Open Golf Championship

This Week in Golf -- June 30th through July 3rd

Aronimink proved to be a stern test last year as just tournament winner Justin Rose reached 10-under par for the week. Rose closed with an even-par 70 to hold off a hard-charging Ryan Moore by a single stroke.</p><p>Rose, who was coming off a win at the Memorial, won for the second time in a five-week span. Those two titles stand as Rose's only two on the PGA Tour.</p><p>The Englishman's second-round 64 was the low round of the week and is the competitive course record at Aronimink.</p><p>With most of the field never having played Aronimink prior to the tournament, they had to battle the par threes on the Donald Ross course. Three of the par threes -- the eighth, 17th and 14th -- ranked as the first, third and fourth hardest holes for the week.</p><p>Tiger Woods failed to break par in any of the four rounds and tied for 46th at plus-four. He will not compete this week as he continues to recover from knee and Achilles injuries suffered at the Masters.</p><p>Woods does return as tournament host this week and will be on site as the event benefits his foundation.</p><p>Nick Watney will be the highest-ranked player in the field at world No. 15. Four of the top 10 players from the current FedExCup standings are in the field as are former major champions Geoff Ogilvy, Mike Weir, Trevor Immelman, Lucas Glover, Jim Furyk and Ernie Els.</p><p>Furyk will garner some of the local support as he was born in nearby West Chester, Penn., while Immelman returns to the course at which he lost the 1997 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship.</p><p>Five other players that competed at that U.S. Junior and are in the field this week -- Glover, Steve Marino, Adam Scott, Hunter Mahan and Aronimink member Sean O'Hair.</p><p>Also in the field this week are amateurs Patrick Cantlay and Peter Uihlein. Cantlay was the second-round leader at the Travelers Championship last weekend.</p><p>Erik Compton, a two-time heart transplant recipient, will also tee it up this week. He earned his first win at a PGA Tour sanctioned event last weekend when he won the Nationwide Tour's Mexico Open.</p><p>Golf Channel has the first two rounds, before CBS takes over on the weekend.</p><p>Next week is the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run, where Steve Stricker won for the second straight last year.</p><p>EUROPEAN TOUR</p><p>ALSTOM OPEN DE FRANCE, Le Golf National, Paris, France - The European Tour returns to France this week, and the field will be much stronger this time around.</p><p>Two weeks ago, the tour was in France for the Saint-Omer Open, which was played opposite the U.S. Open.</p><p>Several players that competed at Congressional will be at Le Golf National this week hoping to take the title from Miguel Angel Jimenez.</p><p>The Spaniard parred the first extra hole last year to defeat Francesco Molinari and Alejandro Canizares. World No. 4 and 2009 champion Martin Kaymer was the third-round leader last year, but closed with a 73 to end in a tie for sixth.</p><p>Of the previous four, only Canizares did not play in the U.S. Open. All four are in the field this week, as are Bubba Watson and Alvaro Quiros as well as Italians Edoardo Molinari and Matteo Manassero.</p><p>Jimenez and Kaymer are among eight of the last 10 winners that are playing this week, while Thomas Levet and Jean Van de Velde headline the French contingent.</p><p>Golf Channel will have coverage of all four rounds.</p><p>The tour heads to Scotland next week for the Barclays Scottish Open, where Edoardo Molinari earned his first European Tour title last year.</p><p>CHAMPIONS TOUR</p><p>MONTREAL CHAMPIONSHIP, Club de Golf Fontainebleau, Montreal, Quebec - The Champions Tour is North of the Border this week for the Montreal Championship.</p><p>Larry Mize, the 1987 Masters champion, closed with an eight-under 64 last year to earn a one-stroke win over John Cook. The victory was the first on the senior circuit for Mize.</p><p>Mize has yet to follow up that victory with another. He has just six top-10 finishes since and one was at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, where he paired with Hal Sutton to tie for eighth.</p><p>Eight of the 11 players that have won this season are in the field this week, including three-time winner Tom Lehman and two-time victor John Cook.</p><p>Golf Channel will cover the action all three days.</p><p>The tour heads to California next week for The First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, where Ted Schulz won by a stroke over Tom Pernice, Jr. last year.</p><p>CANADIAN TOUR</p><p>ATB FINANCIAL CLASSIC, Bearspaw Country Club, Calgary, Alberta - The Canadian Tour remains in Alberta this week for the ATB Financial Classic.</p><p>After opening with an even-par 71 at Edmonton Country Club, Dustin Risdon went 17-under par over the final three rounds to cruise to a four-shot win last year.</p><p>The win for Risdon was his third on the Canadian Tour. In three starts this year, he has two top-three finishes and a tie for 20th. Risdon is fifth on the money list and the top four ahead of him will all be at Bearspaw Country Club, which will serve as the host course this year.</p><p>Also in the field will be Isabelle Beisiegel, who earned tour status by sharing ninth place at the Spring Qualifying School. In doing so, she became the first woman to successfully earn status on a men's professional golf tour via qualifying school.</p><p>There is no television coverage.</p><p>The tour shifts to Saskatchewan next week for the Dakota Dunes Casino Open, where Will Wilcox was a one-stroke winner last year.

Rail travellers to Open Golf benefit from Olympics 'connectivity ...

Golf fans visiting Kent for The Open Championship are set to enjoy super-fast travel courtesy of the same rail network in place for the next year’s Olympic Games.

Tourists from all over the country, including London, will enjoy even quicker journey times to the ‘Garden of England’ thanks to HS1, the high-speed line that serves the Kent coast and which will also ferry passengers to the Olympic Park in 2012.

The hi-tech rail infrastructure is also set to carry an ‘Open Special’, operated by Southeastern, to take golf fans directly to the picturesque seaside town of Sandwich, location for the Open Championship at Royal St George’s Golf Club from July 14-17, 2011.

The journey from St Pancras International in central London on HS1 will take just 80 minutes – slashing previous journey times by 55 minutes – leaving just a short walk from Sandwich station to the Open venue.

Thanks to these high-speed rail services, the Channel Tunnel rail link to Continental Europe and recent improvements to key roads, such as the M2 and M20 motorways, tens of thousands of tourists from both the UK and Europe are expected to enjoy golf breaks in Kent in the months both before and after the Open – and which are available through www.visitkent.co.uk , the county’s official tourism website.

Golf enthusiasts can choose from more than 100 magnificent courses – including the illustrious ‘Regal Golf Coast’ venues of Royal St George’s, Prince’s, Royal Cinque Ports, Littlestone and North Foreland clubs as well as the highly ranked London Golf Club and Chart Hills – and explore Kent’s many historic and maritime attractions before relaxing over some quality Kentish fare.

Royal St George’s is the only Open Championship venue in the south-east of England and the closest to London, and this year’s tournament in Kent is expected to attract record crowds likely to top 200,000.

For The Open, Southeastern will operate daily, half-hourly services from St Pancras International – including connections from the new Olympic Park at Stratford, Ebbsfleet, Ashford and Canterbury – during the four days of the event, with 50,000 golf fans expected use the service. Adult return fares cost £38.20.

It is anticipated the return of the Open Championship to Kent after an eight-year break – following Ben Curtis’ triumph in 2003 – could boost the county’s economy by more than £70 million.

Sandra Matthews-Marsh, Chief Executive of Visit Kent, said: “We are pleased visitors to Kent, to either watch the Open Championship or simply enjoy a golf break, will be able to reach their destinations in super-quick time and benefit from the same advanced rail network infrastructure in place for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Jet

The U.S. Open golf championship

Men's Major Golf Championship Introduction, 2010 Open Championship, 1999 U.S. Open Golf Championship, 2002 Open Championship

Pratiyogita Darpan

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