Golf Events from the Weekend 10th November 2013

Well it was another amazing weekend on the Major Professional Golf Tours from around the world and this week the USPGA Tour and FedEx Cup headed back to the USA Mainland for the fifth event of the 2013/14 season and it was the McGladrey Classic and it was played on the Seaside Course, Sea Island, Georgia. And it was the golfer by the name of Chris Kirk (USA) scored rounds 66-4, 66-4, 68-2 and a final round of 66-4 for a 72 hole total of 266-14 and he won his second USPGA Tour event by one shot. He won US $990,000.00 for the win and moved to fifth position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $1,072,308 earned from the three events he has played to date this season so far. Ryan Moore (USA) still leads that list with US $1,471,000 earned from the three events he has played to date this season so far. Chris Kirk (USA) also earned 500 FedEx Cup Points for the win and moved to fourth position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 577 points earned from the three events he has played to date this season so far. He is 107 points behind Jimmy Walker (USA) who still leads that list with 684 points earned from the four events he has played to date this season so far. From the three events Chris Kirk (USA) has played to date this season so far he has made three cuts and this was his first top ten finish he has achieved to date so far this season.

 

Chris Kirk (USA) in action during the final round

Chris Kirk (USA) played a great final round of 66-4 which included a front nine of 33-2 with birdies on the par five, seventh hole and par four, ninth hole and he made the turn at minus 12 and was tied for the lead. Tim Clark (RSA) went out in 30-5 and made the turn at minus ten and was two shots behind the leader. Briny Baird (USA) went out in 33-2 and made the turn at minus 12 and was tied for the lead. Chris Kirk (USA) played holes ten to 14 in one under par and moved to minus 13 with four holes to play and was now one shot behind the leader. Tim Clark (RSA) played holes ten to 14 in even par and remained at minus ten with four holes to play and now was four shots behind the leader. Briny Baird (USA) played holes ten to 14 in two under par and moved to minus 14 and was now leading by one shot.

Chris Kirk (USA) played holes 15 to 17 in one under par and moved to minus 14 and was now tied for the lead. Tim Clark (RSA) played holes 15 to 17 in two under par and moved to minus 12 and was now only two shots behind the leaders. Briny Baird (USA) played holes 15 to 17 in even par and remained at minus 14 and was now tied for the lead with just the 72nd hole to play. Tim Clark (RSA) who was playing a few groups ahead of the final group and made a very good birdie at the par four, 72nd hole and finished the 72 holes at minus 13 and he was one stroke behind the winner, he scored 62-8 in the final round which was the lowest score of the day. Chris Kirk (USA) hit his drive into the left rough on the par four, 72nd hole and had a very tricky mid iron shot for his second shot. He struck his mid iron very well and drew it into the green and it rolled up to 20 feet short of the pin on the green. He rolled his twenty foot putt for birdie to within two feet of the cup and easily tapped in for his par four to win by one shot. He scored 33-2 on the back nine and finished on minus 14. His caddie gave him a huge high five to celebrate!! Then his wife, Tahnee came on to the 72nd green and gave him a kiss and his young son was there as well. It was nice to have his family there to enjoy his success with them. Briny Baird (USA) drove his ball into the left hand fairway bunker on the par four, 72nd hole. He had a very difficult stance and lie in the fairway bunker for his second shot in to the green with his mid iron. He unfortunately hit his worst shot of the whole tournament. He topped it and it rolled into the left hand hazard. He then took his penalty drop and played his fourth shot pin high about 15 feet to the right of the flag stick on the green. He now knew that any chance of winning his maiden USPGA Tour event had gone. He showed great courage to hole his 15 foot birdie putt for his bogey five and he finished the 72 holes on minus 13 and was one shot behind the winner.

 

Chris Kirk (USA) poses with the McGladrey's Classic Trophy he won!!

Chris Kirk (USA) has been playing on the USPGA Tour fulltime since the 2011 season. In his three previous seasons on the USPGA Tour he has won at least US $1million and in his rookie season in 2011 he won his maiden USPGA Tour title at the Viking Classic. It is great to see him achieved his second USPGA Tour win and now he will get a chance to play in a few of the bigger Tournaments in 2014. Those tournaments will be the 2014 Hyundai Tournament of Champions in early January, some of the 2014 World Golf Championship Events, 2014 Masters Tournament in mid April, PGA Championship in August and the Players Championship in early May. Let’s hope he can get his third win very soon? I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season.

Coming in tied for second position at 267-13 after 72 holes was Tim Clark (RSA); he earned US $484,000.00 for his efforts and moved to 12th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $538,050 earned from the four events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 245 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to eleventh position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points standings list with 285 points earned from the four events he has played to date this season so far. From the four events he has played to date this season so far he has made three cuts and achieved one top ten finish that came at this very tournament. He has been playing on the USPGA Tour fulltime since the 2002 season and has easily kept his card every year since. In that time he has had a very successful career with earning US $21,275,527 from the 267 events he has played to date in his USPGA Tour career so far. He has only achieved one win though and that came at the 2010 THE PLAYERS Championship. I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season.

The final player to tie for second position was Briny Baird (USA); he too earned US $484,000.00 for his efforts and moved to tenth position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $ 548,375 earned from the three events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 245 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to seventh position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points standings list with 321 points earned from the three events he has played to date this season so far. From the three events he has played to date this season so far he has made three cuts and achieved one top ten finish that came at this tournament. It was a very disappointing way to finish because this was his tournament to win and he properly played his worst shot of the whole tournament when it really counted and that was his second shot from the fairway bunker on the par four, 72nd hole which he topped and it rolled into the hazard!! He has now played in 365 USPGA Tour events in his career to date so far and has career earnings to date of US $13,183,237, but he is still yet to win his maiden USPGA Tour event!! He has been playing the USPGA Tour fulltime on and off since the 1999 season and his career season to date so far came in the 2003 season where he earned US $2,202,519 from the 33 events he played in and finished in twenty second position on the final 2003 USPGA Tour Money list standings. He is still relatively quite young in professional golfing terms with only just turning 41 last week. I feel he will gain a lot from this near miss at winning and will win his maiden USPGA Tour event in the next couple of years to go along with his six runner up finishes he has achieved to date so far in his career. I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season. 

Coming in tied for fourth position at 268-12 after 72 holes was Scott Brown (USA); he earned US $227,333.34 for his efforts and moved to 15th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $ 481,053 earned from the four events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 115 FedEx Cup points for his efforts and moved to 14th position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points standings list with 250 points earned from the four events he has played to date this season so far. From the four events he has played to date this season so far he has made three cuts and achieved two top ten finishes that includes the one here. Scott Brown (USA) has been playing on the USPGA Tour since the 2012 season where he earned US $478,763 from the twenty four events he played in and he finished in 148th position on the final 2012 USPGA Tour Money list standings and gave him semi exempt status on the USPGA Tour for the 2013 season. He had his career best season to date in the 2013 season with achieving his maiden USPGA Tour win at the Puerto Rico Open presented by seepuertorico.com in early March. He ended up earning US $1,012,142 from the twenty one events he played in and he finished up in 81st position on the final 2013 USPGA Tour Money list standings easily keeping his card for the 2013/14 season. Perhaps this year he will even have a better year than last year with making such a good start so early? I wish him all the best for the events to come in the coming weeks.

Also tied for fourth position was Brian Gay (USA); he also earned US $227,333.34 for his efforts and moved to twenty fifth position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $ 298,057 earned from the four events he has played in to date this season so far. He also earned 115 FedEx Cup points for his efforts and moved to twenty third position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 160 points earned from four events he has played to date this season so far. From the four events he has played to date this season so far he has made three cuts and this is his first top ten finish he has achieved to date this season so far. Brian Gay (USA) has been playing the USPGA Tour Fulltime since the 1999 season and his kept his card for the next year every season since. In that time he has amassed current career earnings on the USPGA Tour of US $17,488,055 earned from the 458 events he has played in to date so far. He has also achieved four wins to date so far on the USPGA Tour and here they are from the first to the most recent: 2008 Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun, 2009 Verizon Heritage, St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx and the 2013 Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation. I sure his fifth win isn’t too far away and it may well happen in the 2013/14 season? I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season.

The final player to tie for fourth position was John Senden (Australia); he also earned US $227,333.34 for his efforts and moved to twenty ninth position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $ 241,223 from the three events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 115 FedEx Cup points for his efforts and moved to 34th position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup points standings list with 132 points earned from the three events he has played to date this season so far. From the three events he has played to date this season so far he has made two cuts and this was his first top finish he has achieved to date so far this season. John Senden (Australia) has been playing the USPGA Tour fulltime since the 2002 season and has kept his card for the next year every season since. In that time he has amassed career earnings of US $16,252,388 earned from the 338 events he has played to date so far in his career. His maiden win came at the 2006 John Deere Classic. He is considered by some golf experts to have one of the best swings in the game but sometimes his putting lets him down. I sure his second win on the USPGA Tour is just around the corner and it could well happen in the 2013/14 season? I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season.

Coming in tied for seventh position at 270-10 after 72 holes was Matt Every (USA); he earned US $171,416.67 for his efforts and moved to 45th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $ 189,640 earned from the two events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 85 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 45th position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 107 points earned from the two events he has played to date this season so far. From the two events he has played to date this season so far he has made two cuts and this was his first top ten finish he has achieved this season so far. He has been playing the USPGA Tour on and off since the 2010 season and in the 2012 season he had his best season so far with earning US $1,972,166 from the 25 events he played in and that included making 15 cuts and achieving six top ten finishes. He finished up in 40th position on the final 2012 USPGA Tour Money list standings. I feel his maiden USPGA Tour win isn’t too far off and could well happen in the 2013/14 season? I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season.

Also tied for seventh position was Webb Simpson (USA); he too earned US $171,416.67 for his efforts and moved to fourth position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $ 1,251,417 earned from the two events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 85 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to third position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 585 points earned from the two events he has played to date this season so far. From the two events he has played to date so far this season he has made two cuts and achieved two top ten finishes which includes the one here and also his win at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in late October. Webb Simpson (USA) has been playing the USPGA Tour fulltime since the 2009 season after gaining his card at the 2008 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament where he finished in tied for seventh position. He had a fine rookie season in 2009 on the USPGA Tour where he earned just over US one million dollars and easily keep his card for the 2010 season. In his second full season on the USPGA Tour in 2010 he earned just under US one million dollars and easily kept his card for the 2011 season. In his third full season on the USPGA Tour in 2011 he had a Awesome season with earning just over US 6.3 Million Dollars and finished second on the final 2011 USPGA Tour Money list with US $6,347,353 earned from the 26 events he played in. He also won two USPGA Tour events with his maiden win coming at the Wyndham Championship and his second one coming at the Deutsche Bank Championship which was the second FedEx Cup playoff event. In his fourth season on the USPGA Tour in 2012 he had another awesome season with earning just over US 3.4 million dollars and he won his third event on the USPGA Tour which was his Maiden Major Championship at the 112th US Open Championship. I sure his fifth win isn’t too far off either and maybe it will happen at the first Major Championship of the 2014 season which is the  Masters Tournament in April 2014? I wish him all the best with the tournaments he plays in the coming weeks.

The final player to tied for seventh position was Matt Kuchar (USA); he too US $171,416.67 for his efforts and moved to 49th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $171,416.67 earned from the one event he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 85 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 63rd position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 85 points earned from the one event he has played to date this season so far. From the one event he has played to date this season so far he has made one cut and achieved one top ten finish that came at this tournament. Matt Kuchar (USA) has been playing on the USPGA Tour full time on and off since the 2002 season and has easily kept his card for the next season every season since except for the 2005 season. He spent the 2006 season on the Web.com Tour and earned his 2007 USPGA Tour card back by earning US $300,867 from the 21 events he played in and finished in tenth position on the final 2006 Web.com Tour Money list standings. Since 2007 he has had huge success on the USPGA Tour and his current all time USPGA Tour earnings are US $26,587,444 earned from 302 events he has played to date so far in his career. The next step for him would be to win a Major Championship and maybe it will happen in the next few years? He has won six times on the USPGA Tour to date in his career so far and here they are from his first to the most recent: 2002 The Honda Classic, 2009 Turning Stone Resort Championship, 2010 The Barclays, 2012 THE PLAYERS Championship, 2013 World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship and the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance. I wish him all the best with for the rest of the 2013/14 season. 

Danny Lee (NZL) was the only New Zealand Golfer in the field and he scored rounds of 70 even par, 71+1, 70 even par and a final round of 68-2 for a 72 hole total of 279-1 and he finished in tied for 40th position. He earned US $19,800.00 for his efforts and moved to 114th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $ 45,657 earned from the three events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 28 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 85th position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points standings list with 63 points earned from the three events he has played to date this season so far. From the three events he has played to date this season so far he has made two cuts and achieved no top ten finishes so far. Let’s hope he can finish off the 2013 part of the 2013/14 season by having at least a top ten finish in the OHL Classic at Mayakoba next week in Mexico. I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season.

Next week USPGA Tour and FedEx Cup head to Mexico for the sixth and final event of the 2013 part of the 2013/14 USPGA Tour season regular events. It is the OHL Classic at Mayakoba and it is played on the El Camaleon, Riviera Maya, Mexico. It carries a huge prize purse of US $6,000,000 for the taking and John Huh (USA) is the defending Champion and will been keen for back to back titles. Danny Lee (NZL) and Tim Wilkinson (NZL) will also be hoping to get starts. It starts on Thursday 14th November. I will report back who won the Trophy 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 656th week of his career in total is Tiger Woods (USA) who is fresh off his tied for third position at the Turkish Airlines Open this past week with 12.26 Official Golf World Ranking Points; coming in at Number Two is Adam Scott (Australia) who won his maiden Major Championship at the Masters Tournament over six months ago and also won The Barclays over two months ago and also won the Australian PGA Championship this past week with 9.25 Official Golf World Ranking Points; coming in at Number Three is Henrik Stenson (Sweden) who won the Tour Championship by Coca – Cola and also the 2013 FedEx Cup over a month ago and finished in tied for seventh position at the Turkish Airlines Open this past week with 8.08 Official Golf World Ranking Points; coming in at Number Four is Phil Mickelson (USA) who won the Open Championship over a three months ago with 7.79 Official Golf World Ranking Points and rounding out the top 5 on the Official Golf World Ranking Points list this week is Justin Rose (England) who won his maiden Major Championship at the 113th US Open Championship over four months ago and also finished in tied for third position at the Turkish Airlines Open this past week with 7.74 Official Golf World Ranking Points. Michael Hendry (NZL) fresh off  his tie for 35th position at the Australian PGA Championship this past week is the highest ranked New Zealand Golfer in the world for the Fortieth straight week of his career. This week he slips eight places and falls to 218th position on the Official World Golf Rankings Points list with 0.83 Official Golf World Ranking Points.

Remember with the ground being firm now to allow for the roll out on your shots!!

Source: pgatour.com