Sequels can be iffy propositions.
Film aficionados probably can list on one hand the number of follow-up movies that surpassed the quality of the original in timbre, tone and artistic impact.
That did not stop the US Golf Association from staging the first double-header in major championship history, at Pinehurst No 2, where Martin Kaymer won the US Open in runaway fashion last weekend as the women were arriving to play their championship at the same venue, starting today.
When the USGA came back for seconds, it created some interesting story lines and subplots at the most important major in the women’s game.
In that regard, the plan has already been a hit. Plus, given that Kaymer turned the weekend into a coronation walk, the US Women’s Open can hardly be less dramatic.
Working on the practice green on Sunday, Kaymer noticed one of the LPGA players stationed a few feet away. Before the men had finished their final round, several LPGA players began hitting shots on the range and practice green.
About to play the most pressure-packed round of his life, Kaymer rightly could have been annoyed. Instead, he seemed to welcome the novelty of the moment.
“Some of them are very pretty,” Kaymer said after the final round, drawing laughs. “There was actually one girl, I don’t know her name, but she had the putting tool on the putting green. I tried it. I asked her, ‘What is it? What’s it for’?”
As far as placing the women’s game at the fore, or helping guys such as Kaymer put more faces with names, the USGA’s back-to-back attack is bound to turn heads, and not solely from the inevitable comparison and contrast of how the different genders handled the demanding course.
Kaymer aside, Pinehurst gave the rest of the men conniptions, especially on the humpbacked greens. The course this week will play 900 yards shorter, but it is still a beast. This week, some women used the men’s event as a preview of coming attractions.
Lydia Ko, the world No 3, followed several players on Sunday and hired the veteran caddie Mike “Fluff” Cowan, who has worked for major winners Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk, for the week. Sandra Gal tagged along on Sunday to watch German compatriot Kaymer win by a commanding eight shots.
Michelle Wie, the world No 11, talked South Florida neighbours Rickie Fowler and Keegan Bradley into handing over their Pinehurst yardage books, which included handwritten notes in the margins.
They both finished in the top four last week.
“It’s such a unique experience to have the information,” Wie said. “You normally go to a golf course site and the information would probably be from years ago.
“But this is pretty fresh information and it’s similar conditions to what we’ll play.”
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
We Weren’t Supposed to Survive But We Did
We weren’t supposed to survive but we did.
We weren’t supposed to remember but we did.
We weren’t supposed to write but we did.
We weren’t supposed to fight but we did.
We weren’t supposed to organise but we did.
We weren’t supposed to rap but we did.
We weren’t supposed to find allies but we did.
We weren’t supposed to grow communities but we did.
We weren’t supposed to return but WE ARE.
Amira Sakalla
