Posts tagged Lee Westwood
Weekend Re-Tee: Fowler Breaks Through, F. Molinari Wins in Spain, Swafford Shoots 62, Rory Back to No. 1
01 week ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
Getty Images
Welcome to Weekend Re-Tee where we take a look back at the weekend that was in the world of golf.
As golf enters its busy season, both for professionals and amateurs alike, nothing draws fans in like a big tournament with a field chalk-full of big names. That’s exactly what we got this week at the Wells Fargo Championship with a bunch of one-namers teeing it up. Tiger. Phil. Rory. Rickie. And plenty of others.
The Wells Fargo gave us a pretty exciting finish, but there was a couple of other storylines that were worthy of getting some space in this week’s edition of Weekend Re-Tee.
Orange Out in Charlotte
Rickie Fowler was able to shed the moniker of “best player without a win” with a playoff victory at the Wells Fargo, defeating the likes of Rory McIlroy and DA Points in the first playoff hole.
“It’s a good feeling right now,” Fowler said. “Definitely some relief, satisfaction. I’m definitely happy. It’s not a bad thing, winning. It’s kind of fun.”
The win was anything but guaranteed as McIlroy, who has once again regained his post as the No. 1 player in the world, had a 20-footer for the win in regulation.
McIlroy’s putt for the win was by virtue of Points’ slip up on the 72nd hole. Points had not bogeyed a hole all weekend until he pushed his drive into the right rough, then put his approach in the greenside bunker and was unable to get up and down for par.
Fowler posted his 14-under in the third-from-last group and waited as Points and McIlroy were unable to better his score. The final pairing of Webb Simpson and Ryan Moore were also unable to make a move down the stretch with Simpson having an outside chance to get into the playoff, needing a birdie on 18, but saw his birdie bid power past the hole.
On the first and only hole of the playoff, all three players hit 300+-yard drives, the only difference was that McIlroy hit 3-wood compared to Fowler and Points’ drivers.
Fowler, playing second from the fairway, stuck his 51-degree wedge to 4-feet-3-inches and knocked the putt in for his first win.
With a tricky Sunday pin, Fowler made an important decision to go after the pin when he and his caddie decided that they had the right number.
“If I don’t have a little bit of help or don’t hit it perfectly, then I land short and I’m in the creek,” Fowler said. “But playing against those two guys, I know that they’re going to make birdie at some point. And I don’t want to sit there and try and make pars and stay in it. I had a good number, and I wanted to make birdie.”
The win was not only big for Fowler, but many others will tell you it’s great for the game. Fowler has been one of the most popular players on Tour over his three-year career and the win seems like that popularity has finally been validated.
Fowler took home a $1.17 million winner’s check and climbed from 39th to 24th in the world rankings.
Final-Round 65 Gets Molinari the Spanish Open
Francesco Molinari came from four strokes behind on Sunday to shoot a 7-under par 65, good enough for a three-stroke victory over Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal and Alejandro Canizares.
“It’s just to win any tournament on the European Tour, but one with the history of this one, in the year of the centenary, is something fantastic,” Molinari said.
With two of the younger stars of the game dueling down the stretch in Charlotte, Molinari had to deal with one of his own in Spain in the form of Matteo Manassero.
The 19-year-old may have shot himself out of the tournament in the third round with a 76, but the Italian came back with a Sunday 70 to finishing in a tie for seventh place.
Manassero needed to finish in solo seventh place in order to guarantee a move up to No. 60 in the world – good enough to get into the US Open next month – but as it turned out, a tie for seventh was enough as he sat squarely on the No. 60 position when the world rankings were released today.
For Molinari, the Spanish Open was his third win on the European Tour and with it coming just a day shy of the one-year anniversary of the death of Seve Ballesteros, the win was extra special.
“It’s a very special time to win in Spain,” Molinari said.
The win got Molinari $434,362 as well as a move up 17 places in the rankings to No. 29.
Dawg on Parade
Playing on his old college course, University of Georgia alum Hudson Swafford won the Stadion Classic thanks to a final-round 62 to win by one. For good measure, Swafford holed out from the bunker for birdie on the 72nd hole to finish his round.
To win by one after shooting a 62, you can figure there was one of two certainties taking place: 1) he went out early and posted a number, or 2) someone else went stupid low as well. The former was the case in this instance as Swafford was the only one in the top-15 to shoot better than 65.
After Swafford posted his 17-under and had to wait around for an hour and a half before he could officially celebrate his first win.
“This is unbelievable. My first win is huge and to be in Athens, words don’t describe it,” Swafford said. “I couldn’t have drawn it up any better. The way it happened is a dream come true.
“This is just a starting point. This is no time to get comfortable. I’m still a long way from where I need to be. I’m another win away from getting anything done.”
Swafford won $99,000 to jump from 61st to seventh on the money list. Prior to his win, Swafford had only made $23,000 in his rookie season.
The win will go a long way to getting the Georgia Bulldog his PGA Tour card next season.
McIlroy Reclaims No. 1 Ranking
In what has become a weekly change, McIlroy’s T2 finish at the Wells Fargo was good enough to move the Northern Irishman back to the world’s top spot, taking over from Luke Donald who held the top spot for all of one week in his latest stint.
“That’s nice,” McIlroy said of regaining the top ranking. “It’s a little consolation. I would rather win the tournament, but yeah, it’s good. I want to try and play well for the next few weeks and try and solidify my spot there at No. 1 and hopefully start doing that next week and giving myself another chance to win.”
The next start for Rory, as well as most of the top players in the world, is this week at the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
Of course, Rory will have to deal with a strong field this week that includes Donald and Lee Westwood, both who could take over the top spot with a win at the proverbial “Fifth Major.”
Weekend Re-Tee: Curtis Wins Again, Grace Makes It Three, Westwood Defends in Indonesia
03 weeks ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
I love these boot pictures (AP)
Welcome to Weekend Re-Tee where we take a look back at the weekend that was in the world of golf.
Still in a post-Masters malaise, the PGA Tour traveled from Hilton Head to San Antonio for the Valero Texas Open at the controversial TPC San Antonio. Around the globe, the European Tour went to China, while Lee Westwood went to Indonesia to defend his crown at the Asian Tour Event.
Each tournament had a little bit of newsworthiness to it, so let’s get into it.
Curtis ends drought
For Ben Curtis, the 2003 British Open champion, it had been 2,045 days since he last hoisted a trophy at the 84 Lumber Classic in 2006.
That streak came to an end on Sunday as the 34-year-old Ohio native closed out the Valero Texas Open with two shots to spare over Matt Every and John Huh.
“It’s been a tough couple years just fighting through it,” Curtis said in his post-round interview.
Curtis played the controversial Greg Norman layout solidly, shooting rounds of 67-67-73-72 to finish at 9-under par.
The TPC San Antonio was rated one of the players’ least favorite courses on Tour (50th of 52) and that was proven by the lack of star players participating. Even past winners Adam Scott and Zach Johnson didn’t bother to play.
Joe Ogilvie opined in this week’s Global Golf Post, “This is an A-plus facility, an A-plus city, an A-plus charity, an A-plus state with a green complex that is an F. As soon as they bulldoze the greens, players will start to come back.”
For Valero, they hope that will be by next year when the tournament moves on the schedule to the week before the Masters.
Back to Curtis’ win. The Valero was just the fourth tournament on the PGA Tour schedule that Curtis was able to get into and the second that he made the cut.
For his troubles, Curtis won $1.116 million, a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and moved up to 156th in the world.
Is Brendan Grace the hottest player on the planet?
Brendan Grace is en feugo. Since qualifying for the European Tour by virtue of graduating the tour’s qualifying school, the 23-year-old South African won his third tournament of the season at the China Open on Sunday.
Grace shot a final-round 69 to beat Nicolas Colsaerts by three strokes. The rookie had already won the Joburg Open and Volvo Golf Champions in back-to-back weeks in January. His third win made him just the second European Tour player to win three times in his first season since gaining playing privileges through Q-School.
Grace’s lead never fell to less than two strokes throughout the final round.
“To get three before the start of May is unbelievable. But I have been playing well, getting myself into contention and making the most of the opportunities,” Grace said. “At first I was thinking about trying to keep my playing card this year, but now I feel I have the ability to go out and win every week and I have had that mindset for some time.”
Grace’s victory was worth $528,000. Beginning the 2012 season ranked 271st in the world, Grace has now moved up to 66th.
Westwood defends in Indonesia despite naysayers
Lee Westwood successfully defended his Indonesian Masters crown by playing 32 holes on Sunday to complete his third and fourth rounds, en route to a two-shot victory.
The win has come with some media controversy as some believe the win to be “less valuable” because of the strength (or lack thereof) of the field. Regardless of which rhetoric you subscribe, the fact remains the same that Westwood was able to win.
Next, the question becomes how to rate that win. Put simply, the Official World Golf Rankings take care of that.
Now, while Westwood’s win only garnered him 20 OWGR points, it doesn’t seem quite that bad when put next to the 24 Ben Curtis grabbed for winning the Valero Texas Open. (FWIW, the Volvo China Open was worth 32 OWGR points.)
The fact of the matter remains, as it always has, that these guys have no real affiliation to any specific Tour or organization except for their duty to make a good living for themselves. As is, Westwood was given a handsome appearance fee, which was about doubled by winning the tournament.
Westwood figured that he could make good money while playing in a tournament that he was defending. Because he won shouldn’t be here nor there, but it certainly shouldn’t be put down as a gimme tournament. There’s no such thing in golf.
Thus endeth the rant.
Westwood won a $750,000 first-place check and stood pat at third in the world rankings.
McIlroy Holds of Charging Woods, Westwood to Win the Honda Classic, Gain World’s Top Ranking
02 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
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In the past, Tiger Woods’ name on the leader board could send his competitors into bogey-making frenzies. On Sunday, we saw the exact opposite from the newly christened No. 1 player in the world, Rory McIlroy, as the Northern Irishman held off Woods, Lee Westwood and Tom Gillis to win the Honda Classic by two strokes.
Coming into the final round with a two-shot advantage, McIlroy had a game plan to keep his round around even par and make the other players come and get him.
On his eighth hole, McIlroy saw the first leader board of the day and Woods’ name was just four shots back, standing at 7-under par through 12 holes.
“I made birdie on the 8th hole, so might have been a good thing,” McIlroy said of seeing Woods’ name in contention. “It’s different. Having him playing with me, it’s completely different, because you’re watching him and you can see what he’s doing. But I couldn’t really think about it too much. I just had to concentrate on what I was doing.”
A good third of the course behind Woods, McIlroy didn’t pay much attention to what the former World No. 1 was doing because he had his eyes set on becoming the new World No. 1 himself.
“With what could happen after today, with being able to go to the top of the World Rankings, it meant a lot to go out there and produce the golf that I needed to do to get the job done,” McIlroy said. “It was always a dream of mine to become the world No. 1 and the best player in the world.”
Knowing that Woods was making a run didn’t change how the Ulsterman played, he kept making pars, causing his opponents to force the issue, which was no small task given the conditions. The wind became such a factor that play needed to be suspended early Sunday morning, although it admittedly laid down as the day went on.
Playing with Harris English and Gillis in the final threesome, McIlroy never was in jeopardy of losing his lead. English got off to a rough start that took him out of contention completely and Gillis went backwards to start the day before finishing strong.
McIlroy’s biggest competition came from Ryder Cup teammate Lee Westwood and Woods. Westwood appeared to be having the round of the day, shot a 7-under par 63 to get to 8-under for the tournament. And Woods, who had set the 8-under mark as his number to aim for to start the day, had to change up his game plan.
“I thought starting out the day that 6‑under was, for the day, and 8‑under for the tournament, was going to be the number to shoot to at least put myself where I had a chance,” Woods said. “But that changed quite a bit when the wind died down.
“When I turned at 4(-under), I had to change that game plan because the wind was not blowing as hard, and I knew the guys were not going to back up as much.”
Of course, everyone knew where the tournament would be decided: the Bear Trap, a set of holes that were surrounded by water that had given players fits over the years.
Designed by Jack Nicklaus, the Golden Bear said that holes 15-17 would be where a tournament was won or lost.
Still needing to make up some ground, Woods entered the Bear Trap, which, in his words, had played a “little bit easier” because the wind was helping.
With Woods stalling at 7-under, unable to pick up a stroke over the previous five holes, Tiger knew he needed something to happen at 17 to get to his 8-under number and a tie with Westwood in the clubhouse.
Woods put himself just under 25 feet from the hole and calmly rolled in his birdie putt to get himself to 6-under for the day and 8-under for the tournament with the reachable par-5 18th hole still ahead of him.
Woods then smacked a driver 325 yards on 18 to cut the corner, giving himself 205 yards to the flag.
“There’s a tunnel that we walk off and it was on the left edge of the green, probably about three steps into the green,” Woods explained. “And I was just aiming it in, and off that downhill lie, I knew it was going to cut.”
Woods put his approach to eight feet and drained the putt to post 10-under par. Just about that time, McIlroy was lining up a birdie putt of his own on the 13th hole, coming off a bogey on the 12th.
That’s what sets McIlroy apart from the rest of the golfers out there now, he heard the roar and then knocked in his birdie to put him back up two strokes with five holes left.
“I wasn’t really paying much attention until he made that eagle on 18,” McIlroy said. “I heard the huge roar and it definitely wasn’t a birdie roar. That’s when I knew that he probably got to 10. You know, it was nice to have that two‑shot cushion going into the last five holes after holing that birdie putt.”
McIlroy showed why he is a special player coming down the stretch. Even with some nervous swings, McIlroy was able to get up-and-down for par on 14, 15 and 17 to hold on to his two-shot lead through the Bear Trap.
Coming down 18, McIlroy smoked a driver, laid up and put his approach on the green in regulation with 40 feet to navigate over three strokes.
McIlroy needed just two to clinch his fifth career win and third on the PGA Tour. Perhaps most importantly of all, McIlroy rose to the top of the Official World Golf Rankings, supplanting Luke Donald.
Woods finished in a tie for second with Gillis, who birdied the 18th hole to match him at 10-under. Westwood finished in solo fourth at 8-under par.
McIlroy is the second-youngest player to reach World No. 1, behind Woods, the 16th player to reach the top spot since the rankings began in 1986 and the fourth consecutive Euro to hold the ranking.
“It was a lot more meaningful,” McIlroy said of holding of Tiger and garnering the top ranking. “I think the way I won today, as well, was great. I missed a few greens coming in, but I was able to get up‑and‑down. I made a couple big par saves early as well which kept my momentum. It was just one of those days. There was a 62 and a 63 out there, which, I mean, is unbelievable playing. I just needed to focus on my game and do what I needed to do, and thankfully that’s what happened.”
McIlroy took home a $1.026 million winner’s check. He planned to fly up to New York City to spend a few days with his girlfriend, Caroline Wozniacki, and then it was back down to Florida for the WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral this week.
Following Doral, McIlroy will take off three weeks to prepare for the year’s first major, the Masters at Augusta National on April 5-8.
Mahan Reminds Us That He Really is Good at Match Play
02 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
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If Rory McIlroy was the sexy pick and Tiger Woods was the hopeful pick, then Hunter Mahan had to be the redemptive pick at last week’s World Golf Championship Accenture Match Play Championship.
Mahan, who famously chili dipped a pitch shot against Graeme McDowellon the 17th hole at Celtic Manor during what turned out to be the decisive match in the 2010 Ryder Cup, proved his match play prowess as he took down McIlroy in the finals of the 14th playing of the Accenture Match Play, 2 and 1.
McIlroy was the toast of the weekend as the 22-year-old Northern Irishman had his eyes set squarely on the world’s No. 1 ranking and he wasn’t shying away from his motivation.
“It’s another incentive waking up each morning and knowing that if you win your match at the end of that day, at the end of the week you could be world No. 1,” McIlroy said earlier in the week. “I have to get through a lot of matches before that, but it definitely gives me an added incentive this week.”
The added incentive didn’t produce much high-quality golf from McIlroy as he struggled through his early matches.
McIlroy got past George Coetzee in the first round despite a lack of focus down the stretch. He seemed to see the error in his ways as he vanquished Anders Hansen 3 and 2 in the second round and dropped Miguel Angel Jimenez in the third round 3 and 1, but that wasn’t all due to his stellar play.
McIlroy made just seven birdies through his first three rounds of competition, being the recipient of some less than great play from his competitors.
Mahan, on the other hand, was filling it up, making 17 birdies through his first three rounds. He defeated Zach Johnson 1 up in a tough first-round matchup, then dismantled YE Yang and Steve Stricker 5 and 3, 4 and 3, respectively.
It was Mahan’s quarterfinal matchup with Matt Kuchar that really proved how well he was rolling the rock with his new Ping mallet putter, taking down Kuch 6 and 5 to set up a semifinal match wit the scrappy Mark Wilson.
McIlroy faced PGA Tour rookie Sang-Moon Bae in the quarterfinals. Bae is a rookie inasmuch as McIlroy is a bit a fan of JagerBombs. Still, McIlroy dusted Bae 3 and 2 to set up a semifinal matchup with jaded friend Lee Westwood.
In a new setup, the Match Play was drawn differently as opposed to year’s past. Instead of two matches on Saturday with a 36-hole final on Sunday, the WGC was changed to have the 18-hole semifinals on Sunday morning with an 18-hole final in the afternoon.
Mahan kept doing what he had been doing on Sunday morning, beating Wilson 2 and 1 to advance to the finals as the two Ryder Cup teammates both with a shot at being No. 1 ranking threw haymakers at one another.
McIlroy came out of the right side of the bracket, defeating Westwood 2 and 1 to face Mahan on Sunday afternoon, but the early-morning match took a bit of energy out of McIlroy.
“This is no disrespect to the other two guys in the other semifinals, Hunter and Mark, but it was like my final in a way,” McIlroy said of his match with Westwood. “I really wanted to (play Lee). That was the one I wanted all week and I got. And that’s what I got myself up for. Maybe mentally and emotionally it did take a little bit out of me.”
Maybe McIlroy proved what he wanted to by defeating Westwood, but Mahan wouldn’t be denied his redemption song.
After halving the first five holes, Mahan took four of the next five to sit at 4-up through 10 holes.
With his back up against the wall, McIlroy chipped in for eagle at the par-5 11th to keep himself within striking distance, but Mahan stayed unfazed, playing his game and waiting for the right moment to close it out.
“I thought he was due for a chip‑in,” Mahan said of McIlroy. “It was a pretty straightforward chip. He made it right in there. I didn’t let it bother me or anything. I thought he played a great hole. And if I kept playing solid and forcing him to make eagles to win holes, I was going to do my job. And that’s all I could do.”
The pair halved the next two holes – No. 12 with pars and No. 13 with birdies – and then McIlroy cut into Mahan’s lead one last time on the par-4 14th with a birdie.
Mahan stood 2-up with four holes to play and momentum riding with McIlroy.
Both players drove the green on the short par-4 15th and traded birdies, a big halve for Mahan.
With the obvious advantage, Mahan made sure he didn’t give the match away, playing safely on 16 and 17, making McIlroy force the issue.
The same short game that doomed Mahan two years prior had become the strong suit of his game in Marana, Ariz. Mahan made pars on the 16th and 17th holes to close out McIlroy and his hopes of reaching the top of the golfing world.
“Hunter played very, very solid golf,” McIlroy said afterwards. “And even though I threw a few birdies and an eagle at him in the back nine, he still responded well and held on. I think during the course of the week, he had played the best golf and deserved to win.”
Mahan played 96 holes in his six matches and made 35 birdies, easily the most of anyone in the field. With the win, Mahan claimed his fourth PGA Tour win, his second WGC and took home $1.4 million.
McIlroy held his spot as the second-best player in the world as Mahan cracked the top-10, rising to No. 9 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Wrong Fairway Picks for the WGC Accenture Match Play
02 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
It would be tough to argue against March Madness being the best time of the year for drama in sports. It’s win or go home, no tomorrow and all those other sports clichés.
While we only get a handful of match play events a year, there’s no doubting that the format is one of the best we have in professional/high-level amateur golf. Some will clamor for more of the match-play because of the differing strategies that are involved in playing one-on-one, but that won’t work because of reasons we saw two weeks ago at Pebble Beach.
The PGA Tour is a business. Businesses strive to make money and while there are a handful of people in this 64-man field that will bring not only hardcore golf fans, but also fringe sports fans to watch the matches, no one is skipping out on work to watch Robert Karlsson and Fredrik Jacobson.
If we get Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson (who isn’t playing this week) and maybe five or size others, then yes, more match play might be a viable option, but as it stands, it’s not economical to have more match play tournaments than we have already. Plus, the lack of match play events is exactly what makes the Accenture Match Play, US Amateur and Ryder and Presidents Cups special.
That being said, above you’ll see the picks for this week. I wanted to get them up as soon as I could, so when it ends up being the perfect bracket, you can check the post date.
A few highlights.
- Yes, that’s Tiger winning. Why? Because it’s going to happen sometime, he’s a match play god and it’s one round at a time. He doesn’t need to string together six rounds of 68. He needs to be better than one person each day. He can do that and it would make Sunday a lot more fun for Johnny Miller
- Got Freddy Jac beating Lee Westwood in the second round. Why? Because I’m kind of thrown off by Freddy to be honest. Kind of looks like a bad guy from a movie (that I can’t put my finger on), but his painters hat and jerky move at the ball seem to work for him. Plus, Westwood’s soft.
- Have G-Mac going to the semis. An off year in 2011 after a dream 2010, seems like he’s ready to get back on track and what better way to do that than one match at a time.
- Woods and A. Scott in the finals. Just cause.
Coverage starts today at noon on Golf Channel, so check out the best Wednesday of the year.
The First Must-See Weekend of 2012 Raises Appearance Fee Questions
03 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
Getty Images
We’ve had the Hawaii Swing and a nice little pro-am in California so far in 2012, but all these tournaments have lacked the star power that drives people to their television sets to watch golf in the middle of winter.
All that changes this weekend as there are two tournaments taking place on opposites sides of the globe that are sure to catch the attention of the hibernating golf fan, the HSBC Champions in Abu Dhabi and the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Both tournaments are boasting pretty strong fields with players that are capable of stealing away some viewers from the misery of watching the NFL Pro Bowl.
The question that arises from the split fields of the two tournaments stems from a purely financial point of view and involves Tiger Woods.
Imagine that.
During his press conference earlier in the week, Woods was asked a number of questions about his health, his swing and the state of his game, but an interesting line of questioning came up when the former world No. 1 was asked if appearance fees have an impact on the scheduling of high-profile players.
Woods was pretty forthcoming when asked if it affects how he schedules tournaments, saying, “You know, I’d have to say yes, it certainly does. That’s one of the reasons why a lot of the guys who play in Europe. I think the only tour that doesn’t pay [appearance fees] is the U.S. Tour.
“But, you know, a lot of the guys play all around the world and they do get appearance fees. Only place we don’t get it is the U.S.”
As I’ve said many times before, the upper echelon of professional golfers are independent contractors, setting their own schedule, rarely taking into consideration what their respective tours would like from them.
This week is the perfect example, especially in Woods’ case.
Growing up in southern California and playing on Torrey Pines all of his life, including some of his most iconic victories, you would think that Eldrick would like to take every opportunity to tee it up at Torrey.
However, as Tiger said in his presser, the PGA Tour will not pay their members or members of any other tour to simply show up, something PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem is adamant about.
“From the standpoint of professional athletic competition, it raises the specter in the fans’ mind that the player is only there because he was paid to be there and not there to really compete,” he said. “If the player doesn’t play well, in light of that perception, then there is a secondary perception that he didn’t even come to compete, he just showed up to get his appearance money. That is not a good thing for your image.
“This is something that’s been part of the PGA Tour since its inception in 1968. We think our image is the most important thing we have, and we’re not going to take the risk.”
First of all, the image of the PGA Tour is certainly not the most important thing they have, it’s the players, but the commish does make a good point.
People are cynical and if someone like a Tiger Woods shows up at an off-brand tournament and collects and appearance fee only to shit the bed, excuse the expression, people are going to go into full cynicism mode.
It will become a common thread around the golf world that Woods only showed up because he was paid to be there, not to try and win a tournament, regardless if that were true or not.
The European Tour combats that with paying enough high-profile players to make it worth their while to not only show up for the money, but to compete because of the world ranking points on the line.
This is all just a long way of saying that both systems work when implemented properly. As they say, there is more than one way to skin a cat.
As it stands now, if players are going to get paid good money to show up and play against good fields, they will continue to pass up the Torrey Pines’ of the world to play in Abu Dhabi for a nice pay day before the tournament even starts.
An Awesome Weekend for Golf
15 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
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First of all, I want to apologize for the lack of posting over the past two weeks. In the way of excuses, I have had a decent amount going on. This time two weeks ago I had two part-time jobs that gave me a pretty good amount of time to blog on a daily basis. Now, I have one full-time job that I’m still trying to get acquainted with, therefore the posting here has slowed down.
The longer I’m here (here being The Clermont Sun), the more comfortable I will be with my duties and as a result, have a better idea of when I can post. I hope to that daily posting can still be the case, but things could be spotty for the next few weeks as I get settled in as well as move into a new house.
Enough about me, though, how about this past weekend in golf, huh?
Three of the top players in the world were able to pull out victories, Rory McIlroy at the Hong Kong Open, Lee Westwood at the Nedbank Golf Challenge and some guy named Tiger Woods at the Chevron World Challenge.
McIlroy shot a blistering 5-under par 65 on Sunday to come from three behind of third-round leader Alvaro Quiros and win by three shots. McIlroy had five birdies and no bogies in his final round. Quiros shot a Sunday 73 to drop out of contention, but France’s Gregory Havret closed the gap with his own final-round 65 to finish two shots behind McIlroy.
Hitting his approach into the green-side bunker on the 72nd hole, McIlroy looked to leave the door open for Havret, but the Northern Irishman holed out from the bunker to slam that door shut and win by two strokes.
Westwood built up a seven-shot lead heading into the final round at the Nedbank. Thank goodness for that, because Westwood stumbled to the finish line with a 1-over par 73 to finish at 15-under par for the tournament to win by two strokes over Robert Karlsson, who shot a 4-under par 68 on Sunday in Sun City, South Africa.
Two of the three tournaments mentioned here were limited field contests, but it would appear as if the Nedbank was the best. Westwood outclassed players like Luke Donald (T7), Graeme McDowell (T2), Jason Dufner (T2), Martin Kaymer (8) and Darren Clarke (DFL, 12).
In the last to finish chronologically, Tiger Woods finished birdie-birdie on his last two holes to claim his fifth Chevron World Challenge beating Zach Johnson by one stroke. Woods, who notoriously hasn’t won an event in the last two years, put an end to his losing streak with the win coming 749 days after his last victory at the Australian Masters.
Johnson took a one-stroke lead through 16 holes, but Woods birdied out to best Johnson by a stroke. Woods and Johnson had distanced themselves from the rest of the limited field by Sunday, making it a two-horse race that Woods was able to win by the narrowest of margins.
Among the other notable finishes at the Chevron were Paul Casey (3), Hunter Mahan and Matt Kuchar (T4), Jim Furyk, Rickie Fowler and Bubba Watson (T6) and Jason Day (15).
More on the Tiger victory should be coming later today, so check back. Thanks for coming back!
Kaymer Overcomes 5-Shot Deficit, Wins HSBC Champions in Style
06 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
AP
PThe Germinator, Martin Kaymer, proved that he did not lose his machine-like focus after becoming the No. 1-player in the world earlier this year, going on a record-breaking tear on Sunday in Shanghai, China to win the World Golf Championship HSBC Champions.
Kaymer started his final round five strokes back of third-round leader Fredrik Jacobsen, but the 26-year-old major champion couldn’t get anything going early in his round, parring the first six holes when he needed to be making a move if he had any thoughts of making it into contention.
On the 7th hole, Kaymer looked that he could possibly be dropping his first shot of the day when he found himself in the green-side bunker needing to get up-and-down to save par. Instead of grinding out his par, Kaymer did himself one better, holing out from the bunker and spurring an incredible 12-hole stretch in which Kaymer birdied nine holes.
“It started off a little slow,” Kaymer said. “But then I holed a bunker shot on 7 for birdie and pretty much since then, I didn’t miss a lot of golf shots. I didn’t miss a lot of putts.”
The crazy thing in the Germinator’s 12-hole birdie fest is that he left some shots out there. Of course, you always hear about guys who go ridiculously low and then have the audacity to come in and talk to the media and say something like, ‘you know, that’s the worst I could have shot. I left some shots out there.’
For me, I always end up thinking, ‘alright buddy, whatever you say,’ but that’s not the case with this round. Kaymer really left some shots out there. He had a short birdie putt on the 9th hole that he missed and then he parred the par-5 14th hole as well as the short 288-yard par-4 16th that most of the guys were reaching with a 3-wood.
Then again, there’s not a lot you could complain about over that stretch of holes. Also working in Kaymer’s favor was the players around him not doing much to grab the tournament by the throat. Jacobsen was swapping birdies for bogeys, shooting a 1-under 71 and Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood, Louis Oosthuizen and Adam Scott didn’t exactly light-up Sheshan International.
McIlroy shot a solid round of 69 that included a birdie on the 18th hole that allowed him to finish in a tie for fourth place, that would move him up to second in the world rankings. Oosthuizen shot an even-par round of 72, Scott shot 73 and Westwood shot 74.
With Kaymer’s group playing in front of the 54-hole leader’s, Jacobsen was forced to leaderboard watch to see where he stood. With Kaymer’s four straight birdies on holes 10-13, he pulled ahead of Jacobsen, but the Swede answered with two birdies of his own on the 12th and 14th holes to keep himself in even.
Kaymer continued his stellar play with birdies on the 15th and 17th holes, putting too much pressure on Jacobsen who couldn’t answer, compounding his poor drive on 17 with a poor second shot that resulted in a bogey and two-shot deficit.
“I felt I was very much in it,” Jacobsen said, who finished in solo second place. “Obviously, 17 was a bit of a swing after I hit my tee shot. I knew if I was going to have a shot at it, I probably had to get up-and-down to have a realistic chance.”
Now with a two-shot cushion coming up the 72nd hole, Kaymer left nothing to chance, calmly (like everything else he does) rolling in a birdie putt to give him a final-round 63 and his second victory of the year, his other win coming at the HSBC Champions in Abu Dhabi in January.
Kaymer set two records for WGC events, one for the lowest final round score and the other for the largest deficit overcome to win (five shots).
Graeme McDowell, who similarly to Kaymer has had a let-down year in 2011, shot a final-round 67 to finish in solo third.
The win was a big one for Kaymer, who after having a magical 2010 that saw him clinch his first major championship at Whistling Straits, went on to become the top player in the world, joining Bernhard Langer as the only other German-born player to reach the prestigious plateau.
Along with the No. 1 label came the pressure and publicity associated with being the world’s best golfer. Now under more scrutiny and more desired to make appearances, Kaymer’s game lacked and he missed half of the cuts at the majors in 2011.
“Let’s say, for me, it was a tough stretch of months, because it’s not normal that at my age you become No. 1 in the world,” Kaymer said. “All of a sudden, you have more attention. Doesn’t matter really where you go. In my own country, I became the German golf face. In America, a lot of people recognized me because obviously golf is a little bit bigger in America than in Germany.
“But it has been a little awkward situation sometimes, because I was just not used to be that much in the spotlight. And it took some time to get used to it, and hopefully it will happen again, because I know what’s going to happen, I know how to approach that thing.”
Kaymer cashed $1.2 million for the win, par for the course for a WGC event, as well as moving up the official world rankings back to No. 4.
Kaymer will have two weeks off before the World Cup in China at Mission Hills. He will also play in the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa and the Dubai World Championships during back-to-back weeks in early December.
McIlroy Leaves Chubby, ISM for Horizon Sports Management
06 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
In a strange turn of events, Rory McIlroy announced on Friday that he would be leaving International Sports Management and super-agent Chubby Chandler to join the Dublin-based Horizon Sports Management, home of fellow countryman and friend, Graeme McDowell.
It is interesting in terms of the timing of the split as McIlroy was travelling with Chandler for the past few weeks in China and most recently with fellow ISM clients Darren Clarke and Charl Schwartzel to the PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Bermuda.
If there was anything that could be seen as a sign that the 22-year-old US Open Champion was planning on leaving the agency, it came in August when McIlroy expressed some concerns about how ISM was presenting him.
“We sat down [six weeks ago] and he said he was not happy with his brand, sponsors, website or his public relations image. I thought we were sorting things out to his liking,” Chandler said.
“Even though we had that talk I was shocked. I had no inkling, really. Of course it batters away at your self-confidence when you lose someone like Rory because he is as big as they come.”
Also interesting was the manner in which McIlroy chose to break the news to Chandler and the world, seemingly keeping it a secret from everyone except Horizon. Travelling back from Bermuda and before heading to Istanbul to watch some tennis, McIlroy sat down with Chandler in the JFK Airport lounge to break the news to Chandler.
“He said I’ve decided to move on,” Chandler said. “Disappointed and a bit shocked. I thought we had a better relationship than that, but he had his reasons. He said he wanted to freshen things up a bit. It’s one of those things; he’s a 22-year-old with a very strong head who wants to make his own decisions, and one of his decisions was he didn’t want us to manage him any longer.”
For McIlroy’s part, good on him for doing this professionally and face-to-face. With the move coming as a surprise, McIlroy wasn’t available for comment despite some nagging efforts. He did, however, let out this press release:
“I would like to sincerely thank Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler and his team for their guidance, representation, and management over the past four years, since turning pro.
“Chubby and his team have played a very important role in my success to date. I have made great progress under their management and for that I will always be grateful.
“I am now keen to move onto the next stage of my career and I feel this will be facilitated by a fresh view and a new structure around me. Therefore I am delighted to be joining Horizon and I look forward to working with my new team.”
While players switching agencies can be as fluid as switching caddies, when players like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy make moves, it turns heads. Interestingly enough, Ernie Els doesn’t quite hold that clout as he left ISM last month without so much as a blip on the radar.
Finishing the season with two major champions, Chandler’s ISM stable is far from in trouble, but with Els, McIlroy and now rumors that Schwartzel may be leaving as well, something may be going awry within ISM.
It is very possible that McDowell had a big part in McIlroy’s move. Easily McIlroy’s best friend on Tour, McDowell left ISM in 2009 because Chandler wasn’t giving him enough attention. Of course, McDowell went on to win the 2010 US Open and Chandler vowed to never let anyone the caliber of McDowell slip through their fingers again, although it appears they have done just that.
As for the other members of ISM, Lee Westwood tweeted at McIlroy saying simply, “bizarre decision!” Chandler added that he believe Clarke, who has known Rory from a young age, “is going to feel a little let down” by McIlroy’s decision.
McIlroy’s person website is down, whether it is due to high volume or changes in appearance is unknown.
Chandler is letting the news roll of his back, but he admits there is some pain in the decision for his company.
“Life goes on and, while there’s hurt, I certainly don’t bear any bitterness towards Rory,” Chandler said. “We all know how good he is for our sport and I’d rather reflect on the four good years we had together.”
Is a Chubby Slam in the Cards This Week?
09 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
Getty Images
Chubby Chandler is on one hell of a run. And from the looks of things, Chub doesn’t do much running.
Asked how Chandler was preparing for the possibility of a Chubby Slam, client Lee Westwood was not dazzled.
“I’m not impressed with his preparation,” a tongue-in-cheek Westwood said. “I’ve seen him drinking a bit, he’s not been in the gym, haven’t seen him on the range yet. I wouldn’t hold out much hope for him. He gets a bit flat at the back [of his swing] and bounces it off his shoulder occasionally.”
That’s not all. What about the weather?
“He doesn’t function well in the heat. He drinks a lot but not water, unless you count tonic water.”
Despite his lack of preparation, the ISM head man’s stable of players is pretty stacked. It includes the last three major champions and four of the last five. He could have had five of the last six, but Graeme McDowell slipped through the cracks in the infant stages of the company, something Chandler vows will never happen again.
This week at the Atlanta Athletic Club, Chandler has 10 players in the field. That’s 15.6 percent of the 156-player field for those of you who are math challenged. However, using that percentage as his chance of winning may be a little low.
Considering the quality of player that Chandler represents, I would put the chance that one of his guys wins at 1-in-3. Aside from the previous major winners this year, he has the likes Lee Westwood, Ernie Els, Fredrik Andersson-Hed, Simon Dyson, Louis Oosthuizen, Gregory Bourdy and David Horsey under his care.
Chandler has played it pretty cool over the weeks coming into the PGA, acting as if it’s not a big deal for him, saying he’s even a little embarrassed by the whole thing.
“No he’s not,” Rory McIlroy said. “ I think to be honest we’re having a lot of fun about it. It would be great if ISM could take over Bermuda in October. We’re having a lot of fun with it. I don’t know who came up with the name the Chubby Slam, but it’s pretty funny and it would be great if it happened.”
McIlroy is the betting favorite this week coming in at 10/1 with Lee Westwood right on his heels at 14/1. Clearly, those are the two people are expecting to have the best chance, but Chandler has a rooting interest this week. With McIlroy, Charl Schwartzel, Oosthuizen and most recently, Darren Clarke breaking through, he has to be pulling a little more for Westy.
“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t,” Chandler told the Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis.
However, Chandler would take a win from any one of his guys. An equal opportunity partier, Chandler just wants this week to be over. 2011 has been a blur for the affable Englishman. But I’m sure he wouldn’t mind just one more celebration.
He already has three guys in the Grand Slam of Golf at Port Royal Golf Club in Bermuda, an annual event that hosts each of the four major champions from the previous year. He’s one win away from representing the whole lot.
“I have a funny feeling it’s going to happen,” Chandler said. “It would be a nice four-ball in Bermuda.”
