Golf Asia - February 2018

40 GOLF ASIA

GOLFING

SCENE

“With regard to the anchoring ban on the PGA Tour Champions, it’s

appalling. I have never seen such gross disregard for the spirit of the game”

Brandel Chamblee ignites the Bernhard Langer anchoring debate. Langer’s response: “It’s human to be jealous”

J U L

After completing a three-stoke victory to become the second-youngest golfer to claim three legs of golf’s

grand slam, Open Champion Jordan Spieth looks at the leaderboard, turns to his caddie and jokes, “17

pars and a birdie would have been fine.” It would have, but it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as

memorable as the Texan’s tumultuous final round. “Today took as much out of me as any day that I’ve

ever played golf,” he later admits, after compiling a compelling 69 that included early wobbles, wayward

drives, a 3-iron from the practice range, monster putts and a run of four holes played in five-under par. “I

credit my caddie for getting me back on track,” he adds. Spieth’s sidekick isn’t the only bagman who

performs verbal heroics at Royal Birkdale. “You’re Rory McIlroy, what the f*** are you doing?” snaps JP

Fitzgerald when his boss falls to four-over. It works. Rory fights back to finish tied 4th, one stroke ahead of

South Africa’s Branden Grace, who made history by shooting a Saturday 62 – the first ever in a major.

Jon Rahm’s rise up the world rankings

gathers more pace, a six-shot victory in

the Irish Open propelling him to 8th in

the OWGR. Tommy Fleetwood wins

the French Open, his

second victory of the

season and, at this point,

only Dustin Johnson has

earned more OWGR points

since the start of the year.

Worryingly, several European Tour

pros claim that their clubs are

tampered with during the tournament.

Our guess is it’s the janitor. Kyle

Stanley wins his second PGA Tour title,

the Quicken Loans National,

five years after his first, and

struggles to keep it together during

the post-round interview. Danielle

Kang takes her first LPGA title, and

it’s a major no less, with the KPMG

PGA Championship. And Scott

McCarron beats fellow anchorer

Bernhard Langer by a stroke to win

the Senior Players Championship and

keep the debate over morals and

legality front of mind. Elsewhere,

female golfers are instructed that a

new dress code now outlaws ‘plunging

necklines’ and revealing skirts. And

Web.com Tour player Andrew Yun hits

a fan with his tee shot and then does

what professional golfers do: hands her

a signed glove to salve his conscience.

The only problem: Yun has run out of

(^14) gloves and so has to ask for it back.
Age of the
youngest
ever winner
on a major
tour.
Thailand’s
Atthaya
Thitkul won
on the
European
Tour to
beat Lydia
Ko’s record
by 17
months.
Age of the
youngest
ever winner
on a major
tour.
Thailand’s
Atthaya
Thitkul won
on the
European
Tour to
WINNERS
& LOSERS
SPIETH CLIMBS OPEN MOUNTAIN