PGA tour
Farmers Insurance Open
Thursday Jan 27 – Sunday Jan 30, 2011
Torrey Pines Golf Course · La Jolla, Calif.
Purse: $5.8 million Winning Share: $954,000
Defending Champion Ben Crane
Canucks . Weir, Baryla, Hearn, Ames, McQuillan
All eyes will be on the 10th tee, North Course on Thursday where Tiger and Rocco will be together again at Torrey Pines as they begin their 2011 season. I wrote my thoughts yesterday on Tigers return ( New world order adds spice to Tiger's return) but I can say his coach Sean Foley has indicated that Tiger has come a long way in practice and that he expects a great year from him and Sean is in San Diego to be with Tiger, Stephen Ames and Hunter Mahan... Remember the duel that Rocco and Tiger had in their Monday playoff thatdecided the 2008 U.S. Open... Funny how they got paired together isn't it >>
The other story here is the appearance of Jhonattan Vegas after his historic win last week and he is paired with Charley Hoffman who is a San Diego native who has played this course often and Nick Watney who won at Torrey Pines in 2009. .
Of our 5 Canucks David Hearn is stuck in a group with Tommy Gainey and Zack Miller right behind Tiger
Mike Weir, now down to 4 events to make his $228,000 is on the 10th tee North Course with Kenny Perry and John Rollins and Matt McQuillan is just 2 groups behind him
Chris Baryla is also on the North Course but off the first tee
Sean Foley has 2 of his clients Stephen Ames and Hunter Mahan paired together on the 10th tee South Course
EUROPEAN Tour
Volvo Golf Champions
27-30 January
The Royal Golf Club,Kingdom of Bahrain,Bahrain
€1,700,000
For the first time in the history of The European Tour, The Middle East in 2011 will be hosting five tournaments in a single season. They are: Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, Volvo Golf Champions, Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy, Omega Dubai Desert Classic and the Dubai World Championship presented by DP World
"These are incredibly exciting times for European golf and for The European Tour and to have a brand new event in the Middle East at a time when the sponsorship market is very tough indeed is clear evidence that our golf circuit is in great shape, on and off the golf course.” said new Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal and when you think about it what a mecca the middle east has become for this tour when you consider the recession that is still ravaging the world, including the USA...... and what a wonderful sponsor Volvo is, in fact they have just announced a new venue for their event in China....
Here is the announcement of yet another strong area of golf growth for this tour..
The 17th edition of the Volvo China Open will see China's oldest professional golf event move to an iconic new destination with a prize fund increase of 20 per cent.
Luxehills International Country Club, in the historic city of Chengdu in Sichuan Province, south west China, will host the event, which has a new date of April 21-24.
There will also be a new prize fund of RMB 20 million (approx. US$ 3million), which is up 20 per cent on 2010.
Per Ericsson, President, Volvo Event Management – Golf, said: “These are three major building blocks in the next stage of our vision for the Volvo China Open and takes the national open golf championship of China, golf’s fastest-growing market onto a new level of prestige and significance in the world of golf.”
This week it is the Kingdom of Bahrain where the big boys are taking the week off ( Westwood, Kaymer and McDowell )
The Kingdom of Bahrain is a group of 33 islands located just off the eastern coastline of Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf. The largest island is Bahrain Island ruled by King HAMAD bin Isa Al-Khalifa
Modern causeways connect the four main islands, and all are connected to Saudi Arabia by the 16-mile-long King Fahd Causeway. Similar to numerous other Arab states, Bahrain had a long relationship with the United Kingdom, until declaring its independence in 1971. It joined the United Nations that very year.
Leading the way are seven men from the top 30 of the Official World Golf Ranking – Paul Casey, Ian Poulter, Francesco Molinari, Robert Karlsson, Edoardo Molinari, Miguel Angel Jiménez and Padraig Harrington
Sergio Garcia makes his return, and sounds refreshed and interested in playing golf again. Garcia took a brief break from the game after the US PGA Championship last year and has slipped down to World Number 80, a long way from when he was World Number Two a little under two years ago
I wonder if he will ever recover his confidence completely. Remember 2007 when he lost the Players to Mickelson then the real crusher when he seemed in command at the Open at Carnoustie until that 12 footer on the 72nd lipped out and he lost in the playoff to Paddy Harrington, who cruelly beat him again the next year at the PGA followed by Vijay snatching the Barclay's out of his hand at the end of the year just to add insult to injury
He's never been the same since, so like Tiger we will watch with interest.
CHAMPIONS Tour
Jan. 28 - 30 Champions Skins Game #
Royal Kaanapali Golf Course, Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii
Purse: $770,000*
Jack Nicklaus,
Tom Watson (D)
$175,000
pgatour.com...Two of the greatest performers in sports -- Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson -- will defend their title against fellow Hall of Fame members and major championship winners as the 24th Ka'anapali Champions Skins Game returns to the beautiful island of Maui, Hawaii and the Royal Ka'anapali Golf Course Jan. 29-30, 2011.
If the dynamic twosome of Nicklaus and Watson are not enough, this year's field also includes three more Hall of Fame members Ben Crenshaw, Bernhard Langer and Nick Price. In addition, three of golf's most recognized personalities and multiple major championship winners Fred Couples, Mark O'Meara and Fuzzy Zoeller will compete.
For the sixth consecutive year, the players will compete in the alternate-shot, team format which has produced memorable shots
Bryan Angus ( research and notes from pgatour.com, europeantour.com, CIA the world fact book..)
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