How meditation helped an ordained Buddhist monk at the British Open

PORTRUSH – Fickle weather and funny bounces are classic features of links golf, making the British Open a test of the mind as much as anything else.

Perhaps, then, it’s no surprise to see Sadom Kaewkanjana near the top of the leaderboard at Royal Portrush.

Kaewkanjana is an ordained Buddhist monk from Thailand who took a break from golf in 2023 to practice meditation.

He said being a monk was helping him “concentrate on the golf course” and improve his focus.

“Forget everything outside, just live in the present,” he said after shooting a 3-under 68 in his first round to be one stroke off the clubhouse lead in his second appearance at golf's oldest championship.

In his first — in 2022 — he finished tied for 11th place at the home of golf in St. Andrews.

That was his only previous experience of links golf.

“When I play links course, it’s a new experience for me,” the 27-year-old Kaewkanjana said. “I really enjoy to play a links course. It’s fun to play with a windy course and tough conditions.”

Kaewkanjana had the most fun at No. 5, a drivable par 4. He reached the green with his tee shot and holed an eagle putt from 20 feet.

Christmas comes early

Ryan Peake was so disappointed with his British Open debut that he described himself as “Father Christmas” after the first round at Royal Portrush.

“I was just handing out presents to the golf course,” said the Australian former motorcycle gang member who turned his life around through golf and managed to qualify by winning the New Zealand Open in March.

Peake got a gift of his own after shooting 6-over 77.

He played with one of his golfing heroes, Phil Mickelson, and chatted plenty with the 55-year-old American during his round. At one stage, he even grabbed hold of the six-time major winner’s putter and had a feel of it.

“That’s the OG — that’s the one from the Masters,” Peake said.

He didn’t get to keep the putter but did get a ball from Mickelson and got him to sign a glove.

“His caddie gave away golf balls as we were walking off the tee and I yelled out, ‘What about me?’ and he had a laugh, thought I was being sarcastic,” Peake said.

“He said, ‘Are you serious?’ and I said, ‘No, I’m deadly serious.’ I said, ‘Can you sign a glove as well.’”

Rahm loses cool

Jon Rahm was already seething at making the first bogey of his round at the British Open when he was handed the perfect opportunity to really let it all out on the 11th tee.

A spectator whistled on the backswing of Rahm's drive and the hot-headed Spaniard sprayed his ball right and into thick rough.

“Really?” Rahm said. “Whistling? Great time. Right in my backswing. Very smart, whoever it was.”

Rahm was calmer after his round when explaining his reaction.

“I mean, if I were to paint a picture, you have the hardest tee shot on the course, raining, into the wind off the left, it’s enough,” he said. “I know they’re not doing it on purpose. It just seemed like somebody trying to get a hold of someone for whatever it is. It was bad timing.”

“I think I just used the moment to let out any tension I had in me.”

Rahm wound up making a bogey on No. 11 but he recovered to shoot 70.

Lowry's nerves

Shane Lowry, the popular 2019 champion at Royal Portrush, chose to take a couple of weeks off and play some of the best courses in Ireland in gorgeous weather ahead of his return to the Dunluce Links.

It didn't really prepare Lowry for what hit him on the first tee Thursday.

“I’ve fought with this round of golf in my head for a few weeks now. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Lowry said. “The first tee shot wasn’t that easy. I wasn’t feeling very comfortable there.”

It hardly showed. Lowry ripped his driver down the middle of the fairway and said “everything was great” after shooting 70.

“Days like today, you can really play your way out of a tournament,” he said. “So it was nice to play my way into it.”

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf