Midnight Man Haraldur Magnus Looks To Light Up Carnoustie

published 19 July 2018

Haraldur Magnus, from Iceland, has revealed his interesting practice method ahead of the 147th Open Championship

Midnight Man Haraldur Magnus Looks To Light Up Carnoustie

There are no shortage of interesting backstories coming into this week's Open Championship at Carnoustite, but Iceland's Haraldur Magnus might just have the most intriguing of them all.

Practising under the midnight sun has given Iceland's first Major representative a unique kind of preparation coming into The Open, but it didn't prove to be a handicap as he made a charge up the leaderboard on the back nine of his opening round.

The 27-year-old has grown up in a country not suited to golf in terms of year-round practice opportunities, given Iceland's winter darkness, which has limited Magnus to playing a significant amount of him time playing from May to September.

He booked his spot at Carnoustie through Final Qualifying at Prince’s after finishing one stroke ahead of former US Open champion Retief Goosen.

And despite making a habit of taking to the course at midnight, he arrived at Carnoustie optimistic of making a big impression.

“I grew up playing in exactly these conditions and I love links golf,” said Magnus.

“I played at Carnoustie in the 2015 Amateur Championship and there was no wind that day, so it wasn’t too tough. But you could see that when the wind is blowing it can be absolutely horrifying.”

Expand Open Championship Prize Money 2019

Open Championship Prize Money 2019

The purse has increased $250,000 on last year

Expand Open Championship TV Coverage 2021

Open Championship TV Coverage 2021

Here we take a look at the Sky…

Expand The Open Championship Leaderboard 2021

The Open Championship Leaderboard 2021

Check out the latest scores from Royal St…

Prince's was the 2017 Icelandic champion’s first attempt at qualifying and with rounds of 72 and 70 he achieved his target.

During his time at the University of Louisiana Magnus enjoyed two victories and boasts three runner-up finishes on the Nordic Golf League.

After going out in 40, Magnus looked set for a short stay at Carnoustie, before coming to life on on the 10th, with further birdies following at the 13th and 14th.

Back-to-back bogeys checked his progress at 15 and 16, before he delighted the galleries with a pair of unlikely birdies on the final two holes.

TOPICS

Michael has been with Golf Monthly since 2008. As a multimedia journalist, he has also worked for The Football Association, where he created content to support the men's European Championships, The FA Cup, London 2012, and FA Women's Super League. As content editor at Foremost Golf, Michael worked closely with golf's biggest equipment manufacturers, and has developed an in-depth knowledge of this side of the industry. He's now a regular contributor, covering instruction, equipment and feature content. Michael has interviewed many of the game's biggest stars, including six world number ones, and has attended and reported on many Major Championships and Ryder Cups. He's a member of Formby Golf Club.

Get the Golf Monthly Newsletter