Golf Events from the Weekend 4th March 2012

Well again it was another exciting weekend on the Professional Golf Tours around the world. First I will start with the USPGA Tour and FedEx Cup. This week it was in Florida for the Honda Classic. It was played on the Jack Nicklaus designed course at the PGA National Champion Course, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. And the Golfer by the name of Rory McILroy (NIR) scored rounds of 66-4, 67-3, 66-4 and a final round of 69-1 for a 72 hole total of 268-12 after 72 holes and won by 2 strokes. It was his 3rd win on the USPGA Tour having previously won the 2010 Wells Fargo Championship and the 2011 U.S. Open. He won $US 1,026,000.00 for the win and moves to 2nd position on the USPGA Tour Money list with $US 1,876,000 earned from the 2 events he has played to date this year so far. Kyle Stanley (USA) still leads that list with $US 1,938,515 earned from the 7 events he has played to date this year so far. Rory McILroy (NIR) also gained 500 FedEx Cup points for the win and moves to 4th position on the FedEx Cup Points list with 815 points earned from 2 events he has played to date this year so far. He is 120 points behind Kyle Stanley (USA) who leads that list on 935 points he has earned from the 7 events he has played to date this year so far.

Rory McILroy (NIR) pumps his fist in celebration after winning the Honda Classic

It was a steady final round by Rory McIlroy (NIR) who scored 69-1. He scored 34-1 on the front nine with his lone birdie coming at the Par 4, 8th hole. He scored 35 even on the back nine and his lone birdie came on the Par 4, 13th hole. It came just after Tiger Woods (USA) had scored 62-8 and posted -10 after 72 holes. His lone bogey came at the Par 4, 12th hole where he miss hit his 2nd shot and was unable to get up and down. He knew with 5 holes to play all he had to do was par in and the Tournament and Number 1 World Ranking was his. He got a great up and down on the Par 4, 14th hole where he got up and down from thick rough at the back right of the green. He got another great up and down from the bunker on the Par 3, 15th hole. On the Par 4, 16th hole he hit the green in 2 shots and made an easy 2 putt. So now he had a 2 stroke lead with two holes left to play. He hit his ball in the back left bunker on the Par 3, 17th hole but hit a brilliant bunker shot to within 4 feet of the hole and made the par putt. He came to the Par 5, 72nd hole and knew that a bogey would be good enough for the win. He hit a huge drive right down the centre of the fairway, Laid up with his 2nd shot and hit his wedge 3rd shot within 20 feet of the cup. He rolled his birdie putt 3 feet past the hole. But he easily holed the 3 footer for par and the win.

Rory McILroy (NIR) holding the Honda Classic Trophy he won and pointing one finger up because he is the New Number 1 Golfer in the World.

Rory McILroy (NIR) has now had a second place and a win from his 2 starts on the USPGA Tour this year. And he has gained the Number One World Ranking from Luke Donald (England) who held it for 40 Straight weeks. He is amazingly only 22 years old and is the second youngest player ever to gain the Number One Ranking in the World. The youngest player was of course Tiger Woods (USA).He must fancy his chances to win his 2nd Major this year? Perhaps it will come at the first major of the year which is Masters Tournament where he led after 54 holes last year only to score a shocking round of 80 in his final round. I wish him all the best on the USPGA Tour for the remaining events in 2012.

Coming in tied for 2nd at 280-10 after 72 holes was Tiger Woods (USA) he had his career low round of 62-8 which included a front nine of 31-4. He eagled the Par 5, 3rd hole, and had birdies on the Par 3, 5th and Par 3, 7th holes. He scored 31-4 on the back nine as well with an eagle on the Par 5, 18th hole to end his round in spectacular fashion and he also had excellent birdies on the very difficult par 4, 11th hole and the Par 3, 17th hole. This finish will give Tiger Woods (USA) a lot of confidence and a win on the USPGA Tour can’t be very far away for him. He moves to 18th position on the USPGA Tour Money List with $US 699,000 earned from the 3 events he has played to date this year so far. He also moves to 17th Position on the FedEx Cup points list with 346 points earned from the 3 events he has played to date this year so far. He is 589 points behind the current leader who is Kyle Stanley (USA). The other player to tie for 2nd was Tom Gillis (USA) who had his career best finish on the USPGA Tour. He is well on his way to keeping his card for 2013 USPGA Tour Season with $US 523,450 earned from the 6 events he has played.

In solo 4th place on 272-8 after 72 holes was Lee Westwood (England), he scored an excellent final round of 63-7. Coming in tied for 5th at 273-7 after 72 holes were the Current Masters Tournament Champion, Charl Schwartzel (RSA) and Justin Rose (England). Coming in tied for 7th at 274-6 after 72 holes were Rickie Fowler (USA) and Dicky Pride (USA). And rounding out the top 10 in tied for 9th position at 275-5 after 72 holes were Chris Stroud (USA), Kevin Stadler (USA) and Graeme McDowell (NIR).

Next week on the USPGA Tour and FedEx Cup there are two tournaments. The first one is the second World Golf Championships event of the year which is the WGC – Cadillac Championship and it is being played at the TPC Blue Monster at Doral, Miami, Florida. It has a huge prize purse of $US 8,500,000 for the taking. Nick Watney (USA) is the defending Champion and will be looking for back to back titles. It starts on Thursday 8th March and I will report back who won the trophy next week. The second event is for the players that haven’t qualified for the WGC – Cadillac Championship. It is the Puerto Rico Open presented by seepuerto.com and is being played at the Trump International GC - Puerto Rico, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. It has a smaller prize purse of $US 3,500,000 for the taking. Michael Bradley (USA) is the defending Champion and will be looking for back to back titles. It starts on Thursday 8th March. I will report back who won the Trophy next week.

The final event I am reporting on this week is on the Nationwide Tour and was the Panama Claro Championship and it was played on the Panama GC, Panama City, Panama. And it was the Golfer by the name of Edward Loar (USA) that scored rounds of 66-4, 68-2, 68-2 and a final round of 74+4 for a 72 hole total of 276-4 and he won by 1 stroke. It was his Maiden Nationwide Tour win and he won $US 99,000.00 for the win which moves him to 2nd position on the Nationwide Tour Money list with $US 99,000.00 earned from the 1 event he has played in to date this year. Skip Kendall (USA) leads that list with $US 112,111 earned from the 2 events he has played in so far this year. Edward Loar (USA) is actually fully exempt on the USPGA Tour in 2012 having finished tied for 18th position in the 2011 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. But he was unable to get a start in the Honda Classic so he chose to play this tournament which was a wise move.

Edward Loar (USA) in action during the final round

He played a shaky final round but it was good enough to hold on for the Victory. He scored 74+4 that included a front nine of 39+4 with a lone birdie on the Par 5, 4th hole. But he made poor bogeys at the Par 4, 4th hole and Par 3, 6th hole. And a shocking Triple Bogey on the Par 4, 7th hole. He steadied himself on the back nine to score 35 even par with a birdie on the Par 4, 16th hole and a lone bogey on the Par 3, 13th hole. I feel this win will give him confidence to go back to the USPGA Tour and really compete well. I wish Edward Loar (USA) all the best for the rest of 2012 on both the Nationwide Tour and USPGA Tour.

Coming in tied for 2nd Position at 277-3 after 72 holes were Cameron Percy (Australia), Ryan Armour (USA), Luke List (USA) and Brain Smock (USA). In solo 6th position at 279-1 after 72 holes was Justin Bolli (USA). Coming in tied for 7th at 280 even par after 72 holes were Peter Lonard (Australia) and Brad Fritsch (Canada). And rounding out the top 10 in tied for 9th position at 281+1 after 72 holes were Mike Lavery (USA), Darren Stiles (USA), Aaron Goldberg (USA), B. J. Staten (USA), Steve LeBurn (USA), Tim Wilkinson (NZL) the only New Zealander to make the cut scored rounds of 68-2, 68-2, 73+3 and 72+2 for a 72 hole total of 281+1. He won $US 11,550.00 for his weeks work and moved to tied for 24th position on the Nationwide Tour Money List with $US 13,545 earned from the 2 events he has played in to date this year. Skip Kendall (USA) still leads that list with $US 112,111 earned from the 2 events he has played to date this year. I wish Tim Wilkinson (NZL) continuing success on the Nationwide Tour in 2012. Also tied for 9th were David Lingmerth (Sweden), Shawn Stefani (USA), Derek Fathauer (USA) and Justin Hicks (USA).

The Other New Zealanders in the field that missed the halfway cut were Steve Alker (NZL) who scored rounds of 72+2 and 73+3 for a 36 hole total of 145+5 and missed the 36 hole cut by one stroke.

Next week the Nationwide Tour heads to Chile for the Chiles Classic presented by Pacific Rubiales and it is being played at the Prince of Wales Country Club, Santiago, Chile. It has a good prize purse of $US 600,000 for the taking. It is a brand new tournament so there is no defending Champion. It starts on Thursday 8th March and I will report back who won the trophy next week.

So to the Top 5 on the Official World Golf Rankings this week. Coming in at Number One for the for the first time ever in his career and fresh of his Honda Classic win is Rory McILroy (NIR) with 9.29 Official World Ranking Points. Coming in at Number Two is Luke Donald (England) with 8.97 Official World Ranking Points. Coming in at Number Three is Lee Westwood (England) with 8.19 Official World Ranking Points. Coming in at Number Four is Martin Kaymer (Germany) with 6.02 Official World Ranking Points and rounding out the top 5 is Steve Stricker (USA) with 5.71 Official World Ranking Points. Tiger Woods (USA) this week moves up five places to be at 16th position on the Official World Golf Ranking Points list with 4.40 Official World Golf Ranking Points. Danny Lee (NZL) is still the highest ranked New Zealand Golfer in the World. This week he slips 3 places to be at 165th position on the Official World Golf Ranking Points list with 1.10 Official World Golf Rankings Points on the list.

Remember a good preshot routine will have you having your scores much lower.

Source: europeantour.com, pgatour.com