Tag Archives: golf tuition London

Is Clarke The Right Man To Captain Europe?

Well as you all know by now Darren Clarke has been appointed European Ryder Cup Captain for 2016 which seems to be a popular choice among fans and player alike, and no doubt his current sponsors will be very happy with the publicity.

Clarke has won the Ryder Cup 4 times as a player which will stand him good stead as he prepares for seemingly one of the biggest weeks of his life next year in America. He has been victorious under the captaincy of Seve, Sam Torrance, Bernhard Langer and lastly Ian Woosnam in which Darren Clarke bravely lead Europe to victory in Ireland after the death of his wife a week earlier.

Next September the event will be held at Hazeltine National Golf Course in Minnesota, and Clarke will be up against good friend and opponent Davis Love III who will be trying to heal the wounded tiger that is the US team, after many years of domination by Europe.

The last time Europe were defeated in America was under the captaincy of Nick Faldo who didn’t conduct himself amazingly well in Valhalla in 2008. I really we hope we see a professional approach from Clarke as he is known as a bit of a ‘boy’ on the tour and does like to party, but I guess we will only find this out as time goes on…

I’m sure it will definitely be as fiercely contested as ever and will be another great spectacle for this game we all love. It’s a long time to wait, but I remember thinking that when I was waiting for the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor, and look where that time as gone!

Montgomerie Tips McIlroy To Win All Four Majors Next Year

Ex European Ryder Cup Captain and eight time Order Of Merit winner Colin Montgomerie has stuck his neck out and said that he thinks Northern Irishmen Rory McIlroy can win all four major titles next season.

He only has to win The Masters and the US Open next year to emulate the achievements of Tiger Woods who has held all four majors at once, but Montgomerie believes he can win all four and gain an unprecedented six-major sweep for the first time in the history of the sport.

The only player to win all four majors in one season was Bobby Jones but this came back in the 1930’s before The Masters was introduced and two of the grand slam tournaments were for amateurs.

There’s no doubt that McIlroy is the best player in the world right now and will dominate the game for the next 5 years, but winning all of the majors in one season is one hell of a task and something that I believe way beyond McIlroy’s dreams.

There are just too many good other players now compared to many years ago, and although McIlroy is way better than most, it only takes one off day in a major championship for him to be overtaken by someone waiting in the wings.

I’m not saying it’s impossible but it is highly unlikely, and be a betting man like am I will not even be looking at the odds for this one.

 

Lyoness Open Agrees A New Five Year Deal With European Tour

The European Tour have agreed a new five year deal for The Lyoness Open to feature in the Race To Dubai until 2019 .

The tournament held in Austria will see it’s tenth consecutive staging next year but also held the event between 1990 and 1996 in the past and has had famous winners with the likes of Bernhard Langer and Paul McGinley.

The prize money has increased a bit since those days, and as part of the new agreement the 2015 tournament will see the prize money increase by 50% from €1,000,000 to €1,500,000. Diamond Country Club will be the host again next year as it has been since 2010.

This years event was won by Mikael Lundberg after holing a 40ft putt in a play-off against home favourite Bernd Wiesberger who was the winner of the event back in 2012.

This is a really excellent tournament and to have it as part of the Race To Dubai until 2019 is a great thing for the tour and for the players.

David Lynn Hopes To Rediscover Form At Portugal Masters

This week the European Tour returns to Oceanico Victoria Golf Club for the annual Portugal Masters.

12 months ago it was David Lynn who was on top of the world after winning this event, but unfortunately it was the last time he won, and he is hoping that he can rediscover his form as his highest victory since is 21st place at the Omega European Masters last month.

Lynn’s form has taken an alarming dip in 2014, and playing on both sides of the Atlantic has probably not helped him as he has struggled to find consistency in his swing.

Another player searching for some form this week is Francesco Molinari who has a good record at this event, and he will be looking to put the disappointment of missing out on his third Ryder Cup in a row with a win here this week.

 

Adam Scott and Caddie Steve Williams Part Company

It’s come to light that after a three year long working relationship Adam Scott and Steve Williams will no longer be working together.

Australian Adam Scott made an announcement this morning saying that Williams’ dedication and professionalism have been without question and that he highly valued his friendship, but their priorities at this stage in their careers were different.

Williams joined Scott after Tiger Woods fired him in 2011 and after winning 13 majors. He then helped Scott to win The Masters in 2013 which Williams calls his career highlight.

It appears that Williams wants to spend more time with his family in New Zealand and is looking for more of a part-time role with a player.

Is there something fishy going on? Could Williams be getting with Tiger?

I’m sure we’ll find out sooner or later?

Can McIlroy Win Again? Of Course He Can

It was another great day at the office for Rory McIlroy yesterday as he put himself right into contention after a fairly lackluster couple of days at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston.

The Northern Irishman carded seven birdies, to shoot a flawless round of 64 and find himself only 2 shots back from leader Russell Henley.

Henley himself had a good day and shot a credible round of 65 to take a one shot lead going into today from Billy Horschel.

Chris Kirk and Jason Day also join McIlroy on 10 under par with Webb Simpson a further shot back on 9 under.

All is set for another tight finish, and if McIlroy can get off to a fast start like he has everyday so far, it will be hard to see any other winner then him going into the final few holes.

Enjoy!

Me and McIlroy are Both Winners!

Well I’m sure if you are a golf fan, you would have watch some of the golf from yesterday’s final round at The Open Championship, which saw Rory McIlroy claim his third major win in what no doubt is going to be a long and successful career.

It wasn’t all plain sailing for the young Northern Irishman though as the players chasing him were all playing well and making lots of birdies, which really did put the pressure on him and at one stage his lead was cut to just two shots.

Garcia was looking the most likely candidate to catch him who was 5 under par through 10 holes after a fine eagle putt on the 10th, but his race looked to have been run after he left his bunker shot in the bunker on the par three 15th. But with birdies on 16 and 18 he was still in with a shout, but only if McIlroy was to falter.

McIlroy was to hold things together even if he did finish a little shakily after hitting his second shot on 18 into the bunker, but he still managed to make par and win by two clear shots over Garcia and Fowler.

If you had read my betting tips on Tuesday then you would have seen that I had backed Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler. I had  an each way bet on both of them so made myself a nice tidy profit overall.

The final major of the year is only a couple of weeks away, and the PGA Championship is being held at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville.

My Betting Tips For The Open 2014

The excitement is building as the third major of the season approaches, and in most peoples opinion, the biggest of them all (I might be a little biased.)

You great thing about The Open Championship is that you never quite know what to expect in terms of conditions as they can change so quickly within a matter of minutes, which makes it so hard to prepare for if you aren’t used to playing links golf.

Player’s like Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy have grown up playing links golf, but will only probably benefit if the wind gets up, then they could come into their own.

The conditions look pretty good for the next few days though and it could get hard and bouncy, and with the narrow fairways could prove to be a test, I think we will be seeing a lot of irons off the tee come the weekend.

So after all said and done, here are my betting tips:

Rickie Fowler 40/1

Tiger Woods 22/1

Sergio Garcia 25/1

Miguel Angel Jimenez 80/1

Get all of the latest odds from Paddy Power 

You can also look through my other betting tips to see my track record before you decide to bet.

Good luck if you have a bet, should be a great spectacle once again.

James

 

Owen Claims First Win On US Soil

It’s been a long wait for Greg Owen to claim his first victory in America and he finally broke his duck after winning the United Leasing Championship in dramatic fashion on the Web.com Tour.

Owen who has spent most of his time in America and until the weekend had only a best finish of second which was at the famous Bay Hill Invitational back in 2006.

The player who was born in Mansfield has been moving between the Web.com and PGA Tours so far this term and has also mustard up a fourth place finish in May when he took part in the South Georgia Classic.

Owen’s back nine on Sunday was nothing but superb, he managed to birdie 10, 12 and 13 and then made a magnificent eagle on the 15th. He then birdied 16 and 17 which was enough to see him home safely, even with a bogey at the last.

This win will give Owen the confidence now to progress on the US PGA Tour and hopefully propel him to playing the golf that we know he can.

Find out more about learning to play golf with my golf lesson packages.

Kaymer Claims Eight-Shot Victory At US Open

Well if there was ever going to be a video made on how to win a major championship then they should use this one as an example.

It was quite simply a breathtaking performance from a player who has had his ups and downs in the past few years, but he is with no doubt back to his best once again.

It’s been an incredible few weeks for Martin Kaymer who claimed The Players Championship a few weeks back on Mother’s Day, and incredibly claimed the US Open on Father’s Day, he obviously didn’t want his Dad to feel left out!

This win will go down as one of the most emphatic victory’s in US Open history as the cool German never looked flustered, even when he did hit a wayward shot, he took his medicine and never tried to do anything clever. His touch around the greens was second to none, and he had the pace of the greens from day one.

This was how Tiger Woods used to win major championships. Get a strong lead after two rounds and then stay there, and just do what you have to do to win. If everyone is chasing you around a tough golf course it’s very hard for them to make birdies, and that was the case around Pinehurst No.2.

So that’s the first two majors of the season done and another month to go before The Open hits our TV screens.

The next event on the PGA Tour is The Travellers Championship, where Bill Haas will be looking to defend his title.