All we know already about Richard Teder suggests his Open Championship debut may provide essential viewing when he becomes the first golfer from Estonia to tee it up in the oldest major.
He qualified by holing out from 90 yards in a sudden death playoff, a euphoric scene which preceded the eating of half a doner kebab for dinner. Teder picked up golf by accident, finds the sport straightforward and learned English via YouTube. There are far more illustrious names in the field at Royal Portrush but few competitors have such a backstory.
“The job is not finished yet, right?” says the 20-year-old with an air of endearing confidence. “There is still some golf to be played. I don’t see this as pressure. I am just very grateful to be the one from Estonia who happens to be very good at golf.”
At West Lancashire, Teder leapt for joy after holing his second shot at a par four to seal his Open berth. He shoots back a glance – as in, “don’t be ridiculous” – when asked whether he felt remotely sorry for his two opponents.
“I have never had anything like that on a golf course,” he recalls. “It was the perfect golf shot; pace was good, dead centre of the cup. It was an unbelievable experience. I thought it would go in after I saw the first bounce, the ball had landed exactly where I wanted and kicked dead straight. I threw my hands up quite early. I semi-blacked out, I couldn’t believe it.”
Onwards, to the kebab house. “Everything else was closed,” Teder explains. “That was the only spot open but it wasn’t very good. I only managed a few bites then went back to the hotel.”
All of this is articulated perfectly. Did Teder really master English through the internet? “Yes, that is true,” he says. “I started watching YouTube videos, playing a few games and picked it up from there. I was pretty young, I have been on my phone for quite a while.”
The BBC has secured a last-minute deal to show an early evening highlights programme from The Open Championship in Portrush this week.
The Guardian has learned that the R&A has agreed a new three-year deal with the BBC for highlights for the Open, which also covers the women’s Championship, starting with the 2025 edition at Royal Porthcawl at the end of the month.
The BBC’s late move comes as a surprise and is a boost for the R&A and golf fans, as the corporation has shown little interest in the sport in recent years. A long-term contract for live rights to the Open was terminated a year early by the BBC in 2016, with Sky Sports taking over live coverage, and while they have shown highlights since then they had opted not to renew a contract that expired last year.
The Rory McIlroy factor may have played a role in the BBC’s decision to make a late bid, with the reigning Masters champion playing on his home course in Northern Ireland likely to boost interest amongst casual fans. BBC Sport sources have expressed the belief that they made an error of judgment in not attempting to show highlights of the Masters this year, with coverage of McIlroy’s triumph at Augusta only available to viewers with Sky Sports.
The Open is a more attractive property for the BBC however, due to the Championship’s earlier finishing times in this country, which should deliver a bigger audience. As a result this week’s highlights programmes are due to be shown at 9pm on Thursday and Friday before starting at 10pm on Saturday and Sunday.
The R&A and BBC did not comment, but an announcement is expected in the next few days. Matt Hughes
Teder was a scratch golfer at 13. He shot 64 a year later. His homeland has seven courses and Estonia’s one touring professional, Sander Aadusaar, competes on the Alps Tour.
“I started golf completely randomly,” Teder says. “I was six. My auntie won a tennis tournament and as a prize she got golf vouchers for 10 people. So my family all got invited. I picked it up right away, thought it was fun … quite easy actually. I started growing when I was 17 and picked up loads of distance. It has been so much easier since then.”
This requires further exploration. Few people have ever declared that golf is “easy.” Perhaps it is an example of the innocence of youth. “I think people just make it hard, man,” Teder adds. “It is obviously difficult but it is really a mental thing, it is so much to do with what is going on in your head once you get to a level where everyone can hit the ball, putt, chip. Distance is also a huge help and I have been lucky to have natural speed.”
Teder is already on a path which could see him earn a card for the HotelPlanner Tour – the DP World Tour’s understudy – by next year. He has no interest in the US college system. “Golf is so time consuming,” he says. “If you try to mix that with school, it just doesn’t add up or make any sense to me.”
Teder’s seaside experience to date involves competitive rounds at the likes of Royal St George’s, Ballyliffin and Hillside. The scale of the Open will be new to him but the conditions should deliver no shocks. “I have been playing links golf since I was little,” says Teder. “My mum used to take me to kids’ tournaments in Scotland. Even though I wasn’t very good back then, I always really liked it. I have been playing the British amateur for the last three years and have done pretty well every year there.
“I am relaxed on links courses, I hit the ball very far and the fairways are pretty firm so it rolls out even more. Somehow I read links greens really well. You have to be creative around the greens with chipping and I think that suits me as well.
“I will be completely fine. I don’t like the rain much but the wind is no problem. I want to take everything in and have some fun. I am a pretty chilled kid. There will be nerves, we are all human, but all that is important is how I deal with that.”
