Golf Events from the Weekend 2nd March 2014

It was another brilliant weekend on the Major Professional Golf Tours from around the world and this week the USPGA Tour and FedEx Cup headed to the East Coast of America for the first time in 2014 and it was the first event of four straight on the Florida Swing. It was the Honda Classic and it was played on the PGA National (Champion), Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. And it was the Golfer by the name of Russell Henley (USA) who scored rounds of 64-6, 68-2, 68-2 and a final round of 72+2 for a 72 hole total of 272-8 but he was tied on that score by Ryan Palmer (USA) who scored rounds of 68-2, 66-4, 69-1 and a final round of 69-1 for a 72 hole total of 272-8 also. Rory McILroy (NIR) scored rounds of 63-7, 66-4, 69-1 and a shocking final round of 74+4 for a 72 hole total of 272-8 and he was also tied on that score. The final player to tie for the lead after 54 holes was Russell Knox (Scotland) who scored rounds of 70 even par, 63-7, 68-2 and a final round of 71+1 for a 72 hole total of 272-8 also.

 

Russell Henley (USA) in action during the final round

So those four players all headed back to the par five, 18th hole for the first playoff hole. Russell Knox (Scotland) teed off and pulled his drive slightly to the left and it landed in the left hand side fairway bunker. Rory McILroy (NIR) teed off next and hit a brilliant drive right down the centre of the fairway. Ryan Palmer (USA) teed off next and he too hit a brilliant drive right down the centre of the fairway. Russell Henley (USA) teed off last and stuck a brilliant drive as well that landed right in the centre of the fairway just as he had done in regulation play. Russell Knox (Scotland) played his second shot first from the fairway bunker and just laid it up to about 100 yards short of the green leaving him only a short wedge shot for his third. Russell Henley (USA) then played his second shot next and he choose his three wood to go for the green in two. He hit an awesome shot that landed on the green on the fool and came to rest forty feet left of the pin leaving him an eagle chance. Ryan Palmer (USA) played his second shot third and he too went for the green with his fairway wood. He put a poor swing on it though and it drew to the left and landed pin high in the left fringe but he left himself a good chance to get up and down for his birdie four. Rory McILroy (NIR) played his second shot last and he hit his three wood just as he had done in regulation but this time he just flushed the shot too well and it flew right over the green into the back bunker leaving a difficult up and down for his birdie.

Russell Knox (Scotland) played his third shot first and hit it on the green about twenty five feet from the flag stick and he knew he would have to hole that putt to more than likely stay in the playoff. Ryan Palmer (USA) played his third shot second and he hit his chip from the fringe rather average but it rolled out better than he expected and came to rest 15 feet from the flag and he also knew he would have to hole that putt to more than likely keep the playoff alive. Rory McILroy (NIR) played his third shot third from the back bunker and it came out too strong rolling through the green into the first cut of rough. Russell Henley (USA) played his third shot last which was a putt for eagle from forty feet and he hit a brilliant putt under the circumstances and it came up four feet shy of the cup.

Russell Knox (Scotland) putted for his birdie from twenty five feet and it just missed on the right hand side of the cup and he almost knew that his chances of winning had passed him by. Ryan Palmer (USA) putted for his birdie next from 15 feet and he just missed on the left hand side of the cup and just like Russell Knox (USA) he knew that any chance of winning had passed him by. Rory McILroy (NIR) now chipped for his birdie and he sort of fluffed and it rolled just onto the green leaving an eight foot putt for his par and he too deep down inside would have known any chance he had of winning had passed him by. Rory McILroy (NIR) was still away and rolled the eight foot putt in for his par five. Russell Henley (USA) now knew that if he could hole his four foot birdie putt he would win the Honda Classic. He composed himself then stuck a very solid putt that fell right in the centre of the cup and he was the Honda Classic Champion for 2014!! He pumped his fist in the air to celebrate!! He also had his brother who is also one of his best friends there to experience the win with him.

 

Russell Henley (USA) celebrates by punching his fist in the air!!

Russell Henley (USA) played a solid final round of 72+2 in the very windy conditions with the tough pin placements. He scored 35 even par for the front nine with a lone birdie on the par four, eight hole and his lone bogey came on the par four sixth hole. He scored a poor back nine of 37+2 that included birdies on the par four, 14th and 15th holes but he bogeyed the par four tenth and par four, 12th holes and made a double bogey on the par three, 15th hole where he struck his tee shot into the water on the right. Russell Henley (USA) won US $1,080,000 for the win and moved to 16th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $1,200,954 earned from the ten events he has played to date this season so far. Jimmy Walker (USA) still leads that list with US $3,785,680 earned from the ten events he has played to date this season so far. Russell Henley (USA) also earned 500 FedEx Cup Points for the win and moved to 16th position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 591 points earned from the ten events he has played to date this season so far. He is currently 1,239 points behind the current leader of the FedEx Cup who is Jimmy Walker (USA) who has earned 1,830 FedEx Cup Points from the ten events he has played to date this season so far. In the ten events he has played to date this season so far he has made six cuts and this win here was his very first top ten finish of the season so far. Russell Henley (USA) proved that you don’t have to be in top form to win on the USPGA Tour because prior to this win he had missed three out of his last four cuts and had not recorded a single top ten finish this season. Russell Henley (USA) has been playing on the USPGA Tour since the 2013 season where he won his very first start at the 2013 Sony Open in Hawaii. Now he has won twice on the USPGA Tour at the tender age of twenty four years old it will give him lots of confidence heading into the big tournaments coming up in the weeks ahead. Also beating a former number one player in the world by the name of Rory McIlroy (NIR) head to head in the final round will give him a lot of confidence as well. He is now currently ranked 46th on the Official World Golf Rankings and that means he gets a start in the WGC – Cadillac Championship next week. Let’s hope he can keep this form he has shown this week up for the weeks ahead because he has become a fan favourite with his very bubbly personality and positive attitude.  And perhaps he could be a dark horse for the first Major of the year which is the Masters Tournament in early April which is played in his home state of Georgia. I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season.

 

Russell Henley (USA) poses with both hands on the Honda Classic Trophy he won!!

Coming in tied for second position at 272-8 after 72 holes and losing on the first playoff hole as I mentioned above was Rory McILroy (NIR); he earned US $448,000 for his efforts and moved to 32nd position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $778,500 earned from the three events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 208 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and move to 38th position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 355 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 two top ten finishes which includes the one here. Rory McILroy (NIR) will be very disappointed with his final round after taking a two shot lead into the final round and not being able to come away with the win after scoring 74+4. But he will be extremely happy with the second shot on the par five, 72nd hole that he hit on a direct line with the flag stick and landed on the green from a height like a sack of sand and gave him a chance to win outright in regulation play. But he missed his eagle putt on the right side by the smallest of margins and as I mention above he lost on the first playoff hole. He now still hasn’t won on the USPGA Tour since his changed his golf equipment to Nike in late 2012. He has been playing the USPGA Tour Fulltime for the last three season’s including this one and in 2012 he won the 2012 Final USPGA Tour Money list with US $8,047,952 earned from the 16 events he played in and that included four wins and one was his second Major Championship win which came at the 2012 USPGA Championship. His 2013 USPGA Tour Season wasn’t so good as he was trying to get used to his new Nike Golf Clubs, he finished in 41st position on the final 2013 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $ 1,802,443 earned from the 16 events he played in which was poor by his high standards. Here are his six wins to date on the USPGA Tour so far from the first to the most recent: 2010 Quail Hollow Championship, 2011 U.S. Open (Maiden Major Championship), 2012 The Honda Classic, PGA Championship (Second Major Championship), Deutsche Bank Championship and the BMW Championship. So far in his USPGA Tour career he has amassed US $15,938,503 in the 73 events he has played so far in his career. I feel his seventh USPGA Tour win is not very far off and perhaps it will be his third Major Championship win at the Masters Tournament in April? I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season.

Also tied for second position and losing on the first playoff hole as I mentioned above was Ryan Palmer (USA); he too earned US $448,000 for his efforts and moved to 15th position on the current USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $1,266,290 earned from the eight events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 208 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and move to 14th position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 654 points earned from the eight events he has played to date this season so far. From the eight events he has played to date this season so far he has made seven cuts and achieved three top ten finishes that includes the one here. He will be disappointed that he wasn’t able to make par on the 72nd hole because had he of done that he would of won the tournament. But on the whole his season has got off to a great start with him making his last seven cuts and also having three top ten finishes in his last five starts. He has been playing on the USPGA Tour fulltime since the 2004 season and has managed to keep his card or at least semi status on the USPGA Tour for the next season every season since. He has won three events on the USPGA Tour in that time and here they are from the first to the most recent: 2004 FUNAI Classic at the WALT DISNEY WORLD Resort, 2008 Ginn sur Mer Classic and the 2010 Sony Open in Hawaii. I feel his fourth win isn’t too far away and might just coming in the 2013/14 season.

The final player to tie for second position and losing on the second playoff hole as I mentioned above was Russell Knox (Scotland); he too earned US $448,000 for his efforts and moved to twenty sixth position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $873,178 earned from the ten events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 208 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and move to 19th position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 527 points earned from the ten events he has played to date this season so far. From the ten events he has played to date this season so far he has made eight cuts and achieved two top ten finishes that includes the one here. It was also his career best finish on the USPGA Tour so far in his career to date. He has been playing on the USPGA Tour fulltime since the 2012 season where he made only 12 cuts in 23 events in 2012 and retained a partial exemption on the PGA Tour for 2013. He split time between the USPGA Tour and Web.com Tours in 2013. He played in the Web.com Tour Finals and finished in 20th position to earn his USPGA Tour card for 2013/14 season. I feel his maiden win on the USPGA Tour will come very soon and I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season.

Coming in solo fifth position at 273-7 after 72 holes was Billy Hurley III (USA); he earned US $240,000 for his efforts and moved to 65th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $440,551 earned from the eight events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 110 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 68th position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 256 points earned from the eight events he has played to date this season so far. From the eight events he has played to date this season so far he has made six cuts and achieved two top ten finishes that includes the one here. He will be ruining that he couldn’t manage one more birdie to make it a five man playoff, but he finished well before the leaders and would of thought he would of had no chance of making the playoff because ten under was leading when he finished. He has been playing the USPGA Tour fulltime since the 2012 season where he earned US $474,130 from the twenty seven events he played in and finished in 151st position on the final 2012 USPGA Tour Money list standings and that meant he had no status for the 2013 USPGA Tour season. He went back and played the Web.com Tour for the 2013 season and earned US $146,979 from the twenty four events he played in and finished in 26th position on the final 2013 Web.com Tour Finals Priority Rankings list and he gained his full USPGA Tour card for the 2013/14 season. I hope he can achieve more top ten finishes in the weeks to come on the USPGA Tour and perhaps achieve his maiden USPGA Tour win? I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season.

Coming in tied for sixth position at 274-6 after 72 holes was David Hearn (Canada); he earned US $208,500 for his efforts and moved to 83rd position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $330,534 earned from ten events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 95 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 76th position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 214 points earned from the ten events he has played to date this season so far. From the ten events he has played to date this season so far he has made six cuts and this was his very first top ten finish he has achieved so far this season. He also scored the equal low final round of 67-3. David Hearn (Canada) has been playing the USPGA Tour fulltime on and off since the 2004 season after gaining his card by finishing in tied for 21st position at the 2004 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. In his rookie season in the 2005 season he played really poor with only making ten cuts from the twenty four events he played in and achieved no top ten finishes. He only earned US $197,453 and found himself back on the Web.com Tour for the 2006 – 2010 seasons. In 2010 he had a very good season on the Web.com Tour with earning US $230,440 from the 25 events he played in and that included making 16 cuts and achieving five top ten finishes. He finished in twenty first position on the final 2010 Web.com Tour Money list standings and gained back his full USPGA Tour card for the 2011 season. In 2011 in his second try at USPGA Tour fulltime he had a much better season with earning US $869,072 from the 26 events he played in and achieved three top ten finishes, he easily kept his card for the 2012 season. In 2012 he had an even better season with earning US $1,012,575 from the 28 events he played in and he achieved two top ten finishes, again easily keeping his card for the 2013 season. And last year he had his best season ever in the four seasons he had been playing on the USPGA Tour fulltime with earnings of US $ 1,171,515 earned from the twenty six events he played in and he finished in 75th position on the final 2013 USPGA Tour Money list standings. He was just having an average season prior to this top ten finish so let’s hope he can have an even better season in his fifth full season on the USPGA Tour fulltime and perhaps even his maiden win on the USPGA Tour will come in the 2013/14 season?

The final player to tie for sixth position was Will MacKenzie (USA); he too earned US $208,500 for his efforts and moved to twentieth position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $982,574 earned from the ten events he has played to date so far this season. He also earned 95 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to twenty first position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 496 points earned from the ten events he has played to date this season so far. From the ten events he has played to date this season so far he has made eight cuts and achieved three top ten finishes that includes the one here. He has been playing the USPGA Tour fulltime since the 2005 season and has easily kept his card every year since except for the 2011 – 2013 seasons. He regained his 2013/14 USPGA Tour card by finishing in seventh position on the final 2013 Web.com Tour Finals Priority Rankings list and he gained his full USPGA Tour card for the 2013/14 season. He has also won two USPGA Tour events in his career to date with the first being the 2006 Reno-Tahoe Open and the second being the 2008 Viking Classic. It is great to see him get off to such a good start for the 2014 part of the 2013/14. I hope this finish can give him the confidence to keep on improving and have more top ten finishes in the weeks to come and even win his third event on the USPGA Tour? I wish him every continuing success for the 2013/14 season.

Rounding out the top ten in tied for eighth position was Sergio Garcia (Spain); he earned US $168,000 for his efforts and moved to twenty ninth position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $842,000 earned from the four events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 78 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to fortieth position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 351 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 four cuts and achieved three top ten finishes that includes the one here. He also scored the equal low final round of 67-3. He has been playing on the USPGA Tour fulltime since the 2000 season and in the time he has easily kept his card for the next year every season since and he has achieved eight wins on the USPGA Tour in his career so far and here they are from the first to the most recent: 2001 MasterCard Colonial, Buick Classic 2002 Mercedes Championships, 2004 EDS Byron Nelson Championship, Buick Classic, 2005 Booz Allen Classic. 2008 THE PLAYERS Championship and the 2012 Wyndham Championship. He has current career earnings on the USPGA Tour of US $33,675,713 earned from the 264 events he has played to date in his career so far. I feel his ninth win isn’t too far off and maybe it could be his maiden Major Championship win at the Masters Tournament in April? I wish him all the best for the 2013/14 USPGA Tour season.

Also tied for eighth position was David Lingmerth (Sweden); he too earned US $168,000 for his efforts and moved to 94th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $272,221 earned from the nine events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 78 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 102nd position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 170 points earned from the nine events he has played to date this season so far. From the nine events he has played to date this season so far he has made six cuts and this was his first top ten finish he has achieved so far this season. He made a disappointing start to his season with missing three out his first four cuts but in his last five events he has made every cut. He is in his second year playing on the USPGA Tour after gaining his 2013 USPGA Tour card by finishing in tenth position on the final 2012 Web.com Tour Money list standings with US $ 287,148 earned from the 26 events he played in. In his rookie year on the USPGA Tour in 2013 he earned US $ 1,748,109 from the twenty three events he played in and finished in 46th position on the final 2013 USPGA Tour Money list standings which was a fine showing by a rookie. I feel his maiden win on the USPGA Tour isn’t too far away and maybe it will happen in the 2013/14 season? I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season.

Also tied for eight position was Luke Donald (England); he too earned US $168,000 for his efforts and moved to 92nd position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $284,000 earned from the three events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 78 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 117th position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 139 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 very event. Luke Donald (England) has been playing on the USPGA Tour fulltime since the 2002 season and in that time he has won five USPGA Tour events with his last one coming at the 2012 Transitions Championship and he also won his first WGC events in 2011 at the Accenture Match play Championship. In May 2011 he became the number one golfer in the world for the very first time in his career. He has also achieved top ten finishes in all four Major Championships and you would have to think that before his career is finished he would at least win one Major Championship? I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 USPGA Tour season.

The final player to tie for eighth position was Stuart Appleby (Australia); he too earned US $168,000 for his efforts and moved to 60th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $476,375 earned from the ten events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 78 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 51st position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 316 points earned from the ten events he has played to date this season so far. From the ten events he has played to date this season so far he has made eight cuts and achieved two top ten finishes that includes the one here. He has been playing the USPGA Tour fulltime since the 1996 season and in that time he has current career earnings of US $27,772,564 from the 471 events he has played to date in his career so far. He has also won nine USPGA Tour events and here they are from the first to the most recent: 1997 Honda Classic, 1998 Kemper Open, 1999 Shell Houston Open, 2003 Las Vegas Invitational, 2004 Mercedes Championships, 2005 Mercedes Championships, 2006 Mercedes Championships, Shell Houston Open and the 2010 The Greenbrier Classic (Where he scored an amazing 59-11 in the final round to win!!). He is a very good Golfer that has lost his form in recent seasons; let’s hope this top ten finish can give him the confidence to have more top ten finishes in the coming weeks? I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 USPGA Tour Season.

Tim Wilkinson (NZL) was the only New Zealand Golfer in the field and he scored rounds of 70 even par in the first round, a second round of 69-1, a fine third round of 67-3 and a disappointing final round of 75+5 in very tough conditions for a 72 hole total of 281+1 and he finished in tied for 55th position. He earned US $13,680 for his efforts and moved to 71st position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $404,772 earned from the nine events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 15 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 83rd position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup points list standings with 200 points earned from the nine events he has played to date this season so far. From the nine events he has played to date this season so far he has made five cuts and achieved two top ten finishes which came at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in mid November last year and last month at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. It was good to see him make his third consecutive cut in a row and I hope he can make more cuts and achieve more top ten finishes in the weeks ahead. I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season.

Next week the USPGA Tour and FedEx Cup stays in the State of Florida for the second event of four in the Florida Swing and it is the third WGC – Event of the 2013/14 Season on the USPGA Tour and it is co – sanctioned by all the other Major Professional Golf Tours from around the world and is the WGC – Cadillac Championship and it is played on the Trump National Doral, Miami, Florida. And it has been redesigned from last year to make it even tougher. It carries a huge prize purse of US $9,000,000 for the taking and all the best players will be there including the Number one and two golfers in the world who are Tiger Woods (USA) and Adam Scott (Australia). Tiger Woods (USA) is the defending and has also won this event seven times before so he will be keen to defend his title and make it eight wins. It starts on Thursday 6th March and I will report back who won the trophy next week. There is also a second event for players not eligible to play in the WGC – Cadillac Championship. It is the Puerto Rico Open presented by seepuertorico.com and is played on the Trump Intrntl GC - Puerto Rico, Rio Grande, Puerto. It carries a smaller prize purse of US $3,500,000 for the taking. Tim Wilkinson (NZL) and Danny Lee (NZL) are likely to gets starts. Scott Brown (USA) is the defending Champion and with be keen for back to back titles. It starts on Thursday 6th March and I will report back who won the trophy next week.

So to the Top 5 on the Official World Golf Rankings Points this week and coming in at Number One Position for the 673rd week of his career in total is Tiger Woods (USA) who is fresh off having to withdraw from the Honda Classic in the final round with back spasms this past week with 10.05 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 ten months ago and also won The Barclays six months ago and also won the Australian PGA Championship just over three months ago and he also won the Talisker Masters 15 weeks ago and 14 weeks ago finished in solo third position in the individual competition at the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf and 13 weeks ago finished runner up in the Emirates Australian Open and this past week finished in tied for 12th position at the Honda Classic with 8.55 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 four months ago and won DP World Tour Championship, Dubai and the 2013 Race to Dubai Title 15 weeks ago and also losing in the second round at the WGC – Accenture Match Play Championship a week ago with 8.36 Official Golf World Ranking Points; coming in at Number Four is Jason Day (Australia) who is fresh off his WGC – Accenture Match Championship win one week ago with 6.86 Official Golf World Ranking Points and rounding out the top 5 on the Official Golf World Ranking Points list this week is Phil Mickelson (USA) who won the  Open Championship seven months ago and also finished in tied for 19th position at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro – Am three weeks ago with 6.51 Official Golf World Ranking Points. Mark Brown (NZL) fresh off  his solo second finish at the New Zealand Open this past week ago is the highest ranked New Zealand Golfer in the world for the first week of his career. This week he gains 81 places and rises to 217th position on the Official World Golf Rankings Points list with 0.79 Official Golf World Ranking Points.

Remember a positive attitude will do amazing things for your golf game!!

Source: Pgatour.com, Official World Golf Rankings