Tag Archives: james irons golf

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.

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.

Larrazábal In Lead At Rain Hit Austrian Open

Well it was back to normal on the European Tour this week after a great week at Royal Lytham & St Annes and a quite a few players who appeared at The Open headed off to the mountains and to the Diamond Country Club for the Austrian Open.

It was Spain’s Pablo Larrazábal who held an early three shot lead when play was suspended for heavy rain and not one player having completed 18 holes during the first round of the Lyoness Open.

The Spaniard who is a two-time European Tour winner got himself to six under par through 12 holes to be three clear of local hero Hamza Amin.

Larrazábal birdied the long tenth hole and then eagled the par five 13th, he then picked up more shots at the 14th, 16th and 18th holes to turn in 30.

The man from Barcelona parred the first three holes after the turn, before the heavy rain came down and play was suspended at 11.40am local time.

Larrazábal had spoken about his desire to hit form after finishing 45th in The Open Championship.

“I’m playing here and then having a week off before Kiawah [for the US PGA  Championship], which I am really looking forward to. I played in a Junior tournament there in 2003 and finished second, so it will be great to go back there.

Keep up to date with the live leaderboard here  – play resumes at 3.20pm

My Picks For The Open Championship

The 141st Open Championship got under way at 6.19am this morning with Barry Lane hitting the first tee-shot at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

The weather was calm but the scoring was still tough with bogeys being made everywhere, and poor American James Driscoll reaching the turn at  ten over par and England’s Robert Rock double bogeyed the first and third holes to reach four over after six.

But there have been good starts from Scot Paul Lawrie who is currently leading at three under par and Lee Westwood second at two under par after birdies at the first two holes.. There is lots of golf still to come today as play will still be going at 7pm tonight. I for one will be watching most of it!

If you’re thinking of having a flutter this week and want some advice on picking a winner then here are my picks for this week.

Tiger Woods

Stewart Cink

Matteo Manassero 

Ian Poulter

Matt Kucher

Good luck and enjoy the golf! Click here for the live leaderboard

 

Do Players Care About Winning Major Championships?

One player who believes he is ready to win more Major Championships is Martin Kaymer and feels that The Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes could be the perfect stage for him to claim his second major.

Kaymer admits that early success in his career probably came sooner than expected for him when he was victorious at the 2010 US PGA Championship, before going on to claim the World Number One spot last year.

But Kaymer is only 28 and has a decent record at the British Open finishing tied seventh and tied 12th in the last two and feels his experience over the past two seasons means he would be fully prepared should further Major glory come his way over the next week.

I find it surprising that he said this…..

“It’s difficult to get more motivation if you achieve something so huge, so quickly in your career,” said the Ryder Cup player.

You don’t see the likes of Tiger Woods lacking motivation even after winning 14 majors, 74 PGA Tour titles and staying number one in the world for years.

Is life to easy in tour? Do the players have the hunger that they used to? Does it mean as much to win a major?

 

Lawrie In Confident Mood Heading Into The Open

Paul Lawrie thinks that the start of the Scottish Open marks the start of the biggest two weeks of the year.

He goes into his national Open having been in some great form recently, before travelling to Royal Lytham and St. Annes to compete in The Open Championship  which he won in 1999 in a play-off.

The Scotsman has had ten top-25 finishes in 14 events, including victory at the Commercialbank Qatar Masters which has propelled him to eighth in The Race to Dubai and third in The Ryder Cup standings, but the 43 year old is determined to build on that form and make it count in these bigger tournaments.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “Obviously it’s always the biggest two weeks of the year for a Scottish player if you’re in The Open”

Well Lawrie has proved he can cut it with the big boys and has already got a major under his belt, so he’s got nothing to prove. Could major number two be around the corner? What do you think?

 

A Good Day At The Office For Hansen

Anders Hansen piled the pressure on the overnight leaders with an impressive round of three under par at the tough and blustery Alstom Open de France at a Le Golf National near Paris.

Hansen shot an impressive 68 today to go joint top after overnight leader Christian Nilsson of Sweden is in the middle of bad round currently standing at 3 under par but 3 over for the round.

Hansen was level with Italy’s Colombo, who made three birdies and as many bogeys in his first 13 holes.

Hansen, started his round on the tenth and parred his first five holes before making birdies at 15, 16 and 18 and a bogey at 17 was his only mistake of the front nine.

He then birdied the 4th and the 6th, the latter courtesy of a great iron approach shot from just off the left side of the fairway. Unfortunately a bogey four on the 8th ( his 17th ) hole saw him drop back alongside Colombo.

There are players still out on the course but in tough conditions like this Hansen will be very pleased with his day’s work.

Westwood Eyes Up A bit Of French

It’s the Alstom Open de France this week  at Le Golf National in Paris and Lee Westwood hopes to add his name to the list of greats that have won this event.

The World Number Three from Worksop  played the event for the first time back in 1994, but despite some impressive performances over the years he is yet to be victorious at this challenging golf course.

Westwood’s last tournament on  European soil  saw him win easily by five shot at the Nordea Masters, and hopes were high when he went into the final day at the US Open in contention until losing his ball in a tree at the sixth.

“I played well at the US Open,” he added. “I got a bit unlucky the last day, but other than that I played solidly.

“So I’m looking forward to this week and then The Open Championship in a couple of week’s time.

Surely it’s his time to win a major, could the Open be the one??

Starting with a win here could set him up perfectly!

Tiger Woods Is At Again ( Winning that is… )

Tiger Woods sailed pass Jack Nicklaus on the all-time PGA Tour victory list by winning last night at the AT&T National in Maryland at the age of 36.

He secured his 74th US Tour win by a couple of shots from Bo Van Pelt after a steady final round of 69 leaving him eight under par. He moved his way through the field over the weekend and the final day had a sense of inevitability about it when him and Bo Van Pelt were tied with a few holes to go.

It means Tiger has won more PGA events than any golfer bar Sam Snead, who recorded 82 victories on the Tour.

“To do it at 36, I feel like I have a lot of years ahead of me,” Woods said after his third win of the year.

People said he would never win again six months ago and now he’s won 3 times this year.

Overnight leader Brendon de Jonge had a round of six over par to finish in a share of 11th on one under.

With the Open just around the corner Tiger is priming himself perfectly for the links course in Lytham. Can he do it this time?