Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Golf Events from the Weekend 27th April 2014



It was another awesome weekend on the Major Professional Golfer Tours from around the world and this week the USPGA Tour and FedEx Cup headed to Louisiana for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and it was played on the TPC Louisiana, Avondale, Louisiana. And it was the golfer by the name of Seung – Yul Noh (South Korea) who scored rounds of 65-7, 68-4, 65-7 and a final round of 71-1 in very windy conditions for a 72 hole total of 269-19 and won by two strokes for his maiden USPGA Tour win of his career. He won US $1,224,000 for the win and moved to 18th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $1,683,773 earned from the 14 events he has played to date this season so far. Bubba Watson (USA) still leads that list with US $4,533,007 earned from the nine events he has played to date this season so far. Seung – Yul Noh (South Korea) 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 853 points earned from the 14 events he has played to date this season so far. He is 1,193 points behind the current leader of that list who is Jimmy Walker (USA) who has earned 2,046 points from the 14 events he has played to date this season so far. From the 14 events he has played to date this season so far he has made 12 cuts and achieved two top ten finishes which includes the win here. 
 
Seung - Yul Noh (South Korea) tees off during the final round
Seung – Yul Noh (South Korea) played a very good final round in the tricky windy conditions, he scored 71-1 which included a front nine of 36 even par which included a lone birdie on the par four, eighth hole and a lone bogey on the par four, first hole and he made the turn at minus 18 and was by leading by two shots. Andrew Svoboda (USA) played the front nine in 35-1 and made the turn at minus 15 and was three shots behind the leader. Robert Streb (USA) played the front nine in 36 even par and made the turn at minus 15 and was three shots behind the leader. Jeff Overton (USA) played the front nine in 34-2 and made the turn at minus 16 and was two shots behind the leader. 

Seung – Yul Noh (South Korea) played holes ten to 14 in one under par and moved to minus 19 and was leading by two shots. Andrew Svoboda (USA) played holes ten to 14 in one under par and moved to minus 16 and was still three shots behind the leader. Robert Streb (USA) played holes ten to 14 in one under par and moved to minus 16 and he was still three shots behind the leader. Jeff Overton (USA) played holes ten to 14 in one under par and moved to minus 17 and was still two shots behind the leader.

Seung – Yul Noh (South Korea) played holes 15 to 17 in even par and remained at minus 19 with only the par 5, 72nd hole to play and was still leading by three shots. Andrew Svoboda (USA) played holes 15 to 17 in even par and remained at minus 16 with only the par five, 72nd hole to play and was still three shots behind the leader. Robert Streb (USA) played holes 15 to 17 in even par and remained at minus 16 and was still three shots behind the leader with only the par five, 72nd hole to play. Jeff Overton (USA) played holes 15 to 17 in one over par and fell to minus 16 with only the par five, 72nd hole to play and was now three shots behind the leader. 

Jeff Overton (USA) who was playing a couple of groups ahead of the final group could only manage a par at the par five, 72nd hole and finished the 72 holes at minus 16 and was three shots behind the winner. Robert Streb (USA) who was playing in the group ahead of the final group made a birdie at the par five, 72nd hole and moved to minus 17 and finished two shots behind the winner. Andrew Svoboda (USA) who was also playing in the group ahead of the final group made a birdie at the par five, 72nd hole and moved to minus 17 and finished two shots behind the winner. Seung – Yul Noh (South Korea) stood on the par five, 72nd hole with a two shot lead. He hit a good drive that drew off the water on the right and finished up in the left rough leaving a good angle to the green for his second shot. He choose to lay up to the left side of the fairway for his second shot with a mid iron. He struck his third shot that was only a short wedge shot to within twenty feet of the flag on the green. He now knew walking up to the green that he had done enough to secure his maiden USPGA Tour win. He struck his twenty foot birdie putt and it came up two feet short of the cup. Then he easily sank the two footer for his par five and scored 35-1 on the back nine and finish on minus 19 to win by two shots!!
 
Seung - Yul Noh (South Korea) raises his cap to acknowledge the crowd after holing the winning putt!!
Then his fellow countryman Y. E. Yang (South Korea) and Charlie Wie (South Korea) who were also playing in this tournament came out on to the 72nd green and sprayed champagne all over him to celebrate the win with him!! Then he was interviewed by CBS Sports on course golf commentator, Peter Kostis (USA) and he said to him “That he would like to dedicate this win to all the victims of the Korean Ferry Tragedy and he hopes this brings his people watching in his home country some joy to overcome the sorrow they have been going through recently”.  Seung – Yul Noh (South Korea) has been playing the USPGA Tour fulltime since the 2012 season after gaining his 2012 USPGA Tour card by finishing in tied for third position at the final 2011 USPGA Tour Qualifying School. In 2012, he finished 49th position on the final 2012 USPGA Tour money list standings and 37th in the final 2012 FedEx Cup Playoffs points list to retain his card for 2013 USPGA Tour season. In 2013, he finished 153rd on the final USPGA Tour money list standings and missed the FedEx Cup playoffs. He played in the Web.com Tour Finals and finished fourth in the final rankings to regain his card for 2013/14 USPGA Tour season. He also became the youngest player so far in the 2013/14 season to win on the USPGA Tour at the tender age of twenty two years old with his twenty third birthday coming at the end of next month. I sure he gained a lot of confidence from this win and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he won his second USPGA Tour event before the season is finished? I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season. 
 
Seung - Yul Noh (South Korea) poses with the Zurich Classic of New Orleans winners trophy he won along with the winners cheque he also won!!
Coming in tied for second position at 271-17 after 72 holes was Andrew Svoboda (USA); he earned US $598,400 for his efforts and moved to 65th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $782,140 earned from the eleven events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 245 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 71st position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points standings list with 394 points earned from the eleven events he has played to date this season so far. From the eleven events he has played to date this season so far he has made five cuts and this was his very first top ten finish he has achieved to date for far this season. He will be extremely happy with this performance having had a mediocre season before this event. He first played on the USPGA Tour in the 2013 season by earning his card by finishing in twenty first position on the 2012 final Web.com Tour money list. His rookie season on the USPGA Tour in 2013 wasn’t that good and he ended up going back to the Web.com tour where he won the 2013 Price Cutter Charity Championship on the Web.com Tour in August. He finished in 25th position on the final 2013 Web.com Tour regular season money list to earn his 2014 PGA Tour card. He then won the second event of the Web.com Tour Finals which was the Chiquita Classic. Andrew Svoboda (USA) has qualified for the U.S. Open four times with a best finish of tied for 71st in 2008. His best career finish on the USPGA Tour also came this week. I hope this finish can give him confidence to have more top ten finishes in the weeks ahead and perhaps win his maiden USPGA Tour event? I wish him all the best for the rest for the 2013/14 season. 

The final player to tie for second position was Robert Streb (USA); he too earned US $598,400 for his efforts and moved to 62nd position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $808,606 earned from the seven events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 245 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 73rd position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 384 points earned from the seven events he has played to date this season so far. From the seven events he has played to date this season so far he has made seven cuts and this is his first top ten finish he has achieved this season so far. He has been playing on the USPGA Tour fulltime since the 2013 season and he earned his card by finishing in seventh position on the final 2012 Web.com Tour Money list where he won the Mylan Classic. His rookie season on the USPGA Tour wasn’t that good with him earning US $ 454,871 from the twenty five events he played in and finished in 141st position on the final 2013 USPGA Tour Money list standings and only kept his conditional status for the 2013/14 USPGA Tour season and that explains why he has only got seven starts so far this season to date. With his 2014/15 USPGA Tour card now virtually secured he can now focus on achieving his maiden USPGA Tour win. I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season. 

Coming in solo fourth position at 272-16 after 72 holes was Jeff Overton (USA); he earned US $326,400 for his efforts and moved to 50th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $974,470 earned from the 14 events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 135 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 49th position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 515 points earned from the 14 events he has played to date this season so far. From the 14 events he has played to date this season so far he has made nine cuts and achieved three top ten finishes which includes the one here. He will be very pleased with this finish but at the same time a little disappointed he couldn’t achieve his maiden USPGA Tour win having played so good on the front nine. He has been playing the USPGA Tour now full time since the 2006 season and is still yet to achieve his maiden USPGA Tour win. He has finished in second position four times though and three of those came in his career year to date on the USPGA Tour which was 2010 where he earned US $3,456,356 from the 26 events he played in and finished up in 12th position on the final 2010 USPGA Tour Money list standings. He also made his Ryder Cup debut in 2010 for Team USA. I’m sure he will achieve his maiden USPGA Tour win very soon, perhaps it will happen in the 2013/14 season? I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season. 

Coming in tied for fifth position at 274-14 after 72 holes was Robert Garrigus (USA); he earned US $248,200 for his efforts and moved to 57th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list with US $873,501 earned from the 15 events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 100 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 48th position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 519 points earned from the 15 events he has played to date this season so far. From the 15 events he has played to date this season so far he has made eleven cuts and achieved two top ten finishes that includes the one here. He also scored the lowest final round by four shots which was a brilliant 64-8 and included one eagle and eight birdies!! His maiden win on the USPGA Tour came at the Children’s Miracle Network Classic in November 2010. It is great to see he has put his substance abuse issues that he faced early in his career behind him and he is very happy with how his life is going now being happily married to his wife, Ami and in 2010 they had their first child. I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season. 

Also tied for fifth position was Erik Compton (USA); he too earned US $248,200 for his efforts and moved to 61st position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $810,483 earned from the 16 events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 100 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 65th position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 418 points earned from the 16 events he has played to date this season so far. From the 16 events he has played to date this season so far he has made 12 cuts and achieved two top ten finishes which includes the one here. He played a very steady final round of 68-4 which included one eagle and three birdies. Erik Compton (USA) has been playing the USPGA Tour Fulltime since the 2012 season where he finished in 163rd position on the USPGA Tour money list standings and failed to retain his tour card. He returned to qualifying school and finished in tied for seventh position to regain his card for 2013 season. He kept his card for the 2013/14 season. It is amazing to think that he has had two Heart Transplants in his life already which is a medical miracle. Let’s hope he can achieve his maiden USPGA Tour win soon?  I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season. 

The final player to tie for fifth position was Charley Hoffman (USA); he too earned US $248,200 for his efforts and moved to twenty eighth position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $1,349,657 earned from the 14 events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 100 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to twenty fifth position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 723 points earned from the 14 events he has played to date this season so far. From the 14 events he has played to date this season so far he has made 13 cuts and achieved four top ten finishes that includes the one here. Charley Hoffman (USA) has been playing on the USPGA Tour fulltime since the 2006 season after gaining his full 2006 USPGA Tour card by finishing in 19th position on the final 2005 Web.com Tour Money list standings with US $212,322 earned from the 26 events he played in. He has easily kept his card for the next season every season since. He has earned over US$1million every season so far as well except in 2008 where he only earned US $945,702. He has won two USPGA Tour events as well so far in his career with the first one coming in 2007 at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and the second one coming in 2010 at the Deutsche Bank Championship. I feel he is ready to win for a third time very soon and it could happen in the 2013/14 season.
Rounding out the top ten in tied for eighth position at 275-13 after 72 holes was Justin Rose (England); he earned US $197,200 for his efforts and moved to 49th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $980,179 earned from the eight events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 80 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 63rd position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 430 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 very happy with his final round 68-4 in the very difficult final round conditions. Justin Rose (England) has been playing the USPGA Tour Fulltime since the 2004 season with easily keeping his card for the next year every year since. In that time he has career earnings to date of US $26,257,944 from the 238 events he has played in his USPGA Tour career to date so far. He has already has five wins on the USPGA Tour which are the 2010 the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance, AT&T National, 2011 BMW Championship, 2012 World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship and the 113th US Open Championship (Maiden Major Championship). I feel now he has won his maiden Major Championship he will have taken a lot of pressure off himself and I wouldn’t be surprised if he won his second Major Championship in the next few years. I wish him all the best for rest the 2013/14 season.
Also tied for eighth position was Tommy Gainey (USA); he too earned US $197,200 for his efforts and moved to 131st position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $298,688 earned from the 17 events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 80 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 152nd position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with 155 points earned from the 17 events he has played to date this season so far. From the 17 events he has played to date this season so far he has made six cuts and this was the very first top ten finish he has achieved to date this season so far. Prior to this event he was having an extremely poor season with only making five cuts from the 16 events he had played in and at one stage had missed seven consecutive cuts. But he had showed some better form recently with making his last two cuts prior to this event. Tommy Gainey (USA) who is also known as Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey (USA) because he wears two golf gloves when he plays. He first gained his USPGA Tour card by finishing in tied for 19th position at the 2007 USPGA Qualifying School Finals after going through all three elimination stages of qualifying, a total of 14 rounds. In his maiden season on the USPGA Tour in 2008 he finished in 148th position on the final 2008 USPGA Tour which only gave him conditional status for the 2009 season. Tommy Gainey (USA) re-entered the Q-School to try and gain back full playing privileges, but finished well down the leader board in Tied for 80th. He then split his time between both the PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour in 2009, struggling again on the USPGA Tour, making just 8 out of 15 cuts, with one top-25 finish. He ended the year 202nd on the final 2009 USPGA Tour money list, not even earning conditional status for 2010. Tommy Gainey (USA) returned to the Nationwide Tour in 2010, where he played the full season. He recorded some impressive results, claiming his first Nationwide Tour title at the Melwood Prince George’s County Open in June. Tommy Gainey (USA) won the event by one stroke over Frank Lickliter II (USA) and Jin Park (South Korea), with weekend rounds of 64 and 65 securing victory. The following month, Tommy Gainey (USA) won his second Nationwide Tour title at the Chiquita Classic (USA), winning by three strokes over Joe Affrunti (USA). He shot a 10 under round of 62 in round three on the way to the win. He finished the season fourth on the Nationwide Tour money list and secured a return to the USPGA Tour in 2011. Tommy Gainey (USA) had a very good season at his second go at the USPGA Tour fulltime in 2011 and finished is 35th position on the final 2011 USPGA Tour Money list standings with making 17 cuts and achieving seven top-10 finishes in the 34 events he played in. And finally in 2012 he achieved his maiden USPGA Tour win on October 21st, during the Fall Series, after 105 starts and 48 cuts made; Tommy Gainey (USA) won his first USPGA Tour event at the McGladrey Classic. He came from seven strokes back of final round leaders Jim Furyk (USA) and Davis Love III (USA) to win by one from David Toms (USA), after shooting a final round of 60-12. Tommy Gainey (USA) had a putt from about 20 feet on the 18th green for a 59 but it missed on the right hand side. Let’s hope this top ten finish he had this week gives him the confidence to have more in the coming weeks and get back to the form he displayed in the 2012 season. I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season. 


The final player to tie for eighth position was Keegan Bradley (USA); he too earned US $197,200 for his efforts and moved to 19th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $1,640,915 earned from the 13 events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 80 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to twentieth position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 799 points earned from the 13 events he has played to date this season so far. From the 13 events he has played to date this season so far he has made eleven cuts and achieved three top ten finishes that includes the one here. He will be very disappointed with his final round 75+3 when he was in a very good position to win if he had of scored a round in the 60s like he had the previous three days. Keegan Bradley (USA) has been playing on the USPGA Tour since the 2011 season after gaining his 2011 full USPGA Tour card by finishing in 14th position on the final 2010 Web.com Tour Money list standings with US $264,760 earned from the 28 events he played in. He had an amazing rookie season on the USPGA Tour in 2011 with earning US $3,758,600 from the 28 events he played in and that included making 18 cuts and achieving four top ten finishes and that included two wins and the first one was the HP Byron Nelson Championship and the second one was his maiden Major Championship which was the PGA Championship and he also won an unofficial event which was the PGA Grand Slam of Golf. He finished in 13th position on the final 2011 USPGA Tour Money list standings which was a fine effort by a rookie. He backed up his rookie season with another awesome season in 2012 where he earned US $ 3,910,658 from the 25 events he played in and finished in tenth position on the final 2012 USPGA Tour Money list standings. That included making 21 cuts and achieving five top ten finishes which included his third win which came at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. He also played his first Ryder Cup for the USA against Europe. He has just had an amazing last two seasons on the USPGA Tour and it continued in 2013 with him earning US $3,636,813 from the twenty five events he played in and he finished in eleventh position on the final 2013 USPGA Tour Money list standings. He also made his rookie appearance in the Presidents Cup which he played excellently for the victorious Team USA. I’m sure his fourth win isn’t too far off? It is his third straight season he has won over US Three Million Dollars in earnings and he now has career USPGA Tour earnings of US $12,757,987 from the 90 events he has played so far in his USPGA Tour Career which is just amazing!! I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season. 

Danny Lee (NZL) was one of two New Zealand Golfers in the field and he scored rounds of 71-1 in the first round. Then he scored a very good second round of 69-3 and a excellent third round of 65-7 and a poor final round of 75+3 for a 72 hole total of 280-8 and he finished in tied for twenty fifth position. He earned US $ 54,230 for his efforts and moved to 91st position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $515,475 earned from the 15 events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 45 FedEx Cup points for his efforts and moved to 92nd position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup points list standings with 311 points earned from the 15 events he has played to date this season so far. From the 15 events he has played to date this season so far he has made five cuts and achieved one top ten finish that came just under two months ago at the Puerto Rico Open presented by seepuertorico.com. Since he finished in solo second position at the Puerto Rico Open presented by seepuertorico.com in early March he has missed three out of his last five cuts but at least this tied for twenty fifth position this week should give him some confidence. Let’s hope he can achieve some more top ten finishes in the events he plays in the coming weeks? I wish all the best in his next few tournaments he plays in for the 2013/14 USPGA Tour season.

Tim Wilkinson (NZL) was the other New Zealand Golfers in the field and he scored rounds of 70-2 in the first round, a good second round of 70-2, a brilliant bogey free third round of 65-7 and a disastrous final round of 80+8 in very tough conditions which included a back nine of 42+6 for a 72 hole total of 285-3 and he finished in tied for 52nd position. He earned US $15,476.80 for his efforts and moved to 100th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $458,437 earned from the 14 events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 15 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 124th  position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup points list standings with 233 points earned from the 14 events he has played to date this season so far. From the 14 events he has played to date this season so far he has made nine cuts and achieved two top ten finishes which came at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in mid November last year and at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in early February. He will be disappointed with his final nine holes in the final round where he scored 42+6. He has now made his last four consecutive cuts but his best finish in his last four starts has been tied for 52nd position this past week. Let’s hope he can have some top ten finishes in the weeks to come? I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season. 

Next week the USPGA Tour and FedEx Cup heads to Charlotte for the Wells Fargo Championship and it is played on the Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte, North Carolina. It carries a huge prize purse of US $6,900,000 for the taking. Danny Lee (NZL) and Tim Wilkinson (NZL) are likely to get starts as well. Derek Ernst (USA) is the defending Champion and will be keen to defend his title. It starts on Thursday 1st May. I will report back who won the trophy next.  

So to the Top 5 on the Official World Golf Rankings Points this week and coming in at Number One Position for the 681st week of his career in total is Tiger Woods (USA) who is fresh off his tie for twenty fifth position at the WGC – Cadillac Championship seven weeks ago with 8.46 Official Golf World Ranking Points; coming in at Number Two is Adam Scott (Australia) who is fresh off his tied for 14th position at the Masters Tournament two weeks ago with 8.18 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 seven months ago and won DP World Tour Championship, Dubai and the 2013 Race to Dubai Title 23 weeks ago and two weeks ago finished in tied for 14th position at the Masters Tournament with 8.00 Official Golf World Ranking Points; coming in at Number Four is Bubba Watson (USA) who is fresh off his Masters Tournament win two weeks ago with 7.35 Official Golf World Ranking Points and rounding out the top 5 on the Official Golf World Ranking Points list this week is Matt Kuchar (USA) who is fresh of his win one week ago at the RBC Heritage with 7.14 Official Golf World Ranking Points. Michael Hendry (NZL) is in his second week of his second spell of being the highest ranked New Zealand Golfer in the world after his tied for third finish at the Tsuruya Open this past week which was the second event on Japanese soil for the 2014 Japan Golf Tour season. This week he gains 18 places and rises to 218th position on the Official World Golf Rankings Points list with 0.82 Official Golf World Ranking Points. 
 
Remember now it is Autumn you will need to take one more club than usual because the air is getting thicker!!

Source: Pgatour.com, Official World Golf Rankings, wikipedia.org

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