Da Anderson's Ginger Beer Is Back (At The 2015 Open)!

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The R&A is paying homage to the drink and man that inspired the 4th hole's branding as Ginger Beer.

The "Gunner" comes in a bottle decorated by a label featuring an image of Auld Da Anderson selling his Ginger Beer and food items (historian David Hamilton theorizes that the round objects are poached eggs wrapped in sausage and deep fried). I came across it at the British Golf Museum's new cafe with sensational views of the courses here.

Anderson was a caddie, ballmaker and clubmaker, and keeper of the green at St. Andrews before transitioning to his role selling beverages and food on the course. Many believe he served at the 9th hole, but the most consistent location of his Ginger Beer Cart was most likely the 4th.

The non-alcoholic Gunner consists of part Ginger Beer, part Ginger Ale, lime squeeze and 2 dashes of Angostura Bitter.

The spectator village here is particularly good, as Ryan Herrington notes in this post with extensive photos. As he points out, you can come here without seeing a shot and have a grand old time.

A key part of the village: exhibits from Emory University and St. Andrews University. The Emory collection is devoted to Bobby Jones' life in St. Andrews and includes pages from his manuscript (with Jones markings) for Golf Is My Game, along with a postcard sent after the Freedom of the City speech.


And watching over this to keep the gulls away? This hawk...(thanks Nancy for the link):

Meet Fearnley the Eagle.He's at The Open to keep pesky seagulls away from food in the Spectator Village.

Posted by The Open on Friday, July 17, 2015

Good Read: "Mickelson dances golf's invisible line"

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Phil Mickelson, who opened with a 2-under-par 70 in the windy afternoon conditions at St. Andrews, is profiled by ESPN.com's Kevin Van Valkenburg as the 2013 Open Champion "dances with golf's invisible line."

There is plenty of good stuff here, including this:

Mickelson said he and his wife, Amy, laughed recently when they remembered how upset they were 20 years ago when he wasn't included in a magazine story prior to the PGA Championship listing the game's "young guns." Justin Leonard was in there, and so was David Duval, but not Mickelson. Amy was so upset about it, she even walked up to the writer at the tournament and confronted him about it.

"We look back on that and we laugh," Mickelson said. "We were so immature that we felt we had to have input and say in every little thing." His face has grown noticeably weathered in recent years. Up close, his cheeks are pink and splotchy in spots, a visible consequence that comes from having spent the past four decades walking golf courses around the world, soaking up the taxing rays of the sun. There are small bags under his eyes, and he bends at the waist to read putts instead of at the knees, a telltale sign that the years, and all those steps, are adding up.

Video: Champions Challenge Recap, Arnold Palmer Interview

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Before we get too deep into this Open Championship at St. Andrews, memories of Wednesday's Champion Golfer's Challenge should not be left too far behind in the rear view mirror. How lucky we were see Arnold Palmer hit what is possibly his last shot at St. Andrews, and witness Peter Thomson and Gary Player coming back one more time. Kudos to the R&A for having the event, presenting it with dignity and injecting a sense of celebration.

It's difficult not to get emotional watching Arnold Palmer's interview with ESPN's Tom Rinaldi afterwards. You can view it here.

Here is The Open official recap.

2015 Open Championship 1st Round Notes And Comment Thread

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The Open is here and coverage kicks off at 4 am ET in the United States, with ESPN on for a whopping 11 hours Thursday and Friday. Multiple alternate feeds are available, including @TheOpen's Road hole feed and featured groups in morning/afternoon waves.

The full lineup is viewable here and you'll need the WatchESPN app to view on mobile devices.

With Jordan Spieth's Grand Slam request, subscribers to the Longhorn network will also be able to watch Spieth's featured group Thursday. 

The announce lineup is the same:

Mike Tirico and analyst Paul Azinger will call the play from the main booth adjacent to the 18th fairway. Hole announcers will be Curtis Strange, Sean McDonough and Scott Van Pelt, with Tom Rinaldi conducting player interviews.
 
On-course reporters for the morning players will be Andy North (with Jordan Spieth group), Billy Kratzert (with Bubba Watson group) and Dottie Pepper (with Tiger Woods group). For the afternoon session, Kratzert will follow the Phil Mickelson group and Judy Rankin will be with the Justin Rose group.
 
Later in the afternoon, Van Pelt and North will move to the booth, with Rinaldi and Dottie Pepper moving to hole announcer positions. Gene Wojciechowski will conduct player interviews. For the afternoon session, Kratzert will follow the Phil Mickelson group and Judy Rankin will be with the Justin Rose group.

The Open's official site includes extensive live coverage, though I'm not sure what is available in the USA. Check it out here and please let me know. And if you are looking for background sound only, The Open's live radio broadcast is most enjoyable.

The "Traditional" leaderboard

The 2015 Open Championship Is Here: Mini-Preview

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The major we've all been waiting for, The Open at St. Andrews kicks off after the inspiring Champions Challenge saw legendary former winners play four holes. Headlined by Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Peter Thomson, the sun popped out to give us the added colors and that cinematic vibe to the 18th hole setting.

The golf course took an unexpected rain this morning, softening things up a bit. Watch for a low round early Thursday. As I noted in Golf World, the course isn't as lush green as stated, but in contrast to Chambers Bay it practically looks overseeded in ryegrass.

Regarding the changes, they probably won't make any difference, though the new ampitheater outgrowth of mounding added to the Road hole bunker could impact the championship. And looks worse and worse every time I walk by at that magnificent hole. Todd Lewis and I discussed the changes for Live From.

Soak up your Ivor Robson this week because this is the legendary first tee announcer's final Open Championship, writes Rex Hoggard at GolfChannel.com.  EuropeanTour.com also has a nice long story on Robson.

The tee times are here...

A few images from the last few days before the camera must be retired per the media regulations:

It's A Wrap: Jordan, Hogan And The Grand Slam

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Maybe it's Wimbledon ending Sunday with spectacular wins or maybe it's the world not recognizing what a rare opportunity Jordan Spieth has, but his pursuit of the Grand Slam does not feel like it's getting the play it deserves.

Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN.com takes the big picture route and compares Spieth to fellow Texan Ben Hogan, talking to Dan Jenkins.

That was Hogan personified, said Jenkins, who has covered more than 200 majors during his distinguished career. In Hogan's mind, his  scorecard was the standard in which all other scorecards should be judged.

"Often it was," Jenkins said. "But sometimes it wasn't, and Ben would accept that, too, as being part of the game and graciously congratulate the winner."

Graciousness is a Spieth trait. Someone once asked him about his humility. Spieth responded that to talk about humility defeated the purpose of humility itself.

Who says something like at age 21?

Ryan Lavner at GolfChannel.com talked to other players about the challenge of learning the Old Course on short notice and includes some telling comments about what players think of the task facing Spieth.

Spieth visited the press room early and was his usual eloquent, introspective self. Though the mentions of "feels" could prove to be the first early sign of trouble. Ryan Herrington on the feels word and what it might mean.

Hmm?!? Good to know that there is a thing called "feels" and that it can "travel."

And travel, indeed it did, from Woods to Spieth. As he tries for the third leg of the calendar Grand Slam, Spieth was asked about arriving on Monday and whether there were positives of playing the John Deere and getting to St. Andrews late.

"Not necessarily, other than going to a place I was familiar with, I could get in contention and get the right feels."

Alex Myers at GolfDigest.com considers the Grand Slam ramifications in his watch of the historic chase and noted that Spieth opened the door to some concessionary views that the Old Course is complex and that the simulator was not an accurate representation of reality.

And he doesn't sound like he's had enough time dealing with St. Andrews' winds -- an area which Tiger Woods said experience is most crucial -- either on his simulator:

"The course was a lot easier with 68 degrees and no breeze coming out of the air-conditioner in that room, so I got over here, and the real preparation really started."

Rex Hoggard played off of Jordan's comments about studying the history of the game and knowing what is on the line.

As Spieth has proven in his short career, he’s a quick study when it comes to high-pressure situations – like when he converted his disappointment over his loss in the 2014 Masters into his first major championship earlier this year at Augusta National – and with the world watching he seems to have struck an impressive balance between competitive indifference and situational awareness.

“I like to study the history of golf, and I think it's extremely special what this year has brought to our team and to have a chance to do what only one other person in the history of golf has done doesn't come around very often,” he allowed.

Ewan Murray notes in his Guardian story that Spieth's attitude toward the wind forecast is to embrace the coming trouble.

Spieth also brushed aside the prospect of strong gusts, possibly up to 40mph, disrupting his game. “I think it’s fun,” Spieth said. “If we wanted good weather we’d go play in California.

“We come over here because we want to embrace the opportunity of  handling these conditions. I understand that there’s a possibility for a  lot of this tournament to be dependent on the draw the first two days, at least for a few strokes. It doesn’t mean you can’t make it up if you get the bad end of it, but it will be harder. Nobody is going to know what that is here because it changes hourly.