HOYLAKE, ENGLAND | The Royal Liverpool Golf Club is well-known for its mannerly membership, and members were understandably taken aback at the 151st Open Championship as they noticed professionals walking toward the next tee before the rest of their party had putted out.
When Martin Slumbers, the chief executive officer of the R&A, was asked about this departure from the old norm, he recounted his theory about the trend having started around four years ago. That was when US college golfers, who had been asked to get a move on, had started to ignore this time-honoured golfing courtesy.

“You’ll notice,” Slumbers said, “that it’s mostly the young ones who are doing it.”
True enough, although there were a couple of notable exceptions.
On Thursday, the 33-year-old Brooks Koepka, who had complained about the 31-year-old Patrick Cantlay’s slow play at the Masters, was still putting out at the ninth hole when Cantlay was preparing to tee up at the 10th.
Was it a case of Cantlay sending out a message along the lines, You wanted me to go faster, so I’m going faster? Or was it one more illustration of someone, somewhere, wanting to spread word that good manners are out of date?
Keeping score
Those who volunteered as scorers had two days in which to get the hang of the scoring gadgets, along with two days of practice rounds. For the latter, they would explain to the players why they were following them at a time when no scorers were required but, beyond that, their only job was to rekindle memories of past scoring outings.
“All of them are very experienced,” said the scorer-in-chief. “They can consult the walking referee if there’s a problem with penalty shots, etc., so nothing’s going to go wrong.”
Really? It’s probably still worth keeping fingers crossed that any scorer who upsets a player by sending out an incorrect figure is as quick-witted as one of Wimbledon’s old umpires. Having had a lunchtime drink, this well-qualified soul dozed off in his chair as his players were knocking up ahead of their match.
Suddenly, he came to and, on seeing a ball sail over the base line, he yelled a hearty “Out!”
“For heaven’s sake,” yelled the player, “I’m only practising.”
“So am I,” returned the umpire.
No. 1 in name only

Of course, it can come across as cruel. When players are heading down the 18th, a media official will ask those writers and broadcasters hanging around next to the recorders’ cabin whether there is anyone whom they want to interview.
“Does anyone want Scheffler?” came the call.
Though the world No. 1 was no worse placed than 2-under par to the then leaders’ 5 under after his opening round, no one was about to seize the opportunity.
Not so open
It is old news, now that Lee Westwood will not be playing in the coming week’s Senior Open at Royal Porthcawl because he has not paid the DP World Tour the £800,000 (about $1.028 million) or so fine reportedly due after he contravened tour regulations by playing in LIV events without seeking tour permission.
What is less well-known is that Westwood had his entry form accepted, which was what he had anticipated, only to have it rescinded.

The problem has to do with the championship being run on a 50-50 basis by the R&A and the DP World Tour. However, the regulations are dictated by the latter. Westwood was moved to discuss the situation with the R&A’s Martin Slumbers.
Slumbers asked Westwood to keep their discussion to himself and that, in Westwood’s opinion, was fair enough. The point which Westwood wanted to reach a wider audience was that “the Senior Open wasn’t very open.”
At Hoylake, Darren Clarke, Westwood’s longtime friend, gave a concerned shrug. “Personally,” he said, “I’d love to see Lee playing, but if the event has turned into a DP World Tour event and its being run under their rules, there’s nothing that can be done. The tournament would be the better for having Lee in the field. Everyone would want to watch him.”
In keeping with which, rumour has it that sponsor Rolex is not best pleased.
Next time, get them game-ready
A 20 or so strong group of neatly attired children, maybe 9- and 10-year-olds from a private Muslim academy in Manchester, had been brought to Hoylake to watch the golf. Preparation for the visit was such that the Muslim Golf Association, which was founded in 2020 by one Amir Malik, had paid for a nine-hole course to be laid in the school grounds in order that the children could learn about the game ahead of time. With the course in place, each of the pupils was given six lessons.
If the teachers were hoping that their charges would have fallen head-over-heels in love with the game after their day out, they were probably disappointed. On the way to catch the bus home, the head mistress was giving her charges a gentle telling off for sounding fed up.
That the little-ones had probably been overwhelmed by the size of the crowd prompted the thought that next year’s preparations should include an afternoon at a Black Friday sale.
Blown away

Adam Scott had ongoing problems after running up a 7 at the par-5 18th, which led to an opening 72. A little later, when he was walking back from the practice ground, he was stopped by a fan who had the initiative to climb aboard the metal railing and peep over a stretch of that seemingly omnipresent white fencing,
When the fan asked for his cap, the ever-obliging Scott offered to toss it across.
His toss, in what was a mild northwesterly wind, failed dismally. The hat swirled above the fence before landing back at his feet.
Social golf
Richard Bland, who started the third day at 1 under, did not talk of LIV Golf “growing the game” or any of that nonsense. To him, the most attractive facet of the new circuit is that he finds it more friendly than the DP World Tour.
“On the European Tour, you’d have your friends, but you wouldn’t see them as often as we would in a LIV week,” said the Englishman, who won his first DP World Tour event two years ago, at age 48. “With the shotgun starts, we get back to base at the same time and sit down together for lunch.”
As for the team side of LIV which hasn’t exactly grabbed the attention of golf’s more traditional fraternity, Bland insists that it only adds to the fun. Apparently, it brings them all still closer together.
It could be the company. It could be the money. Whatever, Bland is 100 percent more sociable than he was before he went to LIV – and says as much himself.
A ruff exit
It was all about a man called Gerard and his dachshund, Bruno, both of whom were among those – six people and Bruno – to have been dispatched from the premises ahead of the weekend.
Gerard said he had walked through one of the entrance gates before the staff had arrived to take his money, and that he was interested only in having a glimpse of Rory McIlroy.
The police put Gerard in handcuffs and Bruno on his lead and marched the noisy pair back to an exit point for questioning, and for a caution on the grounds that Bruno was not what they call “an assistance dog.”
GGP saw it as a sorry tale of a fellow who loved his dog and loved his golf and had simply fallen on hard times.
That assessment was way out. Apparently, the fellow had come in via someone’s garden wall; he was well known to the police; and he had a record as long as a par-5.
The story ended with Gerard being released from the handcuffs before getting his caution. Next, another caution was handed out – Gerard to Bruno – as the dog made to bite the policeman who was picking the handcuffs off the ground.
Golf’s sharper image
Chris Hedderman, Adidas’ new head of marketing, is working with the R&A to give the game a younger image.
Smiles are in, poker faces out; hoodies are in, suits, ties and blazers out. When GGP asked him to name five players at Hoylake who strike the right note, he put Italy’s Guido Migliozzi first, American Collin Morikawa second and Australian Cam Smith third.
“I’m struggling after that,” he said. “Too many of the golfers look the same.”
Identical, to a point

No-one is likely to contradict Thomas Bjørn when he speaks about the Højgaard twins, Nicolai and Rasmus, from his native Denmark. The reason here is that Bjørn has two sets of twins his own, the older editions now in their 20s and the latest two.
“You have to be a parent of a twin, or a twin, to understand how they are as they are,” said Bjørn, a two-time Open runner-up and the winning European captain of the 2018 Ryder Cup side. “They’re not like individuals, for a start. They tend to feed off each other in everything they do, and most of the time they’re bringing each other on. Nicolai and Rasmus are always wishing the best for each other.
“Though the pair are identical, the same does not apply to their golf,” he said. “Nicolai has the bigger game, while Rasmus is a bit more predictable and could probably afford to “let go” a bit more. Going on from there, they both practise hard, and you don’t see them going out on the town. They’re not that type. Like many others of their generation, they’re lovely fellows and great role models.”
What worries Bjørn is that the latest crop of up-and-coming Danes are not getting the recognition they deserve. For that to happen, he thinks it will take nothing less than a gold medal at next year’s Olympics.
With this in mind, the former Ryder Cup captain has accepted an invitation to captain next year’s Danish teams – men’s and women’s – in Paris.