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| Alexander Noren (Sweden) holding the Saab Wales Open Trophy he won |
Well it was another exciting weekend on the Professional Golf Tours from around the world.
First I will start with the European Tour and the Race to Dubai. This week it was the Saab Wales Open and was played at the Celtic Manor Resort, City of Newport, Wales. And it was Alexander Noren (Sweden) that came away with the Trophy.
Alexander Noren (Sweden) scored rounds of 67-4, 67-4, 71 even and a final round of 70-1 for a 72 hole total of 275-9. He won by 2shots and it was his 2nd win of his career on the European Tour. He came to the last hole with a 2shot lead over Anders Hansen (Denmark) and easily made par on the final hole to secure a victory. He played a very solid final round going out in 35-1 with 8 pars and the lone birdie coming on the Par 4, 4th hole. He played a very solid back nine of 35even, with a solid birdie 3 on the Par 4, 12th hole. His lone bogey in the final round came at the Par 4, 15th hole.
He earns € 344,358 for the win and that places him now 12th on the Race to Dubai Money list with €622,382 earned from the 13 events he has played this year to date. Luke Donald (England) is still leading with €2,581,495 earned from the 5events he has played this year so far. So this win should give Alexander Noren (Sweden) a lot of confidence to keep on improving. And only backs up what a lot of people have said about his talent. And with 4 top 10’s this season so far including a win, he is heading for a career season. I wish him all the best for the rest of the year.
Tied for 2nd were Gregory Bourdry (France) and Anders Hansen (Denmark) on -7 after 72 holes. Tied 4th were Ricardo Gonzalez (Argentina), Pablo Larrazabal (Spain), Johan Edfors (Sweden) and Peter Hanson (Sweden) on -6 after 72 holes. Rounding out the top 10 on -4 in Tied 8th place were Peter Whiteford (Scotland), Joel Sjoholm (Sweden), Magnus A Carlsson (Sweden) and Jamie Donaldson (Wales). It was a great effort from Golfers from Sweden this week with 5 Swedish Golfers finishing in the top 10.
Elliot Saltman (Scotland) who tied for 12th on -3, achieved an amazing feat where he holed in one Twice on the Par 3, 17th hole. The 1st time in the 1st round and the 2nd time in the final round. I’m not too sure that any Professional Golfer has holed in one twice on the same hole in the same tournament? Congratulations to him.
Best of the New Zealand Golfers that made the cut was Danny Lee (NZL), he scored rounds of 70-1, 71 even, 74+3 and a final round of 70-1 for a 72 hole total of 285+1 and he finished in tied 20th place. He won € 22,444 for his efforts and moves to 65th on the Race to Dubai Money list with €186,308 earned from the 9 events he has played this year to date. It just continues on the fine form he has been showing this year. And he also is inside the top 25 on the Nationwide Tour Money list in 11th Position with $US 84,336 earned from the 5 events he has played so far this year. So in his 3rd year as a Professional Golfer he is now starting to show how good he really is. And I wish him luck for the rest of the season on both tours.
The other New Zealander to make the cut was Mark Brown (NZL) who scored rounds of 70-1, 74+3, 73+2 and a final round of 73+2 for a 72 hole total of 290+6 and tied for 41st place. He earned € 12,397 for his efforts. He is now in 141st position on the Race to Dubai Money list with €66,580 earned from the 15 events he has played this year so far. But he is going to need to have some top 10 finishes soon if he is going to keep his card for the 2012 European Tour Season. So I wish him luck for the rest of the season.
And Michael Campbell (NZL) unfortunately missed another cut with scoring rounds of 76+5 and 74+3 for a 36 hole total of 150+8 and missed the cut by 6shots. I hope he can recapture the form he showed in 2005 soon. Next week the European Tour heads to Italy for the BMW Italian Open presented by Carta Si and is being played at Royal Park I Roveri, Turin, Italy. With a purse of €1,500,000 up for the taking it is sure to attract some of the best players in Europe. And Fredrik Andersson Hed (Sweden) will be looking to defend his title and it starts on Thursday 9th June. I will report back who won the Trophy next week.
So to the USPGA Tour and the FedEx Cup, and this week it was the Memorial Tournament present by Nationwide Insurance and it was played at Muirfield Village GC, Dublin, Ohio and it was Steve Stricker (USA) that came away with the Trophy. He scored rounds 68-4, 67-5, 69-3 and a final round of 68-4 for a 72 hole total of 272-16. He won by 1shot. But it was the front nine where Steve Stricker (USA) did the most of his damage. In the 1st round he scored 33-3, in the 2nd round he scored 30-6 which was his 2nd nine of that round because he teed off on the 10th tee. And he finished the front nine with a rush on Friday holing in one on the Par 3, 8th hole with a 6iron, and then birding the tough par 4, 9th hole.
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| Steve Stricker (USA) raises his ball in the air as he has just holed out to win the Memorial Tournament |
And when he teed off on the Front nine in the 3rd round on Saturday Afternoon he got an amazing start when he holed a Wedge shot on the short par 4, 2nd hole for an eagle 2 and then on the Par 5, 5th hole he made an eagle 3. So in a 7 hole stretch from the Par 3, 8th hole on Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon early in his 3rd round he had made 3 eagles. And when he birdied the 7th and 8th holes to shoot 31-5 he had a 5shot lead over the field. But a poor back nine in the 3rd round of 38+2 which included poor bogeys on the 15th and 16th holes meant he only was -12 after 54 holes and had a 3 shot leading heading into the final round.
So to the front nine holes in the final round. He got off to a fast start with birdies on the Par 4, 1st hole, Par 4, 2nd hole, Par 5, 5th hole, Par 5, 7th hole, Par 3, 8th hole (He played that hole -5 for the week, which was just awesome), and Par 4, 9th hole to score a 30-6 again, and was -18 and had a 3shot lead heading into the final 9holes. He made solid pars on the 10th and 11th holes. But on the Par 3, 12th hole he hit his tee shot over the green into the greenside bunker at the back. And it seemed like an impossible shot to get up and down for par. But Steve Stricker (USA) played a brilliant bunker shot that landed just in the rough and trickled down to 3feet from the hole. He made an easy par 3. Just after he had hit his drive down the middle on the Par 4, 13th hole the horn sounded for dangerous weather in the area.
When play final resumed about 2hours latter, Steve Stricker (USA) made a solid pars on holes 13th, 14th. But made a poor bogey on the short par 5, 15th hole. He hit a great tee shot to the Par 3, 16th hole but it hit the green just on the right side and landed in the right green side bunker. Because it was a risky bunker shot to play directly at the pin, and because water was not far on the other side he choose to play away from the pin. He left himself with a 15 foot par putt, but he calmly rolled it in. He hit a great drive down the par 4, 17th hole, but pushed his short iron approach shot into the right green side bunker. But again he got up and down to save par. So he came to the 72nd hole with a 2shot lead over Matt Kuchar (USA) and Brandt Jobe (USA). He hit a poor drive out to the right to land in the fairway bunker to the right of the fairway. He hit a good 2nd Shot that landed just short of the green in the rough. His ball was really sitting down in the rough, but he chipped it out to 12 feet short from the hole. He rolled his par putt up to within 2feet on the hole. The he calmly rolled the 2foot putt in for the victory.
It was the 10th USPGA Tour win of his career, and his 1st since the 2010 John Deere Classic. He won $US 1,116,000.00 for the win and moves to 9th on the USPGA Tour money list with $US 2,455,234 earned from the 10 events he has played this year to date. Luke Donald (England) is still leading with $US 3,518,984 earned from the 9 events he has played this year to date. He also earns 500 FedEx Cup points for the win that places him 11th on the FedEx Cup points standings with 1,121points earned from the 10 events he has played this year so far. He is trailing Luke Donald (England) by 311 points. Luke Donald (England) has 1,432 FedEx Cup points from the 9 events he has played to date this year.
This win should give Steve Stricker (USA) a real boost, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he contended at the US Open in 2weeks time. Because that is the only thing he is lacking in his golf career now, and that is a Major Championship. But he is a real gentleman and I really love it whenever he wins. Tied 2nd were Matt Kuchar (USA) and Brandt Jobe (USA) on -15 after 72 holes. In solo 4th place was Dustin Johnson (USA) on -12, he scored the equal best final round of 65-7. Solo 5th place was Rory McILroy (NIR) on -11. In solo 6th place was Gary Woodland (USA) on -10. Rounding out the Top 10 Golfers all in tied 7th place were Kevin Streelman (USA), Luke Donald (England) playing in his 1st tournament as World Number 1, and also the new FedEx Cup Leader, and he is also leading the Race to Dubai Money list. John Senden (Australia), Webb Simpson (USA), Mark Wilson (USA), and Jonathan Byrd (USA), they were all on -8.
So another great Memorial Tournament is in the books, and Jack Nicklaus (USA) the founder and host can be very proud. Next week on the USPGA Tour it is the FedEx St. Jude Classic and is being played at the TPC Southwind, Memphis, Tennessee. With a purse of $US 5,600,000 up for the taking, it is sure to attract a top class field, and being the week before the 2nd Major of the year the US Open, It may attract some on the Top European Players as they will use it as a warm up to the US Open the following week. Lee Westwood (England) is the defending champion. It starts on Thursday 9th June. I will report back the results next week.
So to the top 5 in the World Official Rankings this week. Coming in at Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for the 2nd week running is Luke Donald (England) with 9.21 Official World Ranking Points, at Number 2 is Lee Westwood (England) with 8.59 Official World Ranking Points, At Number 3 is Martin Kaymer (Germany) with 7.42 Official World Ranking Points, At Number 4 is Steve Stricker (USA) the recent Memorial Tournament winner with 6.06 Official World Ranking Points and at Number 5 is Phil Mickelson (USA) with 5.67 Official World Ranking Points. Tiger Woods (USA) slips 2 more places this week to Number 15 in the Official Golf World Rankings with 4.69 Official World Ranking Points. Best New Zealand Golfer on the Official World Rankings is still Danny Lee (NZL) who this week is in 282nd place on the Official Golf World Rankings with .60 Official Golf World Ranking Points.
Now to the Champions Tour, and this week it was the Principal Charity Classic and was played at Glen Oaks CC, West Des Moines, Iowa. Bob Gilder (USA) scored rounds of 68-3, 66-5 and a final round of 65-6 for a 54 hole total of 199-14 and he won by 1 shot over Mark Brooks (USA) who was on 200-13. Bob Gilder (USA) came to the 54th hole 1 shot behind Mark Brooks (USA) and he made a birdie 3 on the Par 4 to finish at -14. And then watched Mark Brooks (USA) 3 putt the 54th hole for a Bogey when all he needed was a par to make the playoff. So it was Bob Gilder (USA) 10th win on the Champions Tour and the 2nd time he had won this tournament having won it back in 2002.
He won $US 258,750.00 for winning the tournament and moves to 24th on the Champions Tour Money list with $US 289,318 earned from the 9events he has played this year to date. Tom Lehman (USA) still leads that list with $US 1,230,695 earned from the 9events he has played this year to date. Bob Glider (USA) also now is 24th on the Charles Schwab Cup Points list with 259 points earned from the 9events he has played this year to date. He is 1,235 points behind Tom Lehman (USA) who leads that list as well with 1,494 points he has earned from the 9events he has played to date this year.
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| Bob Gilder (USA) in Action on way to winning the Principal Charity Classic |
It must be quite a shock for Bob Gilder (USA) to win this tournament as he had been struggling badly which his best finish previously to this win being tied 28th at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf back in April. I hope he continues the form he showed this week for the rest of the 2011 Champions Tour Season. I wish him all the best for the rest of the year.
Mark Brooks (USA) would be disappointed in his solo 2nd finish at -13 after 54 holes, after having a 3 shot lead with four holes to play and ending up losing by 1shot. But it is his best finish this year by a long way. So 2nd can’t be too bad. Tied for 3rd was Mike Goodes (USA) and Rod Spittle (Canada) on -12, in solo 5th place on -11 was Mark Calcavecchia (USA), Tied 6th was Lee Rinker (USA), Tom Lehman (USA) and Bart Bryant (USA) who were all on -10, rounding out the Top 10 on -9 in tied for 9th place were Michael Allen (USA), Steve Pate (USA), Peter Senior (Australia) who must be close to having his 1st win on the champions tour soon, and Jay Don Blake (USA).
Next week the Champions Tour heads to North Carolina for the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn and it is being played at Rock Barn G&S, Conover, North Carolina. With a purse of $US 1,750,000 to play for it is sure to attract another good field. Gary Hallberg (USA) is the defending Champion and will be looking to win again. It starts on Friday 10th June and I will report back who won the trophy next week.
The final tournament I am reporting on this week is on the Nationwide Tour and it was the Melwood Prince George’s County Open Presented by Under Armour and it was played at The University of Maryland GC, College Park, Maryland. And it was Steve Wheatcroft (USA) who lapped the field to win by 12 shots. He scored 66-5, 60-11, 65-6 and a final round of 64-7 for a 72 hole total of 255-29 and he won by the huge margin of 12 shots. He made an amazing 31 birdies and 1 eagle during the tournament. It was the largest ever margin to win a Nationwide Tour Event by and it was his 1st win on the Nationwide Tour after having had a couple of unsuccessful seasons on the USPGA Tour. He won $US 108,000.00 for the win and is now in 2nd place on the Nationwide Tour Money list with $US 146,235 earned from the 8 events he has played this year to date. Mathew Goggin (Australia) still leads with $US 194,440 earned from the 7 events he has played this year to date.
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| Steve Wheatcroft (USA) with the Melwood Prince George's County Open trophy he won |
This convincing win should give Steve Wheatcroft (USA) a lot of confidence to keep up his great form for the rest of the 2011 season and gain his 2012 USPGA Tour card by finishing in the Top 25 on the Nationwide Tour Money list. Or maybe he will gain a Battlefield Promotion by winning 2 more tournaments and be straight on the USPGA Tour sometime in the 2011 Season? But I do feel for sure he will be playing the USPGA tour next year. And this time I hope he keeps his card for the next season. I wish him luck with his career.
In tied for 2nd place 12shots behind at -17 were Ryan Armour (USA) and Jon Mills (Canada) on -17, in solo 4th place was Nicholas Thompson (USA) on -16, in solo 5th place was J. J. Kileen (USA) on -15, in sole 6th place was Michael Thompson (USA) on -15, Tied for 7th were James Sacheck (USA) and Gary Christian (England) on -14, and rounding out the top 10 at tied 9th were Matt Davidson (USA) and Greg Owen (England) on -13. Best of the New Zealand Golfers was Bradley Iles (NZL), he scored rounds of 69-2, 71 even, 72+1 and a final round of 66-5 for a 72 hole total of 278-6. He won $US 4,040.00 for finishing tied for 27th. That places him 97th on the Nationwide Tour money list with $US 11,723 earned from the 8events he has played this year to date. Bradley Iles (NZL) is going to need a major improvement if he is going to get inside the Top 25 Money leaders by the end of the season. But a few top 10 finishes could all change that.
Next best New Zealander to make the cut was Josh Geary (NZL), He scored rounds of 66-5, 70-1, 73+2 and a final round of 72+1 for a 72 hole total of 281-3 and he won $US 2,226.00 for finishing in tied 45th place. He is now in 116th place on the Nationwide Tour Money list with $US 6,970 earned from the 8 events he has played this year to date. He too is going to need a huge improvement in his form if he is going to get inside the Top 25 players on the money list by the end of the 2011 Season. The only other New Zealand player competing was Tim Wilkinson (NZL) and he scored poor rounds of 75+4 and 72+1 for a 36 hole total of 147+5 and missed the cut by 6shots.
Next week the Nationwide Tour heads to North Carolina for the Rex Hospital Open and it is being played at the TPC Wakefield Plantation, Raleigh, North Carolina. It has a purse of $US 550,000 up for the taking and will attract the best players on the Nationwide Tour to compete. John Riegger (USA) will be looking to defend his title he won last year. It starts on Thursday 9th June and I will report back he won the trophy next week.
So until then remember because it is Winter Conditions now so solid contact with the ball is a Must!!
Source: pgatour.com, europeantour.com
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