SANDWICH BITES: Koepka WON'T follow Bryson into row with club supplier

SANDWICH BITES: Brooks Koepka WON’T follow Bryson DeChambeau into public row with club supplier while Iceland pays tribute to old supermarket worker Nick Poppleton

  • The second day of action at The Open saw Louis Oosthuizen establish his lead 
  • Brooks Koepka will avoid a club supplier row as he no longer has one  
  • Iceland have rebranded some of their vans in tribute of Nick Poppleton
  • Caddies are growing frustrated with not being allowed to go to the pub 

A thrilling second day of action saw 2011 champion Louis Oosthuizen establish his lead at Sandwich for this year’s Open. 

World No 4 Collin Morikawa shot a sensational round of 64 on Friday to catapult him among the leading pack, with countryman Jordan Spieth and South African Oosthuizen stretching ahead at the halfway mark. 

Here, Sportsmail’s MATT HUGHES reflects on a handful of talking points from a pulsating second round of action on Friday.

We were treated to a thrilling second day of The Open as Matt Hughes reflects on the action

KOEPKA’S FREEDOM TO GO CLUBBING

brooks Koepka will not be following rival Bryson DeChambeau by getting into a public row with his club supplier, because he doesn’t have one. 

The American has a clothing deal with Nike but they stopped making golf equipment five years ago and since then Koepka has been a free agent with licence to use any clubs. 

Koepka has replaced much of the Nike gear that was in his bag with clubs made by Callaway and TaylorMade.

Brooks Koepka will not be in a club row like Bryson DeChambeau as he does not have one

ICELAND’S VAN TRIBUTE TO POPPLETON

Iceland have rebranded some of their vans in the Yorkshire area to pay tribute to Nick Poppleton, who took on a second job as a delivery driver for the company last year when many tournaments were cancelled because of the pandemic. 

The 27-year-old missed the cut, so is free to return to working out of Iceland’s Sheffield depot, where new vans with ‘Driving from Tee to Tea’ on the side have been designed in his honour.

Iceland have honoured supermarket worker Nick Poppleton with rebranded delivery vans

CADDIES SUFFERING WITH PUBS OUT OF BOUNDS

An army of thirsty caddies are unhappy at being unable to enjoy their traditional post-play refreshment, with the Covid-19 protocols in operation preventing them going to the pub. 

One hotel in which many are staying, the Hampton by Hilton in Canterbury, has even deployed security guards on the door to prevent the bag-men going out on the town.

A similar restriction applies to R&A staff, who will no doubt be sick of the sight of the Falstaff Hotel in Canterbury when they check out on Monday.

COVID CHECKS TAKE A HAMMERING

No one is stampeding through the barricades at Royal St George’s, as occurred at Wembley last Sunday, but in some respects the stewarding is similarly slack, particularly with regard to checking spectators’ Covid-19 status. 

One patron struggling to prove he had been vaccinated by activating his NHS App on Friday was granted entry as a benevolent steward took a liking to his West Ham mobile-phone case. Hammers fans are welcome at Sandwich it seems. 

One patron at Sandwich was granted entry even though his NHS Covid app was not working




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