Golf Events from the Weekend 2nd October

It was another exciting weekend on the Professional Golf Tours from around the world with 4 tournaments going on. 1st I will start with the European Tour and the Race to Dubai. This week it headed to Scotland for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship which was played at Old Course St. Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, Scotland. And it was Michael Hoey (NIR) who scored rounds of 66-6, 66-6, 66-6 and a final round of 68-4 for a 72 hole total of 266-22 and he won by 2 strokes. It was his 3rd win on the European Tour and his 2nd this year having won the Madeira Islands Open in May. He won € 588,148.80 for his efforts and moves to 15th position on the Race to Dubai Money list with € 852,428 earned from the 24 events he has played to date this year so far. Luke Donald (England) is still in number 1 position on the list with €3,839,161 earned from the 11 events he has played to date this year.



Michael Hoey (NIR) driving off the 18th tee at St Andrews Golf Links

Michael Hoey (NIR) played a nice final round; he played the front nine in 35-1, with birdies at the Par 4, 2nd hole, Par 3, 8th hole and Par 4, 9th hole. But he had poor bogeys on the Par 4, 3rd hole and Par 4, 7th holes. He was at -19 for the tournament at this stage and was 1 stroke behind the current US Open Champion, Rory McILroy (NIR) who had played awesome golf on the front nine going out in 30-6 which included birdies at the Par 4, 2nd, 6th 7th and 9th holes and an amazing hole out eagle 2 at the Par 4, 3rd hole. He made another birdie at the Par 3, 11th hole which made him -7 after 11 holes played in his final round. But he could only manage 7 pars for the rest of the round and scored 65-7 for the final round to finish at 268-20 and he was the leader in the Club House.

Michael Hoey (NIR) played a great back nine with birdies on the 15th and 16th holes. He came to the short par 4, 18th hole with a 1 stroke lead over Rory McILroy (NIR), but he birdied that hole as well and completed his 2 stroke victory. It was his third European Tour International Schedule victory in his 139th European Tour event. With earnings of €852,427 so far this year. It represents his highest single season earnings. This beats his previous best of €341,327 in 2009. He becomes the seventh multiple winner of the season. They are: Luke Donald (WGC – Accenture Match Play Championship, BMW PGA Championship and Barclays Scottish Open), Thomas Björn (Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy, Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles and Omega European Masters), Charl Schwartzel (Joburg Open and Masters Tournament), Darren Clarke (Iberdrola Open and The 140th Open Championship), Alex Noren (Saab Wales Open and Nordea Masters), Simon Dyson (Irish Open presented by Discover Ireland and KLM Open) and Michael Hoey (Madeira Islands Open and Alfred Dunhill Links Championship). It is the first time in his European Tour career he has recorded multiple victories in the same season.

Michael Hoey (NIR) holding the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship Trophy he won

It is the second time this season he has won after leading or sharing the lead going into the final round. He shared the 54 hole lead with Jamie Elson at the Madeira Islands Open. This win makes history for Northern Ireland. It would be the first time the country has recorded five victories in a single European Tour season. The 2011 wins are: Darren Clarke (Iberdrola Open and the 140th Open Championship), Michael Hoey (Madeira Islands Open and Alfred Dunhill Links Championship) and Rory McIlroy (US Open Championship). He becomes the 1st player from Northern Ireland to win the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. He becomes the fifth player from Northern Ireland to win twice or more in the same European Tour season. He follows: Darren Clarke (1998, 2000, 2008 and 2011), David Feherty (1986), Graeme McDowell (2008 and 2010) and Ronan Rafferty (1989 and 1990). He is the 42nd Northern Irish win in European Tour history. This victory beats his previous best performance in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship of tied 19th in 2009. It was his 6th win as a professional. For the win he gains a two year European Tour exemption until the end of 2013. It was his largest European Tour prize of €588,148. And finally he gains a place in the 2011 WGC – HSBC Champions and 2012 WGC – Bridgestone Invitational. I feel this win will do great things for Michael Hoey’s (NIR) confidence. And he is in good shape heading into the final events of the Race to Dubai. I wish him all the best for his continued success in the future.

In Solo 2nd place was Rory McILroy (NIR) with rounds of 70-2, 67-5, 66-6 and a brilliant final round of 65-7 for a 72 hole total of 268-20. He will be annoyed that he couldn’t birdie any of the last 7 holes. But he will be pleased with the € 2,543,571 he has earned in the Race to Dubai Money list that places him in 2nd position on the list. But he still has only won 2 tournaments on the European Tour which is a surprise. I sure he will add to that win count in the very near future. And he has made all of his cuts in the 16 events he has played this year so far. He has also recorded 10 top 10 finishes as well.

In tied for 3rd position was Graeme McDowell (NIR) who had one of his best finishes of his season. He finished 72 holes on 270-18 and earned € 198,676.70 for his efforts which places him in 21st position on the Race to Dubai Money list with € 749,957 earned from the 14 events he has played to date this year. It was a great effort by Northern Ireland this week with having 3 golfers in the Top 4 positions. Also tied for 3rd was George Murray (Scotland) on 270-18 after 72 holes. Tied for 5th position was Marc Warren (Scotland), Tommy Fleetwood (England) and Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) who won the 2010 Open Championship on this very course, they were all at 271-17 after 72 holes.  In solo 8th place was Padraig Harrington (Ireland) he finished 72 holes at 272-16 and it was his best finish on the European Tour in 2011. And it was his 2nd top 10 of the season. He won € 88,222.32 for his efforts and now moves to 71st position on the Race to Dubai Money list with € 341,810 earned from the 14 events he has played to date this year. He could now make the Top 60 players on the Race to Dubai Money list that get the chance to play the Dubai World Championship presented by DP World in Mid December.

Rounding out the top 10 in tied for 9th position at 273-15 were Peter Hanson (Sweden), Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium), Jamie Donaldson (Wales), Charl Schwartzel (RSA) the current Masters Tournament Champion, Joost Luiten (Netherlands), Luke Donald (England) the current World Number 1, Jaco Van Zyl (RSA) and Simon Dyson (England). There were 3 New Zealand Golfers in the field but unfortunately they all missed the 54 hole cut. Best of them was Gareth Paddison (NZL) who was making a rear appearance on the European Tour. He scored rounds of 71-1, 72 even and 70-2 for a 54 hole total of 213-3 and he missed the cut by 2 strokes. Next best New Zealander was Mark Brown (NZL) who scored rounds of 73+1, 77+5 and a final round 68-4 for a 54 hole total of 218+2 and missed the 54 hole cut by 7 strokes. He now slips to 153rd Position on the Race to Dubai Money list with € 110,905 earned from the 27 events he has played to date so far this year. With 9 events remaining that he will more than likely get a start in, he will need some great finishes to be inside the top 115 players on the Race to Dubai Money list after the UBS Hong Kong Open which is the last event of the 2011 regular season on European Tour. I wish him luck with achieving this goal.

The final New Zealander in the field that missed the 54 hole cut was Michael Campbell (NZL), he scored rounds of 70-2, 74+2 and a final round of 76+4 for a 54 hole total of 220+4 and missed the 54 hole cut by 9 strokes. He is now in 168th position on the Race to Dubai Money list with € 77,804 earned from the 22 events he has played to date this year so far.

Next week the European Tour and Race to Dubai head to Spain for the Bankia Madrid Masters and it is being played at the El Encín Golf Hotel, Alcalá de Henares, Spain. With €1,000,000 up for grabs in prize money it will attract another very good field. Luke Donald (England) the current World Number 1 golfer is the defending champion and will be looking for back to back titles. It starts on Thursday 6th October and I will report back who won next week.

Now to the 2nd tournament I am reporting on this week and it was on the USPGA Tour and the 1st event of the Fall Series. It was the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and was played on the TPC Summerlin, Las Vegas, Nevada. And it was the Golfer by the name of Kevin Na (USA) who finally got his Maiden USPGA Tour win after 211 tries at it. He scored rounds of 67-4, 63-8, 66-5 and a final round of 65-6 for a 72 hole total of 261-23 and won by 2 strokes. He won $US 792,000.00 for his winner’s Cheque and moves to 33rd on the USPGA Tour Money list with $US 2,259,465 earned from the 25 events he has played to date this year so far. Luke Donald (England) is still Number 1 on the money list with $US 5,837,214 earned from the 18 events he has played to date this year so far.

Kevin Na (USA) holding the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Childrens Open Trophy he won

One more top 10 finish this year will see Kevin Na (USA) easily finish inside the top 30 on the Final 2011 USPGA Tour Money list and gain a start in all the Major Championships in 2012. Since gaining his card at the 2003 USPGA Tour Qualifying Tournament by finishing tied for 21st at 423-9 after the 108 holes he has performed well every year since easily keeping his card every year. He lost in a playoff to Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) at the Chrysler Classic of Tucson in late February 2005 which set him back a lot. He struggled with injury in 2006 when he had to take 6months off from April to October. And he only earned $US 146,099 from the 11 events he entered. He played 2007 on a Major Medical Exemption and managed to keep his card for the 2008 season. He made $US1million in 2008. Had his best career season in 2009 where he won $US 2,724,825 from the 26 events he played. In 2010 he went close to winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard where he finished tied for 2nd and he won another $US 2million. And this year he was having a great year with 4 top 10 finishes before this result, but the only thing that was missing was a win.

He got off to a great start in his final round with birdies on Par 4, 1st hole, Par 4, 2nd hole, Par 4, 4th hole, Par 4, 7th hole and Par 5, 9th hole to go out in 31-4. He made a poor bogey on the par 3, 14th hole. Meanwhile, Nick Watney (USA) had made a solid start to his final round with birdies on the Par 4, 3rd hole and Par 4, 7th hole to go out in 33-2. Nick Watney (USA) birdied the Par 5, 13th hole to move to -20. When Kevin Na (USA) bogeyed the Par 3, 14th hole he fell back to -20 and was tied with Nick Watney (USA) with 4 holes to play. Kevin Na (USA) made a fine birdie 3 on the short but tricky Par 4, 15th hole when he struck his 2nd shot chip to 3feet from the pin for an easy birdie. Nick Watney (USA) could only manage a par 4. So Kevin Na (USA) took a 1stroke lead to the 16th hole at -21.

They both hit the short par 5 in two shots. Kevin Na (USA) was about 45 feet from the hole for his eagle 3, and he rolled his ball to within 2 feet of the cup and tapped in for his birdie 4. Nick Watney (USA) putted for eagle from 25 feet and just missed it; he too tapped in for his birdie 4. So they moved to the par 3, 17th hole with Kevin Na (USA) at -22 and Nick Watney (USA) at -21. They both hit on the Par 3, 17th hole with Kevin Na (USA) 42 feet from the cup and Nick Watney (USA) 25 feet from the cup. Kevin Na (USA) putted 1st and put a perfect roll on his putt and it rolled into the centre of the cup for his birdie 2 and he was now at -23 with one hole to play. Nick Watney (USA) putted for his birdie but just missed. So Kevin Na (USA) had a 2stroke lead with only 18th hole to play.

Kevin Na (USA) hit a poor tee shot out to the right but was very lucky he had a clear 2nd shot. Nick Watney (USA) hit a brilliant drive straight down the middle of the fairway. Kevin Na (USA) hit his shot iron 2nd shot just short of pin high to the right of the hole but on the green. Nick Watney (USA) hit his 2nd shot 20 feet from the pin underneath the hole. Kevin Na (USA) then putted his tricky side hill birdie putt and left himself a 10 footer for par. Nick Watney (USA) knew he had to hole his putt for birdie to put the pressure on Kevin Na (USA) to have to hole his par putt for the win. But he just missed his 20 foot birdie putt and that left Kevin Na (USA) with his 10 foot par putt to win his Maiden USPGA Tour event. He rolled it right in the middle of the cup, and pumped his fist in the air as he had finally won on the USPGA Tour.

I hope Kevin Na (USA) doesn’t take as long to win his 2nd USPGA Event as it took him to win the 1st. I wish him all the best with the remaining 3 Fall Series events on the USPGA Tour in 2011. Nick Watney (USA) finished solo 2nd on 263-21 and he won $US 475,200.00 for his weeks work. He moves to 3rd position on the USPGA Tour money list with $US 5,290,673 earned from the 22 events he has played to date this year so far. And this 2nd place finish will give him a lot of confidence after having a rather disappointing FedEx Cup Playoff series. Tied for 3rd at  266-18 were Tommy (Two Gloves) Gainey (USA) who continued on his breakout year on the USPGA Tour with earning another $US 255,200.00 and it was his 7th top 10 finish as well. He has now earned $US 2,174,191 from the 31 events he has played to date this year and is in 34th Position on the list. Another top 10 finish will get him inside the all important top 30 on the Money list. Also tied for 3rd place was Paul Goydos (USA).

In tied 5th position was David Hearn (Canada), Carl Pettersson (Sweden), Jhonattan Vegas (Venezuela), Tim Herron (USA) and Spencer Levin (USA), they were all on 267-17 after 72 holes. Rounding out the top 10 in tied for 10th Position at 268-16 were Scott Piercy (USA), Ben Crane (USA), Kyle Stanley (USA), Hunter Haas (USA), Bryce Molder (USA) and Kris Blanks (USA).

Next week the USPGA Tour and Fall Series heads to California for the Frys.com Open and it is being played at the CordeValle Golf Club, San Martin, California. With a prize purse of $US 5,000,000 up for grabs it will attract the very best players on the USPGA Tour and even Tiger Woods (USA) is making an appearance in a Fall Series event for the 1st time in his career to get ready for the Presidents Cup next month in Melbourne, Australia. Rocco Mediate (USA) is the defending champion and will be looking for back to back titles. It starts on Thursday 6th October. I will report back who took home the trophy next week.

So to the Top 5 players on the Official World Golf Rankings this week. Coming in at Number 1 position for the 19th week running is Luke Donald (England) with 10.70 Official World Ranking points, Coming in 2nd is Lee Westwood (England) with 7.79 Official World Ranking points, Coming in at Number 3 is Rory McILroy (NIR) with 7.35 Official World Ranking points, Coming in at Number 4 is Steve Stricker (USA) with 6.56 Official World Ranking points, and rounding out the top 5 is Dustin Johnson (USA) with 6.49 Official World Ranking points. Tiger Woods (USA) slips another place to be 51st on the Official Golf World Rankings points list with 2.74 Official Golf World Ranking points. Danny Lee (NZL) is still the highest ranked New Zealand Golfer with 0.93 Official Golf World Ranking Points and he is now in 190th position on the Official Golf World Rankings points list which is up 76 places on last week and the big improvement is because he achieved his Maiden Nationwide Tour win in winning the WNB Golf Classic in Texas.

The 3rd event I am reporting on this week was on the Champions Tour and was the SAS Championship and it was played on the Prestonwood CC, Cary, North Carolina. And it was Kenny Perry (USA) who scored rounds of 66-6, 69-3 and a final round of 70-2 for a 54 hole total of 205-11 and won by 1 stroke for his maiden Champions Tour Victory. He won $US 315,000.00 for his Victory and is now in 13th position on the Champions Tour Money list with $US 879,651 earned from the 9 events he has played to date this year so far. Tom Lehman (USA) is still leading the money list with $US 1,837,109 earned from the 18 events he has played to date this year so far. And Kenny Perry (USA) is in 14th position on the Charles Schwab Cup Points list with 871points earned from the 9 events he has played to date this year so far. He is 1,264 points behind the Charles Schwab Cup Points list leader who is Tom Lehman (USA), he has earned 2,135 Charles Schwab Cup Points from the 18 events he has played to date so far this year.

Kenny Perry (USA) in Action during the final round of the SAS Championship which he won

Kenny Perry (USA) played a great final round of 70-2 that included a front nine of 34-1 with birdies on the Par 3, 3rd hole and Par 4, 6th hole. He made his lone bogey on the par 3, 8th hole. He made another birdie at the Par 3, 11th hole and that moved him to -11 for the tournament with 7 holes to play. But a double bogey at the Par 5, 12th hole set to derail his chance of getting his maiden win. But a fine birdie on the par 4, 16th hole moved him to -10 with 2 holes to play. And a brilliant eagle on the Par 5, 17th hole when he holed a 30 foot putt and moved him to -12 with one hole to play and he had a 2 stroke lead over Jeff Sluman (USA) and John Houston (USA) playing the 18th hole. He made a bogey 5 on the par 4; last hole but it was good enough for a 1 stroke win. The win was with a heavy heart because his Sister, Kay Perry died Saturday night after a long fight with breast cancer. She died two years to the day after the death of their mother, Mildred Perry, also to cancer. He was going to pull out of this tournament but his Dad told him to play in Kay’s honour. He later said he felt like Kay was with him the whole tournament and she gave him the inner peace to stay calm under pressure.

It was no real surprise to me that Kenny Perry (USA) won so soon on the Champions Tour because he was a proven winner on the USPGA Tour winning 14 tournaments and almost winning the 1996 USPGA Championship in his home town of Kentucky. With 6 top 10 finishes from 9 starts on the Champions Tour this year he is showing that he is going to be a real force to be reckoned with for a long time yet. And I wish him all the best with the 3 remaining Champions Tour events in 2011.

In tied for 2nd Position was Jeff Sluman (USA) and John Huston (USA) on 206-10 after 54 holes. In solo 4th Position was recent winner on the Champions Tour, Russ Cochran (USA) who was on 208-8 after 54 holes. In solo 5th position was Fred Couples (USA) on 209-7 after 54 holes. In tied for 6th position at 210-6 after 54 holes was Jay Don Blake (USA), J.L. Lewis (USA), Chien Soon Lu (Taiwan) and Nick Price (Zimbabwe). Rounding out the top 10 at tied for 10th position at 211-5 after 54 holes were Mark Calcavecchia (USA) and Bob Gilder (USA).

Next week the Champions Tour heads to Texas for the Insperity Championship and it is being played at the Woodlands CC, The Woodlands, Texas. With a prize purse of $US 1,700,000 for the taking it will attract a fine field of the very best Champions Tour players. Fred Couples (USA) is the defending Champion and will be looking for back to back titles. It starts on Friday 7th October and I will report back who won the trophy next week.

So to the 4th and final event I am reporting on this week and it was on the Nationwide Tour and was the WNB Golf Classic and it was played at the Midland CC, Midland, Texas. And it was the New Zealand Golfer by the name of Danny Lee (NZL) who scored rounds of 64-8, 72 even, 68-4 and a final round of 66-6 for a 72 hole total of 270-18. But he was joined on that score by the recently turned professional Harris English (USA) who scored rounds of 69-3, 70-2, 62-10 and a final round of 69-3 for a 72 hole total of 270-18. So the two Golfers headed back to the Par 4, 18th hole for the 1st playoff hole. Danny Lee (NZL) made a par 4 to Harris English’s (USA) bogey 5. So Danny Lee (USA) at the tender age of 21 years old had won his maiden Nationwide Tour Event.

Danny Lee (NZL) in Action during the final round of the WNB Golf Classic which he won

He played a flawless final round of 66-6. Which included an eagle at the Par 5, 3rd hole and he birdied the Par 4, 6th hole to go out in 33-3. Then he birdied the Par 4, 10th hole, Par 5, 15th hole and the Par 3, 16 hole to come home with 33-3 and scored 66-6 in his final round. And as I mentioned before he won the Playoff. He won $US 94,500.00 for his win and moves to 4th position on the Nationwide Tour Money list with $US 271,700 earned from the 16 events he has played to date this year so far. J.J. Killeen (USA) leads the Nationwide Tour Money list with $US 409,473 earned from the 22 events he has played to date this year so far.

Danny Lee (NZL) in his rookie year on the Nationwide Tour has performed very well and I feel the win he achieved was well due because before he won the WNB Golf Classic he had recorded 6 top 10 finishes. He is finally starting to show his real potential after what he achieved when he was 18 years old by winning the 2008 US Amateur Championship. And of course he won the Johnnie Walker Classic in February 2009 in Perth, Australia as an Amateur as well. Now he has a guaranteed 2012 USPGA Tour Card which is a great achievement for him. And it is also great for New Zealand Golf to finally have a player on the USPGA Tour again. I wish Danny Lee (NZL) well for 4 remaining events on the Nationwide Tour this year and hope he can win another one. And I also wish him to have a fast start to the USPGA Tour in 2012 and hope he gets some early top 10 finishes in the early tournaments in January and February.

Harris English (USA) would be disappointed with his 2nd place finish, but it is only his 2nd finish as a professional and he is already exempt for next year on the Nationwide Tour because he won Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational in July when he was still an Amateur. And in his 1st two events as a professional he has earned $US 59,288. I’m sure he has some great golf ahead of him in the years to come. In Solo 3rd place at 272-16 after 72 holes was Garth Mulroy (RSA). In tied for 4th place at 273-15 after 72 holes were Bob Heintz (USA), Craig Bowden (USA) and Gavin Coles (Australia). Tied for 7th at 274-14 were Dicky Pride (USA), David Lingmerth (Sweden), and Miguel Carballo (Argentina). Rounding out the Top 10 in tied for 10th position at 275-13 were Darron Stiles (USA), Brendon Todd (USA), Roger Tambellini (USA) and B. J. Staten (USA).

The other New Zealand Golfer to make the cut was Tim Wilkinson (NZL), he scored rounds of 68-4, 66-6, 72 even and a final round of 74+2 for a 72 hole total of 280-8 and finished in tied for 33rd position. He won $US 3,150.00 for his weeks work and moves to 66th position on the Nationwide Tour Money list with $US 76,388 earned from the 20 events he has played to date this year. He has 3 more tournaments to get inside the top 60 that earn the right to play in the final tournament of the season which is the Nationwide Tour Championship and it has the richest prize purse of the season which is $US 1,000,000. I wish him luck with that. 

The other New Zealanders in the field that missed the 36 hole cut were Josh Geary (NZL) scored rounds of 68-4 and 75+3 for a 36 hole total of 143-1 and missed the 36 hole cut that fell at -3 by 2 strokes. But he too still has a chance to make the Nationwide Tour Championship if he can get inside the top 60 on the Nationwide Tour Money list in the next 3 events. He has earned $US 78,061 from the 22 events he has played to date this year and is in 63rd position on the Nationwide Tour Money list. I wish all the best with the final few events. The final New Zealand player in the field was Bradley Iles (NZL), He scored 2 rounds of 73+1 for a 36 hole total of 146+2 and missed the 36 hole cut by 5 strokes to continue on his poor play this season.

Next week the Nationwide Tour heads to Tennessee for the playing of the Children’s Hospital Classic and it is being played at the Black Creek Club, Chattanooga, Tennessee. With a prize purse of $US 500,000 for the taking it will attract another fine field of top Nationwide Tour players. Scott Gardiner (Australia) is the defending Champion and will be keen to defend his title. It starts on Thursday 6th October and I will report back who took home the trophy next week.

So until then remember keep hitting the Fairways and Greens and make all your putts!!

Source: pgatour.com, europeantour.com