Golf Events from the Weekend 27th March

Martin Laird (Scotland) with Arnold Palmer (USA) on the 18th Green
getting the trophy

It was another exciting weekend on the Professional Golf tours around the world.

But it was 2 Scottish Golfers that stole the show on both sides of the Atlantic. First I will start with the USPGA Tour. This week it was the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, it was the 4th and final leg of the Florida Swing. And it was played at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando, Florida. And it was the young Scottish Professional Martin Laird (Scotland) that came up with the goods when it counted to win his 2nd USPGA Tour event.

Martin Laird (Scotland) scored rounds of 70-2, 65-7, 70-2 and 75+3 for a 72 hole total of 280-8, for a 1shot Victory. But it was nowhere near as easy as it sounds. After starting the final round with a 1shot lead. He got off to a terrible start to his final round. He had 3 bogeys on his front nine and went out in 39+3 which was terrible and had lost the lead. And when he hit his fairway bunker shot from the right of the 11th hole into the water hazard on the left and made a Double Bogey it seemed like any chance of winning had disappeared for him. On the other hand Steve Marino (USA) was having a great round and found himself -2 for the final round after 14 holes. That left him at -9 with 4holes to play and he had a 3shot lead.

It looked like if he made 4pars he would be the Champion for sure. Justin Rose (England) had set the Club House lead at -6 after he had the best final round of the leaders, 68-4 which eventually left in tied 3rd place. Steve Marino (USA) hit a great drive down the Par 4, 15th hole. He under clubbed his 2nd shot to the front left pin placement and plugged it in the Bunker. Then hit his Bunker shot out to 25 feet and 2putted for the bogey. He still had a 2 Shot lead with 3holes to play. He hit a poor drive on the Par 5 16th hole meaning he had to lay up with his 2nd Shot. And hit his 3rd to about 30feet. He managed to make par.

So with a two shot lead with 2holes to play he only needed 2pars and the title was his. Mean while, Marc Leishman (Australia) had shot 71-1 to finish at -6 and eventually finished in a tie for 3rd place. Steve Marino (USA) hit what he thought was a perfect shot to the difficult par 3 17th hole. But he came up just short and it plugged in the Bunker at the front. He hit his next shot over the green and failed to get up and down so he made a disappointing Double Bogey 5. He was now at -6 and because Martin Laird (Scotland) had birdied the 15th and 16th Holes with some great putting. Martin Laird (Scotland) now had a 2shot lead with 2 holes to play.

Steve Marino (USA) then hit a brilliant drive down the 72nd hole and hit a great short iron approach shot inside 10feet and holed the putt for birdie to post -7 after 72 holes. That meant that all Martin Laird (Scotland) had to do was to finish with 2pars and he had won the Arnold Palmer Invitational. On the 17th hole Martin Laird (Scotland) hit his ball over the green on the par 3, It landed on the green but bounced right though. Johnny Millar (USA) who was commentating for NBC Sports said “The hardness of the 17th Green was too unfair” and the Stats backed it up with only 25% of the field hitting that green on the final round. Martin Laird (Scotland) then hit a brilliant chip flop shot to 8feet and rolled the putt in for a par 3.

Martin Laird (Scotland) now knew what he had to do and that was make a par 4 on the last hole and he would win his 1st Arnold Palmer Invitational. He hit a stunning drive straight down the middle, but unfortunately if rolled just through the fairway into the rough just short of the Water. He only had a short iron to the pin, but because he was in the rough he couldn’t fire right at the pin on the far right side. He hit to the far left side of the green to make sure he didn’t go in the water. He landed it on the green about 45feet from the pin. Now all he needed to do was 2putt and the victory was his.

The 1st putt had a huge break in it from left to right; he rolled in down 6feet short of the hole. He then calmly rolled in the 6footer for his 2nd win on the USPGA Tour. It made up for the disappointments he had last year in finishing 2nd in the Barclays in August and 2nd equal in the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in October last year. The win earned him 500 FedEx Cup points which places him 4th on the points list with 937 Points from 8 events played this year. He is now just 224 points behind the leader for the past couple of months Mark Wilson (USA) who now has 1,161 points from the 9events he has played.

He also won $US 1,080,000.00, and he moves to 3rd on the USPGA Tour money list with $US 1,891,763 from the 8events he has played. Mark Wilson (USA) is leading the money list $US 2,430,825 from 9events he has played. The win also gets Martin Laird (Scotland) into the US Masters in two weeks time and he is exempt on the USPGA Tour till the end of 2013. I look for Martin Laird (Scotland) to be one of the favourites for The Masters which is the 1st Major of the year. His High ball flight will be an asset on that course.

Steve Marino (USA) who came 2nd at -7 is having a great season with two 2nd place finishes and 3top 10s in the 7events he has played, But with a golden chance to win his 1st USPGA Tour event lost, he must be bitterly disappointed. But I feel he will be better for the experience and will definitely win this year at some stage. He is too good a player not too. Also tied for 3rd was David Toms (USA) at -6, K J Choi (South Korea) was tied for 6th at -5, along with first round leader Spencer Levin (USA). Sergio Garcia (Spain) was in 8th place at -4 and got another top 10 finish. And rounding out the Top 10 in tied 9th place was the FedEx Cup point’s leader Mark Wilson (USA) on -3, Along with Fredrik Jacobson (Sweden) and Jim Furyk (USA).

1st of the 2 American Big Guns was Tiger Woods (USA) in tied 24th place on -1, he had a fine final round going when he was -3 with 2 holes to play, but he finished bogey, double bogey to shoot even par. His next start will be the Masters where he has won 4times. And Phil Mickelson (USA) finished at -1 also; he too had another poor finish to his round bogeying 3 of his last 5 holes. He too will be one to watch at the Masters having won it 3times. But the 2 Big Guns on the USPGA Tour have yet to win a tournament this year.

There was no change in the top 5 on the Official Word Rankings this week, with Martin Kaymer (Germany) still at one with 7.87 points, Lee Westwood (England) 2nd with 7.54 points, Luke Donald (England) 3rd at 6.55 points, Graeme McDowell (Northern Ireland) 4th with 6.19 points and Tiger Woods (USA) is 5th at 5.82 points. Next week the USPGA Tour heads to Texas for the Shell Houston Open, it is being played at Redstone GC Tournament Course, Humble, Texas and is the last USPGA Tour event before the 1st major of the year The Masters. With a purse of $US 5,900,000 on offer it is sure to attract another good field with a lot of Europe’s best golfers over to prepare for the Masters. Anthony Kim (USA) will be looking to defend the title he won last year. I will report back the results next week.

Brett Wetterich (USA) acknowledges the Crowd in
winning the Chitimacha Louisiana Open

So to the Nationwide Tour, this week it was the 1st event on American soil for the 2011 season. It was the Chitimacha Louisiana Open that was played at Le Triomphe CC, Broussard, Louisiana. And the winner was former USPGA Tour player Brett Wetterich (USA). He scored rounds of 67-4, 65-6, 70-1 and 69-2 for a 72 hole total of 271-13. It was the 2nd time he has won the Chitimacha Louisiana Open, having won it for the 1st time back in 2003. And it should give him a good chance of making it back to the USPGA Tour for the 2012 season, having lost his card after the 2010 season having finished 158th on the money list. So the $US 90,000 he wins for this Victory places him 3rd on the money list from 1event played. Brenden Pappas (South Africa) is 1st with $US 114,523 from 3events played.

In 2nd place was the young University of Florida senior Andres Echavarria, who is still an Amateur. He scored a 72 hole total of 272-12, and it was an Amazing performance by the young 23 year old. Bubba Dickerson (USA) got 3rd on his own at -11, but took 2nd place money because Andres Echavarria was an Amateur. John Kimbell (USA) tied 4th at -10, and he scored 61-10 in the final round. Also tied for 4th was Carl Paulson (USA) and Rich Barcelo (USA) was tied for 4th as well. Danny Lee (New Zealand) had his best ever finish on the Nationwide Tour; he finished tied 7th at -9. He scored rounds of 69-2, 68-3, 73+2, and had a brilliant final round of 65-6. He won $US 17,375.00 for his efforts. That places him 22nd on the Nationwide Tour Money List with $US 22,645 from the 3events he has played. If he is in the Top 25 at the end of the season on the money list he gains his 2012 USPGA Tour card. Steve Wheatcroft (USA) was also tied 7th on -9.

Chris Nallen (USA), Fran Quinn (USA), Michael Putnam (USA) and Charles Warren (USA) were all tied for 9th on -8. Other New Zealand Golfers that were in the field and made the cut were Tim Wilkinson (NZL) who was Tied 25th at -5, the rest of the New Zealanders missed the cut, they were Josh Geary (NZL) and Bradley Iles (NZL) on +8. The next Nationwide Tour event is Fresh Express Classic at TPC Stonebrae and is being played at TPC Stonebrae, Hayward, California. With a big purse of $US 600,000 for the taking it is sure to attract the best players on the Nationwide Tour. It starts on Thursday 14th April and I will report back who took home the spoils once the results are in.

Paul Lawrie (Scotland) with the Open de Andalucia de Golf by Turkish Airlines Trophy

So to the European Tour and the Race to Dubai. And this week it was the Open de Andalucia de Golf by Turkish Airlines and it was played at the Parador de Málaga Golf, Málaga, Spain. And it was the Scottish Golfer Paul Lawrie (Scotland) that won his first European Tour event in 9 years. He scored rounds of 66-4, 67-3, 65-5 and 70even for a 72hole total of 268-12. He won by 1shot over Johan Edfors (Sweden). He won € 166,660 for his win and that moved him to 24 on the Race to Dubai Money List with €205,939 from the 6events he has played this year to date. Luke Donald (England) still leads with €1,221,411 from the 2events he has played this year. It should put Paul Lawrie (Scotland) in good position to reach the Dubai World Championship presented by DP World that is played as the Climax to the Race to Dubai in early December with the Top 60 money earners on the list qualifying.

 Paul Lawrie (Scotland) will always be remembered as the Golfer that won the Open Championship when Jean Van de Velde (France) threw away a 3shot lead in 1999 at Carnoustie Golf Club in Scotland. The win should give him some real confidence to have a big season in 2011. 3rd was Felipe Aguilar (Chile) on -10, in tied 4th place was Mark Foster (England), Jeppe Huldahl (Demark), and Raphael Jacquelin (France) they were all on -9. Christian Nilsson (Sweden) was 7th on his own at -8, Florian Fritsch (Germany), Jose Manuel Lara (Spain) and Hennie Otto (South Africa) were all tied for 8th on -7.

Best of the New Zealanders and the only one to make the cut was Mark Brown (NZL) on +2 after 72holes. And the other New Zealander that was in the field was Michael Campbell (NZL) was +7 after 36 holes and missed the cut by 7shots. This week the European Tour is in Morocco for the Trophee Hassan II that is being played at Golf du Palais Royal and Golf de L’Océan, Agadir, Morocco. With €1,500,000 to play for it is sure to attract another great field.

I will report back who won next week. So until then, keep hitting it long and straight and make lots of putts.

Source: pgatour.com, europeantour.com