Tag Archives: golf

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.

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?

The PGA Tour Season Comes To An End This Weekend In Georgia

This week is basically the top 29 golfers in the FedEx Cup battling it out to win a lottery of $10m. All 29 players (Dustin Johnson ‘decided to take a break from golf’) can have the chance to win the bonus pool of money but only a few have it in their own hands, which include Rory McIlroy and Bubba Watson.

East Lake  in Atlanta plays host again to this showdown which is always entertaining. The course is 110 years old this year and hosted the Ryder Cup back in 1963 which ended in an American victory where they smashed us 23-9.

Let’s hope with the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles so close, that a European player can take the Tour Championship and carry that momentum onto Scotland and give the whole team a boost with only two weeks to go.

Henrik Stenson was victorious last year and took the jackpot home with him with a score of 13 under par.

The winning score is normally between 8 under and 13 under par, so if you can get into double figures in the red you are going to be there or thereabouts come Sunday evening!

Interested in reading my other blogs?

 

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!

My Betting Tips For The PGA Championship At Valhalla

Well it’s been an interesting few days in the golfing world. We’ve seen Rory McIlroy win again and go back to world number one, we’ve seen Tiger Woods injure himself again (getting boring now) and we’ve seen Dustin Johnson supposedly get banned from golf for 6 months for testing positive to cocaine. Just a normal week on the PGA Tour really!

Right, back to the important stuff…betting.

I’ve had a pretty good few weeks on the betting front, so you would be a fool not to at least take a look at these bets, I normally go ‘each way’ on these as picking an outright winner isn’t easy.

So here they are…

Rickie Fowler  – 25/1

Brandt Snedeker – 66/1

Rory McIlroy – 6/1

Gary Woodland – 125/1

Get all the latest odds from Paddy Power

Good luck if you are having a bet, and enjoy the golf!

 

Not Bad For A Wie Girl

Well just a week after Martin Kaymer lifted the US Open trophy at Pinehurst No.2, Michelle Wie did exactly the same thing on Sunday and claimed her first major title at the age of 24.

Wie rolled in a long birdie putt on the 17th hole like a true champion after a disastrous double bogey on the 16th and ended up taking the title by two shots from Stacy Lewis.

The young American has been in the spotlight since the age of thirteen, and has had a pretty successful career up to now, but in golf everyone is chasing the majors these days and this will ease the pressure for her and she will now feel that she is capable of winning many more, which I’m sure she will.

Next up on the LPGA Tour is Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G.

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.

Is 2014 going to be Sergio Garcia’s Year?

Well it’s fair to say that Sergio Garcia has had an up and down career, and especially over the past 5 years has been the hardest of all for him.

He has gone from being one of the best players in the game to totally falling out of love with the game, but it looks like he’s right back to his best and seems to be enjoying life on and on the golf course more than ever.

Since finding love, Garcia seems to in a much better place and is much more comfortable with himself and with his golf as his recent performances would indicate .

Since bursting onto the scene when he was just 19 years old when he finished second to Tiger Woods in the PGA Championship at Medinah in 1999 after an enthralling contest, and if you remember he hit a remarkable shot from behind tree to get himself and the crowed really pumped up.

Take a look at the shot here:

He has also always been a prominent force in the Ryder Cup matches, even when his form had deserted him he managed to find a way to get the job done under the upmost pressure to help guide Europe to victory on many occasion.

Last season he looked to recapture some of the form that we had previously witnessed from the young spaniard and had a steady finish to the 2013 PGA Tour season with three top 20 finishes including a tie for ninth place in the Tour Championship.  He also ended last season with a win on an Asian Tour event.

This season also started well with a win in the Qatar Masters and a handful of top 25 finishes.

Garcia has always performed pretty well in the majors throughout his career, and let’s hope that one of the three left in this season will belong to a player that undoubtedly deserves one.