Posts tagged Luke Donald
Bill Haas Hits Out of East Lake to Win the FedEx Cup
07 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
AP
After fighting through the demons of last week’s back-nine 42 on Sunday as well as the bogey, double bogey finish to his round on Saturday, Bill Hass did nothing if not persevere to become the fourth winner of the FedEx Cup at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Ga.
The only problem was even he didn’t know he had just won the richest prize in golf.
Following the making of his four-foot putt on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff with Hunter Mahan, Haas was only sure that he had won the Tour Championship. On his way up to NBC’s television trophy presentation, he saw the Tour Championship Trophy as well as the FedEx Cup sitting on a table and he was the only golfer on the platform.
Haas turned to his wife, Julie, and asked, “Did I win the FedEx Cup?” She quietly nodded and said, “Yes.”
“I saw Tim Finchem,” Haas said after the presentation, “and I said, I didn’t know I had won this, and he was like, ‘Congratulations, you won both. Both are for you.’”
Regardless of whether or not the eventual winner knew what was on the line when he and Mahan began their entertaining sudden-death playoff, the viewers at home were all made aware. Perhaps it was the first time in the five-year history of the PGA Tour-contrived playoff system that the fans were given exactly what they wanted, namely, a one-on-one match to see who would take home the $11.44 prize.
The Tour sells the FedEx Cup finale, the Tour Championship, as an opportunity for all 30 guys in the field to win the big prize, although the guys towards to bottom seem to need a small miracle. This year with Haas ranked No. 25 going into the week, the sales pitch held true.
“I wanted to win, especially going into today,” Haas said. “I felt like I was in the position even after my finish yesterday. I felt like I was in a position to win the golf tournament, and that was all I could do in order to win the FedExCup.”
However, in order for Haas to come out on top, he needed a little help from the guys near the top of the standings. Of the five who had control of their destiny, only Luke Donald finished in the top-5, checking in at T-3. Webb Simpson (22), Justin Rose (T-20), Dustin Johnson (T-23) and Matt Kuchar (T-20) all failed to break par for the week and as a result, were virtual non-factors on Sunday.
Donald, the world’s No. 1 player, was the favorite to take home the big pay day with a solid finish. Playing alongside Haas, Donald sank a 12-footer for birdie on the 18th hole to put him in position if a few things went his way. Even Haas believed his playing partner was the one who would take home the $10 million.
“He birdied the last, and I thought that won the FedExCup for him,” Haas said. “So afterwards I told him, ‘Congratulations, I hope that won it for you.’”
Ironically enough, Haas, who had finished ahead of Donald in the Tour Championship, was the one who would play for the money in playoff with Mahan only minutes later.
With East Lake’s finishing hole a long par-3, the two swapped a pair of hard-earned pars following two errant tee shots. The second playoff hole is skirted by the course’s namesake, East Lake. Wary of the trouble left off the tee, Haas put his drive in the right fairway bunker while Mahan split the fairway. The 17th green nestles up alongside East Lake and with the tournament on the line, Haas took an agressive angle out of the fairway bunker to the left pin. Believing he had hit a good shot, Haas said to himself, ‘be good,’ but when he heard the groaning from up ahead, he feared he may have found the water.
“I never would have thought that [it would go in the water] when it was in the air,” Haas said. “My brother caddying was like, ‘Yeah, I think it is.’ I was like, well, there it goes.”
Fortunately for Haas, he found his ball only one-third of the way submerged. As many of you know, if half the ball is above water, it is definitely playable. With $11 million on the line, you better believe he was going to try the shot.
“It wasn’t a ton of water, I was up over the sole of my shoe, into the leather, but I didn’t have to get submersed or anything like that,” Haas said. “You play it like a bunker shot if there’s a little bit of water, if you don’t mind getting your feet dirty, and then blast it out of there. It came out perfect.”
By “perfect,” Haas meant to three feet, and what many have already dubbed as the Shot of the Year. Mahan, who had hit to the middle of the green still had a putt to win, but momentum was clearly on Haas’ side. Mahan misjudged his putt and Haas put his in the heart of the cup. Back to 18 they went.
Playing the 235-yard par-3 for the third time in an hour, although neither of them had played it particularly well, Haas put his shot on the back fringe. Mahan left another approach on 18 out to the right and found the green-side bunker that Jim Furyk got up-and-down from last year to win the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup.
Mahan, away, hit a forgettable bunker shot past the hole and Haas opted to putt through the fringe, cuddling the ball up to three or four feet for his par. Mahan’s par try slipped by the cup and Haas had a putt for the Tour Championship and unbeknownst to him, the FedEx Cup as well.
“I don’t know how far it was, it looked like 12 feet, it was probably four,” Haas said. “When I hit it, looked like it came off right where I wanted it to. It was a pretty cool feeling.”
A feeling most people would love to have, I’d bet.
Outplaying the 30-man field which included Keegan Bradley and Brandt Snedeker, thought by most to be the other two in contention for the final Presidents Cup spot, Haas said he did all he could do and now he has to wait for US Captain Freddie Couples to make the decision.
“I’m not going to say it gets me to Australia,” Haas said. “It definitely puts me in the talk up there with some of the guys that everybody has been talking about. I did what I could do.”
Joining the group of Tiger Woods (twice), Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk as the winners of the FedEx Cup, Haas also jumped to 20th in the world rankings and received an exemption into just about any tournament in the world.
The FedEx Cup has caught a lot of flack over the years, most of it deserved, some of it not, but finally, this year, we, the fans, got what we wanted. We didn’t need a calculator or Steve Sands and his whiteboard. Anyone can understand one-on-one for the whole thing and that’s what we got. Along with an easy computation to find a winner, we were privy to some exceptional golf, topped off by Haas’ shot out of East Lake.
Well done, PGA Tour. This year, you got it right.
*****
Here is Haas’ shot from the water on 17, the second playoff hole.
A Crash Course on Atlanta Athletic Club
09 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
On the eve of the season’s final major, golf fans are focussing their attention on Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, Ga., 23 miles north of Atlanta, the site of the 93rd PGA Championship.
We’ve heard all week from the players, analysts and PGA officials that the course is in great condition, but all we really hear talked about are the 15th and 18th holes. Only a few hours out of the first balls being in the air, perhaps we should take a little crash course around the track that has hosted four major championships.
The report from the greenskeepers and superintendents is that they have the course exactly how they want it right now and weather permitting, they will be able to prepare the course in whatever way the PGA of America sees fit.
Checking in at just under 7,500 yards and a par 70, the AAC seems like quite the beast this week. However, let’s go inside the numbers and see really what kind of course the best players in the world will be competing on.
First and foremost, although it’s already been beaten to death this week, the weather is going to play a huge role in the length of the golf course. More specifically, the heat will be a major factor. With highs hovering around 90° and humidity at 60 percent, the balls will be flying farther than normal. Couple that with hard, fast fairways, the course ins’t really that much of a monster.
The key word in that last sentence was “fairways.” The AAC has their rough way up, so much so that Luke Donald said in his press conference on Tuesday that the course “might be more like the U.S. Open than the U.S. Open was.”
Looking at the front nine, it would appear to be the time to score. Opening with a 454-yard par-4 might not sound appealing, but a new tee gives players a better angle to cut the corner on the dogleg left, giving them a short-iron in. After that tame opener, the players will face a 512-yard par-4. A par-5 in any tournament not a major, par is a good score. Not letting up, the third played as the most difficult hole on the front in 2001. A green sloping back to front puts keeping the ball below the hole at a premium.
Getting through the first three holes in even par or better puts players at a distinct advantage when finishing their outgoing nine. The par-3 4th is guarded by water on the front, but with most balls funneling to the front right, biridie is a good possibility if the hole is cut there. Playing the 5th hole will seem like a breeze. The easiest hole on the entire course in 2001, the AAC has added a cross-bunker 100 yards out making a lay-up a little tricky. Look for plenty of birdies.
The 6th is a 425-yard par-4, but the PGA has the option of putting the tee up to 295 making the hole a fun one to watch players take the risk of driving the green. The 7th is the shortest par-3 on the course at 184 yards, so look for players to take advantage. The 8th, another dogleg gives players the chance to cut the corner if they can carry it 280. A good drive give the guys a look at bird. A short par-4 to end the nine brings another chance to pick up a stroke. Driving is a premium, but if the players can find the shortgrass, they could round out a low front nine.
The 10th hole, which players will start from on either Thursday or Friday, plays more difficult than the first, but par is a good score. The true test comes later on the back, so if players want to pick up strokes, they need to do it early on. The 11th is a dogleg left with a downhill approach to a well-protected green with bunkers left and water right. The 12th and 13th are the best two chances of making birdie coming in. A 551-yard par-5, the 12th is downhill off the tee making it reachable in two for most of the field. The 13th is a dogleg right will force the guys to hit iron off the tee with a left-to-right ball flight to get into scoring position. The 14th hole has one of the toughest greens on the course guarded by bunkers in front. Going long into the collection area almost assures a bogey.
The final four holes are the “Amen Corner” of AAC beginning with one of the most criticized holes on the course. The 15th is a 260-yard par-3 with water guarding the green to the right. Many players have voiced their displeasure this week with Darren Clarke saying it might be downhill, but “it ain’t that much f—— downhill.” The Open champ said it would be a three wood for him “and hit it well or a reload because balls don’t float.” The PGA probably won’t play the hole at its full length except for one day, but par is always a good score.
The 16th is a 476-yard par-4 up the hill that will take the running fairways out of play more so than most other holes. The elevated green will make it hard to stop the ball, again making par ideal. The 17th is another 200+-yard par-3. All carry over water, 3 is a good score.
Finally, if the players have managed to keep it together through that gauntlet, the hardest hole from 2001 stands between them and the clubhouse bar. A 507-yard par-4 with the approach shot needed to carry a water hazard isn’t the easiest hole on the course, but it should make for a good finish. David Toms laid up short of the water in ’01 and got up-and-down to win. Jerry Pate hit his famous “shot heard round the world” in the 1976 US Open when his 5-iron cozied up to two feet.
With the fairways running and the course seemingly under control, I see a winning score hovering right around 11-under par 269. Regardless, it should be a good test and maybe on some of the longer holes, the PGA can take it’s own advice and “Tee It Forward.”
Old Man Scott ‘Stoked’ After Winning WGC Bridgestone
09 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
At 31 years old, Adam Scott is no longer the poster boy for the “new era” of golfing elite, but as he came down the 72nd fairway on Sunday after nearly holing out a 6 iron from over 200 yards away with fans chanting for his caddie, the Aussie couldn’t care less.
“It was fun to get support,” Scott said. “Whether it’s for me or him, I don’t care – it’s the right team.”
As Scott claimed arguably his biggest win of his career (but don’t tell the PGA that), the former Players champion was playing second fiddle to the storyline that had dominated the week: Tiger was back, but without his usual bagman.
Perfectly content with playing behind the curtains of the Tiger comeback, like everyone else was forced to do, whether they liked it or not, Scott torched the Firestone CC for a first-round 62 on Thursday afternoon, one shot clear of fellow countryman Jason Day, who shot a 63 in the morning wave. The two Aussie’s would find themselves near or atop the leaderboard for the remainder of the week.
Scott and Day had done battle once earlier this year at Augusta National, only to be lapped by eventual champion Charl Schwartzel. However, their final rounds of 67 and 68 respectively put them in a tie for second and gave them a solid start to their 2011 season.
Scott, who has been using a long, broom-handle putter this year, has seen his putting woes evolve into confidence with the flatstick. This week, Scott picked up 7.352 stokes putting against the field.
“I was so inconsistent with the short putter, and that’s the hardest thing,” Scott said. “I didn’t know what was going to show up when I went out on the golf course, whether it was going to be a decent stroke or not. The long putter has certainly provided me with more consistency, and with that has come the confidence, and I think I’m really solid over any putt at the moment. I feel very good about it.”
Scott was solid all around, driving the ball just a hair under 320 on average, hitting two-thirds of his fairways and 71 percent of greens in regulation. Combine those gaudy numbers with a hot putter and benign scoring conditions and you have the perfect storm for Scott this week.
Working with Williams for the fourth time, the duo have seemed pretty comfortable together. Despite missing the cut at the US Open, their first rodeo together, the Scott-Williams tandem has finished T3 at the AT&T National and T25 at the Open Championship.
“He’s right up for it,” Scott said of Williams. “We all know his personality in those situations. It’s almost like I need to show him I’ve got it in me because a lot of people question it. I can show him on the golf course that I’m right up for it, as well.”
Scott held the lead following every round this week, but there were a handful of guys lurking just a few shots back. As is always the case at the WGCs, the names are pretty well-known. On this occassion, Scott had to look up at the leaderboard and see Day, Ryo Ishikawa, Rickie Fowler and world No. 1 Luke Donald.
Paired with the young Japanese sensation, Ishikawa, Scott had someone playing alongside him to remind him that he would have to bring his A-game to win. Little did Scott know, Williams said he knew that the tournament was over before Scott teed off in the final round.
“I had no doubt in my mind this morning on the range,” Williams said. “Adam hit it so good on the range, I knew it was our day.”
Ishikawa, in search of his first win on American soil, put the pressure on the Aussie early and often, tying Scott on several occasions on the front nine, only to drop back with some costly bogies. An up-and-down day left Ishikawa in a distant tie for fourth, still his best finish in America.
Fowler made some ripples, firing a bogey-free round of 4-under par 66. Also holding a share of the lead on the front, Fowler could only muster two birdies coming in, but he showed once again why many believe he will be a multiple tour winner, finally putting together a solid Sunday round. He would finish in a tie for second with Donald, who shot a Sunday 66, including a back nine 32.
Day put himself in contention early Sunday afternoon, birdieing the first hole, but his putter went cold, unable to make any putt of consequence. He would end with a 1-underp ar round of 69 and tie with Ishikawa for fourth.
Scott bided his time, staying patient and rolling in putts when he needed them. Going out in 1-under 34, Scott flipped the switch on the back nine, birdieing three of the first five holes.
On the par-3 12th hole, Scott put some distance in-between himself and the rest of the field. After barely missing the green to the left, Scott required a precise chip to a short-sided pin.
“It was one of those things that I just struck really sweet and felt like it’s going in right from the time it leaves the club,” Scott said. “And that was a big break to keep the momentum going because it had been very kind of slow and methodical.”
Another birdie on 14 and Scott had opened up a comfortable gap between himself and the rest of the field. With no one able to pick up any shots on him, Scott game to the 18th hole with a three-shot lead. Scott played the safe shot off the tee hitting a fairway wood right down the middle.
“I was thinking of just dumping it over to the right on the last, hitting a 7-iron over there,” Scot said. “And [Williams] said, what are you talking about, hit a 6-iron straight at the pin. And I hit a great shot.”
The 6-iron was eating fiber the whole way as Scott asked for it to “be good.” Landing a few feet from the pin, the ball burned the edge of the cup and stopped five feet from the hole. One more brush with the broom-stick putter and Scott won his eighth PGA event and 18th worldwide.
“I’m really stoked to have won a World Golf Championship and win around this course in nice fashion. The way I closed it out, I was really happy with, too, so overall extremely happy,” Scott said.
With the win, Scott secured the $1.4 million winner’s check. For those of you keeping track at home, Williams will get a 10 percent share that, worth $140,000, over 80 large more than his former employer made this week in his tie for 37th. Scott jumped to 15th place in the FedEx Cup standings and cracked the top-10 in the world golf rankings coming in at No. 9.
With this week’s PGA Championship already upon us, it seems like Scott’s game has what it takes to win his first major. Maybe a win at Atlanta Athletic Club will supplant this week’s win as the best of Williams’ career.
Pairings to Watch This Week at the Bridgestone
09 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
The World Golf Championship events are widely considered to be the next step down from the four major championships. With their outrages purses, this year’s WGC Bridgestone is worth a healthy $8.5 million, nearly all of the world’s top players are drawn to Akron like flies to a lamp. Add in the return of Tiger Woods to competitive golf for the first time in three months and we have all the makings for a ratings bonanza.
With so many of the best and most popular players in the world teeing it up together, there will undoubtedly be a couple of groupings that will turn a few heads. Of course, we all know the Tiger Woods/Darren Clarke pairing. The two friends playing together has raised the ire of a few who believe the Tour of pandering to it’s top draw, but that’s an argument for another day.
Scrolling through the pairings there are a couple of “eh” pairings. The ones you look at and think ‘okay they could be fun to watch’ such as Sergio and Goosen and Els and Overton, but then you get to the blockbuster pairings of the day. Off the first tee there is Rickie Fowler and Matteo Manassero, combined age of 40. Follow them up with Bubba and Kaymer, Woods and Clarke, A. Scott and DJ and you have your Thursday coverage window locked up right there.
Those sneaky suits will do anything for a good overnight rating.
Take a look at the groups off No. 10 in the morning, meaning they will be off No. 1 on Friday afternoon, just in time for Golf Channel’s coverage. You have Rory McIlroy and defending champ Hunter Mahan going off around the same time as Mickelson and Jason Day, Schwartzel and Luke Donald and G-Mac and Westwood.
As is the case with any WGC, pretty much every group is guaranteed to deliver the goods, but there are those certain handful that will dominate your couch sitting.
Speaking of the programming, the tournament will be on your tube from 2-6 p.m. every day of the week. Thursday and Friday on the Golf Channel and Saturday and Sunday on CBS.
So sit back and enjoy some top shelf golf this weekend.
*****
| Firestone CC (South Course) Tee #1 | ||
| Time | Players | |
| 8:40 am | Atwal, Arjun | Sabbatini, Rory |
| 8:50 am | Appleby, Stuart | Green, Richard |
| 9:00 am | Points, D.A. | Quiros, Alvaro |
| 9:10 am | Stallings, Scott | Cink, Stewart |
| 9:20 am | Yang, Y.E. | Hoffman, Charley |
| 9:30 am | Molinari, Francesco | Ogilvy, Geoff |
| 9:40 am | Garcia, Sergio | Goosen, Retief |
| 9:50 am | Karlsson, Robert | Furyk, Jim |
| 10:00 am | Els, Ernie | Overton, Jeff |
| 12:30 pm | Woodland, Gary | Hanson, Peter |
| 12:40 pm | Jacobson, Fredrik | Vegas, Jhonattan |
| 12:50 pm | Haas, Bill | Otto, Hennie |
| 1:00 pm | Jimenez, Miguel A. | Toms, David |
| 1:10 pm | Fowler, Rickie | Manassero, Matteo |
| 1:20 pm | Kaymer, Martin | Watson, Bubba |
| 1:30 pm | Watney, Nick | Stricker, Steve |
| 1:40 pm | Clarke, Darren | Woods, Tiger |
| 1:50 pm | Ishikawa, Ryo | Kuchar, Matt |
| 2:00 pm | Scott, Adam | Johnson, Dustin |
| Firestone CC (South Course) Tee #10 | ||
| Time | Players | |
| 8:40 am | Wilson, Mark | Park, Jae-bum |
| 8:50 am | Steele, Brendan | Allenby, Robert |
| 9:00 am | Noren, Alexander | Byrd, Jonathan |
| 9:10 am | Bradley, Keegan | Bjorn, Thomas |
| 9:20 am | Donald, Luke | Schwartzel, Charl |
| 9:30 am | McDowell, Graeme | Westwood, Lee |
| 9:40 am | Snedeker, Brandt | Ikeda, Yuta |
| 9:50 am | McIlroy, Rory | Mahan, Hunter |
| 10:00 am | Mickelson, Phil | Day, Jason |
| 10:10 am | Oosthuizen, Louis | Baddeley, Aaron |
| 12:30 pm | Frazar, Harrison | Kim, Kyung-tae |
| 12:40 pm | Laird, Martin | Slocum, Heath |
| 12:50 pm | Johnson, Zach | Larrazabal, Pablo |
| 1:00 pm | Hansen, Anders | Moore, Ryan |
| 1:10 pm | Van Pelt, Bo | Dyson, Simon |
| 1:20 pm | Molinari, Edoardo | O’Hair, Sean |
| 1:30 pm | Harrington, Padraig | Rose, Justin |
| 1:40 pm | Poulter, Ian | Choi, K.J. |
| 1:50 pm | Glover, Lucas | Casey, Paul |
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?
Donald’s Win at Castle Stuart Vaults Him to British Open Favorite
110 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
Getty Images
The Scottish Open had the brilliant idea to move their venue from the venerable, albeit American-style course at Loch Lomond to a more links-style course at Castle Stuart in the attempt to bring in high profile names in preparation for the British Open.
Mission accomplished it would seem with names like Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood, Ernie Els, Edoardo Molinari, Martin Laird, Colin Montgomerie, Luke Donald, Graeme McDowell, Angel Cabrera, Matt Kuchar, Gary Woodland and Justin Rose taking part in the event acting as a warm up for this week’s British Open at Royal St. George’s.
Mickelson even went so far as to predict the winner of the British Open would be in the field at the Scottish Open, beings that the new links layout near Inverness is as good as a preparatory track as any in the world.
“I expect the winner of next week’s British Open will be in the field this week. I think it is such an advantage to play, get over here first of all and get acclimated to the time,” Lefty said. “Second, play links golf the week before on such a great course as this, I think it will help anybody in this field to compete and play well next week.”
Enter Luke Donald, world No. 1.
Although a catastrophic rainfall wiped out play entirely on Saturday, turning the Open tune-up into a 54-hole sprint, the reigning world No. 1 player made no mistake about his intentions to win his first major the following week.
Shooting a nine-under 63 on Sunday to win by four strokes over Fredrik Andersson Hed gave Donald his third win of the season and solidified him as the preemptive favorite in Sandwich this week. While the world drools over new darling Rory McIlroy, Donald has quietly gone about his business.
The fact of the matter remains that as impressive as McIlroy was in the US Open, he is still 22 and going through the learning process of winning. Many, myself included, believe McIlroy to be the dominant golfer of the future, but that doesn’t mean he will run off 10 straight major championships. Remember, Donald has won three times this year; McIlroy has won three times in his entire career.
Add his recent play in 2011 with his pedigree in recent Open Championships including T-5 and T-11 finishes the past two years, Donald has to be up there with McIlroy as the favorite to take home the Claret Jug.
Could a rivalry be blossoming between McIlroy and Donald? Possibly. At age 33, Donald is 11 years McIlroy’s elder, a similar age gap between Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.
However, with Donald’s recent form and the fact that he has actually been playing golf since the US Open, it would seem only logical to believe him to be the man to beat this week.
Whether or not he can live up the hype is something he and McIlroy both have in common. Luckily for us, we can watch these two great players duke it out beginning Thursday morning.
Donald Falls to Poulter in Volvo Finale After Poulter Fell
012 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
Reuters
Luke Donald found himself in a mano-a-mano match-up for the second time in four weeks in which a win would give him the top spot in the world golf rankings. And for the second time in four weeks Donald failed to close the deal, losing the Volvo World Match Play Championship to fellow Englishman Ian Poulter.
Poulter, who advanced to the round of 16 with two halved matches against Francesco Molinari and Paul Lawrie, defeated world No. 1 and fellow Twitter buddy Lee Westwood to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarters, Poulter faced off against Molinari once again, but was able to beat him on his second go, 2 & 1.
Poulter then slid past Nicolas Colsaerts to face Donald in the final.
Donald, on the other hand, took care of Ryan Moore and Ross Fischer pretty handily and faced Johan Edfors in the round of 16. After winning that on the 19th hole, Donald faced Masters champ Charl Schwartzel in the quarterfinals for a chance to have an Accenture Match Play rematch with Martin Kaymer.
Donald defeated Schwartzel and Kaymer beat the long-hitting Spaniard Alvaro Quiros to force a rematch. However, Donald made easy work of Kaymer defeating him 5&3 to face Poulter in an all-English final.
Swapping holes throughout the fron nine, Donald was 1 up through 10, but he would no win another hole the rest of the way in. Poulter converted putts on the 12th, 14th and 16th holes to finish off Donald 2 & 1.
The win brings up a couple of points. First of which, Ian Poulter may be the best matchplay player on the planet. Two of his last three victories around the world have been in match play events. However, match play success hasn’t necessarily translated into tournament stroke play success for the boisterous Twitter-a-holic.
A win for Poulter should go miles for his confidence as we enter into the major season in a few weeks.
On the other hand, Luke Donald Disease supporters have more ammo for their arsenal. As previously stated, Donald has no been able to close out a win that would catapult him to the top spot in the world. Is that a problem for Donald or more of a statement about the state of professional golf.
It’s become pretty widely understood that since the fall of Tiger Woods, golf has not had a dominant player running through fields five or six times a year. Winning is hard on the professional level and while many casual fans are yearning for a dominant force to rival the Woods era, no one is stepping forward.
This is not a knock on Donald who has proven to be the best player in the world in many people’s minds. The knock on Donald has long been than he cannot close the deal, but it’s a far cry from LDD. Donald is not just cashing top-15 checks anymore and making boo-koo bucks. He is in contention, finishing in the top three or four.
The fact of the matter is that Luke Donald is not a powerhouse. He’s a consistent player with a great short game. The professional golf circuit is a glorified chipping and putting contest. Gone are the days when guys like Woods can simply overpower courses. You need to have some length, but the short game is where you make your money.
With Donald’s expertise around the greens, his name is atop many leaderboards more often.
The fact of the matter is this: while Luke Donald is the best player in the world week in and week out, that doesn’t translate to winning every week. The players on the professional tours have talent that runs so deep, any player can get hot and win. The true test of the best player in the world as it stands now is who is there each and every week.
Right now, that player is Luke Donald.
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On the 8th hole during the final match, Poulter put his tee ball into some nasty bushes off the fairway. Poults elected to play the shot to little success and then fell down the hill. Poulter is completely fine with no bruises except to his ego. Therefore, the following video is hilarious.
New Putting Stat Will Give Better Idea of Who Best Putters Are
21 year ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
pgatour.com
The PGA Tour announced a new and improved way to diffentiate between the best putters on Tour and players who simply have a solid short game.
The Strokes Gained-Putting stat was developed by Professor Mark Broadie of Columbia Business School and studied more at MIT led by Professor Stephen Graves. The new stat will use the ShotLink technology that the Tour implemented in 2004.
The point of this new stat is to better understand who the top putters on Tour have been. In the past, we have only had a putts per round stat to tell us who is putting well. As anyone who has played golf knows, that stat can sometimes be misleading.
Players who scramble well as a result of a solid chipping game have lower putts per round, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are putting that great, they just have shorter putts to hole. While players who are striking the ball well and hitting more greens usually have longer putts, meaning they are less likely to make the putts, resulting in more putts per round.
Knowing that, we judge the best putters on Tour primarily by the eye test. Who seems to make the most putts, who has the best stroke, et cetera.
Now, with this new stat and the help of ShotLink, the PGA Tour can quantify how many strokes a player can save or lose to the field.
Using the example from the PGATour.com announcement, ShotLink shows that in 2010 the average putts it took the pros to hole out from seven feet was 1.5. So, hypothetically speaking and using Camilo Villegas as our guinea pig for a visuals sake, say Camilo holes a seven foot putt. He gains 0.5 strokes on the field for making that putt. If he were to require two putts, he would lose 0.5 strokes, or if he were to three-putt, he would lose 1.5 strokes to average.
After his round, against the average, say Camilo has gained 3 strokes compared to the putting averages on the distances of his putts. Now, you have to take into account how the rest of the field putted on that day to make the stat comparable. Say for the day, the rest of the tournament field averaged gaining one stroke on the putting averages. Camilo would have gained two strokes against the field.
Hopefully that explanation made sense, otherwise you can read the gibberish written in the PGA’s release and decipher it that way.
The bottom line is that instead of believing Luke Donald is the best putter on Tour, we have a stat to prove how effective against the field he truly is. Here is a link to the rankings through this year. It truly is a telling statistic.
It’s no surprise that Luke Donald is in the top-10. Also not surprising, Ernie Els is DFL.
PGA Tour Has Appearance Fees Too, Just More Secretive
21 year ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
With the major stars of professional golf acting as individual contractors when setting their schedule, it has become commonplace for tournaments wishing to boast a stellar field or woo marquee names to shell out some cash in order to get the top players to their events.
Often, the misconception is that these tournaments willing to offer large appearance fees take place in exotic locations such as Singapore, China or Dubai where players would otherwise not play, however as the Associated Press’ Doug Ferguson points out in his article Tuesday, the PGA Tour is guilty of similar offenses.
“America is doing what we’ve done for 20 years, and there’s nothing wrong with it,” said Chubby Chandler of British-based International Sports Management, whose list of clients includes Els, Westwood, Rory McIlroy and two of the last three major champions in Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel.
“Tournaments have to get players to commit early,” Chandler said. “You can’t sell tournaments on the hope a bunch of guys might enter on Friday night. It’s just a way of getting players there. And they have to do something for it.”
Take, for example, the PGA Tour stop this week in New Orleans at the Zurich Classic. The Zurich boasts its strongest field in five years because of its subtle use of appearance fee money through sponsorship.
The global insurance provider uses players they sponsor, Justin Rose and Ben Crane, while also enlisting the help of other “ambassadors” Camilo Villegas, Luke Donald, Graeme McDowell and Rickie Fowler. These ambassadors go to dinners, shake hands and play in pro-ams while getting other top players to commit. The more quality players, the more world ranking points and money at stake.
The way Zurich and many other title tournament sponsors get top players to appear at their tournaments is much more understated than their compatriots overseas. Tiger Woods routinely receives $3 million for showing up. It’s no surprise he is going down under to play in the JB Were Masters when he’s getting that kind of cash. Of course, along with the fee comes other commitments, such as a dinner or pro-am.
The only difference is that on the PGA Tour it is simply seen as guys picking the events they want to play on Tour. The sponsorship dollars that double as appearance fees aren’t openly talked about because it gives off the vibe that tournaments are desperate for players and everyone should know that it’s a privilege to play in any PGA Tour event.
The PGA Tour had to tighten its regulations in 2004 when Ford, the title sponsor of Doral, paid up to $600,000 for four elite players to take part in a pro-am with Ford dealers. Adding to the embarrassment was Golf World magazine obtaining a letter from IMG that offered a menu of players — and how much they cost — in exchange for those players looking favorably upon playing the tournament.
There was some concern at PGA Tour headquarters a few years later when more tournaments began paying for certain players to show up at a cocktail party or dinner during the tournament.
One agent, speaking on condition of anonymity so players or tournaments couldn’t be implicated, said one of his clients recently was paid to appear at one tournament, provided he attend a dinner party the sponsor held at another PGA Tour event four months later.
By any definition, that’s appearance money.
The closeted nature of appearance money in the US is right up the PGA Tour’s alley. While the money is kept under the table, it appears as if the top players want to play these lesser events, if you will, simply because its a Tour event when in reality they are getting paid to show up.
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.
