Tag Archives: golf

McIlroy Looked Down And Out

A young man form Northern Ireland who a couple of weeks ago couldn’t seem to string one round together yet alone four and looked like he was going to have to go back to the drawing board and figure out where it had all gone wrong. This  young man is called Rory McIlroy and he had different ideas coming into the US PGA Championship and he was back to his absolute best.

Playing well from day one he looked in okay form for the first two rounds but nothing that made you think he would go on and win, especially in the way that he did.

He held off an incredible challenge from friend and Ryder Cup team mate Ian Poulter to win the US PGA Championship in record-breaking fashion at Kiawah Island with a bogey free final round of 66 leaving everyone in amazement with another eight shot major victory matching his record breaking win at the US Open last year.

It really is a remarkable achievement for a man of that age. So far he is matching the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, he really is an incredible player and is the best player to watch when he’s on form.

Is the sky’s the limit for McIlroy? Can he do the grand slam?

 

Harrington Has To Be Part Of Ryder Cup Team

European Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal has said publicly that Republic Of Ireland star and three-time major winner Padraig Harrington will have to produce an amazing performance at Kiawah Island this week if he is to keep his Ryder Cup spot, unless he wins of course which will take him into the automatic qualifying positions.

The Irishman currently lies 19th in the European qualifying list.

“He will have to do extraordinarily well here,” Olazabal said.

Harrington, with two British Open titles to his name has slipped to 63 in the world and needed a wildcard pick to be a part of the  winning team at Celtic Manor back in 2010.

He would certainly be one of my picks, he’s gutsy, he’s been there and done it before under pressure and has won 3 major titles, and he’s in pretty good form. There isn’t anybody else in the waiting list with those credentials. Has to be a dead cert to picked if he doesn’t qualify Jose.

The US PGA Championship Is Underway – Take A Look At My Betting Tips

Well the 94th US PGA Championship is underway  and it was Italy’s Matteo Manassero who started proceedings as he struck the opening tee shot from the tenth tee at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort.

The 19 year old who is the youngest man in the 156-strong field this week took his three wood out the bag, managed to calm his nerves, and hit the left hand side of the fairway on a glorious morning in South Carolina.

With already a touch of humidity in the air there were still forecasts of electrical storms for the afternoon, but with no sign of inclement weather first thing. Let’s hope they manage to get in the full days play today.

A lot of the top players are yet to go off, Luke Donald is currently at one under par after two holes but with still a long way to go. Make sure you catch all the action on Sky Sports tonight!

As you know, I like to have a flutter on the major championships so here are my picks for this week. Just to remind you, I picked the winner of the US OpenWebb Simpson back in June!

Ian Poulter

Steve Stricker

Luke Donald

Bo Van Pelt

Stewart Cink

Rose Has One Eye On Race To Dubai Heading Into US PGA Championship

Well as we head into this week and the final Major of the season at Kiawah Island Justin Rose will be looking to extend his lead in The Race to Dubai after targeting The European Tour’s ultimate prize at the start of the season which seems like a long time but we are at the business end of the season now.

The Englishman from Hampshire has led The Race to Dubai since finishing second place at the BMW PGA Championship at the sun soaked Wentworth Club back in May and Rose would love to be crowned The European Tour’s Number One player for the second time in his career.

Rose extended his lead last week over Ernie Els after finishing tied fifth alongside Rory McIlroy at last week’s WGC – Bridgestone Invitational and he is confident the good form he is showing can continue on the Ocean Course this week.

Ryder Cup Points Could Produce A European Winner For PGA Championship

As many as 34 Europeans still have the dream of playing in The Ryder Cup alive as they head into the  final major of the year the US PGA Championship at Kiawah Island as the qualification is coming to the end.

The top ten players who will qualify automatically have remained the same after last week’s WGC  Bridgestone Invitational, but they are just in a slightly different order.

Rory McIlroy extended his lead at the top of the European Points List – which will supply the first five players of the European Team and Captain José María Olazábal. The other five will come from the World Points List.

So this really is a decisive week especially with so many points up for grabs, and could maybe could produce a European winner as I’m sure all the players are desperate to make the team and also impress the captain to maybe scrape in through a pick.

 

Keegan ‘Would Love It’ If He Could Win Next Week

Keegan Bradley doesn’t seem to know how to give up especially when he gets a sniff at winning, he’s like one of those annoying people at school that just won’t go away and i’m sure Jim Furyk felt exactly the same way yesterday as Bradley came back from six shots behind with just 13 holes to play to beat fellow Ryder Cup player Jim Furyk to the Bridgestone Invitational title.

It wasn’t all Bradley’s doing though, Furyk was one in front coming down the last, but double bogeyed the 18th to lose. But Bradley did scramble a par when he really never looked like doing so after a visiting a bunker on the 18th but managed to make a 20 footer which turned out to be the winning putt.

Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose were the best-placed Britons finishing level on eight under par and McIlroy showed signs that he was getting back to form just in time for the USPGA Championship next week which Bradley is defending and Said ” He would love to win next week”.

Tiger Woods showed good form on the final day, which will encourage him for next week also. He didn’t  break par in the first two rounds but the world number two signed off with a four-under-par 66.

Harrington Wins Shot Of The Month

Padraig Harrington has won Shot Of The Month with his superb chip during the Irish Open at Royal Portrush which was voted by fans from My European Tour.

Personally I thought there were a couple of crackers in the British Open, but hey what do I know?

The perfect pitch  from Harrington came on the 8th hole of the Dunluce Links, receiving  rapturous applause from the huge sell-out Northern Irish crowd who were hosting the event for the first in 60 year

The shot came from the right hand side of the fairway where he had found deep rough around 40 yards from the green, but the Irishman managed to conjure up a quite brilliant chip that landed on the front edge of the green before rolling into the centre of the cup for a birdie three.

What would your Shot Of The Month Been?

The Major Winners So Far, But Who’s Next?

We’re coming to the end of the major season already and I for one can’t believe where the time has gone. The PGA Championship starts on the 9th August at the Ocean Course in Kiawah Island.

Still can’t believe it was nearly four months ago we saw Bubba Watson hit that amazing miracle shot from out of the trees in a play-off with Louis Oosthuizen at Augusta National to claim the Green Jacket and The Masters title.

We then saw Webb Simpson claim the US Open and his first major title at the Olympic Club in San Francisco pipping Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell by one shot around a very tough golf course.

Of course fresh in our memory still is the Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes which brought us great drama in the final stages and saw Adam Scott crumble under pressure to let Big Ernie win. All eyes were on Tiger Woods that week, and he did show signs of form and was in contention before a triple bogey in the final round left him with too much to do.

With so many of the top ranked players in the world not performing in the majors this year, will they see this as a chance to end the major season on high? The likes of Luke Donald and Lee Westwood will be hoping so, maybe just maybe they will get that monkey off their back!

Adam Scott To Bounce Back After Open

Ernie Els and Adam Scott will be reunited for the first time since their Open Championship battle at this week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Adam Scott will be defending his title and will also want to bounce back after the disappointment at Royal Lytham & St Annes a fortnight ago.

The big easy won his fourth Major Championship at Scott’s expense, but the Australian  from Adelaide will be looking to get revenge upon his return to Akron, having beaten a world-class field to seal his maiden World Golf Championship title there 12 months ago.

Els who has twice won the WGC-Cadillac Championship – boasts a relatively modest record at Firestone Country Club, with a fifth place finish on his first appearance back in 1999 his best performance in 12 visits to Ohio. Plus I think Els will still be on high from The Open and his mind won’t quite be on the job and he will struggle this week.

I’m going to be bold and go for a Adam Scott win, I think he will desperate to prove he can bounce back from what happened two weeks ago, not only to himself but to his peers.

He Tamed The Tiger, But Can He Tame The Lyoness?

The smiling Dane Thorbjørn Olesen was in  fantastic form today and showed no sign of taking his foot off the gas as he established a three shot lead after his second round in windy conditions at the Lyoness Open.

There are still players out on the course but none look like they will get anywhere near him at the moment. He has carried the confidence on from The Open where he finished ninth and was paired with Tiger Woods in the third round.

Olesen started the day a shot behind Spaniard Pablo Larrazábal, and having to complete four holes of the first round after lengthy rain delays on the opening day which he did in one under par courtesy of a birdie at the 17th.

Olesen looks like a young man in great form and in complete control of his game. He managed to tame Tiger last weekend but the question is can he tame the Lyoness?