Colin Montgomerie’s rushed journey to take place in The Open qualifying on Tuesday was all in vain as the Scottish veteran failed to make the field for the major after struggling in wet conditions.
Montgomerie drove from Pittsburgh, where he finished ninth on Sunday in the Senior Players Championship, to New Jersey, and then flew home to Scotland — arriving on Monday.
After a few hours’ rest, he teed up on Tuesday at the Gullane No. 1 course, east of Edinburgh, in the hope of securing one of three spots in golf’s oldest major — which starts on July 18 at nearby Muirfield.
Montgomerie was tied second after the opening round with a 69 in the morning, but then got caught up in the slow pace of play to shoot a 76 in the afternoon.
“The pace of play was shocking, but that’s not the reason why I didn’t qualify. I was five-under through 12 holes this morning and threw it away. I played very poorly this afternoon,” Montgomerie said.
Montgomerie will now take a week off and return to the US next week for the US Senior Open in Omaha, Nebraska.
It will mean missing the Scottish Open the same week and it will be the first time Monty will not tee up in his national Open since his Scottish Open debut in 1987.
Australia’s John Wade shot a new Dunbar course record of seven-under 63 to qualify, while Scotland’s Lloyd Saltman also qualified for a third time. Saltman, who was the leading amateur in the 2010 event at St Andrews, lives close to Muirfield.
“I’m just delighted big time to be back into The Open, and especially Muirfield, as I have been driving past every day and watching the stands going up,” Saltman said. “To be now playing at Muirfield and just living 10 minutes down the road is amazing. I’ve only played there twice before, and that’s been in the winter when it’s been freezing and with the ground solid. I practice at Archerfield, but not being familiar with Muirfield I will have to get myself over there.”
Scottish trio Grant Forrest, Gareth Wright and George Murray, India’s Shiv Kapur, Sweden’s Oscar Floren and five Englishmen — Jimmy Mullen, Steven Tiley, Tyrrell Hatton, Ben Stow and Matthew Fitzpatrick — also qualified.
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife. Moya’s wife began feeling severely unwell aboard a plane that landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening. She was rushed to a hospital, but passed away, the Hawks said in a statement yesterday. The franchise is assisting Moya with funeral arrangements and hopes fans who were looking forward to seeing him at the All-Star Game can understand his decision to withdraw. According to Landseed Medical Clinic, whose staff attempted to save Moya’s wife,
Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday homered for the fifth consecutive game, tying a Los Angeles Dodgers franchise record. Yankees star Aaron Judge was the last player to homer in five consecutive games, accomplishing that feat last year. Ohtani, who leads the National League with 37 home runs, homered in the first inning off Minnesota Twins starter Chris Paddack. He hit a slow curveball 134m to center. He carried the bat midway down the first-base line and then did a bat flip. He did not hit a home run later in the game with the Dodgers trailing, but his presence was felt. With two outs
Taiwan’s world No. 6 shuttler Chou Tien-chen yesterday defeated India’s H.S. Prannoy to advance to the quarter-finals of the China Open in Changzhou. It was former world No. 2 Chou’s eighth win in 14 matches against Prannoy, who had earlier this week lamented the age divide between him and up-and-comers, although he is only two years younger than 35-year-old Chou. The Taiwanese, who is seeded sixth at the tournament, rebounded from a close 21-18 loss in game 1 on Court 2 at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. He bounced back to take the next games 21-15, 21-8 and set up a tough quarter-final
The Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday acquired Taiwanese-American outfielder Stuart Fairchild from the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations to fill the roster after All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe was placed back on the injured list. Fairchild was designated for assignment by the Braves on Monday after hitting .216/.273/.333 in 28 games for Atlanta, with most of his work coming as a pinch runner or defensive replacement. He joins Tampa Bay as a versatile fourth outfielder option. To make room for Fairchild on the 40-man roster, the Rays transferred relief pitcher Manuel Rodriguez (forearm strain) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day
RSS