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



Thursday, March 31, 2016

Follow the 9 Canadians amonst the "Boys in Brasil" on Web.com Tour

Web.com Tour Brasil Champions leaderboard http://www.pgatour.com/webcom/tournaments/brasil-champions/leaderboard.html

There are 9 Canucks in the field down in Sao Paulo Brasil as round one is well under way on this Web.com stop.

Taylor Pendrith has opened with -5 66 T5, while Brad Fritsch shot -4 67 T16.

Follow all their scores here.

Bryan Angus

Follow Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp at Ana Inspiration here

LPGA Tour Ana Inspiration leaderboard http://www.lpga.com/tournaments/ana-inspiration/leaderboard

Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp are playing in the LPGA's first major of the year, the Ana Inspiration at Rancho Mirage.

Brooke has just teed off at 1120am est paired with Paula Creamer. Alena is off at 153pm, (453pm est) in the late wave with Paula Reto of South Africa.

Bryan Angus

DeLaet, Taylor off to a fast starts at Shell Houston Open

PGA Tour Shell Houston Open leaderboard http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/shell-houston-open/leaderboard.html

Graham DeLaet  birdied 4 holes in a row on his front nine to share the early lead at the Shell Houston Open. He has added another on the back and shot -5 67 T6,  2 shots off the lead held by Dustin Johnson and Roberto Castro with who are finished with -7 65

There are 5 Canadians in the field. Nick Taylor is T10 after he shot -4 68  Mike Weir had a rough back nine and is at +4 76, David Hearn is in the late wave and Adam Hadwin is -1 through 16.

Pre tournament favourite Jordan Spieth has just begun his round. Neither Rory McIlroy or Jason Day are in the field this week before the Masters.

Bryan Angus

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Perth council vote to save the world's oldest golf course..the North Inch

I was born in Perth, Scotland in St Johnstone Nursing Home as a posh treat for my mother, who objected to having her #1 son with the traditional midwife, in the cottage at the foot of the Buckie Braes and Craigiehill GC where my father and his family had lived since the end of WWI. We came to Canada when I was a few months old.

That cottage was where my love of the game began. I spent hours of my bi-annual summer trips with my mother back to Scotland on a little 4 hole putting green grandad had made in the back garden. Later in life during a return to Perth to attend university in Dundee. I played golf, often two rounds a day, on the little golf course built along the river Tay on the North Inch.

An Inch  is a Scottish word from the Gaelic "innis" meaning island. Perth is sometimes called the smallest city in the world because it is built between two inches - the North Inch and the South Inch on the river Tay.

I would skip classes in Dundee, wait for the attendant to leave the starters hut for lunch during the week at 1130am and sneak onto the 2nd tee to avoid the 50 pence green fee (1972), then play around the flat but scenic course for hours with 2 balls, in all weather usually by myself or sometimes with others I'd join up with.

That's how I learned to play. It's open to anyone, http://www.northinchgolf.co.uk/ and the green fee is up to 15 pounds during the week.. Have a look a the beautiful scenery on the link. It's a par 68, at 5154 yards.

I had heard the city council like so many were looking to slash their budget and the North Inch where the game has been played since the 1500s was on their list.

But after a storm of protest, councillors have voted on a 6 year rescue plan which it is hoped will preserve the famous sporting venue. King James VI played on " North Inch Golf Course " in the 1500s, and Beasley’s World Atlas of Golf names it “the first recognisable golf course in the world”.
http://www.scotsman.com/news/rescue-plan-unveiled-to-save-scotland-s-oldest-golf-course-1-4078927

Looking back I was so lucky to have access to this little gem, I have travelled and played all over Canada, the States and the UK and made life long friends wherever I have gone.

So well done Perth and Kinross Council and to all the volunteers that are making sure many others will continue without prejudice to be able to play at very reasonable rates on the North Inch....and if you are short a few quid, just wait til the starter goes for lunch !

Bryan Angus










http://www.scotsman.com/news/rescue-plan-unveiled-to-save-scotland-s-oldest-golf-course-1-4078927

Monday, March 28, 2016

Tony Finau, from his garage to the winners circle in Puerto Rico

PGA Tour Puerto Rico Open final leaderboard

Tony Finau is from Salt Lake City in Utah and as a very athletic 6'4" guy has basketball in his blood. He was a star in high school and his cousin is Jabari Parker of the Milwaukee Bucks.

However he also loved to hit golf balls. The problem was, his parents couldn't afford a membership, or even buckets of balls. So his father set up a mattress in the garage where Tony could pound away for hours on end.

Now this long hitting 26 year old can buy all the balls he wants after he won the Puerto Rico Open for his first PGA Tour title, beating Steve Marino with a birdie on the third hole of a playoff at the very plush but windy Coco Beach resort.

Finau and Marino each shot -2 70 to finish at -12 276. Marino birdied the 18th to tie Finau, and got into the playoff when Finau narrowly missed a 6-foot birdie putt. Ian Poulter closed with a 72 and had a 20 footer on the 18th to get into the playoff which he missed after taking the lead into the final round.

Nick Taylor had a great week closing with -2 70, T5 -10 while Graham DeLaet had a -1 71  -8 total T11. Young Adam Svensson shot +1 73 and finished T47.

Bryan Angus

Lydia Ko wins Kia Classic, Brooke Henderson shoots 66, T10.

LPGA Tour Kia Classic final leaderboard http://www.lpga.com/tournaments/kia-classic-tournament/results

Lydia Ko called a penalty on herself for a double hit on the 10th green and still won her first LPGA event of 2016 by 4 shots over Inbee Park.

She won the Kia Classic on Sunday with a -5 67 -19, and like Jason Day heads into the first major championship of the season as the #1 player in the world.

Her ball on the 10th green had rolled into a pitch mark left by another player, so she wasn't allowed relief. The putt popped straight up in the air and hit the shaft of her club for the double hit.

At 18 years of age, Lydia Ko has 11 professional wins world wide, and that my friends is more than a certain guy called Tiger Woods..

Brooke Henderson had her best round of the week with an eagle and six birdies -6 66 for another T10 at -9.

Next week the field assembles at nearby Rancho Mirage for the ANA Inspiration (Dinah Shore) for the first major of the season.

Bryan Angus




Jason Day "on top of the world"...

WGC Dell Match Play final results http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/dell-match-play/livescoring.html

The boy from Beaudesert Australia, son of Alvin and Dening Day, brother of Yanna and Kim, prodigy of his mentor and caddie Col Swatton is where he has dreamt of being since Alvin enrolled him at the local golf course as a six year old, "on top of the world"..

Jason Day holed a clutch par putt on the 18th to edge Rory McIlroy 1up in a very even semi final match, on a cool windy Texas morning, then got up early on sweet swinging Louis Oosthuizen and beat him soundly 5 and 4 to win for the second consecutive week and put an exclamation mark beside his world #1 ranking.

"It’s been a memorable week, not only to win the Dell Match Play but to get back to No. 1 in the world,” Day said afterwards to the assembled media.

It was a great week for Oosthuizen as well, who knocked out Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson on Saturday and Rafa Cabrera Bello on Sunday morning but after winning the first hole against Day his putter let him down. "I couldn’t buy a birdie, I played OK, but nothing spectacular. Up against a guy like Jason, you need to play 3 or 4 under to have a chance"

Rafa as he is known to his peers, beat Rory 3 and 2 in the consolation match and remember he has moved into the top 50 in the world ranking to earn a trip to the Masters.

Rory had nothing to be ashamed of, he defended his title well, and had the lead several times in his match with Day, so he is in good form heading to Augusta.

Speaking of the Masters, Day is now the bookies favourite, you may remember he and fellow Aussie Adam Scott who also won in back to back weeks earlier this month, T2 to Charl Schwartzel in 2011, then he had a one-shot lead with three holes to play in 2013, ending up 3rd behind Scott and Cabrera.

In Canada we all remember the run he went on last year starting with his win at the RBC Canadian Open followed by his first major, the PGA Championship.

Supported by his mentor and caddie Col Swatton, American wife Ellie and his children Dash and Lucy, he has a wonderful home in Westerville Ohio and all the money he can ever spend....Like I said he's "on top of the world"

Bryan Angus

Sunday, March 27, 2016

DeLaet and Taylor contend in Puerto Rico

PGA Tour Puerto Rico Open leaderboard http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/puerto-rico-open/leaderboard.html

Ian Poulter had no time for a full practice round at this windy Puerto Rico Open, arriving in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, however he brought his A game and after a -4 68 he is at -11 205 to lead going into the final round. He was the first alternative at the WGC Dell Match Play and hasn't won on the PGA Tour since the 2012 World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in China.

However Nick Taylor went one better at -5 67 and is T8 at -8 just three-shots behind Poulter, while his fellow countryman Graham DeLaet shot -2 70 and is T12 at -7.

The third Canuck, Adam Svensson, also shot -2 70, T36.

Tony Finau, Jonathan Byrd and Steve Marino are a stroke behind Poulter at -10. Finau shot 67, Byrd 68, and Marino 69.

Bryan Angus

Oosthuizen beats Johnson and Spieth, McIlroy to face Day in semi-finals

PGA Tour Dell Match Play Saturday Results, Sunday Tee Times http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/dell-match-play/livescoring.html

For me the headlines from a very busy Saturday at the Dell Match Play were :

*Louis Oosthuizen plays giant killer beating Spieth and Dustin Johnson
*Rory McIlroy to play Jason Day in semi finals
*No Americans survive quarter-finals

Louis Oosthuizen is a tenacious match player and on Saturday he beat everyone's favourite Jordan Spieth 4 and 2, then Dustin Johnson 2 and 1 to reach the semifinals for the first time. Not a bad day's play to put on your resume !

On a big day for the European Tour, Rafa Cabrera Bello of Spain beat Ryan Moore, 2 and 1 after being awarded his match against Byeong-Hun (Ben) An who had to WD due to the flu in the morning, to meet Oosthuizen in the semi finals.

Cabrera is now assured of a spot in the Masters as he moves into the world's top 50.

However as you would imagine in the media tent afterwards all the attention was on Spieth, and the other semi final between undefeated defending champion Rory McIlroy and the new world #1 Jason Day.

First Spieth, who lost holes with three bogeys and a double bogey "I didn’t make it very hard on Louis today, which is unfortunate, I was off from when I hit my first 10 shots on the range. I’ve had incredible control of the ball this week and of my wedges. I’m not exactly sure what happened"

Whatever it was, it affected 11 other Americans as well, who are all elsewhere this morning after losing in the not so sweet 16 for them.

As for Rory, he managed to beat a very tough Zach Johnson who battled him right to the last putt1 up. Johnson had a great week and he holed a 25 footer for birdie on the 18th, making McIlroy sweat over his little 3 footer for the win.

McIlroy then beat Chris Kirk more handily, 4 and 3 in the afternoon to remain undefeated in defence of his title. If he wins again this year he will join Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back winners.

However he will have to beat the 2014 winner, and new world #1, Jason Day first and that is a tall task. Day won two of the first three holes to get ahead of Brooks Koepka and run out a 3 and 2 winner after beating Brandt Snedeker by the same score in the morning.

"It’s been a bit of an up and down week, especially emotionally,” said Day who remember had his back seize up on him earlier in the week. “It’s been quite amazing to be able to start the week, not really thinking I’m going to be able to play with what happened Wednesday, and then turn around and I’m No. 1 in the world. It’s a strange feeling. I’m glad I stuck it out"

The statisticians point out that this is only the second time the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds have met in the semifinals since the Match Play began in 1999.

The semi finals begin at 9am this morning with Rory against Jason, followed by Louis against Rafa, with the winners playing for the championship in the afternoon.

Try picking a winner out of this group !!  My pick will surprise you...It's Louis Oosthuizen...

Bryan Angus
(notes from pgatour.com)
















Lydia Ko leads by 3 at Kia Classic

LPGA Tour Kia Classic leaderboard http://www.lpga.com/tournaments/kia-classic-tournament/leaderboard

New Zealand's Lydia Ko shot a -5 67 to take a commanding three-stroke lead at -14 202 at the Kia Classic in Carlsbad, California as she continues to round into form ahead of next week's major at Rancho Mirage. Remember she had a second-place finish last week in Phoenix in the Founders Cup.

Sung Hyun Park 68, Brittany Lang 70 and second-round leader Jenny Shin 71 are T2 at -11while Inbee Park shot a 70 and is -10

Brooke Henderson is T30 after she shot -2 70 for a -3 total, 11 shots behind Ko.

Bryan Angus

Saturday, March 26, 2016

Brooke Henderson moves up leaderboard at Kia Classic

LPGA Tour Kia Classic leaderboard http://www.lpga.com/tournaments/kia-classic-tournament/leaderboard

Brooke Henderson moved up the scoreboard to T29th after shooting a -2 70 for a -1 total, nine shots behind the lead at the halfway stage of the Kia Classic while Alena Sharp (77 73) and Maude-Aimee Leblanc (75 72) missed the cut.

The leader is yet another South Korean, Jenny Shin after a -7 65 -10, a stroke ahead of top-ranked Lydia Ko (67) and Brittany Lang (68)

Inbee Park (69) and fellow South Korean player Hyo Joo Kim (66) are -8.

Bryan Angus

Friday, March 25, 2016

WGC Dell Match Play.. Spieth, MclIroy, Day advance to Round of 16

WGC Dell Match Play Friday leaderboard  http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/dell-match-play/livescoring.html

Saturday match previews from pgatour.com http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/dell-match-play/news/2016/03/25/round-of-16-previews.html

Dell are the new sponsors of the WGC Match Play and Austin GC is the new venue and they and all concerned are delighted that the Big 3 have survived an exciting elimination Friday to advance to the sweet 16 who will meet in the 8 matches in store for Saturday morning.

Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day are the so called Big 3 of this new golf era, and no matter how they are playing they garner the lions share of media attention.

Rory, the defending champion hasn't hit full stride yet and needed sudden death and a mistake by Kevin Na to advance to meet the demolition man of the tournament so far, Zach Johnson whose precision game is perfectly suited for this Austin GC.

Jordan grew up playing this course and hasn't lost a match yet, and he faces Louis Ooshuizen.

Jason has survived his sore back, is pounding the ball off the tee prodigious distances, and of course won last week at Arnie's Invitational. He plays Brandt Snedeker who started the year on fire in Hawaii with his new Bridgestone driver and ball, and lessons from Butch Harmon, but has cooled since.

Here are the results of the groups http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/dell-match-play/group-stage.html

Group 1
Jordan Spieth birdied four of the first five holes against Justin Thomas and won 3 and 2. He is undefeated thus far.

Group 2
Jason Day remained undefeated, as Paul Casey had to concede his match after six holes due to illness.

Group 3
Rory and Kevin Na both played brilliantly at times and after 18 holes they were even. At the 2nd hole of sudden death Na had to take a penalty stroke after a bad tee shot and Rory made a 6 foot par putt for the win

Group 4
Patton Kizzire (65th) became the lowest seed in the field to advance to the sweet 16 with a 2 up victory over Emiliano Grillo after JB Holmes beat Bubba Watson.

Group 5
Byeong-Hun An’s halve with Rickie Fowler was enough for An to advance to a sudden death playoff with Scott Piercy who he beat on the first hole. An finished 1-0-2, halving matches with Fowler and Piercy and beating Jason Dufner.

Group 6
Bill Haas won the last 2 holes to beat Adam Scott 1 up to advance to the Sweet16. He hasn't lost yet.

Group 7
Matt Kuchar never trailed in his match with Justin Rose winning 3 and 2 to advance.

Group 8
Dustin Johnson beat Jimmy Walker 2 and 1 in his regular match,then made a birdie on the first playoff hole to beat Kiradech Aphibarnrat.

Group 9
Patrick Reed raced out to a 6 up lead over Mickelson, and never looked back winning 5 and 4. He had 2 eagles and two birdies.

Group 10
Brooks Koepka lost 4 and 3 to Danny Willett...but is moving on, thanks to Jaco Van Zyl, who defeated Billy Horschel. Had Horschel won, he would've forced a playoff with Koepka, who won his first two matches.

Group 11
After beating David Lingmirth 3 and 2, Chris Kirk won the sudden-death playoff over Branden Grace by making par to advance.

Group 12
Spaniard, Cabrera Bello earned a half-point against Soren Kjeldsen, which was good enough to advance and avoid a playoff against Hideki Matsuyama.

Group 13
Ryan Moore had a strong back nine holes to catch and overtake Lee Westwood. winning 3 and 1 to move on.

Group 14
Never mind the Big 3, Zach Johnson has emerged as one of the favourites to win this event after he completed his impressive run with another big win, 4 and 3 over Shane  In all, Johnson has played 42 holes and has led after 39 of them. He's only trailed after one hole this week.

Group 15
Charl Schwartzel and Brandt Snedeker were all square on the 11th tee but Snedeker won the next five holes to advance with a 5 and 3 win.

Group 16
Louis Oosthuizen beat Andy Sullivan 4 and 2 in their winner-take-all match.



Bryan Angus






Brooke Henderson and LPGA Tour at Kia Classic this week.

LPGA Tour Kia Classic leaderboard http://www.lpga.com/tournaments/kia-classic-tournament/leaderboard

Brooke Henderson and the rest of the LPGA Tour will all be working on their tans for the next two weeks in the sun baked desert around Carlsbad, California. This week it's the Kia Classic, next week it's the first major of the season ANA Inspiration in Rancho Mirage (the Dinah Shore)

Brooke is T56 after her opening round +1 73. Maude-Aimee Leblanc +3 75 and Alena Sharp +5 77.

The leader is a familiar name, Inbee Park who shot a -5 67 for a share of the lead with Brittany Lang, Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Ai Miyazato with Lydia Ko another stroke back at -4 68.

The sexy commercial face of Kia, Michelle Wie shot -2 70 while little Ha Na Jang opened with a 71 following her wins already this year in Florida and Singapore.

They weather as usual in this ridiculously wealthy part of southern California was perfect, not a cloud in the sky, with little wind, ideal for scoring.

Bryan Angus
 
 

Puerto Rico Open..where the other pros are playing..

PGA Tour Puerto Rico Open leaderboard http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/puerto-rico-open/leaderboard.html

This is one of these double tournament weeks on the PGA Tour, when all the attention is on the world's top 64 in the WGC Dell Match Play, the other pros are still playing for full points and nearly $1m in Puerto Rico.

The same scenario happens at other WGC events. The Sanderson Farms was on at the same time (Nov.5) as the WGC HSBC in China, the Barracuda Championship in Reno is on at the same time as the WGC Bridgestone on June 30, the Barbasol Championship on the RTJ Trail in Alabama is on the same time as the Open Championship at Royal Troon on July 14 and the John Deere is on at the same time as the Olympics on August 11 this year.

Chi Chi Rodriguez is Puerto Rico's golfing ambassador but this week it is countryman, 27 year old Rafael Compos who shot an -8 64 to take the first-round lead at this spectacular Coco Beach Resort.
 
George McNeill, the 2012 winner shot 65, while last year's winner Alex Cejka had a 66 along with Aaron Baddeley, Frank Lickliter and Will MacKenzie.
 
Other stars we are used to seeing at the WGC tournaments are also in Puerto Rico. Luke Donald -3 69 and Ian Poulter -1 71 underline how important these double up events are.
 
There are 4 Canadians in the field, the best so far is Adam Svensson -5 67. Graham DeLaet and Nick Taylor both shot -2 70. Wil Bateman of Edmonton  +2 74.
 
Bryan Angus
 
 
 

WGC Dell Match Play..Friday matches, Group scenario's..

WGC Dell Match Play leaderboard/ Friday matches http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/dell-match-play/livescoring.html

At the end of round robin play today, 16 players, (one from each group) will advance, and go onto play on Saturday morning.. the rest will jet off to their next destination. The player with the highest number of points in each group moves on.

If there is a tie, the two players will have a sudden death playoff, using stroke play.

Without going into every match, here are some of the more intriguing scenario's that will unfold today.

First 22 players of the 64 are already eliminated after losing their first two matches.

Group 1
Jordan Spieth is 2-0 and should move on. However Dubuisson and Donaldson play each other and are 1-1. One of them could win, move to 2-1 and force a sudden death playoff should Spieth lose to his buddy Justin Thomas, who has been eliminated at 0-2

Group 2
Jason Day is also 2-0 and should proceed. Thongchai Jaidee, 1-1 could force a playoff if he beats McDowell today and Day loses to Paul Casey.

Group 3
Rory McIlroy and Kevin Na are both 2-0 and will decide this group in their match today.

Group 4
This group could end in a 4 way tie, but Bubba Watson (1-0-1) will advance if he beats JB Holmes today. Holmes, Emiliano Grillo and Patton Kizzire are still alive if Bubba loses.

Group 5
If Korean star Ben An beats Rickie Fowler today he advances. If Rickie wins it could also end in a 4 way tie.

Group 6
Adam Scott and Bill Haas play today to decide the group.

Group 7
Justin Rose and Matt Kuchar play today to decide the group.

Group 9
Phil Mickelson pays Patrick Reed today to decide the group.

Group 13
Ryan Moore will win this group if he beats Lee Westwood today. If not either of them or Sergio Garcia could win.

Group 15
Charl Schwartzel and Brandt Snedeker play today to decide this group.

Group 16
Louis Oosthuizen and Andy Sullivan play today to decide this group.

So it's a moving day for sure in Austin Texas, but this one is on a Friday, and the heat is finally on. It will be very interesting.

Stay tuned !

Bryan Angus



Thursday, March 24, 2016

I like the new format at Dell Match Play.. Day 2 leaderboard, matches

WGC Dell Match Play leaderboard / matches http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/dell-match-play/livescoring.html

There has been a fair amount of debate about the new round robin format vs the straight traditional knock out format at this Dell Match Play.

In the round-robin format, all of the players still have a chance to advance from their groups and reach the knockout stage. A year ago, only three players who lost in the first round managed to reach the round of 16. It might be easier this year because there are halves during group play.

I am in favour of the round robin format. Granted there would be more sensational news to report today if Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler etal were one and done, but isn't it better to be able to watch them again today and tomorrow to see if they can make the sweet sixteen on Saturday morning ?

Don't forget how dreadfully anti-climatic those Jeff Maggert vs Andrew Magee, Steve Stricker vs Pierre Fulke, or Kevin Sutherland vs Scott McCarron finals were under the old format.

Day 1 was the first look many have had at the windy Austin CC and I was impressed. They have reversed the completely different style of nines for the professionals but either way it has the elements that are great for match play, including driveable par 4's.

Sadly the lead story from Day 1 is in fact Jason Day and the state of his back. He was favouring it on the 15th hole,  then it really hurt him after his tee shot on the 16th hole which forced him to his knee on the green after he had beat Graeme McDowell, 3 and 2.
 
He headed straight for the fitness trailer for treatment, and this morning his crew says he had therapy and is expected to play today. Everyone with a bad back knows it can flare up with the slightest wrong move, so we will have to wait and see.
 
Some notable results:  Jordan Spieth, didn't disappoint the day's largest crowd, going 4 up through seven holes to beat Jamie Donaldson, 3 and 2 in a Ryder Cup flavoured match.
 
Rory McIlroy never led until he won the 18th hole with a par after Thorbjorn Olesen missed a 3-foot putt on the 16th, and with the match all square, shanked a chip on the 18th to hand McIlroy the match.
 
Rickie Fowler, (No.5), rallied from 3 down on the back nine to square his match on the 15th hole, but his pal Jason Dufner birdied the next two holes to win 2 and 1.
 
Dustin Johnson (No. 8) lost to Robert Streb,  Hideki Matsuyama (No. 12) lost to Rafa Cabrera-Bello.
 
Adam Scott (No. 6), had a halve with Thomas Pieters of Belgium. Players and caddies wore black ribbons in their caps to honor the victim of Tuesday’s bombings in Brussels.
 
Bubba Watson (No. 4) halved his match with PGA Tour rookie Patton Kizzire.
Phil Mickelson built a big lead and Matthew Fitzpatrick couldn’t catch him losing 5 and 4 while the smiling assassin Matt Kuchar had a 6-and-5 victory over Anirban Lahiri, fresh off his runner-up finish in India.
 
The field will face the gusty wind blowing from the opposite direction today (from the north) if the weatherman is right just to add to the equation....... anything is better than this ice storm that is hammering southern Ontario today !!
 
Bryan Angus

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Dell Match Play tee times / matches

WGC Dell Match Play tee times/ matches
http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/dell-match-play/livescoring.html

This week its the WGC Dell Match Play which has been shifted from Tuscon to the Austin GC in Texas, good news for Texan golf fans and their #1 son Jordan Spieth.

Spieth, the former Texas Longhorn, has been drawn in the same group as his buddy Justin Thomas. They have been friends since 2007, when they were selected to represent the United States in the Evian Junior Masters. Spieth beat him in a high-profile match in the NCAA Championship at Riviera in 2012, which the Longhorns won
 
Defending champion Rory McIlroy won last year at Harding Park beating Gary Woodland in the championship match. In his group is Smylie Kaufman  Kevin Na and Thorbjorn Olesen and they will all play each other in the round robin stage.
 
The 64 players were broken into four groups based on this week’s ranking, and one player was chosen by lottery to fill out the 16 four-man groups
 
 
 
 
 

Tuesday morning finals..Brooke Henderson, Stephen Ames, Jason Day...

After spending the entire past weekend working the 4pm-midnight shift I was challenged to say the least to keep up with who was doing what on the golf course but thanks to my new Samsung phone I risked the wrath of the none golfing boss to keep abreast of things.

First well done again to Brooke Henderson who was up against a red hot Sei Young Kim who was the winner after she matched Annika Sorenstam’s LPGA Tour scoring record of -27 closing with a -10 62.

Brooke finished in a T4 place at the JTBC Founders Cup in Scottsdale, Ariz., shooting  68, 69, 65, and 67 for a total of -19, good enough to win most week's.

Jason Day returned to his form of 2015 and topped a solid week off by making a clutch birdie putt on the 17th and then saving par with a great long bunker shot and putt on 18 to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational in front of a beaming AP.  He closed with a -2 70 for a one-shot victory over Kevin Chappell, who is still looking for his first win after his 150th start on the PGA Tour.
 
Good to see David Hearn with a good week, finishing with E 72 to T20 at -7 281.
 
Another great Canadian golfer, Stephen Ames also had a solid week finishing in a T4 behind Woody Austin who won the Tucson Conquistadores Classic for his first PGA Tour Champions title. Ames shot (69) -11.
 
MacKenzie Hughes was the only Canuck to make the cut at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open on the Web.com. He shot 73 T55 -2 282. Wesley Bryan from South Carolina won with a -3 68 his first victory on this tour.
 
Speaking of Mackenzie Hughes, the Mackenzie Tour Q-School returns to the Jack Nicklaus course at Reunion Resort and Spa today for the first of four qualifying tournaments this spring. 132 players will compete at the first of four qualifying tournaments for the 2016 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada.
 
Bryan Angus
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Brooke Henderson shoots 65, trails by 4 in Phoenix

LPGA Tour JTBC Founders Cup leaderboard http://www.lpga.com/tournaments/jtbc-founders-cup/leaderboard

On another day of low scoring on the Desert Ridge Wildfire GC in Phoenix, Brooke Henderson got right into contention with a sparking -7 65 T8 -14 202 to trail the lead by 4 shots heading into today's final round.

Alena Sharp went one better with a -8 64 -11 T23. Maude Aimee LeBlanc (70) is at -5 T64.

LPGA Rookie of the Year Sei Young Kim who was 3 shots clear on the 14th tee, slipped to a 70 at this JTBC Founders Cup allowing Eun-Hee Ji who shot -7 65 to take the lead at -18 198.
 
Stacy Lewis had a 64 and is T2 with Kim at -17. Lydia Ko (64) and Paula Creamer (67) are at -15 a shot ahead of Henderson.
 
Bryan Angus
 
 
 

Stephen Ames T4 in Tuscon.

Champions Tour Tuscon Conquistadores Classic leaderboard http://www.pgatour.com/champions/tournaments/tucson-conquistadores-classic/leaderboard.html

Type 1 diabetic Scott Verplank shot his second straight -6 66 on Saturday to take the second-round lead at -12 in the PGA Tour Champions’ Tucson Conquistadores Classic.

He hasn't won yet on this senior tour, but despite his daily battles with diabetes, he is a five-time PGA Tour champion. He is injury prone and has fought a series of them and the resulting operations, in fact he had a cortisone shot in his shoulder last week.

Good news for Canadian golf fans as Stephen Ames is T4 only 4 shots back at -8 after a 67, while Rod Spittle is at E 72.

Jim Carter (63)and Wes Short Jr. (65) are T2 a stroke back of Verplank at -11.

Bryan Angus

Jason Day returns to form to lead Arnold Palmer Invitational

PGA Tour Arnold Palmer Invitational leaderboard http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/arnold-palmer-invitational-presented-by-mastercard/leaderboard.html

Playing much more like the guy who was the best golfer in the world at the end of last year after he T4 the Open, then won the RBC Canadian, followed by the PGA Championship to start a ride that saw him win 5 times and had him vying for Player of the Year honours, 28 year old Aussie Jason Day scrambled to a -2 70 to hold off the field for a 2 shot lead going into today's play at this year's Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Periods of heavy rain moved into NE Florida so officials moved up the starting times, ensuring everyone finished their rounds and Day is at the top with a -15 201 total good for that 2 shot lead over Henrik Stenson (70), Troy Merritt (67) and Kevin Chappell (67), all at -13.
 
In fact Stenson who simply excels at Bay Hill with 4 top 10 finishes, briefly took the lead with an eagle at the 6th, but Day regained his lead with a birdie at the 8th, and he never relinquished it.
 
David Hearn is playing well this week and after another 71 he finds himself at -7 T13. Adam Hadwin shot +1 73, and is T46 at -2.

The story coming into the week was the stunning play of Adam Scott and I can report he is currently T6 -6 with rounds of 67 73 70.

Bryan Angus

SSP Chawrasia finally wins Hero Indian Open

European Tour Hero Indian Open leaderboard http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2016/tournamentid=2016020/leaderboard/index.html

Imagine how happy Mike Weir or any of our other Canadian pros would be if they finally won the Canadian Open after finishing 2nd four times ! Now imagine how happy they'd be if they had blown a 7 shot lead last year to lose their national championship in a playoff !

That's what has happened to India's SSP Chawrasia, who put together rounds of 67 67 68 71 -15 to finally win his national championship at a New Delhi GC on which he simply excels at this Hero Indian Open.

Last year the top ranked Indian Anirban Lahiri came from seven shots back to catch and beat Chawrasia, this year he got within a shot, but with a 2 stroke cushion over his countryman and south Korean Jeunghun Wang at the turn, he kept his game together for his 3rd win on the European Tour, all on this course !

In fact in 16 previous appearances, Chawrasia had ten top tens on the New Delhi layout with two wins and today's victory is a big one, as he wins back his playing privileges on the European Tour for 2 years, after he narrowly lost them last season.

Lahiri finished with -3 69, while Wang shot -4 68, both T2 -13 while Filipino Angelo Que finished on -12 with the round of the day, a flawless 65, alongside Brazil's Adilson da Silva who shot 69.
 
Bryan Angus

 

 


Saturday, March 19, 2016

This weekend in golf..... leaderboards

PGA Tour Arnold Palmer Invitational leaderboard http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/arnold-palmer-invitational-presented-by-mastercard/leaderboard.html
Jason Day made a pair of long birdie putts and otherwise put on a clinic at Bay Hill for a 7-under 65 that gave him a two-shot lead over Henrik Stenson going into the weekend.

David Hearn fired a -5 67 to get to -6 T11for the championship

LPGA Tour JTBC Founders Cup leaderboard http://www.lpga.com/tournaments/jtbc-founders-cup/leaderboard
Sei Young Kim has made it look simple, following her opening 9-under 63 with a 66 to break the tournament 36-hole record at 15-under 129.

Brooke Henderson is 7-under after a 69 on Friday. Fellow Canadians Maude-Aimee LeBlanc and Alena Sharp held a share of 64th at 3 under.

Champions Tour Conquistadores Classic leaderboard  http://www.pgatour.com/champions/tournaments/tucson-conquistadores-classic/leaderboard.html
Woody Austin had six birdies in a seven-hole stretch and shot a 7-under 65 on Friday to take the first-round lead in the PGA Tour Champions’ Tucson Conquistadores Classic.

Stephen Ames is 3-under 69.

European Tour Hero Indian Open leaderboard http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2016/tournamentid=2016020/leaderboard/index.html
A stunning front nine saw course specialist SSP Chawrasia turn a three-shot deficit into a two-shot lead during the third round of the Hero Indian Open at Delhi Golf Club.

Home favourite Chawrasia, who won the 2008 Indian Masters over the same 6,983-yard tree-lined layout, carded four birdies in an outward 32 to reach -14.
That was enough to reel in halfway leader Terry Pilkadaris who finished at -12

 
Web.com Chitimacha Louisiana Open leaderboard http://www.pgatour.com/webcom/tournaments/chitimacha-louisiana-open-presented-by-nacher/leaderboard.html
Matt Fast grabbed the clubhouse lead with a 6-under 65 in the second round of the Chitimacha Louisiana Open .
 
Second-round play was halted for two hours because of the threat of lightning. Players were able to restart and play for an additional two hours before play was suspended for the day at 5:34 p.m. local time. Half the field will return this morning and restart their second round at 8 a.m.
 
Bryan Angus (edit)

Friday, March 18, 2016

Jason Day shoots 65, David Hearn 67 Friday at Arnold Palmer Invitational

PGA Tour Arnold Palmer Invitational leaderboard http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/arnold-palmer-invitational-presented-by-mastercard/leaderboard.html

In ideal scoring conditions Aussie Jason Day went out this morning and added a 65 to his opening 66 to set the clubhouse target at -13. He went out in 32, back in 33 without a bogey on his card.

David Hearn went out on the back nine in 35 shots but aided by an eagle 3 at 16 and a birdie at 17 he came in with a 32. His -5 67 -6 total is good for T4 in the clubhouse.

Adam Scott and the others at -6 after Thursday are in the late wave today.

Bryan Angus

Canadian scores at Web.com Chitimacha Louisiana Open

Web.com Tour Chitimacha Louisiana Open leaderboard http://www.pgatour.com/webcom/tournaments/chitimacha-louisiana-open-presented-by-nacher/leaderboard.html

The Web.com 'ers are all back from their sojourn to south and central America, in Louisiana and there were 9 Canadians in the field, now 8 as Brad Fritsch DNS.

Here are their scores: Albin Choi T39 -3 68, Justin Shin T58 -2 69, Taylor Pendrith and Ben Silverman -1 thru 16, Adam Svennson +1 72, Ryan Yip +3 74, MacKenzie Hughes +1 thru 16 and Devin Curry +6 thru 16

Ryan Armour and JJ Spaun lead at -8 63.

Play was called due to darkness with round 2 to be completed early Friday morning.

Bryan Angus

Aussie Invasion?.. this time it's Pilkadais at the Hero Indian Open

European Tour Hero Indian Open
http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2016/tournamentid=2016020/leaderboard/index.html

They may have the Asian Invasion on the LPGA Tour, but it's the Aussie Invasion these days in the men's game.

Adam Scott has won the last two events of the Florida swing and is T2 so far in Arnie's tournament at Bay Hill, along with Marc Leishman, and their fellow Aussie Jason Day is in the lead !

Meanwhile thousands of miles away in New Delhi it's another Aussie, Terry Pilkadaris who has shot 67 64 -13 to lead the Hero Indian Open late in round two.

At 42 he's vying for a first win on The European Tour and did it in fine style firing nine birdies to take a 3 shot lead over Spain's Nacho Elvira 66 68 -10.

Pilkadaris' best European Tour result to date came at last year's Made in Denmark as he finished T2.

Bryan Angus


Se Ri Pak announces retirement as South Koreans lead JTBC Founders Cup

LPGA Tour JTBC Founders Cup leaderboard http://www.lpga.com/tournaments/jtbc-founders-cup/leaderboard

With nine South Koreans in the world's top 20 http://www.rolexrankings.com/en/rankings/ one of the toughest questions to answer as we head into the summer Olympics is who will be on their team?

On Thursday the woman who started the Asian Invasion, Se Ri Pak announced her retirement from the LPGA Tour following the completion of the 2016 season. With 25 victories including five major championships, Pak made the announcement at her first event of the season so she can do the Kobe Bryant type of farewell tour

Fittingly on a day of low scoring it was a pair of her fellow countrymen led by Mi Hyang Lee, who set the new 18-hole scoring record at the JTBC Founders Cup with a -10 62 who looked good for Annika Sorenstam's record 59 but showed why that number is so elusive as she let several glittering chances slip by.

Her 62 gives her a one stroke lead ahead of Sei Young Kim and American, Brittany Lang who both shot -9 63.  Giulia Sergas is next in 4th at -8.

Gerina Piller and Anna Nordqvist are T4 -7 65’s along with Minjee Lee, Dani Holmqvist, Pernilla Lindberg.

Canadians: Brooke Henderson T24 -4 68, Alena Sharp, Maude Aimee LeBlanc T104 +1 73.




Jason Day 66 good for 1 shot lead at Arnold Palmer Invitational

PGA Tour Arnold Palmer Invitational leaderboard http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/arnold-palmer-invitational-presented-by-mastercard/leaderboard.html

The players are all paying tribute to Arnie's grounds keeping staff who have Bay Hill in the best shape they have ever seen.

"The course is so pure, conditions are really good. Someone who is hitting it good is going to make a lot of putts because the greens are rolling pure. If you can get it inside 20 feet you’re feeling like you’re going to make everything" said Adam Scott who continued his fantastic form with -5,67 in the early morning, good enough to share the clubhouse lead for much of round one at this Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Ideal course, benign weather means low scoring and you have to go down to 82nd place to find any one over par as a result.

But it was another Aussie who stole the show on another beautiful day in north east Florida. Jason Day hasn't shown the kind of form yet this year that had him vying for Player of the Year honours in 2015 and he doesn't have a great record at Bay Hill, so after driving it out of bounds at the 9th it looked like it would be more of the same.

However his putter got hot and he played the last seven holes in -5 aided by an eagle 3 at the 16th and a string of 7 one putt greens, to finish the day at -6 66, atop a very crowded leaderboard.

Four players, Sweden's Henrik Stenson, Aussie Marc Leishman, Brendan Steele and Troy Merritt are with Scott at -5 67 and at -4 68 are 10 players including other international stars like Justin Rose, who made two eagles and Paul Casey from England, Francesco Molinari from Italy and Emiliano Grillo from the Argentine.

Rory McIlroy had 2 doubles and made 2 par saves after hitting into the ever present water for a +3 75 which could have been much worse. He is T107 and spent a late evening on the range, so let's see if he can make the cut come Friday evening.

Canadians :  Adam Hadwin T12 -3 69, David Hearn T50 -1 71.

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Adam Scott shares clubhouse lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational

PGA Tour Arnold Palmer Invitational leaderboard http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/arnold-palmer-invitational-presented-by-mastercard/leaderboard.html

Hands up, who is the defending champion at Bay Hill this week ??

A few years ago you'd be safe to say Tiger, he has won it 6 times !! The unlikely answer is Matt Every, who not only won in 2015 but 2014. On both occasions he had absolutely no form coming in and that is his story again this year.

However the course specialist is paired with Rory and Kevin Kisner in the featured afternoon pairing.

Five of the top 10 have shown up to pay respect to the ailing host, who has been out in his cart on the driving range, and holding court upstairs in his lodge office.

His speech is becoming slurred so all his interviews so far have been pre taped so the editors can clean them up, but as I said I'm sure he'll be there one way or another to greet the winner at the 18th come Sunday afternoon.

******* With play under way Adam Scott is off to another great start and he shares the clubhouse lead after an early -5 67. He of course has won the last 2 tournaments in Florida and is the hottest player heading into Augusta.

Adam Hadwin is 2 shots off the lead after his -3 69 and David Hearn is in the late wave.

Bryan Angus

American Daniel Im leads Hero Indian Open

European Tour Hero Indian Open leaderboard http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2016/tournamentid=2016020/leaderboard/index.html

30 year old American Daniel Im is playing on this tight Delhi GC for the first time and he believes showing respect to the course was vital to opening up a one-shot first round lead at the Hero Indian Open.
 
It only measures 6,983 yards but requires accuracy off the tee and a deft touch around the greens due to its narrow layout.
 
Im seemed to get to grips with the challenge, firing an unblemished -7 65 to lead by a single shot from Jorge Campillo, Nacho Elvira and Prom Meesawat.

He has had a promising start to the season since coming through the Qualifying School in November, which has seen him make four cuts from six and secure back-to-back top ten finishes in South Africa in January.

There is a group of five players in the group at -5 including Frenchman Raphaël Jacquelin, who recorded the 12th hole-in-one of the season at the par three fifth.

Indian duo SSP Chawrasia and Sanjay Kumar also recorded rounds of 67, along with Australian Terry Pilkadaris and South Korea's Jeunghun Wang.

Defending champion Anirban Lahiri delighted the sparse home crowds with 4 closing birdies in a row to shoot -4 68.

Bryan Angus
(notes europeantour.com)



Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Arnie is ailing, will miss honourary first drive at Masters

Back in August of 2014 when he was 84, Arnold Palmer had a pacemaker implanted to correct an abnormal heartbeat and the surgery at a Pittsburgh hospital was called a success. Shortly after that he fell and dislocated his shoulder which has restricted his ability to play

He is suffering like many of us from high blood pressure and at 87 is suffering the effects of old age!

However today after the announcement that he would miss the ceremonial first drive with Jack and Gary at this year's Masters, he did say he was looking forward to getting back on his treadmill.

Reports from media at Bay Hill for the Arnie Palmer Invitational this week say they expect to see him in a much more limited role, but you can bet he'll be waiting at the 18th as always to give that big warm AP handshake to the winner.

Bryan

Rainy Tuesday reflections...Brooke Henderson, DeLaet, Spring golf soon..

Having spent way to much time on the phone with Rogers getting my home phone and Internet back on line I couldn't pass on my thoughts on this weekend.. however all is well that ends well is the wise old saying and let's hope everything has been fixed on this rainy Tuesday morning in T.0

The LPGA Tour gets back underway in Phoenix at the JTBC Founders this week after their lengthy swing through Asia and Australia and our own Brooke Henderson starts play with a brand new #10 world ranking after 4 top ten finishes in 5 events, 3 on the LPGA and 1 on the LET.

She is 8th on the LPGA’s money list so far through 2016, earning just over US$207,000. Remember she has already been world #1...as an amateur in 2014.

It's great time for Brooke as she continues her young career as a pro. She is the Canadian Press Female Athlete of the Year, will represent Canada at the Olympics with Alena Sharp as she did last summer with Lori Kane at the Pan Ams, and last week she received a gold putter from Ping to celebrate her first pro win last August.

Now she is ranked #10 and we have all of her years ahead competing for the #1 spot with the likes of Lydia Ko, and Lexi Thompson, Stacy Lewis, Suzann Petterson and all the great Asian players to enjoy...

Graham DeLaet had a great week despite all the rhetoric I am hearing. He shot 66 68 on Friday and Saturday in the same conditions and with the same putter he used to shoot that disappointing 75 on Sunday. He missed a shortie for bogey 5 on the 2nd, then after a tremendous 3 iron through the wind to six feet on the par 3 4th he missed the left to righter and had to settle for par to get off to a frustrating start. The ensuing two bogeys at 6 and 7 to go out in 39 are what really cost him. He made all pars coming in with a lone bogey at 17.

He led the field at one point in ball striking, the putts that fell on Friday and Saturday just didn't on Sunday. That's golf...

As for many of my peers trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill on his pre round comment "I'm going to go out there and try and win this tournament"...c'mon guys, you should know better !

Spring Golf will come early to the Golden Horseshoe this year after the mild winter and for the first time in years my clubs aren't waking me up at night rattling away with their impatience !!!

My brother and I with our pals were always out at Winchester GC or whichever course was open, often with winter greens, through the muck and puddles. Is it just me or has the bloom gone off the rose for we hackers when it comes to finding time to play the great game.

With a very busy work schedule, days off are precious and responsibilities around the house/family take precedence and taking 8 hours to drive to the course, warm up, hit balls and putts, then take 5.5 hours, mostly sitting in a cart watching the guys in front search for their balls just isn't that much fun, and it's expensive.

Jack Nicklaus says he will build a 12 hole course if invited, and that would be one answer perhaps. I love the game as much as ever, love the fresh air, the day. the pals, the competition, the scenery... I'd just rather do it practising for a couple of hours, that's all I seem to have time for.

How about you ?

Bryan Angus



Sunday, March 13, 2016

DeLaet poised for first PGA Tour win at Valspar

PGA Tour Valspar Championship leaderboard http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/valspar-championship/leaderboard.html

Graham DeLaet, as I said yesterday just looks like he is auditioning for Duck Dynasty, or a remake of Grizzly Adams with that big messy beard he refuses to shave, continued his great play at Innisbrook, and his -3 68 was highlighted by a trememdous shot over water from the thick rough to within the leather on the par-5 14th for an eagle to get into the final pairing at -7 where he will play with Bill Haas who has fired 2 straight 67's to lead at -8.

After his round DeLaet had this to offer. “It’s tough to win out here and I know that, got a good opportunity tomorrow and I just need to play good golf and should have a chance.”

It will be a tough task as there are 6 players within four shots of the lead including Charley Hoffman (67), Ryan Moore (69) and from Gilligans Island Charles Howell III who had a 70.

Jordan Spieth opened with 76 is 6 shots behind T9 after a bogey-free 67

Haas had a tip from his dad Jay this week that has paid off and you will remember that he had the decisive point in the Presidents Cup in Korea last fall with Jay as captain and he has also won the Fed Ex Cup with it's little $10 bonus.

On the other hand the win for DeLaet would be his first and clearly the biggest moment of his professional career.... then maybe he'll shave that mess off his face to celebrate...

Bryan Angus

Scott Hend hangs on to win True Thailand Classic

European Tour True Thailand Classic final leaderboard http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2016/tournamentid=2016018/leaderboard/index.html

Australian pro golf continues to flourish as Scott Hend has become the fifth different Australian winner in 2016, and of course one of them was Adam Scott last week at the WGC Cadillac Championship. 

He had to survive a course record 63 -17 total from yet another Thai up and comer, Piya Swangarunporn to win the True Thailand Classic for his second European Tour title.

Hend in fact was six shots ahead of Swanagarunporn who is ranked 798th, but found himself trailing by a shot standing on the 14th tee. He made a birdie there then another at the 17th for a 68 -18 total and the win.

Belgium's Thomas Pieters fired a closing 68 to finish third on -15, a shot ahead of Peter Uihlein who closed with a 70. Pelle Edberg also finished with 70 to be 5th.

Hend should move into the top 80 in the Official World Golf Ranking this week.

Bryan Angus


Saturday, March 12, 2016

Scott Hend leads True Thailand Classic after 3 rounds

European Tour True Thailand Classic leaderboard http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2016/tournamentid=2016018/leaderboard/index.html

Aussie Scott Hend had the lead at this True Thailand Clasic after 54 holes last year and once again he will take a lead into the final round after battling the wind for a -2 70 at Black Mountain Golf Club.

He made two birdies in his final four holes to get to -14 under, two shots clear of
Peter Uihlein who had a 69 -12 total and continues his good form coming off 2 top 10 finishes. Both players are looking for their second European Tour titles.

Watch out for the lanky Belgian star, Thomas Pieters who had the best round of the day with his 66 to move to -11 along with Swede Pelle Edberg (73) who saved his day with a birdie-birdie finish to stay in the hunt.

Bryan Angus



DeLaet just one off the lead at Valspar

PGA Tour Valspar Championship leaderboard http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/valspar-championship/leaderboard.html

Looking like a character out of Duck Dynasty, Graham DeLaet posted 5 birdies, an eagle mixed in with 2 bogeys and is T3 72 66 -4 going into this weekend at the Valspar Championship.

The leaders at -5-under 137 are two of the games good guys, Steve Stricker who also shot 66 and the ever chatty Will MacKenzie who shot 67 to sit one shot ahead of DeLaet (66), Bill Haas (67)  and Daniel Berger (68).

Stricker, who is semi-retired at 49 and is slowly regaining his fitness after back surgery in 2014, holed out from the 10th fairway for an eagle, but still looks solid with the putter that has been the trademark of his game for so long.

MacKenzie on the other hand, says he may be the worst putter on tour, but his change to the claw grip has given him a chance to at least be competitive.

The headliner Jordan Spieth opened with 76, then hooked his opening drive into an unplayable lie on Friday for a bogey six, however he gathered himself and made it into the weekend with a 68 for a +2 144 to make the cut by one shot. He holed out 3 times from off the green including a chip in on the 15th for a birdie.

The leaderboard is crowded at the top.  There is a large group at -3 that included Justin Thomas (67) Scott Brown (69) and Charles Howell III (72).

Keegan Bradley was leading after round one with a 67, today he is at home after a 79 on Friday. Also missing the cut that fell at +3 are the other Canadians, David Hearn 71 75, Mike Weir 74 73, Adam Hadwin 79 69,  Austin Connelly 74 79, Nick Taylor 74 74 

With only 8 strokes between 20 players we are heading for a shootout this weekend.

Bryan Angus

Friday, March 11, 2016

Pelle Edberg, Scott Hend lead True Thailand Classic after 2 rounds

European Tour True Thailand Classic leaderboard http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2016/tournamentid=2016018/leaderboard/index.html

Sweden's Pelle Edberg spent much of his winter practising at this Black Mountain GC which has Swedish ownership, so he has what they call an affiliation here. His local knowledge is paying off as he seeks a first European Tour win at the 200th attempt

This morning he kept up his birdie barrage to share the lead of the True Thailand Classic going into the weekend.

Yesterday I reported he made made nine birdies for a -7 65 and he made seven more today for -5 67 to get to -12 under along with Aussie Scott Hend who equalled the low round of the day with his -8 64.
 
They are one shot clear of Thailand's Panuphol Pittayarat who had a splendid -7 65 and two ahead of American David Lipsky (68), South African Shaun Norris (68) and Scot Simon Yates (68) who lives locally in Hua Hin so knows the course well.

Bryan Angus



Innisbrook plays tough with new greens, gusting winds at the Valspar Championship

PGA Tour Valspar Championship leaderboard http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/valspar-championship/leaderboard.html

The Copperhead course at this Innisbrook Resort is tight and tough without the wind. Throw in a gusty breeze blowing at 25mph for most of the day and new, slow and bumpy greens and you know scoring will be at a premium.

For the early wave the wind was the freshest and as a result only four out of 72 players were in the 60's on this par 71 layout. Only 24 are under par, poor Aussie Steven Bowditch is in a group of five who failed to break 80. He also managed to do that in his last 4 rounds at Doral.

The best of the bunch at the end of play are Charles Howell who fashioned a bogey free -4 67 to share the lead with Keegan Bradley and Ken Duke.

Howell was in the second last group in the calmest conditions of the day. For 20 years I volunteered at the Canadian Open and I remember picking him up the year he turned pro in 2000 so he was new on tour, I asked who he was and from the back of the van he said, "Charles Howell the third and one day I'm going to win the Masters sir"..

Well 16 years later this ultimate grinder has won twice, the Nissan in 2002 and the Michelob at Kingsmill in 2007 but the closest he's been to the Masters is T13. He seems to me to be one of many who make up the supporting cast of the PGA Tour, always doing well enough to keep his card or better, representing his sponsors professionally, but rarely in the spotlight.

He started playing golf when he was 7 in Augusta, won 5 tournaments by the time he was 11 and was offered a scholarship to Oklahoma State while a prodigy of David Leadbetter.

Chesson Hadley shot -3 68 while Chez Reavie continued his good form for a blemish free -2 69 in a group with Charley Hoffman and Greg Yates. Martin Kaymer and Henrik Stenson are big names in at -1 70 on a day where par was a good score.

As I mentioned yesterday Jordan Spieth made 5 bogey's in his first 7 holes and he never recovered. He made one lone birdie, and settled down on his back nine with a succession of pars, and opened the defence of  his championship with a 76 so looks like he will be missing the cut for the second time in three tournaments as more of the same conditions are in store for today.
 
Afterwords he summed it up like this. “I got off to a poor start and I was behind the eight ball with gusty winds on a tough golf course and these new greens are the slowest I've played on tour, but everyone has to play them so that's no excuse"  
 
Canadians.. David Hearn went out in 32 but back in 39 in the worst of the wind for E 71. Graham DeLaet is at +1 72 while 3 of the others, Mike Weir, Austin Connelly and Nick Taylor shot +3 74 while Adam Hadwin had a tough day at +8 79
 
Bryan 
 
 

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Peter Uihlein leads the TrueThailand Classic

European Tour True Thailand Classic leaderboard http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2016/tournamentid=2016018/leaderboard/index.html

Peter Uihlein is a very wealthy young man without even playing professional golf. His father Wally Uihlein is the chairman and CEO of the Acushnet Company, a golf equipment manufacturer which comprises Titleist and other brands.
 
Peter showed some golfing promise as a young boy growing up in New Bedford Massachusetts so when he was 13 Wally moved the family Florida so Peter could attend the David Leadbetter Golf Academy.
 
The results were all they could expect, in fact Peter was named Player of the Year by the AJGA in 2005 and again in 2007, becoming the fifth boy in the award's history to win more than once, joining a list that includes Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods'
 
Overnight here, he fired his best round of the season, a -8 64 with nine birdies and a single bogey to take a one-shot lead at this True Thailand Classic. That equalled the course record set by Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey last year.
 
He took last week off in Phuket after making the flight to Thailand from Australia and the rest did the trick as he leads Sweden's Pelle Edberg (65) by a shot. Edberg is a member at this Black Mountain GC and he was out in 30 strokes but made a couple of late bogey's coming in.
 
Scott Jamieson is at -6 while Thailand's  Pariya Junhasavasdikul and Prayad Marksaeng are at -5 alongside the English pair of Gary Boyd and Robert Dinwiddie, Welshman Rhys Davies, Taiwan's Hsieh Chi-hsien, American David Lipsky, South African Shaun Norris and Scotsman Simon Yates

Bryan Angus
(notes from europeantour)







Spieth shoots 76 at the Valspar Championship

PGA Tour Valspar Championship leaderboard http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/valspar-championship/leaderboard.html

Play is well under way this morning at the famous Innisbrook Resort on the Copperhead course with it's tight tree lined fairways. Jordan Spieth is back to defend his championship and he stumbled out of the gate with 2 bogey's on his first two holes, 10 and 11 and went on to make 5 bogey's in 7 holes on his way to a +5 76

David Hearn got off to a great start at -3 playing the back nine first in 32, but slipped to a 39 coming in to finish E 71. Other Canadians in the field are Graham DeLaet who has opened with +1 72, Mike Weir, Austin Connelly, Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor.

The clubhouse leaders from the early wave are Keegan Bradley at -4 67 along with evergreen Ken Duke.

For those who haven't been there, Innisbrook is in Palm Harbour near Tampa and it's a pretty ritzy full service facility with four courses. Jason Dufner showed up on Tuesday at nearby Dunedin to take batting practice with the Blue Jays. He is pals with Josh Donaldson, they both went to Auburn. http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2016/03/golfer_jason_dufner_takes_batt.html?%%STOP%%ath=%%eval%20lower%20$md5_email%%

Previous champions at Innisbrook include John Huston, Vijay Singh and Carl Pettersson, Retief Goosen, Jim Furyk, Gary Woodland and Kevin Streelman. Previously, Innisbrook was host to 10 JC Penney Classic tournaments that featured mixed teams of PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour professionals.

News.. Valspar ( the paint people) have announced they are extending sponsorship through 2020

Bryan Angus

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Bob Weeks, Lorie Kane, Warren Sye go into Canadian Golf Hall of Fame

Wonderful but not surprising news today that my pal and long time broadcast partner Bob Weeks (Weeksy) continues to have golfing honours bestowed upon him, as he will be inducted along with many of his hero's in the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame along with Lorie Kane and Warren Sye later this summer.

Weeksy and I along with first Bob Durant then Scott Metcalfe were the team that broadcast Canada's premier radio golf show we called Fairways, which I joined in 1993 back when the Fan590 was called CJCL1430 (CKFH) and was located on Holly Street at Yonge and Eglinton.

We met every Saturday morning at 6am, the show ran from 7-8am for nearly 20 years.

Bob as much as anyone has always been a staunch supporter of Canadian golf and I know in his own quiet way is deeply proud of this honour. Well done mate !!

Through him I came to know Lorie and Warren and their exploits speak for themselves.

Here is the release from Golf Canada.

Bryan Angus

OAKVILLE, Ont. – The Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum is proud to announce that Canadian LPGA Tour legend Lorie Kane of Charlottetown, two-time Canadian Men’s Amateur champion Warren Sye of London, Ont., and renowned golf journalist Bob Weeks, of Toronto, Ont., have been elected as 2016 inductees into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.

Kane and Sye are being inducted under the player category, while Weeks will be inducted as a builder. With their inductions, the trio will become the 75th, 76th and 77th honoured members of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.

"For over 40 years, the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame has recognized the accomplishments of outstanding individuals and their tremendous impact on the game of golf in Canada," said Sandra Post, Chair of the Hall of Fame's Selection Committee. "Each member of our 2016 class of inductees has demonstrated passion, dedication and excellence in shaping the place of golf within the Canadian sporting landscape. It is with great pride that we welcome them to stand alongside the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame's honoured members."

LORIE KANE

Lorie Kane started playing the game of golf at the age of five. As her interest and talent grew, she came under the tutelage of Canadian Golf Hall of Fame honoured member Jack McLaughlin, whom she still credits as an inspiration and major influence in her career.

Provincially, she won the P.E.I. Junior Girls Championship twice and was the P.E.I. Women’s Amateur Champion nine times between 1983 and 1992. Her extraordinary amateur career saw her represent Canada on several occasions, including as a member of the Canadian Commonwealth Team and the Canadian World Amateur Team, as well as taking part in the World Cup. In 2015, Kane represented Canada in the first-ever golf competition at the Pan Am Games.

Kane turned professional in 1993 and three years later earned exempt status on the LPGA Tour. Over the next several years, she accumulated 34 Top-10 finishes, nine of which were runner-up results. In 2000, Kane captured her first professional win at the Michelob Light Classic in St. Louis and also won three more times on the LPGA Tour that same year. Nationally, she captured the Canadian PGA Women’s Championship from 1996-1999 and again in 2001.

Throughout her career, Kane established herself as one of the most popular LPGA Tour players with players and spectators. Her accomplishments garnered her the Heather Farr Player Award in 1998 and the Mousie Powell Award in 2000. In 2006, Kane was presented with the Order of Canada.

She is known for her generosity and dedication to charitable organizations, having been the Kidsport P.E.I. official spokesperson since its inception in 1997 and currently serves as the ambassador for the CP Has Heart charity campaign.

With her induction, Kane becomes the first native of P.E.I. to be inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.

WARREN SYE

Warren Sye’s outstanding amateur career took off in 1986 when he represented Canada at the World Amateur Team Championship; that year, Canada captured the World Amateur title and won the Canadian Sport Council (formerly known as the Sports Federation of Canada) “Sport Team of the Year” award. Sye went on to represent Canada three more times at the World Amateur Championship.

Sye excelled provincially, capturing the Ontario Amateur Championship five times between 1988 and 1996. He also claimed the Ontario Champion of Champions title in 1983 and again in 1991.

His success nationally includes a pair of victories at the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship (1990 and 1994). During that time, he was also a member of four Willingdon Cup teams representing Ontario. He captured the Ontario Senior Championship title in 2012.

His extraordinary accomplishments as an amateur golfer were recognized by SCOREGolf Magazine, winning their “Male Athlete of the Year” award in 1985, 1990, 1994 and 1996. In 2003, Warren Sye was inducted into the Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame and the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame.

BOB WEEKS

Bob Weeks is a golf analyst and senior reporter for TSN, where he provides coverage of the sport from across the globe. During his time as a journalist, he has covered more than 60 major golf championships, as well as hundreds of top Canadian and international championships.

Weeks began his career in golf media with SCOREGolf in 1987 and rose to the position of editorial director in 2012, overseeing all content at the media company. He hosted SCOREGolf TV for 16 years and spent 20 years as the voice of the SCOREGolf Show – a daily 90-second golf radio program heard in more than 70 markets across the country.

In 2009, he was recognized on the National Post’s list of the most influential people in Canadian golf and ranked sixth overall. An award-winning writer, Weeks has written for GOLF Magazine, Golf Digest, Golfweek, the Globe and Mail, Maclean’s, as well as countless other publications throughout the world.

Weeks, who began playing golf at the age of 11 in P.E.I., has been a proud member of Weston Golf and Country Club in Toronto for more than 40 years.

He is a member of the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame and a winner of the Golf Journalists Association of Canada’s Dick Grimm Award. In 2015, Weeks was presented with a Distinguished Service Award by Golf Canada for outstanding contributions to the game. In addition to golf, Weeks is a respected curling journalist who in 2016 will also be inducted to the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame.

Monday, March 7, 2016

Adam Scott survives a famous Masters moment to win WGC Cadillac Championship

WGC Cadillac Championship final leaderboard http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/cadillac-championship/leaderboard.html

Like any good Agatha Christie murder mystery you don't know who dunnit' until the last minute.

With all the twists and turns that took place on the Blue Monster, living up to it's name in a blustery wind, they should make a movie about it.

In this case the hero, not the villain turned out to be the hottest player in the game right now, Adam Scott who overcame two early bogey's and a Freddie Couples Miracle at Amen corner break on the 18th to shoot 69 -12 for a one shot win over Bubba Watson, and two over Rory McIlroy and Danny Willett.

First Rory, who started the day with 3 shots over the field in his Nike's, but with the old adage "the toughest golf course in the world is the one between your ears" rearing it's head again, he went from making no bogey's on Saturday to making nearly no birdies on Sunday. Bogey's at 7 and 9, out in 38 opened the door and meant the game was on, An eventual lone birdie at the 16th was too little too late. His 74 will sting for a while, he finishes T3 -10.

Bubba ends up second again, in fact he has been second or third at Doral four times in the last five years. In dramatic style, and yet another twist, he sunk a 60 foot putt to eagle the 18th and get into the clubhouse with a share of the lead at -11.

Danny Willett had a chance to equal Bubba but found the water with his drive at the 18th to make bogey, and shoot 69, -10 T3, another fine week on a huge stage for this English star.

Now for Adam, who remember had double bogey's at the 3rd and 5th and those who tuned out early thought there goes his chances, but afterward he talked about how important his ensuing birdie on the 6th then the 8th were to minimize the damage and get him out in +1 37.

Before the round began he said the key to his day would be to take advantage of the par 5's, and he birdied all four of them, including the 10th and 12th as part of his 4 birdies in 5 holes that in hindsight won this event.

Not without some wild scrambling though. He saved par on the par-4 16th with a clutch 8 footer, drove into a fairway bunker but saved par on 17, then there was his Miracle at Amen Corner moment at the 18th..

In 1992 Freddie Couples won the Masters, but not without the Miracle at Amen Corner when his tee shot at the 155 yard 12th landed halfway up the bank, eight feet from the front of the green, and started to roll back down the steep slope into Rae's Creek like thousands before, but for some reason it stopped and clung to the bank.

Fast forward to Scott with a one shot lead playing the final hole. He pushes his drive right into thin rough with a palm tree partially blocking a clear shot to the green.

He tried to hit a fade around the tree, remember there is water all the way down the left. Because of the rough he couldn't spin the ball enough to cut it and it headed straight for the water, bounced a couple of times but somehow like Freddie's stopped  on a steep slope inside the red hazard line before it got wet.

Afterwards a jubilant Scott stated the obvious “I was so lucky for it to stay up inside the hazard line, when you’re that lucky, you better get them up and down.”
 
He did in fact chip that ball to within 6 feet, and under the most intense pressure holed the putt that put the lid on the championship.
 
Short shotsGM's sponsorship of the Cadillac Classic is now over so the question becomes who if anyone will step up as the title sponsor next year.
 
*Dave Clark (not the band) has provided Adam Scott with a problem. He has now won 2 championships in a row on the bag for the big Aussie with the Masters firmly on his horizon. The problem if you can call it that, is Steve Williams will be Scott's caddie at all the majors this year.
 
* Victor Dubuisson has been struggling to return to the form he displayed 2 years ago and yesterday he lost it for a while in front of millions when early in the round he picked his ball out of the hole and threw it angrily into the water, then attacked his bag with his putter repeatedly, before giving it a kick for good measure. He then proceeded to hit himself with a club as he walked down the next fairway.
 
Looking overweight and out of sorts, the French star has battled anger problems in the past, and after a change of equipment this season he has yet to find his game. He shot 72 on Sunday following 80 on Saturday to T52.
 
Bryan Angus


Sunday, March 6, 2016

It's Rory's to lose at the WGC Cadillac Championship

WGC Cadillac Championship leaderboard http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/cadillac-championship/leaderboard.html

“I think it’s Rory’s to lose, really,” said Danny Willett, who shot 72 on Saturday to get to -7 along with several other stars who are five shots off the pace.

Using his new left hand low putting grip to great effect McIlroy had just finished posting an air tight, bogey free -4 68 to post a total of -12, which is 3 shots clear of the field going into Sunday in Miami.

He took just 27 putts on Saturday and 23 on Friday and that includes 20 one-putts, so I'd say the change has made all the difference from the guy who missed the cut last week.

His last bogey was at the 2nd hole on Friday, it's been all pars and birdies since, as Adam Scott, who slipped to a 73, T2 at -9 said after his round " I’ve seen Rory play some great golf,”I think he’s going to be very satisfied with that round. Looked like he was under total control.”

Also at -9 is Dustin Johnson who missed a shortie for par at the final hole for a -1 71 and remember this big guy was 5 behind starting the final round last year and he won, and that's the way he is. Grinding to a 72 on Thursday, making it all look easy with 64 on Friday then back to 71 yesterday. The question is what will it be on Sunday?

Along with Danny Willett at -7 are Bubba Watson (71) and the resurgent Phil Mickelson (70) all T4.

Jordan Spieth is not in the mix this week, he shot 73 and sits at -2 T17.

With water everywhere on this Blue Monster one loose shot can lead to disaster, but that applies to the entire field, so I agree with Danny Willett who said  “We’re going to have to go out there and play clever and play aggressive when we can, and hopefully we can knock a few birdies off and post a good number.”

Still with a 3 shot lead and watching what everyone in front of him is doing it really is Rory's to lose today.

Bryan Angus

Brooke Henderson finishes T9 at HSBC Women's Champions in Singapore

LPGA Tour HSBC Women's Champions final leaderboard
http://www.lpga.com/tournaments/hsbc-womens-champions/results

In yesterday's post I mentioned Brooke Henderson who was T5, had a daunting task to win today with a trio of South Koreans ahead of her.

Well one of those South Koreans, Ha Na Jang went out overnight here and shot a tournament low 65 to go with her 66 on Saturday and a grand total of -19 for a well deserved 4 shot win over Thai star Pornanong Phatlum (68) -15.

Henderson posted a solid -1 71 for a -9 total with 13 pars, 3 birdies and 2 bogey's, good to finish T9 to win $30,779. Incidently she was tied with the likes of Suzann Petterson and Stacy Lewis, pretty heady company for an 18 year old from Smith's Falls and it's her 3rd top 10 in a row.

It is the second win in 4 starts for the diminutive Jang, heck the trophy was almost as tall as she is, and she finished  with a flourish, eagling the final hole before celebrating with a little dance inspired by Beyoncé.

Bryan Angus

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Bowditch and Broberg set to earn $44,000 each to finish last at WGC Cadillac Championship

WGC Cadillac Championship leaderboard http://espn.go.com/golf/leaderboard?tour=pga

Now Steven Bowditch from Australia and Kristoffer Broberg from Sweden are great golfers, both have qualified with their fine play for this weeks WGC Cadillac Championship.

It's a big deal with a $9.5m purse and all the prestige that goes with it.

Bowditch who has long had a battle with severe depression and is a spokesman for beyondblue, an Australian non-profit organisation promoting awareness of depression and related mental disorders has 2 PGA Tour wins the last in May 2015 at the Byron Nelson. His best finish this wrap around season was T10 at the Hyundai in Hawaii back in January and he is ranked 78th in the world.

Broberg is a 29 year old who plays on the European Tour who has 9 pro wins, his biggest was the BMW Masters last November when he beat Patrick Reed in a playoff. He is ranked 68th.

They are not having a good week.

Bowditch 81 80 80 +25 and counting..Broberg 83 73 80 +20...

An embarrassing combined +45 after 54 holes will go on their resume's..

Here's the good news..they will each get paid in the vicinity of $44,000 for finishing last...

Bryan Angus

Adam Scott leads a star studded leaderboard into a breezy Saturday in Miami

WGC Cadillac Championship leaderboard http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/cadillac-championship/leaderboard.html

Overall, it was a lot of good stuff, so I’m glad there was enough to keep me up on top and kind of setting the pace after halfway.”
 
That good stuff as Adam Scott calls it included eight birdies, three of them in a row from 15-17 on his way to a terrific -6 66 for a 2 shot lead, -10 at this WGC Cadillac Championship over Rory McIlroy and defending champion Dustin Johnson.
 
When I am asked to pick winners, in form players are always one of the criteria, obviously this modest, ridiculously handsome Aussie is atop that list after his win over Sergio Garcia and a world class field last weekend at the Honda Classic.
 
In his post round interview a very calm Scott addressed that issue. “I’m probably a little more relaxed this week leading going into the weekend than if I hadn’t won last week. A 36-hole lead doesn’t mean that much, unless it’s by about 10. I could tee off  on Saturday and not be leading. I’m going to have to play a good couple of days and try to keep moving in the right direction while the conditions are allowing us to.”
 
The normal breezy conditions that usually help make the Blue Monster a monster haven't shown up yet so scoring is lower than usual so far, for example there have been 21 rounds in the 60's so far this year while there were only 25 in total when Dustin Johnson won in 2015.
 
However, the all important weather forecast for today calls for a cloudy day with showers and the breeze getting up a bit,15 km/hr from the east http://www.theweathernetwork.com/us/weather/florida/Miami

Speaking of the defending champion, man they call DJ was at his languid best on Friday, making it look so easy with a superb -8 64 T2 for the best round of the day
 
As for the Big 3, Rory McIlroy is the only one living up to all the media hype after he used just 23 putts to get right back into contention with a -7 65, T2 with DJ.

The Englishman I've been telling you about, Danny Willett (66) is quietly in fourth at -7
 
Jason Day has yet to capture his form from last summer and fall, in fact he struggled to a +2 74, while Jordan Spieth is also no where near his best... yet,  T12 69,72 -3.

His driving accuracy at 50% is nearly 6 points below the field's average for the week, but with his short game intact he is only 7 shots back of the lead, and I won't be surprised to see him make a big move today.
 
Phil Mickelson was the story early again yesterday, leading the field by 3 shots at -9, driving the ball superbly, but in typical Mickelson fashion the wheels came off suddenly and spectacularly.
 
At the 13th, a 190 yard par 3, he hit the green with his tee shot but he three putted from 50 feet for a bogey then two holes later on the 15th which is just a little par 3,140 yarder he hit his wedge into the water and emerged on the 16th tee after the resulting double bogey 5 put him right back in the pack. He shot 72 and is at -5 as is Paul Casey after a -4 68.
 
Charlie Hoffman (68 70) is at -6 along with Bubba who without really trying has shot 69 69 and you just never know with this guy, he could well be in the lead when they start pouring the martini's this evening.
 
So the messy weather day in store should just add to the drama of what promises to be a very exciting moving day in Miami.

Bryan Angus