Golf Events from the Weekend 1st July 2012

Well another exciting weekend has gone by 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 travelled to Northern Ireland for the Irish Open and was played on the Royal Portrush GC, Portrush, County Antrim, Northern Ireland for the first time ever. And it was Jamie Donaldson (Wales) who scored rounds of 68-4, 67-5, 69-3 and a final round of 66-6 for a 72 hole total of 272-18 and won by 4 strokes for his maiden win on the European Tour. He won € 333,330.00 for the win and moved to 21st position of the Race to Dubai Money list with € 537,722 earned from the 11 events he has played to date this year so far. Justin Rose (England) still leads that list with €1,765,132 earned from the 6 events he has played to date this year so far.

Jamie Donaldson (Wales) celebrates after holing the winning putt!!

It was Jamie Donaldson’s (Wales) first European Tour International Schedule victory in his 255th European Tour event he has played in. He could move to just inside the top 60 of the Official World Golf Ranking from 116th position. This victory beats his previous best European Tour performances of second in the 2009 SAS Masters and tied second in the 2003 Algarve Open de Portugal. He has amassed an overall total of 32 European Tour top ten finishes. This victory beats his previous best 2012 performance of tied third in the Trophée Hassan II. He becomes the tenth first-time winner of the 2012 European Tour International Schedule. He would follow: 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), Ricardo Santos (Portugal) (Madeira Islands Open - Portugal), Webb Simpson (USA) (US Open Championship) and Danny Willett (England) (BMW International Open).

Jamie Donaldson (Wales) was the third consecutive first-time winner, following Webb Simpson (USA) (US Open Championship) and Danny Willett (England) (BMW International Open). It was the first time there have been three consecutive first-time winners since Rhys Davies (Wales) (2010 Trophée Hassan II), Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) (2010 Open de Andalucia de Golf) and James Morrison (England) (2010 Madeira Islands Open). His victory comes in his ninth appearance in the Irish Open. His victory beats his previous best finish in the Irish Open of tied 13th in 2009. He becomes the third Welshman to win the Irish Open, following Ian Woosnam (Wales) (1988 and 1989) and Stephen Dodd (2005). He joins

Ben Crenshaw (USA) (1976), Hubert Green (USA) (1977), Ken Brown (England) (1978), David Carter (England) (1998), Sergio Garcia (Spain) (1999), Søren Hansen (Denmark) (2002) and Shane Lowry (Ireland) (2009), to make the Irish Open their first European Tour victory.

It is only the second time he has led going into the final round of a European Tour event. The first was the 2011 Omega European Masters, where he tied for third. It is the 15th time in the 2012 season that the 54 hole leader has gone onto win. He becomes the first Welshman to win on the 2012 European Tour International Schedule. He is the first Welsh victory on The European Tour since Rhys Davies (Wales) won at the 2010 Trophée Hassan II. This victory is the 45th Welsh victory on The European Tour. He is the tenth Welsh player to win on The European Tour. He gains a European Tour exemption until the end of 2014. He gains his largest European Tour prize of €333,330. He moves over €4 million in European Tour Official Career Earnings. He gains a place in the 2012 WGC - Bridgestone Invitational, 2012 WGC - HSBC Champions and 2013 Volvo Golf Champions. He gains his fifth win of his professional career. It was the 15th European Tour victory by a former Challenge Tour player on the 2012 European Tour from 26 events so far he has entered. 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), Ricardo Santos (Portugal) (Madeira Islands Open - Portugal) and Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium) (Volvo World Match Play Championship). It was the 299th European Tour victory by a former Challenge Tour player. And finally he became the 127th different former Challenge Tour player to win on The European Tour.

Jamie Donaldson (Wales) kisses the Irish Open Trophy he won

It was a great final round played by Jamie Donaldson (Wales) in which he scored 66-6 which included a front nine of 33-3 which included a hat trick of  birdies on the Par 5, 2nd hole, Par 3, 3rd hole and Par 4, 4th hole. He played just as well on the back nine with scoring 33-3 that included birdies on the Par 4, 12th hole, Par 3, 14th hole, Par 4, 15th hole, Par 5, 17th hole and the Par 4, 18th hole with his only bogies coming on the Par 3, 11th hole and Par 4, 16th hole. He has been a great player for a long time on the European Tour and this win was long overdue. It will give him confidence to have some more wins in the future. And if he keeps this form up he may be picked for the European Ryder Cup Team for the September Match in the USA. Everything is going right in his life right now with being happily married and his wife gave birth to Max, their first child in 2012 (Last year). I wish him every continuing success on the European Tour for the remaining events in the 2012 season.

Coming in tied for 2nd position at 274-14 after 72 holes were Rafa Cabrera-Bello (Spain), Fabrizio Zanotti (Italy) who both had rounds of 66-6 in the final round. Also tied for 3rd was Anthony Wall (England). Coming in tied for 5th position at 275-13 after 72 holes was Mikael Lundberg (Sweden) who scored 65-7 which was the low round of the final round. Also tied for 5th was Mark Foster (England). Coming in tied 7th position at 276-12 after 72 holes were David Drysdale (Scotland), Craig Lee (Scotland) and three time Major Winner, Padraig Harrington (Ireland). Rounding out the top 10 in tied for 10th position were Ross Fisher (England), Francesco Molinari (Italy), the One Time Major Winner, Rory McILroy (NIR), Mikko Ilonen (Finland) defending Champion, Simon Dyson (England) and Paul Waring (England).  

Michael Campbell (NZL) was the only New Zealander in the field. He scored rounds of 73+1 and a terrible second round of 79+7 which included a back nine of 43+7 and he had a triple bogey 9 on the Par 5, 17th hole. He had a 36 hole total of 152+8 and missed the 36 hole halfway cut by 10 strokes. He now is in 239th position on the Race to Dubai Money list with € 11,440 earned from the 12 events he has played in to date this year so far. This result continued on Michael Campbell’s (NZL) miserable season in 2012 on the European Tour. He has now only made 2 cuts in 12 events he has played to date this year. He has had a few under par rounds this year but on the whole he has been disappointing. I am just curious how long he can keep playing and competing on the European Tour? I wish him all the best in the remaining events he plays in on the European Tour in 2012.

Next week the European Tour and Race to Dubai heads to France for the Alstom Open de France and it is being played on the Le Golf National, Paris, France. It carries a large prize purse of €3,150,000. Thomas Levet (France) is the defending Champion and will be looking for back to back titles like his Countryman, Jean-Francois Remesy (France) did in the 2004-05 European Tour Seasons. It starts on Thursday 5th July and I will report who won the trophy next week.

The second event I am reporting on this week was on the USPGA Tour and was part of the FedEx Cup and was AT&T National and was played on the Congressional Country Club, Bethesda, Maryland. And it was played in extreme heat. The course was playing extremely difficult and tougher than it played during the 111th US Open Championship that was played on this very same course last year. It was the Golfer by the name of Tiger Woods (USA) who scored rounds of 72+1, 68-3, 67-4 and a final round of 69-2 for a 72 hole total of 276-8 and he won by 2 strokes for his 74 USPGA Tour Victory. He won $US 1,170,000.00 for the win and moves to first on the USPGA Tour Money list with $US 4,220,398 earned from the 11 events he has played to date this year so far. He also earned 500 FedEx Points for the win and that moved him to first position on the FedEx Cup points list with 1,952 points earned from the 11 events he has played to date this year so far. He is 103 points ahead of Jason Dufner (USA) who has earned 1,849 points from the 15 events he has played to date this year so far.

Tiger Woods (USA) stares down a tee shot during the final round

It was a great win by Tiger Woods (USA) who was in a very close duel with the eventual runner up, Bo Van Pelt (USA) throughout the back nine of the final round. Tiger Woods (USA) got the lead on the Par 5, 9th hole in the final round when he hit his wedge 3rd shot to within 5 feet of the hole. He went out in 35-1 and was -8 for the tournament. Bo Van Pelt (USA) birdied the Par 4, 11th hole to get back to -8 and into a share of the lead with Tiger Woods (USA) with 7 holes to play. They both pared the next 3 holes in row and with 4 holes to play they were still -8 for the tournament. Adam Scott (Australia) had already scored a final round 67-4 and was the Leader in the club house at 279-5 after 72 holes. They both hit good second shots into the Par 4, 15th hole. Tiger Woods (USA) putted first from 25 feet and struck a brilliant paced putt and it took the right to left break perfectly and it fell in the hole for a birdie 3. But Bo Van Pelt (USA) responded with an awesome putt of his own from 12 feet that rolled right in to the middle of the cup as well.

So both players were -9 with 3 holes to play. Tiger Woods (USA) hit a poor drive on the Par 5, 16th hole that landed in the left rough. Bo Van Pelt (USA) struck a brilliant drive right down the centre of the fairway leaving only a mid iron to the green. Tiger Woods (USA) hit a good layup with his 2nd shot that left a short wedge shot to the green. Bo Van Pelt (USA) hit a poor mid iron shot for his 2nd shot that landed in the rough in the face of the bunker to the left just short of the green. Tiger Woods (USA) then over shot his wedge 3rd shot and it rolled down the slope at the back of the green leaving an extremely difficult up and down for his par. Bo Van Pelt (USA) now had an opportunity to take the lead if he was able to put his chip shot close. But he hit a terrible chip shot that popped straight up and stay in the rough just short of the green. Tiger Woods (USA) played a good chip shot to the green that was 20feet above him for his fourth shot and it almost went in the hole but rolled 12 feet past the cup leaving a difficult putt for par. Bo Van Pelt (USA) hit an attacking fourth shot for his chip and was lucky it stayed on the fringe at the back of the green. Tiger Woods (USA) putted for his par but just missed on the left side and tapped in for his bogey 6 to fall back to -8. Bo Van Pelt (USA) putted next from the fringe and he just missed on the left hand side as well and he fell back to -8.

Tiger Woods (USA) watches his ball land after teeing off during the final round of the AT&T National

So to the Par 4, 17th hole, Tiger Woods (USA) was just short of the green in 2 shots. Bo Van Pelt (USA) hit his second shot over the green into the back rough and left himself an impossible chip shot. He struck a good flop shot for his third from the rough but as expected from the lie he had he was unable to stop the ball on the green and it rolled through to the front rough. Tiger Woods (USA) played a good chip for his third shot to within 5 feet of the cup. Bo Van Pelt (USA) played a good chip shot for his fourth and left it 2 feet from the pin and tapped in for his bogey to fall to -7. Tiger Woods (USA) then easily rolled in his 5 foot putt for par and remained at -8 to take a 1 stroke lead to the 72nd hole. Tiger Woods (USA) struck an awesome tee shot at the 18th hole with his driver that couldn’t have landed more in the centre of the fairway. Bo Van Pelt (USA) stuck his tee shot and it landed in the right rough. Bo Van Pelt (USA) played his 2nd shot first and landed it to the right of the green in the rough. Tiger Woods (USA) played next and hit an awesome drawing knock down 9 iron that rolled up to 20feet left of the cup pin high. Bo Van Pelt (USA) now knew what he had to do, and that was chip his ball in the hole for a birdie. He gave it a great attempt and it just missed the hole and came to rest 6 feet past the cup. Tiger Woods (USA) then lined up his 20 foot birdie putt knowing that a 2putt was good enough to win. He rolled it up to within a foot of the cup and marked it so Bo Van Pelt (USA) could putt out. Bo Van Pelt (USA) missed his 6 foot par putt and tapped in for a bogey to finish -6. Tiger Woods (USA) then tapped in for par and the victory which drew a huge roar from the crowd.

It was Tiger Woods (USA) third win on the USPGA Tour this year having previously won the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard in late March and the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance in early June earlier in the year. He now is only 8 USPGA Tour wins behind the legendary, Sam Snead (USA) who has the record for the most wins on the USPGA Tour all time with 82. Here is a list of all the tournaments on the USPGA Tour that Tiger Woods has won since he turned Professional in 1996: 1996 Las Vegas Invitational, Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic. 1997 Mercedes Championships, Masters Tournament, GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic, Motorola Western Open.1998  BellSouth Classic.1999 Buick Invitational, Memorial Tournament, Motorola Western Open, PGA Championship, World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational, National Car Rental Golf Classic/Disney, THE TOUR Championship, World Golf Championships-American Express Championship. 2000 Mercedes Championships, AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Bay Hill Invitational, Memorial Tournament, U.S. Open Championship, British Open Championship, PGA Championship, World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational, Bell Canadian Open. 2001 Bay Hill Invitational, THE PLAYERS Championship, Masters Tournament, Memorial Tournament, World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational. 2002 Bay Hill Invitational presented by Cooper Tires,  Masters Tournament, U.S. Open Championship, Buick Open, World Golf Championships-American Express Championship. 2003 Buick Invitational, World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, Bay Hill Invitational presented by Cooper Tires,  100th Western Open presented by Golf Digest, World Golf Championships-American Express Championship. 2004 World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. 2005 Buick Invitational, Ford Championship at Doral, Masters Tournament, British Open Championship, World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational, World Golf Championships-American Express Championship. 2006  Buick Invitational,  Ford Championship at Doral, British Open Championship, Buick Open, PGA Championship,  World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, Deutsche Bank Championship, World Golf Championships-American Express Championship. 2007 Buick Invitational, World Golf Championships-CA Championship, Wachovia Championship, World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, PGA Championship, BMW Championship, THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. 2008 Buick Invitational, World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard,  U.S. Open Championship. 2009 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, the Memorial Tournament, AT&T National, Buick Open, World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, BMW Championship. 2012 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance and the AT&T National.   

Tiger Woods (USA) poses with the AT&T National Trophy he won

It was great to see Tiger Woods (USA) bounce back so quickly from his disappointing Weekend at the 112th US Open Championship. Now he is in great form heading in to the third major of the year which is the Open Championship in 3 weeks time. All those people who thought Tiger Woods (USA) was finished and would never win on the USPGA Tour again can eat their words now. It was great to see him win the Tournament that he is the ambassador for and all the proceeds from the tournament go to the US Military. I wish him all the best for the rest of the events he plays on the USPGA Tour in 2012.

Coming in solo second position at 278-6 after 72 holes was Bo Van Pelt (USA); he must be due another win on the USPGA Tour soon. Coming in solo 3rd position at 279-5 after 72 holes was Adam Scott (Australia) who scored a fine final round of 67-4 which was the equal low round of the final round. Coming in tied for 4th position at 280-4 after 72 holes were the long hitting, Robert Garrigus (USA), Jhonattan Vegas (Venezuela) who had his best finish of the year so far on the USPGA Tour, Seung – Yul Noh (South Korea) who at age 21 years old and in his rookie season on the USPGA Tour had his best finish ever and he has already made over 1million $US this year. The last player to tie for 4th position was Billy Hurley III (USA) who had his best ever finish on the USPGA Tour and he is also in his rookie season. It was fitting that he played well in this tournament because he was an officer in the United States Navy after graduation from the Academy (2004-09), until he left to pursue his USPGA Tour Golf Career. Coming in tied for 8th position at 281-3 after 72 holes were Jason Day (Australia) who’s wife was due to give birth to their first child during the tournament, and he also had his best finish on the USPGA Tour in 2012. The other player to tie for 8th position was Hunter Mahan (USA) who just continued on his awesome season he is having in 2012. And rounding out the top 10 in solo 10th position at 282-2 after 72 holes was Nick Watney (USA).

Beau Hossler (AM) (USA) the 17 year old Amateur who turned heads at the 112th US Open Championship two weeks ago when he lead mid way through the second round, and that got him an invitation to play here and he made the cut and finished in tied for 74th position at 222+9 after 54 holes, because he was in the category of “Made the Cut but did not finish”.

Danny Lee (NZL) was the only New Zealander in the field, he scored rounds of 78+7 in the first round and 71 even par in the second round for a 36 hole total of 149+7, and would have missed the cut by 1 stroke that fell at 148+6, but he chose to not sign his second round score card and therefore was disqualified. It is the second time this year he has been disqualified for not signing his scorecard; he did the same thing in the Wells Fargo Championship in early May, he also withdrew from the Mayakoba Golf Classic in late February because he was playing too bad. I suspect the USPGA Tour Officials will take a dim view of this and may discipline him for his actions? He is now in 155th position on the USPGA Tour Money list with $US 229,307 earned from the 16 events he has played to date this year so far. He is also in 150th position on the current FedEx Cup points list with 181 points earned from the 16 events he has played in to date this year so far, he is 1,771 points behind the current leader who is Tiger Woods (USA). He has had an average Rookie Season after showing lots of promise on the Web.com Tour last year. He has made 9 cuts from the 16 events he has entered so far and his best finish is still tied for 19th position at the HP Byron Nelson Championship in mid May. I hope Danny Lee (NZL) can have some good finishes in the events to come in the coming weeks on the USPGA Tour. I wish him all the best for the remaining events on the USPGA Tour in 2012.

Next week the USPGA Tour and FedEx Cup heads to West Virginia for the Greenbrier Classic and it is being played on the Old White TPC, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. It has a big prize purse of $US 6,100,000 for the taking. Scott Stallings (USA) is the defending Champion and will be keen to defend his title but Tiger Woods (USA) might have something to say about that. It starts on Thursday 5th July and I will report back who won the trophy next week.

Now to the top 5 on the Official World Golf Rankings Points list and coming in at Number One Position for the 4th spell of his career and the 51st week of his career is Luke Donald (England) with 9.80 Official Golf World Ranking Points; coming in at Number Two is Rory McILroy (NIR) with 8.65 Official Golf World Ranking Points; coming in at Number Three is Lee Westwood (England) with 8.21 Official Golf World Ranking Points; coming in at Number Four is Tiger Woods (USA) fresh off his AT&T National victory which was his third of the season and he has 7.82 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 6.55 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 186th position on the Official World Golf Rankings Points list with 0.95 Official World Golf Rankings Points on the list.

Remember now it is real Winter Conditions you must make solid contact with the ball on every shot!!

Source: europeantour.com, pgatour.com