Two Australians Pose as Pro Golfers Bluffed Their Way to North Korea’s Golf Tournament

Two Australian pose as professional golfers and bluff their way into the 18-hole international tournament in North Korea.

Morgan Ruig and Evan Shay, both 28 pulled of one of the craziest sports prank ever. The two were in a Polo trip in Beijing when they heard about the competition.

The two Australians emailed their application to North Korea, posing as professional Australian Team and wore fake green blazers bearing the National Logo. After the event, Ruig and Shay left two day tournament in North Korea without any problems.

85 participants flew from various parts of the world, to compete in the only golf course in North Korea, the Pyongyang Golf Course.

In 1987, late leader Kim Jong-il opened the Pyongyang Golf Complex; there are stories that the leader shot 11 holes-in-ones on first attempt.

The Australians were guarded by North Korean officials throughout their five-day trip. They were also given a tour of Pyongyang, where they offered flowers at a monument of the country’s infamous leaders.

Performance at the Green

Morgan Ruig told the Courier-Mail newspapaer, “We were very nervous handing our passports over at the border. There are stories of people not coming home.”
“I hit 120 and my caddy told me I had bought great shame to my family.”

“We played very poorly… but we met some very interesting people,” he added.
In an interview with Yahoo Sports, Ruig said the officials thought it’s “quite funny.”

Despite their poor performance at the tournament, he said the experience was “character building.”

“I wouldn’t recommend it to a light-hearted traveller. It was pretty hardcore but it was an amazing experience.”

The post Two Australians Pose as Pro Golfers Bluffed Their Way to North Korea’s Golf Tournament appeared first on Newsline.

Woods Pulls Out of Safeway Open, Postpones Comeback

Golf’s Tiger Woods delays his comeback after more than a year of respite from the sport following back surgeries. He has pulled out from this week’s Safeway Open and will not compete at next month’s Turkish Airlines Open.

Woods unexpectedly withdrew on Monday and said his game was not sharp enough for him to take on PGA Tour competition.

“My health is good, and I feel strong, but my game is vulnerable and not where is needs to be,” he said.

Woods officially committed to the tournament on Friday. Previously, he announced on September 7 that he planned on playing three times by the end of the year. He intended to start with the Safeway Open in California.

Rumors circulated that he would be paired with Phil Mickelson and Emiliano Grillo. With the return of the defending Silverado champion, excitement was building up. However, after what Woods defined as “a lot of soul searching and reflection”, he withdrew from the Safeway Open. Furthermore, he will no longer participate in the Turkish Airlines Open on November.

Woods said that the postponement of his return was not due to back-related issues. He added that he intends to play at his Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas on December 1 – 4.

Matthew’s fault

Notah Begay, Wood’s friend and former tour player, said Hurricane Matthew, which passed near his south Florida Residence, had hampered Wood’s training last week.

Wood’s was extremely disappointed, Begay said on Golf Channel. He has a standard of performance unlike anyone else and he just doesn’t feel like it’s not ready.

Further, he said that before taking a week off from his preparation to be an assistant captain on the successful United States team at the Ryder Cup, Woods was confident about the level of his game.

Johnny Miller, the event’s host at Silverado, said Wood’s absence is a huge impact on the Safeway Open. Everybody was so excited in the golf world and in Northern California.

The post Woods Pulls Out of Safeway Open, Postpones Comeback appeared first on Newsline.

US Team Ends Losing Streak, Wins Back Ryder Cup

The US Ryder Cup team gave Europe a 17-11 thrashing on Sunday as they snapped a losing streak and had their biggest rout of the biennial event in 35 years.

Ryan Moore, who was added as the 12th player only the day prior to the arrival of the team in Minnesota, sealed the rousing win over Europe by trouncing Lee Westwood 1-up for his second point of the competition.

US assistant captain Bubba Watson wept as he and captain Davis Love III hugged on the 18th green. Families, friends and teammates rushed onto the green to celebrate.

The Ryder Cup is staying in America for the first time since 2008 as Europe dominated eight of the previous ten meetings, winning three Cup victories in a row.

There was never really a chance for Europe, who was going for its fourth straight victory.

Patrick Reed outdueled Irishman Rory McIlroy in an unbelievable match.

McIlroy holed a long birdie from 60 feet out that silenced the audience. Playing to the crowd, he put his hand to his ear and shouted, “I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you,” elaborately.

Reed then followed with a 35-foot birdie putt and wagged his finger at McIlroy as the crowd was ecstatic. They bumped fists and patted each other on the back as they exited the green.

Reed’s 1-up win gave him 3.5 points in his five matches, topping the US team.

Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia collected 19 birdies between them, eight coming over the last five holes. They fittingly ended up all square.

To wrap up their victory, the US side took advantage of their superior depth. They won all of their matches against four of Europe’s six rookies in the late match ups.

Only rookies Thomas Pieters of Belgium and Spain’s Rafa Cabrera-Bello won against their American opponents in the later matches. Pieters beat JB Holmes and Cabrera-Bello topped Jimmy Walker, both by 3 and 2.

The Americans celebrated their victory on top of a bridge near the 18th green and dosed champagne on themselves and the crowd. Furthermore, the huge throng vigorously cheered “U-S-A” and “red, white, blue.”

The post US Team Ends Losing Streak, Wins Back Ryder Cup appeared first on Newsline.