Tuesday 4 August 2015 11:23, UK
From Tiger showing signs of progress, weather woe and another major win for Inbee Park, we look at five talking points from the weekend's action.
Is Tiger back?
There was almost a nostalgic feel on Friday night at the Quicken Loans National, where tournament host Tiger Woods found himself within two shots of the lead after an impressive opening couple of rounds.
Although his spell near the top of the leaderboard was short-lived, an improvement in Woods’ short game and recovery play was noticeable to see as he kept a potentially horror third round down to a two-over 74.
A tied-18th finish certainly showed encouraging signs for the now world No 262, who generally appeared to be stronger off the tee than we’ve seen in recent starts, but he is still making far too many errors to suggest a long-awaited victory will come any time soon.
Grand Slam or not?
A three-shot win for Inbee Park at Turnberry not only gave the Korean star a fourth different major title, but caused plenty of debate as to whether the 27-year-old had completed golf’s Grand Slam.
Park certainly felt so, struggling to hold back tears after describing the ‘best day of her life’, although the confusion comes as the Evian Championship only gained major status a year after the world No 1 took the title.
Whether it’s being considered a Grand Slam or not, one thing for certain is that Park continues to assert herself as one of the game’s female greats, now tied-seventh alongside Karrie Webb in the all-time list of major wins.
Weather woes
Just like at St Andrews a couple of weeks earlier, the Scottish weather continued to deliver its brutal worst at Murcar and in particular Turnberry, making a mockery of summer.
Heavy rain, strong winds and cold temperatures made for tough conditions for the players, with just two posting under par rounds during an especially challenging second round.
The weather did improve enough to produce the lowest of the scoring during Sunday's final round, but this week's elements were more suited to late-autumn rather than the end of July.
Match Play magic
Murcar Links provided a stunning backdrop for the inaugural Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play, which produced an entertaining week despite the lack of star names in action.
Former Open champion John Daly and several of this season’s winners all featured, but the event’s place in the schedule ahead of two weeks in America did leave the tournament with a relatively weak field.
The location and format were clearly enjoyed though by those who did take part, with links golf and matchplay events few and far between on the European Tour, giving Lawrie and the organisers plenty to build on after a successful debut.
Big blow for WGC
This week's WGC event will be lacking golf's two household names in Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, after the Northern Irishman confirmed he would miss the tournament through injury.
Woods was never due to feature given his world ranking position, but there had been hope McIlroy would have been fit enough to feature for the first time since Chambers Bay and defend the title he won at Firestone last year.
Updates on McIlroy's condition have been few and far between since he ruptured ankle ligaments playing football last month, raising doubts as to whether the world No 1 will be fit to tee off at Whistling Straits for the final major of the year next week where he is the defending champion.
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