2023-06-14 15:59:42
From Thursday (6 p.m., Sky) the hub of the golf world will be the Los Angeles Country Club in the celebrity area of Beverly Hills, where the US Open for professional golfers will be held for the first time. The third major tournament of the year comes a week following the surprisingly announced alliance between the PGA, LIV and World Tour.
The favorites are world number one Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm and PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka. Sepp Straka holds up Austria’s flag in California. The 30-year-old has been in great form since the PGA Championship, where he finished a strong seventh.
Born in Vienna, he achieved solid placements at the Charles Schwab Challenge (29th) and at the PGA Memorial (16th). Straka, who plays golf in a flight with the Spanish LIV player Sergio Garcia and Tom Hoge from the USA, achieved his best result at the US Open in 2019 with rank 28. Last year he missed the cut.
“A Little Betrayal”
The announcement of the major golf series deal remains the number one topic of conversation at the 123rd US Open. There is a lot of need for clarification among the players. “It’s pretty clear that apart from regarding four people in the world nobody knows what’s going on,” said England champion Matt Fitzpatrick.
“We don’t have any of the answers that we would like. It’s a state of uncertainty that we don’t like,” Rahm criticized the PGA leadership and spoke of a “little betrayal” because of the secrecy. Jay Monahan, the boss of the PGA Tour, justified the alliance with the rival LIV, which is fed with millions from the Saudi Arabian state fund PIF, with financial necessity. “We cannot compete with a foreign government with unlimited money,” Monahan said.
A demanding par 70 course with narrow fairways, wavy greens and a treacherous rough awaits the golf aces in Los Angeles with the north course. Three-time US Open champion Tiger Woods is missing following ankle surgery.
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