Golf Monthly June 2025

neil.tappin@futurenet.com In April 1996, I was 15 years old. My interest in golf had already been cemented by a couple of long summers spent at the golf club competing against other juniors, generally messing about and eating chips. At this point, golf to me was far more about playing than watching but then the 1996 Masters came along. What started as a passing curiosity developed into something more profound and formative. I remember sitting at home with my dad watching every shot of the final round head-to-head between Greg Norman and Nick Faldo. Drama, glory and despair – it had it all and it was a form of sporting drama I’d never seen before. I loved it. It was the right tournament at the right time and, ever since 1996,…

No love for hilltop golf? I was interested, as ever, to study your Top 100 rankings with the May issue. The one thing that always baffles me a little is there seems to be no great love for hilltop or downland golf among the wider golfing public and those who compile such rankings. There’s really nothing in your Top 100 and then perhaps two or three in your Next 100, such as Goodwood or Cowdray in my home county of West Sussex. For me, nothing beats the feeling of playing up in the hills on a fine day for the views and the wonderful sense of freedom you get. I know some people don’t like being buffeted by the wind or playing over hilly terrain, though often such courses aren’t…

Rory, congratulations on winning the Career Grand Slam at Augusta. How does it feel? It feels incredible. It was my 17th time at Augusta and I started to wonder if it would ever be my time. I think the last ten years, coming here with the burden of the Career Grand Slam on my shoulders and trying to achieve that, I’m sort of wondering what we’re all going to talk about going into next year’s Masters! But I’m absolutely honoured and thrilled and just so proud to be able to call myself a Masters Champion. How do you even begin to process what you’ve managed to achieve? I have dreamed about that moment for as long as I can remember. Watching Tiger do what he did at Augusta in 1997,…

MONTH IN STATS 56 Bernhard Langer’s age when he achieved his final top-ten finish in The Masters (2014) 58 Zurich Classic record four-ball score for Isaiah Salinda and Kevin Velo in round one PGA TOUR STATS RORY MCILROY TOPPED AS AT THE END OF APRIL 231 Distance, in yards, from which Adam Schenk holed out for albatross on the 7th in round one of April’s Zurich Classic 6 Number of wins recorded by Americans in the first 18 events on the 2025 PGA Tour 2 Back-to- back wins for Swedes on the LPGA Tour in April: Sagstrom and then Lindblad 7 Homegrown winners of the China Open since it began in 1995, most recently Ashun Wu 42 Number of 400+ yard drives recorded on the PGA Tour this year to…

Mao Saigo claimed her maiden Major title after triumphing in a five-way play-off in the Chevron Championship at The Club at Carlton Woods. The day began with Saigo and Hae Ran Ryu sharing the lead at nine-under, with Lindy Duncan just behind. However, it was Ariya Jutanugarn who put down an early marker with a birdie at 2, and it got even better for the Thai star three holes later when she produced an eagle. While the overnight leaders failed to build on their advantage, Jutanugarn powered on with another birdie at the 8th. Duncan, meanwhile, was making her own bid for the title, helped by successive birdies at 13 and 14 as she drew level at the top with Jutanugarn, bringing the first professional win of her career firmly…

“IT WAS FUN, IT WAS HARD, IT WAS FANTASTIC. BUT I CAN’T DO THAT ANYMORE”Mike Lorenzo-Vera announces he’s bringing the curtain down on his career as his “priorities have switched” “IF MCILROY FEELS FREE, THAT COULD BE A SCARY THING”Xander Schauffele believes the Northern Irishman will quickly add to his Major Championship tally after his thrilling victory at The Masters “WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU MAKES YOU STRONGER”Marco Penge reacts to winning his first DP World Tour title months after serving a ban on the circuit. The Englishman was suspended for three months in December for betting on golf “AT SOME POINT WE’D LOVE TO BE BACK THERE”R&A chief executive Mark Darbon says a feasibility survey has been commissioned on whether The Open Championship can return to Trump Turnberry…