Golf Events from the Weekend 13th March

Well it was another exciting weekend in Professional Golf.

First I will start with the USPGA Tour. This week there was two tournaments. The 1st one was the World Golf Championship – Cadillac Championship. It was played at TPC Blue Monster at Doral, Miami, Florida. And it was the 2nd World Golf Championship of four to be played this year. And it brought together the best Golfers in the world.

With the top 69 Golfers in the world there to compete for the $US 8, 500, 000 in prize money, competition was going to be very fierce. 3 players did not start for various reasons; they were Ben Crane (USA), Bubba Watson (USA) and Tim Clark (RSA). Being a World Golf Championship it meant there was no cut. So all 66 players got to play the 4 rounds. And when all was said and done come late Sunday afternoon in was the young American Professional Nick Watney (USA) who had prevailed to win. He scored rounds of 67-5, 70-2, 68-4 and 67-5, for a 72hole Total of 272-16. He won by 2shots, but it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

He was in a dog fight with Dustin Johnson (USA) on the back nine. Nick Watney (USA) missed a makeable birdie putt on the par 4, 14th hole. But Dustin Johnson (USA) on the same hole hit his drive into the fairway bunker on the left hand side. But he then hit a brilliant 2nd shot that nearly went in the hole, and he made an easy birdie. And they were both tied for the lead at -15 with 4holes to play. On the Par 3, 15th hole, Nick Watney (USA) hit what he thought was a good tee shot, but only to find it sail over the green into the back bunker. And when he left his bunker shot on the fringe about 30feet short of the hole it looked like he was certain to make bogey and fall out of the lead. But he sank his long putt to remain -15 with 3holes to play.

Nick Watney (USA) got up and down again for par on the par 4, 16th hole, but Dustin Johnson (USA) tried to go for the green on the short par 4, but he pulled it left into the Fairway Bunker, then he put his 2nd shot into the front bunker, and splashed his 3rd shot out to 15feet and was unable to convert the par putt meaning Nick Watney (USA) had a 1shot lead again. Nick Watney (USA) hit his 2nd shot just through the green on the par 4, 17th hole, and had a tricky 3rd shot chip from the 1st cut of rough. He played it brilliantly and it came up inches short of the cup for a tap in par 4. Dustin Johnson (USA) hit a huge drive down the middle of the fairway on the par 4, 17th hole, and hit a fine approach shot to 15feet, and only just missed his birdie putt as he had been doing all day.

Nick Watney (USA) with the Gene Sarazen Trophy he won

So to the 72nd hole on the Blue Monster course and Nick Watney (USA) playing in the group ahead of Dustin Johnson (USA) had 1shot lead, and basically all he had to do is make a solid par and the title was his. He hit a splendid drive down the centre of the fairway, and a fine approach shot to 20 feet right of the hole, avoiding the water on the left that many players had found before him. Only needing to 2putt, but Nick Watney (USA) has other ideas. He calmly rolled his birdie putt in the hole for only the 3rd birdie of the day on that very tough hole out of the 66 players that played it. So he now had a 2shot lead at -16, and Dustin Johnson (USA) had to do what Craig Parry (Australia) had done to win the tournament in 2004, 7years earlier, and that was make an eagle 2. Dustin Johnson (USA) hit the biggest drive of the day; it carried well over 300yards into the centre of the fairway. It left him with a short iron to the green that he needed to hole out to tie and force a playoff. He made an excellent attempt, with the shot almost landing in the hole on the full. And rolled 10feet away. But again he was unable to convert the putt. And when he missed, he said to his playing partner Luke Donald (England) “That sums up my day!!”.  But 2nd was not too bad at -14 after 72 holes. And should do the world of good for his confidence, as he had not had a top 10 placing in the last 4 tournaments that he had played.

And Nick Watney (USA) waiting by the 18th green got a hug from his Girl Friend to celebrate his win. It was Nick Watney’s (USA) 3rd win of his USPGA Tour career and his 1st ever World Golf Championship title. After he came so close in 2009, when he finished 1shot behind Phil Mickelson (USA). He got 550 FedEx Cup points for the win, and he moves to 2nd on the list with 902 FedEx Cup points from the 5events he has played this year. He is 173 behind Mark Wilson (USA) who has 1,075 points from the 7events he has played this year. He has been on top of the FedEx Cup Points list for over a month now.

Nick Watney (USA) won $US 1,400,000.00 for his win that moves him to 2nd on the money list with $US 2,168,000. Number 1 on the list is Mark Wilson (USA) with $US 2,256,615. And it also improves his World Golf Ranking to 15th up 16place on last week. The top 5 remain the same for the 2nd week running with Martin Kaymer (Germany) at 1, Lee Westwood (England) at 2, Luke Donald (England) at 3, Graeme McDowell (Northern Ireland) at 4, and Tiger Woods (USA) at 5. This win should give Nick Watney (USA) the confidence to contend in the Majors again this year, just like he did at the 2010 USPGA Championship last year.

Anders Hansen (Denmark) was 3rd equal after a fine final round of 67-5 to finish at -13, he is now virtually guaranteed a place in the 1st major of the year the US Masters, because he has moved to 43rd in the world golf rankings. And the top 50 gain entry to the US Masters. Also 3rd equal was Francesco Molinari (Italy), it was another great showing for him. In 5th place all on his own was Matt Kuchar (USA) on -12, Tied 6th was the much improved Adam Scott (Australia) who is now using the Broom Stick Putter. He finished on -11, same as the world number 3 golfer Luke Donald (England), in 8th place was young Richie Fowler (USA) who had the equal best final round of 66-6 to finish at -12. In 9th place was Hunter Mahan (USA) on -9. In tied for 10th place and having his best round of the year so far 66-6 was the former World Number 1, Tiger Woods (USA) at -8; it was also his 1st Top 10 of the year. It should give him a boost of confidence leading into the US Masters. Also tied 10th was Jonathan Byrd (USA), Padraig Harrington (Ireland), Martin Laird (Scotland), and Rory McIRory (Northern Ireland).

So to the 2nd USPGA Event this week, it was the Puerto Rico Open presented by seepuertorico.com and it was played at the Trump Intrntl GC - Puerto Rico, Rio Grande, Puerto. It gave the players that had not qualified for the WGC – Cadillac Championship a chance to play. And a field of 132 golfers were in the field to compete for the $US 3, 500, 000 on offer. But it was the US Golfer Michael Bradley (USA) who prevailed to win on the 1st playoff hole against Troy Matteson (USA). They both finished the 72 holes of regulation play at -16. Michael Bradley (USA) scored rounds of 68-4, 68-4, 68-4, and 68-4 for 272-16, as did Troy Matteson (USA) who scored rounds of 67-5, 67-5, 66-6 and 72even for 272-16 as well. Michael Bradley (USA) should have really won the tournament on the 72nd hole. But he missed his 3foot par putt.

Michael Bradley (USA) with the Puerto Rico Open
Trophy

So it was back to the 18th hole for the 1st playoff hole. Both players reached the green in 3shots. Michael Bradley (USA) 2putted for an easy par, and it looked like they were heading to a 2nd playoff hole. But Troy Matteson (USA) who only had a 3foot putt for his par missed!! So Michael Bradley (USA) won this tournament for the 2nd time in 3years having won it back in 2009 as well. It was also his 4th win on the USPGA Tour. His 1st came back in 1996. He got 250 FedEx Cup Points for his win and now moves to 33rd place on the points list with 298 from 6events he has played this year. He is 777 points behind Mark Wilson (USA) who has 1,075 points from the 7events he has played this year.

He also earns $US 630,000 for the win, which puts him in 25 place on the Money list with $US 682,000. The win doesn’t earn him a place in the US Masters because only events that carry 500 FedEx Cup points for a win or more earn that. But it should be a good confidence boost for him. And at age 44 he may well have a few more wins in him yet? And it proves to me that these events that are opposite the WGC events in the same week can give the lesser names on the USPGA Tour a chance to shine.

Tied 3rd were Stephen Ames (Canada) and Hunter Haas (USA) on -14, 5th was George McNeill (USA) on -13, 6th was Bobby Gates (USA) who is having a fine start to his rookie season on the USPGA Tour. Tied 7th were Fabian Gomez (Argentina), Chris Tidland (USA), Brandt Jobe (USA) and Angel Cabrera (Argentina) which were all on -11. Next week the USPGA Tour starts off the week early with the Tavistock Cup which is a fun event from the Exclusive Golf Clubs in Florida, and players like Tiger Woods (USA), Ernie Els (RSA) representing those clubs in a team’s competition. It is being played at the Lake Nona Golf & Country Club, Orlando, Florida and there is $US 2,550,000 up for grabs. I can report that TEAM ISLEWORTH is leading on -30 after the 1st of two rounds. I will report back full results next week.

And the next event on the USPGA Tour is the Transitions Championship that is played on the Innisbrook Resort - Copperhead, Palm Harbor, Florida. Defending Champion is Jim Furyk (USA) and it starts on Thursday. With $US 5,500,000 to play for there is sure to be a strong field with Martin Kaymer (Germany) world number 1 confirmed to play. I will look forward to reporting who won next week. And now to the final tournament I am reporting on this week. It is on the Champions Tour and is the Toshiba Classic and was played at the Newport Beach CC, Newport Beach, California.

Nick Price (Zimbabwe) in action at the
Tosiba Classic

And it was Nick Price (Zimbabwe) who prevailed to win his 4th Champions Tour title of his career. He carded rounds of 60-11 in the 1st round which was tied for a tournament single round record on the Champions Tour. Then he scored 68-3 in his 2nd round and another 68-3 in the final round to win by 1shot with a 54 hole total of 196-17.  Mark Wiebe (USA) had a 12foot birdie putt on the final hole to force a playoff, but it just missed, leaving Nick Price (Zimbabwe) with his 1st Champions Tour win of 2011.  He earned $US 255,000.00 for his win and moves to 2nd on the Charles Schwab Cup Points list with 361 points from 4 events played, 93 points behind the Charles Schwab Cup Points list early leader Tom Lehman (USA) with 454 points from 3event played.

I can remember watching Nick Price (Zimbabwe) when he came out to play the Air NZ/Shell Open in 1992 at the Grange GC in Auckland; he was number one in the world at the time and had just won his 1st major that very year, with winning the USPGA Championship. He went on the win the Air NZ/Shell Open that year with a fine 63-7 in the final round that got him into a playoff with Australian Golfer Lucas Parsons (Australia) which he won. It shows what a great Guy he was to come to New Zealand and show us his skills when he could have gone to any Tournament in the world. So it is great to see in his twilight years he is still on top of his game.

Tied 3rd was Michael Allen (USA), Joe Ozaki (Japan) on -14, Tied 5th were Bart Bryant (USA), Fred Couples (USA) the crowd favourite, and Robert Thompson (USA) which were all on -13. Tied 8th were Jeff Sluman (USA), Olin Browne (USA), Mark O’Meara (USA) and Tom Pernice Jnr (USA) which were all on -12. The next tournament on the Champions Tour is the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic that is played on the Fallen Oak, Biloxi, Mississippi. It starts on April fool’s Day and David Eger (USA) is the Defending Champion. With a purse of $US 1,600,000 to play for it is sure to attract the best of the 50years and over stars.  I will report back who won the trophy for you all.

So until then remember to keep the ball in the fairway, hit the greens and make all your putts, and that will make you a Happy Golfer.

Source: pgatour.com