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The greatest 36 holes of links golf in the world’: Trump International lands Colin Montgomerie’s seal of approval
By Paul Third - The Press & Journal
Scottish golfing great believes new course, which will host the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship in August, has put the Aberdeenshire venue in a class of its own.
Colin Montgomerie believes Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire has become the greatest 36 holes of links golf in the world.
A new challenge awaits the field of this year’s Staysure PGA Seniors Championship, which was won by Bo Van Pelt last year, when it returns to the north-east in August.
Montgomerie will once again serve as tournament host for the event, which will move from the old course to the new course at the Aberdeenshire venue for the first time from August 6-9, and he believes the test which lies ahead is unlike anything else in the world.
He said: “It’s called the greatest 36, and it probably is the greatest 36 holes of links golf in the world.
“Sunningdale has an old and new course but that’s not links courses. We’re talking links courses here. There isn’t anything else like this.
David Adams, managing director of Staysure Legends Tour, Sarah Malone, executive vice president, Trump International Scotland, and Colin Montgomerie at the new course on Thursday. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson
“There are great links style courses such as Cypress Point and Pebble Beach but they are not 36 holes.
“There’s not 36 holes of this quality anywhere and I’m not saying that because we’re sitting here, I’m saying that because it’s true.
“It really is incredible and I’m very humbled to be asked to be tournament host again.
“To have your name attached to something of this quality is unique and I’m very privileged to be hosting again.”
Homework will be key for the players
Montgomerie insists the buzz of facing a new challenge on the new course is already building ahead of the event and having viewed the course for the first time on Thursday the Scot believes homework is going to prove crucial in the tournament.
He said: “It’s going to be a huge challenge for us at the Legends Tour to come here.
“It will be good to put the new course on the map and to have this for us, I think, is superb.
“The lads are going to be thrilled to have a new challenge after three years on the old course.
Colin Montgomerie visited the new course at Trump International for the first time on Thursday. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson
“Homework is going to be so important. On these greens, there’s a lot of movement but even with the shorter shots there is going to be a lot of strategy involved.
“That means there’s going to be lot we’ll have to work out.
“There’ll be a lot of people coming here earlier than normal for practice rounds and to figure out where not to go more than where to go and for me that is going to make this year’s event very interesting.”
Legends Tour is growing stronger every year
Montgomerie anticipates a stellar field pitching up at the course near Balmedie for the event and with more players becoming eligible to join the Legends Tour in the near future he believes the tour as a whole is only going to grow stronger.
He said: “We’ve got (the Senior Open at) Gleneagles then we’ve got (the) Portugal Invitational before this event and I’m hoping a few of the guys that are playing in both of them stay on for the extra one here as well.
“The field gets stronger and stronger every year. There are more Ryder Cup players, ex-Ryder Cup players like Jamie Donaldson and Stephen Gallacher.
“Potentially we’ve got Henrik Stenson too and with the likes of Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell and Luke Donald all coming through it’s only going to get stronger.
“I think it’s fabulous; the more the merrier.”
Montgomerie urges MacIntyre to be patient
Montgomerie was at Trump International on Thursday, the same day the second major of the year, the US PGA Championship, got under way.
Oban’s Robert MacIntyre is flying the flag for Scotland at Aronimink in Pennsylvania as he chases his first major victory.
The Scot tied for second in the US Open last year but cut a frustrated figure at the Masters last month where he was reprimanded following on-course outbursts during his first round.
Montgomerie, regarded as one of the best players to never win a major, understands the frustration but has urged his countryman to be patient and enjoy the chase.
Monty, who has won three senior majors, said: “If I was to give him any advice it’s not to try too hard.
“I think after the success of the US Open, which was a real success to finish runner-up and one putt from going into a play-off, he’s putting pressure on himself.
“If he just relaxes and tries to be more patient and let his talent shine through, there will be more opportunities to win these major events.
“It’s not easy. In my prime I suppose there were 15 guys who could win a major before Tiger Woods came along. Then there were one or two and he was normally both them.
“Now you’ve got maybe 30 who can win it and Bob is one of them which is great, but he’s got another 29 guys to beat.
“It’s not easy. You’ve got Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy who are so good and then you’ve got these young guys coming through as well.
“It’s not a given that he’s going to win a major. I’d love him to, obviously. But I think if he’s more patient and lets it happen, and lets the talent shine through, and not force it, I think he’s got more opportunity.”
Tickets for the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship at Trump International Golf Links are on sale now. Opportunities to play alongside the legends at the event are also availabe at: https://tickets.legendstour.com
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Wolverhampton's Aaron Rai has Major Success
It feels fitting that an underdog who uses what some consider unorthodox methods was last man standing at a slugfest of a US PGA Championship held in Rocky Balboa's backyard.While Aaron Rai waited for his arm to be held aloft in Philadelphia as a first-time major champion, the 31-year-old Englishman could hear Eye of the Tiger - the unmistakable theme tune written for Rocky III - playing in the background as he received congratulations in the Aronimink clubhouse.Rai doesn't punch hanging slabs of meat with his bare knuckles while training like the iconic boxing character.He is rarely bare knuckled on the golf course. Unusually, Rai wears two gloves instead of the one which virtually everyone else across the world - professional and amateurs alike - wears for enhanced grip."I just happened to be given two gloves and I got into the habit of wearing them," Rai said of his early forays into the game."Then, a few weeks down the line my dad forgot to put the two gloves in the bag, so I had to play with one. It was terrible."I couldn't play - I couldn't feel the grip - so I've always stuck with the two gloves ever since."The quirky look is only one part of what makes Rai's fascinating journey from Wolverhampton to the summit of the golfing world different.In fact, it was only by accident - and literally because of one - that Rai took up golf at all.Playing with his older brother's hockey sticks as a toddler ended in Rai copping a nasty bruise on his head, leading to mother Dalvir heading to the shops for plastic versions which she thought would be safer.Instead, she came back with plastic golf clubs - and changed the course of her son's life.Rai harboured hopes of becoming a Formula 1 driver as a youngster, but it was an idea which was quickly overtaken."I used to love watching [seven-time world champion] Michael Schumacher, and it ran so deep that in junior golf competitions I wore Ferrari T-shirts and jumpers," Rai told BBC Sport in 2018."That was my thing even from a young age. But since eight or nine, it became very quickly just about golf."Rai's ability became apparent as soon as he started regularly going to the 3 Hammers Golf Complex in Wolverhampton at the age of four.Footage exists of a five-year-old Rai demonstrating his prodigious talent to local BBC television reporters after winning his first tournament.Missing the cuts in his first two majors were experiences from which he learned and, after never finishing in the top 10 at one of the sport's four biggest tournaments, Rai's hard graft has paid off spectacularly."You won't find one person on the property who's not happy for him," said six-time major champion Rory McIlroy.Two-time major champion Xander Schaffeule said: "Rarely do you feel like people work way harder than you."I've played a pretty good amount of time and Aaron is always there. He's always in the gym. He's always on the range."That's what it's about to be a major champion. You put the work in when nobody's looking."Rai has finally been rewarded after a patient and precise performance at an attritional Aronimink.Like the rest of the field, he had to take some punches from a course set-up which wanted to inflict pain with its devilish pins, severely sloping greens and thick rough.But Rai proved, as Rocky famously said, it ain't about how hard you hit - it's about how hard you get hit and can keep moving forward.
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Stephen Gallacher excited to be going full circle at Gleneagles when he tees up in Senior Open
By Martin Dempster - The Scotsman
2014 Ryder Cup team-mates set for reunion in over-50s’ Claret Jug event in Perthshire in July
Talk about going full circle. Initially as a spectator at the Bell’s Scottish Open before playing in the 1993 event as an amateur, Stephen Gallacher got his first introduction to tournament golf on the King’s Course at Gleneagles and now he’s licking his lips about being back there later this year on senior service.
“It’s kind of a weird one for me, but I’m looking forward to it,” he admitted of the first of what ended up as a whopping 664 DP World Tour appearances coming on the most iconic of the three courses at the Perthshire venues and returning there 33 years later as a Staysure Legends Tour card holder to play in the ISPS Handa Senior Open on 22-26 July.
Add in the fact that he played in a winning Ryder Cup team at Gleneagles in 2014 - it was held on the PGA Centenary Course rather than the King’s Course - and is now an ambassador for the five-star resort, it’s understandable that Gallacher is excited about what will be a second appearance in the over-50s’ Claret Jug joust.
“There’s a uniqueness about this place and there’s going to be a great field,” said the 51-year-old. “I can’t wait for it to come around and it’s one I am going to be practising so hard for. I’ll be up here once a week just to try and familiarise myself with the course.”
Gallacher played it for the first time in 20 years on Monday before enjoying his first stay in the hotel since being part of Paul McGinley’s triumphant team in the Ryder Cup 12 years ago. “It’s just a classic course that has stood the test of time,” observed the Bathgate man. “It looks wide open and the greens look huge. But the greens are slopey and you can tuck the pins away. It’s a great track and a brilliant test. All the players love playing here and that’s why the field is going to be so great.”
Darren Clarke, who won the event’s first staging at Gleneagles in 2022, will be back to try and emulate that feat while others already confirmed include 2025 champion Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els, both two-time Open winners. Harrington not only made the cut in the 108th PGA Championship last week at the age of 54 but finished joint-18th behind Aaron Rai at Aronimink.
“Padraig is amazing, isn’t he?” said Gallacher. “You just watch him last week in the PGA, finishing in the top 20 after chipping in twice in the last three holes. He’s just infectious. I see him on the Champions Tour and the Legends Tour and he’s looking forward to coming back here.
“I was talking to him about his strategy here, including playing down the Queen’s Course on the last. He’s just bonkers Padraig, really. There’s not one thing he’s not tried. He’s tried everything to try and get that extra one per cent.
“He’s so open as well. He talked about being aggressive on certain holes here and others where he wasn’t aggressive. You’ve got to learn from these guys. I look up to Padraig. I talk to him a lot.
“I played Walker Cup with him in 1995 and I try to pick his brains. At senior level, he’s the one you’ve got to try and beat because he hits it like a youngster and tries so hard. He’s the benchmark, if you beat him, you know you’ve done alright.”
Stephen Gallacher speaks to reporters at a media day for the ISPS Handa Senior Open, which is being held at Gleneagles for a second time this summer | Kenny Smith/ISPS Handa Senior Open
In the 1993 Bell’s Scottish Open, Swede Jesper Parnevik was the player who claimed the coveted crown after coming out on top against the likes of Seve Ballesteros, Sandy Lyle, Ian Woosnam, Vijay Singh, Colin Montgomerie and Payne Stewart.
“It was a tournament I always came up to with my family as my introduction to tournament golf was watching my uncle Bernard at the Bell’s Scottish Open,” recalled Gallacher, who is being joined in July by Jamie Donaldson, who clinched Europe’s victory in the 2014 Ryder Cup after hitting a majestic approach at the par-4 15th in his singles match against Keegan Bradley. “I remember Sam Torrance coming to Bathgate and shooting 58 before coming up to play in the Bell’s Scottish Open.
“I’d won the Scottish Amateur in 1992 and that got me into the Scottish Open the following year. I played with Alberto Binaghi and a big Swiss guy. I couldn’t believe being on the range with Seve, Woosnam, Sam Torrance, Vijay Singh - guys I’d only read about at that point in Golf Monthly and that would have been about it. To see them close up and end up playing with them was fantastic.
“Back then I was a proper amateur whereas the kids nowadays are so much better-equipped to play tournament golf. I was so nervous. Basically, I was too young. I was still playing for the Bathgate team on a Friday night. I had to miss my team match to play in the Bell’s Scottish Open.
“I’m sure Tony Jacklin played that year and guys like Peter Oosterhuis as well. I ended up playing in 664 events and that was the first one. So to come back and play my first Senior Open here as well is a bit special.”
Gallacher, who finished joint-12th on his Senior Open debut at Sunningdale last summer, came close to landing a maiden over-50s’ win earlier this year on the Staysure Legends Tour at La Manga, where he was pipped by a brilliant finish from Donaldson.
Like lots of others before him, the Bathgate man has found a new lease of life at the end of a long career on the regular tour. “Both JD [Donaldson] and I played on the DP World Tour right up until we were 50 and golf has changed,” said Gallacher. “Tiger [Woods] changed it for me and now the young team hit it so far, meaning it is just tough to compete.
“You got into a tournament now and get yourself into contention and feel you have a chance of winning again. We are now the youngsters and can hopefully take advantage of the first five or six years out here.
“Just to be in contention and have a chance of winning again is what got us into the sport. It has rejuvenated us a little bit. We still work as hard and that is the beauty of this game. You can still compete and still win. Look at Bernard Langer, who is 68.
“I played in a tournament a fortnight ago and he is first in the gym. [Miguel Angel] Jimenez is 63 and he’s in the gym and also hits more balls than he used to. Monty is back really well, too. Golf is such a great sport and we are almost starting to love it again where it was a bit of a bind the last five years. The love and enthusiasm comes back and that’s what makes you happy.”
Langer, a record four-time Senior Open winner, is still going strong at 68,” replied Gallacher, smiling, after being asked if he felt he still had another 17 years or so in the tank. “That’s golf, isn’t it. It has to be the best sport. We are talking about welcoming the likes of Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington Vijay Singh and Monty here later this year and hopefully Tiger one day as well.
“It’s just brilliant to be competing with them again because they are still competitive and that’s the bit myself and JD probably couldn’t believe - how they are still competitive, how much they practice, how well they putt. It’s not just a case of turning up on the Senior Tour and it’s easy to win. You’ve still got to put in hard yards, but, when you get your love for the game back, you don’t mind that. The body is the hard bit. So just keep taking Advil, paracetamol and other potions (laughing).”
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'No better feeling' - Matt Fitzpatrick spurred on by Ryder Cup-style chanting
By Martin Dempster - The Scotsman
In-form Englishman up to third in world after landing RBC Heritage for a second time
In-form Matt Fitzpatrick said he was “spurred on” by Ryder Cup-style chanting in beating Scottie Scheffler to land a second PGA Tour win in three starts.
Fitzpatrick became a two-time RBC Heritage winner after making a birdie at the first extra hole in play-off with world No 1 Scheffler at Harbour Town Golf Links in South Carolina.
The Signature Event win came hot on the heels of Fitzpatrick also landing the Valspar Championship while, in between, the Sheffield man finished in the top 20 in the Masters.
Having also finished second in the Players Championship last month, the hot run of form has lifted Fitzpatrick to third in the Official World Golf Ranking behind Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.
As was the case in the Players Championship, fans chanted “USA, USA” as Fitzpatrick found himself battling it out with an American player and, on this occasion, it was the man at the top of the global rankings.
Asked if it had got out of line at any point, Fitzpatrick insisted it hadn’t. “No, it didn't get out of line in terms of no one was shouting on backswings or anything like that, which was great,” he said.
“I'm all for it. I love the people - they're supporting Scottie; that's great. You want golf to have an atmosphere in my opinion. I grew up watching football. I'm paid so much money to be out there in front of those crowds, having them chanting at you every week, it's a great feeling.
“However, there's no better feeling than coming out on top against that. There isn't a better feeling. To describe it in my terms, it's kind of winning away against your biggest rival.
‘It was loud but never crossed the line’
“Nothing to do with Scottie or the players; it's the fans that have sort of spurred me on there. It was nice to obviously win, but it never crossed the line. It was just loud.”
Fitzpatrick, who was sitting 79th in the world rankings this time last year, was asked if he felt as though he was the best golfer in the world right now.
“No, I don't,” he declared. “I feel like I can still improve. There's areas that I want to get better at. I feel like I'm playing very well right now and definitely high confidence for sure.
“The ball is obviously going where I intend it to go. It felt like my putter had let me down a little bit at Augusta. I didn't putt anything like I know I can. You never know what would have happened. This week, the first two rounds, even Saturday, putted fantastic, made everything I looked at. I just really felt comfortable.
Matt Fitzpatrick and Scottie Scheffler fought out a thrilling last-round duel before being involved in a sudden-death play-off in the PGA Tour’s latest Signature Event | Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
“I know there's still areas that I want to improve on. I know it's cliche, but I know there's things that can still improve in certain areas. So that's obviously exciting, given the results I've achieved so far and what's to come.”
On this sort of form, Fitzpatrick is a certainty for another Ryder Cup appearance at Adare Manor in Ireland next September and he’s braced for more “USA, USA” chants at PGA Tour events between now and then.
Insisting he’s happy for that to be the case, the former US Open champion said: “Americans are incredibly patriotic, and I think that was amazing. I guess the only issue is they just have shorter memories because we won in October (smiling).”
After a closing 73 - his worst round of the week - Bob MacIntyre finished joint-42nd in South Carolina and is now heading home for a break after playing three weeks in a row.
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New European Tour Group role for 'loyal' Colin Montgomerie
By Martin Dempster - The Scotsman
Scot joins board of directors and will sit alongside the likes of Martin Gilbert and Jay Monahan
Eight-time Race to Dubai winner and Ryder Cup legend Colin Montgomerie has joined the board of the European Tour Group, which administers the DP World Tour, the HotelPlanner Tour, the Staysure Legends Tour and Ryder Cup in Europe.
The 62-year-old has been appointed on the back of being “one of the most successful and influential players of his generation” and is set to “bring immense experience of all aspects of the Tour and the game of golf to the boardroom”.
Montgomerie, who won 31 times on what was known as the European Tour at the time before being rebranded as the DP World Tour, is delighted to have joined a board that is headed by Eric Nicoli as the chairman and also includes Abdulla Al Naboodah, Penny Avis, Martha Brass, Martin Gilbert and Jay Monahan.
Record eight-time European No 1 Colin Montgomerie is a new board member of the European Tour Group | Contributed
“I am very much looking forward to joining the board of the European Tour Group and I consider it a great honour to be asked,” said the eight-time Ryder Cup player and winning captain at Celtic Manor in Wales in 2010;
“I pride myself in the fact that I was always one hundred per cent loyal to the tour in my playing days, and indeed I continue to be so. These are interesting times in professional golf and I hope I will be able to support, encourage and assist the Tour going forward in any way I can.”
A winner of more than 50 professional tournaments worldwide, Montgomerie was crowned as European No 1 an incredible seven times in a row between 1993 and 1999 before also lifting the Harry Vardon Trophy again in 2005.
On the back of four triumphs in a row, Rory McIlroy has now won the Race to Dubai title seven times and is bidding to equal Montgomerie’s record this year, though current leader Patrick Reed is doing his best to stop that from happening.
“I’m delighted to welcome Colin to our board of directors,” said Nicoli, who works closely with Guy Kinnings, Montgomerie’s long-time manager and now the European Tour Group’s CEO.
“His playing record speaks for itself and his knowledge of the game gleaned from almost 40 years as a professional is unparalleled. I know he will be an important asset for us as we continue to develop all aspects of the European Tour Group moving forward.”
Montgomerie’s first board meeting will be on Monday, when he will join fellow winning Ryder Cup Captain Thomas Bjørn in addition to former Tour colleagues Paul Eales, Chris Hanell, Grégory Havret, David Howell and Robert Lee as Tournament Committee Directors. He will replace Ove Sellberg, who will stand down through the board’s rotational system.
