^{Japanese Star -Ryo Ishikawa played with a ZERO (#0) Iron at the British Open.}

1. Lorena Ochoa is seeking her third career major and second Women's British Open title. She won the 2007 RICOH Women’s British Open and the 2008 Kraft Nabisco Championship.

        2. This will be the final major as an active LPGA player for Annika Sorenstam who’s retiring at season’s end. Sorenstam, who won this event in 2003, has major finishes of T-2, T-3 and T-24 this season.

        3. The Women’s British Open was first played in 1976, but joined the LPGA schedule in 1994. It was designated a major championship in 2001 when it replaced the du Maurier Classic.

        4. This is the final major of the LPGA season. Previous major winners in 2008 include Lorena Ochoa (Kraft Nabisco) and a pair of 19-year-olds; Yani Tseng (LPGA Championship) and Inbee Park (U.S. Open).

        5. In contrast to the PGA TOUR where a guy named Tiger tends to win majors by the boatload, 12 different players have won the last 13 LPGA majors. Lorena Ochoa (2007 RICOH Women’s British Open and 2008 Kraft Nabisco) is the only player to win multiple majors over this span.


        TV SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES EASTERN)
        Thursday, July 31:      10:00 am – 12:00 pm (TNT)
        Friday, August 1:       10:00 am – 12:00 pm (TNT)
        Saturday, August 2:      1:30 pm – 3:00 pm (ABC)
        Sunday, August 3:        1:00 pm – 3:00 pm (ABC)


        FUTURE RICOH WOMEN’S BRITISH OPEN SITES
        2009: Royal Lytham & St. Annes
        2010: Royal Birkdale


        CUT
        A total of 144 players will compete at Sunningdale with the leading 65, and those tied for 65th place after two rounds, qualifying for the final 36 holes.


        PLAYOFF
        Unlike the aggregate 4-hole playoff in the Open Championship, the RICOH Women’s British Open will utilize a sudden-death format in the event of a tie after 72 holes.


        THE VENUE
        The RICOH Women’s British Open will be played over the Old Course at Sunningdale Golf Club, Berkshire, England. Sunningdale Old Course, which opened in 1901 and was originally designed by former Open Champion Willie Park, is one of the most beloved inland courses in the British Isles. Sunningdale’s New Course opened in 1923. Sunningdale is approximately 30 miles (45 km) west of central London and 10 miles (15 km) southwest of Heathrow Airport. It has a rich heritage of hosting professional and amateur events, including the Women’s British Open on three occasions, 1997, 2001 and 2004, as well as the European Open, the inaugural Seve Trophy and the Walker Cup.

         
       

        WOMEN’S BRITISH OPEN WINNERS


        Year            Champion                        Course                  Score
        1976            Jenny Lee-Smith         Fulford                 299
        1977            Vivien Saunders         Lindrick                        306
        1978            Janet Melville          Foxhills                        310
        1979            Alison Sheard           Southport & Ainsdale    301
        1980            Debbie Massey           Wentworth                       294
        1981            Debbie Massey           Northumberland          295
        1982            Marta Figueras-Dotti    Royal Birkdale          296
        1983            No Championship
        1984            Ayako Okamoto           Woburn                  289
        1985            Betsy King                      Moor Park                       300
        1986            Laura Davies            Royal Birkdale          283
        1987            Alison Nicholas         St. Mellion                     296
        1988            Corinne Dibnah          Lindrick                        295
        1989            Jane Geddes                     Ferndown                        274
        1990            Helen Alfredsson                Woburn                  288
        1991            Penny Grice-Whittaker   Woburn                  284
        1992            Patty Sheehan           Woburn                  207 (3 rds)
        1993            Karen Lunn                      Woburn                  275
        1994            Liselotte Neumann               Woburn                  280
        1995            Karrie Webb                     Woburn                  278
        1996            Emilee Klein            Woburn                  277
        1997            Karrie Webb             Sunningdale                     269
        1998            Sherri Steinhauer               Royal Lytham            292
        1999            Sherri Steinhauer               Woburn                  283
        2000            Sophie Gustafson                Royal Birkdale          282
        2001            Se Ri Pak                       Sunningdale                     277
        2002            Karrie Webb                     Turnberry                       273
        2003            Annika Sorenstam                Royal Lytham            278
        2004            Karen Stupples          Sunningdale                     269
        2005            Jeong Jang                      Royal Birkdale          272
        2006            Sherri Steinhauer               Royal Lytham            281
        2007            Lorena Ochoa            St. Andrews                     287
        2008                                            Sunningdale

        Past Women’s British Open Championships at Sunningdale
                Winner        Score Margin
        1997    Karrie Webb     269   8 over Rosie Jones
        2001   Se Ri Pak       277   2 over Mi Hyun Kim
        2004   Karen Stupples  269   5 over Rachel Teske
       

* K.J. Choi's birdie-birdie finish stole the historical thunder from Greg Norman's surprise 2-rd performance.
        - leads a major for the 1st time in his career
        - only player under par after two rounds
        - 67 tied for the 2nd-lowest round of the tournament
        - 7th time in his career he has led at end of 2nd round (        - only once has the 2nd-round Open leader at Birkdale gone on to win ('71 Lee Trevino) 
        - best previous finish at a major was 3rd at the 2004 Masters
        - 2nd straight Open Championship playing in final group on Saturday (with Sergio Garcia last year)

* 53-yr old Greg Norman shot an even par 70 for the 2nd straight day and is in 2nd place at even par. He almost became the oldest player to lead the Open Championship after two rounds if not for a K.J. Choi birdie-birdie finish.
        - The last time he played in the final group of a major was at the '99 Masters, when he played with Jose Maria Olazabal.
        - Par save on 18 gave him the 2nd round lead for most of the day
        - Has not been this high up on leaderboard at an event after 2 rounds since leading the '02 Kemper Open
        - Listed at 500-to-1 odds to win before event started (Source: Ladbrokes)
       
* Camilo Villegas birdied the final 5 holes to finish with the best Open 2nd round ever at Royal Birkdale (65)
        - tied for 6th-best Open Championship round at Royal Birkdale
        - best round in a major in his career (had only broken 70 once: '07 PGA Champ.)
        - 1st player to birdie 5 holes in a row at the Open Championship was Phillip Price in 2001 at Royal Lytham/St. Anne.
        - Never won a PGA TOUR event

* David Duval (remember him?) shot 1-under par and is only 3 shots off the lead.
        - Since winning the '01 British Open, Duval has played 19 majors, missing the Cut in 13 of them and withdrawing from another.
        - His one top-10 at a major over this time was the tournament after he won, the '01 PGA Championship (T-10).
        - Duval has made just one cut in 12 TOUR starts this year, finishing T-60 at the Stanford St. Jude.
        - 1,087th ranked player in the world coming into the event.

* Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh all had much better days after a terrible Day 1.
        - Mickelson shot 11 shots better (-2) and made the Cut with a +7
        - Els shot a -1 and made the Cut at +9. He was below the Cut when he finished
        - Singh shot 71 after carding an 80 on Thursday, but missed the cut at +11
        ** With Phil and Ernie in with Retief Goosen... we still have not had a major since Tiger turned pro that did not feature at least 3 of the Big 5 (including Tiger and Retief Goosen) on the weekend.

* 12 rounds in the 60s on Friday (below Par). There were 3 on Thursday. Average score was 73.78 after a 1st rd average of 75.98.
        - In 1998 at Royal Birkdale, the 2nd-rd average as 74.76.

* Defending champ Padraig Harrington finished birdie, par, eagle, birdie to finish at 2 over par and only 2 shots off the lead. 

* The final group in the third round  (2:40 BST, 9:40 AM ET) will Choi, currently ranked 11th in the world, and Norman, who stands 646th.

Looking ahead to Weekend
- Choi looking to become 1st Asian to win a major
- Norman would be oldest to win a major or any PGA TOUR Event.
- In this century, only Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player have won the same major in 3 different decades. Jack did it with the Masters, U.S. Open and PGA Champ. Player won the U.S. Open in '59, '68, and '74.
- Villegas looking for his first PGA TOUR Win
- Duval, former Number one player in the world, hasn't finished in Top-10 of major since '01 PGA Champ.
- Harrington trying to become 6th player since 1951 to win consecutive Open titles.
- Don't sleep on Jim Furyk (3 back), Robert Allenby (3 back), Stuart Appleby (4 back)

THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
JULY 17-20, 2008
ROYAL BIRKDALE GOLF CLUB
SOUTHPORT, ENGLAND
(England is 5 hours ahead of Eastern time)



DEFENDING CHAMPION
Ireland's Padraig Harrington defeated Sergio Garcia in a 4-hole playoff at Carnoustie in 2007 to win his first major and become the first European to win a major since Paul Lawrie won the 1999 Open Championship on the same course. Harrington became the first Irish winner of The Open Championship since Fred Daly in 1947. Talk about drama; Harrington managed to win despite making a double bogey on the final hole of regulation after twice putting his ball into the Barry Burn.


TOP 5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE 2008 OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
1. Tiger Woods will miss the Open Championship as well as the rest of the 2008 season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn left ACL on June 24 in Park City, Utah. Woods revealed two days after winning the U.S. Open that he had been playing for at least 10 months with the torn ACL, and that he suffered a double stress fracture in his left tibia two weeks before the U.S. Open. Woods had played in 46 consecutive majors since turning pro in August 1996, winning 14 of them.

2. Since the start of 1997, 46 majors have been played and they've been won by 26 different golfers. Only 5 – besides Tiger Woods – have won multiple majors over this span. They are Phil Mickelson (3), Vijay Singh (3), Retief Goosen (2), Ernie Els (2) and Mark O'Meara (2).

3. Americans do well in the United Kingdom. While foreign-born players have won 4 of the last 5 U.S. Opens, 4 of the last 5, and 10 of the last 13 Open Championships have been won by Americans.

4. This is the 137th Open Championship. Royal Birkdale is hosting the event for the 9th time as it returns to the Southport, England venue for the first time since 1998. That was the year Mark O’Meara defeated Brian Watts in a 4-hole aggregate playoff. No European has won The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

5. Bad news for Padraig Harrington; this title is traditionally hard to defend. Before Tiger Woods won in 2005 and 2006, no player had successfully defended his Open Championship since Tom Watson won in 1982 and 1983.  


TV SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES EASTERN)
Thursday, July 17:      6:30 am – 7:00 pm (TNT)
Friday, July 18:        7:00 am – 7:00 pm (TNT)
Saturday, July 19:      7:00 am – 9:00 am (TNT), 9:00 am – 2:30 pm (ABC)
Sunday, July 20:        6:00 am – 8:00 am (TNT), 8:00 am – 1:30 pm (ABC)


FUTURE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP SITES
2009 Turnberry (July 16-19)
2010 St. Andrews (July 15-18)
2011 Royal St. George’s
2012 Royal Lytham & St. Annes

PLAYOFF
In the case of a tie after 72 holes, a 4–hole playoff will commence on Sunday afternoon. The player with the lowest total score on those 4 holes will be the winner. If there’s still a tie after that, sudden death will be used to break the deadlock. There have been seven 4-hole aggregate playoffs in Open Championship history, the first of which occurred in 1989. Mark O’Meara beat Brian Watts in the 4-hole playoff format in 1998, the last time the Championship was played at Royal Birkdale.


THE VENUE
Royal Birkdale, one of Britain’s finest golf clubs, has been voted the No 1 course in Britain and is among the best in the world. The course is located at the southern edge of Southport in Merseyside.

This will be the 9th time the Open will be played at Royal Birkdale since it was added to the list of championship courses in 1954. That year Australian Peter Thomson won the first of three Opens in succession, returning in 1965 to add his fifth and final title. Arnold Palmer's victory in 1961 is recognized as the turning point in the fortunes of The Open, giving new life and international impact to the Championship. Only Australia’s Ian Baker-Finch, in 1991, has broken the run of American successes achieved by Lee Trevino, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson and Mark O'Meara.

Royal Birkdale Golf Club has occupied its present site since 1897, nine years after the club was founded. The basis of today's design, with fairways snaking between huge sand dunes, was created in the 1920s. In preparation for the 1965 Open and Ryder Cup, the clubhouse was extended, a new par-three 12th hole created and the closing holes re-developed. In addition to the Open Championship, the course has previously hosted two Ryder Cups (1965, 1969), the Walker and Curtis Cups and the Women’s British Open.

Past Open Championships at Royal Birkdale
      Winner        Score Margin
1954  Peter Thomson   283   1 over Sidney Scott, Dai Rees and Bobby Locke
1961  Arnold Palmer   284   1 over Dai Rees
1965  Peter Thomson   285   2 over Brian Huggett and Christy O’Connor
1971  Lee Trevino           278   1 over Lu-Liang Huan
1976  Johnny Miller   279   6 over Jack Nicklaus and Seve Ballesteros
1983  Tom Watson            275   1 over Andy Bean and Hale Irwin
1991  Ian Baker-Finch 272   2 over Mike Harwood
1998  Mark O’Meara    280   In aggregate 4-hole playoff over Brian Watts

Open Championship Hosts
                                Last
St. Andrews             27      2005
Prestwick               24      1925
Muirfield               15      2002
Sandwich                14      2003
Hoylake         11      2006
Royal Lytham    10      2001
Royal Birkdale  9       2008
Royal Troon             8       2004
Musselburgh             6       1889
Carnoustie              7       2007
Turnberry               3       1994
Deal                    2       1920
Royal Portrush  1       1951

HELPFUL WEBSITES
www.opengolf.com – This is the best web site for live scoring, year-by-year summaries, player information and any type of Open Championship records you can imagine.

 

Golf News, Source, News24.com.- Liverpool - A man who threw purple dye on the 18th green at the British Open was sentenced on Tuesday to eight weeks in jail.

Paul Addison, 40, pleaded guilty to five counts of criminal damage at the Wirral magistrates court near Liverpool.

Stephen Fletcher, 35, was sentenced to five weeks of unpaid community services after pleading guilty to the same charges.

The two said they represented a pressure group called "Real Fathers 4 Justice." The group says it is fighting for the rights of fathers in custody cases.

The incident left purple stains on the grass as Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia approached the final hole on Sunday at Hoylake. The players didn't seem affected, and Woods made a par putt to win the tournament by two shots.