Saturday, May 7, 2011
Pugh is two under for the championship going into the final day, one shot ahead of Scot Gordon Stevenson and two cl
ear of Irish teenager Paul Dunne (Greystones) and Eddie McCormack (Galway).
Defending champion Alan Dunbar, pictured, is still well in the hunt after a second round 72, just three shots back on one over.
First round leader Robin Kind dug deep after a poor start, birdying the final three holes for a 76, five shots off the lead on three over, and tied with Dhont, whose course record was a tremendous recovery from a first round 81.
Click below for full scores
Robin Kind of the Netherlands was the only man to break par on day 1 of the Irish Amateur Open Championship at The Royal Dublin.
Kind owed his success to his performance on the back nine – by far the harder in a testing easterly wind – as he covered the second half of his round in two-under 35, highlighted by an eagle two at the short par-four 16th.
Ian Brennan (Greenore) and Welshman Rhys Pugh share second place on level-par 72, with Greystones teenager Paul Dunne, the defending champion Alan Dunbar (Rathmore) and Carlow’s John Greene all on one over after 73s.
Galway’s Eddie McCormack, Banbridge’s Rory Leonard and Scot Gordon Stevenson are a further shot back after two-over 74s.
Full scores click below
The news was confirmed by a statement on the
golfer's official website which said: "Today, at 2.10am Spanish time, Seve Ballesteros passed away peacefully surrounded by his family at his home in Pedreña.
"The Ballesteros family is very grateful for all the support and gestures of love that have been received since Seve was diagnosed with a brain tumour on 5th October 2008 at Madrid Hospital la Paz.
"At this time the family asks for respect and privacy at such a painful time. Thank you very much.
The Guardian this morning reports the overnight passing of Seve
Friday, May 6, 2011
"The Ballesteros family informs that Seve’s neurological condition has suffered a severe deterioration. The family will inform accordingly about any change in his health condition and takes this opportunity of thanking everyone for the support that both Seve and his own family have been receiving during all this time."
Our thoughts are with them.
I’m sure you’ve all heard of the recent spat between Tour angry man Rory Sabbatini and sack everybody he sees Sean O’ Hair. Here’s the official line (yawn!)
A verbal disagreement allegedly took place between O’Hair and Sabbatini on the 14th hole at TPC Louisiana. According to sources, Sabbatini spent much of last Thursday and Friday complaining about the speed of play. Eventually he asked O’Hair directly if he thought the speed of play was a problem and reportedly O’Hair said the problem was Sabbatini. Sources said O’Hair told Sabbatini that playing in a group with Sabbatini, a known speed-of-play advocate, was equal to a two-shot penalty for his playing competitors.
Sources said no other words were spoken during the round. Two sources said the two confronted each other again in the locker room.
Now Here’s What What Was Really Said
Delving as we do into the world of women’s golf this morning we see that Sweden’s Maria Hjorth won the Avnet Challenge on the LPGA Tour last week. That prompted us to check out the Solheim Cup standings being as the event is coming to Ireland in the fabulous Killeen Castle on 23rd September.
Poor old Maria, though 16 in the World (and pretty much among the few recognizable name among the Shins, Kims and Inbees) lies a lowly 40th in the European team rankings which is lead by, wait for it, Laura Davies. Hang on, can that be right?
Meanwhile Natalie Gulbis, the first name I thought of when Team USA came into my head, has fallen to 106th in the world, yet is 14th on the USA’s Solheim points list. Hang on another second, can that be right?
Somebody’s got some explaining to do, and fast. Much and all as I want to see Gulbis doing her stretching; I’ll be bloody angry if Maria Hjorth isn’t on our team. Surely she shouldn’t have to rely on a captain’s pick (if there even is one). Sorry guys its substance over style for me, but so far it looks like they’ve got it the wrong way round.
Talking about all things golf has never been difficult for Padraig Harrington, whose good nature and insightful views have always made him a media favorite, helped by his stature in the game as a three-time major champion.An injury at the Masters proved to be a setback for Padraig Harrington. But the Irishman's strong start at the Wells Fargo Championship on Thursday has him focused on the future.
So a chat after his round Thursday at Quail Hollow seemed routine until it wrapped up. Harrington thanked the assembled scribblers, walked away to sign autographs, then stopped and turned back.
"It's nice to be wanted," he said, smiling…….
Thursday, May 5, 2011
To be honest we were not entirely sure if it Posh Spice or Lee Westwood we were looking at, but it seems since there was no sign of David Beckham around, it really is the new ultra sinewy Lee Westwood. The Worksop man is rumoured to have undergone a three week training camp of caveman diet and the Gary Player stomach crunch DVD. And he’s emerged paler than a Taliban counting helicopters to get to sleep!
Only jokin’ Lee, it’s just me having fun with photoshop!
First Round Leaderboard
Click on leaderboard to view full filed scores
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
To celebrate the launch of Kartel’s new website www.kartel.ie, this week’s prize is a fab Player Issue Shirt as worn on Tour by Padraig Harrington. It’s full of technology and comes complete with all Podge’s Tour logos. Whether you play like a pro or not, you will certainly look like one with this on your back!
To enter just answer the questions and fill in your details on the widget opposite before the 10th May.
Congrats to last weeks winner Colm Magee, Ratoath, Co. Meath who answered Ross fisher and Richard Finch and wins a fourball in Bunclody.
2011 Wells Fargo Championship Betting Preview and Tips
Odds on Betfair unless stated
Phil Mickelson 12.5/1
Phil makes his first appearance since The Masters where he was tipped by many to earn another green jacket. Having won the Shell Houston Open the previous week Phil finished down in 27th at Augusta, possibly a little exhausted after two weeks exertions. Finished second last year behind Rory McIlroy who blitzed the field with his final round 62. That was Phil’s third top five in the last three years.
Jim Furyk 30/1
Jim Furyk last won at The Tour Championship last September and he will be looking to kick start a rather lacklustre season at Quail Hollow. Won this event when it was called the Wachovia in 2006 in a playoff having lost in a playoff in 2005. He’s been in the top 25 in his last four events but a very poor final round when right in contention at The Heritage was a little worrying. Showed enough with three rounds of 66,68,69 though and sure to contend.
Dustin Johnson 25/1
Impressed greatly at the WGC Cadillac in finishing second but his missed cut at the Arnold Palmer seemed to dent his Masters hopes. Returned in Korea at the Ballantine’s last week and finished fourth seemingly without holing a putt. Drove it an average 306 yards there with an average 80% accuracy. Johnson will put himself on the greens in Quail Hollow; it all depends on whether he can get the putts to drop.
Angel Cabrera 80/1
Shouldn’t have bothered his ass going to Texas after the exertions a former Masters champions endures during Augusta week. Seventh at Augusta and third here last year. Cabrera shot a 73 on the Saturday last year, the worst third round of the eventual top 10. Has the big game for this course. Might be inspired by Andres Romero’s form last week in New Orleans but then again so might Andres Romero.
Bo Van Pelt 80/1
Went on a run of third, fifth (at Quail Hollow), fourth from the end of April last season. Top 10’d at Augusta but bombed out since then. Speaking of bombing out, this is a bombers course and I give Van Pelt a shot. A safer bet is “to finish in the top 10”- he’s 5/1 on paddypower.
Long Odds Preview
In a dark period of 17 weeks last year Mark Wilson (150/1) only made one cut. That was here at Quail Hollow where he tied seventh. This year Wilson has won twice in Hawaii and Phoenix and showed some decent form at the Heritage recently and could be worth a look.
If you’re looking for some long odds glory this week you cold take a punt on Aussie Matt Jones (150/1). You probably wont hear about him for the rest of the year but he seems to like Quail Hollow. Tied seventh last year and top-10’d last week at The Zurich Classic.
And the final word goes to form dog Tommy Two Gloves Gainey (90/1). The market doesn’t seem to care about his incredible form. He’s at 90/1 for which an each way bet would pay handsomely, not a word usually associated our hero.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Check out Karl’s website www.golf-brain.com
Why do you bother with golf at all?
As I was a teenager growing up, golf to my mind was a game played by old men with a questionable taste in their attire. Yet it took just one ‘try’ at the game, one experience of being on a ‘golf course’ to spark something in my teenage mind that is still thrashing away inside of me thirty years later. As soon as I started to play regularly I wanted to become a member of a ‘real club’ and was staggered to find out that to join my local club as an adult at that time would involve me waiting SEVEN years because the waiting list was so long. That was how it was back in the early part of the Eighties if you wanted to join a golf club.
Yet thirty years later that same club is now offering ‘taster memberships’ where you can join for just a couple of months to see if you ‘like the game’ and if you do you are straight in, no wait, no joining fee. I read recently that golf has become what is known as a ‘static sport’ for a good number of years prior to the recession. A static sport is what it suggests in so much that for as many people who begin to start playing the game there is roughly an equal amount that pack in and stop playing. Why is that? Why do SO many people seem to be turning away from the game for reasons other than financial ones? A seven year waiting list to NO waiting list and ‘taster membership’ is a staggering turnaround in a half lifetime.
Maybe the world that we now live in has to experience being ‘good’ at something far quicker than previous generations. Maybe there is a pressure to perform and get a low handicap. Perhaps we EXPECT to be good at something without putting in the time and the effort that real skill development requires. Have we become too impatient to allow ourselves and our golf game to develop? We now see so much golf on TV and we are constantly fed images of great players hitting great shots. Has this set up an unrealistic expectation for many people? After all we never see the coverage of those players who are right on the cut mark and are struggling with their game. We just see good shots MOST of the time. Does golf take too long for our modern scatter brained attention deficit defeated mind? I don’t have any definitive answers to these questions but they MUST be having an impact on the game itself.
With top Irish amateur and TPI certified fitness instructor Robbie Cannon of Harrington Golf. To book a session call Robbie on 086-6002432.
The X Factor
In the golf swing the x factor has been a buzz word for many years. Basically it is a move professionals use to ensure correct sequencing of the swing and generate extra power. It also counteracts an over the top swing where the hips shoot foreword on the downswing resulting in a weak left to right shot. It is achieved when you rotate your hips and lower body towards your target as fast as possible while your shoulders, arms and club lag behind. This produces more club head speed and means more distance. A great exercise for you to get the feeling of this is the stork turn.
Grab a golf stick and use it as support or lock your arms out against a wall, stand on one leg and wrap your other foot around the back of your standing leg. Keeping your upper body as still and solid as possible rotate your lower body. Make 10 turns and repeat on opposite side. Doing this exercise every will help strengthen your hips, increase their degree of rotation and help you to discover that X Factor of explosive distance.
I might have a PhD in a fairly technical discipline the World Golf Rankings never cease to baffle me. Now I’m not about to launch into a lecture on how they work, please allow me instead to let off a little steam about them. It’s less a case of “go out and play well” to rise up the rankings and more a case of “rest well” and you might find yourself at No. 1!
That was exactly the scenario last week at the Ballantine’s when world no.1 Lee Westwood (playing) needed a strong finish in South Korea to stay ahead of Martin Kaymer (not playing). It’s almost like saying you can earn more money on the dole than by doing an honest days work!
So Westwood didn’t just have to worry about Miguel Angel Jimenez during his final round in Korea. Kaymer was putting pressure on him from his armchair in Germany by virtue of how his divisor chugs out points in a complex two year maths equation.
So daft are the rankings that Rory McIlroy, who was playing a five a side game with friends on his new astro pitch, overtook Tiger Woods (icing his knee) in the rankings last Sunday night, because of what was going on behind them! As it turns out McIlroy would have passed Woods anyway in the coming weeks irrespective of what either on them did. What’s written in the rankings shall come to pass!
Tiger Woods might be ridiculed in some quarters for not playing as many events as other but while he’s off for covering himself in baby oil as he slips down the rankings consider this. The last year Woods played a full season of 17 events was in 2009, and the scoring average for the courses he chose to play on was approximately 72, almost 1 ½ strokes higher than the scoring average for the 35 other courses used on Tour that year.
The point? The official world golf rankings are about as useful an indicator of the best players in the world as a one legged man in an arse kicking competition!
Monday, May 2, 2011
Betting Preview And Tips
Open de España, Real Club de Golf El Prat, Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain 05 May 2011 - 08 May 2011
Winner Alright: Last week we kept our winning run going with a double on the European and PGA Tours with Lee Westwood 10/1 and Bubba Watson 22/1
Miguel Angel Jimenez 12/1
How does he keep doing it? Instead of sitting by the fire in a pair of slippers Miguel was out in Korea finishing second behind Lee Westwood at the Ballantine’s. Westwood prophesied “See you in the playoff tomorrow!” and he nearly did. Tied for fourth in the Open de Espana in 2008.
Matteo Manassero 15/1
This is the second of seven European Tour events to be staged in Spain this year and they may all suit Matteo Manassero. From Dubai to Florida to Malaysia the young Italian is well travelled and proving a prolific winner. Won last time out in Malaysia on a short course of 6700 yards, like Golf El Prat. Also won the Castello Masters on Spanish soil last October.
Peter Lawrie 32/1
This has been one Peter Lawrie’s majors for the past few years. He in 2008 when staged in Seville, then tied third in 2009 in Catalunya. This week the event has another new home at El Prat, a short Greg Norman track which should suit Lawrie. Tied for second at the China Open two weeks ago and has consistently finished in the top 30 in his last four events.
Thomas Bjorn 50/1
Hasn’t played since the Trophee Hassan at start of April. A final round 62 saw him climb into a tie for 15th. Winner at the windy Estoril Open last season, his first win in four years and followed it with another win in Qatar in February. Tied third in 2006 and 2009.
Mark Foster 150/1
A decent long odds squeak this week is Mark Foster. He’s looking for a bit of payback after missing a putt on the last to make the playoff last year when Quiros won. Foster continued his good form in Spain by finishing fourth at the Open de Andalucia in March but hasn’t played on Tour since the Trophee Hassan a month ago.
Shane Lowry 25/1
With 18 birdies and an eagle last week, Shane Lowry was even hotter than Lee Westwood. But for a couple of bad holes the Esker Hills man would have fared much better than his tied 13th at The Ballantine’s. Fully fir again after his scafoid injury. Tied 12th in last seasons Open de Espana.
Hey, he’s no oil painting but then again neither is Lionel Messi! Critics of the US Tour reckon the Europeans have all the game’s big characters, yet the PGA are sitting on potentially one of the most fascinating characters in the world of golf and they’re doing diddly squat about it. Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey first came to the notice of the golfing public on the reality Golf Channel TV Show “The Big Break”, where aspiring players battle it out for a place in a Challenge Tour field. Though he didn’t win the show, Gainey, who wears a pair of all weather golf gloves, and has a swing all his own, was an instant hit with audiences for his “salt of the earth” attitude and demeanor. Before turning pro he worked on an assembly line in South Carolina, wrapping insulation around hot water heaters and talks like he still works there. After winning twice on the Nationwide Tour last season, Gainey now has a full Tour card and has now finished in the top three in his last two events. “The fans have been unreal, unbelievable,” Gainey said. “I can say all the big words you want to hear, but it’s been awesome to be here this week, and it’s even better to play well in front of them, in front of the home folks for me. We love you Tommy Two Gloves.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
You’re welcome! That’s three winners in the last two weeks for our GolfCentralDaily betting tips. Having brought in Brandt Snedeker at 34/1 at the Heritage, last week we tipped Lee Westwood who won in Korea at 10/1 and Bubba Watson who won the Zurich Classic at the second playoff hole at 22/1.
Check out our Spain and Quail Hollow tips tomorrow.
Click on pic below to view 2011 Ballantine's Championship Final Round Highlights on the European Tour website.
Final Round Leaderboard
click to view full leaderboard