Newsday (N.Y.): British Open at Royal Troon: Where golf returns to its roots

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By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

TROON, Scotland — Golf has returned to its homeland, to the rain, wind and green hills of Scotland, a place of kings, kilts and courses with rhythmic names such as Auchterarder, Machrihanish, and the one where the 145th British Open — known here as the Open Championship — begins Thursday at Royal Troon.

The game was created on the Scottish links land in the Middle Ages. It is old as forever and modern as now, with changes in personnel certainly, in attire and equipment yet still affixed to the basic principle: Each swing of each club, from driver to putter, counts one stroke.

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Copyright © 2016 Newsday. All rights reserved.

S.F. Examiner: Don’t forget the winner: Johnson carving own history

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By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — He wasn’t exactly the wrong winner, although in the context of what was possible in this 144th British Open, that could be one definition — if an unfair one.

Zach Johnson may not be Jordan Spieth, in fame or fortune, but he is “The Champion golfer of the year.”

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©2015 The San Francisco Examiner

Bleacher Report: Jordan Spieth Will Look Back on the 2015 British Open as the 1 That Got Away

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — He was a stroke short, one swing of the 274 Jordan Spieth needed over the five days and four rounds of the British Open. This is the game of golf, a heartbreaker, because of one swing.

Three in a row, the first three majors of any year. Ben Hogan did it, won the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open in 1953. And nobody has done it since, and it's likely nobody will do it. Ever.

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Copyright © 2015 Bleacher Report, Inc. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 

Newsday (N.Y.): Tiger Woods loses his own tournament in playoff

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By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — The final California leg of the tournament known as Tiger Woods' invitational, the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge, was taken from Woods' grasp by Zach Johnson.

Four strokes behind Woods with eight holes to play Sunday, Johnson caught Woods and beat him on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff before a record crowd of more than 24,000 at Sherwood Country Club, about 40 miles west of Los Angeles.

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Copyright © 2013 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Newsday (N.Y.): Tiger Woods ends 2-year drought with win

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By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- The putt went in, and the cap came off. For the first time in two years, Tiger Woods had won a golf tournament, and he celebrated with first pumps, a wave of his hat and a smile that for golf had been too long unseen.

Woods came from a shot behind Zach Johnson with birdies on the final two holes Sunday to take the $5-million Chevron World Challenge, a charity event which benefits his Tiger Woods Foundation and surely was beneficial to the host.

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Copyright © 2011 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Newsday (N.Y.): Tiger Woods struggles in wind, trails by one

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By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Sherwood Country Club is cut into the rocky foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains, fairways running up hillsides and down canyons, where Saturday afternoon, the wind gusted and swirled and tossed Tiger Woods for a loop.

Woods' three-shot lead entering the third round of the $5-million Chevron World Challenge was blown away, and he fell to second, a shot behind Zach Johnson.

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Copyright © 2011 Newsday. All rights reserved.