Category: General

Rory Mcllroy managed to get 61 on a course during his teenage years, Darren Clarke calls the famous Royal Portrush both the location and club home, and Graeme McDowell grew up in this town that only has 8,000 people, spending much of his youth learning golf on the layout next to the prestigious Royal Portrush. Three golf champions that all hail from this small country within Northern Ireland, preparing to welcome the world of golf to the 148th of The Open.

The Return of Royal Portrush

There’s no denying that the success of the three significant champions had a massive role in the return of Royal Portrush in The Open. The only staging of the oldest golf championship in the world last occurred 68 years ago at this prestigious golf course.

The victory by McDowell at the U.S Open in 2010, followed by the U.S Open triumph by Mcllroy in 2011, followed by the triumph from Clarke at The Open a month later, gave Northern Ireland a total of 3 champions in a matter of 6 months and assisted in shining a bright light on a country that has been headlined over its political conflicts as oppose to its glorious golf roots.

However, hosting The Open is a gigantic and daunting task, and making a return into the conversation took far more than just three local players. Mcllroy doesn’t waste any time when it comes to the subject of how the Royal Portrush golf course came back to life in The Open, pointing out to a club employee who he has known for years and her spearheaded attempt to get the golf course ready for The Open.

Wilma Erskine

Her name is Wilma Erskine, and she was the key to bring back the Royal Portrush golf course back into The Open. Wilma Erskine has been the club manager and secretary of the Royal Portrush for more than 35 years. However, she refuses to take credit for the return of the course. There’s no denying that she had a massive role when she envisioned something far more significant than a simple weekend of golf which is what she found when she first started working at the club back in 1984.

Once The Troubles arrived within Northern Ireland, absolutely nothing happened as the country was mostly part of an economic downturn which caused a decline in membership. The state also didn’t have any revenue from the United States, which left the golf club at the bottom. The Troubles was a conflict in Northern Ireland encompassing complicated political and religious struggle that lasted 30 years during the late 1990s.

Therefore, it was out of the question to host a golf tournament as prestigious as The Open. No golf tournament with any significance could have been organized by the club back then. Thankfully, that all changed with Wilma Erskine in the mix, allowing the golf course to be part of The Open in 2019 for the first time in a long time.

You’ll have a difficult time finding a better performance in the world of Formula One than Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes on Sunday afternoon. He nearly had a perfect race, coped with several small concerns in the cockpit, and conquered his teammate by more than 18 seconds to win the French Grand Prix. However, perfection is nothing without perspective, and with no other racer close enough to provide a decent challenge for most of the race, it’s nearly impossible to get excited about Hamilton’s fourth victory in 2019.

The French Grand Prix, in many ways, was a showcase of problems in the modern world of Formula 1. One team dominated the entire race from the start, the whole Grand Prix was decided after the very first corner, and the only excitement in the race occurred when Daniel Ricciardo overtook on the final lap only to be blotted out by the racing stewards following the chequered flag. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the storyline behind the Formula One championship in 2019 has very little left in terms of a narrative.

Why is the Formula One Season so Dull?

If Ferrari was competitive in the French Grand Prix, it’s highly likely that the focus would have been entirely different after the race ended. However, if anything, team Mercedes looked even more dominant during the race when compared to the previous races in the 2019 season. The reasons for Ferrari’s struggles are plentiful and varied. However, it essentially boils down to Mercedes being far more adaptive to changes in terms of the aerodynamic regulations as well as the construction of tyres during the winter.

What’s quite hilarious is the fact that these changes were put in place to make the racing experience for spectators better, and the racing on Sunday would have been far more tedious if they weren’t in place. If the regulations in 2018 continued for another year without being checked, the cars’ aerodynamic surfaces might have become far more complex which would have ended up in the vehicles losing performance while attempting to overtake another vehicle. However, if there’s one thing you can take from Mercedes and their dominance in 2019, is that the team is quick to adapt to new changes this year.

Mercedes vs Ferrari

Mercedes worked extremely hard to successfully adapt the aerodynamic concept from 2018 to coincide with the new rules of 2019, while the development direction of Ferrari has managed to lead the team down a dark, blinding alley. Ferrari has an advantage when it comes to engine performance compared to Mercedes, but downforce is their biggest weakness on most of the tracks this year.

Ferrari introduced plenty of upgrades to the car at the French Grand Prix to assist in the new development direction. However, it only created more questions without any real answers during the race. Will it continue to stay a one-sided affair for the rest of the 2019 season or will Ferrari find a winning direction?

Gary Woodland, who hasn’t managed to finish in the top 10 until 2018, successfully held off a potent charge from Brooks Koepka, a two-time defending champion, to claim victory at the 119th U.S Open for his first major win at Pebble Beach on Sunday.

Woodland, who began the final round with only a one-stroke lead, managed to go 2-under par and ended 13 under for 72 holes to claim victory by three strokes against Koepka, who was attempting to become the first golfer in 114 years to claim victory in 3 successive U.S Open titles. If you don’t know much about Gary Woodland, here are a few things that will impress you about him.

He was a viral video star earlier in the season

When Gary Woodland made his arrival at the Waste Management Phoenix Open during January, the officials of the PGA Tour asked him if he would mind playing with Amy Bockerstette, a Special Olympics golfer with Down syndrome, on the famous 16th hole par-3.

Gary Woodland was happy to go ahead and play with Amy. He met her father and Amy Bockerstette once he reached the tee box on the 16th. Amy, who recently accepted a scholarship to play golf in Phoenix at the Paradise Valley Community College, knocked her tee shot straight into a bunker, chipped it out to just over 8 feet, and then sank the ball for par. Gary Woodland stated that it was awesome.

It was also the most-watched video of the PGA Tour with over 5 million views. Gary stated that he had done quite a bit in his life, but this is something that he will never forget.

Father’s Day Comes with Special Meaning for Woodland

During March 2017, Gary announced on Instagram that his wife was expecting twins. In the same month, he unexpectedly withdraws from the prestigious WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play that took place in Austin, Texas due to personal reasons.

After a week, Gary made another announcement that informed his fans that they lost one of their babies. Jaxson, Woodland’s son, was born in June 2017, ten weeks premature and had to stay at the hospital for 40 days. Thankfully, he is healthy and managed to walk with his dad during the par-three contest in April.

Gary Initially Wanted to Play Basketball

Woodland was raised in Kansas and was considered a golf and basketball star at Shawnee Heights High School. However, Division I schools didn’t recruit him even though he averaged 18 points and was named an all-state player. He loved playing basketball but ended up playing golf instead. Woodland initially signed to play basketball and golf at Washburn University Division II.

However, after he opened his freshman season, he quickly realized that golf is the sport for his future. Once he made that realization, he decided to transfer to Kansas, where he would play golf the very next year. Woodland stated that basketball still manages to assist him on the golf course.

There’s no denying that the upcoming transfer window is going to be extremely busy. It’s for this very reason that we decided to take a look at the most indispensable players in football from some of the biggest clubs in the world. We are going to take an in-depth look at the players that have the most significant impact on the field and those that create goals and assists while showing off dribbling skills and through balls.

Fernandinho – Manchester City

Since he turned 30, Fernandinho has averaged 2,687 minutes out of 3,420 in the last four seasons in the Premier League. He is considered Manchester City’s ignition and anchor and has led the team in both interceptions and tackles this past season. He has also led all non-defenders when it comes to forward passes every 90 minutes. His incredible ability to win the ball and provide it to Man City’s playmakers is the reason. Pep can have more attackers on the field.

Virgil van Dijk – Liverpool

In 49 matches this season in both the Champions League and Premier League, he has only made 49 tackles without losing one of them. This means that no attacker, including Messi, Eden Hazard, Kylian Mbappe, or Neymar, has managed to dribble past him during the 2018/19 season successfully. Virgil van Dijk has managed to transform the defence of Liverpool from anxiety and chaos to a mind-blowing source of exceptional strength. During the first two seasons with Jurgen Klopp at the helm, the team committed 21 errors, all leading to goals. However, in the past two years, there’s only been 8. When Virgil wasn’t around, the team conceded 42 goals. However, when Virgil joined the team, that number decreased to 22.

Paul Pogba – Manchester United

Even though his goal-scoring numbers were bumped up by seven penalties and he was mostly benched during the reign of Jose Mourinho, Paul Pogba was still the most impactful player for Manchester United this season. He managed to bypass more defenders in every match with his passes than any other player at United, and the passes he received also managed to avoid more opponents than any other player in United. He also managed to register more assists, score more goals, and completed more dribbles in 90 minutes than any other player on his team.

Eden Hazard – Chelsea

There is arguably no other player within Europe who’s more vital to their club than Eden Hazard. Reports are stating that he wants to leave the club and the team cannot sign any new players until 2020. During the 2019/19 season, Hazard was performing like four players at once. He was leading his team with 16 goals, while the closest to him had 8. He was leading the team with 15 assists, while the closest to him had 6. He managed to complete 138 dribbles, while the closest to him had 45. He accumulated 240 touches in the penalty area of the opposition, while the closest to him had 113.

Brooks Koepka could not widen his lead during the third round of the PGA Championship on Saturday at Bethpage Black. However, the defending champion of the PGA Championship didn’t give anything back either.

Koepka managed to hit even-par 70 to give him a 54-hole total of -12 to successfully maintain his phenomenal 7-shot lead ahead of the final round on Sunday, along with his friend Dustin Johnson, Jazz Janewattaanond, Luke List, and Harold Varner III chasing him as the competition’s closest competitors.

Since 1934, in the era of Masters, there has only been a total of 24 times when a golfer managed to take the lead with 5 or more strokes throughout a 54 hole course in a major championship.

There have only been four times when a player failed to hold on to that lead, including Jean Van de Velde during the 1999 Open Championship, Greg Norman during the 1996 Masters, Ed Sneed during the 1979 Masters, and Tom Watson during the 1978 PGA Championship. It’s quite apparent that Koepka will not pull a Van de Velde this time around.

Koepka on the PGA Championship

Koepka recently stated to reporters that he would not give up. He loves the force on the field and will try his best to extend the lead as best he can during the championship. He also stated that it would be nice to make a ten during the final hole. However, he is just going out there to play some good golf and to see how things end up. He will be satisfied if he can have another great game on Sunday before he makes his way home.

Although it’s still too early to place his name on the prestigious Wanamaker Trophy for the 2nd consecutive year, it looks inevitable after the way he played on Saturday. There are loads of reasons to watch the final day of the PGA Championship on Sunday.

Koepka has managed to torch the entire field and has set loads of milestones during the tournament as well. For instance, he will join the list of Best Score to Par on 54 Holes and the list of Players with Multiple U.S Open and PGA Championship Wins.

Who Will Finish Second in the PGA Championship?

There is a total of 15 players on the field that are currently under par on the 54-hole course, and one of them will take second place behind Koepka. However, who will this player be? This is precisely another reason why you should watch the PGA Championship on Sunday. Dustin Johnson believes he has an excellent chance to take second place.

Koepka wasn’t playing at his best on Saturday as he has successive bogeys on both the 9th and 10th hole. However, no other player in the tournament managed to take advantage of this. This makes you think if anyone else will be able to apply the necessary pressure to make Koepka crumble?

Lewis Hamilton recently stated that Mercedes could not be blamed for their excellent start in the 2019 Formula 1 season that has primarily been a one-sided affair. Lewis Hamilton assisted Mercedes to claim their fifth successive one-two finish during the Spanish Grand Prix. This inflicted more damage to Ferrari, a team that is losing grip on a two-way fight with Mercedes.

The 2019 Formula One Season for Mercedes

The performance showcased by Ferrari during offseason testing gave the impression that they would be competitive in the 2019 Formula 1 season. However, it hasn’t been the case over the last few months, and it appears that the Italian team have fallen behind Mercedes since the 2019 campaign started. Mercedes continue to win at every race, while Red Bull and Ferrari keep falling behind.

Unless Ferrari can make a remarkable comeback, it looks like Mercedes will claim their sixth consecutive ’constructor’s championship in 2019, a run that stretches back to the introduction of the V6 turbo engines that were introduced in 2014. This achievement will match the incredible record set by the Italian team between 1999 and 2004.

Lewis Hamilton has stated on numerous occasions throughout his career with Mercedes that although he enjoys winning, he wants to a lot more from his rivals in terms of competition. He also stated that staying focused is relatively easy these days. However, it’s far more entertaining for him when he needs to compete against another team. This is what Formula One is all about.

Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton was recently asked if he can win all 21 races this season with Mercedes. He replied that he doesn’t know. Both he and the Mercedes team didn’t realize that they would enter the season and win five consecutive races which were astonishing for everyone in the organization.

The entire Mercedes team works incredibly hard to ensure everything is perfect for every single race. Nobody in the organization is overconfident, and there are always discussions about the car and the improvements that can be made to make it even more remarkable around the track. The Mercedes team is the most reliable team in Formula 1 and the moment and thanks to all the races, it shows.

The Mercedes team continues to push the needle and push the benchmark to do better every single season. Therefore, it’s easy to understand why fans are so happy with the overall performance by Mercedes.

It’s just a shame that no other team currently provides any competition for Mercedes at the moment. We would hate to see Mercedes run away with the season so early on without anyone giving fans a genuinely nail-biting season to look forward to. Let’s hope this changes quickly.

A short time ago, it looked like dominant F1 races and Mercedes were a thing of the past. However, the team’s 1-2 finish in Baku was its 4th consecutive win in the 2019 season. Ferrari was quite confident when they entered the weekend. However, things started to unravel during qualifying. Due to the unpredictable nature of the circuit and the quick racing trim, we uncovered why everything unfolded as it did.

Racing Against Bottas

This wasn’t a classic F1 race. At first, Lewis Hamilton looked like he got a phenomenal start that would place him in the lead. However, Bottas held pole position after Turn 1 and also kept Hamilton behind him during Turn 2. A horrible start cost the driver in China, and he refused to let history repeat itself.

The start of the race was mostly the critical moment for Bottas as Hamilton would get this close again for the entire Baku race. Mercedes was also never under real pressure from Ferrari in the race other than the activity that occurred during the pit-stop window. Even though the challenge from Ferrari faded, Bottas was required to keep his composure because Hamilton kept pushing until the end of the race.

Although most spectators are still sceptical about Bottas 2.0, we believe he was fantastic in Baku and Australia. However, on both occasions, Hamilton seemed to settle for the second position once he lost the first fight. One factor that shouldn’t bring any doubt to spectators is that Bottas has the innate talent to create a genuinely exceptional battle for the title. Every pole position will give Bottas a boost in confidence. This is something that was genuinely lacking during the 2018 season.

Where Exactly Was Ferrari?

Ferrari didn’t have the pace when it mattered most. It’s unusual as this weekend looked like Ferrari’s weekend until Charles Leclerc managed to misjudge his breaking point when he attempted to take Turn 8 during Saturday’s qualifying. That incident managed to shit the momentum and assisted Mercedes to take the first and second position on the grid which allowed them to dominate the race on Sunday.

For a moment, it looked like Leclerc might have raced worth mentioning as he started on medium tyres as opposed to soft tyres that all drivers at the front opted in for. If the safety car was deployed when Bottas was still over 9 second behind, Leclerc might have had a free pit-stop that would have allowed him to take the lead with a brand-new set of hard compound tyres to make it until the end. However, while each lap passed without the safety car, it assisted Bottas to get closer to the long first stint of Leclerc which eventually allowed him to retake the lead.

Magic Johnson managed to get the title he always dreamed of having. He had the power to successfully guide one of the most recognizable and popular franchises in the world of sports.

As the President of Basketball Operations, he could do anything he wanted when it came to the Los Angeles Lakers. He could effortlessly trade any player he wanted or fire a head coach at any time. Jeanie Buss, the owner of the Lakers, informed him about this on several occasions.

However, the only thing that Magic Johnson truly wanted is to be Magic Johnson again where he will be remembered as a Basketball ambassador, Lakers legend, international celebrity, and beloved civic leader. It’s fantastic being such a guy and there’s no denying that he was great at it.

Resigning as President of Basketball Operations

Being the president of basketball operations for the Los Angeles Lakers is undeniably hard, no one can argue that fact. And Magic Johnson could never truly figure out how to be himself in that significant role. It’s for that very reason that he decided to resign on Tuesday evening.

As astonishing as the decision was for most of the people within the national Basketball League, Magic Johnson was incredibly clear when he started to explain himself. “I was far more happier as a player as oppose to being the president,” Magic Johnson stated. “Once it comes to making trades, you are definitely not happy.”

Magic Johnson starting listing all kinds of unsavoury things regarding his position during a media session that lasted more than an hour, spilling out into the corridors and hallways of Staples Center prior to the final game of the Lakers season. Johnson didn’t appreciate the whispering and backstabbing that came with the job title. To be honest, he didn’t like anything that came with the role.

Comments from Magic Johnson

The tampering and the fines and this and that, I couldn’t assist young players who wanted me to assist them, and I couldn’t tweet about it either. Take Russel Westbrook for instance, that was a marvelous feature the other day. However, I wasn’t allowed to even tweet to congratulate him. If I decided to do that, everyone would have thought that it was tampering. I honestly don’t like that as I need to be free to do exactly what I want for myself.”

Magic Johnson also didn’t like the fact that he had to make decisions on retaining coach Luke Walton. Johnson was diagnosed with HIV during 1991 where he literally starred at death in the face. He decided to beat the illness and he eventually did. Thereafter, he decided to spend his remaining time on earth exactly the way he wanted. “I have a fantastic life. Damn, even outside this place I have a fantastic life, so what exactly am I doing here? I will be going back to my fantastic life and I’m really looking forward to it.”