clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile
SBNation.com homepage

Filed under:

6 things you may have missed since the British Open: Stuart Appleby is not Robert Allenby, should Tiger Woods retire?

Stuart Appleby reminds us he’s not Robert Allenby, and other golf tidbits that may have escaped your attention since Zach Johnson won the Open Championship.

By Emily Kay
David Cannon/Getty Images

After a long but dramatic British Open and ahead of this week’s Women’s British Open as well as the quickly approaching final major tilt on the men’s 2015 calendar, here are a few items that may have eluded your attention.

Stuart Appleby distances himself from Robert Allenby.

Stuart Appleby took to Twitter last week in an attempt to clarify that -- though his last name may be similar, and he may share a country of origin (Australia) with the embattled Robert Allenby -- he is not Robert Allenby

Allenby -- who canned Mick Middlemo midway through his first round of last week’s Canadian Open, after a rancorous argument over a club selection -- was called out by another looper as something of a fibber.

"I wouldn’t be talking about it if he [Allenby] didn’t tell the media afterwards a whole lot of porky pies," Simon Clarke, who was on the bag of another player on Thursday when the altercation went down, told Reuters on Friday.

"I’ve known Rob for a long time and I’ve known Mick for a long time. It’s disappointing that at age 42, or however old he [Allenby] is, he’s still treating people that way and how many good caddies he’s gone through," said Clarke, who was defending Middlemo, reportedly Allenby’s fourth caddie to quit the golfer during a tournament. "It’s sad that he speaks to the guys this way and doesn’t wait until after the round. It’s disappointing that he’s up to his old tricks."

Clarke said Allenby called Middlemo "a overweight so and so." Reports indicated the comment was riddled with expletives, the caddie fulfilled his duties through the first nine and then removed his bib, had words with the player and left the course.

Allenby -- who contended earlier this year he was mugged and robbed during a tour event in Hawaii -- said Middlemo threatened him, but Clarke wasn’t buying it.

"If Rob tells the true story, I’m not speaking out," Clarke said. "Lies affect Mick’s career."

As a reminder, that was Robert ALLENBY, not Stuart APPLEBY, who plucked a civilian out of the gallery to carry his bag for his second nine and then withdrew after carding a 9-over 81.

Finally, the real Next Tiger Woods emerges from India.

Tiger Woods is in the stretch drive of his extraordinary career and the punditry desperately wants to identify the next "It" guy in golf, whether he be Rory McIlroy or Jordan Spieth. With Gary Player saying last week that -- to become more inclusive and attractive to new golfers and fans -- the sport sorely needs a champion of color, what if the real "Next Tiger Woods" is a 10-year-old from India?

Shubham Jaglan has won 100 events in his short time as a golf icon in his country, and one of those was the Junior World Golf Championships in California. Tiger -- as well as Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, and Nick Price -- have won the tournament, so now seems like time to pass the mantle of heir apparent to Jaglan.

Tired of Tiger’s struggles? "Don’t watch him play."

Even before Woods missed the cut at the British Open (the first time in his career he posted MCs in two straight majors), there were those in the punditry suggesting that the 14-time major winner should just hang up his spikes. The hue and cry for Tiger to retire grew more vociferous after his inglorious 36-hole score of 7-over, but the Guardian’s DJ Gallo suggests the naysayers put a sock in it.

"Yes, that’s the new prescription for the former world No1 that has emerged in recent days, weeks and months: Tiger Woods should stop doing golf. Forever," Gallo wrote last week. "For some reason, many in the sports media believe it’s up to them to decide when an athlete should step away … Writers tell people they suck and let them know what they can’t do. That’s apparently a huge part of working in the sports media."

Gallo agrees that witnessing Woods in his current state is painful but wonders where the calls were for Zach Johnson to quit prior to his recent Open Championship victory. He and Tiger are both 39 and Johnson’s last major triumph before the one at St. Andrews was in 2007 at the Masters, which gave Woods -- who most recently prevailed in a major at the 2008 U.S. Open -- the edge.

Of course that’s preposterous, but so, reasoned Gallo, were calls for Woods to give up his life’s work. In fact, Gallo had a suggestion for those who just can’t stand to see Tiger struggle with his latest swing change -- don’t watch him play.

"He’s not banging on your front door and demanding you watch him slice a ball into the rough," Gallo wrote. "It’s not hard to miss him when he’s not on TV during the weekend. Just don’t watch him."’

Should you wish to watch him play, Golf Channel will cover Tiger’s stint at this week’s Quicken Loans National.

Jason Day channels Tiger  in Canada

Jason Day, with three straight birdies to end the tournament, held off a charging Bubba Watson and overcame a two-shot deficit after 54 holes to win the Canadian Open on Sunday. The Australian, who has two PGA Tour wins this season and four overall, shot a 4-under 68 in the finale to beat Watson and Canada’s native son David Hearn by one stroke, at 17-under.

Day, fresh from a T4 at the British Open and a tie for ninth at the U.S. Open, where he battled vertigo, invoked the name of a certain good friend of his who has won a few events during his career.

"This must feel like what Tiger [Woods] did for so many times and it feels good," said Day, who has a few tour wins to go to catch up with Woods’ 79. "I’m going to try to do as much as I can and keep it the same and try and win."

Bubba birdied four straight to end his Canadian visit with a final-round 69.

Lexi Thompson lands a knockout punch.

Lexi Thompson rebounded from four shots back of Lizette Salas at the start of Sunday’s final round of the Meijer LPGA Classic to overtake Salas and Gerina Piller by one shot and win her fifth LPGA Tour title. The 2014 Kraft Nabisco champion fired a 5-under 65 in Sunday’s finale to get to 18-under for the week and KO her opponents even with a troublesome injury to her right wrist that she got from punching a writer.

It was all part of the script for her February Golf Digest photo shoot, in which Conde Nast Entertainment associate producer Tony Hernandez suggested he interview Thompson while she demonstrated how she incorporates boxing into her golf workouts.

A deep bone bruise resulted from the sparring and Thompson tapes her wrist to play.

"Without the tape, it still hurts pretty bad," Thompson told Randall Mell. "I’m icing it a ton. So, we’ll see where it goes."

Where Thompson goes next is the Ricoh Women’s British Open, which tees off on Thursday at Trump Turnberry.

The Donald trumps up his golf course business.

Not all of the 17 courses Trump owns and/or manages are "very successful," as the Republican presidential candidate claimed in a public letter to LPGA commissioner Mike Whan earlier this month. Trump International Golf Club Puerto Rico, which Trump does not own but which licenses his name and his company operates, has filed for bankruptcy.

In addition, CNBC alleged that the $500 million to $675 million that Trump contended his courses were worth was just a tad overblown.

"Based on the industry standard valuation metric," according to CNBC, Trump’s golf properties are worth somewhere between $160 million and $250 million.

Whan was the target of Trump’s vitriol in the wake of several golf associations issuing statements distancing themselves from The Donald’s controversial comments about immigration.

After Whan said it was too late to relocate this week’s women’s major to another venue, Trump pompously offered to negate the "absolutely binding contract" that anchored the Women’s British Open to his Turnberry track. The Ladies Golf Union runs the Women’s British Open, which is co-sanctioned by the LPGA and the Ladies European Tour.

SB Nation video archives: Urban golfing with a U.S. Open champ (2012)

Next Up In Golf