Tag Archives: Ryder Cup

The End Of a Great Year For McIlroy

Well the inevitable happened at the weekend and not even a record breaking round of 62 from Justin Rose (his lowest round on the European Tour by two) could prevent Rory McIlroy from capping his incredible season with victory at the DP World Tour Championship.

The Northern Irishman not only held the challenge from Justin Rose but also from World Number Two Luke Donald who he was paired with. It’s been an incredible year for McIlroy also winning the US Money List, the US PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup.

As seasons go it doesn’t get much better than that and it will be interesting to see how this effects him next year. Will he be as determined? Will the $120 million deal with Nike spur him on or will the new clubs leave him struggling? I’m looking forward to finding out, are you?

Poulter and Rose Looking To Win Another WGC Title

Justin Rose and Ian Poulter are looking to turn their very impressive team record into individual success this week at Mission Hills in the WGC  – HSBC Champions.

The pair have represented England twice in the World Cup at Mission Hills finishing fourth and second in 2007 and 2011 respectively.

But this week they will both be competing  individually for the their second World Golf Championship and there was some strange questions at the press conference. Rose asked Poulter how he could beat them this week as he was in such good form, to which Poulter said that Justin was ”better off the tee and hit more greens than him but just needed to improve with the putter”

Not bad advice from one of the best putters in the world and maybe as they are best friends Poulter should give him some advice on the greens?

Once the banter was out of the way, Poulter said that his experience of Mission Hills and the fact he has partnered Ross Fisher here twice – could be a big advantage for him.

Rose could take a big step to chasing down McIlroy this week….. should be another weekend of exciting golf ahead.

 

Kaymer Determined To Keep Form Going

Martin Kaymer is teeing it up this week at the  Oceânico Victoria Golf Course in PortugalEurope’s Ryder Cup hero is hoping to build on a pretty good record that he has in the Portugal Masters and must be feeling pretty good about his game and himself right now.

The man from Düsseldorf  has had two top-ten finishes in his last three years  at the event here in Portugal, and managed to find some form at the Ryder Cup before finishing a respectable 34th at the Alfred Dunhill Links in Scotland last weekend.

Major winner Kaymer believes the confidence he gained from holing the most important six footer of his life at the 18th in Medinah, along with his previous form in the event, can bring success this week.

“I played very well here in the past, and at the moment, I feel very happy the way I hit the ball,” said Kaymer.

Tiger To Captain USA In Ryder Cup?

Tiger Woods  has come out and said that being given the chance to captain America in the Ryder Cup would be a “huge honour”  for him and that he would love to have the chance to do so.

The world No.2 who has only been part of one winning Ryder Cup team out of the last seven and was part of the most recent encounter at Medinah when America got thumped in the final day singles.

Woods who was partnered with Steve Stricker, lost all three of his matches  on the Friday and Saturday and only managed a half in the singles on the Sunday when he sportingly gave Francesco Molinari a 5 foot putt to allow Europe to win the Ryder Cup having already retained it after comebacks from Poulter, Rose, Westwood, Garcia and Kaymer.

Woods has a got a very poor record in the Ryder Cup and questions have been asked whether he was really interested in the competition.

Woods said “It would be a huge honour, hopefully it doesn’t happen in the near future as I would like to play in many more Ryder Cups“.

McGinley Set To Be Next Ryder Cup Captain

Europes’s leading players are giving welcomed support to Paul McGinley in his quest to becoming the next Ryder Cup captain. They think he should be the main contender to replace Jose Maria Olazabal as captain for the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles and he will have the home advantage this time especially as Europe haven’t lost the cup on home soil since 1993 at The Belfry.

McGinley has been quite successful  in team golf in the past. He’s played in three winning Ryder Cup teams and has holed the winning putt 10 years ago. Rory McIlroy and Peter Hanson have both giving McGinley their backing, who was one of Olazabal’s vice-captains at the magical Medinah comeback.

The Irishman has also captained Great Britain and Ireland to wins in the  Seve Trophy twice, McIlroy said: “He was fantastic there and has also been a fantastic vice-captain.”

McGinley wears his heart on his sleeve and is as passionate about the Ryder Cup as anyone that iv’e known to be involved in the whole set-up in the past. I think he would make a great a captain and he will also have the respect of his players and his peers. Role on 2014!

Olazábal Joined By Six Team-Mates In Portugal

Ryder Cup captain José Maria Olazábal and two of his fine players – Martin Kaymer and Francesco Molinari  – will add a sense of Ryder Cup fever to the Portugal Masters at Vilamoura next week.

All three will play in the sixth edition of the Portugal Masters at the Oceânico Victoria Golf Course in Vilamoura. Captain marvel Olazábal, took Europe to an incredible 14 ½ – 13 ½  victory over the USA at Medinah Country Club thanks to the players in the final two pairings who managed to match the bravery of the ten players who had finished their games in front of them.

Olazábal will also be joined by the four guys who were behind the scenes with him all week in Medinah, Vice-Captains  Darren Clarke, Thomas Bjorn, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Paul McGinley will also competing in the €2,250,000 tournament.

All sixteen people plus many more who travelled to Medinah played their part in the astonishing victory which will go down in history forever and I for one am glad it’s every two years as I don’t think I could handle that pressure year on year.

Just in case you missed the wining putt, here it is again!

 

The Ryder Cup Is Underway

Well the Ryder Cup is under way with Graeme McDowell hitting the first tee-shot which went left and just stopped short of trouble. Jim Furyk did pretty much the same as well. It just shows that even the straightest hitters on the tour get affected by nerves.

Ian Poulter was interviewed half an hour before the first group tee-off and he said it was the most excited he’d ever felt and that it doesn’t get any bigger than this. Poulter and Rose are playing against Woods and Stricker and I think he’s right, it doesn’t get much bigger than that.

The first few holes have all been halved as I write this, with players being a little bit cautious which is understandable, but i’m sure it won’t take long to get going.

Three long day’s in front of the TV ahead, I hope you will enjoy as much as I will.

Olazábal Looking At Garcia And McDowell To Bring Cup Home

Well with two days to go until the biggest golf event on the planet takes place in Medinah, José María Olazábal was giving very little away when the team were practising yesterday but Sergio Garcia and Graeme McDowell seem to be the two main players that his attention has been focused on.

It all fell on the shoulders of the Northern Irishman two years ago when he famously holed the putt that secured the cup for Europe. Olazábal  is obviously looking for, and expecting, another big performance from him.

Garcia didn’t play in the last Ryder Cup, but still played his part as vice-captain and no doubt made a big difference to the team. He battled hard to make the team this year and it was clearly his main aim in the closing part of the season. Make no mistake, he loves this event more than anyone. The Spaniard  has never lost a foursomes match. Playing nine and winning eight with one tie.

I for one am still not sure what pairings he is going to go with, but one thing I do know is that it’s going to be one hell of a contest and will go all the way to the last few singles games on the Sunday. It’s probably on paper one the hardest to call!

 

Snedeker On High As European Players Struggle

Last night saw Brandt Snedeker win the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup as he claimed he felt like a lottery winner after his victory in Atlanta earning him a staggering £7million.

The American won by 3 shots over Justin Rose after a nerveless final round – The challenge from world No.1 Rory McIlroy’s and world no.2 Tiger Woods never materialised after both got off to poor starts and could never recover.

Snedeker carded 68 in his final 18 holes to finish on 10-under par.

“It’s a little bit crazy,” said Snedeker.

Luke Donald shot a three under par final round to finish third and get himself into the top 10 of the overall FedEx standings.

Lee Westwood had another bad at the office and finished last in the thirty man field, hopefully he can find form going into Friday morning in The Ryder Cup.

The signs weren’t encouraging for the European players, let’s hope that the had their mind on Medinah already otherwise we could be in trouble!

 

Hanson Only Has Eyes For Ryder Cup

Peter Hanson has had much of his time occupied recently with preparations for The Ryder Cup, but he was pleasantly surprised to make an encouraging start today in the first round of the KLM Open.

He managed to get around the course carding five birdies and just one bogey in a very impressive 66 that put him one shot off the early lead at Hilversumsche GC.

Hanson has won four European Tour events in his career and although claiming his fifth would be nice, his main aim this week is ensuring his game is ready for Medinah in 21 day’s time.

The Swede has been devoting plenty of hours to practice leading-up to his second Ryder Cup appearance, and explained: ”You try not to think too much about the result this week”

Not long to go now, 21 days and counting!