I just had a week off spending time with the family in London, and enjoying some of the action on Centre Court at Wimbledon, but I was watching some golf at the weekend, too.
And I do want to mention a few outstanding achievements here. Not least Thongchai Jaidee’s win against a world-class field in the French Open. He’s a great ambassador for the Asian Tour and his story is truly inspiring. Back in the US, congrats to Dustin Johnson who has quickly followed-up on his first Major win with a superb victory at the Bridgestone.
And hats off to Greg Chalmers who secured his first PGA TOUR title in the Barracuda Championship. After 18 years on Tour and 386 starts, that’s got to feel very sweet. It also secures Greg a place in The Open Championship at Royal Troon next week. Greg is a great guy with an amazing family and has been a true friend and supporter of The Els for Autism Foundation. He has Autism in his family and is doing great things with his wife Nicole with their Foundation, Maximum Chances.
Talking of the Open, well done to Brandon Stone and Richard Sterne who will also be teeing it up at Royal Troon thanks to their strong performances in the French Open, where a total of four spots were available through the R&A’s excellent Open Qualifying Series. For Brandon this will be his Major Championship debut, on top of winning the SA Open in January, so all in all it’s been quite a year for him. We now have an impressive 9-strong contingent of South African players competing at Royal Troon – myself, Louis Oosthuizen, Zander Lombard, Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace, Haydn Porteous, Richard Sterne, Brandon Stone and George Coetzee. I’ll see all you guys there!
That’s when I’m next back in action and, of course, it’s a week that I always look forward to with excitement and high expectations. The Open is my favourite tournament of the year. Obviously I’m familiar with the golf course, but it’s a long time since we were last there – 12 years in fact. And this year’s Open is not only a huge week for the players and for all golf fans, but also for one of my sponsors, Boeing, which celebrates its centenary on the Friday of this year’s Championship. Many of you may already spotted the new ‘100 Boeing’ logo on my golfing apparel this year, so now you all know what that’s about!
My partnership with Boeing actually began back in 2012 and I continue to be proud to represent such an iconic brand. And speaking as a genuine enthusiast of aviation, it’s a thrill for me personally to be involved with Boeing, to be able to tour the factory as I did last year, and learn more about the amazing story of a company that has been at the forefront of aerospace technology, literally shaping the course of history with some groundbreaking innovations. They have certainly embraced founder Bill Boeing’s original philosophy – “build something better”. And, as the company says, they’re only just getting started. Imagine what air travel will be like in another 100 years!
Naturally, we want to do all we can to help Boeing celebrate this historic landmark. We’ve put our heads together and, with Boeing’s generous support, will be running a competition via social media from Wednesday 13 July right through to the Sunday of Open week. It will allow us to share with you some of the incredible stories in Boeing’s history and offer you the chance to win some great prizes from the Boeing store.
You’ll be able to take part in this competition via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, while on this website we’ll also have some really interesting content, including some great video clips from the Boeing archive. In addition, in next week’s blog I’ll give you all the information you need on how to take part and what you have to do in order to win. Watch this space!
In the meantime, you can discover more about the history of Boeing and how it is commemorating its centenary by visiting the website: http://www.boeing.com/boeing100.
Okay, that’s it for now. Follow me on Twitter @TheBig_Easy.
