The Scotsman Bulletin Thursday July 18 2024 #TheOpen
Scotsman deputy editor Alan Young runs through the headlines and we hear from our golf correspondent Martin Dempster at The Open
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00:00Hello and welcome to the Scotsman's Daily Bulletin for Thursday. I'm Alan Young, Deputy
00:14Editor of the Scotsman, with a quick run through of the headlines. Let's take a look at today's
00:21front page. And like pretty much every paper in the country, we splash on the big event
00:28yesterday, and that was the King's Speech, where Sir Keir Starmer outlined his initial
00:36programme for government. It was a bumper speech, 40 pieces of legislation in all, and
00:42a lot which will impact either fully or in some form on Scotland. The line we've picked
00:49out is probably the big announcement for Scotland, and that is GB Energy, new state-owned clean
00:57power firm is going to be headquartered in Scotland. We don't know exactly where, but
01:03a bill to enable it will be introduced. There are now calls for clarity around the plans,
01:11around what exactly the company is going to do and where it is going to go. And that comes
01:17at the same time as oil and gas companies express some concern over the prospect of
01:23the windfall tax being extended. We've got full coverage in today and running at Scotsman.com
01:30with a breakdown of what exactly all this means for Scotland. We also report on the
01:37front page there the death of a 17-year-old in the Pullman Young Offenders Institution.
01:43This comes two years after the Scottish Government said it was going to stop sending under-18s
01:49there and in the wake of two very high-profile fatal accident inquiries. And at the top of
01:56the page, the Open Championship at Royal Troon tees off today. Play is already underway.
02:03Huge event for golf, huge event for Scotland with a lot of Scottish interest in it. And
02:12we will hear from the Scotsman's golf correspondent, Martin Dempster, in just a minute. It's clearly
02:19an event that we're very excited about, not least because Bob McIntyre, of course, had that stunning
02:25win in the Scottish Open at the weekend. Can he do the double? That's what everyone is asking.
02:33Let's go to Martin Dempster, who sent us this a little while ago.
02:40Hello, it's Martin Dempster, the Scotsman golf correspondent here. I come to you from
02:46Royal Troon on the eve of the 152nd Open Championship. And as you can probably hear,
02:54the final touches are being made to the Ayrshire course ahead of Thursday's opening round.
03:04The action gets underway here at 6.35am. And in that first group are two former Troon winners,
03:14Justin Leonard and Todd Hamilton. And what a thrill it's going to be for local man,
03:20Jack McDonald, as he joins those two players in the first group out in this event.
03:27Behind them in the second group, Nairn amateur, Callum Scott. He's out with former Scottish Open
03:34champion, Alex Norne, and the young Northern Irishman, Tom McKibben. So certainly plenty
03:41interest from a Scottish perspective early on. And not long after, maybe an hour or so after,
03:46the newly crowned Genesis Scottish Open champion, Bob McIntyre, is going to step onto the first tee
03:52to a tremendous ovation and recognition in that win last weekend. And what a group he's in as well.
03:59Two of his Ryder Cup teammates, John Ram and Tommy Fleetwood, are going to be alongside McIntyre.
04:06And there's no doubt that group is going to have a huge following on this opening day.
04:11Forth Scot in the field, Ewan Ferguson, he's out just before noon in the opening round. And usually
04:18it's in a two ball. He's playing with Marcel Siem in that two ball. And that's because the field on
04:24this occasion is 158 players, not the traditional 156. And on Friday, they'll be the first group out.
04:35Great excitement is always heading into the Open. All the preparations have now
04:40been done by the players. They'll be on the range maybe the next hour or so, just
04:45finishing things off. 10th time the Open has been held here at Troon. The last occasion was in 2014,
04:54when we were treated to a memorable duel between Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson over the final
05:0236 holes. The winning total on that occasion was 20 under par, which is pretty astonishing around
05:08here. Don't think it's going to be as low as that again, but we're certainly going to be in for a
05:13fascinating four days of golf. To keep up to date with everything about the 150 second Open,
05:19log on to Scotsman.com or buy the Scotsman.
05:26Thanks for that Martin. Yes, fascinating few days ahead. And like Martin says,
05:32please do keep an eye on Scotsman.com. If you can do subscribe, then you can read and watch
05:38absolutely everything we do. And again, as Martin says, if you're out and about today,
05:43do please pick up a copy of the paper. But for now, goodbye.