Well
it was another awesome weekend of Golf on the Major Professional Golf Tours
from around the world. First I will start with the European Tour and The Race
to Dubai. This week it headed to Switzerland for the Omega European
Masters and it was played on the Crans-sur-Sierre, Crans Montana, Switzerland.
And it was the Golfer by the name of Richie Ramsay (Scotland) who scored rounds
of 69-2, 68-3, 64-6 and a final round of 66-5 for a 72 hole total of 267-16 and
he won by 4 strokes. He won € 350,000.00 for the win and moved to 20th
position on the current Race to Dubai Money list with € 763,254 earned
from the 19 events he has played to date this year so far. Rory McILroy (NIR)
still leads that list with €2,813,962 earned from the 11 events he has played
to date this year so far.
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| Richie Ramsay (Scotland) pumps his fist to celebrate after holing the winning putt!! |
It was his second European Tour International Schedule
victory in his 122nd European Tour event. He could move into the top 70 of the
Official World Golf Rankings from 110th position. It was his first European
Tour victory since the 2010 South African Open Championship. He has played in
74 European Tour events since his last victory. This victory beats his previous
best 2012 performance of second in the Ballantine's Championship in late April.
It was his second consecutive top six finish, following his sixth place at the
Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, seven days ago. He becomes the second
consecutive Scottish winner on The European Tour, following Paul Lawrie (Scotland)
at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles. This is the first time two
different Scottish golfers have won consecutive European Tour events since
Andrew Coltart (Scotland) (2001 Great North Open) and Colin Montgomerie
(Scotland) (2001 Murphy's Irish Open).
It is also the first time Scotland has won consecutive
European Tour events since Andrew Coltart (Scotland) and Colin Montgomerie
(Scotland) in 2001. He becomes only the second Scot to win the Omega European
Masters, following Colin Montgomerie (Scotland) in 1996. This victory comes in
his fourth appearance in the Omega European Masters. And finally this victory beats
his previous best finish in the Omega European Masters of tied 34th in 2011.
Richie Ramsay (Scotland) played an awesome final round
scoring 66-5 that included a front nine of 31-5 with birdies on the Par 5, 1st
hole, Par 3, 3rd hole, Par 4, 4th hole, Par 4, 7th hole and Par 5, 9th hole. He
played a steady back nine under the circumstances with such a big lead he had
scoring 35 even par which included an eagle on the Par 5, 14th hole, but he
suffered bogies on the Par 3, 13th hole and Par 4, 17th hole. This win will
give him a lot of confidence. It was his third top 10 finish of the 2012 season
on the European Tour. He was always destined for stardom after he claimed one
of the biggest prizes in Amateur Golf with winning the 2006 US Amateur
Championship. He turned professional at the end of the 2007 season with playing
a few events on the Challenge Tour which is the equal to the Web.com Tour in
Europe. He went to the finals of the European Tour Qualifying School in 2007
but failed to get his European Tour Card for the 2008 season. So he spent the
2008 season playing the Challenge Tour full time. He had an Awesome season with
winning twice, first at the Vodafone Challenge and then at the AGF-Allianz
Golf Open Grand Toulouse. He also achieved five other top 10 finishes in 2008.
He finished in 8th position on the final Challenge Tour rankings with earnings
of €106,656 from the 21 events he
played in and gained his full status on the European Tour in 2009.
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| Richie Ramsay (Scotland) holds aloft the Omega European Masters Trophy he won |
He struggled in his rookie season on the European Tour with missing
the cut in 16 events he played in. But he did get one top 10 finish at the
Alfred Dunhill Links Championship but he finished up in 97th position with
€331,171 earned from the 31 events he played in and easily kept his playing
Status for the 2010 season. In 2010 he had a much better season with gaining
his maiden European Tour win at the South African Open Championship and he
finished in 47th position on the final Race to Dubai Money list standings with
€740,694 earned from the 32 events he played in. In 2011 he had another good
season on the European Tour with recording 6 top 10 finishes and he finished in
20th position on the final Race to Dubai Money list with €763,254 earned from
the 19 events he played in. This year he is on his way to even improving on his
2011 season result on the Race to Dubai Money list and I feel he could even be
a contender to take out the Race to Dubai Championship if everything goes well
for him. I wish him all the best for the remaining events on the European Tour
in 2012.
Coming in tied for second position at 271-12 after 72 holes
was Marcus Fraser (Australia), it continued on his fine season he has had so
far on the European Tour with already recording 5 top 10 finishes and his
season earnings to date are € 781,947 from the 19 events he has played in
which places him in 19th position on the current Race to Dubai Money list
standings. Also tied for second position was Romain Wattel (France), he
continued on his fine form from his 3rd placing at the Johnnie Walker
Championship at Gleneagles last week and he is only 21 years old. Also tied for
second position was Fredrik Andersson Hed (Sweden), he too continued on his
fine form from his 3rd placing at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles
last week. His full playing status for the 2013 season is now secure. The final
player to tie for second position was Danny Willett (England), he too continued
on his fine season he is having with now having had four top 10 finishes
including a win at the BMW International Open in late June.
Coming tied for 6th position at 276-11 after 72 holes was
Bernd Wiesberger (Austria), he continued on his awesome season he is having on
the European Tour in 2012. It was his fourth top 10 finish from the 21 events
he has played in so far and that includes wins at the Ballantine's Championship in late
April and the Lyoness Open powered by Greenfinity in late July. Also tied for
6th position was Felipe Aguilar (Chile), it was his 3rd top 10 finish of the
season. His full playing status for the 2013 European Tour season should now be
secure. The final player to tie for 6th position was last week’s winner, Paul
Lawrie (Scotland). He continues on his awesome season on the European Tour with
now having recorded eight top 10 finishes which includes wins at the Commercialbank
Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy in late January and the Johnnie
Walker Championship at Gleneagles just last week. He has only missed 2 cuts out
of the 20 events he has played in so far. He has now moved to 6th position on
the current Race to Dubai Money list with € 1,700,132 earned from
the 20 events he has played to date this year so far. He must now be a serious
threat to take out the Race to Dubai Money list title in late November?
Rounding out the top 10 in tied for 9th position at 273-10
after 72 holes was Anders Hansen (Denmark); it was his first top 10 finish of
the 2012 season. But he has still had a good season to date with earnings of
€ 440,439 from the 16 events he has played to date this year so far, and
that places him is 47th position on the current Race to Dubai Money list
standings. The other player to tie for 9th position was Jamie Donaldson (Wales);
he has now recorded four top 10 finishes with the highlight being his maiden
win on the European Tour at the Irish Open in early July. And he
has only missed 2 cuts out of the 16 events he has played in to date this year
so far. He has earned € 834,972 which places him in 17th position
on the current Race to Dubai Money list standings.
Michael Campbell (NZL) was the only New Zealander in the
field. He scored rounds of 70-1, 71 even, 67-3 and a final round of 67-4 for a
72 hole total 275-8 and he tied for 14th position which was his second best
finish on the European Tour in the 2012 season. He earned € 29,610.00 for
his efforts and moves to 146th position on the current Race to Dubai Money list
standings with € 93,813 earned from the 16 events he has played to date
this season so far. It was his 5th cut he has made this season and in the last
2 months he has showed a lot better form. He still has a long way to go to get
back to the form he showed when he won the 105th US Open Championship in 2005. I
hope he can have some better finishes in the events to come in the coming
months on the European Tour.
Next week the European Tour and Race to Dubai heads to The
Netherlands for the Hilversumsche GC, Hilversum, The Netherlands. It has a
prize purse of €1,800,000 for the taking. Simon Dyson (England) is the
defending Champion and will be keen for back to back titles. It starts on
Thursday 6th September and I will report back who won the trophy next week.
The second event I am reporting on this week was on the
USPGA Tour and was the second event in the FedEx Cup Playoff Series. Only the
top 100 players on the FedEx Cup Playoffs list after the first playoff event
which was the Barclays, qualified to play in the Deutsche Bank Championship
which was having its 10th Anniversary and it was played on the TPC Boston,
Norton, Massachusetts. And it was the Golfer by the name of Rory McILroy (NIR)
who scored rounds of 65-6, 65-6, 67-4 and a final round 67-4 for a 72 hole
total of 264-20 and he won by a single stroke. He won $US1, 440, 000.00 for the
win and moved to Number One Position on the current USPGA Tour Money list with
$US 6, 402,192 earned from the 14 events he has played to date this year so
far. He also gained 2500 FedEx Cup points (FedEx Cup points in the first three
playoff events are worth five times more than the regular season) for the win
and moved to Number One position on the FedEx Cup Playoffs points list with
4,799 points earned from the 14 events he has played to date this year so far.
He is 1,331 points ahead of Nick Watney (USA) who is in second position with 3,468
points earned from the 23 events he has played to date this year so far.
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| Rory McILroy (NIR) smiles during the final round |
Rory McILroy (NIR) who started the final round that was
played on Labour Day Monday in the USA was 3 strokes behind the 54 hole leader,
Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) who was -19. Rory McILroy (NIR) got off to a great start
to his final round with a hat trick birdies on the Par 5, 2nd hole, Par 3, 3rd
hole and Par 4, 4th hole to move to -19 after 5 holes of the final round. He
was now only one stroke behind Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) who also birdied the Par
4, 4th hole to get to -20. But when Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) double bogeyed the
Par 4, 5th hole and
Rory McILroy (NIR) bogeyed it as well it meant that those two players were tied
on -18. Rory McILroy (NIR) then birdied the Par 4, 6th hole to get to -19 and
the Par 3, 8th to get to -20. He went out in 32-4 and now had a 2 stroke lead
over Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) -18. Rory McILroy (NIR) then proceeded to
birdie the Par 4, 12th hole to get to -21 and now had a three stroke lead over
Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) who was -18. Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) fought back well
though and birdied the Par 4, 13th hole to get to -19 and the Par 4, 15th hole
to get to -20 and was now only one stroke behind Rory McILroy (NIR) who was at
-21 with three holes to play. They both made solid pars on the Par 3, 16th
hole.
On the Par 4, 17th hole Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) teed off
first and hit a great drive right down the centre of the fairway. Rory McILroy
(NIR) then teed off and hit a poor drive that landed in the right rough. Rory
McILroy (NIR) then played his second shot first and hit a long iron from the
deep rough and pulled it pin high well left of the green leaving an impossible
chip over the left hand greenside bunker for his third shot with no green to
work with from a terrible lie in the rough. Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) now had a
real good chance to pick up some shots on Rory McILroy (NIR). But he hit a very
poor second shot with his short iron that landed in the right hand rough pin
high. Rory McILroy (NIR) played his chip shot from his horrible lie in the left
hand green side rough and hit it over the green and it landed in another
terrible lie in the rough at the back of the green. Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) had
a real good chance for a two shot swing if he could get up and down for his
par. But he chose to play his chip shot as a flop shot and it landed just short
of the flag stick and rolled 10 feet past the cup. Johnny Miller (USA) who was
commentating for NBC Sports said “he was surprised with the choice of shot he
chose to play because the lie he had was much more suited to a chip and run
shot”. Rory McILroy (NIR) now had a little bit less pressure on him for his
fourth shot. He played a fine chip shot that rolled 8 feet past the cup leaving
him a makeable putt for bogey. Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) now had his 10 foot putt
for par and just missed it and tapped in for his bogey 5 to fall back to minus
19 with one hole to play. Rory McILroy (NIR) then steadied himself and calmly
rolled in his 8 foot par putt to fall back to minus 20.
So Rory McILroy (NIR) took a 1 stroke over Louis Oosthuizen
(RSA) with just the 72nd hole to play. Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) teed off first
and again just as he did on the 17th hole he hit a great tee shot right down
the centre of the fairway on the short Par 5, 18th hole. Rory McILroy (NIR)
teed off next and hit a brilliant tee shot right down the middle of the
fairway, but it rolled too far into the rough that was through the fairway. Louis
Oosthuizen (RSA) played his second shot first with his fairway wood and leaked
to the right and landed short of the green narrowly missing the hazard. Rory
McILroy (NIR) chose to lay up with his second shot with a wedge leaving about
100 yards to the green for his third shot. Rory McILroy (NIR) played his third
shot first with his wedge and landed it on the green pin high about 25 feet
from the pin. Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) had a very difficult chip shot for his
third shot, but he played it brilliantly and it landed just over the bunker on
the green, but it rolled 15 feet past the hole. Rory McILroy (NIR) now had his
25 foot birdie putt to win the Deutsche Bank Championship, he hit a good putt
that sat on the left lip of the cup and decided not to drop. He bit his putter
grip in frustration and then tapped in for his Par 5, to post minus 20 for the
72 holes. Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) now had his 15 foot birdie putt to force a
playoff with Rory McILroy (NIR). He struck a good putt but it just missed going
in on the right hand side. And he tapped in for par 5 and had to settle for
second position.
Rory McILroy (NIR) ended up scoring 35 even par on the back
nine. And he scored 67-4 in his final round. It was Rory McILroy’s (NIR) 8th
top 10 finish of the 2012 USPGA Tour season and 3 of those top 10 finishes are
wins that included The Honda Classic in early March, 94th PGA Championship in
early August and this event. He is now equal with Tiger Woods (USA) for the
most wins in the 2012 USPGA Tour season with three. He becomes the youngest
ever golfer to win a FedEx Cup Playoff Event and he is the second youngest
golfer behind Tiger Woods (USA) to win 5 USPGA Tour events at the tender age of
23 years old. Here are his 5 wins to date on the USPGA Tour from the first to
the most recent: 2010 Wells Fargo Championship, 2011 U.S. Open Championship,
2012 The Honda Classic, 94th PGA Championship and the Deutsche Bank
Championship. He is also number one of the Race to Dubai Money list as I
mentioned earlier.
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| Rory McILroy (NIR) poses with the Deutsche Bank Open Trophy he won |
I feel Rory McILroy (NIR) must now be odds on favourite to
the win the FedEx Cup even though there is a long way to go. I feel this year
he could win two of the most prestigious titles on the two biggest Professional
Golfer Tours. The first one is the FedEx Cup and the second one is the Race to
Dubai title on the European Tour. I wish Rory McILroy (NIR) all the best for
the rest of the 2012 season.
Coming in solo 2nd position at 265-19 after 72 holes was
Louis Oosthuizen (RSA). He is having a great season with earnings already of
$US 3, 211, 595 from the 17 events he has played in this year so far. And he
moves to 5th position on the current FedEx Cup Playoff Standings with 2,909
points. His highlight of the 2012 season so far must be his runner up finish at
the first Major Championship of the year which was the Masters Tournament. He
is an exciting player to watch and has a picture perfect golf swing. And he
proved in the third round of this tournament he isn’t afraid of taking in low
when he was minus 8 after 10 holes. Coming in solo third position at 266-18
after 72 holes was Tiger Woods (USA); it was the first tournament on the USPGA
Tour since the 2009 BMW Championship that he has scored four consecutive rounds
in the 60’s. It was Tiger Woods (USA) 7th top 10 finish of the 2012 USPGA Tour
season so far and 3 of those top 10 finishes have been wins including Arnold
Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard in late March; the Memorial
Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance in early June and the tournament
he is the host of the AT&T National in early July. He is now in third
position on the FedEx Cup Playoffs points list with 3,417 points earned from
the 17 events he has played to date this year so far. I feel he is right where
he wants to be heading into the final two playoff events remaining.
Coming in tied for 4th position at 270-14 after 72 holes was
Phil Mickelson (USA); it just continues on another fine season for him with
already recording 6 top 10 finishes which includes a win at the AT&T Pebble
Beach National Pro – Am in early February. He moved to 9th position in the
current FedEx Cup Playoffs points list with 2,170 points earned from the 20
events he has played in to date so far this year. He is still a better than
average chance to win the FedEx Cup in my opinion. Also tied for 4th position
was Dustin Johnson (USA); it was also his 7th top finish on the USPGA Tour to
date this year so far which included a win in the FedEx St. Jude Classic in
early June. He moved to 6th position on the current FedEx Cup Playoffs points
list with 2,622 points earned from the 17 events he has played to date this
year so far. He too has a great chance to win the FedEx Cup if plays well in
the next two playoff events. Coming in solo 6th position at 271-13 after 72
holes was Brandt Snedeker (USA); he is having a great season on the USPGA Tour
with recording 6 top 10 finishes that includes a win in the Farmers Insurance
Open in late January. He moves to 4th position in the current FedEx Cup
Playoffs points list with 3,194 points earned from the 20 events he has played
in to date this year so far. He too is a real contender to win the FedEx Cup.
Coming in tied for 7th position at 272-12 after 72 holes was
Adam Scott (Australia); it was his 4th top 10 finish of his 2012 USPGA Tour
season and that includes his 2nd placing at the Open Championship in mid July.
That was where he had four bogeys in the last four holes to lose by 1 stroke to
Ernie Els (RSA). But he now climbs in to the Top 30 on the current FedEx Cup
Playoffs points list with 1,448 points earned from the 14 events he has played
so far this year. And that sees him in 25th position on the FedEx Cup Playoff
points list with two playoff events remaining. He will need a high finish this
week to be sure of his place in the final playoff event in two weeks time which
is the Tour Championship that only the top 30 on the FedEx Cup Playoff points
list after the BMW Championship get a start in. The other player to tie for 7th
position was Jeff Overton (USA); it was only his 3rd top 10 finish of the
season. He now has 1,104 points on the current FedEx Cup playoff points list
and is in 40th position heading into the 3rd playoff which the BMW Championship
next week and will properly need a top 10 finish to make it inside the top 30
players on the FedEx Cup points list at the conclusion of this event that earn
the right to play in the Tour Championship at the East Lake Golf Club in
Atlanta.
In solo 9th position at 273-11 after 72 holes was Bryce
Molder (USA); it was his second top 10 finish on the USPGA Tour this season. He
is now in 45th position on the current FedEx Cup Playoff points list with 1,
003 points earned from the 22 events he has played in so far this year. But he
will need a high finish this week if he is going to make it to the Tour
Championship. Rounding out the top 10 in tied for 10th position at 274-10 after
72 holes was Kevin Stadler (USA); he has had a solid season on the USPGA Tour
with recording 5 top 10 finishes and is in 32nd position on the current FedEx
Cup Playoff points list with 1,285 points earned from the 23 events he has
played to date this year so far. Another top 10 finish this week and he is
certain to make the Tour Championship. Also tied for 10th position was Ryan
Moore (USA); he too has recorded 5 top 10 finishes on the USPGA Tour so far this
year. And he is currently in 35th position on the FedEx Cup Playoffs points
list with 1,205 points earned from the 21 events he has played in to date this
year so far. He too with another top 10 finish this week is certain to make the
Tour Championship.
Charley Hoffman (USA) who finished on 279-5 after 72 holes
and tied for 26th position was what the playoffs are all about. He had to two
putt the final green for his par 5 to make the BMW Championship by finishing
inside the top 70 on the FedEx Cup Playoffs points list after this event and it
was from about 40 feet. He rolled the first putt 10 feet past the hole, but was
able to make the 10 foot return putt for his Par 5 and he finished in 69th
position on the current FedEx Cup Playoffs points list with 833 points earned
from the 25 events he has played to date this year so far. He will need a huge
finish this week at the BMW Championship if he is going to get inside the top
30 players on the FedEx Cup Playoffs points list that make the Tour
Championship after the BMW Championship. The player that finished in 70th
position on the current FedEx Cup Playoffs points list after the Deutsche Bank
Championship was Dicky Pride (USA); he finished on 278-6 after 72 holes and was
tied for 20th position. He has earned 829 points from the 16 events he has
played to date this year so far. He too will need a huge finish this week at
the BMW Championship if he is going to get inside the top 30 players on the
FedEx Cup Playoffs points list that make the Tour Championship after the BMW
Championship.
Next week the USPGA Tour and FedEx Cup Playoff Series heads
to Indiana for the third FedEx Cup Playoff Event which is the BMW Championship
and it is being played on the Crooked Stick GC, Carmel, Indiana. Only the top
70 players on the current FedEx Cup Playoff Points list qualify to play in it.
It has a huge prize purse of $US 8,000,000 for the taking and of course FedEx
Cup points are worth 5 times more than the regular season so some big moves can
be made on the FedEx Cup Playoff Points list. Justin Rose (England) is the
defending Champion and will be keen to defend his title. It starts on Thursday
6th September and I will report back he 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 4th week of a 4th spell of his
career and the 11th week of his career in total is the 94th PGA Champion, Rory
McILroy (NIR) who was fresh off his Deutsche Bank Championship win with 11.51 Official
Golf World Ranking Points; coming in at Number Two is Luke Donald (England)
with 9.29 Official Golf World Ranking Points; coming in at Number Three is
Tiger Woods (USA) with 9.26 Official Golf World Ranking Points; coming in at
Number Four is Lee Westwood (England) with 7.13 Official Golf World Ranking
Points and rounding out the top 5 on the Official Golf World Ranking Points
list is the 112th US Open Champion, Webb Simpson (USA) with 6.15 Official Golf
World Ranking Points. Danny Lee (NZL) is still the highest ranked New Zealand Golfer in the World. This week
he slips 5 places to be at 218th position on the Official World Golf Rankings
Points list with 0.83 Official World Golf Ranking Points on the list.
Remember
as the course starts drying out play for more roll out on your shots.
Source:
pgatour.com, europeantour.com
