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Yani Tseng (Taiwan) winner of the Handa Australian Ladies Open 2011 |
She defended her Handa Australian Ladies Open title she won last year at the same course. This year her winning score was 7 strokes better than last year. With rounds of 70-3, 67-6, 68-5 and 71-2 for a 72 hole total of 276-16 and lap the field by 7 strokes. Yani Tseng (Taiwan) won $65, 000.00 Euros for her win. And will gain a lot of confidence when she heads back to America to play the LPGA Tour later in the year.
2nd equal were Melissa Read (England), Eun-Hee Ji (South Korea) and Jiyai Shin (South Korea) who were all at 283-9 after 72holes. Best of the Australian players in the field were Karrie Webb (Australia) who is a 4time winner already in this tournament and Katherine Hull (Australia) who were both tied 7th at -5. The lower Amateur prize went to the Amazing Lydia Ko (New Zealand) who is just the tender age of 13years old, she scored rounds of 73even, 73even, 68-5 and 75+2 for a 72hole total of 289-3, and she tied for 12th. Had Lydia been professional she would have earned $7,276.05 Euros. But she gained some valuable experience with playing against some of the world’s best woman players.
Next best New Zealander was also an Amateur, she was Cecilia Cho (New Zealand), and she finished 72 Holes on 294 +2 in tied 35th place. So New Zealand’s Women’s Amateur Golf looks in great shape right now. They were the only New Zealanders in the field to make the cut. Next week the ALPGA and the LET Tour’s head to Queensland for the ANZ RACV Ladies Masters that is being played at the RACV Royal Pines Resort. First round starts on Thursday (10th Feb). I will report back who took home the trophy next week.
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Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) with the Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy Trophy |
And now to the European Tour and the Race to Dubai. This week it was the 3rd leg of the desert swing. It was the Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy that was played at the Doha GC, Doha, Qatar. And Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) was too strong for the strong field that turned up to play. He scored rounds of 74+2, 65-7, 66-6 and a fine 69-2 in the final round which had winds gusting up to 30miles per hour. He finished 72Holes at -14 to win by 4shots. He won € 303,114 Euros for his efforts. Every time he wins it will help him forget how he threw away the 2003 Open Championship at Royal St George’s GC, Sandwich, Kent, England. That would of been his 1st major Championship, but instead he gifted it too Ben Curtis (USA). Funny thing is the 140th Open Championship is being staged on that very same course this year. Maybe this year will be his chance to redeem himself?
The win on the weekend lifted Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) to 3rd on the Race to Dubai Standings with €312,124 Euros from 3events played and should place him in good position to keep on improving during the season. Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) is still on top with €419,927 Euros from 5events played. And there are still 4 South African Golfers in the top 10 on the Race to Dubai list. Alvaro Quiros (Spain) was 2nd on-10, Tied 3rd were Markus Brier (Austria), Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spain) on -9, David Howell (England) was 5th on -8, Thomas Aiken (South Africa), Soren Hansen (Denmark), and Robert Karlsson (Sweden) were tied 6th on -6. Sergio Garcia (Spain) had one of his best tournaments in a while; he finished -5 in tied for 9th place. The real disappointment of the tournament was Retief Goosen (South Africa). After scoring 69-3 in extremely hard conditions in the 1st round and being the only player to break 70, his next 3 rounds were 71-1, 75+3, and 70-1 to finish 72 holes at -3.
Best of the New Zealand Golfers this week was Mark Brown (New Zealand). With rounds of 75+3, 69-3, 73+1 and 74+2 for a 72 Hole total of 291+3 and earned him € 5,001 Euros to tie for 59th place. He is now 101st on the Race to Dubai list with €22,451 Euros from 5 events. But he will need some good finishes in the weeks to come to improve his position. Danny Lee (New Zealand) missed the cut by 1shot with rounds of 76+4, and 72even and Michael Campbell (NZL) after a promising end to last year, had another disappointing tournament with rounds of 79+7, 74+2 to miss the cut by 6shots.
Next week it is the fourth and final week of the Desert Swing with the playing of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic that is played at Emirates GC, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was the 1st ever tournament to be played in the Middle East and has had some great champions through the years including the Legendary Greg Norman (Australia) and one of the greatest golfers that ever lived, Tiger Woods (USA). It is sure to attract another great field. I will report back who won the big money next week.
And so to the final tournament I am reporting on this week, and that is the Waste Management Phoenix Open that was played at the TPC Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Arizona. It was forced into a Monday finish because heavy frost on the 1st day meant that the cut wasn’t made until Sunday. So 25 players had to come back early Monday morning to complete their final rounds. Coming into the 72nd hole Mark Wilson (USA) need a birdie to win and hit his 2 nd shot from the fairway bunker to 14th from the hole. His putt to go -19 and win the tournament just missed on the right hand side so hit finished 72 holes at -18 in a tie with Jason Dufner (USA) who had also posted -18 after 72 holes. Jason Dufner (USA) has almost holed his green side bunker shot, but was left with a 6foot tap in for his par.
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Mark Wilson (USA) with the Waste Management Phoenix Open Trophy |
So those two Golfers went back to the 18th hole for the 1st playoff hole. They both hit okay drives, and Mark Wilson (USA) hit his 2nd shot 1st to about 60th feet from the hole, Jason Dufner (USA) hit his 2nd from the rough to 20 feet just past the flag in the fringe. Mark Wilson (USA) putted 1st and rolled his very long birdie putt about 7feet past. Jason Dufner (USA) rolled his birdie putt to a foot, he tapped in for and easy par 4, Mark Wilson (USA) had to sweat over a nasty 8footer to keep the playoff alive. But he calmly rolled it in for his par. So the pair headed to the 10th hole for the 2nd Playoff hole. Jason Dufner (USA) hit his 2nd to 40 feet left of the pin, Mark Wilson (USA) after a super drive hit his 7iron 2nd shot to 15feet from the hole. Jason Dufner (USA) then left his 40foot birdie putt 12th feet short. That left Mark Wilson (USA) with a 10foot birdie putt to win the Tournament. And he didn’t let the chance slip. He rolled it straight in the back of the cup, and pumped his fist in delight. He had won his 2nd tournament in 2011 and we are hardly into February yet. And it also was his 4th USPGA Tour win of his career. He won scored rounds of 65-6, 64-7, 68-3 and 69-2 for a 72hole total of 266-18 and of course he won the playoff. He earned $US 1,098,000.00 for his win and 500 FedEx Cup points and moves to 1st on the FedEx Cup points list with 1008points from 3events, moving ahead of tour rookie Jhonattan Vegas (Venezuela) by 336 points. He has also won $US 2,098, 700 this year on tour and is the 1st player in 2011 to win twice on the USPGA Tour. He is almost certain to get a start in every major championship and WGC event now for the 2011 season. Again as I mentioned earlier in January, he has come a long way from playing in the 2001 NZ Open at the Grange GC in Auckland. And it is great to see a player I have seen in the flesh actually really making a mark on the game at the highest level. So well done Mark Wilson (USA) and I hope he wins more tournaments in 2011.
Jason Dufner (USA) who finished 2nd is going to win soon, He is too good a player in my opinion not to. And the $US 658,800.00 he earned for coming 2nd as well as the 300 FedEx Cup points should give him a whole heap of Confidence to keep on improving and finally getting that hard earned win. Vijay Singh (Fiji) had his best finish in a long time with a 66-5 in the final round lifting him to a tie for 3rd at -16 and he earned $US 353,800.00 for his fine play. He was tied for 3rd with Martin Laird (Scotland) who was also -16. 2 time champion J B Holmes (USA) finished at tied 5th at -15. The hard luck story this week was Tommy (Two Gloves) Gainey (USA), he is nick named Tommy Two Gloves because he wears a Golf Gloves on each hand when he plays. He was only 1shot off the lead when he teed off on the 71st hole, and decided to try and drive the green on the short par 4, but pulled it slightly and after the ball hit a Hazard Stake it rolled into the water. He took a drop and then didn’t get his chip far enough up the slope and it rolled back into the water. He finally got on the green for 5shots and 2putted for Triple bogey 7. But that cost him any chance of winning and with a par on the 72nd hole he ended up finishing tied 8th at -14, but it was a good learning experience for him and he will be better for it.
Next week the USPGA Tour heads up to California for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. It is played over 3 different courses over the 1st 3days and they are Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach; Monterey Peninsula CC; Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill GC, Pebble Beach, California with the final round being contest on the Famous Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach. It involves celebrities and sports stars from all different sports. So if you are a movie star or famous person and like golf, in is a sort after invite. The Amateur tournament is played by pairing you up with a professional. And the Top 60 Amateur/Professional Teams make the cut after 54holes. But the Professional Tournament is just the same as your usual 72hole Stoke play tournament. The only difference is if your Professional is leading the Tournament after 54holes, you as an Amateur get to play in the final group on the final day.
It is always a Tournament that is great viewing in my opinion as your get to see your favourite Celebrities and Sports stars from other sports play golf in a fun environment. And with $US 6,300,000 in prize money to play for, it is sure to attract some good USPGA Tour Professional players. It starts on Thursday (10th Feb). I will report back all the results next week. So until then, have a great golfing week.
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