Later I will be bringing you my tips for this weeks USPGA Tour event, the Zurich Classic in New Orleans. In the meantime, here is a little something to whet your appetite. Great moments from David Frost and Lee Westwood amongst others.
Ive finally decided to add video to the blog and in order to celebrate this, I have included Padraig Harringtons Open Championship win in 2008 for you. I’m sure you will agree it is a fantastic short video. Im after watching it numerous times already. Heres hoping for more amazing moments like these.
At the end of the first video, there are also a few more Harrington monets for you to enjoy!
The second running of the Ballantine’s Championship at Pinx Golf Club on Jeju Island has attracted some big names, including Ernie Els, Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson and defending champion Graeme McDowell.
It is hardly surprising that these players dominate the top of the betting and each is in with a shout this week. If I had to choose one player, it would be McDowell on the basis that he has won here before and he should have plenty of confidence coming off his solid performance in the US Masters. He is best priced at 16/1 so has each way value.
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (aka Gonzo) is the man in form in Europe at present. In his last two starts, he has finished second twice, loosing one in a play-off. At 22/1 he must be considered and I am confident he can win on Tour this season and it could even be this week.
Last week I backed Chapchai Nirat and only for a double bogey at the last, he would have been placed. Despite this disappointing finish, Nirat will be full of confidence such are the strength of his performances over the past month or so. At 40/1 in some places, he is certainly an enticing bet.
Gareth Maybin finished very strongly last week after a disappointing opening round and has had a consistent start to the season. Graeme Storm also had a good week last week and must be respected. With both at 50/1, each value is evident.
Of the older guns, Freddie Couples at 50/1 is being tipped by some to have a good week. Fred has been in good form this season and I must admit he looks overpriced in the exchanges. Colin Montgomerie can also be backed at 50/1 but unfortunately, it is difficult to make a case for backing Monty.
Finally, younger prospects include Sang-Moon Bae at 80/1 and Rafael Cabrera Bello at 66/1. 23 year old Korean Sang-Moon Bae is one of the rising stars on the Asian Tour. He has already won five times, four of those victories coming in Korea. He won last year’s Korea Open by seeing off Anthony Kim and Ian Poulter, while he was six shots too good for Aaron Baddeley in the 2007 SK Telecom Open so he clearly is not phased by the competition. He finished T18 here 12 months ago, closing with rounds of 69-68 at the weekend which contained just two dropped shots.
Rafael Cabrera Bello meanwhile is in decent form right now with three top twenty finishes in his last five outings and his length off the tee should be a big asset this week. He looks very much a winner in waiting and this could well be his breakthrough event.
Verdict:
Henrik Stenson (11/1), Ernie Els (15/1), Lee Westwood (15/1) and Graeme McDowell (16/1) dominate the top of the betting and initially, my choice for this week was for McDowell to go close. I still think he might but the form of one other player over the past two weeks had led me to take the better odds on offer for Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano. At 22/1 he is clearly playing great and must be brimming with confidence. I beleive he can have another good week starting tomorrow.
Chapchai Nirat was very impressive last week and although he finished just outside the places, his final round consisted of 2 birdies and 15 pars for the 17 holes and all-in-all, it was a fantastic display from Nirat for 71 holes. I’m hopeful he can make it 72 good holes this week and at 40/1, I think the bookies are being a little generous.
Finally, Sang-Moon Bae can be backed at 8/1 for a top-10 finish and although a rank outsider, he certainly has the capabilities to challenge this week.
Lets see you hit these Tiger!
Watching the golf during the Masters, it was suggested by Wayne O’Grady that the golf ball needs to be changed in order to stop professionals tearing apart golf courses due to the incredible additional length achievable these days, such has been the advance in golf technology and equipment. He seemed quite intent on the need for this change. However, at the end of the tournament, he spoke of what a great Masters it was compared to previous years, due to the ability of the players to make more birdies and not subject the viewers to a continuous grind for pars.
This led me to the question of what exactly do viewers want to see? Wasn’t it incredibly exciting when Phil Mickelson attacked each and every pin on Sunday in the Masters and pulled off some amazing iron shots. Isn’t that what everyone wants to see…birdies galore winning tournaments? Mmm, I’m not sure. I actually enjoy watching the pros struggle sometimes. For instance, the courses used for the US Opens are incredibly difficult as the rough is let grow to extreme levels, putting a premium on accurate driving and solid iron play and I like watching this. Many pros complain the rough is too long but so what? You are professionals, if you miss the fairway, you will more than likely take bogey unless you are a good wedge player…this is the way golf should be!
I think one of the biggest issues with the new golf courses is that the hazards are simply not hazardous enough. Playing golf in Carton House on Saturday, I went into bunkers on two holes as a result of errant tee shots. Such is the depth of the bunkers there, I was only able to advance the ball 50 yards forward. On TV, the pros are playing out of fairway bunkers so immaculate and flat, they can hardly be called hazards. Similarly, the rough in some courses is cut too short in my view, just so the course looks pretty and the pros are kept happy…god forbid they would have to struggle to claim a first prize of €500,000!
Therefore, forget all these claims to change the equipment etc. Lets focus on more natural aspects. Deepen the bunkers if possible or alternatively, don’t rake them. Let the rough grow so that pro’s will do all they can to avoid such hazards. In some ways it artificially lengthens the course as some players will begin to put a premium on accuracy again and sacrifice length off the tee. For those who want to be aggressive, well this makes good viewing as they are as likely to take bogey as birdie…risk/reward in my eyes!
And at the end of the tournament week, what will we have….a champion who has been accurate off the tee, hit great approach shots and holed his fair share of putts to excite us with birdie blitzes scattered throughout the 4 days, mixed in of course with the odd double! Welcome to our our world of golf lads!
As always, you may have different suggestions so let me know.
An absolutely stunning performance from Brian Gay saw him win the Verizon Heritage by an incredible 10 shots from Luke Donald and Briny Baird. Starting the day 3 clear, Gay quickly stamped his authority on the tournament with a monster eagle putt on the 2nd. He was never to look back from here and a flawless 64 was the result. Luke Donald was my choice last week for a top-10 finish in the Masters but while this did not happen, it is clear that Donald is in great form since returning from injury. Not being Tiger Woods, many forget the length of time Luke has been out injured for. Since coming back, his performances have been hugely impressive and if he maintains current form, one would have to give him a chance of winning a tournament soon.
I thought Jim Furyk might have done well this week but this was not the case and his poor Greens in Regulation count will make it difficult for me to fancy him again any time soon. Rory McIlroy was another choice of mine this week, although I did state that I was concerned that the Masters may have taken a lot out of him. He certainly looked that way this week and it was therefore no surprise that Rory, in an interview with the Irish Independent, said he felt flat this week and in future would not play any tournaments the week after a major….all a learning curve still for young Rory.
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Hi All,
Thank you for continuing to read my blog posts. I hope you are enjoying them and any suggestions are more than welcome.
A few updates for you. I am delighted to announce that over the next few weeks, I will be changing the appearance of the blog to make it more appealing and live. It should provide you with a greater choice of relevant content, which is always the goal. I am also going to start focussing more on some of the new (and old) equipment available to us golfers nowadays. In the past year and a half, I have taken a much keener interest in my golf equipment and subsequently changed my 3-wood, rescue club, irons, wedges, putter and even my golf balls to ensure I get the max out of my game. I can assure you, it does make a difference so be sure to keep up to date if you are serious on improving your game.
One department I am looking to improve in particularly, is my fitness, again a very important aspect of the game that often gets overlooked. There are some very good websites and videos which specialises in this so I will try and point you in the right direction.
As always, there will be plenty of critical commentary from me on topical issues within the game so be sure to read and of course, have your say in return!!
Whenever I provide a tip for my readers, I am looking for value for money and a golfer who I feel can give them a good run for their money. Its never nice when the tips dont perform and even before Sundays round, you feel like you are out of the competition. Thankfully this was not the case this week as Chapchai Nirat at 25/1 was well in contention heading into Sunday.
The day began excellently for me. Andrew Coltart (7/1 to finish in the top-10) shot 66 and to move into the top-10 which looked profitable. A fantastic round from a man in form. Chapchai Nirat then produced some solid golf to get to -6 with only 1 hole to to play. So, with only a handful of players left on the course and Nirat in T2 playing the last and Coltart T10, I was in for a great weekend. Then, by some cruel twist of faith, the golfing gods looked down on me and decided, nope…not today. Marcus Brier birdies the 18th to knock Coltart down to T11 and therefore out of the money. This was unfortunate but when Nirat double-bogeyed the last…well this was just downright frustrating. This left Nirat at -4 and amazingly, one shot outside the placings. In the space of 1-hour, my profitable bets had turned into loosing ones. Golf can be a cruel game but this was just ridiculous!
We cant take anything away from the winner Scott Strange though. A fantastic final round of 68 got him to -8, enough to pip Fernando Gonzalo Castano by a single shot. It is interesting to note that Castano has now been 2nd in his past two events and therefore it would seem, due a win! Andrew Coltart is also in good form, T6, T21 and T11 in his last 3 events..worth keeping an eye on in future events. From an Irish point of view, it was great to see a top-10 finish from Paul McGinely. Here’s hoping for more good play from the likeable Irishman.
Well, I said this tournament would be wide open and it was. I’m off now for a little cry and an hour of waving my fists in the air at the golfing gods shouting “Why me? God damn you, can you see we are in a recession!!”
Oh what a terrible start for my selections this week. It would seem on the face of it that many of those who made the cut in the Masters are struggling. I though perhaps fatigue would be a concern for Rory McIlroy and this could well be the case. He had a rather uninspiring one-over par 72 but we all know that he is more than capable of shooting a low score on his day so hopefully we will see a strong performance in round 2.
My other selection, Jim Furyk had me shouting in exasperation at the computer screen as his scores were updated. -2 through 8 holes, he was going along just swimmingly. Then, the rails came off and poor old Jim lost the plot, much to my frustration. Missing greens all over the place, Furyk eventually signed off for a 4-over par 75. Although not entirely out of it, it is difficult to see how he can come back from this poor performance.
At the top, Alex Cejka had his best round in almost two years on the tour as he carded a 7-under par 64. His nearest challengers are Lee Janzen (-6) and Trevor Immelman (-5). Good rounds were also had by Ernie Els (-3), Jose Maria Olazabla (-3) and defending champion Boo Weekley (-2) had a solid round to keep him in contention.
As expected, its tight at the top of the leaderboard after the first round of the Volvo China Open, with the 2007 winner Marcus Brier off to a flying start. He completed a first round of 67 to lead by 1 from Nick Dougherty (40/1) and David McKenzie, who both fired 68’s. Simon Dyson is on 3 under after 69 and justifying his tag as one of the favourites.
Brier, started on the 10th with consecutive birdies before dropping a shot on the 12th. Birdies followed however on the 13th, 15th, 2nd, 3rd and 4th to get Brier to 6under. A bogey on the last tarnished the round somewhat but Brier will be more than pleased with 67.
Our tip Chapchai Nirat (25/1) is well placed after an opening 69. A bogey on the first was not the ideal start but birdies on the 2nd and 4th, followed by a fantastic eagle on the 13th got him to 3 under. A dropped shot on the 15th was quickly recovered with a birdie on the 16th and two pars followed for 69. If he can repeat todays performance over the next 3 days, then my money will have been put to good use. Early days yet however!
Our other recommendation, Andrew Coltart did not get off to the start I was looking for though as he signed for a 74. A double bogey on the very difficult 14th was his undoing in what was otherwise a solid round. A sub-70 round tomorrow could get him right back in the mix for a top-10 so I wont panic yet.
Others that played well but were undone by one bad hole were Thongchai Jaidee, who double bogeyed his last hole for a 70 and defending champion Damien McGrane, who was 4-under before taking a disastrous quadruple bogey on the 14th. At level par, Damien is still in the hunt, albeit further back than what he would have hoped.
