Tag Archives: Junior Golf Coaching

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!

 

Strongest Dunhill Line-Up Ever

Paul Lawrie probably known as Scotland’s best player now and England’s World Number Four Lee Westwood are going to be leading the home challenge for this year’s Alfred Dunhill Links at St Andrews.

These two players have won this event before and we will be up against it this year as a strong field includes no fewer than 11 Major champions.

Westwood who won this event back in 2003 said: “I’m hoping for two memorable weeks: victory for The Ryder Cup team in the United States and then back to St Andrews for a second Dunhill victory.

Ernie Els who is the current Open champion and a four-time Major winner leads a strong South African line-up, including  2011 US Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen. 

We will also see appearances from Colin Montgomerie and Martin Laird, plus England’s Paul Casey and Simon Dyson who won in 2009.

But let’s not get too excited or ahead of ourselves, we still have the Ryder Cup to decide first and this will be a bit of a comedown for a lot of the players. Well hopefully only the European ones!

Two Weeks Of Thrilling Golf Ahead

Ryder Cup player Paul Lawrie has found himself at his highest position on the world rankings a week before the Ryder Cup after a 13 year absence from the competition.

The Aberdeen-born major winner played in the European team who lost in the controversial Ryder Cup when it was held at Brookline, in 1999, the year of his British Open victory.

So next week is when it all kicks off at Medinah Country Club in Chicago involving 24 of the worlds top 35 players, 17 of which will also compete this week at the Tour Championship.

All of the American team have made it through to the final of the FedEx Cup play-offs, plus the best player in the world right now Rory McIlroy who leads the season-long cash-grab race for the $10million pay day.

It’s going to be an exciting couple of weeks of golf ahead. Can Rory keep his nerve and win the big pot? Will his mind be on the Ryder Cup? Who will win the Ryder Cup? These are all questions that will be answered very soon!

Ballesteros Wins In Madrid

Something pretty special happened yesterday, the son of the late Seve Ballesteros – Javier Ballesteros won the Madrid Amateur Open.

The young 22 year old Spaniard won by four shots finishing six-under par and was quick to dedicate his victory to his  amazing father who passed away in May 2011.

“My father always told me that you have to play with what you’ve got, and that’s what I did,” said Ballesteros.

“I thought about him a lot during the 18 holes and I dedicate this victory to him and my mother.”

Javier is currently studying law at  the Complutense University and will not decide about turning professional until he has finished his degree in Madrid.

If this young man has anything like the flare and passion of his father then we are in for a real treat. You get the feeling there could be something special happening here. What do you think?

 

50mph Winds Stop Play In Liverpool

The women’s British Open came to a standstill today as 36 players scores were scrapped after the second round at Hoylake was cancelled due to 50mph winds.

The day started windy and it was tough for the early starters but the winds rapidly got stronger and only an hour’s play was possible this morning, with those on the course a cumulative 52 over par!

Personally I would have let them get on with it, would have made for great viewing!

A statement was released by the Ladies’ Golf Union saying “It would have been unfair to those competitors not to cancel all scores for the round in question.”

Conditions did not improve and play will  get under way again at  06:50 BST tomorrow morning.

Felicity Johnson who is flying the flag for England and was the joint leader early in the first round, shot a nine on the par-four first and was eight over after three holes when the play was bought to a halt at 8am this morning.

It was so winday on the 12th tee Cristie Kerr had her ball blown off the tee three times, I think that’s when it was decided by the officials to stop play.

Let’s hope for calmer conditions tomorrow.

It Could Be A Wie Bit Tough At Hoylake

The Women’s British Open comes to our screens this Thursday and American superstar Michelle Wie says she expects the course at Hoylake to provide a tough but fair enjoyable challenge.

The young American has struggled to find form this season but is hoping that her experience in majors will help her out this week. Wie has played in an incredible 30 major championships so far in her career.  She also has two Solheim Cups under her belt but she has only had one top-10 finish all season.

Keep your eye out for 15-year-old Lydia Ko, who three weeks ago become the youngest-ever winner on the LPGA Tour.

Catriona Matthew who won the Open in 2009 and Karen Stupples the 2004 champion are flying the flag for the Brits.

Come on girls!

 

Big Guns Heading To HSBC

Four of the top players in the world have confirmed they will take part in the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions from November 1-4. World Number Three Luke Donald, World Number Four Lee Westwood, defending champion Martin Kaymer and Phil Mickelson have all said yes to the sponsors. The event will take place on the Olazábal Course at Mission Hills in China.

2010 US PGA Champion Martin Kaymer  who won the event last year by three shots in dramatic style by making nine birdies on the final day is looking forward to defending the title.

England’s Luke Donald is also looking forward to his week at the WGC-HSBC Champions, having missed out last year waiting for the birth of his second daughter.

He said: “I was so disappointed to miss out on playing at the WGC-HSBC Champions last year, although it was for the best possible reason!

Plus Donald will be keen to get back to winning ways after not having the best season. But I guess compared to his heroics last season it was always going to be a disappointment!

McIlroy Blows Away World Class Field…. Again

Man of the moment Rory McIlroy won his third tournament in his last four starts with a convincing two-shot victory over Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood in the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick.

McIlroy who started the day one shot behind leaders Vijay Singh and Phil Micklelson managed to get clear and separated himself from a star-studded leaderboard including Tiger Woods who finished three back on seventeen under par with a closing five-under 68.

The 23 year old Northern Irishman goes into FedEx Cup finale in the Tour Championship at Eastlake in two weeks time as favourite to take home the  $10m jackpot.

The thing that the rest of the field must find a little worrying is how easy he makes the game look under so much pressure and how little fuss he makes about going about his business.

If he works as hard at his game as Tiger used to and still does then we really could have something special on our hands.

 

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!