Well
it was another amazing weekend on the Major Professional Golfer tours from
around the world. First I will start with the European Tour and Race to Dubai
and the USPGA Tour and FedEx Cup. This week it was the second Major
Championship of the year which was the 112th U.S. Open Championship and it was
played at the Olympic Club, San Francisco, California. So to the first round on
Thursday 14th June. It was played in very difficult conditions with the course
set up extremely tough. Michael Thompson (USA) scored 66-4 and had the first
round lead by 3 strokes over Tiger Woods (USA), Graeme McDowell (NIR), David
Toms (USA), Justin Rose (England) and Nick Watney (USA) who had the rear frill
of scoring a Double Eagle on the Par 5, 17th hole, all those Golfers mentioned
scored 69-1 in their first rounds. Big name players to have poor first rounds
were Phil Mickelson (USA) 76+6, Rory McILroy (NIR) who was the defending
champion scored 77+7; Luke Donald (England) who is the current World Number One
Ranked Golfer scored 79+9 along with 2005 Champion, Michael Campbell (NZL).
So
to the second round on Friday 15th June, the conditions were just as hard as
the first round. At the end of the day 3 golfers were leading by 2 strokes on
139-1 after 36 holes and they were Tiger Woods (USA) who scored a 2nd round 70
even par, David Toms (USA) who scored a 2nd round 70 even par as well and Jim
Furyk (USA) who scored a 2nd round 69-1. Best round of the day was returned by
the unknown Golfer, Hunter Hamrick (USA) which was 67-3. Big Name players to
miss the 36 hole cut that fell at 148+8 were current Masters Tournament
Champion, Bubba Watson (USA) on 149+9; last week’s winner, Dustin Johnson (USA)
on 149+9; Defending Champion, Rory McILroy (NIR) on 150+10; World Number One,
Luke Donald (England) on 151+11 and 2005 US Open Champion, Michael Campbell
(NZL) on 153+13.
So
to the third round on Saturday 16th June, the conditions were a little easier
as the USGA had decided to water the greens. Graeme McDowell (NIR) scored 68-2
and was -1 after 54 holes and had a share of the 54 hole lead with Jim Furyk
(USA) who scored an even par round of 70. They were 2 strokes ahead of Fredrik
Jacobsen (Sweden) who was +1 after a third round 68-2. Tiger Woods (USA) fell
off the pace with a shocking 3rd round of 75+5 and was +4 for the tournament. Lee
Westwood (England) and Casey Wittenburg (USA) returned the best rounds of the
day which were 67-3. There were 13 rounds in the 60’s recorded proving that the
course was playing easier than the first two days. The leading Amateur was Beau
Hossler (AM) (USA) who was +3 after 54 holes.
So
to the final round on Sunday 17th June (Fathers Day in the USA). The conditions
were very misty and cool with fog rolling in off the Pacific Ocean. The course
was playing a lot harder than the day before with the greens running at 13 on
the stimp meter and the fringes running at 12 on the stimp meter. Michael
Thompson (USA) who had the first round lead set the early pace on the final
round. He record the low final round of 67-3 that included a front nine of 33-1
with birdies on the very difficult Par 4, 5th hole and short driveable Par 4,
7th hole. He had a poor bogey on the Par 4, 9th hole. He played an awesome back
nine with scoring birdies on Par 4, 11th hole and on the extremely long Par 5,
16th hole where he hit his third shot inside 5feet. And he posted 282+2 after
72 holes to set the mark for the leaders still on the course.
The
next player to have a fine final round was Webb Simpson (USA) who scored a 68-2
in the final round. He got off to a bad start in what they are saying was the
toughest 6 holes to start with on a US Open Course in the history of the US
Open Championship. He bogeyed the Par 4, 2nd hole and the difficult Par 4, 5th
hole. But he made an awesome birdie on Par 4, 6th hole; he also birdied the
short Par 4, 7th hole and the difficult Par 3, 8th hole. That hat trick of
birdies brought him into contention from being +5 after 6 holes to +2 after 8
holes. He returned a front nine of 33-1. He birdied the Par 4, 10th hole after
hitting his 2nd shot within 6 feet of the flag. Now he was 1 over and in real
contention for his first Major Championship. He made 7 consecutive pars from
holes 11-17. He came to the 18th hole and now was tied for the lead with Jim
Furyk (USA) at +1. He pulled his tee shot on the short par 4, and it came to
rest in the left rough but was in a good lie. He struck his short iron 2nd shot
and it landed in the thick rough on the right hand side of the green. He got a
ruling from the USGA Rules Official to try and get relief for GUR but was
denied it. His caddie told him to land the ball just on the green and let it
trickle to the hole. He did just that and it rolled down to rest 4 feet from
the cup. And he confidently rolled the par putt in to post 281+1 after 72 holes
and became new leader in the Club House.
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| Webb Simpson (USA) in action during the final round |
Meanwhile,
Jim Furyk (USA) was still on the course at even par with 7 holes to play. He
missed the green with his 2nd shot on the Par 4, 12th hole and found himself
with a green side bunker shot for his 3rd shot that he couldn’t even aim at the
hole. He managed to get it on the green about 40 feet from the cup. And he hit
a brilliant putt to get his par. So he still had a 1 shot lead with 6 holes to
play. He hit a poor tee shot to the par 3, 13th hole and it landed in the right
green side rough. He hit a poor chip shot and it rolled 10 feet past the pin. He
was unable to get the par putt, but managed to get the bogey putt. So now he
was tied for the lead with Webb Simpson (USA) with 5 holes to play. He pared
the 14th and 15th holes to remain tied for the lead with 3 holes to play. A
USGA Rules Official had a chat to Jim Furyk (USA) on the Par 3, 15th hole to
tell him that his group was playing slow and he will be given a warning if he
doesn’t get back into position. I feel that USGA Rules Official put Jim Furyk
(USA) off his game. Because on the 16th tee he hit a 3 wood to put the ball in
play on the long par 5 and hit his worst drive of the whole tournament. He
hooked it way left into the left trees. He was thinking of trying to hit
through the trees for his 2nd shot but decided against it and punched the ball
out into the fairway. He hit a rescue wood for his 3rd shot for position
because he was unable to reach the green. That left him with a short wedge shot
for his 4th shot. He didn’t quite get the contact he wanted and it landed short
of the green and spun back off. But he was able to get up and down for his
bogey 6.
So
with two holes left to play, Jim Furyk (USA) was now 1 stroke behind. He struck
a good drive down the short par 5, 17th hole that rolled into the right hand
first cut of rough. He hit a poor long iron 2nd shot that landed in the first
bunker short right of the green. He then hit a poor bunker shot for his 3rd
shot, 25 feet short of the hole. He left his birdie putt 3feet short and tapped
in for his par. Meanwhile his playing partner, Graeme McDowell (NIR) slotted
his birdie putt from 20 feet and got back to +2 and tied with Jim Furyk (USA)
for 2nd. So those two Golfers head to the short par 4, 72nd hole know they had
to make birdie to force an 18 hole playoff with Webb Simpson (USA) the
following day. Graeme McDowell (NIR) teed off first and hit rescue wood that
came to rest in the right hand first cut of rough. Jim Furyk (USA) teed off
next and landed his long iron just in front of Graeme McDowell’s (NIR) ball. Graeme
McDowell (NIR) played his short wedge 2nd shot first and landed it on the green
20 feet past the pin. Jim Furyk (USA) played next and pulled his short wedge
into the left hand green side bunker and it plugged leaving an impossible
bunker shot. Jim Furyk’s (USA) 3rd shot from the bunker came out strong as
expected and rolled into the front bunker ending his chances of winning his 2nd
US Open Championship. He was able to play a good bunker shot for his 4th shot
and rolled in the bogey putt from 5 feet and finished on 283+3 in a tie for 4th
position. Graeme McDowell (NIR) now had a 20 foot birdie putt to get into an 18
hole, Monday play off with Webb Simpson (USA). He struck a good put but just
choose the wrong line and it missed by at least 6 inches on the left hand side.
And that meant that Webb Simpson (USA) had won the 112th US Open Championship.
He
and his wife Dowd who is 7 months pregnant with their 2nd child were watching
in the Club House on TV. Webb Simpson (USA) was overcome with excitement after
winning his first major championship. He scored rounds of 72+2, 73+3, 68-2 and
a final round of 68-2 for a 72 total of 281+1 and won by 1 stroke. He won $US 1,440,000.00
for the win and moves to 9 position on the USPGA Tour Money list with $US 2,735,197
earned from the 14 events he has played to date this year so far. Jason Dufner
(USA) still leads that list with $US 4,077,013 earned from the 15 events he has
played to date this year so far. Webb Simpson (USA) also earned 600 FedEx Cup
points for the win and moves to 9th position on the FedEx Cup Points list with 1,259
points earned from the 14 events he has played to date this year. He is 590
points behind the current leader who is Jason Dufner (USA) with 1,849 points
earned from the 15 events he has played to date this year.
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| Webb Simpson (USA) poses with the US Open Championship Trophy he won |
Webb
Simpson (USA) turned just an average year around in one week after his break
out year last year where he won $US 6,347,353 to finish 2nd on the USPGA Tour
Money list and also won two tournaments that included the 2011 Wyndham
Championship, Deutsche Bank Championship. I feel he will go forward
in big leaps in his golf career now he has won his first Major Championship. I
wish him all the best in the last two major championships of the year and the
rest of the USPGA Tour events in 2012.
Coming
in tied for 2nd position at 282+2 after 72 holes was the 2010 US Open Champion,
Graeme McDowell (NIR) and Michael Thompson (USA) who has now secure his USPGA
Tour card for 2013;has now earned $US 1,215,966 for the 16 events he has played
to date this year so far. Coming in tied for 4th position at 283+3 after 72
holes were David Toms (USA) who had a great final round of 68-2. Padraig
Harrington (Ireland) was also tied for 4th position and he too scored a final
round 68-2. John Peterson (USA) was another player to tie for 4th position
along with Jason Dufner (USA) who continued on his awesome form after a 2 week
layoff. The last player to tie for 4th position was 2003 US Open Champion, Jim
Furyk (USA), he will be disappointed with his final round after playing the
first 54 holes in one under par. In solo 9th position on 284+4 after 72 holes was
Two Time US Open Champion, Ernie Els (RSA). Rounding out the top 10 in tied for
10th position at 285+5 after 72 holes were Casey Wittenberg (USA), Two time US
Open Champion, Retief Goosen (RSA), Kevin Chappell (USA), John Senden
(Australia) who was the highest placed Australian and Lee Westwood (England)
who let another chance to win his maiden major championship slip though his
fingers.
Best
New Zealander was Michael Campbell (USA), but he couldn’t repeat what he did 7
years ago and win it. He scored rounds of 79+9 and 74+4 for a 36 hole total of
153+13 and missed the 36 hole halfway cut 5 by strokes. He earned € 1,608.49
for his weeks work and finished in 123rd equal position. He now is placed in 266th
position on the current Race to Dubai Money list with € 6,140 earned from
the 10 events he has played into to date this year so far. He has still only
made one cut from 10 events he has entered this year. He will be looking to
make the cut in the next events he plays on the European Tour to gain some
confidence. And at least he can play in the US Open Championship till 2015
because winners of the event get an exemption to play in it 10 years after the
year they won it.
Tiger
Woods (USA) after scoring excellent rounds for the first 36 holes of 69-1 and
70 even par, played terrible golf on the weekend. With scoring a 75+5 on
Saturday in the third round and got off to the worst possible start on Sunday
when he was +6 after 6 holes. He managed to play the last 12 holes in -3 to
score a final round 73+3 and finished 72 holes on 287+7 to tie for 21st
position. So the first two majors of the year he has had below par
performances. I hope he can play much better at the Open Championship next
month?
The
low Amateur for the week was Jordan Spieth (AM) (USA), he scored rounds of
74+4, 74+4 to make the cut on the number at +8. But he had a brilliant weekend
when he scored 69-1 on Saturday and 70 even par on Sunday for a 72 hole total
of 287+7 and tied for 21st position. Beau Hossler (USA) was next best Amateur,
he was only 17 years old and playing in his first ever US Open Championship. He
scored 70 even par in the first round and when he birdied his 1st hole that was
his 10th hole on Friday afternoon he actually had sole procession of the lead
at -2 in the 2nd round. But it was short-lived and he finished with a 73+3. On
Saturday he scored another round of 70 even par. And in the final round on
Sunday coming to the 72nd hole he was tied for the lead for leading Amateur
with Jordan Spieth (AM) (USA), at +7. But he suffered an unfortunate Double
Bogey 6 at the last hole and scored a final round of 76+6 to finish with a 72
hole total of 289+9 and tied for 29th position. But I am sure he gained a lot
of experience and made a lot of friends during his week playing at the US Open
Championship.
Next
week on the USPGA Tour and FedEx Cup it heads to Connecticut for the Travelers
Championship and it is being played on the TPC River Highlands, Cromwell,
Connecticut. It has a large prize purse of $US 6,000,000 up for the taking. Fredrik
Jacobson (Sweden) is the defending champion and will be keen to defend his
title. It starts on Thursday 21st June and I will report back who won the
trophy next week.
The
final event I am reporting on this week was co- sanctioned by the European Tour
and Challenge Tour and was part of the Race to Dubai. It was the SAINT – OMER
OPEN presented by Neuflize OBC and was played on the Aa Saint Omer GC, Lumbres,
France. And it was the Golfer by the name of Darren Fichardt (RSA) who scored
rounds of 68-3, 69-2, 69-2 and a final round of 73+2 for a 72 hole total of
279-5 after 72 holes and won by 3 strokes. He earned € 83,330.00 for the win
and moves to 79th position on the Race to Dubai Money list with € 148,915
earned from the 10 events he has played in to date this year so far. Justin
Rose (England) is the current leader of that list with €1,765,132 earned from
the 6 events he has played to date this year so far.
Darren
Fichardt (RSA) claimed his third European Tour victory in the Saint-Omer Open
presented by Neuflize OBC. Here are the key facts and figures from Aa Saint
Omer Golf Club... He gains his third European Tour International Schedule
victory in his 211th European Tour event. He wins his 19th professional title.
He wins his first European Tour event since the 2003 Qatar Masters - a gap of
nine years and 123 days. He played in 147 European Tour events between those
victories. He graduated from the 2011 European Tour Qualifying School and is
the second 2011 graduate to win on The European Tour in 2012, following
countryman Branden Grace (RSA), who won the Joburg Open, Volvo Golf Champions
and Volvo China Open. He is the first South African to win the Saint-Omer Open
presented by Neuflize OBC. He becomes the first player to win the event having
previously won on The European Tour. He becomes the 13th different winner in
the 13th edition of the event. He maintains his 100% record of winning on The
European Tour titles when leading or sharing the lead going into the final
round, having done so in the 2001 Sao Paulo Brazil Open and the 2003 Qatar
Masters.
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| Darren Fichardt (RSA) thinking about his next shot during the final round |
His
five shot 54 hole lead matched the largest on The European Tour in 2012,
established by Bernd Wiesberger (Austria) (Ballantine’s Championship). His 54
hole lead is the largest in the history of the Saint-Omer Open presented by
Neuflize OBC. This victory is the seventh for South Africa on The European Tour
in 2012. He follows: Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) (Africa Open and Maybank
Malaysian Open), Branden Grace (RSA) (Joburg Open, Volvo Golf Champions and
Volvo China Open) and Jbe Kruger (RSA) (Avantha Masters). This is the most of
any country so far this season. It is the 108th South African victory in
European Tour history. He becomes the 35th different Qualifying School graduate
to win on The European Tour the year after graduation. And finally gains a
European Tour exemption until the end of 2013.
It
was a steady final round for Darren Fichardt (RSA) who scored 73+2 in very
windy conditions and that included a front nine of 36 even with a lone birdie
on the Par 5, 9th hole and a silly bogey on the Par 4, 5th hole. He played a
average back nine that was understandable with the large lead he had in which
he scored 37+2 with bogeys on the Par 3, 11th hole and the Par 5, 14th hole. It
must have been the highest scoring event on European Mainland this year? There
were only 3 golfers under par after 72 holes. The win should give Darren
Fichardt (RSA) a lot of confidence heading into the second half of the season.
I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2012 European Tour season.
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| Darren Fichardt (RSA) poses with the SAINT – OMER OPEN presented by Neuflize OBC Trophy he won |
Coming
in solo 2nd position at 282-2 after 72 holes was Gary Lockerbie (England).
Coming in solo 3rd position at 283-1 after 72 holes was Simon Wakefield
(England). Coming in tied for 4th position at 286+2 after 72 holes were Charlie
Ford (England), Adam Gee (England), Pelle Edberg (Sweden) and Wil Besseling
(The Netherlands). And rounding out the top 10 in tied for 8th position at
287+3 after 72 holes were Bjorn Akesson (Sweden), Magnus A Carlsson (Sweden)
and James Heath (England).
Next
week the European Tour and Race to Dubai head to Germany for the BMW
International Open and it is being played at the Golf Club Gut Lärchenhof, Cologne,
Germany. It has a large prize purse of €2,000,000 for the taking. Pablo Larrazabal
(Spain) is the defending champion and will be keen to defend his title. It
starts on Thursday 21st June and I will report back who won next week.
So
to the top 5 on the Official World Golf Rankings Points list this week and coming in at Number One
Position for the 4th spell of his career and the 49th week of his career is
Luke Donald (England) with 10.12 Official Golf World Ranking Points; coming in
at Number Two is Rory McILroy (NIR) with 8.86 Official Golf World Ranking
Points; coming in at Number Three is Lee Westwood (England) with 8.28 Official
Golf World Ranking Points; coming in at Number Four is Tiger Woods (USA) with
6.78 Official Golf World Ranking Points and rounding out the top 5 on the
Official Golf World Ranking Points list is the 112th US Open Champion, Webb
Simpson (USA) with 6.66 Official Golf World 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 182nd position on the
Official World Golf Rankings Points list with 0.98 Official World Golf Rankings
Points on the list.
Remember
the old saying “You drive for show and putt for dough”.
Source:
pgatour.com, europeantour.com
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