Golf: New rules meant to be make golf faster, fairer and simpler

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – The first sign of contender futility came, fittingly enough, on the opening hole Sunday at The Open Championship. Shane Lowry hit a “ropyâ€� tee shot into the rough. Playing partner Tommy Fleetwood hit two “great’ shots to set up a birdie. Lowry was left with an 8-foot putt just to save bogey. What started as a four-shot lead for Lowry could’ve been reduced to one in a flash. With 17 holes left, the entire field would’ve received a boost. Instead, Lowry made his clutch bogey putt. Fleetwood missed his short birdie attempt. Yes, Lowry’s lead was reduced to three shots, but it could’ve been much worse. Related: Final leaderboard | Lowry goes from despair to Claret Jug | Hometown club cheers for Lowry And in the end, no chaser was really able to apply much pressure on Lowry, who ended up winning by six shots – the largest margin in a major in five years and the largest at The Open since Louis Oosthuizen’s seven-stroke win in 2010. “The first few holes, when you start four back, pretty crucial,â€� said Fleetwood after his 3-over 74. “I didn’t do a good enough job of pressing at that point.â€� No one did. Lowry did his part, shooting a 1-over 72, a terrific score given the pressure of holding the lead and the intense weather that kicked in mid-round. He never gave anyone an opening, forcing the rest of the field to make moves. Fleetwood had his opportunities but missed too many early putts. He failed to convert a birdie chance at the par-5 second, and then missed a short par putt at the par-3 third after his nice recovery off a poor tee shot. He hit a lull in the middle of the round when rain, then strong winds made their presence known. And when Lowry did stumble with a bogey at 14, Fleetwood responded with double-bogey. “14 was killer,â€� Fleetwood said, who finished solo second. At least he was close to keeping up. J.B. Holmes, who started the day six back of the lead, opened with a double bogey at the first on his way to a front-nine 41. Then it got worse. Holmes had been the tournament leader in fairways hit and ranked T-2 in greens in regulation, but his tee-to-green game failed him Sunday. He started the back nine with triple bogey-double bogey en route to a 16-over 87. Holmes’ playing partner, Brooks Koepka, showed he was human after 15 impressive rounds in majors this season. Koepka started with four consecutive bogeys to shoot himself out of it. Still, his 74 left him at 6 under and tied for fourth to go along with his win and two runner-up finishes this season in the majors. He also moved into No. 1 in the FedExCup standings with just two weeks left in the regular season. It’s the first time in his career he’s led the FedExCup at any point of the season. “As a whole it’s awesome,â€� Koepka said of his results. “That’s what I’m striving to do, play well in the big events. And I sort of did that. This week is disappointing, but the rest of them have been — it’s been great. I’m not going to lie. It’s been fun. I would have liked to have just made a few more and finished it off with a bunch of second places.â€� With the challenging weather – Lee Westwood called it “some of the toughest conditions I’ve played in an Open Championshipâ€� – few players were able to find red figures. In fact, of the top 10 on the final leaderboard, only Bob MacIntyre (68) and Tyrrell Hatton (69) shot under par. Tony Finau managed an even-par 71 to finish solo third. That’s his best finish in any major – and his fifth top-10 in his last eight major starts. “My game travels,â€� Finau said. “I continue to just prove to myself one day I can win one of these. No doubt.â€�

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Editor’s note: Ernie Els is writing a blog in 2017 and this is his latest installment. For more information on the World Golf Hall of Famer, visit www.ernieels.com To start off, I want to thank everyone at RBC and the fans at the RBC Canadian Open for the warm welcome last week at Glen Abbey. This was my seventh straight appearance in this historic tournament and it’s a pleasure to play in front of the fans here. I’m only sorry I wasn’t around for the weekend. Thing was, I just left myself a lot to do after a scrappy first nine holes on Thursday morning. Still, it was nice to go out there and shoot 4 under on Friday afternoon. I was pushing hard all the way to 18, so it kind of stings when you miss the cut by a single shot. But as I said, the support from the fans was fantastic. All the players appreciate that. Congrats also to Jhonattan Vegas, winning the tournament in back-to-back years. That’s always special.   We’ve now got a week off at home before I tee it up in the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow next week. Obviously my focus is getting myself mentally and physically prepared to give it my best shot. That’s always my mindset. But, as some of you will know, there’s an extra dimension to next week’s championship. It will be the 100th major of my career, having started the ball rolling as a skinny young kid with a mop of blonde hair playing in the 1989 Open at Royal Troon. If someone had told me then that I’d play 100 of these things, I’d have been pretty thrilled to be honest with you. So obviously it’s a proud moment and to mark the occasion we’ve got some fun events planned across social media involving my sponsors, including prize competitions on Twitter. Look out for the #100Majors hashtag next Monday. Today, we’re also launching a new partnership with leading sport scholarship agency, Athletes-USA. As many know, I’m very passionate about cultivating new talents and helping young players get to the next level. The Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation was founded in 1999 specifically for this purpose — to produce successful young leaders and to help develop them to their fullest potential. But scholarships to universities aren’t as common as they are in America. This is where Athletes-USA steps in. They take a look at you, your talent, your grades, and the overall picture to match and place you into the best university. I think that this is a great opportunity for young junior golfers and all student-athletes who are looking to come to America and attend university on scholarship. This is a game-changer for anyone looking to go further. Again, for more information visit the website: www.athletes-usa.com. Okay, that’s it for now. As I said before, look out for lots of activity here on the website and on Twitter @TheBig_Easy from the start of next week, as we begin the countdown to my 100th major.

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