,
could miss the tour with a calf problem.
Care was one of six Harlequins
players added to the squad after
their Premiership semi-final defeat by

Care earns chance for Australia tour

COLORSPORT/SHUTTERSTOCK

Bennett’s jinking

run and pass led to

one of the greatest

tries ever scored in

the Barbarians win

over New Zealand

at Cardiff in 1973

Saracens on Saturday. Joe Marler was

not among them, raising questions

about whether he will sit out this tour, as

he did when England last went to Aus-

tralia in 2016. Joe Launchbury,

Alfie Barbeary and Paolo

Odogwu were among

those released from the

training squad.

Care has been de-

termined to return to

international rugby,

having missed out on

the 2019 World Cup.

He was stung by

Jones’s decision to pick

Willi Heinz as Ben

Youngs’s understudy; when

Heinz was injured, Ben Spencer

was called up as a replacement.

England are blessed with a genera-

tion of exciting scrum halves in Raffi

Quirke, Harry Randall, Alex Mitchell

and Jack van Poortvliet, but all are

rookies on the international stage.

Quirke is injured and if Youngs miss-

es the tour for family reasons, having

lost his sister-in-law, Tiffany, last week,

then the experienced Care could travel.

He would provide England with a Har-

lequins link between Alex Dombrandt,

the incumbent No 8, Marcus Smith, the

fly half, and Joe Marchant, the likely

outside centre.

England squad: Forwards J Blamire (Newcastle,

6 caps), C Chick (Newcastle, 2), W Collier

(Harlequins, 2), T Curry (Sale, 40), T Davison

(Newcastle, 2), A Dombrandt (Harlequins, 9),

C Ewels (Bath, 30), W Goodrick-Clarke (L Irish, 0),

J Hill (Exeter Chiefs, 12), T Hill (Worcester, 2),

S Jeffries (Bristol, 0), C Lawes (Northampton, 93),

L Ludlam (Northampton, 11), B Rodd (Sale, 2),

P Schickerling (Exeter, 0), J Singleton (Gloucester,

3), W Stuart (Bath, 20), S Underhill (Bath, 28),

J Walker (Harlequins, 0), J Willis (Wasps, 3)

Backs H Arundell (L Irish, 0), M Atkinson

(Gloucester, 1), O Bailey (Bath, 0), D Care

(Harlequins, 84), J Cokanasiga (Bath, 11),

F Dingwall (Northampton, 0), T Freeman

(Northampton, 0), O Hassell-Collins (L Irish, 0),

W Joseph (L Irish, 0), J Marchant (Harlequins, 12),

J May (Gloucester, 69), A Mitchell (Northampton,

1), J Nowell (Exeter, 39), A Radwan (Newcastle, 2),

H Randall (Bristol, 6), M Smith (Harlequins, 10)

ralia.

his

est

n

s

on,

knee

October,

h a calf problem.

tralia in 20

Alfie B

Odog

tho

tra

te

in

h

th

He

Jon

WWilli

YYYoungs

HHHeinz was i

was called up as a

continued from back

Flawless Grant makes

history by cruising to

victory against men

Golf

Linn Grant made history as the first

woman to win a DP World Tour event

after a brilliant final-round 64 left the

field trailing in her wake at the Scandi-

navian Mixed tournament.

The 22-year-old, who turned profes-

sional only last year, finished 24 under

par to win by nine shots at Halmstad

Golf Club in an event that comprises 78

men and 78 women, playing off differ-

ent tees. Marc Warren, of Scotland, and

Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, the Euro-

pean Ryder Cup captain, tied for a dis-

tant second place.

Grant began the week ranked No 156

in the world and has never finished

higher than 23rd in a major champion-

ship — the 2020 US Open — but hardly

put a foot wrong across four days in her

native Sweden with rounds of 66, 68, 66

and 64, which was blemish free: eight

birdies and not a single bogey.

“I just hope that people recognise

women’s golf, more sponsors go to the

LET [Ladies European Tour] and hope-

fully this pumps up the women’s game a

little bit more,” she said. Asked if she

particularly wanted to beat the men

this week, Grant said: “For sure — the

most important thing. It’s a nice feeling.

All week I just felt like it’s the girls

against the guys and whoever picks up

that trophy represents the field.”

The Scandinavian Mixed was for-

merly the Scandinavian Masters, a DP

World Tour (formerly European Tour)

event for men only. In 2020 it merged

with the LET to create the new format,

though the inaugural edition was can-

Grant celebrates her nine-shot win

Grant celebrates her victory with her boyfriend and caddie Pontus Samuelsson

McIlroy has dig at Norman

after sealing title with a 62

Rory McIlroy completed the perfect

preparation for this week’s US Open by

hitting a superb final-round 62 to retain

his RBC Canadian Open title.

The Northern Irishman, who started

the day in a share of the lead with Tony

Finau, hit ten birdies in his eight-under-

par round to finish two shots clear of the

American on 19 under.

Finau closed with a 64, as did Justin

Thomas, who was third on 15 under.

England’s Justin Rose briefly threaten-

ed the leaders on his way to a superb

final round of 60, eventually finishing

five shots off the pace.

McIlroy won this event three years

ago and had to wait to retain it after

consecutive Covid-enforced cancella-

tions, but he did so in fine style. In his

post-round interview, he alluded to

Greg Norman, chief executive of the

controversial LIV Golf Invitational Se-

ries and a 20-times winner on the PGA

Tour. “Twenty-first PGA Tour victory,”

McIlroy said. “One more than someone

else. That gave an extra incentive.”

The PGA Tour banned its members

who chose to play in the opening LIV

event last week and Jay Monahan, its

commissioner, said yesterday: “Those

players have chosen to sign multi-year

lucrative contracts to play in a series of

exhibition matches against the same

players over and over again. In protect-

ing our loyal members, we can’t allow

[LIV Golf] players to freeride off that.”