Golf Events from the Weekend 17th July 2011

Well this week the USPGA Tour and FedEx Cup and the European Tour and the Race to Dubai staged the 3rd Major of the year. It was the 140th Open Championship and was played at Royal St George’s GC, Sandwich, Kent, England. And it was Darren Clarke (Northern Ireland) that scored rounds of 68-2, 68-2, 69-1 and a final round 70 even par for a 72 hole total of 275-5. He won by 3 shots for his 1st ever major win at age 42 years old. And he became the 2nd Northern Irishman to win a major this year, after Rory McILroy (NIR) won the US Open Championship last month.

He won € 999,540.00 for his 1st Major win and it was the 14th win on the European Tour for his career and his 2nd this year having won the Iberdrola Open in mid May. He is now in 6th position on the Race to Dubai Money list with €1,303,927 earned from the 15 events he has played this year to date. Luke Donald (England) still leads with €3,156,696 earned from the 8 events he has played this year to date. He didn’t add to his total this week because he missed the 36 holes halfway cut. It was just an amazing week for Darren Clarke (Northern Ireland). And after all he has gone through in the past 5years from losing his wife to breast cancer in 2006. This is a great reward for him.

Darren Clarke (NIR) celebrates after holing the winning putt to win the 140th Open Championship

After scoring rounds of 68-2 and 68-2 he was tied for the lead after 36 holes with the American Golfer, Lucas Glover (USA) on 136-4. But the conditions in the 3rd round turned nasty as a huge storm passed over the course with rain falling horizontally into the player’s faces. He was a touch lucky with his late tee time, as his last few holes were played in sun shine as the Storm had passed. But that was to take nothing away with how he played his 3rd round. With birdies at the 1st and 7th holes and bogeys at the 5th and 8th holes he went out in a fine score of 35 even par. And on the back nine he birdied the 12th hole and parred the rest. He scored a 3rd round 69-1 and that was only beaten by Dustin Johnson (USA) and Rickie Fowler (USA) who scored 68-2 in their 3rd rounds. In the 3rd round those were the only 3 players that were able to break par proving how hard the conditions were playing. So after the 3rd round Darren Clarke (NIR) had a 54 hole total of 205-5 and had a 1 stroke lead over Dustin Johnson (USA) who was -4.

Darren Clarke (NIR) got off to a fine start in his final round with birding the Par 4, 2nd hole and making an amazing eagle on the Par 5, 7th hole which brought a Huge Roar from the huge British Crowd that was watching him in the Gallery. He made his lone bogey on the front nine at the Par 4, 4th hole. He went out in 33-2 and was at -7 with the final 9 holes to play. Meanwhile Phil Mickelson (USA) who teed off about an hour earlier than Darren Clarke (NIR) had got off to a dream start. He birdied the Par 4, 2nd and the Par4, 4th hole and also the Par 3, 6th hole. Then he holed an amazing eagle putt on the Par 5, 7th hole to get to -5 for the tournament. He missed a short birdie putt on the Par 4, 9th hole and the chance of going out in 29-6. But 30-5 was just an awesome front nine and he was starting to put the pressure on Darren Clarke (NIR). 

Phil Mickelson (USA) then birdied the par 4, 10th hole to get to -6. But the pressure of the Open Championship then got to him as he charged his birdie putt at the short par 3, 11th hole, then he lipped out the return par putt. So an unplanned bogey there killed his momentum. He then made a poor bogey at the Par 4, 13th hole and two more bogeys at the Par 4, 15th and Par 3, 16th holes meant that his Open Championship chances were over for another year. But the tied for 2nd place with his 4 rounds of 70 even par, 69-1, 71+1 and a final round of 68-2 for a 72 hole total of 278-2 was still a fine effort. Maybe he will win this championship next year?

Also now Dustin Johnson (USA) who was in the final group with Darren Clarke (NIR) was starting to make a charge of his own at Darren Clarke (NIR). After a poor start to his final round with bogeys at the Par 3, 3 rd hole and the Par 3, 6th hole. He then birdied the Par 4, 10th hole and the Par 4, 12th hole to get to -5 and was only 2 strokes behind Darren Clarke (NIR). But he too fell away badly when he hit his 2nd shot to the Par 5, 14th hole and if flew Out of Bounds in the strong left to right cross wind. He ended up holing out for a Double Bogey 7. So he fell back to -3. Another bogey at the Par 4, 18th hole meant he ended up scoring a final round 72+2. So his 4 rounds for the week were 70 even par, 68-2, 68-2 and a final round 72+2 for a 72 hole total of 278-2. He too finished in tied for 2nd place with Phil Mickelson (USA). They both earned € 474,782 for their weeks work.

Darren Clarke (NIR) played a very steady back nine under the circumstances. He made 7 pars in a row from holes 10th to 16th. On the 17th tee he had a 4 stroke lead over Dustin Johnson (USA) who he was playing with and a 5 shot lead over Phil Mickelson (USA) who was in the Clubhouse at -2. So he could afford to bogey the last 2holes. He missed a short putt on the Par 4, 17th for Par, but tapped in for his Bogey 5. He came to the 72nd hole with a 3 stroke lead over Dustin Johnson (USA). Darren Clarke (NIR) then hit an excellent drive down the Par 4, 18th hole that drew back into the right side of the fairway. He hit a wind cheating mid iron that was slightly pulled, it hit the green but rolled onto the back left fringe just passed pin high. He rolled his birdie putt from just off the fringe passed the hole to about 10feet from the cup. He missed his par putt short just to the right of the cup, but the bogey on the 72nd hole was irrelevant. He pumped his fists in the air as he now was the new Open Champion for 2011. 

Darren Clarke (NIR) kisses the Claret Jug in Celebration of winning the Open Championship

It was great to see Darren Clarke (NIR) finally win a Major at this late stage of his career. And as he said in an Interview afterwards he was going to celebrate this win long and hard. He may never win another major, but at least he has this moment always to saviour in his memory forever. And everything is going right in his life right now, because he is going to get married again in a few weeks time to his Fiancée Alison. I wish him well for the rest of 2011 season, and maybe he can go on and win the Race to Dubai Title in December?

In solo 4th place was the 1st round co – leader Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) at -1 and the last player to finish under par. He must like the Royal St George’s GC because in 2003 when the Open Championship was last played there he finished tied for 2nd with Vijay Singh (Fiji). And he only got in to the Open Championship because Vijay Singh (Fiji) had to withdraw. In tied for 5th place was Chad Campbell (USA), Anthony Kim (USA) and Rickie Fowler (USA) who had his best finish in a major in his very young career, they were all at even par. In solo 8th place was Raphael Jacquelin (France) at +1. Rounding out the top 10 in tied 9th place was Sergio Garcia (Spain), Simon Dyson (England) and Davis Love III (USA) at +2. Steve Stricker (USA) had another fine finish in a major finishing at +3 in tied 12th place. Charl Schwartzel (RSA) who is the Master Champion finished at +5 in tied for 16th place. The Amazing Tom Watson (USA) at 61 years old finished at +6 in tied for 22nd place. He scored 70 even par in the 2nd round that included a Hole in One at par 3, 6th hole. Tom Lehman (USA) who is leading the Champions Tour Money list and was the Open Champion is 1996 also finished in Tied for 22nd place at +6.  Rory McILroy (NIR) after winning the US Open Championship in such convincing fashion last month had a rather poor Open Championship by his standards. He scored rounds of 71+1, 69-1, 74+4 and a final round of 73+3 for a 72 hole total of 287+7 and tied for 25th place.

22 year old Tom Lewis (England) was the low Amateur and had an amazing 1st round of 65-5 to lead with Thomas Bjorn (Denmark), he then went on to score 74+4, 76+6 and a final round of 74+4 for a 72 hole total of 289+9 and took the Amateur Medal from the current US Amateur Champion Peter Uihlein (USA) who was in tied 48th place at +12. The defending Champion Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) had a disappointing defence of his title and finished up in tied 54th place and +13. The 36 hole cut on Friday night fell at 143+3 and some big name players missed the cut including World Number 1, Luke Donald (England) at +6 and World Number 2, Lee Westwood (England) at +4.

Next week the European Tour and the Race to Dubai head to Sweden for the Nordea Masters which is being played at the Bro Hof Slott GC, Stockholm, Sweden. With €1,500,000 up for grabs it is sure to attract a great field of European Tour Players and some USPGA Tour players that are staying on in Europe after the Open Championship like Dustin Johnson (USA). With Richard S Johnson (Sweden) as the defending champion and will be looking to win again. It starts on Thursday 21st July and I will report back who won next week.

Now to the 2nd event on the USPGA Tour and FedEx Cup this week and it was the Viking Classic and it was played at Annandale GC, Madison, Mississippi. With most of the Big name players on the USPGA Tour over in England at the Open Championship it gave the lesser name players a chance to shine. And that is exactly what Chris Kirk (USA) did. He scored rounds of 67-5, 67-5, 64-8 and a final round of 68-4 for a 72 hole total of 266-22 and won by 1 stroke. It was his 1st ever win in his Rookie season on the USPGA Tour after gaining his 2011 USPGA Tour Card by finishing in the Top 25 on the 2010 Nationwide Tour money list when he finished in 2nd place with $US 411,206 earned from the 21 events he played.

 

Chris Kirk (USA) holding the Viking Classic Trophy

For the win at the Viking Classic he earned 250 FedEx Cup points and that moves him to 902 FedEx Cup Points earned from the 21 events he has played to date this year and into 27th Position on the FedEx Cup points list.  He is 896 points behind Nick Watney (USA) who is still leading on 1,798 points from the 15 events he has played this year to date. He also won $US 648,000.00 for the win and that moves him to 27th position on the USPGA Tour Money list with $1,730,397 earned from the 21 events he has played this year to date. Nick Watney (USA) is still leading with $US 4,189,233 earned from the 15 events he has played this year to date. Chris Kirk (USA) now has his USPGA Tour card till the end of the 2013 season and gets a start in the 2012 Hyundai Tournament of Champions in early January 2012. Chris Kirk (USA) has now made a big name for himself in his rookie season on the USPGA Tour and can only keep going from strength to strength from here on in.

Chris Kirk (USA) came to the 72nd hole with a 1 shot lead over Tom Pernice, Jr. (USA) and George McNeill (USA). But all 3 players could only manage pars on the short par 5, 18th hole. This win will be huge boost to Chris Kirk’s (USA) confidence and I wouldn’t be surprised if he won again soon. In tied for 2nd place at -21 was Tom Pernice, Jr. (USA) who is 52 years old and was playing on USPGA Tour because there was no Champions Tour event to play this week, it proves he still has what it takes to compete with the best on the USPGA Tour. And George McNeill (USA) who had his best finish of the year to date. He also has 2 other top 10 finishes from the 12 events he has played to date this year. And has now wrapped up his card for the 2012 USPGA Tour season.

In tied 4th place were Bud Cauley (USA) who Monday qualified for this event and earned $US 148,800.00 and also gets into the field for next week’s RBC Canadian Open, also tied for 4th was Hunter Haas (USA) and Jim Renner (USA) who got his USPGA Tour card at the 2010 qualifying school last December also had his best finish in his rookie season and also earned $US 148,800.00 for his efforts, these players were all at -20. In tied for 7th place were Tommy (Two Gloves) Gainey (USA) who had his 5th Top 10 finish of the season and has now earned $US 1,457,851 from 23 events he has played to date this year which guarantees his card for the 2012 USPGA Tour Season, also tied for 7th was Sunghoon Kung (South Korea) who had his best finish of the season and his 1st top 10 of the year.  He too got his 2011 USPGA Tour card at the 2010 USPGA Tour Qualifying School when he finished tied 16th. They were both -19 after 72 holes. Rounding out the Top 10 in tied 9th Position were Shane Bertsch (USA), Blake Adams (USA), Peter Lonard (Australia) who had his best finish on the USPGA Tour this year after losing his card last year, he will also get a start next week at the RBC Canadian Open. Also tied for 9th was D. J. Trahan (USA), they were all -18.

There were two New Zealanders in the field but unfortunately both missed the cut. Grant Waite (NZL) playing in his 1st USPGA Tour event of 2011 scored rounds of 70-2 and 72even for a 36 hole total of 142-2 and he missed the cut by 2 strokes. The other New Zealand Golfer in the field was Phil Tataurangi (NZL) who too was making his 1st start on the USPGA Tour for 2011. He scored rounds of 76+4 and 69-3 for a 36 hole total of 145+1 and missed the cut by 5 strokes.

Next week the USPGA Tour and FedEx Cup heads north of the boarder to Canada for the RBC Canadian Open and it is being played at the Shaughnessy G&CC, Vancouver, B.C. Canada. The huge purse of $US 5,200,000 will attract the best players from the USPGA Tour and the Canadian Tour. Carl Pettersson (Sweden) is the defending champion and will be looking to win back to back titles. But the Canadian Fans will be looking for a Canadian Golfer to win. It starts on Thursday 21st July and I will report back who took home the trophy next week.

So to the Top 5 in the Official World Golf Rankings this week, coming in at Number 1 is still Luke Donald (England) with 9.64 Official World Ranking Points, at Number 2 is Lee Westwood (England) with 8.48 Official World Ranking Points, at Number 3 is Martin Kaymer (Germany) with 7.38 Official World Ranking Points, at Number 4 is Rory McILroy (NIR) with 7.16 Official World Ranking Points, and rounding out the Top 5 is Steve Stricker (USA) on 7.05 Official World Ranking Points. Tiger Woods (USA) this week slips another place to 20th on the list with 3.78 Official World Ranking Points. Danny Lee (NZL) is still the best New Zealand Golfer on the Official World Rankings Points list with 0.59 Official World Ranking Points that places him 301st position on the Official World Rankings Points list

Now to the last event I am reporting on this week and it is on the Nationwide Tour and was Chiquita Classic and was played at the TPC River's Bend, Maineville, Ohio. And it was the Scottish Golfer Russell Knox (Scotland) that scored rounds of 68-4, 66-6, 63-9 and a final round of 66-6 for a 72 hole total of 263-25 and won by 3 strokes. He earned $US 99,000.00 for the win, and it was his 1st ever win on the Nationwide Tour in his rookie season. He moves to 5th on the Nationwide Tour Money list with $US 169,947 earned from the 9 events he has played to date this year. Mathew Goggin (USA) is still number one on the money list with $US 303,898 earned from the 10 events he has played to date this year. Russell Knox (Scotland) is looking good at the moment to gain his 2012 USPGA Tour card, because the players that finish inside the Top 25 on the final Nationwide Tour Money list get their USPGA Tour Cards the following Season.

Russell Knox (Scotland) played a great final round with birdies on holes 3rd, 4th , 6th, 7th and 8th on the front nine and the lone bogey coming on the 5th, and that meant he went out in 32-4, with birdies on 11th and 15th he came home in 34-2 to score 66-6. He held off the fast charging Billy Hurley III (USA) who scored a 64-8 in his final round that included 3consecutive birdies to finish his round. But he still finished 3 strokes back in solo 2nd at -22. This win should be a big boost to Russell Knox’s (Scotland) confidence, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he won again this year. I wish him luck for the rest of the 2011 season.

Russell Knox (Scotland) holding the Chiquita Classic Trophy

Tied 3rd were Brian Stuard (USA) and Greg Owen (England) who were -20. In tied 5th position at -19 were Chris Nallen (USA), Josh Broadaway (USA) and B. J. Staten (USA). In tied 8th place were Roberto Castro (USA) and Aaron Goldberg (USA) at -18. Rounding out the top 10 in tied for 10th position were Jonas Blixt (Sweden), David Lingmerth (Sweden), Will Dodson (USA) and Wes Homan (USA), they were all at -16.

There were 5 New Zealand Golfers in the field and 4 of them made the cut, best of them was Bradley Iles (NZL) who finished tied for 14th. He scored rounds of 67-5, 71-1, 67-5 and 68-4 for a 72 hole total of 273-15. He earned $US 9,900.00 for his weeks work and now moves to 90th Position on the Nationwide Tour Money list with $US 23,543 earned from the 12 events he has played to date this year. But he still has a lot of work to do to get into the Top 25 by the end of the season to earn his USPGA Tour card for 2012. Next best New Zealander was Danny Lee (NZL) who was playing for the first time since his wrist injury he suffered back in late May. He scored 70-2, 70-2, 67-5 and a final round of 68-2 for a 72 hole total of 275-13 and he tied for 22nd place. He won $US 5,324.00 for his efforts and now moves to 21st position on the Nationwide Tour Money list with $US 89,660 earned from the 6 events he has played to date this year. At the moment he looks like securing his USPGA Tour card for 2012 season.

 Josh Geary (NZL) was the next best New Zealander, he scored rounds of 67-5, 70-2, 72 even and a final round of 68-4 for a 72 hole total of 277-11 and he tied for 33rd place. He earned $US 2,915.00 for his efforts and now is in 42nd position on the Nationwide Tour Money list with $US 49,108 earned from the 12 events he has played to date this year. He has made his last 4 cuts and if he keeps this form up will soon be in the Top 25 on the money list. The final New Zealander to make the cut was Tim Wilkinson (NZL), he scored rounds of 67-5, 70-2, 73+1 and a final round of 70-2 for a 72 hole total of 280-8 to tied for 48th position. He earned $US 1,911.25 for his efforts and now is placed in 87th Position on the Nationwide Tour Money list with $US 24,977 earned from the 11 events he has played this year to date. The other New Zealander in the field was Steve Alker (NZL), but he missed the halfway cut with rounds of 74+2 and 68-4 for a 36 hole total of 142-2 to miss the 36 hole cut by 2 strokes.

Next week the Nationwide Tour is in Ohio again for the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational and it is being played at the OSU Golf Club - Scarlet, Columbus, Ohio. It has a larger than normal purse with $US 800,000 up for the taking and it is sure to attract the very best players on the Nationwide Tour. D.J. Brigman (USA) is the defending Champion. But there will be a new Champion because D. J. Brigman (USA) is now on the USPGA Tour. I will report back next week who won the Trophy.

So until then remember keep hitting the ball long and straight and make all your putts inside 15 feet!!

Source: pgatour.com, europeantour.com