I will first start with the European Tour and the Race to Dubai that staged a brand new tournament. It was the Volvo Golf Champions from The Royal Golf Club, Kingdom of Bahrain, Bahrain. Paul Casey (England) shot a final round of 68-4 to finish at -20 after 72holes and win by 1shot.
His 68-4 in the final round was too good to beat Peter Hanson (Sweden) and Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) by 1shot and win his 1st tournament on the European Tour since the BMW PGA Championship in 2009. With rounds of 67-5, 67-5, 66-6 and 68-4 for a 72 hole total of 268-20 for the 72holes. The win earns him € 283,330 and places him 3rd on the Race to Dubai money list with €307,487 from 2 events he has played. Charl Schwartzel (RSA) still leads the Race to Dubai with €419,927 from the 5 events he has played.
Bubba Watson (USA) had finished 21st on the 2005 Nationwide Tour money list and back in those days only the top 20 players on the list made it. But it was decided because Jason Gore (USA) now had Full Status on the USPGA Tour, that the top 21 players in 2005 would gain USPGA Tour cards for the 2006 season. And once he had some good finishes and kept his card in 2006 he was destined for great things as we are seeing now. He dedicated his Victory to his late Father who had passed away from Cancer late in 2010. And just as he won for the 1st time at the Travelers Championship in TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Connecticut in late June, 2010.He was very emotionally and overcome with the Win. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bubba Watson (USA) is a major contender in the Majors this year.
It was played under a different format where the teams had to play as a team because it was Alternate Shot. Jack Nicklaus (USA) and Tom Watson (USA) successfully defended their Champions Skins Game title Sunday, finishing with seven skins and $310,000 to edge Mark O'Meara and Bernhard Langer (Germany) by $10,000. If you want to view the hole by hole results and who won the money on each hole go to:
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Paul Casey (England) with the Volvo Golf Champions Trophy |
The best New Zealander in the field was Danny Lee (New Zealand) with scores of 70-2,72even, 68-4 and 72even for a 72 hole total of 282-6 that earned him € 6,630 for Tied 52nd place. The next best New Zealander was Mark Brown (New Zealand) on -1 with scores of 71-1, 69-3, 76 +4 and 71-1 for a 72 hole total of 287-1 in 65th place and he earned € 4,250. Michael Campbell (New Zealand) shot a poor first round of 75+3, but came back in the 2nd round with a great scored of 68-4 and was 143-1 after 36holes, but unfortunately missed the halfway cut by 1shot.
Next week the European Tour stays in the Middle East with the 3rd of the 4 legs on the Desert Swing with the Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy that is being played at Doha Golf Club, Doha, Qatar. With $US2, 500,000 up for graps, it is sure to attract some of the best players in Europe. It starts on Thursday (3rd February).
Well now on to the USPGA Tour and this week it staged the Farmer Insurance Open from Torrey Pines (South Course), and Torrey Pines (North Course), San Diego, California. The first and second rounds players played at the North and South courses once each. Once the cut was made, the final 2 rounds were played on the tougher South Course. It was the first appearance of Tiger Woods (USA) for the 2011 Season. But unfortunately he had a poor tournament. After starting off so well with rounds of 69-3, 69-3, He ended up having two over par rounds on the weekend with 74+2 on Saturday and 75+3 on Sunday. They were his worst rounds at Torrey Pines (South Course) in competition since he joined the USPGATour in 1996. And having won here many times before it was a shock to me he performed so poorly. He eventually finished in a disappointing tied 44th at -1. That 1st win in a long time may be a lot harder to get than Tiger Woods (USA) thinks.
Well Bubba Watson (USA) shot a finally round 67-5 and won by 1shot. His 72 hole total was 272-16. He played a brilliant bunker shot for his 3rd Shot on the 72nd hole. And then holed a very difficult downhill putt for birdie on the 18th and that clinched his 2nd US PGA Tour win. He had a 1shot lead playing the last hole over Jhonattan Vegas (Venezuela) and Phil Mickelson (USA) who was a hole behind. Bubba Watson (USA) was -15 playing the 72nd hole. And hit a drive of well over 300 yards down the Par5 18th hole in the middle of the fairway. But he set up to draw his 8iron, 2nd shot in to the green, but when it stayed left and went in the Bunker, he left himself a shot where a lot of things could go wrong with it. Jhonattan Vegas (Venezuela) blew his chance when he went for the green with his 2nd shot out of the rough, only to see his ball come up a few yards short in the water. But he managed to hit his 4th shot close but unfortunately missed the putt to finish tied 3rd with Dustin Johnson (USA) at -13, the best start on the USPGA Tour by a Rookie in years. He earned another $US 336,400.00 for his efforts, and 162.50 FedEx Cup points. He is now top of the FedEx Cup with 672 Points. An amazing effort for a player who was playing on the Nationwide Tour last year. Well as I mentioned above Bubba Watson (USA) managed to get his ball up and down from the bunker and post -16 after 72holes.
Phil Mickelson (USA) got a great birdie on the 71st hole. Hit a poor drive on the 72nd hole and had to lay up 100 yards from the green. He got his caddie Jim Mackay (Bones) to tend the flag as he knew the only chance of forcing a playoff with Bubba Watson (USA) was to hole his Wedge 3rd shot for eagle. And he didn’t want the pin left in the hole to give it any chance of missing. And that is what he almost did by spinning it back to within a foot of the hole. So Phil Mickelson (USA) got a 2nd in his 1st start on the USPGA Tour for 2011. The win earned him 300 FedEx Cup points and places him tied for 6th on the list, equal with Robert Garrigus (USA). Bubba Watson (USA) with his win moves to 2nd on the FedEx Cup points list 545 points, 127points behind Jhonattan Vegas (Venezuela) from the 3 events he has played. He also gets $US 1,044,000 for his win. And he can thank Jason Gore (USA) for even being out the USPGA Tour, because in 2005 Jason Gore (USA) got a Battle Field promotion by winning 3 events on the Nationwide Tour. That meant his had status to play the USPGA Tour for the rest of the 2005 season. He then went on and won the 84 LUMBER Classic which gave him full USPGA Tour Status for through the 2007 season.
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Bubba Watson pumps his fist in celebration as he wins the Farmers Insurance Open |
Well rounding out the top 10 was D.A. Points (USA) -12 and in 5th Position, Anthony Kim (USA), Hunter Mahan (USA) and Nick Watney (USA) were all tied 6th at -10, and on -9 tied for 9th were Bill Haas (USA), Marc Leishman (Australia), Troy Matteson (USA) and Brandt Snedeker (USA). Next week the USPGA Tour heads to TPC Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Arizona for the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The course is in the Arizona Desert, and traditionally the winning score is in the -20’s under par. I will report back who took home the Trophy next week.
And finally it was the 2nd event on the Champions Tour Schedule. It was the Champions Skins Game played at the Royal Kaanapali Golf Course, Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii. There were 4 Teams of 2players. The teams were the Defending Champions, Jack Nicklaus (USA) and Tom Watson (USA), Ben Crenshaw (USA) and Fuzzy Zoeller (USA), Fred Couples (USA) and Nick Price (Zimbabwe), and Bernhard Langer (Germany) and Mark O'Meara (USA).
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Jack Nicklaus (USA) and Tom Watson (USA) defending there Champions Skins Game Title |
The Champions Tour has a week off next week, it resumes in 2 weeks time at the Allianz Championship played at The Old Course at Broken Sound, Boca Raton, Florida. So to all of you have a great golfing week and be sure to read my Blog again
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