Bleacher Report: Relentless Rory McIlroy Shows Killer Instinct, Controls 2014 British Open

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

HOYLAKE, England — The Open is closed. One moment we had a golf tournament. The next we had a rout. For Rory McIlroy, the next walk across the links of Royal Liverpool will be a coronation march.

Six shots in six holes. McIlroy was tied with Rickie Fowler at the 13th tee Saturday in the third round. After the 18th green he was six shots in front.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: Will Rory McIlroy Run Away with 2014 British Open After Avoiding Friday Failure?

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

HOYLAKE, England — That takes care of the Friday Flop nonsense for Rory McIlroy. That also ought to take care of the 143rd British Open.

Was it a jinx? A curse? A bad swing that turned into a horrible situation? A leprechaun’s mistake?

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Newsday (N.Y.): Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods both make cut

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By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

HOYLAKE, England — Phil Mickelson called it a "crazy" round. He was talking about his own play at Royal Liverpool on Friday, but the word very much could have applied to his rival, Tiger Woods.

Mickelson had an eagle on the 528-yard, par-5 fifth hole, lost a ball on the par-5 10th but still made par, and birdied the par-5 18th for a 2-under-par 70 and a 36-hole total of par 144 in the British Open.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Newsday (N.Y.): Rory McIlroy posts another 66 at British Open

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By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

HOYLAKE, England — He's done this before, three years ago in the other Open. He turned the 2011 U.S. Open into a runaway, and now on this side of the ocean, Rory McIlroy is doing it again.

McIlroy did something on Friday that he hadn't been doing much of this season and extended his lead in the 143rd British Open to four shots. Even with two rounds to play, he may be uncatchable.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Newsday (N.Y.): Rory McIlroy shoots 66, Tiger Woods 3 shots back at British Open

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By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

HOYLAKE, England — Rory McIlroy did what he was supposed to do in the opening round of the British Open: Take the lead.

Now can he avoid doing what everyone expects him to do — fall apart in the second round?

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Bleacher Report: Confident Tiger Woods Defies Doubters with Impressive Day 1 at 2014 British Open

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

HOYLAKE, England — Oh, we of little faith. That will teach us. Doubt the Great Tiger, even after back surgery, even after not winning a major in six years. Dummies.

That’s what Mr. Woods implied, which for him was just as clear as if he spelled it out, d-u-m-m-i-e-s.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.  

Newsday (N.Y.): Justin Rose blooming as British Open awaits

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By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

HOYLAKE, England — To steal a line from the Beatles, who began just across the River Mersey, Justin Rose's career has been a long and winding road.

Twenty-eight miles from Royal Birkdale to the north — where in the 1998 British Open Rose hit the spotlight before he hit the skids — to the 2014 Open, which starts Thursday at Royal Liverpool.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Bleacher Report: Tiger Woods Buzz Is Back in Full Force Despite Doubts at 2014 British Open

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

HOYLAKE, England — Suddenly golf is more than a four-letter word. It’s an attraction, a mystery, a sport so significant ESPN is providing live coverage on its website of every shot hit by the man who’s the cause of it all: Tiger Woods.

Tiger in the Open Championship, in a major for the first time this year, held on the course at Royal Liverpool, where he won in 2006. The Return of the Tiger, film at 11.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc

Bleacher Report: Phil Mickelson's Major Window Looks Shut as British Open Title Defense Begins

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

HOYLAKE, England — The one admission was unavoidable. “It hasn’t been a very good year,” affirmed Phil Mickelson. Not at all.

Not when he missed the cut in the Masters and finished 28th in the U.S. Open.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Newsday (N.Y.): Tiger Woods returns to site of great triumph

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By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

HOYLAKE, England — The timing is perfect. The World Cup finally exits the sporting stage and starting Thursday ready to step on are Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy — and for the first time this year in a major championship — Tiger Woods.

We're in Beatles Country, for those with a nostalgic bent, across the Mersey River from their city, at a golf course formally named Royal Liverpool but known more familiarly by its location, Hoylake, the town where the River Dee Estuary flows into the Irish Sea.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Bleacher Report: Why There's Nothing Wrong with 11-Year-Old Lucy Li Playing in the 2014 US Open

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

The question surrounding Lucy Li, especially for those worried about items as diverse as child development and the future of the LPGA, is whether she’s a prodigy or a pest.

When does a kid with phenomenal talent and an admirable work ethic go from phenomenon to pain? Never, we hope. 

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Global Golf Post: Love Song For Pinehurst No. 2

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By Art Spander
Special to Global Golf Post

PINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA — Perhaps the question is: What do you want from the U.S. Open? A tournament that creates havoc and chaos, where a zillion over par wins and the end result is someone like the late Dick Schaap authoring a history titled Massacre at Winged Foot?

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2014 Global Golf Post 

Bleacher Report: Martin Kaymer Completes US Open for the Ages with Dominant 2014 Victory

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

PINEHURST, N.C. — Greatness may be impressive, but it isn’t always exciting. Martin Kaymer made that clear when he took the U.S. Open, supposedly the most difficult of golf tournaments, and turned it into a boring romp.

There was no drama in this tournament. No Tiger Woods, either. But we can’t blame Kaymer, the 29-year-old German, for the Woods absence. Only for the rout.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: Erik Compton Adding to Remarkable Story with Impressive 2014 US Open Performance

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

PINEHURST, N.C. — He's tied for second in the biggest tournament of the year, American's national championship, the U.S. Open. Erik Compton, who probably shouldn't even be playing golf, or anything else, is ahead of Henrik Stenson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy.

Ahead of people blessed with the heart with which they were born.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Newsday (N.Y.): Phil Mickelson is upbeat despite being out of Open contention

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By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

PINEHURST, N.C. — He's been the star in residence at this U.S. Open.

So much has been written about Phil Mickelson returning to Pinehurst where 15 years ago he was beaten by a shot by Payne Stewart.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Newsday. All rights reserved. 

Bleacher Report: Golf's Unpredictability Gives Group Chasing Martin Kaymer Hope at 2014 US Open

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

PINEHURST, N.C. — Golf is a funny sport. In baseball, nobody takes away your runs. Football doesn’t delete touchdowns once they’re on the board. But in golf, you can pick up strokes — or lose them — before you walk out of the locker room.

Before you swing a club for the first time in any round.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: Phil Mickelson Stays Dangerous After Day 1 of 2014 US Open Despite Distractions

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

PINEHURST, N.C. — Think of a golf tournament as a mile race. Each round is a lap. You don’t have to lead the first day or first two or three days, but you’d better stay close, better not fall too far off the pace. The key is to stay within striking distance.

On the first day of the 2014 U.S. Open, Phil Mickelson, carrying the largest burden — and drawing the largest crowds — did just that.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: Shaggy Pinehurst to Offer a Stiff New Test at 2014 US Open

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

PINEHURST, N.C. — It’s not enjoyable. The U.S. Open, the golfing championship of the United States, was never meant to be.

It was meant to be a challenge, a terror, agony. It was meant to be difficult, very difficult.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: Rory McIlroy Focused on Bringing the Buzz Back to His Golf at 2014 US Open

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

PINEHURST, N.C. — He was wearing green and, on the practice tee, wearing out what seemed like a gross of golf balls. Oh it was hot, 93 degrees, but Rory McIlroy, after what he’s been through of late, the lows, the highs, wasn’t going be deterred by the weather.

Or anything else.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.