Tag Archives: birdie

Grace takes four shot lead in South Africa

Posted on January 20, 2012 by | Comments Off on Grace takes four shot lead in South Africa

The lead is still four after the second round at the Volvo Golf Champions at Fancourt in South Africa – but it’s now the local man Branden Grace out in front rather than Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts who in all honesty had a bit of a shocker.

Grace, who was the last man into The European Tour’s winners-only event thanks to his victory at the Joburg Open last Sunday, shot 66 to reach 12 under par.

It was only last month 23 year old Grace was at The European Tour Qualifying School in Spain, but he came through that six-day ordeal in joint tenth place and has been in great form since.

Colsaerts, had a 76 – 12 more than his course record first round – to drop to joint fifth place.

Hopefully Colsaerts can go low tomorrow and put himself back into contention going into Sunday. He is a great talent and from a personal point of view would love to see him do well this season.

 

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A Fully Fit Singh Targets Desert Classic

Posted on January 17, 2012 by | Comments Off on A Fully Fit Singh Targets Desert Classic

Jeev Milkha Singh says he can sense a strong finish on the way , if not  even a victory, when he tees it up being fully fit again at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, starting at the Emirates Golf Club from February 9-12.

The 40 year old, who last won on the European Tour back  in June 2008, endured a series of career-threatening injuries to his wrist, shoulders, ankle and lower back, forcing him to cut down his playing schedule considerably.

“Injuries did a take toll on my body. I won’t be able to play that many tournaments in a season as I used to, but good thing is that I have achieved the level of fitness I need to compete on the Tour,” said Singh,  the first Indian golfer to play in all four Majors and break into the top 30 of the world rankings.

He will be looking to put the last 2 years of injury behind him and hopefully have a strong season ahead.

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Does better course design mean better golf?

Posted on January 16, 2012 by | Comments Off on Does better course design mean better golf?

Even Tour players look at golf courses the same way most people look at them. They like course layouts where they tend to play well, maybe even more than the average golfer does. For a lot of amateurs the venue doesn’t have quite the same effect on their ability to enjoy the day.

It’s hard for even a top tour pro to love a course he has trouble scoring on. Look at Lee Trevino. He always had problems playing at Augusta National, and he was one of the best players of all time. So, generally speaking, players look at courses through glasses of whatever tint matches their ability to perform.

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Great Golf Courses | Number 7 | Turnberry

Posted on January 11, 2012 by | Comments Off on Great Golf Courses | Number 7 | Turnberry

Can you Imagine the rolling hills, sandy dunes, a stiff breeze blowing off the Ayrshire coast. Before designer courses, before manicured greens and major championships, these lands inspired local Scots to play the game of golf.

The first course was built in 1901 and Turnberry’s fairways have been shared by the game’s elite and casual enthusiasts from around the globe. Even the conversion of its links to runways during two world wars could not stop the desire to play here, a place made for golf.

Turnberry has hosted The Open four times now, the first in 1977 and the most recent in 2009 when we nearly saw the most amazing Open win in history when Tom Watson had to par the 18th to win but made a five and then lost to Stewart Cink in a play-off. This is the 18th below.

Past winners of The Open at Turnberry are  1977 – Tom Watson, 1986 – Greg Norman, 1994 – Nick Price and 2009 – Stewart Cink.

018 Ailsa

www.turnberry.co.uk

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The tension in Dubai is hotting up for the weekend

Posted on December 9, 2011 by | Comments Off on The tension in Dubai is hotting up for the weekend

An interesting day in Dubai today saw Alvaro Quiros hit the top of the leaderboard with an outstanding round of 64 following his round 0f 68 yesterday. An eagle on the last capped a bogey free round of brilliant ball striking.

Luke Donald found some form today and managed to finish with a flurry of birdies on the last three holes giving him a respectable round of 68 which keeps him right in the tournament and still in with a great chance of winning the money list.

Donald would have been slightly relieved watching McIlroy making a bit hash of the last two holes, bogeying the par 3 17th and then hitting his tee shot in the water at 18 also resulting in a bogey giving him a round of 71.

So the weekend is perfectly set up with McIlroy and Donald both in the top 12 of the leaderboard and playing a course that can offer a lot of birdies and a lot of bogeys which can see some big swings on the scoring.

Make sure your watching when the players tee it up again early tomorrow morning!

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Sergio Wins Two On The Bounce

Posted on October 31, 2011 by | Comments Off on Sergio Wins Two On The Bounce

Sergio Garcia climbed back into golf’s world’s top 20 with a victory in the Andalucia Masters at Valderrama in Spain.

Garcia, 31, started the day two shots clear of compatriot Miguel Angel Jimenez and survived a shaky start to take his second title in a week.

The Spaniard ended a three-year title drought last weekend with an emphatic 11-shot victory at the Castello Masters and closed out victory with a 71.

Jimenez led at the turn but finished a shot back on five under after a 70.

Scotland’s Richie Ramsay, leader going into the weekend, briefly jumped into a share of the lead with Garcia on the back nine, only to shank his tee shot on the par-three 15th.

His ball was only found after the five-minute search time had elapsed and the resulting double bogey effectively ended his hopes.

It’s great to see Sergio’s hunger back for golf, and he actually seemed to be enjoying the fight on the back nine with Jimenez.

Jimenez was playing some great golf at times and was desperately unlucky with a couple of birdie putts that so nearly dropped in the closing stretch.

Watching the event live on TV bought back a lot of memories of the Ryder Cup in 1997, especially watching Sergio playing the 18th reminded me of when Colin Montgomerie hit a brilliant tee shot and managed to close out victory against Scott Hoch in what was one of the best Ryder Cups ever!

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Sergio Wins First Golf Tournament For Three Years

Posted on October 24, 2011 by | Comments Off on Sergio Wins First Golf Tournament For Three Years

Sergio Garcia ended his three-year wait for a tournament victory by winning the Castello Masters by 11 shots in Spain.

The 31-year-old had taken an eight-shot lead into the final day and dominated again with a superb round of 63 on the Club de Campo del Mediterraneo course where he was boys champion aged 12.

Garcia, who was the tournament promoter, finished with his ninth birdie of the day for a 27-under total.

It gave the Spaniard his ninth European Tour career victory.

His compatriot Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano finished second after a 64 – although his round was spoiled slightly by two bogeys at the 17th and 18th while Scotland’s Richie Ramsay and Sweden’s Alex Noren were a shot further back on 15 under.

Garcia’s victory, his second in four years in the event, beat the previous biggest winning margin of the European Tour season by three shots.

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McIlroy & Bradley share lead at Golf’s Grand Slam Event

Posted on October 19, 2011 by | Comments Off on McIlroy & Bradley share lead at Golf’s Grand Slam Event

Rory McIlroy carded four birdies on the back nine in a four-under 67 to share the first day lead with Keegan Bradley on his quest to become the PGA Grand Slam Champion in Bermuda.

The 22-year-old US Open champion from Northern Ireland holed from 30 feet at the 12th in the two-day competition for the four winners of the year’s major Championships.

Masters champion Charl Schwartzel shot a 74 and Open-winner Darren Clarke slumped to a 77.

McIlroy reached the turn at two-under, despite missing a series of short putts from inside 10 feet at the extremely tough Port Royal  Golf Course in Southampton.

He birdied the fifth after almost driving the 380-yard par-four but three-putted the 11th before his round was revived by the long putt at 12.

Bradley was out of the blocks quickly,  firing majestic six-irons to within two feet at both the second and seventh for his eagles to reach six-under but bogeyed the 14th and 16th to drop back to four under.

Today should make for interesting viewing, hopefully Darren Clarke can play some better golf and challenge the young guns for the title.

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Woods’ Golf Lessons Are Starting To Pay Off

Posted on October 11, 2011 by | Comments Off on Woods’ Golf Lessons Are Starting To Pay Off

Tiger Woods barely missed chipping in for birdie on the 14th hole, came within a hair of rolling in his long eagle putt on 15, lipped out his birdie chip on 16, and left his long birdie putt a half a rotation short on 17.

Woods was mostly dialed in for the third round of the Frys.com Open at CordeValle, but after his ball refused to drop on his front nine — the course’s back nine on the scorecard — and he made a few terrible mistakes on his back nine, he signed for his second straight 68.

“The golf course could have been had today,” Woods said.

”My Golf lessons have been paying off”

At four under for the tournament, he’ll almost certainly be too far back for a shot at the trophy Sunday. Because 53 players had to return to complete their second round at 7:30 Saturday morning, pushing back the start of the third round, officials sent players off both tees in threesomes.

Woods played with Louis Oosthuizen for the third straight day, and they were joined by Matt Bettencourt. The three played behind the lead group of Paul Casey, Ernie Els and Bud Cauley once those three teed off at 3:25 p.m.

With birdies on the first and second holes, his 10th and 11th of the day, Woods pulled to within three of the lead, but it wouldn’t last. He made a mess of the two par-3s on the front nine, and when Els rolled in a four-foot, seven-inch eagle putt on the par-5 ninth — just ahead of the Woods threesome — Tiger was eight strokes behind.

Woods birdied the hole, reaching the green in two shots and two-putting, and was six behind the leader Els after the big South African bogeyed the 10th. Woods was far from perfect in pursuit of his first PGA Tour title in more than two years, but he looked better Saturday than he did Friday, just as he’d looked better Friday than he’d looked Thursday.

“Absolutely it’s gotten better,” he said. “I felt so good over the ball today.”

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Tiger Struggles Again

Posted on October 7, 2011 by | Comments Off on Tiger Struggles Again

Tiger Woods suffered a difficult return to action at the Frys.com Open, firing a double bogey at the 12th on his way to a two-over-par 73.

Woods, playing his first tournament in nearly two months, started the day with a birdie but managed only one more as he finished the day six shots back from the leader.

“That’s probably one of the worst putting rounds I’ve ever had,” said Woods, who could miss consecutive cuts for the first time as a professional.

“I can’t putt any worse than today.”

The former world number one has not played since failing to make the cut at the US PGA Championship in August, after suffering injuries to his left knee and left Achilles tendon.

TIGER WOODS IN 2011

  • US PGA missed cut
  • WGC Invitational T37th
  • Players Ch’ship withdrew
  • Masters T4th
  • Arnold Palmer T24th
  • WGC Cadillac T10th
  • WGC Match Play T33rd
  • Farmers Insurance T44th

However, his putting aside, he was relatively pleased with his play as he looks to halt a slump that has seen him drop out of the world’s top 50 for the first time in almost 15 years and without a win since the 2009 Australian Masters.

“The rest of the game was not too bad,” said Woods, who was partnered by new caddie Joe LaCava for the first time.

“I hit some bad shots, yes. But also, I hit some really good ones. I’m very pleased at the shots I was hitting most of the day.

“But I got nothing out of the round on the greens. And whatever momentum I could have gotten by hitting good shots – you know, I just missed putts.”

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