Tag Archives: Lee Westwood

Qatar Masters Cut To 54 Holes

Winds of up to 45mph meant that less than three hours’ play was possible on the second day of the Commercialbank Qatar Masters which has now been cut to just 54 holes.

They decided at 2pm to call off play for the day and announced soon afterwards by tournament director David Probyn that the sponsors did not want the event to carry into Monday.

Many of the players are also entered for the Omega Dubai Desert Classic next week which they hope will go ahead.

“The course is still on the verge of playable, but there’s no point sending the guys out for an hour or two on a marginal course,” Probyn said.

“The winds will be down a notch tomorrow and decreasing during the day, while the forecast for Sunday is for much calmer conditions.”

Westwood Hopeful To Challenge This Week In Qatar

Lee Westwood has admitted to being a notoriously slow starter, but insists he is ready to hit the ground running at this week’s Qatar Masters.

Westwood finished 17th on his first start of the season in Abu Dhabi last week, but that was not good enough to prevent Rory McIlroy snatching his World Number Two spot as he finished second and was just pipped to the finish by Englishman Robert Rock.

Westwood failed to get a top-ten finish on The European Tour in the first four months of 2011, but in 2009 he finished third at Doha and the 38 year old feels he is ready to go two places better this week after a very strong finish to 2011.

Westwood partners Thomas Björn and Jason Day over the first two days, and thinks that Jason Day – a runner-up at last year’s Masters Tournament and US Open Championship – could be one to look out for in 2012.

Clarke Parts Company With Open-Winning Caddie

Darren Clarke has sacked the caddie that helped him win his first major championship in The Open at Sandwich in July last year.

Clarke’s team said that the split with John Mulrooney was amicable and had come after he missed the cut at the Abu Dhabi Championship on Friday.

The Northern Irishman will be looking for a new caddie as he practices over the coming weeks ahead of his return to competitive golf at the WGC-Accenture Match Play in Arizona on February 22.

Clarke hasn’t been at his best since his victory at Sandwich, his best result a 20th-place finish at the Volvo Golf Champions tournament in South Africa a couple of weeks back.

He slumped to rounds of 72 and 81 last week in Abu Dhabi

McIlroy blunder costs him the lead

Thorbjørn Olesen overtook round one leader Rory McIlroy as the Northern Irishman incurred a two stroke penalty at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

Just off the green in two, McIlroy made the mistake of brushing away sand that was not on the putting surface and the penalty was imposed. ( You can brush away sand that is on the green but not off it. )

Joint overnight leader with Swede Robert Karlsson, the US Open Champion had come back from a bad start with three birdies when his rules error came on the ninth hole.

The World Number Three also had a double bogey on the third and did well to avoid another on the 11th, but six birdies kept him in the chase for the title going into the weekend.

Kaymer hopes he can continue Abu Dhabi success

Martin Kaymer goes into the HSBC Golf Championship this week believing he is under the radar as he looks to continue his phenomenal record in the Abu Dhabi Tournament.

The World Number Four has won the event two years running at  the Abu Dhabi Golf Club, having finished second in 2009 and first in 2008.

Such a great track record would usually make the former US PGA Championship winner a hot favourite, but an incredibly strong field has come together in the desert to the extent that Kaymer does not even consider his three-ball with Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia the main attraction. ( I think he’s talking about Tiger! )

“I’m not playing in that group tomorrow, if you want to call it the best group to watch or the most entertaining. I know that people will want see Tiger, the Number One in the world [Luke Donald] and Rory McIlroy so that’s a great group to watch.

I for one can’t wait to see these great players battling it out around a truly superb golf course! Make sure you tune in tomorrow to get all the latest scores.

A Great Year For Golf In 2011

Well what a year it’s been, we’ve seen some great drama in the world of golf over 2011, we’ve seen four new major winners, we’ve seen European golf dominating the world, we’ve seen an Englishman win the money list on both sides of the Atlantic!

But most importantly for the world of golf we’ve seen the return of the worlds best golfer! I don’t need to mention his name.

Europe won the Solheim Cup and GB&I won the Walker Cup. We have two Englishmen at 1& 2 in the world. I find it amazing how the game of golf is being dominated by Europe.

I think the reason for this is the amount of work and money that has been put into junior golf over the past 10-15 years. It has really helped kids in the early teens develop into tremendous golfers which in past years may not have been the case. Long may this continue!

Well I hope you’ve all enjoyed the golfing year, and there’s plenty to look forward to in 2012 including the Ryder Cup, and who knows, we might see Tiger win all four majors to equal the Golden Bear’s record! Okay maybe that’s unlikely, but I wouldn’t put it past him!

 

Westwood shoots career best of 60 in Thailand

Lee Westwood shot a 12-under-par 60 – the best round of his career to date – to establish a five-shot lead on day one of the Thailand Golf Championship.

Westwood carded 10 birdies and an eagle at the Amata Spring Country Club.

“I made a dream start and you start thinking about 59, I guess,” said Westwood, the world number three.

Westwood set the tone for his round with birdies at one, three, four and five and an eagle at the par-five second.

“I guess 59 is one of those numbers where if it is meant to be, it is meant to be. I messed it up with a few pars!”

Westwood really is in the form of his life, if only his putter could remain hot he could be the best player in the world without a doubt.

Holing Out From 10 Feet Or Less by James Irons

In the recent 2011 US Masters, Lee Westwood hit virtually every single green in regulation but struggled with the putter from close in – had he been on any sort of putting form he would have almost certainly won the tournament.

Here’s how to make those short putts count:

Holing Out From Ten Feet Or Less

At address, I am looking for my forearms to be parallel to each other, aiming towards the target.

Holing Out From Ten Feet Or Less

Next up is making sure my eyeline is directly above the ball

Holing Out From 10 Feet Or Less

The Putter Face should be pointing directly at my intended target.

Holing Out From 10 Feet Or Less

I am now looking for the Putter Face to stay on line and the stroke to remain on my intended target line throughout.

Holing Out From 10 Feet Or Less

Any deviation away from this will result in missed putts left and right.

Walker Cup Stars Turn Pro

Wasserman Media Group announce that GB&I Walker Cup players, Jack Senior and Andy Sullivan have joined the agency following their success in the Walker Cup.

Sullivan, British No.1, and Senior, British No.3, will now look to turn professional following the Walker Cup and they join the likes of Jason Day, Hunter Mahan, Rickie Fowler, and other professionals as part of the Wasserman Golf division.

Sullivan, 24 based in Warwickshire has enjoyed a fantastic few years on the Amateur circuit. As well as his success at the Walker Cup, his career highlights to date include finishing 2nd in the 2010 Titleist Footjoy EGU Order of Merit, shooting a record 1st round 10 under par on his way to winning the prestigious Hampshire Salver and finishing 2nd at the Lee Westwood trophy. Some amazing achievements to say the least.

Sullivan said, “I’m thrilled to be joining Wasserman. Their global sports client list is one of the best in the world and being part of a company who successfully manage the likes of, Steven Gerrard as well as obviously Jason Day and Ricky Fowler can only be beneficial to me in the long term.

Senior, 23, won the Egyptian Amateur in 2010, allowing him to qualify for the Egyptian Open – a European Challenge Tour event – in which he powered his way to a Top 20 finish. He started the season in superb fashion by winning the prestigious New South Wales Matchplay Championship, the Lytham Trophy as well as the Hampshire Hog.  In August 2011, Senior reached the semi-finals in the US Amateur Championship – playing some superb golf in the process and impressing people along the way.

On signing for Wasserman, Senior commented, “Brendan and his team have a proven track record in Golf and I’m looking forward to working with them. I’m really excited about the future and am confident that I can achieve great things with Wasserman.”

 

This Years Four Majors

It’s been a great year in the golfing world, here is a look at who won the majors and if you click on the link you can see the full leaderboard.

The Masters

Winner: Charl Schwartzel (S.A)

Second: Jason Day (Aus)

Third: Adam Scott (Aus)            Full leaderboard

The US Open

Winner: Rory Mcilroy (N.I)

Second: Jason Day (Aus)

Third: Lee Westwood, Kevin Chappell, Y.E. Yang, and Robert Garrigus

Full leaderboard 

The British Open

Winner: Darren Clarke (N.I)

Second: Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson (USA)

Fourth: Thomas Bjorn (Den)      Full leaderboard

The PGA Championship

Winner: Keegan Bradley (USA)

Second: Jason Dufner (USA)

Third: Anders Hansen (Den)        Full leaderboard