Hereโs why an albatross is the rarest achievement in golf
While a birdie is 1-under par on a hole and an eagle is 2-under par, a step better than that is an albatross, which is 3-under par on a hole. In the four major tournaments, it has only happened 18 times since 1870, according to GolfLink. An albatross has happened the most times at golfโs oldest major, the British Open, which has seen an albatross occur eight times in its history. The U.S. Open and PGA Championship were the last to see three, by Nick Watney in 2012 and Joey Sindelar in 2006, respectively. Maggert has two of the 18 albatrosses at major tournaments, collecting one at the 1994 Masters and one during the 2001 British Open.
No roars at Augusta as Masters to be played without fans
The Masters, the major known as much for the roars of the crowd as the raw beauty of Augusta National, will be on mute this year. That means all three majors in this year of COVID-19 will not have fans, and the silence figures to be most deafening at Augusta National when the Masters is played Nov. 12-15. Golf is coming off its first major without fans last week at the PGA Championship. The U.S. Open, moved from June to Sept. 17-20 because of the pandemic, previously announced it won't have spectators at Winged Foot. The British Open announced in April it would be canceled this year.
Shane Lowry playing golf this week, but not where he thought
It will go to Royal St. Georges next summer. Its just very strange times for us at the minute, isnt it?Lowry said he has never seen the lunar landscape of Royal St. Georges. Id love if we were playing in front of 40,000 or 50,000 people this week in St. Georges, he said. For the week of the U.S. Open, golf was in its second week of returning from the pandemic, at Harbour Town. So everything that I miss or that I wont get to do this week, Im sure Ill get to do next year.
British Open at a Glance
Getty ImagesPORTRUSH, Northern Ireland - PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) - A brief look at the 148th British Open, which starts Thursday:Site: Royal Portrush. Last time at Royal Portrush: Max Faulkner built a six-shot lead through 54 holes and held on with a 74 for a two-shot victory over Antonio Cerda in the only British Open not held in Scotland or England. Noteworthy: The R&A says 237,500 tickets have been sold for the week, the second-most in British Open history behind St. Andrews. Quoteworthy: "No matter what happens this week, if I win or whoever else wins, having the Open back in this country is a massive thing for golf. - Rory McIlroyTelevision (all times EDT): Thursday-Friday, 1:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 5-7 a.m. (Golf Channel), 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, 4-7 a.m. (Golf Channel), 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. (NBC).