Golf 2015

[silhillvilla]

Bunch of wimps. I thought that the whole point of links golf was dealing with the variable weather

The issue is the balls are moving on the greens due to the wind.
No play now til 4pm earliest, confirmed this goes into Monday.

[Dave Cooper please]

Amateur Paul Dunne currently leading The Open at -11.

[cdbearsfan]

When was the last time an amateur won? Guess he won't be amateur for long!

[silhillvilla]

When was the last time an amateur won? Guess he won't be amateur for long!

1930's I think.
If he wins, winning prize money goes to best placed Pro.

[Dave Cooper please]

When was the last time an amateur won? Guess he won't be amateur for long!

Bobby Jones in 1930.

[Rotterdam]

Looking forward to this afternoons action. Any of the -8's and above could win this...

[UK Redsox]

When was the last time an amateur won? Guess he won't be amateur for long!

1930's I think.
If he wins, winning prize money goes to best placed Pro.

I assume that an amateur can't turn pro during or immediately after an event in order to win the money

[Rotterdam]

They have to go to 'Q school' and earn their card (right to be a pro) but I think you need a handicap of 1 or less.
You can enter the qualifying rounds of The Open and earn your right to play as an amateur.

[Dave Cooper please]

They have to go to 'Q school' and earn their card (right to be a pro) but I think you need a handicap of 1 or less.
 

Not quite right. The Q school is to qualify for a card on the top rank of European golf, the European Tour, but there are tours ranked below that that professionals can play in, the 2nd tier in Europe is the Challenge Tour, the top ten of which at the end of the year qualify for a European Tour card.
There is also a third tier of tournaments such as the EuroPro tour and the Nordic Golf League below that.

 Because Dunne entered The Open as an amateur he can't win the cash, but he can turn Pro as soon as the tournament finishes if he likes, he could then apply to enter the Challenge Tour (and would almost certainly be accepted) and will also almost definitely get some sponsors invites to top tier tournaments due to his Open exploits. If he wins enough money to get into the top 110 on the European Tour from the invites he won't need to go to the Q school either.

[cdbearsfan]

Surely you should get an exemption from Q School if you win one of the Majors?

[Dave Cooper please]

You would get an automatic invite back to that particular Major for life, but otherwise I don't think that scenario has ever come up before since the Q School started!

*EDIT* Actually that's wrong, because all Majors count towards the European Tour I think, so winning one gets you a four year automatic European Tour card, or something like that anyway.

[ACVilla]

I'm rooting for Harrington as I had him e/w (top 7 places😯) at the start of the tournament at 150/1.

Failing that I'd love to see Garcia win.

[Dave Cooper please]

Four amateur golfers in the top 20 currently.

[silhillvilla]

The weather up there looks horrendous again.

[silhillvilla]

What a brilliant Open this has been