Author: The Guardian

It was a slow day at the ice cream stalls around Royal Troon. Just as the leaders reached the practice green, the rain clouds stopped and pain spread across the course like puddles that no one had gotten around to mopping up. It’s the kind of weather that makes you turn right around as soon as you open the front door, and an hour later the crowds start to thin out and people go home early. Even the locals’ dry humor got wet. As tempting as the Open is, you need a really good reason to want to quit when…

Cyprus has marked the landmark anniversary of 50 years of ethnic division amid markedly contrasting scenes: mourning in the south and celebration in the north.At 5.20am Greek Cypriots in the internationally recognised south awoke to air raid sirens reminding them of the arrival of thousands of invading Turkish troops on the eastern Mediterranean island five decades ago. In the Turkish-occupied north, the milestone event was cause for joy, with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, flying in to attend a military parade and fly-past commemorating the “peace operation”.In a speech, Erdoğan called the breakaway territory, recognised only by Ankara since unilaterally…

Eighteen holes stand between Dan Brown and one of the greatest sports upsets of our time.Before the Royal Troon hit, little was known about the 750-1 outsider outside of golf’s windbreaker ranks. No wonder; Brown was ranked 272nd in the world when he arrived in Ayrshire. His last eight finishes include one retirement, six cuts and a tie for 61st. Who knew the bearded, chain-smoking son of a Yorkshire pig farmer could take home the bacon in an open competition? There are hints of Todd Hamilton here, who won the title at Troon in 2004. Brown should be completely uncomfortable…

When I was nine years old, I kept a diary. One entry contained a list of four essential requirements for my future husband. Number one was that he wears sunscreen (because naturally, that’s what all responsible men do). Number two, he has a good sense of humour. Number three, he had to be as kind as my grandfather Fred. As the sweetest, most selfless man I had ever met, he was the gold standard to which I measured all men. Number four, he had to be very tall (as a long lanky child, I correctly predicted that I would be…

Greg Norman is live at Royal Troon on Saturday. Bête Noir, chief executive of LIV Golf and a bastion of the sport, previously found himself excluded from the Open. Two years ago he was snubbed from an invitation to the University of St Andrews, but this weekend he was “rewarded with all the privileges expected of a former champion golfer”.There’s more to the story than meets the eye, as there are often tidbits related to the LIV, a Saudi-funded gangster rivalry. The R&A joked a few months ago that Norman was not on the Open roster but that “tickets are…

Powerful airstrikes rocked the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah a day after Israeli officials vowed revenge for a drone that struck Tel Aviv.Airstrikes hit a refinery and electricity infrastructure, sparking a huge blaze. It was the first direct hit on Yemen since Houthi rebels there began targeting Israel with missiles and drones last year.All of those attacks had been intercepted, until Friday’s strike on Tel Aviv killed one person and injured at least 10.The Almasirah television channel, run by Yemen’s Houthi movement, said on Saturday evening that airstrikes had targeted the city.Images circulating on social media, which could not…

timeThat’s why Sunday will be the first time in 35 years that the Tour de France ends with a time trial. The 1989 race ended on a cliffhanger on the Champs Elysées when Greg LeMond started at a disadvantage and beat France’s Laurent Fignon by eight seconds. The slimmest advantage in this great game.In the following years, organizers feared that any attempt to repeat this stage would be doomed to failure compared to the results of that race, so they stuck with the tried and tested road race stage format, ending on the Champs Elysees on tour.Eschewing Paris and finishing…

Scientists have voted to eliminate the names of certain plants that are deemed to be racially offensive. The decision to remove a label that contains such a slur was taken last week after a gruelling six-day session attended by more than 100 researchers, as part of the International Botanical Congress, which officially opens on Sunday in Madrid.The effect of the vote will be that all plants, fungi and algae names that contain the word caffra, which originates in insults made against Black people, will be replaced by the word affra to denote their African origins. More than 200 species will be…

After resisting pressure to claim pole position during an intense qualifying session at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Lando Norris and his McLaren team know they must now deliver on their promise in a crucial moment on Sunday. Missed opportunities and small mistakes have been frequent and costly in recent races, but Oscar Piastri, in what is clearly the fastest car in the field, completed a McLaren front-row lock and Budapest felt It’s a must-win battle for Norris.His pole position lap at the Hungaroring was excellent, chasing the time set by Max Verstappen, who ended up finishing third. Defeated. Aggressive and…

Police in Bangladesh have been granted “shoot-on-sight” orders and a nationwide curfew has been imposed as student-led protests continue to roil the country, leaving more than 100 people dead.The curfew, imposed at midnight on Friday, was expected to last until Sunday morning as police tried to bring the swiftly deteriorating security situation under control, with military personnel patrolling the streets of the capital.The curfew was lifted briefly on Saturday afternoon to allow people to run essential errands, but otherwise people have been ordered to remain at home and all gatherings and demonstrations have been banned. The government has also imposed…