Golf Events from the Weekend 8th June 2014

Well it was another exciting weekend on the Major Professional Golf Tours from around the world and this week the USPGA Tour and FedEx Cup headed to Memphis for the FedEx St.Jude Classic and it was played on the TPC Southwind, Memphis, Tennessee. And it was the golfer by the name of Ben Crane (USA) who scored rounds of 63-7, 65-5, 69-1 and a poor final round of 73+3 in very tough conditions for a 72 hole total of 270-10 to win by a single stroke. It was his fifth win of his USPGA Tour career to date so far and he won US $1,044,000 for win and moved to 42nd position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $1,354,974 earned from the 17 events he has played to date this season so far. Bubba Watson (USA) still leads that list with US $4,978,679 earned from the eleven events he has played to date this season so far. Ben Crane (USA) also got 500 FedEx Cup points for the win and moved to 41st position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points standings list with 710 points earned from the 17 events he has played to date this season so far and he is 1,529 points behind the current leader of that list who is Jimmy Walker (USA) who has earned 2,239 points from the 18 events he has played to date this season so far. From the 17 events Ben Crane (USA) has played to date this season so far he has made eleven cuts and achieved two top ten finishes that includes the win here. 

 

Ben Crane (USA) tees off during the final round

Ben Crane (USA) played a poor final round in very tough conditions. He scored 73+3 which included a front nine of 37+2 with bogeys on the par four, sixth hole and par four, ninth hole and he made the turn at minus eleven and was leading by one shot. Troy Merritt (USA) went out in 35 even par and made the turn at minus ten and was one shot behind the leader. Ben Crane (USA) played holes ten to 14 in even par and remained at minus eleven and still was leading by one shot. Troy Merritt (USA) played holes ten to 14 in even par and remained at minus ten and was still one shot behind the leader. 

Ben Crane (USA) played holes 15 to 17 in even par and remained at minus eleven but now lead by two shots with only the par four, 72nd hole to play. Troy Merritt (USA) played holes 15 to 17 in one over par and fell back to minus nine and now was two shots behind the leader with just the par four, 72nd hole to play. Troy Merritt (USA) who was playing in the group ahead of the final group made a solid par on the par four, 72nd hole and finished the 72 holes at minus nine and was one shot behind the winner. Ben Crane (USA) now stood on the par four, 72nd tee with a two shot lead. Because there is a water hazard right down the left hand side of the hole he chose his three wood off the tee and purposely hit it out to the right side but he lost it right a little too much. It landed in the rough just to the right of the right hand fairway bunker. He knew that bogey was enough to win but he chose to go for the green with his fairway wood which was a surprise to the CBS Sports Golf Analyst, Ian Baker – Finch (Australia) who suggested “he hit a layup with his eight iron and leave a short wedge shot to the green from the fairway”.  But Ben Crane (USA) hit hits fairway wood to the right of the green which was the smart play and it landed in the right hand green side bunker. He was now faced with a scary green side bunker shot that he was hitting to a flag stick that was cut on the back left hand side of the green and if he caught it slightly thin he would be in the same water hazard that he avoided with his tee shot. He struck a fine bunker shot under the circumstances and it came up short of the cup by 15 feet. He now knew that if he could two putt he would win the title. He struck a good first putt that rolled down at perfect speed and finished two feet past the cup. He then tapped the two foot putt in for his bogey and he finished on minus ten to win by a single shot. He got a huge high five and hug from his long time caddie, Joel Stock. He scored 36+1 on his back nine. He will be very happy with his first two rounds that were in the mid to low sixties and content with his third round 69-1 but a little disappointed with his final round 73+3 but at the same time pleased he was able to win when he wasn’t at his best and all the good work he did in the first 54 holes had paved the way for this win. 

 

Ben Crane (USA) embraces his caddie Joel Stock after holing the winning putt!!

Ben Crane (USA) has been playing the USPGA Tour fulltime since the 2002 season after gaining his card at the 2001 Final Qualifying Tournament. He won for the first time on the USPGA Tour at the 2003 BellSouth Classic the following year. His second win came in 2005 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee, and in February 2006, just before he turned thirty, he was the highest-ranked American golfer under that age in the Official World Golf Ranking. Ben Crane (USA) has said that he does not like to know with whom he will be paired with, saying, "I looked up to a lot of these guys who I'm now playing with. So, I didn't want to have to go to sleep thinking about it." He is also considered one of the slowest players on the tour. On at least two occasions his extremely slow progress through a course has become a media issue, including one in which a fellow tour player Rory Sabbatini (RSA) played out of turn.  
 

Ben Crane (USA) poses with the FedEx St. Jude Classic Trophy he won!!

Ben Crane (USA) missed the majority of the 2007 season due to back problems, and played on the USPGA Tour in 2008 on a major medical extension. He finished 64th on the money list to retain his card for 2009. In January 2010, Ben Crane (USA) carded a final-round 70 to win the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines by a single stroke. In October 2010, he won the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic Malaysia, an event co-sanctioned by the USPGA Tour (but unofficial money) and Asian Tour. He picked up his fourth win on the USPGA Tour in 2011 at the McGladrey Classic, defeating Webb Simpson (USA) in a playoff. Ben Crane (USA) shot a final round 63 to make the playoff, having at one stage been eight strokes back of the leader. The round included eight birdies and one bogey in ten holes from the 8th thru to the 17th. It was great to see him achieve his fifth USPGA Tour win this week. I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season.

Coming in solo second position at 271-9 after 72 holes was Troy Merritt (USA); he earned US $626,400 for his efforts and moved to 100th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $675,478 earned from the 13 events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 300 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 111th position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 363 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 four cuts and achieved one top ten finish that came this very week. He will be happy with his first three rounds that were in the mid to high 60s but disappointed with his final round 71+1. He has been playing the USPGA Tour Fulltime since the 2010 season after gaining his card at the 2009 USPGA Tour Qualifying School Tournament where he was the Medallist and became only the third golfer in the history of the event to lead after every round. Despite a double-bogey on the final (108th) hole of the six round tournament he won by one stroke over veteran Jeff Maggert (USA) with a score of 22-under-par. In 2010, Troy Merritt (USA) finished 125th on the USPGA Tour Money list, earning the final spot to retain a tour card. He managed to keep his card in 2011, 2012 and 2013 seasons as well. This result should give him confidence to keep on improving because he had a terrible start to the 2013/14 season where he missed his first six cuts. I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 USPGA Tour season.

Coming in tied for third position at 272-8 after 72 holes was Webb Simpson (USA); he earned US $301,600 for his efforts and moved to 12th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $2,420,356 earned from the 14 events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 145 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 15th position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 1,146 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 eleven cuts and achieved six top ten finishes which includes the one here and also the win at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in late October last year. He will be happy with his final three rounds this week that were all in the 60s especially his second and final rounds that were 66-4. But will be disappointed with his slow start in the first round which he scored 71+1. 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 and he won his fourth event at the 2013 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in October last year. I’m sure his fifth win isn’t too far off either and maybe it will happen at the second Major Championship of the 2014 season which is the U.S. Open Championship next week? He had a very good start to his 2013/14 USPGA Tour Season with achieving five top ten finishes in his first seven starts which included a win, but in his next six starts he didn’t achieve a single top ten finish and missed three cuts so this finish this week should give him some real confidence heading into the second Major Championship of the year next week. I wish him all the best with the tournaments he plays in the coming weeks. 

Also tied for third position was Matt Every (USA); he too he earned US $301,600 for his efforts and moved to 13th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $2,404,426 earned from the 18 events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 145 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to eleven position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 1,196 points earned from the 18 events he has played to date this season so far. From the 18 events he has played to date this season so far he has made 12 cuts and achieved six top ten finishes which includes the one here and also his win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard in March this year. He will be happy with his first three rounds that were in the high to mid 60s especially his third round 65-5 which was the equal low round of the day. But he will be slightly disappointed with his final round 70 even par. Matt Every (USA) 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. Now he has won his maiden USPGA Tour title I feel his second win isn’t too far off and could well happen in the 2013/14 season as well? It is great to see he has put the drugs issue in 2010 behind him and now. This finish should give him some real confidence heading into the second Major Championship of the year next week at the U.S. Open Championship because prior to this event he had missed his last four cuts. I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 season. 

The final player to tie for third position was Carl Pettersson (Sweden); he too he earned US $301,600 for his efforts and moved to 80th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $818,068 earned from twenty events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 145 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 80th position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points standings list with 473 points earned from the twenty events he has played to date this season so far. From the twenty events he has played to date this season so far he has made eleven cuts and achieved two top ten finishes which includes the one here. He will be happy with his four rounds this week that were all in the mid to high 60s. He has been playing on the USPGA Tour since the 2003 season and in 2005 he won his maiden USPGA Tour event at the Chrysler Championship where he became the third Swede to win on the USPGA Tour after Jesper Parnevik (Sweden) and Gabriel Hjertstedt (Sweden). He won his second event at the 2006 Memorial Tournament. He won his third event at the Wyndham Championship in his adopted hometown of Greensboro in 2008. He won his fourth event at the 2010 RBC Canadian Open. And his fifth win came at the 2012 RBC Heritage in April 2012. He entered the final round with a one stroke lead after rounds of 65 and 66 on days two and three and cruised to a five stroke victory, holding off Zach Johnson (USA). The win tied Carl Pettersson (Sweden) with Jesper Parnevik (Sweden) for most wins on the USPGA Tour by a Swedish player. He re-entered the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings. He also achieved his career high finish in a Major Championship at the 2012 PGA Championship where he tied for third position. I sure his sixth win isn’t that far off either? I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 USPGA Tour season. 

Rounding out the top ten in tied for sixth position at 273-7 after 72 holes was Ian Poulter (England); he earned US $181,540 for his efforts and moved to 43rd position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $1,351,184 earned from the eleven events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 86 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 62nd position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 575 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 nine cuts and achieved two top ten finishes which includes the one here. He will be happy with his first, second and final rounds that were all in the 60s and especially his final round which was the low round of the day a 64-6. But he will be disappointed with his third round which was 72+2 and it ruined any chance he had of winning the tournament. He has been playing the USPGA Tour Fulltime since the 2005 season and has easily kept his card from the next year every season since. He has current career earnings of US $15,695,282 earned from the 175 events he has played in his USPGA Tour career to date so far. He has also won two USPGA Tour events in his career so far and they were the 2010 World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship and the 2012 World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. I feel he is going to win his maiden Major Championship very soon, and maybe it will happen at the 2014 U.S. Open Championship next week? I wish him all the best with the remaining events he plays in the 2013/14 season. 

Also tied for sixth position was James Hahn (USA); he too earned US $181,540 for his efforts and moved to 97th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $684,551 earned from the twenty events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 86 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 92nd position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 420 points earned from the twenty events he has played to date this season so far. From the twenty events he has played to date this season so far he has made ten cuts and achieved two top ten finishes which includes the one here. He will be happy with his first, third and final rounds which were all in the 60s but just content with his second round that was 70 even par. He has been playing on the USPGA Tour fulltime for the last two seasons after gaining his card at the 2012 final USPGA Tour Qualifying School and before gaining his card in 2012 he played a full season on the Web.com Tour where he won the Rex Hospital Open. Let’s hope he can have some more top ten finishes in the weeks ahead? I wish him all the best for the rest of the 2013/14 USPGA Tour season. 

Also tied for sixth position was Andrew Svoboda (USA); he too earned US $181,540 for his efforts and moved to 62nd position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $1,049,779 earned from the 16 events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 86 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 66th position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 553 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 eight cuts and achieved two top ten finishes which includes the one here. He will be happy with his first three rounds that were in the 60s but only content with his final round that was 70 even par. 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. 

Also tied for sixth position was Brian Harman (USA) ; he too earned US $181,540 for his efforts and moved to 44th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $1,340,934 earned from the twenty one events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 86 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 39th position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 744 points earned from the twenty one events he has played to date this season so far. From the twenty one events he has played to date this season so far he has made 15 cuts and achieved five top ten finishes that includes the one here. He will be very happy with his first three rounds that were all in the 60s especially his second round which was 65-5. But he will be disappointed with his final round of 72+2. He has been playing the USPGA Tour fulltime since the 2012 season in which he earned US $1,146,448 from the 30 events he played in and he finished in 87th position on the final 2012 USPGA Tour Money list standings which meant he easily kept his card for the 2013 USPGA Tour season. In 2013 on the USPGA Tour he earned US $909,759 from the twenty nine events he played in and he finished in 92nd position on the final 2013 USPGA Tour Money list standings meaning he easily kept his full USPGA Tour card for the 2013/14 season. I am sure his maiden USPGA Tour win isn’t too far away? I wish him all the best for the events he plays in the weeks to come.

The final player to tie for sixth position was Billy Horschel (USA); he too earned US $181,540 for his efforts and moved to 59th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $1,097,253 earned from the 18 events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 86 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 60th position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup Points list standings with 584 points earned from the 18 events he has played to date this season so far. From the 18 events he has played to date this season so far he has made 13 cuts and achieved two top ten finishes that includes the one here. He will be happy with his first three rounds that were in the mid 60s but just content with his final round of 70 even par. Billy Horschel (USA) first gained his USPGA Tour card in 2010 by finishing in solo seventh position at the 2009 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. In his rookie season on the USPGA Tour in 2010 he only managed to play in four events and missed every cut because of a tendon injury to his left wrist that required surgery. The wrist started bothering him in late 2009. He was granted a major Medical Extension for 2011 USPGA Tour season, with 19 events to equal the Number 125 from the 2010 PGA TOUR money list ($786,977) he improved his status with a Tied 27th finish at the 2010 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. In the 2011 USPGA Tour season he only made US $533,024 from the 25 events he played in and finished in 140th position on the final 2011 USPGA Tour Money list giving him some status on the USPGA Tour for the 2012 season. He went back to the 2011 PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament but finished in tied 103rd position and got his Web.com Tour Card and that meant he had two tours to play on in the 2012 season. In the 2012 USPGA Tour season he played in 17 events and made 15 cuts and achieved one top ten finish. He earned US $486,177 from those 17 events he played in and finished up in 147th position on the final 2012 USPGA Tour Money list standings meaning he again had some status on the USPGA Tour for the 2013 season. He chose to go back to the 2012 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament to improve his status and he did better than that by finishing tied for fourth position and gained his full USPGA Tour card for the 2013 USPGA Tour season. He had his career best season to date in 2013 with earning US $3,501,703 from the twenty six events he played in and that included winning his maiden USPGA Tour event at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in late April. And I guess as they say the rest is history. I sure his second win can’t be too far off? 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 72+2 in the first round. Then he scored a very good second round of 67-3, and a very good third round as well of 67-3 and a poor final round of 73+3 for a 72 hole total of 279-1 and he tied for 32nd position. He earned US $28,841.82 for his efforts and moved to 113th position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $587,199 earned from the 19 events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 34 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 98th position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup points list standings with 394 points earned from the 19 events he has played to date this season so far. From the 19 events he has played to date this season so far he has made eight cuts and achieved one top ten finish that came just on three months ago at the Puerto Rico Open presented by seepuertorico.com where he finished in solo second position in early March. This week he played an average first round of 72+2 but came back with a very good second round and third rounds of 67-3 but scored a poor final round of 73+3. 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 Golfer in the field and he scored rounds of 68-2 in the first round which was very good, then another very good round second round of 68-2, then good third round of 70 even par and a very disappointing final round of 73+3 which included a terrible back nine of 39+4 for a 72 hole total of 279-1 and he finished in tied for 32nd position. He earned US $28,841.82 for his efforts and moved to 115th  position on the current 2013/14 USPGA Tour Money list standings with US $566,395 earned from the 18 events he has played to date this season so far. He also earned 34 FedEx Cup Points for his efforts and moved to 118th position on the current 2013/14 FedEx Cup points list standings with 330 points earned from the 18 events he has played to date this season so far. From the 18 events he has played to date this season so far he has made 12 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 this year. He will be happy with his first and second rounds this week that were in the late 60s but disappointed with his third and final rounds that were in the low to mid 70s. His final round really cost him a lot of money again because had he scored around in the late 60s he would have won about 20 times more money than he got but I guess that is why your pay cheque is for the whole 72 holes. 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 and all the other Major Professional Golf Tours from around the world head to the state of North Carolina for the second Major Championship of the year which is the 114th U.S. Open Championship. It is played on the Pinehurst No. 2, Pinehurst, North Carolina. When it was last played on this course in 2005 Michael Campbell (NZL) won it!! But due to injury and a lack of form he has decided to not play this year. But all the leading names in the Golf will be there with the likes of Adam Scott (Australia), Henrik Stenson (Sweden), Bubba Watson (USA), Jordan Spieth (USA) and Rory McILroy (NIR) to name a few. There is a huge prize purse of US $8,000,000 for the taking. Justin Rose (England) is the defending Champion and will be very keen to defending his title. Steven Alker (NZL) is the lone New Zealander in the tournament having got through a pre qualifier event and is in hot form right now having just won his fourth Web.com Tour event this past week. It starts on Thursday 12th June and 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 fourth week of his career and also becomes the 17th player to achieve the Number One Official Golf Ranking is Adam Scott (Australia) who is fresh off his tied for fourth finish one week ago at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance and also winning the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial two weeks ago with 9.06 Official Golf World Ranking Points; coming in at Number Two is Henrik Stenson (Sweden) who won the Tour Championship by Coca – Cola and also the 2013 FedEx Cup over eight months ago and won DP World Tour Championship, Dubai and the 2013 Race to Dubai Title 29 weeks ago and one week ago finished in solo fifth position at the Nordea Masters with 7.72 Official Golf World Ranking Points; coming in at Number Three is Bubba Watson (USA) who is fresh off his solo third position at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance one week ago with 7.37 Official Golf World Ranking Points; coming in at Number Four is Tiger Woods (USA) who is fresh off his tied for twenty fifth position at the WGC – Cadillac Championship 13 weeks ago with 7.26 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 tied for 15th position at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance one week ago with 6.96 Official Golf World Ranking Points. Michael Hendry (NZL) is in his eighth week of his second spell of being the highest ranked New Zealand Golfer in the world after his tied for twenty first finish at the PGA Championship Nissin Cup noodles Cup 2014 this past week which was the sixth event on Japanese soil for the 2014 Japan Golf Tour season. This week he drops eight places and falls to 231st position on the Official World Golf Rankings Points list with 0.77 Official Golf World Ranking Points. 

Remember the most important thing to do in the golf swing is to make solid contact with the ball!!

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