Posts tagged Lee Westwood
Wrong Fairway Picks and Predictions: 2011 PGA Championship
09 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
Balls are in the air at Atlanta Athletic Club, so before the guys get out to too much of a lead or dig themselves into too big a hole, I better make my picks and a few predictions about the final major of the year.
The first wave is now out on the course including big names like Adam Scott, Matteo Manassero, Phil Mickelson, Luke Donald, Bubba Watson and some guy named Tiger.
On to the predictions for the week.
The course is in perfect condition. Paul Goydos said that the AAC is in perfect major championship form and should set up for a great week. The course is tough enough that the best players in the world will emerge from the pack and create a great finish on Sunday.
The last four holes have already wreaked some havoc on the field. The PGA Championship website has some live streaming coverage of a marquee group. Guess who’s on this morning?
The man in red is in red on Thursday, which is different. After getting off to a good start, 3-under par through five, Woods went 5-over on the last four holes to finish at +2 on his first nine. So, those holes are playing tough. With that kind of stroke disparity out there, any guys within three or four strokes on Sunday could have a chance at winning.
As for a winning score, I like it around 10- or 11-under par. Why? The guys playing the best this week will be able to make the birdies where they should and will be able to weather the storm coming down the stretch. Give me someone who hits it long and straight and won’t be discouraged by a bogey or two.
My darkhorse this week is Gary Woodland. Why? He hits the ball a mile and he has proven he can win this year. The only thing that worries me about Woodland is that he appears to run hot every now and again. If he’s striping it and holing some putts, I think he could make some noise this weekend.
As for a contender this week, I like Rory McIlroy for the same reason as everybody else, mostly. He hits it far and plays a right-to-left ball flight that helps on the numerous dogleg left holes at AAC. He’s proven he plays well on those courses (read: Augusta, Congressional), and he seems to be over his major hangover. A disappointing finish at the Open Championship turned into a top-10 last week in Akron, so look for Wee Mac to be in the hunt come Sunday.
And my winner is: Lee Westwood. Why? He’s due, no doubt about that. But if you watched his press conference this week, he seems more at ease than in recent memory. He’s met with the putting guru (and two-time PGA Champion) Dave Stockton as well as famous mental coach Bob Rotella.
Another reason I like Westwood is that he is one of Chubby’s boys. One of Chubby Chandler’s stable of players has won every major this year and four of the last five. Any one of Chub’s could win this week to finish off the Chubby Slam, something Chandler says he has a funny feeling that it will happen.
Why not Westwood? It’s a ball-strikers course. Hit fairways and greens and a few putts and he could be raising the Wanamaker Trophy come Sunday.
*****
For your viewing pleasure this week, tune into the PGA Championship’s website early to watch the marquee group before network coverage.
Thursday and Friday will be shown on TNT from 1 – 7 p.m. with Golf Channel analysis surrounding it. Come the weekend, TNT will have early coverage from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
CBS Sports will be carrying the primetime coverage on Saturday and Sunday from 2 – 7 p.m.
Find the golf however you can and enjoy Glory’s Last Shot.
Wrong Fairway Picks and Predictions for the 2011 Open Championship
010 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
Why Not?
We’ve talked about a lot of things so far this week. From the favorite, to the Aussie and American chances, to the pairings and finally, the course, but now it’s time to put all that information to use and talk about who is actually going to win this thing.
There are a lot of choices this week, many of which are as likely to win as the next. So, let’s look at five of the favorites as set out by some of the “experts.”
Rory McIlroy
I would be remiss if I didn’t start out with the lad from Northern Ireland, Rory McIlroy. Coming off the biggest win of his career at the US Open, Wee Mac took a three week hiatus to let the win and the hoopla surrounding it settle.
He went about his now-normal major routine of flying into the venue the week before the tournament and knocking the ball around before returning home again. Reemerging on the grounds on Tuesday for his presser, McIlroy looked relaxed and even more confident than when we last saw him at Congressional.
Appearing focused and refreshed, more than a few people changed their presumptions that he would not be able to win back to back majors.
Prediction: A good bet to be sure, but I’m not sure he’s ready to battle the conditions that are expected this week. We all know what happened last year at the Old Course after McIlroy lit the world on fire with his first round 63 in favorable conditions, but when the wind picked up, so did McIlroy’s score. While he is a year older and wiser, I don’t know if he has completely mastered playing championship golf in the wind.
Luke Donald
The No. 1 player in the world is coming to Royal St. George’s off a win last week at Castle Stuart in the Scottish Open. Many think that his win at the Scottish on a links course bodes well for Donald this week, and why shouldn’t they? A winner three times so far in 2011, Donald, although yet to win a major, has without a doubt been the most consistent player of the past eight months.
His short game will be key this week as the unorthodox green complexes are leaving some players to already let their opinions be formed. While it will be hard to hold the green, Donald’s ability to get up and down will be tested ad nauseum throughout the week. His straight drives will also be helpful, but the quirkiness of the fairways don’t always reward on-target shots.
Prediction: I expect Donald to be in the mix if only for the fact that he is hot at the moment and has an uncanny short game. The Castle Stuart win has been overblown because of the weather that they had in Scotland last week. With one day being completely rained out, the course wasn’t playing like RSG will. It was softer, if not under water, and allowed for a more American style of play. Donald will still be in search of his first major come Monday.
Steve Stricker
Call him the great American hope. Well, he along with Nick Watney seem to be the best bet for an American to contend for the Claret Jug this week. Coming off his third straight win at the John Deere Classic, Stricker has his game clicking, especially the putter, his go-to club. Unfortunately for Sticker, the previous two times he won the John Deere, the success did not travel with him overseas.
Probably the best bet for the American side that doesn’t seem too threatening without Tiger Woods in Europe, Stricker has the game to compete, it just doesn’t seem to be in the cards with the winds blowing the way they have been this week. Then again, who knows. Who was thinking about Ben Curtis eight years ago?
Prediction: He finished T55 and T52 in his past two appearances coming off victories. Another player without a major championship, like Phil Mickelson it doesn’t appear that links golf really suits Stricker. While he should be around for the weekend due to his grinding ways, it’s hard to see him outlasting a field of Europe’s best in “their” major.
Martin Kaymer
Kind of falling off the radar as of late, Kaymer hasn’t made much noise since his whirlwind finish in 2010. Rising to the rank of No. 1 earlier in the year, Kaymer hasn’t done much to keep his name on the tongue of the bookkeepers. If I were to take a guess as to why, I would have to point to Augusta.
Billed as a right-to-left ball flight course, Augusta National got into Kaymer’s head. A normal, for him, left-to-right ball flight wasn’t good enough in his estimation. In trying to change his natural ball flight, I think he may have set himself back a bit. He didn’t compete at Augusta or Congressional, but back in Europe, playing a style of golf that really doesn’t call for a directional ball flight as much as it does for the trajectory of the shots, Kaymer can get out of his own way and make a move.
He won last year at St. Andrews in the Dunhill, so he is a proven links golfer. He finished tied for seventh at the Open last year, again at St. Andrews.
Prediction: Although in writing out the reasons why Kaymer has a chance to win, I almost talked myself into picking him, but no. I go back to his own shooting himself in the foot, if you will, with his swing tweak at Augusta. He’s coming around, but not yet. He’s still one of the top-5 players in the world, but I don’t see this week being the one Kaymer picks up his second major.
Lee Westwood
The wily vet is still in search of his first major championship and what better place than in his own country. The quirks at RSG are the mounds and moguls in the fairways that can make a seemingly good drive kick off the fairway. However, with that being said, give me the guy who drives the ball on a string because even if he gets a couple of bad breaks, he will more than likely get some good bounces as well.
Westwood is playing well as of late with high finishes at both majors this year with T11 at Augusta and T3 at the US Open. He’s always right there, especially at the Open Championship, so there’s not reason he shouldn’t be again this week. In the wind, the ballstrikers will rise to the top of the board, so perhaps this is the best chance for Westwood. He also hits the ball low, which will assuredly help his cause.
Prediction: To preface this prediction, let me say that Westwood would be my pick if I was going chalk. I think he is long overdue, and maybe even a little peeved at himself that he hasn’t won one yet.
However, I see this as another pick-em out of a hat year. A Ben Curtis or Todd Hamilton year.
With that being said, I give you Miguel Angel Jimenez.
Why, you may ask.
Why not?
Harrison Frazar Finally Wins, Is Quickly Forgotten
011 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
How do I hold this thing?
Too often winners of PGA Tour events that take place the week before a major are forgotten as soon as they sink their final putt.
The practice of looking forward to the bigger event the following week is only natural. Four times a year, the best players in the world are (almost) guaranteed to be playing in the same place for a chance of golf immortality. Becoming a major champion is the dream of practically everyone who has ever picked up a club.
Enter Harrison Frazar. A 39 year-old PGA Tour journeyman who in his first 354 starts has sniffed the winners circle a handful of times only to come up short.
Recently in a Golf.com piece (ghost written by Alan Shipnuck) Frazar talked about the struggles of being a tour professional while also attempting to balance a family life as he spends a the majority of his professional life on the road.
He talked openly and honestly about the thoughts that creep into his head about trying to find a more stable and grounded profession that would allow him to spend the time he wants with his family. Most importantly, he wrote, was what’s the point of putting himself through the grind of week in, week out play if he has no wins to show for it?
The final question was put to rest on Sunday as Frazar defeated Robert Karlsson in sudden death to win the FedEx St. Jude Classic.
Sunday was a two-horse race with Karlsson and Frazar battling in the final group as the rest of the field played for third place. Karlsson entered the final round with a one-stroke lead, but Frazar pulled even after a birdie on the 11th hole.
Deadlocked at 14-under for the next five holes, Karlsson blinked first bogeying No. 17 giving Frazar the lead heading into the 72nd hole. However, just like a year prior, the 18th hole at TPC Southwind proved to make for great theatre.
Frazar pulled his approach shot into the left water hazard and got up-and-down for a bogey. Karlsson, needing a par to force a playoff, did not make it easy on himself. After seeing Frazar’s pull into the hazard left of the green, the Swede missed the green to the right. Choosing to putt from off the green, Karlsson rolled his birdie attempt 10 feet past the hole. He calmly sank the putt and the pair headed back to 18 for the playoff.
Exchanging pars on the 18th and 11th holes, Frazar and Karlsson came to the 12th, a 406-yard par-4. Frazar found the green on the 12th, putting himself 25 feet above the hole. He lagged his birdie putt to kick in range to put the pressure squarely on the European Tour-playing Karlsson. After he had missed the green, Karlsson had seven feet for his par, but played too much break and for the second time in two years fell finished second in Memphis.
Finally breaking through in his 355th start on Tour, Frazar didn’t quite know how to handle the festivities following the win.
“It was a whirlwind there. This was the first time… I don’t know if I’m supposed to keep the seersucker jacket. I don’t know if I’m supposed to carry the trophy. You don’t know who you’re supposed to talk to. I felt bad. I didn’t thank the sponsors. I didn’t thank FedEx. I didn’t thank the volunteers. I was not quite sure really what was happening right then.
“The only tournament that I won in Q-school, you walked in, signed your card in the scoring trailer, and they gave you a pat on the back, ‘Good job.’ You walked out the door. There was nobody there.”
Frazar was the talk of the golf world for an hour or so following his win with players and media-types alike showering support and it’s-about-time praise, but after the initial aura wore off, everyone moved onto US Open chatter.
And thus continues one of the biggest screw jobs in professional golf. Three times a year, winners of the tournaments preceding the Masters, US Open and British Open are congratulated and promptly forgotten.
That is, of course, unless it is someone who is a perennial favorite going into a major such as Lee Westwood, who won the St. Jude last year or Phil Mickelson who won the Shell Houston Open prior to the Masters this year. For them, it’s seen as a building block and more reason why they will play well the following week.
However, in the two days following Frazar’s win, he has hardly been mentioned by pundits and experts on the Golf Channel or ESPN. In a year when there have been so many first time winners on Tour and with “parity” being the hot button word for the post-Tiger scandal era on tour, why couldn’t a guy like Frazar put together two good weeks?
Of course, the lack of notoriety isn’t something that is causing Frazar to lose sleep at night. Frazar has accrued nearly $10.5 million in his career, including just under 1/10th of that this past week. Frazar will gain entry into the Masters in 2012 as well as the Tournament of Champions that kicks off the PGA Tour season.
More importantly for Frazar, though, is the fact that with the win, he gains a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour meaning that story he wrote about walking away from golf might have become a more difficult decision.
Frazar will be teeing up this week at the US Open, kicking off the tournament in the opening group at 7 a.m. along with Chad Campbell and Marc Turnesa.
Westwood Further Stirs the Pot over “Fifth Major”
11 year ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
Getty Images
Look, can we just cool it with the “fifth major” stuff?
There are a couple things that have become a little overplayed in the past few months. The world rankings, the power struggle between the major tours and most pertinent, the title of one of any five tournaments as the “fifth major.”
Talking to EuropeanTour.com world No. 1 Lee Westwood took another jab at Tim Finchem and the PGA Tour calling the BMW PGA Championship the true fifth major in his mind.
“The BMW PGA Championship is the biggest title that I play for outside of the Majors. It’s bigger than the World Golf Championships because of what the tournament represents for us as The European Tour,” said Westwood.
“It’s the Tour’s showcase event and obviously I’d love to win – it is always a great event to play in and it would be nice to win a BMW tournament for the first time and it is certainly a high priority for me in any season.”
The well-documented turning down of PGA Tour cards by Westwood, Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer, three of the top six players in the world, have fueled a media-inspired Cold War between the European and PGA Tours.
As a result, the top players from Europe, including Westwood and McIlroy, are skipping the PGA Tour’s flagship event, The Players Championship next week. The decision to skip the event can be construed any number of ways.
Some see it as a proverbial middle finger to the PGA Tour, while the players themselves rationalize it as simply a choice based on scheduling.
McIlroy said this week that entering the Players would mean he’s playing six times in a seven week stretch and that’s too much if he wants to be relevant in the US Open next month.
“It is a year-on-year thing,” McIlroy said. “If I played the Players, the US Open would be my sixth week in seven. That would be a lot of golf for me.
“I have said I don’t want to play more than three in a row. It is too much golf for me. I get a little lazy and lethargic if I play more than three in a row. I want to prepare well for the US Open so I had to get rid of an event and it is the Players, simple as that.”
Depending on who you ask, the Players Championship can be the fifth most important tournament or even the ninth or tenth behind the World Golf Championships and other tournaments certain players hold in high esteem.
The fact of the matter is that there is no fifth major. Sure, this is the PGA Tour’s attempt at gaining a place on the Mount Rushmore of golf tournaments, but it’s not going to happen. It would alter history too much if it were to be included as a major. Nicklaus would have 21 major titles and Tiger 15, Greg Norman would have won a major on American soil and Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott would no longer be the biggest disappointments as far as talent without a major.
In the grand scheme of golfing history, we are pretty much set in our ways as far as majors are concerned, everything else are just quality fields.
So what is Westwood and McIlroy aren’t going to play in The Players. There will still be eight of the top 10 players in the world teeing it up, assuming a healthy Tiger shows up.
Let the guys do what they want. Golfers have long been an individual contractors and if they feel snubbed or want to snub someone else, let them.
The Players is going to happen next week whether or not Lee Westwood or Rory McIlroy shows up. Let’s just enjoy the players who do.
Westwood Backs Up Top Ranking in Real Tournament
01 year ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
Getty Images
After his win last week at the Indonesian Masters, Lee Westwood regained the top spot in the Official World Golf Rankings. Although he did everything that was asked of him according to his schedule of events, some pointed out that a three-shot victory over a field made up of mini-tour players wasn’t good enough to put him back at No. 1 in the world.
Wrong Fairway argued a BCS-esque stance that says Westwood’s play over the recent months put him in the position to play a lower-level event and still garner enough OWGR points to become No. 1.
Now a week into his second reign atop the rankings, Westwood solidified his position winning the Ballatines Championship in Seoul, South Korea, a European Tour-sanctioned event.
The Ballatines field was far more competitive and indicative of a quality champion, whom Westwood proved to be.
“It’s always nice when you’re world No. 1 to show everybody why you’re in that position,” Westwood said afterwards. ”I’m delighted with the way I played this week.”
Perhaps Westwood should not be bashed for playing in the Indonesian Masters. After all, there is no doubt he was given an appearance fee as the nearly $120,000 he received for winning. Along with the money, Westwood had the obvious advantage of being in Asia for two weeks which cut down on his jet lag by the time the Ballatines rolled around.
While it’s clear that Martin Kaymer has significantly cooled since the end of 2010, the only man with a case for the No. 1 ranking is Luke Donald. Following Donald’s loss at Harbour Town and coupled with Westwood’s win this week in Korea over Miguel Angel Jimenez and Dustin Johnson, among others, it seems as if Westwood is the only appropriate choice for No. 1 in the world.
Westwood Regains No. 1 at Second-Tier Event, But OWGR Gets It Right
11 year ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
AP
With tournaments taking place on both the PGA and European Tours, Lee Westwood decided to play in the second-tier Asian Tour event, the Indonesian Masters. Aside from one relatively familiar name (Thongchai Jaidee), Westwood played against a bunch of guys you’ve never heard of.
The Asian Tour’s top two players, Ryo Ishikawa and Seung-Yul Noh, weren’t in the field, so it would stand to reason that Westwood banked a nice appearance fee for traveling to Indonesia because surely it wasn’t for the competition.
Entering Sunday with a five-stroke lead, Westwood shot a 3-under 69 on his 38th birthday for his first win since the St. Jude Classic last year in Memphis.
Nearly 11 hours before Luke Donald would lose in a playoff and essentially award his countryman the top spot, Westwood had done what was asked of him to become the world’s No. 1 ranked player for the second time this year.
His ascent to the top raised the ire of more than a few the first time he gained the title and with an unimpressive win at the Indonesian Masters, similar gripes have been voiced.
However, for all the grief that the Official World Golf Rankings have received since Tiger Woods’ fall from grace and subsequent fall down the world rankings, Westwood did what he needed to do.
We often hear about things like this in college football when teams are laying claim to a national title game appearance. You hear coaches say “we did what we had to do,” or “we beat everyone on our schedule.” Inevitably, the counter argument is that teams need to schedule harder teams.
Similarly for Westwood, this argument could be raised.
But that’s where the world golf rankings make more sense than, say, the BCS. On their website, if you want to take the time to understand the rankings, the powers-that-be explain how lesser events yield lesser points.
Westwood garnered 10 fewer points for winning in Indonesia than Luke Donald did for coming in second at Harbour Town.
The strength of the field is the great equalizer in the golf rankings.
Westwood had done enough that his standing in the world rankings was closer to Kaymer than Donald’s. Meaning, Donald received more points for coming in second with a field that was significantly stronger, but still fell short of Westwood who was closer to the top spot.
Woopty-do, what does it all mean, Basil?
In the long run, not much.
Westwood will probably lose the No. 1 ranking sometime soon and maybe regain it another time, but golf fans can rest assured that while you may not agree with the world rankings, they do have some bearing and legitimacy.
Playing weaker fields and winning isn’t seen as better than playing a tough field and finishing well, even if you don’t win.
And that’s how it should be.
Enough With the World Ranking Talk
01 year ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
Any one of these three could be No. 1 (Getty Images)
As if we didn’t know already, the Official World Golf Rankings are in flux. Every week, someone is going to jump up the board with a win and others are going to fall with a missed cut or poor showing.
So, the question that begs asking is this: do we really care anymore?
Before we tackle that toughy, let’s take a look at this week’s edition of ‘what could be.’
Once again, the No. 1 spot in the world is up for the taking as three men could find their way atop the world rankings with certain results this week. Lee Westwood, Luke Donald and Martin Kaymer all have the opportunity to take hold, or in Kaymer’s case, keep hold, of the top spot.
The main heir to the throne is Luke Donald. Playing this week at the Heritage at Harbour Town, if Donald wins, which many are predicting he will as the course matches his style of play, he will unequivocally become the world’s No. 1 player for the first time in his career.
Interesting fact: if Donald were to win this week, it would only be his third victory in five years, which apparently makes him the best player in the world. As Paul Azinger tweeted, “Hmmmmmm.”
If Donald does not break through, Westwood could lay claim to his previous position of world’s best with a win at the Indonesian Masters this week. It would be Westwood’s first win since the St. Jude Classic last year and the Englishman would regain his spot from two months ago.
Kaymer, who is idle this week, simply needs to root for the field in both events if he wants to continue his reign atop the world rankings.
But back to the question at hand. Can we just give all this world ranking stuff a break? I understand that ever since Tiger Woods fell out of the top spot, it’s the first time anyone has paid the rankings any mind in the last five years, but with so many great players bunched at the top, any one of them could be crowned world No. 1 any given week.
Golf.com has it right. If we’re going to be ranking these players, it should be similar to college basketball where a panel of relatively informed people rank players upon current form, not rolling points over the past two years.
The rankings system is only coming under fire because of Woods’ fall from dominance. No one questioned who the best player in the world was when Tiger was dominating the world of golf. However, for the last two years he has become simply a good golfer as opposed to the dominating figure he once was, and with that comes the scrutiny over the OWGR.
The system’s broken, why not fix it the golf.com way who, ironically, has Luke Donald as the No. 1 player in the world.
Chubby Chandler Moving His Stable Stateside
01 year ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
Getty Images
Fresh off the second major in two years for his clients, Andrew “Chubby” Chandler is moving his stable of top-tier talent to the United States with International Sports Management’s purchase of New Jersey marketing consultancy Rule 1.02 Marketing.
The man from Bolton, England has been on fire in recent years with clients such as Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy, Louis Oosthuizen, Ernie Els, Darren Clarke, Christina Kim and Masters champion Charl Schwartzel. Apart from those high-quality names, Chandler’s ISM represents 40 golfers, 25 soccer players, 10 cricketers and one Paralympic swimmer.
Chandler, a former European Tour golfer himself, has been at the forefront of the “changing of the guard” in professional golf as the Europeans have seemingly taken the upper hand on their American counterparts.
With his companies new investment Stateside, Chandler said, “this is an ideal opportunity for us to broaden our horizons.
“We will now have the chance to extend our sponsorship opportunities as well as look into the possibility of managing American sportsmen and events.”
In a very interesting and well-done piece for golf.com at the beginning of April, Michael Bamberger profiles Chandler as the hottest agent abroad, and that was before Schwartzel came through at Augusta.
Chandler wanted to become an agent following his stint on the tour and looked to International Management Group head Mark McCormack as a role model. In the age of cell phones, multi-million dollar endorsements and appearance fees, Chandler followed McCormack’s lead. In his first business deal with Arnold Palmer, the only contract McCormack and Palmer had was based on a handshake.
Chandler liked that approach. Explaining the agreement McCormack and Palmer made to his first potential client, a then-young Darren Clarke, both agreed that is what they would do. With the exception of Lee Westwood that’s how all of his deals are made. Westwood and Chandler had an actual contract drawn up, but didn’t like how it felt and eventually had it torn up.
It may seem strange to golf fans, especially those on Twitter, why Chandler does not represent Graeme McDowell. After all, McDowell seems to get on well with all of Chandler’s other guys and even Chandler himself, but just like an old girlfriend, they have a past.
“The one who got away,” Chandler says. “We weren’t giving him the attention he needed. I learned something there. Won’t be making that mistake again.”
Chandler is the consummate salesman, but he’s really good at it. He doesn’t give off the same vibes as Mark Steinberg, Tiger Woods’ agent. His willingness to talk to anyone who will listen and give honest answers has endeared him to not only his clients, but sports fans across the globe.
At many of the high-profile tournaments in the US, you can find Chandler in the bar room with his clients after their rounds watching Premier League soccer.
During last year’s British Open, Chandler rented out the Jigger Inn, a St. Andrews staple, that is adjacent to the Road Hole’s fairway, for the entire week. Any member of his ISM team – players, caddies, friends, wives, girlfriends – were encouraged to eat and drink all the wanted without so much as paying a cent.
Chandler is a pro’s pro. As Bamberger said, there really is no line between his professional and personal life, which endears him to his client’s and their families. He is just as close to the McIlroy family as he is to Rory. He’s become more than an agent to his players, he’s a friend and a confidant and that’s why his handshake is enough to keep the top players in the game in his corner.
Now, maybe he can get a couple more big names from America or even international stars who make their homes in the States. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Chandler become the most powerful man in professional golf in only a few years time.
Chubby Chandler Represents Everyone
01 year ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
IrishGolfDesk.com
Andrew “Chubby” Chandler, the founder of International Sports Management, is everywhere you look.
Whether it be on Twitter (@chubby6665) taking part in the great banter most of the European players take part in or around a big golf tournament one of his superstar clients is taking part in, you cannot miss the giant mug of Chubby.
Chubby, given the name for obvious reasons, was a former European Tour player in the late 1980s before quitting to open ISM, a sports management agency based in England that represent stars from mostly golf and cricket.
This week at the Masters, most of the questions Chandler fielded were about Lee Westwood, Ernie Els and Rory McIlroy, all clients of his. Also among his clientele are Darren Clarke and LPGA star Christina Kim.
As the week progressed, not surprisingly, his youngest and perhaps most promising client, Rory McIlroy, was the subject of most of his questioning.
Everything was pointing towards Chandler being able to crown McIlroy as golf’s next big thing. As any good business man, Chandler was on hand to speak with the press and talk up his rising star, but as Chubb made his way down to behind the 18th welcome in his other clients, McIlroy was only a few hundred yards away making triple-bogey 7 on No. 10, before going on free-fall that would land him in a tie for 15th and without a green jacket.
Els came in, then Westwood, who had struggled all week with is putter, but no matter, there were still a few of Chubby’s boys on the course.
That’s where Mr. Chandler found himself in a bit of a pickle. On one hand, his young stud, McIlroy was melting down on the back nine while another one of his horses, Charl Schwartzel was charging up the leader board during the final four holes.
It was Chandler who was the first to greet Schwartzel behind the 18th green after Charl sank the putt to give him the green jacket by two shots.
Clearly ecstatic, Chandler hugged a line of Schwartzel family members and told BBC, ”I’ve known Charl since he was 17,” I knew he could win a major. More than one.”
Unfortunately, with the elation of one client came the disappointment of another. As McIlroy came up the last hole exhausted, Chandler was there for his man.
“I’ve known Rory since he was three years old. He is far too good to not win one of these, many more.”
Chandler handles one of the best stables of talent in the golfing world, so it is expected that one of his many talented players would beat out another of his players. It just so happens that Schwartzel out-dueled McIlroy at Augusta on Sunday.
No matter, Schwartzel and McIlroy were together on a 37-hour ride to Malaysia to play in the Maybank Malaysian Open this week.
There will be no hard feelings between the two men and as Chubby pointed out, “the first half will probably be sleeping, the second half probably drinking.”
Regardless, it’s good to be Chubby Chandler.
Monty Says He Would Captain Ryder Cup Again, Westwood Not So Keen
21 year ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
"I'll do it again." "No, you won't."
Late last week, talking to Reuters, Scotsman Sandy Lyle caused a stir when he opined that 2010 Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie may be a leading candidate for the 2014 post when the event takes place at Gleneagles in Scotland, with which Monty is affiliated.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Colin gets invited back. He knows the course, the surrounding area, what’s needed there and what’s not needed,” Lyle said. “I think he would be the man to choose unless someone like Darren Clarke or Paul McGinley feels he is next in line.”
Monty, refusing to say he was interested in the position again, gave a politically correct answer about helping the European Tour anyway he could.
“I don’t know where Sandy is coming from but that’s just his own opinion, I suppose,” Montgomerie said.
“But whether or not I am captain in 2014 depends on how things go in 2012 and what the committee’s feelings are.
“I am just there to support the Tour, as I’ve always said,” Montgomerie said. “Anyway I am sure I will be involved because of my affiliation with Gleneagles, whatever that might be.
“But if asked again, and because of my involvement for and with the Tour over the years, I would have to accept. Only if they wanted me. But they would have to approach me. I wouldn’t be approaching them.”
However, one of the leading men from the 2010 squad, Lee Westwood disagreed with Monty doubling up. As is the norm now, especially with the blokes from the British Isles, all one needs to do to get a response is send them a tweet. They seem to be on their phones more than Tiger Woods (bazinga).
Westwood, via tweet, said Monty shouldn’t take up the captaincy again, “should only do it once now. Too many good candidates to double up.”
And then when asked by the Scotsman’s John Huggan if he had seen the beginning of Monty’s run for the captaincy in 2014, the Englishman responded, “the term ‘quit while your [sic] ahead’ comes to mind!”
So, that makes Westy’s thoughts pretty clear. The recent tradition of one and done has seemed to work well for the Euros given their dominance of the event over the past few decades, but as a native Scotsman and with his ties with Gleneagles (in Scotland), it is far from certain that Monty will not be the captain in 2014.
Jose Maria Olazabel will head the team in 2012 when the event is held at Medinah, outside of Chicago.
