Golf Events from the weekend 10th June 2012

Lee Westwood (England) kisses the Nordea Masters Trophy he won

Well it was another exciting weekend on the Professional Golfer Tours from around the world. First I will start with the European Tour and Race to Dubai. This week it was in Sweden for the Nordea Masters and it was being played on the Bro Hof Slott GC, Stockholm, Sweden. And it was the Golfer by the name of Lee Westwood (England) who scored rounds of 68-4, 64-8, 68-4 and a final round of 69-3 for a 72 hole total of 269-19 and won he by 5 strokes. He won € 250,000.00 for the win and moves to 6th position on the Race to Dubai Money list with € 1,212,162 earned from the 8th events he has played to date this year so far. Justin Rose (England) leads that list with €1,695,687 earned from the 5 events he has played to date this year so far.

It was great to see Lee Westwood (England) play such consistent golf all week with recording four rounds in the 60’s. It was his 22nd European Tour International Schedule victory in his 408th European Tour event. He remains in third place in the Official World Golf Rankings. It is the 11th time he has passed €1 million in a single season during his European Tour career. (Only Colin Montgomerie (Scotland)), with 12, has achieved this feat more times). It was his first European Tour victory since the 2011 Ballantine’s Championship. It was the tenth different year he has won at least one European Tour event, dating back to 1996, the year of his first victory – at the Nordea Masters. He continues his wonderful record in the Nordea Masters. This is his third victory in the event, following his triumphs in 1996 and 2000. (He was also tied second in 2001).

He becomes only the second player after Colin Montgomerie (Scotland) (1991, 1999 and 2001) to win the Nordea Masters three times. This victory marked the first time he has won the same European Tour event three times. He moves into ninth place in the all-time list of most European Tour victories with 22. It was the sixth English victory in the Nordea Masters. They are: Sir Nick Faldo (England) (1992), Peter Baker (England) (1993), Lee Westwood (England) (1996, 2000 and 2012) and Luke Donald (England) (2004). It was the 12th occasion on The European Tour in 2012 that a player has led or shared the lead going into the final round and gone onto win. He became the fourth English winner on The European Tour in 2012. They are: Robert Rock (England) (Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship), Justin Rose (England) (WGC – Cadillac Championship), Luke Donald (England) (BMW PGA Championship) and Lee Westwood (England) (Nordea Masters). It was the 275th English victory in European Tour history. He gains a place in the 2013 Volvo Golf Champions. He moves to €1,486,821 in The European Ryder Cup Points Table. He moves to 264.22 in The Ryder Cup World Points Table. And finally it was his 40th win as a professional worldwide.

It was just a great final round by Lee Westwood (England) when he had the lead after 54 holes. He scored 69-3 which included a 36 even par going out on the front nine with a birdie on the Par 4, 3rd hole but made a bogey on the Par 4, 6th hole. He played an excellent back nine with scoring 33-3 which included an eagle 3 on the Par 5, 12th hole and a birdie 4 on the Par 5, 15th hole. And it was great to see him have his young son there to be with him to experience the win with him. He must now be one of the hot favourites to take out the US Open Championship (2nd Major Championship) of the year which is played at the Olympic Club, San Francisco, California, USA next week? If he does he will earn his first major Championship of his Career. He came so close four years ago when he was one stroke outside the Playoff where Tiger Woods (USA) defeated Rocco Mediate (USA) at Torrey Pines in California, USA. He also has now won 22 times on the European Tour that includes the 1996 Volvo Scandinavian Masters; 1997 Volvo Masters; 1998 Deutsche Bank - SAP Open-TPC of Europe; National Car Rental English Open; The Standard Life Loch Lomond; Belgacom Open; 1999 TNT Dutch Open; Smurfit European Open; Canon European Masters; 2000 Deutsche Bank-SAP Open TPC of Europe; Compaq European Grand Prix; Smurfit European Open; Volvo Scandinavian Masters; Belgacom Open; 2003 BMW International Open; dunhill links championship; 2007 Valle Romano Open de Andalucia; The Quinn Direct British Masters; 2009 Dubai World Championship presented by: DP World; 2011Ballantine's Championship and the 2012 Nordea Masters.

Lee Westwood (England) celebrates after holing the winning putt to win the Nordea Masters

I wish Lee Westwood (England) every continuing success on the European Tour and USPGA Tour in 2012. And I hope he can secure that maiden Major Championship win that he very much deserves and is long overdue.

Coming in solo second position at 274-14 after 72 holes was Ross Fisher (England). Coming in tied for 3rd position at 275-13 after 72 holes was Sergio Garcia (Spain), Mikko Ilonen (Finland) and Peter Hanson (Sweden). Coming in solo 6th position at 276-12 after 72 holes was Joakim Lagergren (Sweden). Coming in tied for 7th position at 277-11 after 72 holes were Richard Sterne (RSA), Jeev Milkha Singh (India) and Felipe Aguilar (Chile). And rounding out the top 10 in tied for 10th position at 278-10 after 72 holes were Ignacaio Garrido (Spain), Pelle Edberg (Sweden), Gregory Havret (France) and Alexander Noren (Sweden) who was defending the title he won in 2011 at this very event.

Next week on the European Tour and Race to Dubai there is two tournaments. The first one is the second Major Championship of the year which is the 112th US Open Championship. It is being played at the Olympic Club, San Francisco, California, USA. It has a large prize purse of $US 8,000,000 for the taking. Rory McILroy (NIR) is the defending champion and will be keen to win Back to Back titles. If he does he will be the first player since Curtis Strange (USA) did it 23 years ago in 1989. It starts on Thursday 14th June and I will report back who won the Trophy next week. The second event this week is also part of the Race to Dubai and is co – sanctioned with the Challenge Tour and is the St Omer Open presented by Neuflize OBE and it is played on the Aa Saint Omer GC, Lumbres, France. It carries a smaller prize purse of €500,000, but gives the players a chance on the Challenge Tour to play a European Tour Event. Matthew Zions (Australia) is the defending Champion and will be keen to defend his title. It starts on Thursday 14th June. I will report back who won the trophy next week.

The second event I am reporting on this week was on the USPGA Tour and part of the FedEx Cup and was the FedEx St. Jude Classic and it was being played at the TPC Southwind, Memphis, Tennessee. And it was Dustin Johnson (USA) who scored rounds of 70 even par, 68-2, 67-3 and a final round of 66-4 for a 72 hole total of 271-9 and won by 1 stroke. He won $US 1,008,000.00 for his efforts. Dustin Johnson (USA) moves to 20th position on the USPGA Tour Money list with $US 1,815,950 earned from the 9 events he has played in to date this year so far. Jason Dufner (USA) still leads that list with $US 3,800,172 earned from the 14 events he has played to date this year so far. Dustin Johnson (USA) also earned 500 FedEx Cup points for the win and moves to 18th position on the FedEx Cup Points list with 898 points earned from the 9 events he has played to date this year so far. He is 837 points behind the Current leader who is Jason Dufner (USA) who has earned 1,735 points from the 14 events he has played to date this year so far.

Dustin Johnson (USA) holding the FedEx St. Jude Classic Trophy he won

It was an excellent final round for Dustin Johnson (USA); he scored 66-4 that included a front nine of 33-2 with birdies on the Par 4, 1st hole, Par 4, 6th hole and Par 4, 7th hole but he made a poor bogey on the Par 4, 9th hole. He played an equally impressive back nine with scoring 33-2 which included birdies on the Par 5, 16th hole and Par 4, 17th hole. It was his 6th win on the USPGA Tour with the previous 5 being the 2008 Turning Stone Resort Championship. 2009 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. 2010 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, BMW Championship and the 2011 The Barclays. Dustin Johnson (USA) was coming off a 10 week forced lay off because of a back injury. It was only his 2nd tournament back having played the Memorial Tournament the week before where he finished in tied for 19th position. It shows he is ready to contest the US Open Championship which is this coming week and just two years ago he lead going into the final round at Pebble Beach only to have a shocking final round but will be stronger for the experience.

This win here will give him a lot of confidence when there were several players that had a chance to win but were unable to get over the line, but he did. I hope he does win one of the 3 remaining Major Championships in 2012. I wish him all the best for the remaining events on the USPGA Tour in 2012.

Coming in solo 2nd position at 272-8 after 72 holes was John Merrick (USA) who equalled his best ever USPGA Tour finish. Coming in tied for 3rd position at 273-7 after 72 holes were Ryan Palmer (USA),  Chad Campbell (USA) who blew his chances of winning when he hooked his tee shot into the water hazard on the left on the 18th hole. Nick O’Hern (Australia) also tied for 3rd position but he too blew his chances of winning when he too hooked his tee shot into the water hazard on the left on the 18th hole. Davis Love III (USA) who is the US Ryder Cup Captain also tied for 3rd and had his best finish on the USPGA Tour in a long time. Rounding out the Top 10 in tied for 7th position at 274-6 after 72 holes were Ken Duke (USA), Seung-Yul Noh (South Korea) who is having a fine rookie season on the USPGA Tour in 2012 after gaining his card at the 2011 USPGA Tour Q-School finals. It was also his best finish on the USPGA Tour to date so far. Also tied for 7th was Rory McILroy (NIR) who at last made a cut after missing his last 3 in row. But he too blew his chances of winning when he hooked his tee shot into the water hazard on the left on the 18th hole. Next week he defends his US Open Championship title that he won last year so convincingly. I wonder if he can win back to back titles? The final player to tie for 7th was Robert Allenby (Australia) who had another good performance in this tournament having been runner up in a playoff here in 2008.

Danny Lee (NZL) was the only New Zealander in the field. He scored rounds of 69-1, 70 even par, 71+1 and a poor final round of 73+3 for a 72 hole total of 283+3 after 72 holes. He tied for 49th position and won $US 13,294.40 for his efforts and moves to 148th Position on the USPGA Tour Money list with $US 218,747 earned from the 14 events he has played to date this year so far. He also has earned 180 FedEx Cup points from the 14 events he has played in to date this year and that places him in 143th position on the FedEx Cup Points list. He is 1,555 points behind the current leader who is Jason Dufner (USA). Danny Lee (NZL) has now made 8 cuts from the 14 events he has entered so far this year which is only just a pass mark in his rookie season so far in my opinion. His best finish so far is tied for 19th at the HP Byron Nelson Championship. I suspect he will be looking for a few top 10 finishes in the coming months to try and increase his earns to at least $US 668,166 that was required to keep your playing status for the following season in 2011. I wish him every continuing success on the USPGA Tour in 2012.

Next week the USPGA Tour and FedEx Cup head to San Francisco for the second Major Championship of the year which is the 112th US Open Championship. It is being played at the Olympic Club, San Francisco, California, USA. It has a large prize purse of $US 8,000,000 for the taking. Rory McILroy (NIR) is the defending champion and will be keen to win Back to Back titles. If he does he will be the first player since Curtis Strange (USA) did it 23 years ago in 1989. It starts on Thursday 14th June and I will report back who won the Trophy next week.

Now to the top 5 on the Official Golf World Rankings Points list this week and coming in at Number One Position for the 4th spell of his career and the 48th week of his career is Luke Donald (England) with 10.29 Official Golf World Ranking Points; coming in at Number Two is Rory McILroy (NIR) with 9.01 Official Golf World Ranking Points; coming in at Number Three is Lee Westwood (England) with 8.16 Official Golf World Ranking Points; coming in at Number Four is Tiger Woods (USA) with 6.71 Official Golf World Ranking Points and rounding out the top 5 on the Official Golf World Ranking Points list is Bubba Watson (USA) with 6.21 Official Golf World 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 179th position on the Official World Golf Rankings Points list with 1.00 Official World Golf Rankings Points on the list.

Remember now the weather conditions are getting very cold it is important to keep your hands warm before playing your shots!!

Source: pgatour.com, europeantour.com