GOLF EVENTS FROM THE WEEKEND 20TH FEBRUARY

Well it was another exciting weekend on the Professional Golf Tours from around the World.

Kristie Smith with the Pegasus New Zealand Open Trophy

First I will start with the Pegasus New Zealand Women's Open hosted by Christchurch, which was played at the Pegasus Golf and Sports Club in Christchurch, New Zealand. And it was the young Australian Professional Kristie Smith (Australia) who scored rounds of 71-1, 64-8, 73+1 and a fine 68-4 in very strong winds for a 72 hole total of 276-12. She won by 3 shots and it was her 1st win on the Ladies European Tour.


It was Kristie Smith (Australia) 1st win on the Ladies European Tour in only her 2nd year playing it. It will be pleasing for her Father Wayne Smith (Australia) who played the Australasian Tour and Asian Tours for years with lots of success. He now is caddying for his daughter. She won $33,333.33 Euros for her win and she is now exempt on the Ladies European Tour till the end of 2013. She moved to 2nd on the Ladies European Tour Henderson Money List 2011 with $37,255.21 Euros from the 3events she has played this season. The win will give her a big boost of confidence to have a huge year. In my Opinion she is destined to be one of the superstars of women’s golf in the years to come.

Tiffany Joh (USA) was tied 2nd on -9, 3shots back after a final round of 70-2, as was Giulia Sergas (Italy), Giulia blew the final round after leading for 54 holes. She shot a final round 76+4 in the very windy conditions. But considering she had the flu all week it can be considered a fine performance. The Amazing 13 year old Amateur Golfer Lydia Ko (New Zealand) just keeps on getting better. She was the lower New Zealand golfer after 72holes. She tied for 4th on -7, with rounds of 70-2, 68-4, 72even and 71-1 in the windy conditions of the final round. She is destined for a huge future in the game. There are rumours going round of her accepting a Scholarship to Stanford University in the USA at the end of the year. So I wish her luck with her golf Career.

Next best New Zealander was Caroline Bon (New Zealand) on -5, tied 15th; a disappointing final round of 75+3 slipped her down the leader board some places. But the finish will give her confidence in her rookie season on the Ladies European Tour. Next best New Zealander was Cecilia Cho (New Zealand) also another amateur; she is only 16 years old as well. She recovered well from a shocking 1st round 77+5, to post 66-6 in the 2nd round. But had a poor 3 rd round of 75+3, but fine par round in the final round left her +2 after 72 holes and in tied 33 rd place. I suspect she will turn professional in the next few years.

They were the only New Zealand players to make the cut. The Australian Ladies PGA Tour now takes a break till next summer. But the Ladies European Tour now moves on with the next event being the Lalla Meryem Cup played on the Soleil Golf Course, Agadir, Morocco. The 1st round is on Thursday 31st March and with €325,000 in prize money on offer, it is going to attract the best women players in Europe. I will report back the results once the tournament is completed.

So to the European Tour and the Race to Dubai and this week it was the Avantha Masters that was played at the DLF Golf and Country Club, New Delhi, India. S S P Chowrasia (India) scored a final round of 67-5 to go with his 1st round 70-2, 69-3 and 67-5 for a 72 hole total of 273-15. He won by 1shot and it was his 2nd win on the European Tour after he won his 1st in 2008. The interesting thing is that both his Victories have come in his home land of India. He won € 300,000 Euros for his win and now moves to 6th on the Race to Dubai money list with €300,000 Euros. Alvaro Quiros (Spain) is still on top with €558,376 Euros from 4 events played. South Africa still has 4players in the top 10 on the list.



S S P Chowrasia (India) acknowledges the crowd
after winning the Avantha Masters



It will give S S P Chowrasia (India) a huge boost of confidence to his golf career and it also gives him a 2year exemption on the European Tour till the end of 2013. And he may well be able to play in the WGC-Golf Championships Events with his improved world ranking. Robert Coles (England) was 2nd on -14, 3rd was Gregory Havret (France) on -13, Robert-Jan Derksen (Netherlands) was 4th on -12, Pablo Larrazabal (Spain) and Sujjan Singh (India) were both tied for 5th on -11, Mark F Haastrup (Denmark) and Chinnarat Phadungsil were tied for 7th on -10, and Shiv Kapur (India) and Angelo Que (Philippines) were tied for 9th on -9.

There were no New Zealanders entered in the field. Next week the European Tour heads to America for a Co – Sanctioned event with the USPGA Tour and it is the 1st WGC World Golf event of the year. It is the WGC – Accenture Match Play Championship that is being played at the Ritz-Carlton GC, Dove Mountain, Marana, USA, with the top 64 players on the world rankings qualifying for it. It is knockout 18 hole match play and with $US8,500,000 up for grabs and players like Tiger Woods (USA), Martin Kaymer (Germany) and world number 1 Lee Westwood (England) competing, there is going to be some exciting golf to watch. I will report back who won next week.

And now to the USPGA Tour and this week it was the Northern Trust Open, it was played at the Riviera CC, Pacific Palisades, California. And it was the Australian Golfer Aaron Baddeley (Australia) who took home the trophy. He was the only player in the field to score 4rounds in the 60’s. His 4 rounds were 67-4, 69-2, 67-4, and 69-2 to finish at 272-12 after 72holes. He won by 2shots. It was 3rd win on the USPGA Tour and his 1st in just over 4years. When he holed the winning putt his Wife and kids were at the 18th Green to congratulate him. He won $ US1,170,000.00 for his winning, and got 500 FedEx Cup points that places him 4th on the FedEx Cup list with 658 points from 5events. He is 351 points behind Mark Wilson (USA) who is still on top with 1,009points from 5 events.


Aaron Baddeley (Australia) after winning Northern Trust Open



It was a fine showing in the last round by Aaron Baddeley (Australia). After getting it to -13 after birding the 10th hole, he 3putted the par 4, 12th for Double Bogey. And suddenly his lead was only 1shot. But he composed himself with holing an excellent curling left to right 30foot putt for birdie on the 13th hole to get to -12 and kept it there by making 5consective pars to finish. The win should boost his confidence to have a great year. But the real fairy tale story was Fred Couples at age 52 years; he started off his final with 3consective birdies and was tied for the lead at -12. But a Bogey on the par 4, 6th and a Double Bogey on the par 4, 7th hole, and when he bogeyed the par 4, 10th hole he slipped to -8. But a birdie on the Par 5, 11th kept his hopes alive. But further bogeys on the 16th and 18th holes caused him to finish with a final round of 73+2; he eventually finished -7, tied for 7th with K. J. Choi (South Korea). But it was a fine effort from Fred Couples (USA). And he gave up a chance to defend his Ace Group Classic title on the Champions Tour. It shows how much he likes playing at this course having won on two previous occasions in the early 90’s.

Vijay Singh (Fiji) had a great tournament finishing 2nd, at -12 and won $US 702,000.00 and got 300 FedEx Cup points for his efforts that places him 7th on the list with 564, from 5events, only 445 points behind Mark Wilson (USA). It has been a great start to 2011 for the 48year old. Kevin Na (USA) was 3rd on -9, Jimmy Walker (USA), Robert Allenby (Australia) and Ryan Moore (USA) was tied 4th on -8. Rounding out the top 10 was J. J. Henry (USA), David Duval (USA) and Justin Rose (England) tied for 9th on -6. The 1st New Zealander to play on the USPGA Tour this year and the only New Zealander in the field Tim Wilkinson (New Zealand) shot 80+9 in the 1st round but came back with a 70-1 in the 2nd round. He finished 150+8 but missed the cut by 4shots.

Next week there are two tournaments on the USPGA Tour, the 1st one is WGC – Accenture Match Play Championship that is being played at Ritz-Carlton GC, Dove Mountain, Marana, USA and is combined with other word tours. And with the top 64 players on the world rankings qualifying for it. It is knockout 18 hole match play and with $US8,500,000 up for grabs and players like Tiger Woods (USA), Martin Kaymer (Germany) and world number 1 Lee Westwood (England) competing, there is going to be some exciting golf to watch. And for the USPGA Tour players that haven’t qualified for it, they will play the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun and it is being played at El Camaleon, Riviera Maya, Mexico and Cameron Beckman in the defending Champion. I will report back the results next week.

And now to the Champions Tour and this week it was the Ace Group Classic that was played at The Quarry, Naples, Florida. And Bernhard Langer (Germany) shot a final round 66-6 to go along with his 1st round 64-8 and 2nd round 66-6 to finish at 196-20. He won the tournament by 4shots. He earned $US 240,000.00 for his win and now has 240 Charles Schwab Points from 3events he has played this year. He is 214 points behind the leader of the Charles Schwab Points list, Tom Lehman (USA). He continues on the brilliant from last year where he recorded 5wins and won the 2010 Charles Schwab Cup. And he is well on the way to defending the title he won last year.

Bernhard Langer (Germany) in action during his win at
the Ace Group Classic on Sunday

2nd was the straight hitting Fred Funk (USA) on -16, tied for 3rd were Fred Funk (USA) and Nick Price (Zimbabwe) on -15, Mark Calcavecchia (USA) was 5th on -14. Olin Browne (USA), Rod Spittle (Canada) and Mark O'Meara (USA) were tied the 6th on -13. Mark Wiebe (USA) was tied 9th on -12 and round out the top 10 players were David Peoples (USA) and Tom Pernice, Jr. (USA) who were tied 10th on -11. Peter Senior (Australia) came back well from the disappointment of last week. He finished tied 12th at -10.

The Champions Tour now takes a 3 week break and starts again on the Thursday 11th March with the playing of the Toshiba Classic that is being played at the Newport Beach CC, Newport Beach, California. I will report back to you all who won in 3 weeks time. So until next week, remember fairways and greens, equals great scores.

 Source: let.com, europeantour.com, pgatour.com