It was another amazing weekend of Golf on the Major Professional Golf Tours from around the World. First I will start with the European Tour and the Race to Dubai. This week it was in Portugal for the Madeira Islands Open – Portugal and it was played on the Santo da Serra, Madeira, Portugal. And it was the Golfer by the name of Ricardo Santos (Portugal) who scored rounds of 68-4, 67-5, 68-4 and a final round of 63-9 for a 72 hole total of 266-22 and he won by 4 strokes. He won € 112,500.00 for the win and moves to 50th position on the Race to Dubai Money list with € 186,637 earned from the 11 events he has played in to date this year so far. Rory McILroy (NIR) still leads that list with €1,348,517 earned from the 5 events he has played in to date this year so far.
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| Ricardo Santos (Portugal) in action during the final round |
It was his first European Tour International Schedule victory in his 23rd European Tour event. He could move to just outside the top 190 in the Official World Golf Ranking from 305th position. This victory beats his previous best European Tour finishes of tied tenth in the 2011 Madeira Islands Open – Portugal and 2012 Avantha Masters. And it is in his rookie season on The European Tour. He is the first rookie to win on The 2012 European Tour. The last rookie to win on The European Tour was Tom Lewis at the 2011 Portugal Masters. He graduated from the 2011 European Challenge Tour Rankings. He is the second 2011 graduate to win the year after graduation, following Julien Quesne (France) (2012 Open de Andalucia Costa del Sol). He becomes the seventh first-time winner of the 2012 European Tour International Schedule. They are: Branden Grace (RSA) (Joburg Open), Jbe’ Kruger (RSA) (Avantha Masters), Julien Quesne (France) (Open de Andalucía Costa del Sol), Thorbjørn Olesen (Denmark) (Sicilian Open), Bubba Watson (USA) (Masters Tournament), Bernd Wiesberger (Austria) (Ballantine’s Championship) and Ricardo Santos (Portugal) (Madeira Islands Open – Portugal).
He becomes the first Portuguese player to win the Madeira Islands Open – Portugal and first Portuguese to win a European Tour event on home soil. He becomes only the second Portuguese player to win on The European Tour; following Daniel Silva (Portugal) (1992 Jersey European Airways Open). (José-Filipe Lima (Portugal), although now Portuguese, was playing under the French flag when he won the 2004 As St Omer Open). His final round of 63 (-9) is the lowest final round by a winner in 2012. This beats the 64 (-8) by Julien Quesne (France) (Open de Andaluica Costa del Sol). His final round of 63 (-9) is the lowest final round by a winner in the history of the Madeira Islands Open – Portugal. This beats the 66 (-6) by Des Smyth in 2001. His 72 hole total of 266 (-22) is the lowest winning total in the history of the Madeira Islands Open – Portugal.
He is the ninth player to make the Madeira Islands Open – Portugal their maiden European Tour victory. He would follow: Santiago Luna (Spain) (1995), Pedro Linhart (Spain) (1999), Niclas Fasth (Sweden) (2000), Bradley Dredge (Wales) (2003), Christopher Hanell (Sweden) (2004), Daniel Vancsik (Argentina) (2007), Estanislao Goya (Argentina) (2009) and James Morrison (England) (2010). This victory came in his seventh appearance in the Madeira Islands Open – Portugal. This victory beats his previous best performance in the event of tied tenth in 2011. His four shot final round winning comeback equals the largest on The European Tour in 2012. This matches the four of Francesco Molinari (Italy) in the Reale Seguros Open de España. He is the 404th different player to win on The European Tour. He gains a European Tour exemption until the end of the 2013 season. He gains his largest European Tour prize of €112,500. He gains a place in the 2013 Volvo Golf Champions. He gains his fourth win as a professional. He becomes the 42nd rookie to win in European Tour history. He becomes the 25th different Challenge Tour graduate to win on The European Tour the year after graduation.
He becomes the 13th European Tour victory by a former Challenge Tour player on the 2012 European Tour from 18 events so far that have been played this year. They are: Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) (Africa Open and Maybank Malaysian Open), Branden Grace (RSA) (Joburg Open, Volvo Golf Champions and Volvo China Open), Robert Rock (England) (Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship), Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spain) (Omega Dubai Desert Classic), Justin Rose (England) (WGC – Cadillac Championship), Julien Quesne (France) (Open de Andalucía Costa del Sol), Michael Hoey (NIR) (Trophée Hassan II), Thørbjorn Olesen (Denmark) (Sicilian Open), Bernd Wiesberger (Austria) (Ballantine’s Championship) and Ricardo Santos (Portugal) (Madeira Islands Open – Portugal). He becomes the 297th European Tour victory by a former Challenge Tour player. And finally becomes the 126th different former Challenge Tour player to win on The European Tour.
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| Ricardo Santos (Portugal) poses with the Madeira Islands Open - Portugal Trophy he won |
Ricardo Santos (Portugal) played just a brilliant final round of 63-9 which included a front nine of 32-4 that included birdies on the Par 5, 3rd hole, Par 4, 5th hole, Par 5, 7th hole and Par 3, 8th hole. He continued on his great form on the back nine scoring 31-5 which included birdies on the Par 4, 12th hole, Par 4, 13th hole, Par 5, 16th hole, Par 3, 17th hole and Par 4, 18th hole. I feel this win will be a huge boost to Ricardo Santos (Portugal) confidence and I expect him to carry on the good form for the rest of the 2012 season on the European Tour. I wish him all the best.
Coming solo 2nd position at 270-18 after 72 holes was Magnus A Carlsson (Sweden). Coming in solo 3rd position at 271-17 after 72 holes was Andreas Harto (Denmark). Coming in tied for 4th position at 272-16 after 72 holes were John Parry (England), Oliver Wilson (England), Carlos Del Moral (Spain), Joakim Lagergren (Sweden) and Mikael Lundberg (Sweden) and rounding out the top 10 in tied for 9th position at 273-15 after 72 holes were Alistair Forsyth (Scotland) and David Dixon (England).
Next week the European Tour and Race to Dubai heads back to Spain for the Volvo World Match play Championship and it is being played on the Finca Cortesin, Casares, Andalucía, Spain. It has a large prize purse of €2,750,000 for the taking. Ian Poulter (England) is the defending Champion and will be keen to defend his title. It starts on Thursday 17th May and I will report back who won the trophy next week.
Now to the second event I am reporting on this week and it is on the USPGA Tour and was part of the FedEx Cup. It was The Players Championship and was played on the TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. And it was Matt Kuchar (USA) that scored rounds of 68-4, 68-4, 69-3 and a final round of 70-2 for a 72 hole total of 275-13 and won by 2 strokes for his biggest win of his career so far. He won $US 1,710,000.00 for the win and moved to 4th position on the USPGA Tour Money list with $US 2,927,799 earned from the 10 events he has played in to date this year. And the amazing thing is he has made 10 out of 10 cuts from the 10 events he has played in to date this year so far. Bubba Watson (USA) still leads the money list with $US 3,204,778 earned from the 9 events he has played in to date this year so far. He also earned 600 FedEx Cup points and moved to 6th position on the FedEx Cup Points list with 1,202 points earned from the 10 events he has played to date this year so far. He is 193 points behind the current leader, Hunter Mahan (USA) who has earned 1,395 points from the 10 events he has played in to date this year so far.
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| Matt Kuchar (USA) salutes the crowd after winning the Players Championship |
Matt Kuchar (USA) started the final round 1 stroke out of the lead and after an early bogey 5, at the Par 4, 1st hole and he fell back to -10. He got back to -11 after the Par 4, 4th hole when he hit his 2nd shot into 3feet from the flag. He made a good birdie on the Par 5, 9th hole when he hit his 2nd shot up by the green in 2 and got up and down for his birdie 4. So he went out in 35-1 and was now at -12. He made another birdie at the short Par 4, 12th hole and moved to -13 and now had a 2 stroke lead. He hit a great 5 iron 2nd shot from the fairway bunker on the Par 4, 14th hole that he managed to get on the green and which he 2 putted for a good par 4. He had a good chance to birdie the Par 4, 15th hole when he hit his 2nd shot within 12 feet of the flag and gave himself a 12 foot birdie putt which he just missed.
On the Par 5, 16th hole he hit 2 good shots to get pin high in two. He then hit a fine chip shot to within 15 feet of the pin and struck a perfect putt that rolled right in the middle of the hole for a birdie 4 and he moved to -14 with two holes to play. He now had a 3 stroke lead over 4 players. He hit a conservative shot in the Famous Island Green Par 3, 17th hole. It landed on the front left of the green. But the flag was in the front right hand side which is the Traditional Sunday pin placement. He struck his birdie putt a little too firm and it rolled 6 feet past the cup. And he was unable to make the return putt for par. So he tapped in for his bogey 4 and fell back to -13 with the 72nd hole to play he had 2stroke lead over 4 players that had all finished. He hit an awesome drive down the right hand side of the fairway which drew to the centre. He hit his mid iron 2nd shot which landed short of the green and rolled up to within 40 feet of the cup. He rolled his birdie putt at a perfect pace and it came to rest within 3 feet of the cup. He now knew he could 2 putt from there and still win the Players Championship. But he calmly sank the 3 footer for the par and scored a 70-2 in the final round and he had won his very first Players Championship at 33 years of age.
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| Matt Kuchar (USA) holds his two Sons on the 18th Green after winning |
It was the biggest win of his career to date. His two young sons came running onto the 18th green to give him a hug and his Wife gave him a kiss. Then he hugged his Mum for Mothers Day and his Father as well. It must have been great to have his whole Family by his side to share in his Glory. His was presented with the Players Championship Trophy by last year’s winner, K. J. Choi (South Korea). I feel Matt Kuchar (USA) has now really matured as a Golfer and it won’t be long before he wins a Major Championship. Perhaps his first Major Championship will come at next month’s U. S. Open Championship? It was his fourth win on the USPGA Tour with the previous 3 being the 2002 Honda Classic, 2009 Turning Stone Resort Championship and the 2010 The Barclays. It was just great to see one of the real nice guys on the USPGA Tour win one of the biggest tournaments. He has always showed a lot of promise since winning the 1997 US Amateur and finishing in 21st position at the 1998 Masters Tournament in his first appearance as an Amateur. At the time it was the best finish by an Amateur at the Masters Tournament in 20 years. He also played in the 1998 US Open Championship which was played at the Olympic Club and he finished in 14th position. He turned professional in 2000 and got his first win at the 2002 Honda Classic at the age of 23. But his golf game went south after that and he was forced to play the Nationwide Tour in 2006 where he won the 2006 Henrico County Open Pres'd by Saxon Capital, Inc. That got him back on the USPGA Tour for the 2007 season and that’s where he has been up to now. I feel now he has moved up a level and his new World Ranking of 5th Position on the current Official World Rankings list proves that. I wish him every continuing success in the rest of the 2012 Season on the USPGA Tour and FedEx Cup.
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| Matt Kuchar (USA) gets the Players Championship Trophy from the 2011 Champion, K. J. Choi (South Korea) |
Coming in tied for 2nd position at 277-11 after 72 holes were Martin Laird (Scotland), 2007 Masters Tournament winner, Zach Johnson (USA), last week’s winner, Rickie Fowler (USA), and the 2012 Valero Texas Open winner, Ben Curtis (USA). Coming in solo 6th position at 279-9 after 72 holes was Luke Donald (England), but it wasn’t quite good enough to regain the Number One World Ranking. But he scored 30-6 on the back nine of his final round. In tied for 7th position at 280-8 after 72 holes were Bo Van Pelt (USA), Jhonattan Vegas (Venezuela) who had his best finish of the season and Kevin Na (USA) who was the 54 hole leader who blew out in the final round with a 76+4. He was really having trouble pulling the trigger in his swing all week. Rounding out the top 10 in tied for 10th position at 281-7 after 72 holes were David Toms (USA) who scored the lowest equal final round of 65-7 and the 2012 RBC Heritage Champion, Carl Pettersson (Sweden).
Tiger Woods (USA) had a poor tournament by his Standards. He scored rounds of 74+2, 68-4, 72 even and a final round of 73+1 which included a front nine of 40+4 and a back nine of 33-3. He finished 72 holes on 287-1 and tied for 40th position. He will be looking to improve before next month’s US Open Championship. Defending Champion, K. J. Choi (South Korea) had a poor tournament defending his title. He scored rounds of 75+3 and 76+4 for a 36 hole total of 151+7 after 36 holes to miss the cut by 7 strokes.
Next week the USPGA Tour and FedEx Cup head to Texas for the HP Bryon Nelson Championship and it is being played on the TPC Four Seasons Resort, Irving, Texas. It has another large prize purse of $US 6,500,000 for the taking. Keegan Bradley (USA) is the defending Champion and will be keen to defend his title. It starts on Thursday 17th May and I will report back who won the Trophy next week.
Now to the Top 5 on the Official World Golf Rankings this week and coming in at Number One on the list for his third spell and the 6th week in total of his career is Rory McILroy (NIR) even with missing the cut at the Players Championship. He has 9.65 Official World Ranking Points. Coming in a close 2nd position on the list is Luke Donald (England) with 9.52 Official World Ranking Points; Coming in 3rd position on the list is Lee Westwood (England) with 8.27 Official World Ranking Points; Coming in 4th position on the list is Bubba Watson (USA) with 6.52 Official World Ranking Points and rounding out the Top 5 with 6.22 Official World Ranking Points is the Players Championship winner, Matt Kuchar (USA). Tiger Woods (USA) this week remains in 7th Position on the Official World Golf Ranking Points list. He now has 5.29 Official World Golf Ranking Points. Danny Lee (NZL) is still the highest ranked New Zealand Golfer in the World. This week he slips 2 places to be at 172nd position on the Official World Golf Ranking Points list with 1.01 Official World Golf Rankings Points on the list.
Remember now it is getting into Winter conditions it is all carry to the green so allow to hit the green on the full.
Source: pgatour.com, europeantour.com
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