A round-up of today's news from the British Open
No winners in Lyle v Monty
WHOEVER YOU side with in the ongoing “Jakartagate” saga involving Sandy Lyle and Colin Montgomerie, one thing’s for certain, there are no winners. Lyle is like a dog with a bone, he just won’t let go, and you get the impression Monty is constantly looking over his shoulder at the irritating terrier still nipping at his heels.
Following on from Lyle’s “drama queen” remarks Monty was asked yesterday if he was distracted by the comments made by Lyle. “Very much so, yes,” was the European Ryder Cup captain’s terse response after shooting 74.
“I thought it was rather amusing when he said he hopes it doesn’t jeopardise his vice-captaincy. I thought that was very, very funny.”
Poor old Poulter packs his bags
POOR IAN Poulter, he’s been in for some flak from these quarters in recent days and after a miserable time at Turnberry we can only feel something close to sympathy for the outspoken Englishman.
“I hit my last good shot on the third yesterday (Thursday). Seriously, there were no decent golf shots out there,” opined Poulter, who was runner-up to Pádraig Harrington at Birkdale last year but shot 75, 79 this time around.
“If you’re going to play as badly as I played for two days it doesn’t matter what golf course you’re playing. It could have been the easiest municipal down the road and I would have missed the cut. It was horrible.”
Poulter, who immediately headed south along the M6 home, had more to get off his chest before departing.
“It’s just very disappointing. I’m going out there trying to win the tournament and I don’t find the middle of the club face for two days. I was playing great golf coming into the week, feeling good and loving the golf course. I could have had a set of spades in the bag this week and I still wouldn’t have found the middle of the greens.
“You can only but laugh,” concluded Poulter, who appears to be off home with a spot of gardening in mind.
McIlroy and Kim get the giggles
IT SEEMS the young guns know how to have a laugh, even when there is a serious matter of a major championship to play for. Not only do Rory McIlroy and American Anthony Kim respect each other’s games, the latter had to take time out for a fit of giggling during yesterday’s round.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of respect there, I respect his game, he’s a fantastic player and it’s nice to have fun out there on the course,” said McIlroy. “We take it seriously but still like to have a laugh and a joke.
“We were all in stitches laughing at the eighth hole, it was hilarious. Anthony said something to his caddy about knowing what time it is then Eric (his caddy) said something smart. I don’t know exactly what it was but it left Anthony in fits for five, 10 minutes – he couldn’t hit his putt (for laughing).”
Daly’s duds dazzle daily
JOHN DALY definitely wins top prize for the most outlandish slacks on show yesterday. The BBC’s on- course radio commentators struggled to find enough colours to describe Daly’s latest apparel. “Daly’s trousers are a form of green, red, black, orange, yellow, brown . . . and surely only he could get away with them,” was the offering across the airwaves.
On Thursday Daly’s girlfriend had on a matching skirt.
The clothing hasn’t put the two-time major winner or his playing partner, Paul McGinley, off their games for the American was well-placed on level par after shooting 68, 72, while the Dubliner also made the cut with a pair of 71s.
Yesterday’s attendance figures took a jump compared to Thursday’s somewhat disappointing numbers. Yesterday’s official figures were 28,000 compared to 23,500 on Thursday, but both days were up compared to 1994 when the British Open was last staged at Turnberry.
