Golf Events Around The World

The Masters is a 72 hole stroke-play invitation only event played over 4 days, and it is estimated there will be around 90 players competing to be the winner of the Masters 2023. Winning guarantees you an invite for the years to come, so no pressure! The Masters was first played 89 years ago at the Augusta National Golf Club, and this famous contest is still played on the same course. The perfectly-manicured, yet extremely firm conditions are unusual and present a huge challenge to players, along with something about trajectory control and distance that goes way over our novice golfing heads.

Since 1949, a green jacket has been awarded to the winner of the tournament. The winner must return the jacket to the clubhouse one year after their victory, although the jacket is still their property, it cannot be removed from the special cloakroom in the clubhouse after that first year. Only the current reigning champion can take his green jacket off the club grounds. There are lots of quirky rules around the prized green jackets and of course many legends have their own green jacket in the clubhouse cloakroom.

The Masters 2023 brought us four days of great golfing, a nail biting journey from round one to the ultimate battle in round 4. Whilst here in Scotland the rain may be something we just expect, across the pond in Augusta, Georgia it isn’t as common. So it came as a surprise to many on Saturday that play was suspended due to inclement weather, the golfers had played for almost an hour in the heavy rain before play was eventually suspended. The weekend tested the players and many made great choices that ultimately left viewers observing some great golf, Cameron Young decided to hit his drive 241 yards on the 18th hole during the third round in the rainy conditions.

Fans were certain Phil Mickelson was sure to take the Masters title after performing some incredible shots, he lived up to the 'underdog' title many gave him. While Phil has been a pro golfer for years and has many titles under his belt, he was not expected to show up for this years Masters. Mickelson ultimately finished with eight birdies and only one bogey, unfortunately it wasn't quite enough. It was Spanish player, Jon Rahm who took the title and donned the famous green jacket. It was not an easy journey for the Spaniard, his start was very shaky and he struggled to to find his groove and ended up leaving the first hole with a double bogey. Rahm sat behind Brooks Koepka's lead for three rounds, however on the last day Koepka made bogey on the sixth hole on Sunday and surrendered his lead. This allowed Rahm to step up and give the final day everything he could. He won by four strokes, twelve under par for the tournament. The count down is now on to the masters in 2024.

The PGA Championship is an annual golf competition that causes a lot of buzz, originally the competition was held in mid August until 2019 when it moved to mid-May. It is one of the four major golf championships, and brings in a lot of excitement in the run up to tee off. The competition has been held since 1916 and has been host to hundreds of talented golfers. If you are a golf enthusiast you may know that the winner of the tournament wins the Wanamaker trophy.

What exactly does this mean? For you avid golfers this seems like an easy question to answer, however there are many that don't know the difference. A 'match play' is based on a scoring system, the player earns points for each hole that they have gained advantage over their opponent. The scoring system is slightly more complex, but the aim is to win as many holes as possible and create a gap between you and your opposition. A 'stroke play' can also be known as medal play, the aim of this play is to take the least amount of strokes through out the entire play. The score system is slightly easier to understand and gives the players a better chance of being able to catch up.

This years PGA Championship took place at the prestigious Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester (New York). It is considered by many to be one of the most challenging courses in the United States. A typical game of golf promises tense decisions, unexpected outcomes and nail-biting finishes, and the PGA Championship certainly delivered these promises. The runner up from the masters- Koepka was one to watch and remained near the top over the course of 4 days. The crowd were active and interestingly Koepka was booed at the start of the third round. He took it in his stride and continued to perform at his best, he left round four with five birdies and one bogey. With only one round to go this left him at the top of the leader board, in a great position for the final day of play. Ultimately, it was Brooks Koepka that walked away with the Wanamaker trophy for the third time in his career.

The U.S Open was first established in 1895, on a nine hole course in Newport, Rhode Island. This years prize pool is 25 million dollars, which would certainly buy you a lot of tartan golf trousers. This year's Open sees the golfers taking on the course at the Los Angeles Country Club, it is the first time the Open has been held there and it is sure to be an exciting weekend of extreme golf. We are half way through the Majors, and it has not been without trials, a downpour of rain and of course unsuspecting winners.

A weekend of great shots and tricky decisions led to a fantastic win for Wyndham Clark, it was his first major championship win. He played a strong game and ultimately pipped Rory McIlroy in the final moments. The crowd falls silent in anticipation, as they watch Clark hit his putt and the ball rolls just inches away from the hole. Then the crowd erupts in noise as Clark’s ball falls into the hole, overwhelmed with emotions Clark looks to the sky and tears begin to stream. A big win for a very talented golfer.

This year marks the 41st Scottish Open and the event takes place at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick. The Scottish Open has seen some truly talented golfers walk away with the winning title, like Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler and Phil Mickelson. The Scottish Open has taken many forms since its beginnings in 1972, including Barclays Scottish Open, however has been recognised as The Genesis Scottish Open since 2022.

Another nail-biting weekend in the world of golf, Rory McIlory pulled out all the stops to win his 24th career PGA tour title. He won the tournament on 15-under 265 to take a one-stroke victory over RobertMacIntyre. MacIntyre had an incredible weekend and shot a 64 in the final round, he charmed the crowd and made a birdie putting him in the lead. McIlroy then played one of the best rounds of golf and snuck into the lead with the winning birdie putt. With Rory McIlroy walking away crowned the winner and $1.6 million in winnings.

This year is the 151st Open which takes place at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, England. With an impressive $16,500,000 purse, the stakes are high. The Royal Liverpool Golf Club has been home to The Open Championship 12 times, famously Tiger Woods won here in 2006. More recently, Rory MacIlroy won this challenging course in 2014, with a score of 17 under. The course is reasonably flat, which causes severe issues in windy conditions. With very tight fairways and tee shots that are likely to go out of bounds, accuracy is key, especially off the tee.

After a challenging weekend of experience golfers battling it out, Brian Harman takes the trophy. While Tom Kim surprised onlookers by playing with a tear in his ankle. The excruciating pain was no match for Kim and he finished the weekend in joint second place, along with 4 others. Jon Rahm gave the event his all but ultimately finished his afternoon with an impressive birdie, landing himself in joint second place. A proud Brian Harman took the trophy while the rain continued to pour. Another historic weekend of great golfing.

While you patiently wait for the next big Golf event, why don't you vote for your favourite Scottish Golf course. Discover our Tartan Blog to cast your vote!