McIlroy’s three-under-par 67 propels him up leaderboard
‘I’ve just got to keep it going,’ says four-time major winner

There is precious little that could switch the discussion around golf from matters of Saudi Arabia, a rebel tour and the resulting grisly civil war. A Rory McIlroy success at this US Open is, however, among the topics that would trigger even a brief change of theme. So far, so good.

On day one at the Country Club there were flashes of McIlroy brilliance and flashes of McIlroy frustration. A three-under-par 67 was sufficient to tie the clubhouse lead before the afternoon wave took to the course. From that group, the Canadian Adam Hadwin emerged to sit at the leaderboard’s summit at minus four.

McIlroy smashed a bunker in anger at the 5th before saving par. He tossed his club away on the 9th (his 18th) after missing the green from the middle of the fairway. There was to be no salvation there: the closing bogey was McIlroy’s sole aberration of the round.

There is precious little that could switch the discussion around golf from matters of Saudi Arabia, a rebel tour and the resulting grisly civil war. A Rory McIlroy success at this US Open is, however, among the topics that would trigger even a brief change of theme. So far, so good.

On day one at the Country Club there were flashes of McIlroy brilliance and flashes of McIlroy frustration. A three-under-par 67 was sufficient to tie the clubhouse lead before the afternoon wave took to the course. From that group, the Canadian Adam Hadwin emerged to sit at the leaderboard’s summit at minus four.

McIlroy smashed a bunker in anger at the 5th before saving par. He tossed his club away on the 9th (his 18th) after missing the green from the middle of the fairway. There was to be no salvation there: the closing bogey was McIlroy’s sole aberration of the round.

“Some of these reactions that you saw out there today, whether it be hitting the sand on five or the club throw on nine, you just have to be so precise and so exact at this tournament maybe compared to some others that any little thing that doesn’t quite go right, you’re putting yourself behind the 8-ball,” McIlroy said. “The margins are just so fine in this tournament and I think you can see that out there with some of the reactions.”

On the 5th, McIlroy’s tee shot had stuck in horrible rough alongside a bunker. He had to stand in the sand trap, with his shot advancing just yards and into another one. And yet the outcome was a par four. McIlroy had kept his card clean in equally impressive style after finding dense grass at the par-three 2nd. Birdies arrived at the 16th, 18th, 7th and 8th.

“You feel like you’re right in the tournament from the start of the week, which is nice,” said the four-time major winner. “I’m going into tomorrow with the mindset of ‘Let’s keep it going’ rather than where is the cut line or whatever. If you don’t get off to a great start those thoughts start to creep in – ‘OK, what do I need to just be here for the weekend?’ It’s certainly a different mindset when you get off to a good start. I’ve just got to keep it going.”

The Northern Irishman had been irked at the pace of play by the group ahead, consisting of Scott Stallings, Davis Riley and Victor Perez. “The guys in front of us were playing so slow,” McIlroy said. “They were like a hole or hole and a half behind the group in front of them. So yeah, that was a little frustrating.” Locker room interactions between the parties may have been worth seeing.

Every McIlroy press conference is now laced with questions about his role as a staunch defender of the PGA Tour in the face of LIV Golf and its breakaway threat. There are already signs McIlroy is a little uncomfortable with being put on a pedestal. “It’s been eight years since I won a major and I just want to get my hands on one again,” he said in response to whether being the moral compass of his professional domain has intensified his desire to win.

“I’m just being me. I’m living my life. I’m doing what I think is right and trying to play the best golf that I possibly can. I wasn’t asked to be put here. I wasn’t trying to be in this position. I’m just being me.”

David Lingmerth, Joel Dahmen, MJ Daffue and Callum Tarren joined McIlroy on three under par. Tarren, who started this week as the world No 445, arrived in Massachusetts from Toronto on Saturday without his clubs. “There were five other players on my flight,” Tarren said. “They all got golf clubs. It is the second US Open I’ve played in and second time with no golf clubs.

“This time I got them a little bit faster than last. I didn’t actually get them until Wednesday in Pebble Beach a few years ago, so that was a nightmare. Luckily there was somebody in Canada who went to the airport and gave the airport staff a little kick, and they arrived on Sunday at 2pm. It wasn’t bad.”

Jon Rahm, the defending champion, opened strongly with a 69. Adam Scott matched that score while Aaron Wise, who was cracked on the head by a stray drive during last month’s US PGA Championship, may find himself with fonder memories of this major after posting a 68. Jordan Spieth, who struggled with a stomach bug on Wednesday, could fare no better than 72.

Phil Mickelson, who has been at the forefront of all things LIV, received no heckling on the opening tee. The applause, though, was subdued and short-lived; Mickelson took 78 first round shots.

Less than two weeks after saying it’d be a “risk” to leave the PGA Tour, Bryson DeChambeau is now a member of the rival LIV Golf circuit.

So, what happened?

“It was a business decision, first and foremost,” DeChambeau said Monday at the U.S. Open, his first public comments since LIV announced that he had joined the upstart league and planned to make his debut later this month at Pumpkin Ridge.

“That’s all there was to it. It’s given me a lot more opportunities outside of the game of golf and given me more time with my family and my future family. So for me, that was the decision.”

DeChambeau has long been linked to the Saudi-backed circuit, but after a wave of top players reiterated their commitment to the PGA Tour in February, DeChambeau fell in line, too. Last week at the Memorial he said he was planning to continue to play on the PGA Tour, against the best players in the world, telling reporters of a potential jump, “I personally don’t think that at this point in time I’m in a place in my career where I can risk things like that.”

LIV’s inaugural $25 million event was already underway outside London, and reports said that tournament officials significantly upped their offers to players. DeChambeau conceded Monday that the financial commitment – he was reportedly offered $100 million-plus to join – played a significant factor in his decision.

“There was a lot of financials to it and a lot of time,” he said. “I get to have a life outside of the game of golf as well.”

Part of DeChambeau’s future plans is a multisport complex (with a charter school attached) in Dallas, where he hopes to create a place for long drivers to hone their craft, with an eye on potentially hosting the World Long Drive Championship.

Of more immediate concern is what happens to DeChambeau’s playing opportunities. Seventeen former and current PGA Tour players were suspended last week after they competed in the LIV event without a conflicting-event release. Commissioner Jay Monahan said any future LIV players will receive the same punishment.

“It’s not my decision to make,” DeChambeau said. “That’s someone else’s decision that’s making that for me.”

DeChambeau, who intends to play the remainder of the eight-tournament LIV schedule, has not yet resigned his Tour membership and said that he’d like to continue playing in Tour events, specifically mentioning the Memorial and the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Though he was listed in the field for next week’s Travelers Championship, DeChambeau has pulled out of the event, saying that he didn’t want to be a distraction.

When asked why he still wanted to play on Tour despite being a member of the rival circuit, he said, “Because I want to play where people can see great entertainment. I want to deliver that anywhere I’m at.”

DeChambeau said he understood that his decision will be polarizing for golf fans, and he also recognized the controversial source of LIV funding through Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

“What’s gone on has not been great,” he said, “but they’re moving in the right decision from what I can see and what we’ve had conversations about.”

After making what he called a “very difficult” decision that he’s been grappling with for years, DeChambeau said that he believes that “a lot of good will eventually come out of this.”

“At the end of the day,” he said, “it was a business decision for my family’s future, and it gave me a lot of free time, so it cleared a lot of things up for me.”

Sweden’s Linn Grant became the DP World Tour’s first female winner with a nine-shot success in the Scandinavian Mixed.

The 22-year-old was two clear of Jason Scrivener overnight and cruised to an emphatic victory with a closing 64.

She left compatriot Henrik Stenson, the event’s co-host with Annika Sorenstam, and Scotland’s Marc Warren trailing in second and was 14 shots better than the next woman, England’s Gabriella Cowley.

The women played the Halmstad course at 5,929 yards and the men at 7,001 yards.

Grant was born just down the Swedish coast in Helsingborg, where her grandfather James Grant, also a professional golfer, emigrated to from Scotland.

“It’s huge having the crowds here and my family by my side,” she told Sky Sports. “It’s crazy.

“I’m just proud of myself and really happy. I just hope people recognise women’s golf, with more sponsors, and this pumps up the women’s game a little bit more.”

The event has been on the men’s European Tour, now known as the DP World Tour for sponsorships reasons, since 1991.

It became co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour in 2020 and rebranded the Scandinavian Mixed, with both male and female golfers competing, with Jonathan Caldwell winning the first edition in 2021.

Asked if she particularly wanted to beat the men in the field, Grant said: “For sure. It’s a nice feeling and the whole weekend it just felt like it was the girls against the guys and whoever picks up that trophy represents the field.”

Grant, who only turned professional late last year, came into the tournament ranked as the women’s world 156 and fired in 26 birdies and an eagle on the way to her sixth win this year.

Speaking about her boyfriend Pontus Samuelsson, a leading player on the US college circuit, who caddied for her, Grant added: “He’s been amazing, keeping me calm and doing everything right.”

Sorenstam, a 10-time women’s major winner, told Sky Sports: “What a performance. I’m so happy for Linn, running away from the field.

“This shows that we can play against each other in a fair competition. I hope people see the quality of women’s golf.”

The inaugural LIV Golf event is set to begin in London on Thursday, and player announcements and the ensuing controversies have been sucking up all the air in the golf world this week. Now two more big names are reportedly taking their talents to the Saudi-funded, Greg Norman-led golf league: Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed.

DeChambeau and Reed “will be announced imminently as the latest big-name players to sign up with the Saudi rebel circuit.”

DeChambeau’s agent confirmed Bryson’s involvement in a text to GOLF, writing, “Bryson has always been an innovator. Having the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of something unique has always been intriguing to him. Professional golf as we know it is changing and it’s happening quickly.”

Despite monthslong rumors linking his name to the upstart LIV series, DeChambeau denied his participation in LIV just five days ago at the Memorial Tournament.

“Me, there’s obviously a lot of conversation,” DeChambeau said. “For me, I personally don’t think that at this point in time I’m in a place in my career where I can risk things like that.”

What changed for Bryson in those few short days remains to be seen. His agent declined to provide any further comment.

The news comes on the heels of Phil Mickelson’s own announcement that he would play the LIV Golf event in London, and Dustin Johnson doing the same while also officially resigning from the PGA Tour, as Kevin Na did last week.

Mickelson faced reporters’ questions on Wednesday for the first time since leaving the public eye following his controversial comments about the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabian financial backers of LIV Golf. You can read all about the tense, awkward press conference here.

The field for this week’s London LIV event is set, so DeChambeau and Reed won’t be teeing it up right away. The next LIV Golf event — and the first in the United States — is scheduled for June 30 at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Portland, Ore.

Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson are welcome to play the U.S. Open next week under a USGA decision announced Tuesday that puts the open nature of the championship over a player’s decision to play in a Saudi-funded rival league.

Mickelson and Johnson are among a dozen players in the LIV Golf Invitational this week who are exempt for the U.S. Open on June 16-19 at The Country Club outside Boston. Both have said they plan to play the third major of the year.

Among other U.S. Open players who signed up for the new league are Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen and Kevin Na.

“Regarding players who may choose to play in London this week, we simply asked ourselves this question — should a player who had earned his way into the 2022 U.S. Open, via our published field criteria, be pulled out of the field as a result of his decision to play in another event? And we ultimately decided that they should not,” the USGA said.

That the U.S. Open chose not to deny entry was not surprising. The second-oldest championship in golf takes pride in the open nature of its 156-man field. None of the other four majors has criteria in place that forces roughly 50% of the field to go through 36-hole qualifying.

“It’s one of the things that separates our Open from everybody else. And if you don’t believe that, watch what happened yesterday,” Mike Whan, the CEO of the USGA, said in a telephone interview.

He was referring to 36-hole qualifiers for 49 spots that were held in eight American cities and one in Canada. Three others were held previously in Texas, Japan and England.

Criticism of the new league headed by Greg Norman starts with the primary source of funding, the sovereign wealth fund in Saudi Arabia, a country with an abysmal record on human rights, most notably the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

“I realize people have strong points of view and think perhaps there should be some morality clause,” Whan said. “As I said to our team last night, with more than 9,300 entrants for the U.S. Open, if we decide what’s on their sleeve or their bag or what tour they’re playing, what we think is OK and not OK, I’m not sure that circle ever stops.

“We don’t track personal beliefs and who funds them,” he said. “It doesn’t mean we don’t care.”

The USGA said in its statement that who plays next week at Brookline should not suggest the organization supports an alternative tour or the actions and comments of a player.

“Rather, it is simply a response to whether or not the USGA views playing in an alternative event, without the consent of their home tour, an offense that should disqualify them for the U.S. Open.”

Johnson earned a 10-year exemption from his 2016 U.S. Open victory. Mickelson has a five-year exemption from winning the PGA Championship last year. Others, such as Na and Talor Gooch, were among the top 60 in the world.

Johnson and Oosthuizen are among those who have resigned their PGA Tour memberships. Mickelson could face discipline from the Tour because it did not authorize releases to play the LIV Golf Invitational. Releases are required under PGA Tour regulations.

If players are suspended by the PGA Tour, it does not affect their standing in the U.S. Open, which is run exclusively by the USGA. Whan said that doesn’t change the relationship it has with the largest tour in the world.

“We value their position as the strongest and most influential tour in the world,” he said. “Look who gets in the U.S. Open. They (PGA Tour players) are the strongest representation and should be. This isn’t about the PGA Tour. We have no illusion how strong they are, and the field criteria reflects that.”

Whether criteria changes for the 2023 U.S. Open and beyond is to be determined. Whan said the U.S. Open exempt criteria is under constant review, and there is no telling what the LIV Golf Invitational series will look like next year or down the road.

“What this thing is now is different than it was four months ago and what it will be eight months from now,” Whan said. “It’s a bit of a moving target. It would be inconsistent of us to decide now what next year’s criteria looks like.”

The six-time major winner will be in the field of 48 at the controversial new tour’s inaugural event in London this week.

“I am ready to come back to play the game I love but after 32 years this new path is a fresh start,” Mickelson wrote in a statement posted on Twitter.

Mickelson later Monday told Sports Illustrated that he plans to play all eight LIV Golf events and compete in majors after talks with major sanctioning bodies.

“I’m looking forward to playing the US Open,” Mickelson told SI. “I’m under the understanding that I’m able to play.”

Mickelson told SI he will keep his US PGA Tour membership, unlike some who joined LIV Golf, but has not spoken with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan or long-time rival Tiger Woods.

“I’m uncertain how I will play given that I haven’t played in a few months,” Mickelson told SI. “But I’m optimistic.”

Mickelson has not played since the publication of comments in February where he criticized the PGA Tour and LIV Golf’s Saudi backers.

In an interview with author Alan Shipnuck, the 51-year-old American left-hander said the Saudi-funded LIV Golf was an opportunity to gain leverage over the PGA Tour.

However, Mickelson described the new venture’s backers as “scary” with a “horrible record on human rights,” noting the death of US journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a Saudi consulate.

“I certainly do not condone human rights violations. And addressing what happened to Jamal Khashoggi is awful,” Mickelson told SI on Monday.

“But I have seen the good that game of golf has done throughout history. And I really believe that LIV can be good for the game of golf as well.”

Mickelson, a 45-time winner on the PGA Tour, apologized when his original remarks were made public and took some “desperately needed time away” from golf, skipping the Masters and PGA Championship during his self-imposed exile.

“There’s a lot of things I regret,” Mickelson told SI. “I made a lot of mistakes. I hurt a lot of people and I’m really sorry.”

Mickelson said in his statement that he remains in therapy.

“Time away and self-reflecting has been very humbling,” Mickelson said. “I still have a long way to go but I am embracing the work ahead.”

During his absence, however, LIV Golf has torn at the fabric of world golf, with dozens of household names joining the new tour.

Last week, former world number one Dustin Johnson joined the money-spinning new series, whose tournaments will offer among the richest purses in golf history.

This week’s event teeing off at Centurion Club at St Albans, north of London, will have a $25 million purse – almost double that of any major, with $4 million going to the winner.

The Washington Post reported Monday that LIV Golf commissioner Greg Norman said 15-time major winner Woods turned down a “mind-blowingly enormous” LIV overture.

“We’re talking about high nine digits,” Norman said.

Woods said last month he supported the US PGA Tour, noting its legacy to such icons as Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.

Others going to LIV Golf include European Ryder Cup stars Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia.

Players opting into LIV Golf have done so despite PGA Tour warnings of disciplinary action.

Several PGA Tour golfers had requested releases to play this week’s LIV event, which clashes with the PGA’s Canadian Open, but were refused.

Mickelson denied he turned to LIV due to gambling debts, telling SI, “My family and I are, and have been, financially secure for some time.”

Mickelson said his gambling had become “reckless and embarrassing” and said he has addressed it for several years and in therapy.

“It isn’t a threat to me or my financial security,” he said. “It was just a number of poor decisions.”

Mickelson became the oldest major winner at age 50 by capturing the 2021 PGA Championship and in 2012 was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

“Phil Mickelson is unequivocally one of the greatest golfers of this generation,” Norman said. “We are grateful to have him.”

The world number four, who won the 2021 Evian Championship, hit a level-par 71 to finish on 13 under and win £1.44m.

American Mina Harigae closed with a 72 in tough scoring conditions which saw only two players card under-par scores.

England’s Bronte Law ended joint seventh – her first top 10 finish at a major – on four under after a 74.

“I can’t believe it right now,” said Lee, the first Australian to win the title since Karrie Webb in 2001.

“It’s just super, super special and just a great honour. It’s been my dream since I was a little girl. It’s the one that I always wanted to win on – now I’ve done it, and just feels amazing.”

Lee, 26, began the day three shots ahead and extended her lead by hitting birdies on the opening two holes.

South Korea’s Jeongeun Lee6, who won this title in 2019, hit the lowest round of the day, a two-under 69, but finished well back on five over.

Her compatriot Hye-Jin Choi carded the only other under-par round, a one-under 70, to end third on seven under, while Korea’s world number Jin Young Ko was a shot back in fourth after a 71.

Ireland’s Leona Maguire closed with a 74 and two-under total, while England’s Charley Hull also finished with a three-over round to end three over and Georgia Hall hit a 75 to finish six over.

Sweden’s Ingrid Lindblad, who in round one shot the lowest score by an amateur in the US Women’s Open with a six-under 65, ended joint 11th on one under after a 76 in the final round.

The Egyptian Ladies Amateur Golf Open, Nefratiti Cup 2022 concluded yesterday at El Gouna Golf Club Hurghada in which 10 countries participated including Canada, Jordan, Korea, Morocco, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Tunisia, UAE and Egypt. This was for the first time that Pakistan had been invited to participate in this very prestigious event.

It is a matter of great pride for Pakistan that Humna Amjad secured 2nd position after a ’battle royale’ with Sofia Essakali of Morocco spread over three days and 54 holes. Although Humna was the joint leader with Sofia, with a score of 71, at the end of the first day’s play, her game suffered due to high windy conditions on the second and third days, which was a totally unfamiliar experience for her, causing her to achieve scores of 77 and 78.

However, through sheer determination and application of her creditable golfing skills, Humna still managed to sink 8 birdies and 32 pars over the 54 hole Tournament, to end up as an honourable runner-up for the best golfer’s trophy.

It may be noted that this was the best result earned by a Pakistani lady golfer in an International Championship in recent years. Being the runner-up in this event, Humna qualifies for participating in the Ladies European Tour, Aramco Saudi International, in 2022, with all expenses to be paid by Golf Saudi, including airfare, boarding and lodging.

Parkha Ejaz, the other Pakistani Lady Golfer, also put in her best and achieved scores of 76 and 75 on the first two days. However, her game suffered considerably due to the strong windy conditions on the third day taking her score to 82. Yet, she still managed to achieve 5th position in a field of 17 participants. Incidentally she had the singular honour of scoring the only Eagle in the Championship.

A word of praise is also due for the exceptional role played by Mrs. Amber Javed, the Manager of the Pakistan team. She never left the side of her players and was a great source of encouragement for them.

It merits special mention that Ladies Golf in Pakistan has had a meteoric rise ever since Gen Hillal’s assumption of the Presidentship of the Pakistan Golf Federation (PGF) in 2017. Right at the outset, he took the strategic decision to establish the ‘Committee for Development of Ladies/Girls Golf,’ comprising all the lady members of the Executive Committee of the PGF. This gave the Women a platform for developing Ladies Golf according to their own vision and requirements. This was a real ‘Game Changer’ from which the Lady Golfers of Pakistan have benefitted no end.

Significantly, this Committee, working under the dynamic leadership of Dr Asma Afzal Shami, prevailed upon the PGF and its affiliated Provincial Golf Associations to institutionalize 12 exclusive, ladies only, golfing events on the PGF’s Annual Golf Calendar. This unprecedented increase in Ladies’ Golf Tournaments has improved the standard of women’s golf in Pakistan beyond all expectations. And its physical manifestation has been seen today in Humna’s achievement in the just concluded Egyptian Ladies Golf Open Nefratiti Cup 2022.

Another aspect that needs to be highlighted is the role played by the networking between Dr Asma Shami, Chairperson Ladies Golf PGF and her counterpart, Mrs Siham Omar, Executive Manager Egyptian Golf Federation, in facilitating and ensuring the participation of Pakistan in this prestigious event. Incidentally, when Pakistan’s participation became doubtful due to delay in provision of visa by the host country, these two ladies, with the blessings of the Presidents of their respective Golf Federations, stepped in to ensure that the visas arrived just in the nick of time.

Justin Thomas said Sunday evening that he felt on top of the golf world after winning the PGA Championship. Officially, he’s ranked No. 5.

Thomas jumped four spots, back into the top 5 of the latest Official World Golf Ranking, thanks to his second major triumph. Scottie Scheffler, who missed the cut last week, retained the No. 1 spot, with Jon Rahm (T-48) second.

Will Zalatoris, who lost to Thomas in a three-hole aggregate playoff at Southern Hills, vaulted 16 spots to No. 14. Cameron Young and Mito Pereira tied for third place. Young went from 38th to 30th, with Pereira going from 100th to 49th.

It’s a career best for all three players. The same can be said for Cameron Smith, who tied for 13th and move to third in the world, as well as Matthew Fitzpatrick, who tied for fifth at went to 15th in the OWGR.

The top 60 players from the world rankings as of Monday qualified for the U.S. Open, June 16-19 at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. Richard Bland, at No. 60, was among those 27 players who weren’t otherwise qualified. He showcased his enthusiasm on Twitter.

The 49-year-old Englishman was the surprise 36-hole co-leader last year at Torrey Pines before tying for 46th.