Good morning and I hope you’re looking forward to another long weekend – it will certainly be a long weekend for me as I’m working through it!
Last week I had the privilege of playing at the fabulous Coombe Hill Golf Club in Kingston. It was a beautiful day and I managed to shoot one under par which I was really pleased with.
The course was in great condition and the greens were very fast and particularly tricky to gauge. The course itself is short so accuracy played more of a part than length. It was a great day and I can’t wait to play there again.
Today I’m playing at Hindhead Golf Club – the weather’s not so great but hopefully it will stay dry enough to shoot another good score…
I have also entered the British Open qualifying event at Hankley Common on 22nd June so need to get as much practise in as possible before then. I’ll tlak more about this nearer the time.
Let me know where you’re playing this week, and good luck wherever it is!
Posted onApril 26, 2011bymattd|Comments Off on Major Question Getting On Westwood’s Nerves
(From Reuters.com)
World number one Lee Westwood is growing increasingly weary with being asked about his failure to win a first major title and told reporters in Seoul on Tuesday the question was getting on his nerves.
The Briton, speaking to reporters in Seoul ahead of the $2.8 million (£1.6 million) Ballantines Championship, said becoming world number one and winning a major were separate issues and that his only focus was to keep playing good golf.
“The amount of times I have to answer it gets on my nerves,” Westwood said. “This might be the very last time I could be answering this question. It could be no comment after this.
“The world rankings and major championships are two completely separate things,” added Westwood, who celebrated his 38th birthday by winning the Indonesian Masters in Jakarta at the weekend.
That victory, combined with fellow Englishman Luke Donald’s failure to win The Heritage, moved him back above Germany’s Martin Kaymer into top spot.
“I haven’t won a major yet but hope to do so soon. I’ve had a lot of good chances to win majors but it just hasn’t happened.
“But the world rankings are all about consistency and playing well week-in and week-out, which I tend to do. The secret to being world number one is having the consistency, and all parts of your game have to be good to do that.”
Morning all – hope you had a great Easter weekend!
Following my recent article about Rory McIlroy’s meltdown at the Open earlier in the month, here’s a great article by Matthew Syed of the BBC website about Sportsmen ‘choking’ at the crucial moment – and why.
Posted onApril 25, 2011bymattd|Comments Off on Lee Westwood Is Number 1 Again
Lee Westwood has regained the top spot in golf’s world rankings after clinching victory by three strokes at the Indonesia Masters on Sunday.
His compatriot Luke Donald failed by the narrowest of margins to claim the No.1 spot for himself after losing the PGA Tour Heritage tournament in a sudden-death playoff to American Brandt Snedeker.
Victory at the PGA Tour event — which had more ranking points on offer than the tournament in Indonesia — would have seen Donald leapfrog Westwood and Germany’s Martin Kaymer, who has been the world’s highest ranked player since February.
Donald took a one-stroke lead into Sunday’s final round at the Harbour Town Golf Links in South Carolina and posted a one-under par 70 to finish on 12-under par.
But Snedeker shot the round of the day — posting a seven-under par 64 — to tie the lead with Donald, who almost holed his bunker shot at the 72nd hole to win the tournament.
If you build it – they will come. At least that’s what developers must be thinking as they launch plans for the world’s first floating golf course in the Maldives.
Threatened with rising sea levels from climate change, the island nation may be doomed to a watery grave unless it transitions to floating developments.
Designed through a collaboration between Waterstudio.NL, Dutch Docklands, and golf course developer Troon Golf, the zero-footprint solar-powered golf course will be one of the first floating developments and is expected to bring in a wave of new tourists.
Posted onApril 19, 2011bymattd|Comments Off on New In My Bag: David Whitlam Gauge Design Putter
I am delighted to introduce the limited edition G2-Mill 10th Anniversary putter, made out of 303 stainless steel. Each putter is individually numbered from 1-100. I have number 2.
This is a materpiece from the David Whitlam stable, if you own a Gauge putter you will probably never want anything else.
The specification is as follows:
Lie: 71 degrees
Loft: 3.5 degrees
Headweight: 352 grams
It has a slightly heavier head than I am used to, which makes it feel like it swings very naturally. The feel off of the milled face is very consistent across the blade and very, very sweet.
Posted onApril 18, 2011bymattd|Comments Off on New In My Bag: Taylor Made Tour Preferred MB Forged Irons
I’m delighted to say that I’ve received my new clubs this week – they are the Taylor Made Tour Preferred MB forged irons.
I ordered the 3-iron through to Pitching Wedge, with rifle shafts.
They have a smaller head size than my old Taylor Made 300 series irons – this made it a bit intimidating at first as the golf ball now looks the size of a football next to the club head!
However they have very strong lofts which means that I now hit the ball ‘a club further’, so for example I can now hit a 6-iron as far as I used to hit a 5-iron – a very nice feeling…
Check out the photos below, and visit the Taylor Made website for the full specification – I think you’ll be impressed!
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Posted onApril 15, 2011bymattd|Comments Off on And You Thought McIlroy’s Meltdown Was Bad…
Every now and again, a golfer usually at the top of his game will have a meltdown.
A nightmare.
Will take a position where it seems hard to lose, and somehow make it happen.
Snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Rory McIlroy, at just 21 years old, was the latest player to endure this indignity, having built his way up the leaderboard and stayed there for three days, two disastrous holes in his final round cost him dearly.
Some players are actually defined by these moments, one of the best examples of this is Jean Van De Velde playing at the 1999 Open Championships at Carnoustie.
Van de Velde was the clear leader playing the closing holes, and arrived at the 18th tee needing only a double-bogey six to win this historic tournament, and become the first Frenchman for over 90 years to do so.
Despite a three-shot lead, and having birdied the same hole twice already in previous rounds, Van de Velde drove to the right and only just avoided the water. Van de Velde decided to go for the green with his second shot – a decision that everybody except for him thought was suicidal – particularly given that he could afford to lay-up. His shot went right again, smashed into the grandstand next to the green, hit a rock, and then flew backwards into knee deep rough.
On his third shot, Van de Velde’s club got tangled in the rough on his downswing, and his ball flew into the Barry Burn. In purely farcical circumstances, he then removed his shoes and socks and waded through the water – seemingly considering trying to actually hit the ball out of the water.
Thankfully he decided to take a drop, but then played his next shot into a bunker! He got out of the bunker successfully and holed a tricky six-foot putt for a triple-bogey seven, dropping him into a three-way playoff with Justin Leonard and Paul Lawrie, which Lawrie won – virtually to his disbelief.
Anyway as it’s Friday it seems wrong to show you the video of Van De Veld, it’s incredibly painful to watch, although if you want to have a peek through your fingers, it’s here.
Instead, here’s a video of a player called Kevin Na, who had the misfortune this week to take a 16 in a tournament in Valero, Texas. Enjoy!
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(from www.bbc.co.uk) Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy put his Masters disaster behind him to card a three-under 69 in the first round of the Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur.
The 21-year-old threw away a four-shot lead at the Masters, eventually finishing joint 15th, 10 shots behind winner Charl Schwartzel.
McIlroy sits five shots behind leader Alexander Noren of Sweden, while South African Schwartzel shot a one over 73.
World number one Martin Kaymer shot 70 to finish two under.
McIlroy and Schwartzel travelled together to the tournament in a private jet, but the golf clubs of both players were lost in transit during the journey.
Both sets turned up on Wednesday, but not in time for Schwartzel, who had an early start on Thursday, to practice with his clubs.
Posted onApril 13, 2011bymattd|Comments Off on Woods Is Favourite To Win The US Open
Tiger Woods is favoured by the bookies to win the U.S. Open, golf’s next major championship, even though he hasn’t claimed a title for almost 18 months!
Woods, a three-time U.S. Open winner, is 6/1 favorite at Bet365 to win this year’s tournament, which is scheduled for June 16-19 at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland.
Woods tied for fourth place at the Masters last week in Augusta, Georgia, after taking a share of the lead in the final round. It was the best finish in six events this year for Woods. That success, along with his overall popularity, makes him the clear favourite at this stage.
Phil Mickelson is the second favorite at 10/1, followed by Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy at 16/1. Defending U.S. Open champion has odds of 33/1, while Masters winner Charl Schwartzel is out at 40/1.
The last of Woods’s 14 major championship titles came at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, California. His last victory was at the Australian Masters in November 2009. He remains winless since returning from his self-imposed break following the events that led to his divorce last year.
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