with Bryan Angus

Thanks for joining me today. I look forward to your comments . They are always welcome here on FairwaysPlus. Bryan Angus bryanangus4@gmail.com



Saturday, April 30, 2011

Heavy rain suspends round 3 for the day at the Ballantines in Seoul

europeantour.com : Miguel Angel Jiménez and Brett Rumford were tied for the lead on -10 when the third round of the Ballantine's Championship was suspended for the day due to bad weather in Korea.


Heavy downpours and the threat of lightning forced the players off the Blackstone GC Course just as the leaders had completed their front nine.

Australian Rumford had held a three shot lead at the halfway stage but while he could only complete a level par 36 on the front nine, 47 year old Jiménez fired three birdies to turn in 33.That wiped out the deficit, and saw the duo pull two clear of Wales' Rhys Davies, who was -3 through ten - a 20 foot putt at the fifth completing a run of three birdies in four holes.

Spaniard Jiménez made the perfect start to the day with consecutive birdies at the first and second, where his superb approach was within four feet, and The Ryder Cup star birdied the eighth from 15 feet.

"Tomorrow, play 27 holes, feel good. I feel fine. Tomorrow is a marathon."

World Number One Lee Westwood was -2 through 12, the Englishman advancing to -6 just 4 shots back, although he had just hooked his tee shot way off line at the 13th and was set to return to a difficult second shot.

After an hour of further heavy rain, play was abandoned for the day. Round three will resume at 0800 on Sunday.


Leaderboard as play was suspended

T1 JIMÉNEZ, Miguel Angel -10 9 -3 70 67 - - 137

T1 RUMFORD, Brett -10 9 Par 71 63 - - 134
3 DAVIES, Rhys -8 10 -2 70 68 - - 138
T4 RAMSAY, Richie -7 13 -3 68 72 - - 140
T4 KAPUR, Shiv -7 13 -3 72 68 - - 140
T4 KARLBERG, Rikard -7 12 -3 71 69 - - 140
T4 KIM, Dae-hyun -7 11 -3 71 69 - - 140
T4 NOREN, Alexander -7 11 -2 70 69 - - 139
T4 JOHNSON, Dustin -7 10 -2 70 69 - - 139
T4 KJELDSEN, Søren -7 9 Par 71 66 - - 137
T11 LOWRY, Shane* -6 17 -4 72 70 - - 142
T11 WESTWOOD, Lee -6 12 -2 72 68 - - 140

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles

Jon Mills leads weather delayed South Georgia Classic

Nearly half the field has not yet started round 2 down in Valdosta, Georgia so they are playing catch up today. Jon Mills of Oshawa did get his second round started with 3 straight birdies and has a share of the lead with Micheal Letzig in this mixed up leaderboard at -6

Richard T Lee is one of the lucky few who did get round 2 completed so he can sleep in today 72,72 142 T25 and Bryan DeCorso from Guelph is waiting to start round 2. The early cut is projected at E and he starts play right on that number.


Canuck Scoreboard

T1 T3 Jon Mills SC P -3 3 * -6 69 -- -- -- 69

T25 T51 Richard T. Lee SC P -2 F * -2 72 70 -- -- 142

T60 T51 Bryan DeCorso SC P 8:40 am E 72 -- -- -- 72

Special guest John Smoltz had his 2 handicap shredded as he opened +12 84 and has yet to start round 2.


Leaderboard startin play on Saturday

T1 T15 Michael Letzig SC P -4 17 * -6 70 -- -- -- 70

T1 T3 Jon Mills SC P -3 3 * -6 69 -- -- -- 69
T1 1 Mathew Goggin SC P 8:30 am -6 66 -- -- -- 66
T4 T51 Brett Wetterich SC P -4 F -4 72 68 -- -- 140
T4 T15 Cliff Kresge SC P -2 F * -4 70 70 -- -- 140
T4 T15 Mark Anderson SC P -2 F * -4 70 70 -- -- 140
T4 T3 Miguel Angel Carballo SC P -1 16 * -4 69 -- -- -- 69
T4 T69 John Kimbell SC P -5 15 * -4 73 -- -- -- 73
T4 T51 Erik Compton SC P -4 15 * -4 72 -- -- -- 72
T4 T15 Matt Boyd SC P -2 14 -4 70 -- -- -- 70
T4 T29 Matt Hendrix SC P -3 14 * -4 71 -- -- -- 71
T4 T15 Michael O'Neal SC P -2 14 * -4 70 -- -- -- 70
T4 2 Brendon Todd SC P 8:50 am * -4 68 -- -- -- 68

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles

Gal leads, Alena Sharp in contention at the Avnet in Mobile

While President Obama toured devastated Alabama, the girls continued to play in perfect conditions on the Crossing Course at the Avnet LPGA Classic in Mobile

While long legged German Sandra 'whata' Gal 70 67 137 leads, the pack of 14 including Hamilton's Alena Sharp 72 69 141 are all within 4 shots.

Gal is quite a story, born in Germany, an only child, taught to golf by her Dad, eventually made the German national team, and there aren't many women playing golf in Germany, became good enough to get a scholarship to university in Florida where her game and her personality really blossomed. She is nearly 6 feet tall, features her long legs in short tight skirts, and as I said has a game to match her looks..

Canuck scoreboard

T11 T11 SHARP, Alena -3 11:50 AM 72 69 141

T42 T42 KANE, Lorie +1 8:46 AM 72 73 145

T42 T42 SHERLOCK, Stephanie +1 8:38 AM 71 74 145
T69 T69 RICHDALE, Samantha +3 7:26 AM 74 73 147
CUT MELDRUM, Lisa +10 77 77 154


CUT SHEPLEY, Jessica +6 74 76 150


Scoreboard within 4 shots

1 1 GAL, Sandra -7 12:30 PM 70 67 137
2 2 YANG, Amy -6 12:30 PM 70 68 138
T3 T3 LEWIS, Stacy -5 12:22 PM 68 71 139
T3 T3 STUPPLES, Karen -5 12:22 PM 68 71 139
T3 T3 KIM, Song-Hee -5 12:14 PM 67 72 139 
T6 T6 YOO, Sun Young -4 12:14 PM 72 68 140
T6 T6 PETTERSEN, Suzann -4 12:06 PM 72 68 140
T6 T6 SUH, Jenny -4 12:06 PM 71 69 140
T6 T6 KEMP, Sarah -4 11:58 AM 70 70 140
T6 T6 PAK, Se Ri -4 11:58 AM 69 71 140
T11 T11 KIM, Mindy -3 11:50 AM 73 68 141
T11 T11 SHARP, Alena -3 11:50 AM 72 69 141
T11 T11 KIM, Christina -3 11:42 AM 70 71 141
T11 T11 MACKENZIE, Paige -3 11:42 AM 70 71 141
T11 T11 CHOI, Na Yeon -3 11:26 AM 69 72 141

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles

Bubba leads, Hearn in contention at Zurich Classic

20 players are within 5 shots of the lead as we go into this weekend at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans and David Hearn is one of them.

Bubba Watson 66 68 134 continues to lead on a course he says he doesn't really like, and he is followed by Kentucky's Josh Teater who had his round at -8 through 13 before making a couple of bogey's coming in, but still 69,66 135 he will take.

A similar story for our David Hearn, 71 68 139 T12 in a big group that includes Luke Donald 68 71 139. David was T4 with 3 holes to play but finished bogey, bogey, par, tough to take,but if you told him he would be T12, only 5 back going into the weekend he would take it I'm sure.

First here is my featured group with the bad news on the rest of our Canucks

T12 3 3 Luke Donald -5 F* -1 info 68 71 139

T12 21 100 David Hearn -5 F -4 info 71 68 139
CUT 113 Stephen Ames 73 75 148
CUT 243 Chris Baryla 77 85 162
CUT 220 Matt McQuillan 78 77 155
CUT 51 Graeme McDowell 73 75 148


Leaderboard within 5 shots of the lead

1 1 Bubba Watson -10 F* -4 color info 66 68 134

2 13 55 Josh Teater -9 F -6 color info 69 66 135
3 80 John Rollins -8 F* -3 color info 67 69 136
T4 17 42 John Senden -7 F -5 color info 70 67 137
T4 5 25 Jason Dufner -7 F* -3 color info 68 69 137
T4 3 99 Matt Jones -7 F -1 color info 66 71 137
T4 5 17 Webb Simpson -7 F* -3 color info 68 69 137
T4 70 81 Dean Wilson -7 F* -8 color info 73 64 137
T9 6 27 Tommy Gainey -6 F -1 color info 67 71 138
T9 12 28 Steve Stricker -6 F* -4 color info 70 68 138
T9 12 124 David Mathis -6 F -4 color info 70 68 138
T12 3 3 Luke Donald -5 F* -1 color info 68 71 139
T12 3 34 K.J. Choi -5 F* -1 color info 68 71 139
T12 9 65 Nick O'Hern -5 F* E color info 67 72 139
T12 41 87 Cameron Tringale -5 F* -5 color info 72 67 139
T12 21 100 David Hearn -5 F -4 color info 71 68 139
T12 21 106 Camilo Villegas -5 F -4 color info 71 68 139
T12 3 45 Matt Bettencourt -5 F* -1 color info 68 71 139
T12 21 7 Nick Watney -5 F -4 color info 71 68 139
T12 9 137 Joe Durant -5 F* E color info 67 72 139
T12 3 102 Billy Mayfair -5 F* -2 color info 69 70 139

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles

Friday, April 29, 2011

Aussie Rumford's 63 good for a 3 shot lead, Westwood 6 shots back in Seoul

In the wee early hours, while Kate Middleton was still single I wrote about Aussie Brett Rumford already in the clubhouse with a 63 -10 leading total.

That has held up as round 2 is now in the books at the Ballantines in Seoul S Korea, and in fact it has grown to 3 shots over Soren Kjeldsen 66 and Miguel Jimenez 67 both at -7.

Lee Westwood 68 is at -4,  6 back going into the weekend.

The cut fell at +1 which sent YE Yang, Ernie Els and Ian Poulter all home on the same flight, all ended up at +2.


1 RUMFORD, Brett* -10 18 -9 71 63 - - 134


T2 KJELDSEN, Søren* -7 18 -6 71 66 - - 137
T2 JIMÉNEZ, Miguel Angel -7 18 -5 70 67 - - 137
T4 DAVIES, Rhys* -6 18 -4 70 68 - - 138
T4 MORRISON, James -6 18 -3 69 69 - - 138
T4 MCGRANE, Damien -6 18 Par 66 72 - - 138
T7 JOHNSON, Dustin* -5 18 -3 70 69 - - 139
T7 PARK, Sang-hyun* -5 18 Par 67 72 - - 139
T7 FINCH, Richard* -5 18 Par 67 72 - - 139
T7 NOREN, Alexander* -5 18 -3 70 69 - - 139
T11 LIANG, Wen-chong* -4 18 -6 74 66 - - 140
T11 KIM, Dae-hyun* -4 18 -3 71 69 - - 140
T11 KARLBERG, Rikard -4 18 -3 71 69 - - 140
T11 WESTWOOD, Lee -4 18 -4 72 68 - - 140
T11 KIM, Kyung-tae -4 18 -1 69 71 - - 140
T11 RAMSAY, Richie* -4 18 Par 68 72 - - 140
T11 KAPUR, Shiv* -4 18 -4 72 68 - - 140

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles

Aussie Brett Rumford has clubhouse lead halfway through round 2 in Korea

Australian Brett Rumford set a challenging clubhouse target by going -9 63 in his second round to claim a three shot lead at the Ballantine's Championship in South Korea.


The 33 year old led the way at -10 overall, with Denmark's Søren Kjeldsen - who had started the day alongside Rumford at one under - shooting a -6 66 at Blackstone GC in Icheon to take second in the clubhouse.

Lee Westwood has made the turn at -3

Current leaderboard

1 RUMFORD, Brett* -10 18 -9 71 63 - - 134

T2 FINCH, Richard* -8 15 -3 67 - - - 67
T2 MCGRANE, Damien -8 12 -2 66 - - - 66
T4 KJELDSEN, Søren* -7 18 -6 71 66 - - 137
T4 KIM, Kyung-tae -7 14 -4 69 - - - 69
T6 DAVIES, Rhys* -6 18 -4 70 68 - - 138
T6 MORRISON, James -6 18 -3 69 69 - - 138
T6 JIMÉNEZ, Miguel Angel -6 14 -4 70 - - - 70
T9 JOHNSON, Dustin* -5 18 -3 70 69 - - 139
T9 PARK, Sang-hyun* -5 17 Par 67 - - - 67

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles

Nationwide tour weather delayed in Georgia..

This is the South Georgia Classic and former fireballer for the Atlanta Braves John Smoltz is a legend down there and is getting a lot of attention with his +2 handicap playing on a sponsor's exemption. He like the rest of the field did not get a full round in. in fact he is at +4 thru 8 holes..

We have 3 Canucks in the field...

Here is the pgatour.com report from Valdosta where there was thunder and lightning flashing around the area for much of the day..
There might be 13 hours of sunlight in a given day this time of year but only four of those hours were spent on the golf course due to dangerous weather during Thursday's first round of the South Georgia Classic presented by First State Bank and Trust Co. Only half of the 156 players in the field made their way onto Kinderlou Forest Golf Club's 7,781-yard, par-72 track. The continuation of the first round will be Friday morning at 7:50 a.m. ET.


Leaderboard as it stands starting play today

1 -- Nicholas Thompson SC P -5 11 -5 -- -- -- -- --

T2 -- Kyle Thompson SC P -4 14 * -4 -- -- -- -- --
T2 -- Jonas Blixt SC P -4 13 -4 -- -- -- -- --
T2 -- Mathew Goggin SC P -4 10 * -4 -- -- -- -- --
T2 -- Gary Christian SC P -4 9 -4 -- -- -- -- --
T6 -- Jon Mills SC P -3 16 -3 -- -- -- -- --
T6 -- Chris Nallen SC P -3 15 -3 -- -- -- -- --
T6 -- Kirk Triplett SC P -3 14 * -3 -- -- -- -- --
T6 -- Mark Hensby SC P -3 13 -3 -- -- -- -- --
T6 -- Peter Lonard SC P -3 11 * -3 -- -- -- -- --
T6 -- Brian Smock SC P -3 10 -3 -- -- -- -- --
T6 -- Casey Crain SC P -3 9 -3 -- -- -- -- --
T6 -- Brendon Todd SC P -3 9 -3 -- -- -- -- --
T6 -- Ted Potter, Jr. SC P -3 8 * -3 -- -- -- -- --

Bryan DeCorso is E thru 9..Richard T Lee still waiting to start..

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles

LPGA provides some relief for storm ravaged Alabama

RTJ Golf Trail, the Crossing Course in Mobile Alabama didn't look anything like so much of the rest of the state which has been devastated with twisters and tornadoes, and it seemed almost obscene that the gals should been out there in beautiful weather on a sublime course playing golf when so many just a Paula Creamer drive away were in peril.

However others would say the money raised and the entertainment provided will provide a welcome relief as life must go on, and I watched a fair bit of this in the early afternoon and even if you are not a big fan of women's golf, all these women are beautifully dressed in this era, and some simply drop dead gorgeous including Natalie Gulbis crammed into a canary yellow ensemble to mention but one...


First my featured group of 6 Canucks

T16 T16 SHERLOCK, Stephanie -1 7:34 AM 71 71
T22 T22 SHARP, Alena E 8:51 AM 72 72

T22 T22 KANE, Lorie E 8:29 AM 72 72
T61 T61 SHEPLEY, Jessica +2 1:07 PM 74 74

T61 T61 RICHDALE, Samantha +2 12:56 PM 74 74
T103 T103 MELDRUM, Lisa +5 7:01 AM 77 77


Top 10 leaderboard
Se Ri Pak is the defending champioon..

T1 T1 PARK, Grace -5 12:34 PM 67 67
T1 T1 KIM, Song-Hee -5 8:51 AM 67 67
T3 T3 STUPPLES, Karen -4 12:23 PM 68 68
T3 T3 LEWIS, Stacy -4 8:07 AM 68 68
T5 T5 PAK, Se Ri -3 12:01 PM 69 69
T5 T5 CHOI, Na Yeon -3 8:40 AM 69 69
T5 T5 OH, Angela -3 7:34 AM 69 69
T8 T8 HART, Marcy -2 12:45 PM 70 70
T8 T8 PRAMMANASUDH, Stacy -2 12:12 PM 70 70
T8 T8 HJORTH, Maria -2 8:40 AM 70 70
T8 T8 KIM, Christina -2 8:18 AM 70 70
T8 T8 GAL, Sandra -2 8:07 AM 70 70
T8 T8 YANG, Amy -2 8:07 AM 70 70
T8 T8 KEMP, Sarah -2 7:45 AM 70 70
T8 T8 MACKENZIE, Paige -2 7:34 AM 70 70

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles

Big hitting Bubba and Aussie Matt Jones lead at the Zurich Classic

Round one is in the books down in New Orleans, where it was blustery for the morning flight, then the scoring improved for the late guys when the wind lay down.

First my featured group including our 4 Canucks...

T9 2 Luke Donald -4 F -4 info 68 68

T33 101 David Hearn -1 F* -1 info 71 71
T74 111 Stephen Ames 1 F* 1 info 73 73
T74 50 Graeme McDowell 1 F 1 info 73 73
T137 245 Chris Baryla 5 F* 5 info 77 77
T147 222 Matt McQuillan 6 F* 6 info 78 78



Bubba Watson and Aussie Matt Jones played in the afternoon in those better scoring conditions and took advantage each shooting -6, 66 to take the first round lead at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans


Joe Durant, Tommy Gainey who was 3rd last week, Carl Pettersson, John Rollins, Nick O'Hern and David Duval are all a shot back with 67s.


Luke Donald, bidding to become world #1 again this week shot -4 68 along with Matt Bettencourt, Webb Simpson, Jason Dufner, Charles Howell and 2002 winner K.J. Choi.

Notables...Brandt Snedeker last week's winner , +5 77. He had a triple bogey on the par-3 ninth when he hit his tee shot in the water.
Rickie Fowler and Steve Stricker each had -2 70s,  Graeme McDowell +1 73, and Vijay Singh +2 74
John Daly was doing OK until he tincupped the 16th with 2 in the water for a triple on his way to +9 81.

Top 10 leaderboard

T1 1 Bubba Watson -6 F -6 color info 66 66

T1 26 Matt Jones -6 F* -6 color info 66 66
T3 99 Joe Durant -5 F -5 color info 67 67
T3 24 Tommy Gainey -5 F* -5 color info 67 67
T3 64 Carl Pettersson -5 F -5 color info 67 67
T3 97 John Rollins -5 F -5 color info 67 67
T3 55 Nick O'Hern -5 F -5 color info 67 67
T3 69 David Duval -5 F* -5 color info 67 67
T9 43 Matt Bettencourt -4 F -4 color info 68 68
T9 18 Webb Simpson -4 F -4 color info 68 68
T9 30 Jason Dufner -4 F -4 color info 68 68
T9 2 Luke Donald -4 F -4 color info 68 68
T9 34 K.J. Choi -4 F -4 color info 68 68
T9 38 Charles Howell III -4 F -4 color info 68 68

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Westwood 6 behind near end of round 1 at the Ballantine's, Seoul, S Korea..

With just a few players left on the course Ireland's Damien McGrane has taken the first round lead at the Ballantine's Championship in Seoul South Korea with a -6 66  at the Blackstone GC.


He fired eight birdies and two bogeys to lead by one shot from England's Richard Finch (67) and South Korean Park Sang-hyun (67) and Chile's Felipe Aguilar (67)
McGrane has just one previous European Tour title to his name the 2008 Volvo China Open
Scotland's Richie Ramsay (68) is currently T5.

World #1 Lee Westwood started on the back nine and was was at -3 but bogeyed the seventh, then made double-bogey 6 at the ninth, his last hole,  to end up E 72 T37th
Ian Poulter, now 17th in the world got off to a bad start making double bogeys at 10 and 11, but saved his round with a birdie at the 14th and an eagle at the first. He has finished at +2 74, T75

 Dustin Johnson one of those getting a boat load of money just for showing up is T10, -2,70 as is Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Ernie Els is T52 +1 73.

Later this morning, Luke Donald, Graeme McDowell etal get underway down in New Orleans at the Zurich Classic as the battle for that world #1 spot continues..


 1 MCGRANE, Damien* -6 18 -6 66 - - - 66

T2 PARK, Sang-hyun -5 18 -5 67 - - - 67
T2 FINCH, Richard -5 18 -5 67 - - - 67
T2 AGUILAR, Felipe* -5 18 -5 67 - - - 67
T5 RAMSAY, Richie -4 18 -4 68 - - - 68
T5 PHADUNGSIL, Chinnarat* -4 18 -4 68 - - - 68
T7 KIM, Kyung-tae* -3 18 -3 69 - - - 69
T7 DEL MORAL, Carlos -3 18 -3 69 - - - 69
T7 MORRISON, James* -3 16 -3 - - - - -
T10 JIMÉNEZ, Miguel Angel* -2 18 -2 70 - - - 70
T10 NOREN, Alexander -2 18 -2 70 - - - 70
T10 KIM#752, Do-hoon* -2 18 -2 70 - - - 70
T10 PARK, Unho -2 18 -2 70 - - - 70
T10 KIM, Hyung-sung -2 18 -2 70 - - - 70
T10 DAVIES, Rhys -2 18 -2 70 - - - 70
T10 JOHNSON, Dustin -2 18 -2 70 - - - 70
T10 LEE, Seong-ho* -2 14 -2 - - - -


Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Canadian Tee times this week

Here's when our Canucks tee up the dimpled orb starting tomorrow morning...

PGA Tour
Zurich Classic

Ames and McQuillan are early off #10
7:30 am Ames, Stephen Turnesa, Marc Leonard, Justin
8:30 am Gonzales, Andres McQuillan, Matt Bradshaw, David


Baryla and Hearn are late off #10
1:20 pm Gates, Bobby Miller, Zack Baryla, Chris
1:40 pm Hearn, David Summerhays, Daniel Martin, Ben


NATIONWIDE Tour
South Georgia Classic

7:15 am Mills, Jon Waldman, Brett Scherrer, Tom
8:45 am Kelly, Troy Rask, Clayton DeCorso, Bryan
12:35 pm Lee, Richard T. Park, Jin Barlow, Craig


LPGA
Avnet LPGA Classic

Tee #1 7:12 am Carter, Dori  Shepley, Jessica ,Kim, Birdie
Tee #1 12:12 pm Kane, Lorie , Yi, Eunjung ,Hurst, Pat
Tee #1 12:56 pm Hill Nannette, Lee, Ilhee ,Meldrum, Lisa
Tee #10 12:34 pm Sharp Alena,  Kung, Candie ,Lee, Jee Young
Tee #10 1:29 pm Sherlock Stephanie,  Mackenzie,Paige ,Pak, Jin Young


Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles

Where they are golfing this week..April 28

The world's number 1 title is on the line again. Lee Westwood is at the Ballantine's in Seoul and Luke Donald and Graeme McDowell are in New Orleans at the Zurich. Tiger is off and now injured (achilles tendon) and Mickelson is also taking another week off.
(pgatour.com, europeantour.com. USA Today)

NATIONWIDE TOUR


South Georgia Classic Presented by First State Bank and Trust Company
Kinderlou Forest Golf Club
Valdosta, Georgia
Purse: $625,00. Winner's share: $112,500.

April 28 - May 1
Last year: Ewan Porter parred the last four holes to beat Jhonattan Vegas by a stroke.

Canucks : Bryan DeCorso, Jon Mills, Richard T Lee

Davis Love III designed Kinderlou Forest. The par-5 second is 601 yards, the fourth is 657 and No. 18 is a 501-yard par 4. The tour will remain in Georgia next week for the Stadion Classic at the University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens.


CHAMPIONS Tour
Idle this week



LPGA


Avnet LPGA Classic
Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail
Mobile, Alabama
Purse: $1.3 million. Winner's share: $195,000.

April 28 - May 1
Canucks : Lorie Kane, Jessica Shepley, Lisa Meldrum, Alena Sharp, Stephanie Sherlock
Last year: Se Ri Pak beat Brittany Lincicome with a birdie on the third hole of playoff after rain washed out the fourth round. Suzann Pettersen was eliminated on the second extra hole


PGA

Zurich Classic of New Orleans
TPC Louisiana

New Orleans, Louisiana
Purse: $6.4 million. Winner's share: $1,152,000
April 28 - May 01 2011
Defending champion: Jason Bohn  won his second PGA Tour title, birdieing three of the final four holes for a two-stroke victory over Jeff Overton.

Canucks : Stephen Ames, Chris Baryla, David Hearn, Matt McQuillan

Snedeker, Donald and Bohn are in the field along with U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, Vijay Singh and Steve Stricker .South Korean star KJ Choi the 2002 winner at English Turn, is skipping the European Tour stop in Seoul to play in the event


EUROPEAN Tour

Ballantines Championship
Blackstone Golf Club

Seoul, South Korea
Purse: $3.2 million. Winner's share: $534,435
April 28 - May 01 2011
Defending: Marcus Fraser

Westwood tops the field along with Dustin Johnson, Ernie Els, Ian Poulter, Miguel Angel Jimenez and South Korean star Y.E. Yang. … The event also is sanctioned by the Korea PGA. … The European Tour will be in Spain the next three weeks for the Spanish Open, Iberdrola Open and Volvo World Match Play Championship.


Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Latest on Tiger

Former world number one suffered sprained left knee and strained Achilles tendon at the Masters
Tiger Woods will be sidelined for the next few weeks after suffering a couple of minor injuries at the Masters.

According to his website, Woods suffered a grade 1 MCL sprain to his left knee and a mild strain of his left Achilles tendon while hitting a difficult and awkward shot from the pine straw on No. 17 during the third round on Saturday. His left foot got caught in the pine straw as the momentum of the swing carried him backward. Woods hit into a front bunker and saved par on his way to a 74.
Woods returned on Sunday, where he mounted a charge up the leaderboard with four birdies and an eagle for a 31 on the front nine. However, his charge stalled on the back nine with just a single birdie and a bogey as he finished tied for fourth. He appeared to be limping coming to the 18th green and following the tournament, he sought a medical evaluation.

Doctors have advised Woods to rest and undergo cold-water and soft tissue treatment. No time frame for his return was given but Woods says he expects to be back "in a few weeks".

The injury will keep Woods out of the upcoming Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow and threatens his appearance at the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass the following week, a tournament Woods won in 2001, although it is not among his favourite courses. He has finished in the top 10 only four times in 13 appearances and withdrew from the final round a year ago with a neck injury.

“It’s unfortunate but Tiger called personally and I thought that was incredibly gracious of him,” tournament director Kym Hougham told the Charlotte Observe“We had a nice conversation and he said he loves the tournament, loves the feel of it and the way the community embraces the event but he’s going to have to miss it.”

Woods, who hasn't won a tournament in 18 months, has already has had four operations on his left knee, dating to his freshman year at Stanford to remove two benign tumours and scar issues. His most recent surgery was after winning the U.S. Open in 2008 for his 14th major. He wound up missing eight months.

When he returned from a sex scandal last year at the Masters, Woods revealed that he had ruptured the Achilles in his right leg in December 2008, two months before he came back from the knee surgery. Woods had a cortisone shot in his right ankle last December.

Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles

The Heritage would be lucky to get a sponsor as strong as the RBC

My long time Fairways broadcast colleague and friend Bob Weeks, whose fine writing you can follow with the Scoregolf link I have provided, was tweeting today about the possibility of RBC signing on to sponsor the Heritage, and it got me thinking about what a wonderful corporate partner they have turned out to be for not only golf, but sport in this country

In 2007 at Angus Glen, Scott Metcalfe and I had lunch with and interviewed Jim Kinnear who owned Pengrowth and who was leading an effort to assist the Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA) in the search for a title sponsor for the Canadian Open.

There was so much concern, as there is now about the Heritage, that we might lose the Canadian Open after du Maurier was forced to withdraw due to new government restrictions on tobacco companies sponsoring sports. Jim's idea was to get 6 companies all to throw their financial support into the RCGA's hat, so he gathered several executives and business leaders for roundtable discussions at both the 2007 Canadian Open and at the Presidents Cup in Montreal.

Partly as a result of Jim putting his money where his mouth was and his drive and inspiration, RBC ultimately signed on as title sponsor of RBC Canadian Open, and they have been a beacon of light inspite of the worldwide recession, so it is no wonder that Commissioner Finchem has made the call.

RBC does so much more than just golf. You will all remember their little businessman in all the commercials during the Vancouver Olympics.  They are a national sponsor of Hockey Canada, the Canadian Snowboard Federation, the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association, and Athletics Canada and have created grassroots programs for amateur athletes in communities across Canada.

They also have an Olympians program that hires both Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes as community ambassadors and most all the heroes names you have now forgotten from Vancouver have benefitted from that sponsorship.

In January they signed Ernie Els, Jim Furyk and Matt Kuchar to join Anthony Kim, Mike Weir, Stephen Ames, Luke Donald and Fred Couples in RBC's group of brand ambassadors. The signing fees are private, but you can bet they are steep, but they certainly are getting a bang for their buck with the amount of TV time their logo is getting, especially with  Luke Donald (world #3, possibly #1 this week) Jim Furyk and Freddie Couples this year.


So before you wonder if they've hired me, this was not meant to be an RBC promo, but I couldn't help but remember the doom and gloom surrounding our Canadian Open back at Angus Glen back in 2007, and how it is now prospering with the backing of the RBC.

For golf's sake we can only hope the Heritage can be so lucky.

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles













As a result, he was awarded the RCGA Distinguished Service Award.













Els, Furyk and Kuchar join Anthony Kim, Mike Weir, Stephen Ames, Luke Donald and Fred Couples in RBC's group of brand ambassadors.




RBC proudly supports golf around the world through high profile relationships with the PGA TOUR, The PGA of America and Golf Canada. In addition to being the Official Banking and Financial Services partner of touring professionals Anthony Kim, Mike Weir, Luke Donald, Stephen Ames, Fred Couples, and Morgan Pressel, RBC is also the Official Bank of The PGA of America and proud title sponsor of Canada’s National Open Golf Championship, the RBC Canadian Open. In addition, RBC supports emerging Canadian golfers through Golf Canada’s grassroots developmental programming including Canada’s national amateur golf championships and Team Canada – the country’s national amateur golf team program.
 
The RBC Olympians program hires both Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes as community ambassadors who bring Olympic messages of excellence and leadership to Canadian communities.

Athletes are provided with the opportunity to gain valuable skills that will help them prepare for life after sport, while also receiving much-needed funding to help them realize their Olympic and Paralympic dreams.

Amateur Sport.Building Canada's Legacy

As a long-time supporter of amateur sport in Canada, we’re committed to helping athletes succeed, whether it’s at the community or national level, or at the Olympic Games.



RBC is a proud national sponsor of Hockey Canada, the Canadian Snowboard Federation, the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association, and Athletics Canada. RBC, together with these national sport associations, has created grassroots programs for amateur athletes in communities across Canada.

Westwood's press conference in golf crazy South Korea

europeantour.com : Lee Westwood is hoping to produce a performance befitting of the finest player on the planet at this week’s Ballantine’s Championship after discovering he is the first World Number One to play in Korea.


Tiger Woods, who dominated the World Rankings for the past decade made it to Korea in 2004, but at that time he was playing second fiddle to Vijay Singh on the Official World Golf Ranking.

That means Westwood will create another piece of golfing history when he walks onto the first tee on Thursday, and the 38 year old is keen to show the people of Korea some of the brilliance that has taken him to the very top of the game.

Asked whether he was aware that the people of Korea will have high expectations of him this week, Westwood responded: “Well, I have great expectations as well. I am going to try to play well in this championship and hopefully on Sunday afternoon, have a chance to win it. “I played well last week to win in Indonesia so my confidence is high. I'm looking forward to getting out there tomorrow morning and having a look at the golf course and see if it suits me. I didn't realize the World Number One had never competed in Korea before, so it's a bit of an honour to bring that title to Korea.”


While Westwood is clearly out to take the Ballantine’s title back home to England (along with the lion’s share of the €2.2 million prize fund on offer at the co-sanctioned event), he is fully aware of the challenges facing him from the strongest field ever assembled in the four-year history of the event.

Among his strongest challengers will be home hero YE Yang, who will lead the charge to be the first home winner of the Ballantine’s Championship.

He said: “I've played with quite a few young Korean players and I've played with YE and KJ quite a lot. It’s world renowned how good the lady golfers are at the moment and golf is overall a very strong sport in Korea.


“I think that having tournaments like the Ballantine’s Championship in Korea helps the popularity of golf, and it's always great if it people like Yang, who is playing this week, come back and play in their own country and show the people of Korea that the Korean golfers can compete against the best in the world.”

Of the 123 players listed on the LPGA tour this year an astonishing 43 are from South Korea, with 81 titles between them led by the great Se Ri Pak with 25.. Over a third of the LPGA is Korean so the men have some catching up to do
(Canada has 9 listed with 7 titles, 3 to Dawn Coe who hardly plays anymore and 4 to Lorie Kane.)


Ernie Els, Dustin Johnson, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Ian Poulter are also in the field along with a lot of the European Tour regulars.

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles

Monday, April 25, 2011

New World Rankings...Westwood back at #1

Here are the latest. This week Lee is in Soeul, Korea at the Ballantine's and Luke and Graeme are at the Zurich in New  Orleans

Kaymer, Woods and Mickelson are off...again..

1 Lee Westwood, Eng 7.65 359.70 47 -115.33 50.08

2 Martin Kaymer, Deu 7.52 376.21 50 -98.39 118.80
3 Luke Donald, Eng 7.37 383.49 52 -78.55 151.48
4 Phil Mickelson, USA 6.52 293.40 45 -100.83 106.05
5 Graeme McDowell, Nir 5.84 321.19 55 -72.46 60.16
6 Tiger Woods, USA 5.72 228.61 40 -129.44 42.80
7 Rory McIlroy, Nir 5.64 298.98 53 -86.99 78.20
8 Paul Casey, Eng 5.59 245.97 44 -82.12 62.77
9 Steve Stricker, USA 5.48 224.59 41 -95.15 56.94
10 Matt Kuchar, USA 5.21 276.22 53 -64.99 94.14
11 Charl Schwartzel, Zaf 5.13 287.43 56 -50.00 156.21
12 Dustin Johnson, USA 4.99 239.66 48 -62.35 75.93
13 Jim Furyk, USA 4.79 229.92 48 -90.80 34.69
14 Nick Watney, USA 4.60 230.20 50 -53.27 117.78
15 Ernie Els, Zaf 4.43 248.23 56 -83.86 20.68
16 Bubba Watson, USA 4.31 198.14 46 -43.38 84.28
17 Ian Poulter, Eng 4.21 223.32 53 -78.17 28.69
18 Adam Scott, Aus 4.18 213.23 51 -43.44 70.69
19 Francesco Molinari, Ita 4.06 227.57 56 -57.62 43.38
20 Hunter Mahan, USA

Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles

Perry misses a gimme, Eger and McNulty win in a playoff..

I was following this yesterday before I went out for Easter Sunday and missed the finale so here is part of the pgatour.com report from the course


David Eger and Mark McNulty won the better-ball Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf on the second playoff hole Sunday against Perry and Scott Hoch.

Canadian Rod Spittle and his partner Mike Goodes T12, 68,61,64 193 just 4 shots back on what was a cavalry charge on Sunday afternoon with the lead changing hands by the minute, so going to a playoff was no surprise, the way it ended was...

Eger and McNulty, who started four shots off the lead in the 54-hole event at The Club at Savannah Harbor, shot 11-under 61 in the final round for 27-under 189. Perry and Hoch shot 64 to get into the playoff.

Second-round co-leaders Wayne Levi and Keith Fergus finished with 66 for 26-under 190, tied for third with Russ Cochran and Mark Weibe (60), David Frost and Michael Allen (62), Corey Pavin and Tom Lehman (64) and Ian Baker-Finch and Joe Ozaki (64).

In the playoff, both teams settled for par on the 18th, a 457-yard, par-4. They returned to play the hole again. This time, all four players failed to hold the sloped green with their approaches but all chipped fairly close.

But it ended when, after McNulty tapped in for par, Hoch and Perry both missed short putts to extend the match -- Perry's ball lipping out.

"It's a 14-inch putt that you don't even think much of," Perry said. "But, when it's all on the line, things change and I pushed it and it didn't go in. So typical."It's the only bogey we made all week. We didn't come close to making a bogey all week and then to do that in a playoff ..."


McNulty said afterward that Perry's ball was outside his, which he estimated to be about three feet from the cup. Still, it was a putt nearly everyone figured Perry could easily tap in.

"I was very surprised," Eger said. "I never expected Kenny to miss that putt."

1 T11 Eger/ McNulty SC -11 F -27 64 64 61 189

- 2 T3 Hoch/ Perry SC -8 F -27 63 62 64 189
- T3 T16 Cochran/ Wiebe SC -12 F * -26 66 64 60 190
- T3 T11 Allen/ Frost SC -10 F -26 63 65 62 190
- T3 T5 Lehman/ Pavin SC -8 F -26 64 62 64 190
- T3 T5 Ozaki/ Baker-Finch SC -8 F -26 64 62 64 190
- T3 T1 Fergus/ Levi SC -6 F -26 64 60 66 190
- T8 T9 Mize/ Sutton SC -8 F -25 63 64 64 191
- T8 T5 Hallberg/ Schulz SC -7 F -25 62 64 65 191
- T8 T1 Senior/ Lyle SC -5 F -25 63 61 67 191
- 11 T3 Kite/ Morgan SC -5 F -24 62 63 67 192
- T12 T14 Goodes/ Spittle SC -8 F -23 68 61 64 193

Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles

Snedeker crashes Luke's party.. Poulter in a haunted house ??

I honestly thought Luke had made that chip from the fringe on the 3rd playoff hole, just a fraction slower and we might have a different story, but then again if your auntie had hair on her chest she'd be your uncle

If this is the last Heritage, Sunday was great viewing, like a good episode of Poirot, you didn't know who the winner was going to be until the very end

Turns out Brandt Snedeker decided to crash the Luke Donald party. Luke played well enough all week and yesterday to win, but Snedeker's 64 was full value, as was his 12 footer on the first playoff hole, right in on top of Luke's.

My headline yesterday," Donald or Furyk ? possibly neither " just came to me when I saw how tight the leaderboard was with 16 players within 5 shots, in fact Snedeker started 6 back, and also there is always someone come Sunday who is just thinking about what flight they are going to catch, as they go out all relaxed and start firing at the pins, make a few putts, get on a roll then voila, they find themselves in it.

That's exactly what happened to Snedeker. He said he faced softer conditions with his earlier tee time that fueled his hot start. He had birdies on the second, third and fourth holes to move within two of the lead, then added birdies on Nos. 6, 7, and 9 to finish the front side at 30 and put himself alongside Donald on top of the leaderboard.

Things weren't as easy for Snedeker on the back. He bogeyed the 13th and 16th holes, but rallied one last time with the birdie on the difficult 18th. (pgatour.com)

Furyk shot 76, and was not a factor. Luke stays at #3, Lee is back at #1 with Martin Kaymer #2. Luke will get another shot at #1 in New Orleans later this week, but the party for him was all set this week, until Mr Snedeker crashed it..


As for our Canucks .

T36 12 104 Stephen Ames -3 F 1 info 72 68 69 72 281

T46 1 114 David Hearn -2 F E info 72 70 69 71 282


1 16 7 Brandt Snedeker -12 F -7 color info 69 67 72 64 272
2 1 2 Luke Donald -12 F -1 color info 67 65 70 70 272
3 2 30 Tommy Gainey -11 F -3 color info 71 67 67 68 273
T4 8 103 Tim Herron -10 F -4 color info 65 71 71 67 274
T4 1 47 Ricky Barnes -10 F -2 color info 71 67 67 69 274
T6 11 81 Nick O'Hern -8 F -3 color info 70 66 72 68 276
T6 2 56 Ben Crane -8 F -1 color info 69 66 71 70 276
T6 2 59 Pat Perez -8 F -1 color info 71 67 68 70 276
T9 36 28 Kevin Na -7 F -5 color info 70 68 73 66 277
T9 15 98 Paul Goydos -7 F -3 color info 72 67 70 68 277
T9 3 115 Garrett Willis -7 F -1 color info 64 69 74 70 277
T9 4 26 Jason Day -7 F 1 color info 69 65 71 72 277
T9 6 51 Scott Verplank -7 F 2 color info 67 70 67 73 277

How about Ian Poulter tweeting that he was living in a haunted house !! He tweeted several times that the house had a dead-bolted door and every time he gets up "the door is unlocked and slightly open." He says it happened seven times this week. Sounds better than another of those endless episodes on OLN of  Ghost Hunters where they never find anything or anyone..

Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Baker-Finch in the lead !!!

The old guys are well underway at the Liberty Mutual Legends down in Savannah and for the first time since I can remember I can say Ian Baker Finch leads a tournament, ok it's with his partner Joe Oxaki, .. and it's early in the final round.. but it is true !

1 T5 Ozaki/ Baker-Finch SC -4 4 -22 64 62 -- 126


- T2 T16 Cochran/ Wiebe SC -7 8 * -21 66 64 -- 130
- T2 T11 Eger/ McNulty SC -5 6 -21 64 64 -- 128
- T2 T1 Fergus/ Levi SC -1 2 -21 64 60 -- 124
- T2 T1 Senior/ Lyle SC -1 2 -21 63 61 -- 124
- T6 T5 Lehman/ Pavin SC -2 5 -20 64 62 -- 126
- T6 T5 Pernice Jr./ Tway SC -2 4 -20 64 62 -- 126
- T6 T3 Hoch/ Perry SC -1 3 -20 63 62 -- 125
- T6 T3 Kite/ Morgan SC -1 3 -20 62 63 -- 125
- T10 T11 Allen/ Frost SC -3 6 -19 63 65 -- 128
- T10 T14 O'Meara/ Price SC -4 6 -19 64 65 -- 129
- T10 T9 North/ Watson T. SC -2 5 -19 65 62 -- 127
- T10 T5 Hallberg/ Schulz SC -1 4 -19 62 64 -- 126
- T14 T16 Doyle/ Vaughan SC -4 8 -18 65 65 -- 130
- T14 T16 Hatalsky/ Pooley SC -4 8 * -18 67 63 -- 130
- T14 T16 Bean/ Lu SC -4 8 * -18 64 66 -- 130
- T14 T14 Goodes/ Spittle SC -3 7 -18 68 61 -- 129

2 old Brit's, England's Mark James and Ireland's Des Smyth have won the Raphael division ( even older guys) title, and Smyth was scheduled to play with our Rod Spittle.

He was exempt into the Legends Division and James was not, so James made arrangements to play in the Raphael Division with Blaine McCallister.


McCallister withdrew earlier in the week due to a death in his family, so James was left without a partner. Smyth, dropped down to Raphael to play with James and Rod teamed up with Mike Goodes and they are currently T14

More to follow

Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles

Donald or Furyk...possibly neither !!

Luke Donald starts today with the slenderest of leads, 1 shot, over defending champion Jim Furyk, but in reality all the guys on this abbreviated leaderboard are no more than 5 shots behind, and anyone of them is perfectly capable of winning.

What I can tell you is that he has carried the lead into the final round on the PGA TOUR six previous times, with his only win coming at the 2006 Honda Classic but in his last two starts at Harbour Town he finished T2 (2009) and T3 (2010
He has a tour leading 12 consecutive rounds at par or better and coming into the week, he led the tour in scoring average at 69.28 and putting average (1.703).

However with all these guys so close he will have to go out and win it, because you know there will be several charges made from the chasing pack.

Furyk lead most of the day Saturday after Luke's early double bogey at 2, and is the defending champ, Ricky Barnes is so talented not to have won and he was 4th recently at the Honda, veteran Scott Verplank was T2 a couple of weeks ago, Jason Day is carrying over his great play at Augusta where he T2, Mark Wilson has won twice already this year and was T9 recently at Bay Hill and Pat Perez is in good form, he T5 last week at the Valero.

So Luke will definitely have his hands full, and will really have earned that top spot in the world if he hangs on to win and he will need to since Westwood won in Indonesia earlier this morning


1 1 Luke Donald -11 1:50pm color info 67 65 70 202


2 21 Jim Furyk -10 1:50pm color info 68 66 69 203
T3 27 Brendon de Jonge -9 1:40pm color info 67 71 66 204
T3 35 Scott Verplank -9 1:40pm color info 67 70 67 204
T5 55 Ricky Barnes -8 1:30pm color info 71 67 67 205
T5 41 Tommy Gainey -8 1:30pm color info 71 67 67 205
T5 24 Jason Day -8 1:20pm color info 69 65 71 205
T8 61 Pat Perez -7 1:20pm color info 71 67 68 206
T8 28 Jason Dufner -7 1:10pm color info 67 71 68 206
T8 44 Chris Couch -7 1:10pm color info 68 68 70 206
T8 56 Ben Crane -7 1:00pm color info 69 66 71 206
T12 7 Aaron Baddeley -6 1:00pm color info 70 68 69 207
T12 142 Tim Herron -6 12:50pm color info 65 71 71 207
T12 2 Mark Wilson -6 12:50pm color info 66 70 71 207
T12 67 Chad Campbell -6 12:40pm color info 65 69 73 207
T12 120 Garrett Willis -6 12:40pm color info 64 69 74 207


T24 99 Stephen Ames -4 11:34am color info 72 68 69 209

T47 2 111 David Hearn -2 10:22am color info 72 70 69 211

Bryan Angus also on twitter @ mummmbles
stats and notes pgatour.com

Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts wins Volvo China Open

Okay now you can name a Belgian who plays golf professionally ! Nicolas Colsaerts, the longest driver of the ball on the European Tour, and a guy who speaks 7 languages, has cruised to his first tour win at the Volvo China Open. He becomes just the second Belgian golfer to win on The European Tour, following Phillipe Touissant at the 1974 Benson and Hedges International Open.

europeantour.com: Nicolas Colsaerts coasted to his first European Tour victory as he ran out a four shot winner at the Volvo China Open.

More than ten years after turning professional on his 18th birthday, having become the second youngest European Tour Qualifying School graduate, the big-hitting Belgian finally realised his potential with a closing six under par round of 66.
That left him 24 under for the week, four clear of Spain’s Pablo Martin, New Zealander Danny Lee, Ireland’s Peter Lawrie and Dane Søren Kjeldsen.

Much of the last decade has been a struggle at the top level for Colsaerts, but he established himself last season by finishing 67th on The Race to Dubai and topping the driving distances.

And his comprehensive victory at Luxehills International Country Club makes him only the second Belgian to win on The European Tour – the other was Phillipe Touissant in 1974.

I’m enjoying every second of it,” he said. “I’m dizzy - my head is going all over the place. I’ve been waiting for this for a very long time and I think I did it in the best of manners so I’m really delighted. “A lot of people were expecting big things of me and for me to win tournaments a long time before.


“I lost my card, I got on Tour pretty young and I didn’t know how to handle myself. The lowest point was 2008 and I had to get my life back together. “I was doing basically ever wrong thing you could possibly thing of. One day I woke up though - I went to Australia for four months and it changed me forever.

“It’s been a hell of a journey looking back, from when I was 18 and got on Tour. I didn’t really have any idea of the level and how high you had to raise your game to play on Tour. I never lost faith of getting to where I am and I’m glad I did it this way.”

1 COLSAERTS, Nicolas -24 18 -6 65 67 66 66 264


T2 MARTIN, Pablo -20 18 -9 70 68 67 63 268
T2 LEE, Danny -20 18 -7 66 68 69 65 268
T2 KJELDSEN, Søren -20 18 -6 65 71 66 66 268
T2 LAWRIE, Peter -20 18 -4 68 64 68 68 268
6 NILSSON, Christian -19 18 -8 70 65 70 64 269
T7 WILLETT, Danny -18 18 -7 70 66 69 65 270
T7 HAVRET, Grégory -18 18 -2 66 66 68 70 270
T7 DONALDSON, Jamie -18 18 -3 70 61 70 69 270
T10 LARRAZÁBAL, Pablo -17 18 -8 70 67 70 64 271
T10 FINCH, Richard -17 18 -8 69 67 71 64 271
T10 MAYBIN, Gareth -17 18 -5 65 67 72 67 271
T10 SINGH, Jeev Milkha -17 18 -4 66 66 71 68 271
T10 TOWNSEND, Aaron -17 18 -3 68 66 68 69 271


Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles

Westwood wins Indonesian Masters in Jakarta

This just in, Lee Westwood has just won his first event of the year on this his 38th birthday. I have been following on the computer and can tell you he will become the world number 1 again if Luke Donald does not win the Heritage

Here is part of a report from Doyle de Costa in the Indonesian Media Centre

World number two Lee Westwood gave himself the perfect birthday gift by winning the US$750,000 Indonesian Masters on Sunday for his first victory this year.


With his 33rd career title, Westwood who celebrates his 38th birthday today, put himself in strong position of regaining the world number one spot from Martin Kaymer if Luke Donald does not win in the United States later today. Donald is leading the Heritage Tournament with one round to play.

This will definitely be the most memorable birthday for me,” said the Englishman, who won US$118,875.

Westwood was forced to return to the clubhouse with one more hole to play as the fourth round at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club was suspended at 1.40pm due to lightning for approximately one hour and five minutes.He returned to par the last hole to close with a solid three-under-par 69 for a 19-under-par 269 total to win the inaugural Asian Tour event by three strokes.

A fast charging Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand fired a flawless 65 to settle for second while Asian Tour newcomers Park Hyun-bin of Korea and Thitiphun Chuayprakong of Thailand shared third place with Bangladeshi Siddikur and Australian Marcus Both on 275


Lee WESTWOOD (ENG) 68 66 66 69 269 -19 $118,875.00


2 Thongchai JAIDEE (THA) 67 70 70 65 272 -16 $81,375.00
3 PARK Hyun-bin (KOR) 67 68 70 70 275 -13 $34,725.00
3 Thitiphun CHUAYPRAKONG (THA) 68 68 69 70 275 -13 $34,725.00
3 SIDDIKUR (BAN) 66 72 69 68 275 -13 $34,725.00
3 Marcus BOTH (AUS) 70 70 69 66 275 -13 $34,725.00
7 Prayad MARKSAENG (THA) 67 70 69 71 277 -11 $20,325.00
7 Kiradech APHIBARNRAT (THA) 69 68 71 69 277 -11 $20,325.00
9 Antonio LASCUNA (PHI) 67 70 70 73 280 -8 $13,049.86
9 Prom MEESAWAT (THA) 70 68 69 73 280 -8 $13,049.86
9 LIN Wen-tang (TPE) 71 67 70 72 280 -8 $13,049.86
9 Pariya JUNHASAVASDIKUL (THA) 72 65 73 70 280 -8 $13,049.86
9 HWANG Inn-choon (KOR) 67 74 70 69 280 -8 $13,049.86
9 Rory HIE (INA) 68 74 69 69 280 -8 $13,049.86
9 Darren BECK (AUS) 68 74 71 67 280 -8 $13,049.86

Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf.. still fun to watch

I used to love this event, the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, at the Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa · Savannah, GA. Back when it started in 1979 it was a chance to see all the greats play in a fun better ball format..Lee Trevino and Mike Hill, Chi Chi Rodriguez and Larry Ziegler,  John Bland and Graham Marsh.

It is still fun although it lacks some of the star power it had originally


pgatour.com: Tom Kite and Gil Morgan shot 10-under 62 and were tied with Ted Schulz and Gary Hallberg with a one-shot lead over several Champions Tour teams on Friday, playing this better ball format.

The teams of Scott Hoch and Kenny Perry, Hal Sutton and Larry Mize, David Frost and Michael Allen, plus Sandy Lyle and Peter Senior all were tied for third at 9-under.


John Cook also a two-time winner this year, played the final 14 holes alone after partner Joey Sindelar hurt his back and was tied with a large group at 7-under. Sindelar said he might try to rejoin Cook, probably in the final round on Sunday
Canuck Rod Spittle is paired with Mike Goodes and they are at -4 68 T31

T1 -- Kite/ Morgan SC -10 F -10 62 -- -- 62

T1 -- Hallberg/ Schulz SC -10 F -10 62 -- -- 62
T3 -- Hoch/ Perry SC -9 F -9 63 -- -- 63
T3 -- Mize/ Sutton SC -9 F -9 63 -- -- 63
T3 -- Allen/ Frost SC -9 F -9 63 -- -- 63
T3 -- Senior/ Lyle SC -9 F -9 63 -- -- 63
T7 -- Bryant/ Gallagher Jr. SC -8 F -8 64 -- -- 64
T7 -- Lehman/ Pavin SC -8 F -8 64 -- -- 64
T7 -- Bean/ Lu SC -8 F -8 64 -- -- 64
T7 -- O'Meara/ Price SC -8 F -8 64 -- -- 64
T7 -- Fergus/ Levi SC -8 F -8 64 -- -- 64
T7 -- Pernice Jr./ Tway SC -8 F -8 64 -- -- 64
T7 -- Eger/ McNulty SC -8 F -8 64 -- -- 64
T7 -- Ozaki/ Baker-Finch SC -8 F -8 64 -- -- 64
T7 -- Roberts/ Simpson SC -8 F -8 64 -- -- 64

Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles

Westwood storms into the lead in Indonesia

Lee Westwood has shot 66 this morning to lead the Indonesian Masters by 5 shots at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club after round 3.

He had tried a belly putter in round 1 and shot 68 with it, but has now reverted to his "old faithfull" to fire a pair of 66's.

Here is the updated leaderboard

1 1 Lee WESTWOOD 68 66 66 -16 (200)

2 4 Thitiphun CHUAYPRAKONG 68 68 69 -11 (205)
2 2 PARK Hyun-bin 67 68 70 -11 (205)
4 5 Prayad MARKSAENG 67 70 69 -10 (206)
5 11 SIDDIKUR 66 72 69 -9 (207)
5 11 Prom MEESAWAT 70 68 69 -9 (207)
5 5 Thongchai JAIDEE 67 70 70 -9 (207)
5 5 Antonio LASCUNA 67 70 70 -9 (207)
9 11 LIN Wen-tang 71 67 70 -8 (208)
9 5 Kiradech APHIBARNRAT 69 68 71 -8 (208)

Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles

Big hitting Belgian leads in China

europeantour.com Nicolas Colsaerts will take a one shot lead into the final round of the Volvo China Open as the Belgian seeks a first European Tour title at Luxehills International Country Club.

The big-hitting 28 year old produced a third round 66 to reach 18 under par in Chengdu, one stroke clear of Han Cheng-won.

Colsaerts was the second youngest player ever to come through The European Tour Qualifying School when he graduated on his 18th birthday in 2000, but he struggled to establish himself at the top level until last year – when he managed five top-ten finishes and finished 67th on The Race to Dubai.

He was also the longest hitter on Tour in 2010, out-driving the likes of Alvaro Quiros, and his power was on display in Chengdu as he played the four par fives in five under par courtesy of an eagle at the first and three birdies.

Han led after day one when he opened with a 64 but a second round 70 had dropped him out of the top ten.
The former Asian Amateur Champion was in top form once again though as he birdied five of his first seven holes en route to a best-of-the-day 65.

Irelands Peter Lawrie and France’s Grégory Havret, who unlike the leading pair have both won on The European Tour, are tied for third after both carded 68s to advance to 16 under.

Overnight leader Jamie Donaldson failed to capitalise on his sparkling 61 as the Welshman slipped to fifth with a 70, but 22 players are within six shots of lead on what promises to be an exciting final day


1 COLSAERTS, Nicolas -18 18 -6 65 67 66 - 198

2 HAN, Chang-won -17 18 -7 64 70 65 - 199
T3 LAWRIE, Peter -16 18 -4 68 64 68 - 200
T3 HAVRET, Grégory -16 18 -4 66 66 68 - 200
5 DONALDSON, Jamie -15 18 -2 70 61 70 - 201
T6 KJELDSEN, Søren -14 18 -6 65 71 66 - 202
T6 TOWNSEND, Aaron -14 18 -4 68 66 68 - 202
T6 HORNE, Keith -14 18 -2 63 69 70 - 202
T9 STOLZ, Andre -13 18 -5 68 68 67 - 203
T9 LEE, Danny -13 18 -3 66 68 69 - 203
T9 MORRISON, James -13 18 -3 65 69 69 - 203
T9 SINGH, Jeev Milkha -13 18 -1 66 66 71 - 203

Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles

Donald playing like a World #1

First good news for 2 of our 3 Canucks as Stephen Ames 77, 68 -2 T43 and David Hearn 72,70 E T62 have made the cut.
Mike Weir continues to search for his game 78,72 MC

I remember being on the range with Richard Zokol as he warmed up for the CPGA championship and he was taking practice swings then holding his finish for a count of 20, over and over. When I inquired, he told me he was reminding himself to stay in balance and to complete each swing.

Like Donald is a poster boy for what Richard was preaching that day. He always completes that compact swing of his with his hands high finish, in perfect balance, well within himself, his golf ball under control, and he is playing like the world #1 he will become if he goes on to win this Heritage Classic. Right now he leads 67,65 -10 132 by a shot from Garrett Willis 64,69 -9 131

A quick look at his stats.. In 4 starts this year 1st, T10, T6, T4 at the Masters !!
This week he is scoring his ball, T3 in birdies 12, he is driving his ball well enough, T12 in Driving Accuracy, he is perfect when he is in a bunker,T1 in Sand Saves and he is putting confidently, he used only 25 putts, he is the world #3

He is the #1 putter and #1 scrambler on tour...

If this is the last year of the Heritage, if they don't find a sponsor, it looks like it could be a great weekend.
Camilo Villegas is finally starting to play well, Jim Furyk (defending champ) plays so well here, Jason Day continues his fine form, Ian Poulter got into it with his 66, and Brandt Snedeker has quietly been around the lead for the last 3 weeks.

All the players in the T10 are within 4 shots of the lead..

Notes

The Heritage champion 5 times Davis Love III 22 year old Rickie Fowler.. MC

U.S. Open champ Graeme McDowell shot 69 and is 5 back. He was saying this week that all the trappings of becoming a golf superstar are detracting from his game, and he plans to cut them out as he prepares for his run at defending his US Open title, this year at Congressional.

Ernie Els, sadly MC, 75, 78, his worst score here in 12 years. Yesterday I mentioned he has switched to a belly putter this week and I hope he drops it. 59 putts in 2 rounds !! His weekly blog on Monday morning will be a must read for me.

John Daly has made his 2nd cut of the year , with his new surfer loudmouth pants. God help us if he won, imagine the tartan jacket with the lime green wacko pants !!

1 8 1 Luke Donald -10 F -6 color info 67 65 132

2 1 46 Garrett Willis -9 F* -2 color info 64 69 133
T3 3 84 Camilo Villegas -8 F -3 color info 66 68 134
T3 13 33 Jim Furyk -8 F* -5 color info 68 66 134
T3 25 20 Jason Day -8 F* -6 color info 69 65 134
T3 1 53 Chad Campbell -8 F* -2 color info 65 69 134
T7 21 57 Ben Crane -7 F -5 color info 69 66 135
T7 21 59 Ian Poulter -7 F -5 color info 69 66 135
T9 7 44 Chris Couch -6 F -3 color info 68 68 136
T9 19 26 Brandt Snedeker -6 F -4 color info 69 67 136
T9 19 115 D.J. Trahan -6 F* -4 color info 69 67 136
T9 32 87 Nick O'Hern -6 F* -5 color info 70 66 136
T9 7 135 Tim Herron -6 F* E color info 65 71 136
T9 3 2 Mark Wilson -6 F -1 color info 66 70 136

Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles

Friday, April 22, 2011

Donaldson leads in China, ..Westwood tied for lead in Indonesia

Welshman Jamie Donaldson has just hammered the Luxehills International CC with an -11, 61 to hold a one shot lead of the halfway stage of the Volvo China Open , however as I said yesterday with the wide fairways and soft greens scores would be low and no fewer than 11 players are within two shots of his lead.

1 DONALDSON, Jamie -13 18 -11 70 61 - - 131

T2 HULDAHL, Jeppe -12 18 -7 67 65 - - 132
T2 HAVRET, Grégory* -12 18 -6 66 66 - - 132
T2 COLSAERTS, Nicolas -12 18 -5 65 67 - - 132
T2 HORNE, Keith* -12 18 -3 63 69 - - 132
T2 LAWRIE, Peter* -12 18 -8 68 64 - - 132
T2 SINGH, Jeev Milkha -12 18 -6 66 66 - - 132
T2 MAYBIN, Gareth -12 18 -5 65 67 - - 132
T9 DERKSEN, Robert-Jan* -11 18 -6 67 66 - - 133
T9 GARCIA, Sergio* -11 18 -5 66 67 - - 133
T9 ANDERSSON HED, Fredrik* -11 18 -5 66 67 - - 133
T9 ALKER, Steve* -11 18 -5 66 67 - - 133
T9 LUITEN, Joost -11 18 -5 66 67 - - 133


Indonesian Open

Lee Westwood was tied for the lead in the Indonesian Open when play was suspended due to bad weather during round 2. We are 13 hours behind Jakarta . There is a lot of thunder and lightning in the forecast right through the weekend and indeed all next week so 72 holes looks in doubt to me

The money raised from this event goes to Habitat for Humanity to help the very needy people of Indonesia.

1 8 Shaaban HUSSIN 68 67 -9 (135)

1 2 PARK Hyun-bin 67 68 -9 (135)
1 8 Lee WESTWOOD 68 -5 -9 16
4 8 Thitiphun CHUAYPRAKONG 68 68 -8 (136)*
4 2 Thongchai JAIDEE 67 -3 -8 16
6 46 Pariya JUNHASAVASDIKUL 72 65 -7 (137)*
6 15 Kiradech APHIBARNRAT 69 68 -7 (137)*
6 15 Simon GRIFFITHS 69 68 -7 (137)
6 2 Prayad MARKSAENG 67 -2 -7 17
10 32 LIN Wen-tang 71 67 -6 (138)*
10 19 Prom MEESAWAT 70 68 -6 (138)*
10 2 Antonio LASCUNA 67 -1 -6 17

Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles

Willis overcomes putting woes to lead the Heritage

Garret Willis has been a terrible putter, down to 177th in putting stats, but he made 6 birdies in a row, one putting 5 of them to lead the Heritage by a shot with a nifty -7, 64. He has only made 2 cuts this year and missed another one last week in Texas after a pair of 78's.

That's why all these guys who are struggling keep plugging away, in the hopes that one week it will all start to click again. Can anyone say Weirsy !!..

Notes 
*there was a 2 hour rain delay so 18 guys did not finish

* even Ernie Els has tried switching to the long putter but he still struggled to a 75 and was assessed a two-stroke penalty  for testing the playing surface by raking a bunker of his footprints before his shot

*Luke Donald the pre tourney favourite made three birdies over his final six holes to salvage a mediocre round -4, 67

* and another reminder of how fragile our lives are...  Matt Bettencourt's shot -6 65.  He totaled his car driving to the tournament when he hit a camper top that fell off the car in front of him. Fortunately he and his wife escaped unscathed.


T71 120 Stephen Ames 1 F 1 info 72 72

T71 127 David Hearn 1 F* 1 info 72 72
128 242 Mike Weir 7 F 7 info 78 78


1 23 Garrett Willis -7 F -7 color info 64 64

T2 41 Chad Campbell -6 F -6 color info 65 65
T2 87 Tim Herron -6 F -6 color info 65 65
T2 62 Arjun Atwal -6 F -6 color info 65 65
T2 27 Matt Bettencourt -6 F -6 color info 65 65
T6 1 Mark Wilson -5 F* -5 color info 66 66
T6 33 Brian Gay -5 F -5 color info 66 66
T6 97 Camilo Villegas -5 F* -5 color info 66 66
T9 29 Jason Dufner -4 F* -4 color info 67 67
T9 55 Scott Verplank -4 F -4 color info 67 67
T9 7 Luke Donald -4 F* -4 color info 67 67
T9 92 Blake Adams -4 F* -4 color info 67 67
T9 37 Brendon de Jonge -4 F* -4 color info 67 67
T9 96 Chris Riley -4 F -4 color info 67 67

Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Weather delay at Harbour Town in round one..

With a weather delay in force at The Heritage, Harbour Links GL Hilton Head SC here is the most recent leaderboard including our 3 Canucks...

David Hearn T74 +1 72
Stephen Ames T74 +1 thru 16
Mike Weir T122 +6 thru 16

1 23 Garrett Willis -7 F -7 color info 64 64

T2 41 Chad Campbell -6 F -6 color info 65 65
T2 87 Tim Herron -6 F -6 color info 65 65
T2 62 Arjun Atwal -6 F -6 color info 65 65
T2 26 Matt Bettencourt -6 F -6 color info 65 65
T6 1 Mark Wilson -5 F* -5 color info 66 66
T6 33 Brian Gay -5 F -5 color info 66 66
T6 17 Bill Haas -5 13* -5 color info
T6 162 Jeff Klauk -5 13 -5 color info
T10 29 Jason Dufner -4 F* -4 color info 67 67
T10 56 Scott Verplank -4 F -4 color info 67 67
T10 7 Luke Donald -4 F* -4 color info 67 67
T10 94 Blake Adams -4 F* -4 color info 67 67
T10 38 Brendon de Jonge -4 F* -4 color info 67 67
T10 96 Chris Riley -4 F -4 color info 67 67
T10 46 Chris Couch -4 17* -4 color info
T10 113 Camilo Villegas -4 14* -4 color info
T10 8 Matt Kuchar -4 14 -4 color info
T10 47 Jerry Kelly -4 14* -4 color info

 Full details to follow
Bryan Angus also on Twitter @ mummmbles

Westwood 2 off the lead in Indonesia

europeantour.com..Siddikur of Bangldesh leads the Indonesian Masters after an opening round of 66 but knows playing partner Lee Westwood - chasing the World Number One ranking - is only two shots behind.

Siddikur finished -6 to hold a one shot lead ahead of six other players - Thai pair Thongchai Jaidee and Prayad Marksaeng, Singapore's Lam Chih Bing, Filipino Antonio Lascuna and Koreans Park Hyun-bin and Hwang In-choon.

Westwood then leads five players two shots back, tied with Rory Hie, Ben Leong, Darren Beck and Mo Joong-kyung.


Should Luke Donald fail to win The Heritage in the United States this week, Westwood can overhaul Martin Kaymer at the top of the Official World Golf Ranking.

Westwood had been struggling with his putting but closed with a pair of birdies."I played solidly but I was a bit frustrated out there," he said. "It has been the story for me so far, hitting it great from tee to green and giving myself a lot of chances but not taking it."

However, he insisted the ranking was not on his mind.

"I'll let things take their course and see what happens at the end of the week," he said. "Like I said before, I'm here to win a golf tournament."

Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles

Bad light suspends play at Volvo China Open, with Korean rookie Han Chang-won leading

Round one is not quite complete as play has been suspended due to darkness at the Volvo China Open.

I expect the scores to be low on this course with it's wide fairways and soft greens. Led by Dougie Donnelly the Scottish commentator for the Euro Tour's golf coverage on the Golf Channel, the broadcast crew have been critical of the slow play with Paddy Harrington being the poster boy. Harrington had to stand in a pond to play his 2nd shot on the 7th hole and he waited til both his playing partners had played before he started to decide exactly how he was going to play the shot, eventually taking off his socks and shoes, rolling up his pants and chipping out into the fairway

Their point and it is a valid one is that he should have made that decision while his partners were playing, especially when play had been delayed for an hour due to fog.

However here is  the report from China on today's play courtesy of europeantour.com

Han Chang-won enjoyed the best day of his fledgling professional career to lead the Volvo China Open after the opening round in Chengdu.

An eight under par 64 put the 19 year old Korean a shot clear of Northern Ireland’s Gareth Maybin, Welshman Bradley Dredge, England’s James Morrison, Dane Søren Kjeldsen and also Keith Horne – although the South African still had four holes to play after bad light forced play to be suspended.

The former Asian Amateur Champion – who confirmed his potential by winning the OneAsia Tour’s Qualifying School - started at the tenth and had two birdies on the way out, before adding further gains on the first and fourth.But it was a run of four straight birdies over the closing stretch that brought him home in 30 and propelled him to the top of the leaderboard .

“It’s very good weather and I got a bit lucky today,” said Han, for whom this is a first campaign in the professional ranks. “I missed a few easy shots but most of the time I was perfect and hit the fairways and got close to the pins. “Luxehills is a good course and I really like it. The greens and fairways are in good condition and we have good weather. When I played in Masters in America the conditions were like this.

“I’ve been playing golf for nine years. I’ve only been professional from this year.“I look up to both K J Choi and Y E Yang. I always think about them and would like to win like them.”

New Zealander Michael Campbell also continued his recent improvement with a five under par 67.The former US Open Champion made only four cuts in two years after a string of injury woes.But he reached the weekend for the first time in 2011 at the Sicilian Open a month ago and has since finished 19th in Morocco and 35th in Malaysia.

And Campbell revealed his renaissance has been in no small part down to an Olympic rowing legend.
“It’s just getting advice from people who have been there. Sir Steve Redgrave and I had a chat about six months ago sharing a car together at the Dunhill Links last year. “We went from Carnoustie to St Andrews which is about 45minutes so it was very inspiring 45minutes talking to Steve. He’s great and very supportive.


“I’ve known Steve for a long time maybe six years. I always wanted to talk to Steve about it. He had to wait every four years to win his golds so patience was his biggest issue. “The thing I took from his conversation was once you’ve tasted, once you’ve been there you can do it again. There’s no reason why you can’t.”

Spain's Sergio Garcia continued his good recent form with a six under par round, while three-time Major winner Padraig Harrington shot a one under 71.


Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Will this be the last year for the Heritage at Hilton Head ??

Mike Weir and Stephen Ames are paired with Fred Funk when the Heritage Classic gets under way tomorrow. David Hearn is also in the field..

Will this be the last year for this great tournament ?
Steve Wilmot has been the Tournament Director at the Heritage for all the years I have been covering it, but garrulous old Arnie Burdick has been my connection to the Heritage and the guy I would bring on our Fairways Golf show for the last 15 years. Arnie has been the Media Director but now just volunteers and I know he is worried that this will be his last year, as they are playing without a sponsor for the first time since Arnie won the inaugural event in 1969, then Bob Goalby on 1970.

Since then it has been called he Sea Pines Heritage Classic, the MCI Heritage Classic, the MCI Classic, The WorldcomClassic-The Heritage of Golf, the MCI Heritage and the Verizon Heritage all at the course with the lighthouse.. Harbour Town GL in SC.
"It's a tragedy, tragedy,"said Nick Price in a Golf Digest interview "I blame the top players, and you know who I mean"
Neither Tiger nor Phil have been there since 1999 and this will raise the whole issue again of Tiger or Phil (and again folks this is the weakness of the PGA tour putting all their eggs in the Tiger/Phil basket) being forced to play every tour event on a pro tennis style rotational basis. 

"It's sad, really sad." Price continued. "That's one of our great tournaments. And it's one of the great courses of all time we play on our tour." When I won there I was really on top of my game, and I used every club in the bag. A lot of the golf holes today are taking strategy out of the game. You have that at Harbour Town. I really hope something can be done to save that tournament."

Bolstered by some of the European tour guys who have elected not to travel to China and Asia for the next 2 weeks, this year's field is strong by regular tour event standards

Luke Donald at #3 is the highest ranked and he is joined by Graeme McDowell, Ernie Els, Ian Poulter, Francisco Molinari, Matt Kuchar, and Jim Furyk all in the top 20. In it's glory days all the big guys, Arnie, Jack, Johnny, Tom, Bernhard, Fuzzy, Sir Nick and of course Davis Love 5 times have pulled on that cheesy Tartan blazer.

These tournaments cost at least $8m to operate, and with the economy slow to recover, in fact still reeling in some US industries, it is neither good business nor politically correct when you are slashing your staffing costs, to be spending that kind of money on a bunch of millionaire golfers.

Verizon, the communications giant who most recently sponsored the Heritage, is the main US competition for AT&T and the Q3 numbers  from AT&T came out today.

"The impact of the Verizon iPhone was far more benign than even AT&T had expected", Lindner said in a Wall Street Journal interview.

"The fears of iPhone switchers did not materialize this quarter," said Morgan Stanley analyst Simon Flannery.

We only have to look at the blood letting that has taken place here in Canada with Rogers dismissing thousands of their staff for no reasons other than budgetary ones and you can see how fine the margins are, and how difficult it is to find new growth in the cut throat communications world.

Recently Farmers Insurance stepped up to save the Buick at Torrey Pines, hopefully from a golfing perspective something similar will happen to the Heritage, but since nobody seems to care about the event unless Tiger is in the field, it is less likely it will.

Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles 

World Rankings.. What's up with Lee Westwood this year so far ?

The PGA tour is in Hilton Head this week at the Heritage and all the experts are picking Luke Donald to win due to his recent play, T4 Masters, won the Accenture Match Play and his form there, top 3 in his last 2 visits, and only out of the T10 once in his last 9 starts. If he does win he will become world #1, which got me thinking again, what is up with Lee Westwood this year.

When he got to #1 in 2010, he was a machine, air tight in all aspects of his game, and played and carried himself like the world's best player.

He is with the Asian tour in  Indonesia this week where he will turn 38 on Sunday.

First here are the World Rankings as we go into this weekend, then europeantour.com caught up with Lee for his thoughts on his game.

1. (1) Martin Kaymer (Germany) 7.64 average points
2. (2) Lee Westwood (Britain) 7.38
3. (3) Luke Donald (Britain) 7.02
4. (4) Phil Mickelson 6.63
5. (6) Graeme McDowell (Britain) 5.93
6. (5) Tiger Woods 5.89
7. (9) Rory McIlroy (Britain) 5.73
8. (7) Paul Casey (Britain) 5.68

9. (8) Steve Stricker 5.47 10. (10) Matt Kuchar 5.24 11. (11) Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) 5.18 12. (12) Dustin Johnson 5.06 13. (13) Jim Furyk 4.94 14. (15) Nick Watney 4.56 15. (14) Ernie Els (South Africa) 4.52 16. (16) Ian Poulter (Britain) 4.28 17. (18) Bubba Watson 4.27 18. (17) Adam Scott (Australia) 4.23 19. (19) Francesco Molinari (Italy) 4.20 20. (20) Hunter Mahan 4.11


JAKARTA - World number two Lee Westwood will have to overcome jetlag and putting problems if he is to mark his 38th birthday on Sunday with the Indonesian Masters title.

The Englishman is the standout name at the $750,000 Asian Tour event and is favourite to win his first title since he claimed the PGA Tour St Jude Classic in June. “It will be nice to win because my birthday is on Sunday but it will be difficult as there are a lot of strong players out here in Asia and you have to play well to win,” Westwood told reporters at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club on Wednesday.

Westwood, who held the number one ranking for 17 weeks until he was displaced by Germany’s Martin Kaymer in February, is aware that he needs to improve his game on the greens if he is to win in Indonesia.

I’ve been playing okay but I didn’t have many great results. I played well in the Masters but didn’t putt very well,” Westwood said of his tied 11th place finish at the year’s first major at Augusta earlier this month. “I had other few decent results but nothing too spectacular. I’m looking to have that one week where everything comes together.”

The Englishman will head to South Korea next week for the co-sanctioned European and Asian Tour’s Ballentine’s Championship.

I like to play all over the world and consider myself a global player. I’m playing in Korea next week so it is good to start my Asian campaign this week,” he said. “I only got back from Orlando on Friday afternoon and I’ve been struggling with the 11-hour time change but I seem to have recovered from it.”

Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles

Monday, April 18, 2011

" Did you know?".. re golf in the Middle East..

europeantour.com: George O’Grady, Chief Executive of The European Tour, has praised the role of the UAE in changing the face of golf as a journey that started 22 years ago with the first Dubai Desert Classic continues today with an international schedule of 50 events across 29 destinations.



Speaking at the KPMG Golf Business Forum 2011 at Park Hyatt Hotel in Dubai, O’Grady reflected on The European Tour’s first visit to the region in 1989 and how that first step taken at the magnificent Emirates Golf Club with its iconic Arabic Tent clubhouse, set in motion a chain of events that is, today, fundamental to the development of The European Tour.

: ‘The invitation to play in Dubai enabled us to unearth a jewel in the desert when we first visited the city in 1989 for the Dubai Desert Classic pointed The European Tour in a new direction.“This was our first venture to the region and it turned out to be a catalyst for change to what we have today – 50 events in 29 destinations.

After starting with one event in 1989, The European Tour has subsequently played a further 44 events across the region with combined prize money of more than €85million, and five events will take place in 2011.

The Desert Swing, which includes tournaments in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dubai and Qatar, puts the global sporting spotlight firmly on the region at the start of the year and the season then builds to a dramatic climax with the Dubai World Championship presented by DP World,” he said.

The Race to Dubai, launched at the majestic Burj Al Arab in 2007, is the single strongest 12-month sponsorship partnership for both The European Tour and Dubai which has grown into a strong platform, providing over $ 2.6 billion in gross media value for our key partners and promoters throughout the season and reaching 15.7 billion homes via our network of 36 International Broadcasters.

"The delivery of the third Race to Dubai and the third Dubai World Championship later this year will see $45 million being distributed in prize money alone.”

European Tour players have also benefited immensely from the growing popularity of the game in the region. O’Grady said: “Players including Thomas Björn, Ernie Els, Colin Montgomerie and Greg Norman have designed courses while players such as Paul Casey, Bradley Dredge, Søren Hansen Matteo Manassero, Rory McIlroy, Seung-yul Noh, Jeev Milka Singh and Henrik Stenson are representing some of the biggest names in the industry as their global ambassadors.”

O’Grady also stressed that the future will witness continued growth. “The European Tour will continue to build its presence in the region with significant interest for professional golf tournaments from GCC countries – Oman, Saudi Arabia and others.”

Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles

Year of the Young Guns...Monday Wrap

It has become the year of the young guns in golf, Jhonattan Vegas, Aaron Baddeley, Nick Watney, Gary Wooodland, Martin Laird, Charl Schwartzel, Martin Kaymer, David Horsey, Alvaro Quiros, Pablo Martin all winners this year in their 20's, now add the most precocious of therm all Matteo Manessero not yet 18, and Brendan Steele another PGA tour rookie at 25 to that list, winners this weekend.

 For good measure let's remember that 21 year old Rory McIlroy led the Masters for 63 holes and I'd better not forget Ryo Ishikawa, Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson, you can add on the ones I have forgotten

Many will bemoan the demise of Tiger Woods and to be sure it is good for golf when he is in contention, but my oh my isn't it great to have all these guys to pass the torch to !!


PGA Tour

Another of what CBS called the 'roaring 20's' has joined the winners circle on this season of young guns on the PGA tour. Californian Brendan Steele, 25 a tour rookie handled himself like a seasoned pro, right down to the 8 foot pressure putt to win the Valero Texas Open on the final hole. He looked every inch the pro, has all the shots and used them on a tough course, in a tough wind.

1 19 Brendan Steele -8 F -1 color info 69 72 68 71 280

T2 6 25 Charley Hoffman -7 F -4 color info 68 73 72 68 281
T2 1 63 Kevin Chappell -7 F -2 color info 68 73 70 70 281
4 1 30 Brandt Snedeker -6 F -1 color info 69 72 70 71 282
T5 5 40 Fredrik Jacobson -5 F -3 color info 72 75 67 69 283
T5 81 Pat Perez -5 F -1 color info 71 74 67 71 283
T5 3 91 Cameron Tringale -5 F 1 color info 71 71 68 73 283
8 3 43 Charles Howell III -4 F E color info 71 73 68 72 284
T9 21 59 Keegan Bradley -3 F -4 color info 73 73 71 68 285
T9 7 3 Martin Laird -3 F -2 color info 72 74 69 70 285


NATIONWIDE tour

Play was cancelled yesterday due to fog and the event reduced to 54 holes, therefore PGA tour veteran Daniel Chopra was declared the winner of the Fresh Express Classic at TPC Stonebrae, California.
2 Canucks to tell you about Richard T Lee T30 -3 207 and Jon Mills T45 +1 211

1 T17 Daniel Chopra SC P -9 F -12 68 69 61 -- 198


T2 T9 Luke List SC P -6 F -11 67 68 64 -- 199
T2 T1 Russell Knox SC P -4 F -11 65 68 66 -- 199
T4 T24 Erik Compton SC P -6 F -8 67 71 64 -- 202
T4 T9 Doug LaBelle II SC P -3 F -8 66 69 67 -- 202
T4 T9 Marco Dawson SC P -3 F -8 65 70 67 -- 202
T4 T1 Mathew Goggin SC P -1 F -8 67 66 69 -- 202
8 T37 Jason Enloe SC P -6 F -7 70 69 64 -- 203
T9 T24 Jeff Gove SC P -4 F -6 70 68 66 -- 204
T9 T17 Cliff Kresge SC P -3 F -6 69 68 67 -- 204
T9 T13 Matt Davidson SC P -2 F -6 68 68 68 -- 204
T9 T13 Brian Smock SC P -2 F -6 69 67 68 -- 204
T9 T1 Garrett Sapp SC P 1 F -6 67 66 71 -- 204


CHAMPIONS tour
Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am,TPC Tampa Bay · Lutz, FL

John Cook double bogeyed his final hole to fall back into a playoff with Jay Don Blake, but he credits his caddie for his win on the 1st extra hole. I didn't see it so here is a bit of the pgatour.com report from the course

John Cook won the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am on Sunday for his second Champions Tour victory of the year, rebounding from a double bogey on the final hole of regulation with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff against Jay Don Blake.


Cook, also the winner of the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii, closed with a 2-over 73 to match Blake at 9-under 204. Blake birdied the final hole for a 70.

Cook hit his 175-yard approach shot into the water on the par-4 18th en route to the double bogey.

"We're not supposed to hit shots like that," Cook said. "It happens to the best of us. It's happened to everyone on the regular tour, on the Champions tour and it happened to me today."

He credited caddie Tommy Anderson for helping him regroup for the playoff on the same hole.
"Tommy had us stop when driving us down the fairway to the 18th tee so we could walk the rest of the way," Cook said. "Tommy said, 'OK, J.C., it's hole No. 1. Just refocus. Get back at it.'"He really settled me down, and I give him a lot of credit for that. He stepped in when he needed to and that's why we've been together four years. ... I was still hot, and didn't know what to expect in the playoff, but luckily I got the chance to redeem myself" 


Canucks....T45 T39 Rod Spittle SC P 3 F * 5 70 74 74 218

Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Sunday Scoreboards

With Matteo Manessero already winning the Malaysian Open earlier this morning (see previous article for a full report) here are the rest of the leaderboards with play underway on the Champions Tour in Florida

PGA Tour

Valero Texas Open
TPC San Antonio (AT&T Oaks Course) · San Antonio, Texas

1 19 Brendan Steele -7 F -4 color info 69 72 68 209

2 6 38 Cameron Tringale -6 F -4 color info 71 71 68 210
T3 2 89 Kevin Chappell -5 F -2 color info 68 73 70 211
T3 2 27 Brandt Snedeker -5 F -2 color info 69 72 70 211
T5 24 81 Pat Perez -4 F -5 color info 71 74 67 212
T5 12 39 Charles Howell III -4 F -4 color info 71 73 68 212
T5 3 25 Adam Scott -4 F -2 color info 68 74 70 212
T8 7 48 Charley Hoffman -3 F E color info 68 73 72 213
T8 7 163 Rich Beem -3 F E color info 71 70 72 213
T10 47 49 Fredrik Jacobson -2 F -5 color info 72 75 67 214
T10 35 175 J.P. Hayes -2 F -4 color info 73 73 68 214
T10 2 69 Vaughn Taylor -2 F -1 color info 68 75 71 214
T10 2 66 Ricky Barnes -2 F -1 color info 73 70 71 214
T10 2 138 Jeff Maggert -2 F -1 color info 71 72 71 214
T10 2 99 Dean Wilson -2 F E color info 70 72 72 214


NATIONWIDE Tour

Fresh Express Classic at TPC Stonebrae
TPC Stonebrae · Hayward, California

1 T17 Daniel Chopra SC P -9 F -12 68 69 61 -- 198

T2 T9 Luke List SC P -6 F -11 67 68 64 -- 199
T2 T1 Russell Knox SC P -4 F -11 65 68 66 -- 199
T4 T24 Erik Compton SC P -6 F -8 67 71 64 -- 202
T4 T9 Doug LaBelle II SC P -3 F -8 66 69 67 -- 202
T4 T9 Marco Dawson SC P -3 F -8 65 70 67 -- 202
T4 T1 Mathew Goggin SC P -1 F -8 67 66 69 -- 202
8 T37 Jason Enloe SC P -6 F -7 70 69 64 -- 203
T9 T24 Jeff Gove SC P -4 F -6 70 68 66 -- 204
T9 T17 Cliff Kresge SC P -3 F -6 69 68 67 -- 204
T9 T13 Matt Davidson SC P -2 F -6 68 68 68 -- 204
T9 T13 Brian Smock SC P -2 F -6 69 67 68 -- 204
T9 T1 Garrett Sapp SC P 1 F -6 67 66 71 -- 204

T30 T24 Richard T. Lee SC P -1 F -3 69 69 69 -- 207

T49 T47 Jon Mills SC P 1 F 1 71 69 71 -- 211


CHAMPIONS Tour

Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am
TPC Tampa Bay · Lutz, FL
(final round play underway)

1 1 John Cook SC P 9:35 am -11 66 65 -- 131

2 2 Russ Cochran SC P 9:35 am -10 64 68 -- 132
3 3 Jay Don Blake SC P 9:24 am -8 66 68 -- 134
T4 T4 Tom Pernice, Jr. SC P 9:13 am -6 68 68 -- 136
T4 T4 Joey Sindelar SC P 9:24 am -6 68 68 -- 136
6 6 Peter Senior SC P 9:13 am -5 69 68 -- 137
T7 T7 Mark Calcavecchia SC P E 1 -4 69 69 -- 138
T7 T7 Joe Ozaki SC P E 1 -4 69 69 -- 138
T7 T7 Tom Wargo SC P 9:13 am -4 70 68 -- 138
T7 T7 Hale Irwin SC P 9:13 am -4 70 68 -- 138
T7 T7 Larry Mize SC P 9:02 am -4 70 68 -- 138
T33 T39 Rod Spittle SC P -1 4 * 1 70 74 -- 144


Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles

17 year old Matteo Manessero wins Maybank Malaysian Open

europeantour.com..Matteo Manassero earned himself a €288,465 birthday present with his second European Tour win at the Maybank Malaysian Open.


The Italian, who turns 18 on Tuesday, started the celebrations early as a closing 68 helped him finish 16 under and see off challenges from Grégory Bourdy and Rory McIlroy.

I couldn’t imagine anything better – going back home to celebrate my 18th birthday and my second victory on The European Tour,” he said, after climbing to 35th on the Official World Golf Ranking. “It’s great to be able to celebrate both together. I’m just now concentrating on being in the top 50 now and getting into all the Majors. I’m very happy about this achievement.”

Having become The European Tour's youngest ever winner in Spain last year, Manassero now holds the top two positions on that list - Danny Lee was seven months older when he won the Johnnie Walker Classic.

The leaders had 27 holes to play on the final day after six hours of weather delays earlier in the week, with McIlroy immediately extending his two shot overnight advantage to three with a birdie at the par five tenth.But the 21 year old Northern Irishman was passed by Manassero and Alex Noren before the end of the third round after dropping two shots at the short 15th.

Manassero, on the other hand, birdied both par threes on the back nine for a 67 that left him 12 under with a round to go alongside Noren - who had driven the green at the par four 16th and eagled.

McIlroy was right in contention with three birdies in four holes around the turn, but three-putted the 12th for a double bogey which looked to have ended his chances but he briefly threatened to mount a storming comeback, holing from eight feet for birdie at the 16th and then hitting a stunning approach to within three feet at the next as he closed the gap to one.


Needing a birdie at the par five last he was on the green in three but his birdie putt never threatened the cup and by three-putting he finished third behind Bourdy.

“It has been a good week, I enjoyed coming to Kuala Lumpur. I’m disappointed with the result but everything else was positive. I’m proud of myself at how I picked myself up from last week and the way I came back on the back nine today.”


Manassero paid tribute to Seve Ballesteros, who he described as his golfing hero.“He is and will always be,” he added. “I grew up watching Costantino, Seve and Tiger. I thought Seve was the kind of player I wanted to be. “The crowd was cheering for him and he was different to everyone else. He is a great person and a symbol of what a person should be. He sent me a letter after I won in Spain. That was nice.”

Spain’s Rafael Cabrera Bello matched Bourdy’s closing 67 to finish tied fourth with Noren, while Masters Tournament winner Charl Schwartzel improved to 11th over the weekend with rounds of 67 and 70

1 MANASSERO, Matteo ITA 18 -16

2 BOURDY, Grégory FRA 18 -15
3 MCILROY, Rory NIR 18 -14
T4 CABRERA-BELLO, Rafael ESP 18 -13
T4 NOREN, Alexander SWE 18 -13
6 AGUILAR, Felipe CHI 18 -12

Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Round 3 suspended due to darkness with Rory leading in Malaysia

europeantour.com : Rory McIlroy holed a ten foot birdie putt at his last hole of the day to establish a two shot clubhouse advantage after day three of the Maybank Malaysian Open.


A rain delay of three hours and 25 minutes, coupled with two and a half hours lost to lightning on Friday, meant the leaders could only complete nine holes of their third round before dark at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club.

Northern Irishman McIlroy shared the halfway lead on 11 under with Sweden’s Alex Noren, and the 21 year old kept his nose in front with eight consecutive pars at the start of his round.

“I felt I probably should have been a couple better,” said the World Number Nine. “I hit a couple of good shots that if they went a foot either way would have been great – the tee shot on eight and second shot on six - if they had just stayed.
“But it’s ok. It’s a solid start. I could have been two or three shots better off but it’s obviously nice to hole that putt right at the end on the ninth and finish on a positive note. I’ve still got the lead but it is going to be a long day tomorrow.
“You’ve got to make every shot count out there. 27 holes in that heat tomorrow is going to be tough. I’ve got myself into a good position going into tomorrow and that’s all that counts.”


Former Omega European Masters champion Noren mixed three birdies with two bogeys and a five at the par three fourth to be ten under – and he will return to a lengthy birdie putt on the ninth on Sunday morning.

France’s Gregory Bourdy made the most significant move of the day with five birdies in his first six holes.He added another at the eighth and then holed from six feet at the tenth to briefly share the lead, only to bogey the 13th.

However, the three-time European Tour winner was still six under for his round with five to play and tied for second with Noren and Italian teenager Matteo Manassero.

I played well on this course,” said Bourdy. “It was wonderful .Made just one mistake on the tee shot on nine.Everything was good – my putting and driver, which was longer and straighter.

Manassero, who turns 18 on Tuesday, first had the job of completing his second round when he returned to the course and birdies at the last two holes lifted him to a share of fourth place.And an outward 33 saw the former British Amateur Champion move into contention for a second European Tour title.

Chile’s Felipe Aguilar amazingly started his round with five birdies in a row, and after a par at the sixth a dazzling approach left him a tap-in birdie at seven.

Looming large alongside him on nine under is World Number One Martin Kaymer, whose precision iron play saw him play the 15 holes possible in six under par – the highlight his tee shot to within a foot at the par three eighth.


There will be no redraw for Sunday’s final round, with the third round resuming at 0740 and the final round starting at 0845.




Bryan Angus also on twitter @mummmbles