Golf Events from the Weekend 6th May 2012

Well it was another exciting weekend on the Major Professional Golf Tours from around the world. First I will start with the European Tour and Race to Dubai. This week it was in Spain for the Reale Seguros Open de Espana and it was played on the Real Club de Golf de Sevilla, Seville, Spain. And it was the Golfer by the name of Francesco Molinari (Italy) who scored rounds of 70-2, 71-1, 74+2 and a final round of 65-7 for a 72 hole total of 280-8 and he won by 3 strokes. He won € 333,330.00 for the win and now moves to 7th position on the Race to Dubai Money list with € 708,209 earned from the 9 events he has played to date this year so far. Rory McILroy (NIR) leads that list with €1,348,517 earned from the 5 events he has played to date this year so far.

Francesco Molinari (Italy) in action during the final round

It was Francesco Molinari (Italy) third European Tour International Schedule victory in his 205th European Tour event. He could move back into the top 30 position on the Official World Golf Ranking, from 46th position. It was his first victory since the 2010 WGC – HSBC Champions. Since his 2010 victory has played in 32 European Tour events. In that time his best finish was tied third in the 2011 WGC – Cadillac Championship. To highlight his consistency in his last 32 events, he has been placed in the top ten on ten occasions. This victory beats his previous best 2012 performance of tied sixth in the Volvo China Open. He becomes the first Italian to win the Reale Seguros Open de España.

This victory comes in his fifth appearance in the Reale Open de España. This victory beats his previous best finish in the event of tied 11th in 2009. His four shot final round winning comeback is the largest on The European Tour in 2012. The previous best was three by Justin Rose (England) (WGC – Cadillac Championship), Julien Quesne (France) (Open de Andalucia Costa del Sol) and Bubba Watson (USA) (Masters Tournament). It was the 17th Italian victory in European Tour history. He moves to second in the list of most wins by an Italian in European Tour history with three, two behind Costantino Rocca (Italy), who has five. He extends his European Tour exemption until the end of 2014.He gains a place in the 2012 WGC – HSBC Champions and 2013 Volvo Golf Champions. And finally it was his third win as a professional.

Francesco Molinari (Italy) poses with the Reale Open de Espana Trophy he won along with his Wife and young child

Francesco Molinari (Italy) played just a flawless final round with scoring 65-7. It included a front nine of 32-4 with birdies on the Par 4, 1st hole, Par 3, 3rd hole, Par 5, 5th hole and Par 5, 9th hole. He played an equally as good back nine with scoring 33-3 which included birdies on the Par 4, 10th hole, Par 5, 13th hole and Par 4, 14th hole. This win should really give him a huge confidence boost. And now he is inside the top 30 players on the world rankings he is guaranteed a place in the 2nd Major of the year which is the US Open Championship next month. He really took advantage of the calm conditions in the final round after playing in the first 3 rounds with high winds. And his 65-7 in the final round was the best score by 2 strokes. The other 2 wins he had before this one on the European Tour were the 2006 Telecom Italia Open and the 2010 WGC - HSBC Champions. I wish Francesco Molinari (Italy) all the best for the rest of 2012 on the European Tour and hope he has more wins.

Coming in tied 2nd position at 283-5 after 72 holes were Alejandro Canizares (Spain), Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark) and Pablo Larrazabal (Spain). Coming in tied for 5th position at 285-3 after 72 holes were Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark) and Jorge Campillo (Spain). And rounding out the top 10 in tied for 7th position at 286-2 after 72 holes were Markus Brier (Austria), Gareth Maybin (NIR), Matteo Manassero (Italy), Graeme Storm (England) and Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium).

Michael Campbell (NZL) was the only New Zealander in the field. He scored rounds of 75+3 and 74+2 for a 36 hole total of 149+5. He missed the 36 hole cut by a single stroke which would be very disappointing to him. Because he finished off his 2nd round bogey, double bogey, bogey. He still has only made 1 cut in the 7 events he has played to date this year so far. He now is in 246th position on the Race to Dubai Money list with € 4,532 earned from the 7 events he has played to date this year so far. But to think less than 7 years ago he had won his first Major which was the 2005 US Open Championship and finished 2nd to Colin Montgomerie (Scotland) on the European Tour Order of Merit with €2,496,269 earned from the 22 events he played that season. It must be depressing for him. I hope he can at least make a few cuts in the coming events and gain a bit of confidence in his game. I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2012 European Tour Season.

Next week the European Tour and Race to Dubai heads to Portugal for the Madeira Islands Open – Portugal and is being played at the Santo da Serra, Madeira, Portugal. It has a smaller than usual prize purse for the taking of €675,000. Michael Hoey (NIR) is the defending Champion and will be keen to defend his title. It starts on Thursday 10th May and I will report back who won the trophy next week.  

The second event I am reporting on this week is on the USPGA Tour and is part of the FedEx Cup. It was the Wells Fargo Championship and was played on the Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte, North Carolina. And the Golfer by the name of Rickie Fowler (USA) scored rounds of 66-6, 72 even, 67-5 and a final round of 69-3 for a 72 hole total of 274-14. Rory McILroy (NIR) scored rounds of 70-2, 68-4, 66-6 and a final round of 70-2 for a 72 hole total of 274-14 also. And D. A. Points (USA) scored rounds of 66-6, 68-4, 69-3 and a final round of 71-1 for a 72 hole total of 274-14 as well. So those 3 players headed back to the 18th tee for the first playoff hole.

Rickie Fowler (USA) in action during the final round

D. A. Points (USA) drew number one from the hat and teed off first. He hit his drive right the centre of the fairway. Rickie Fowler (USA) drew number two from the hat and teed off second. He too hit his drive right down the centre of the fairway just past D. A. Points (USA). Finally Rory McILroy (NIR) drew number three from the hat and teed off last. He hit his 3wood 320 yards right down the centre of the fairway and well past Rickie Fowler (USA) and D. A. Points (USA) drives. D. A. Points (USA) hit his short wedge shot first and it landed 40 feet past the pin in the left hand fringe leaving a very difficult 3rd shot. Rickie Fowler (USA) played his short wedge shot next and hit the best wedge shot under the circumstances of his short playing career so far and it came to rest 5 feet to the left of the flag stick pin high. Rory McILroy (NIR) played his 2nd shot last and landed his short wedge shot 30 feet to the right of the flag Stick leaving a very difficult birdie putt. D. A. Points (USA) played his 3rd shot first and had a go at the birdie from 40feet above the hole. But had far too much pace on it and rolled it 12 feet past the hole. Rory McILroy (NIR) putted next and his very fast 30 foot downhill birdie putt just missed going in and rolled 10 feet past the cup. D. A. Points (USA) putted for his par next from 12 feet and rolled it right in the centre of the cup. Rory McILroy (NIR) putted for his par next from 10 feet and rolled it in the centre of the cup also. So that left the stage for Rickie Fowler (USA) to putt for birdie from 5 feet for the Wells Fargo Championship. He steadied himself and hit a perfect putt that went straight in the centre of the cup and he had won his maiden USPGA Tour title.

His Girlfriend, Kelly and his Mum were present alongside the 18th green to congratulate him as well as his fellow USPGA Tour Professional and good friend, Ben Crane (USA). He won $US 1,170,000.00 for the win and moved to 11th position on the USPGA Tour Money list with $US 1,834,254 earned from the 12 events he has played in to date this year so far. Bubba Watson (USA) leads that list with $US 3,204,778 earned from the 9 events he has played in to date this year so far. He also earned 500 FedEx Cup Points and moved to 15th position on the FedEx Cup points list with 856 points earned from the 12 events he has played in to date this year so far. He is 539 points behind Hunter Mahan (USA) who leads that list with 1,395 points earned from the 9 events he has played to date this year so far.

Rickie Fowler (USA) poses with the Wells Fargo trophy he won

It was great to see Rickie Fowler (USA) finally get over the line after going so chose to winning in the last few years. And he has a real following by the youth in the USA so he might bring more young people to liking the game of Golf. And we all like to see him in those bright orange clothes on Sundays. I would not be surprised at all if he won another tournament this year on the USPGA Tour or even contended in the 3 Majors that are yet to be played. His presence on the USPGA Tour can only be a good thing I feel. I wish Rickie Fowler (USA) every continuing success on the USPGA Tour in 2012.

For Rory McILroy (NIR) it will be a disappointment to not win after being such a good position to do so. But he will be pleased with the fact that he had another great result on the USPGA Tour. And he regains the Number One World Golf Ranking again. For D. A. Points (USA) it will be more of a disappointment for him, because all he had to do was to Par the 18th hole in regulation play to win, but he bogeyed. But at the same time he will be pleased that his good friend, Rickie Fowler (USA) won. And it will give him a lot of confidence to know that he can still compete with the best in the game after his win last year in the 2011 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro – Am.

Coming in solo 4th position at 275-13 after 72 holes was the Charlotte local, Webb Simpson (USA). Coming tied for 5th position at 277-11 after 72 holes were former World Number One, Lee Westwood (England), Valero Texas Open Winner, Ben Curtis (USA) and Ryan Moore (USA). Coming in solo 8th position at 278-10 after 72 holes was Nick Watney (USA). Rounding out the top 10 in tied for 9th position at 279-9 after 72 holes were Jonathan Byrd (USA), James Driscoll (USA), Jason Day (Australia), Brian Davies (England), Seung – Yul Noh (South Korea) and Jonas Blixt (Sweden).

Tiger Woods (USA) who was playing in his first tournament after having a poor performance in the first Major of the year which was the Masters Tournament. He had another poor tournament here though scoring rounds of 71-1 and 73+1 for a 36 hole total of 144 even par and missed the cut by a single stroke. And it was only the 8th cut he had missed of his USPGA Tour Career. He will be hoping for a better performance at The Players Championship next week.

Danny Lee (NZL) was the only New Zealand Golfer in the field. He scored a fine first round of 69-3 and was inside the top 25 Golfers in the field looking like he would make his 5th cut in a row on the USPGA Tour, But he had a disastrous second round of 79+7 and failed to sign his score card and was disqualified. It was a shame because he has so much talent but has yet to really display it over 72 holes on the USPGA Tour in 2012. He now moves to 158th position on the USPGA Tour Money list with $US 126,673 earned from the 12 events he has played in to date this year so far. He is also in 151st position on the FedEx Cup Points list with 112 points earned from the 12 events he has played to date this year so far. He is 1,283 points behind the current leader, Hunter Mahan (USA). Danny Lee (USA) is having an average year as a Rookie on the USPGA Tour with making 4 cuts out of the 12 events he has played in to date this year, withdrawing from one and being disqualified from one also, with his best result being tied for 25th in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro – Am back in early February. He will have to have a Major improvement in the next few months if he is going to have any chance to finish in the Top 125 Money earners that keep their USPGA Tour Status for the 2013 season. I feel he can do it with a few top 10 finishes. I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2012 USPGA Tour season.

Next week the USPGA Tour and FedEx Cup head to USPGA Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida for The Players Championship and it is being played on the famed TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. It has the largest prize purse on the USPGA Tour all year with a huge $US 9,500,000 up for Grabs. K. J. Choi (South Korea) is the defending Champion and will be keen to be the first player to win back to back titles. It starts on Thursday 10th May and I will report back who won the Trophy next week.

So to the Top 5 on the Official World Golf Rankings this week and coming in at Number One in the World for his third spell and a 5th week in total of his career is Rory McILroy (NIR) fresh off his 2nd equal placing at the Wells Fargo Championship with 9.78 Official World Golf Ranking Points; Coming in Number Two in the world is Luke Donald (England) with 9.39 Official World Golf Ranking Points; coming in Number Three in the world is Lee Westwood (England) with 8.40 Official World Golf Ranking Points; coming in Number Four in the world is Bubba Watson (USA) with 6.46 Official World Golf Ranking Points and rounding out the top 5 is Hunter Mahan (USA) with 5.66 Official World Golf Ranking Points. Tiger Woods (USA) this week remains 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 remains in 170th position on the Official World Golf Ranking Points list with 1.03 Official World Golf Rankings Points on the list.

The final event I am reporting on this week was on the Champions Tour and part of the Charles Schwab Cup and it was the Insperity Championship presented by United Healthcare and it was played on The Woodlands CC, The Woodlands, Texas. And it was the Golfer by the name of Fred Funk (USA) that scored rounds of 66-6, 69-3 and a final round of 67-5 for a 54 hole total of 202-14 to win by 1 stroke. He won $US 255,000.00 for the win and moved to 13th position on the Champions Tour Money list with $US 365,533 earned from the 6 events he has played to date this year so far. Michael Allen (USA) leads that list with $US 964,882 earned from the 8 events he has played to date this year so far. He is in 12th position on the Charles Schwab Cup points list with 295 points earned from the 6 events he has played in to date this year so far. He is 628 points behind the current leader who is Michael Allen (USA) who has earned 923 points from the 8 events he has played to date this year so far.

He played a flawless final round with scoring 67-5 which included a 35-1 on the front nine in which his lone birdie came at the Par 5, 1st hole. He played a brilliant back nine with scoring 32-4 which included 3 birdies in a row from holes 14 – 16, and then he added another birdie at the Par 4, 18th hole to win the Tournament. It was his first win on the Champions Tour in nearly two years and the 7th of his Champions Tour career having won previously the 2006 AT&T Championship, 2007 Turtle Bay Championship, 2008 MasterCard Championship at Hualalai, JELD-WEN Tradition, 2009 U.S. Senior Open Championship and 2010 JELD-WEN Tradition. And to think that just over 7 years ago he was winning the biggest Championship of his life which was the 2005 Players Championship on the USPGA Tour.

Fred Funk (USA) poses with the Insperity Championship trophy he won

He is still only 55 years old so I feel he has a few more wins left in him on the Champions Tour in the coming years. I have always enjoyed watching Fred Funk (USA) because he is one of the straightest drivers in the game of Golf and he has a great positive attitude. I wish him all the best for the rest on the 2012 season on the Champions Tour.

Coming in solo 2nd position at 203-13 after 54 holes was Tom Lehman (USA). Coming in sole 3rd position at 206-10 after 54 holes was Mike Goodes (USA). Coming in tied for 4th position at 208-8 after 54 holes were Dan Forsman (USA), Bernhard Langer (Germany), Brad Bryant (USA), Bobby Clampett (USA) and Michael Allen (USA) and rounding out the top 10 in tied for 9th position at 210-6 after 54 holes were Rod Spittle (Canada), Gene Jones (USA), Corey Pavin (USA) and Tom Byrum (USA).

The Champions Tour now takes a 3 week break but will resume on Thursday 24th May for the Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid and it is being played at The Golf Club at Harbor Shores, Benton Harbor, Michigan. It has a large prize purse of $US 2,000,000 for the taking. The legendary Golfer, Tom Watson (USA) is the defending Champion and will be keen for back to back titles. I will report back who won the trophy in 3weeks time.  

Remember the key to putting is getting the line and length right!!

Source: pgatour.com, europeantour.com