Brooke Henderson T15, chasing the lead at the Cambia Portland Classic..

LPGA Cambia Portland Classic leaderboard  https://www.lpga.com/leaderboard

Aussie Hannah Green has gone out and shot 64 63 -17 after just two rounds out at the Cambia Portland Classic, and she leads the field by 5 shots.

The good news for the rest of the field including Brooke Henderson is there are two rounds left, and I have this gut feeling that Hannah, who won the KPMG Women's PGA in June, won't have that lead come Sunday evening.

Brooke has won here twice (2015,2016), and has opened with very respectable rounds of 67 68 -9 T15, and there are 13 players between her and Green. You'd think the young Aussie has to come back to the field, and you'd also think Brooke amongst others hasn't posted their lowest rounds of the week, yet.

Green's 63 was a career-low round. "I just don't want to get too ahead of myself. Obviously this is quite new to me, shooting such low scores back-to-back," Green said. "I want to make sure I continue to do the same things and don't get too disappointed if I don't back it up with another solid round. Going to keep the same game plan.

There are low scores available on this Columbia Edgewater CC. For example Sei Young Kim is second after a record-setting 61. She had 11 birdies to put her at -12.

Brooke is off today at 1.05pm with Italian Giulia Molinari who is the #1 golfer in Italy and is not related to Francesco ! Alena Sharp is T25 at -7 and she is off at 11.45 with Lydia Ko.

Bryan Angus

Rory was at his best, winning the Tour Championship and the Fed Ex Cup

Tour Championship final scoreboard https://www.pgatour.com/competition/2019/tour-championship/leaderboard.html

When Rory McIlroy is at his best he is unbeatable. Last week and on Sunday in particular he was just that, eventually topping the best field the world has to offer by 4 clear shots after a comprehensive -4 66 on a tough East Lake course in Atlanta.

His talent is so huge that he often seems to disappoint, for example when he failed to compete in the final group at the World Golf Championship with Koepka, and as he did with Woods the year before at East Lake, however you must consider he has 3 wins this year and he had 14 finishes in the top 10 out of 19 starts, the highest of his career.

“I thought a lot about that, I thought about the final group with Tiger last year, the final group with Brooks in Memphis a few weeks ago, and I really wanted to go out there and play well and really take it to him, and I did that.”

Koepka who slipped out of contention when he lost his drive at the 7th and made a double, and ended T3 with Justin Thomas. Still he will win the Player of the Year award with 3 wins including the PGA Championship and the #1 world ranking. This was his tribute to Rory.

“He was impressive to watch. He put it in the fairway a lot, hit a lot of greens. And even his short game, the up-and-down he made on 11, that was pretty tasty right there. And then the way he finished it off was very impressive. Hats off to him.”

If you can't make the rent this month, Rory can help. He gets the $15m bonus, and $1.8m prize money just to keep the wolf at bay over the winter.

“I’m going to enjoy this one tonight,” he said, and for many, many years to come I might add.

Corey Connors capped his career year, T26,  68 71 71 74 +3 and now waits to see if captain Ernie Els makes him a Presidents Cup pick for his International team. Mike Weir, an assistant captain, will be lobbying hard for him.

Bryan Angus

Solid title defence for Henderson at CP Women's Open

CP Women's Open final leaderboard https://www.lpga.com/leaderboard

With rounds of 66 69 65 69 -19 Brooke Henderson did more than enough to win the CP Women's Open for the second straight year and it took a 65 64 weekend from this year's best player Jin Young Ko to beat her with a -26 aggragate. That is a tournament record, she didn't make a bogey all week, in fact hasn't made one in 106 holes !

Ko won for the 4th time this season including 2 majors and is a shoe in for Player of the Year. Danish Star Nicole Broch Larsen finished 2nd, 66,66,66,69 -21.

Brooke was in contention all sunny weekend long, thrilling all the fans who made the trek up the 404 to stunning Magna GC. It's well worth mentioning another $2.2m was raised again for the CP charity "CPHASHEART". They have now raised nearly $8.5m

So, T3 is nothing for Brooke to be ashamed of, as she said afterwards " I needed to shoot 59 or something to beat her, she played so well"

Anne-Catherine Tanguay ended up T44, 66 74 71 71 -6. All the other Canadians missed the cut. Of the 73 players who made the cut, only 3 finished over par. Perfect weather, wide fairways, large greens made ideal scoring conditions for these top LPGA players.

For those asking why we didn't see more of Brooke, the reason is TSN has to take the Golf Channels feed, they own the TV rights and tend to focus on the leader. Also the LPGA sent the field out in three's off split tees early, to avoid clashing with the Tour Championship finale coverage.

Bryan Angus

Brooke Henderson T3 at CP Women's Open.. live scoring

LPGA CP Women's Open leaderboard https://www.lpga.com/tournaments/cp-womens-open/leaderboard

Defending champion Brooke Henderson shot a 3-under-par 69 Friday and heads into the weekend tied for third at the CP Women’s Open at Magna Golf Club.

Henderson, who is looking for her third LPGA Tour win of 2019, trails Nicole Broch Larsen (66,66) by just three shots, who leads at 12-under through two rounds. Larsen has a one-shot lead over world No. 1 Jin Young Ko. Ko already has three victories this season.

Henderson made two birdies on her first nine holes Friday and added another on the back-nine. She didn’t have as clean a day off the tee as Thursday when she shot a 6-under 66 – hitting only eight of 14 fairways.

Winds at Magna Golf Club picked up Friday, but Henderson escaped unscathed with a bogey-free second-round. “No bogeys is always great, so that’s a good feeling. I feel like I played pretty solid. Unfortunately, I didn’t get some of those closer looks for birdie. But, I still feel like I hit a lot of greens and my putting was good enough.”

Henderson was one of two Canadians to make the cut, as AC Tanguay finished at (66,74) 4-under and is T-25 heading into the weekend. After a tough stretch to open her round Friday when she went bogey-double-double on holes 4 thru 6, Tanguay managed to right the ship.

Broch Larsen, of Denmark, was the 2015 Ladies European Tour Player of the Year. She hasn’t yet won on the LPGA Tour, but did win the 2016 Symetra Tour Championship to earn her LPGA Tour card for 2017.

The cut fell at 1-under with 71 players finding the weekend.

Henderson, Tanguay give Canadian fans what they want

LPGA CP Women's Open leaderboard https://www.lpga.com/tournaments/cp-womens-open/leaderboard

With a pair of -6 66's Brooke Henderson and Anne- Catherine Tanguay sat atop the CP Women's Open for most of a gorgeous sunny opening day on the Magna GC near Aurora.

Only a late course record -7 65 by American Annie Park pushed them T2.

Brooke was out early just after 8am and posted 3 early birdies to " settle her nerves " and went on to post 7 birdies with just 1 bogey edand she gave credit to a " hot putter" for her great start in defense of her title.

" I just tried to hit good drives and make good approaches then I made some really good putts for me "

Brooke is out at 1.14pm and Anne at 7.37am today.

Fifteen Canadians and 96 of the top 100 money winners on the LPGA Tour this year are in the field at the US$2.25-million tournament. The winner will earn $337,500.
The 156-player list will be trimmed to low 70s and ties after today's second round. Favourable weather conditions were expected through the weekend.

Check out all the other Canadian scores on the live scoring link above.

Bryan Angus

Expect record scoring at Magna for CP Women's Open.. live scoreboard

LPGA CP Women's Open live scoreboard https://www.lpga.com/tournaments/cp-womens-open/leaderboard

Brooke Henderson is back to defend her CP Women's Open and let's be fair and honest, it will be a lot to ask our little Canadian superstar to accomplish what happened last year in Regina.

Magna GC has wide fairways, large sloping greens and the weather will be ideal for scoring. Brooke enlisted the services of the club pro on Monday and Tuesday for some insight on what will be a shot makers week. Where to land those approach shots will be the difference maker come Sunday afternoon.

If you've never seen where Magna owner, Frank Stronach and his family lives up the woods outside Stouffeville it really is an eye opener. Their home is like visiting British nobility only in this case Austrian..and his golf course at first glance with its pure white fluffy bunkers and lush dark green grass looks like Augusta right down to the kids who caddie in their white overalls and green hats.

I expect this week to feature low scoring and a lot of love for the 15 Canadians including 12 year old amateur Michelle Liu.



Bryan Angus

Brooke set for CP Canadian Womens Open at Magna GC...tee times..

LPGA CP Canadian Women's Open https://www.lpga.com/tournaments/cp-womens-open/leaderboard

Golf Canada in partnership with Canadian Pacific (CP) produces the field of 156 competitors who will vie for the US$2.25 million purse with the champion taking home $337,500.
 Announced today the full field of competitors set to challenge for the 2019 CP Women’s Open taking place August 19-25 at Magna Golf Club in Aurora, Ont.

Defending champion Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., will battle one of the strongest fields on the LPGA Tour including 96 of the top 100 players on the 2019 LPGA Tour List and 17 in-year tournament winners. Henderson, currently ranked sixth on the LPGA Tour Money List and eighth on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, has two LPGA Tour wins on the season and her nine career LPGA Tour victories are the most ever by a Canadian on the LPGA or PGA Tour. Her victory in 2018 at The Wascana Country Club in Regina, Sask. made her the first Canadian since Jocelyne Bourassa 45 years prior to win the National Women’s Open.

A stellar field of international stars are lined up to challenge Henderson at Magna including nine of the top 10 players on the LPGA Money List – Jin Young Ko (No. 1), Jeongeun Lee6 (No. 2), Sung Hyun Park (No. 3), Lexi Thompson (No. 4), Minjee Lee (No. 5), Sei Young Kim (No. 7), Ariya Jutanugarn (No. 8) and Nelly Korda (No. 9).

The course is as green as Augusta with pure white sand in the soft bunkers..Perfect weather with wide fairways and big greens equals low scoring..

Henderson also headlines a group of nine past champions coming to Aurora including three-time winner Lydia Ko (2012, 2013, 2015) in search of her record fourth title. Other past champions confirmed include Sung Hyun Park (2017), Ariya Jutanugarn (2016), So Yeon Ryu (2014), Suzann Pettersen (2009), Katherine Kirk (2008), Cristie Kerr (2006) and Juli Inkster (1984).

The field of 156 competitors will vie for the US$2.25 million purse with the champion taking home $337,500.

Bryan Angus




Bryan Angus

Statement from European Tour CEO Keith Pelley re "slow play" initiatives..

" Many issues have affected the game of golf since I became Chief Executive of the European Tour, but none have been as recurrent as the topic of slow play.

It is the discussion that dominates dinner tables at tournaments and it is one of the main sources of frustration at all levels of the game. Rightly so, I might add.

While the intensity of these conversations occasionally diminishes, it is never long before it reignites, and I watched with interest the recent social media debate which flared up in the United States.

For us, the issue came to a head earlier this year when one of our senior players, Edoardo Molinari, posted a list of players on Twitter who had received bad times and fines up to that point during the 2019 season in a bid to ‘speed things up’.

I spoke to Edoardo shortly afterwards, and while I didn’t necessarily agree with his chosen method, he was entirely right to confront the problem and it prompted a discussion at the next tournament committee meeting, held at the Betfred British Masters in May.

Thankfully, our Tournament Committee shared Edoardo’s belief that enough was enough, and they were prepared to make some hard decisions, accepting the need to be more punitive.

At that meeting we also determined there is a key fundamental difference between slow play and slow players – this is a key point to remember. While we would all like to reduce overall round times, it was recognised that this can be impacted by several factors such as weather conditions and course set up, while for full field events, the sheer number of players on the course at the same time will always limit the pace of play.

Slow players, on the other hand, have become increasingly prevalent and problematic in our game in recent years, to the extent that we risk fans, both core and casual, switching off if we don’t do something about it.

The European Tour has been at the forefront of the assault on slow play for the last four years. We have the most aggressive monitoring policy in our sport, and we have issued shot penalties, but the past four months showed us finally that the time had arrived when players were willing to take a tough stance and we applauded that.

Slow play became a critical issue because our players wanted it to be.  That moment was the door opening and the mandate we were given at May’s tournament committee meeting empowered our operations and rules team to present stronger, more robust recommendations

We took a formal proposal back to the next Tournament Committee meeting at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open last month and following some fine tuning over the past six weeks, we yesterday publicly announced a four-point plan focusing on regulation, education, innovation and field size reduction where appropriate.

This concrete strategy is more targeted towards slow players and more penal, including an immediate one shot penalty for two bad times in a round and increased fines for players consistently ‘on the clock’. I’m confident it will have a meaningful impact on combating slow play AND slow players, which is a more complex task that you might think.

Although superficially solving the pace of play conundrum would seem like an easy fix, golf’s biggest challenge remains the size of our arena, as an 18 hole golf course is equivalent to almost 90 football fields, with 156 players dotted around it. Timing every player, on every shot, every week is a monumental, and costly, challenge.

We must also consider the complexities of policing more robust timing rules. I recall our Senior Referee, Andy McFee, saying to me that timing is an art not a science. He rightly posed the questions: “When do you start the clock? Is it when a player gets to the ball? When do you start timing the first player in a group?  And how do you let them know you’ve started timing as they can’t tell unless there’s a visual clock on every single hole?”

These are all interesting points, however, I stress we are not using the challenges of the sport as an excuse not to tackle what is now golf’s biggest issue.

Another thing we have learned from studying this whole issue, is that playing slowly is habitual. Most players aren’t taught to play the game slowly, it’s a practice they acquire, and one we have to try to reverse.

Our Shot Clock hole during the recent innovative GolfSixes Cascais in Portugal showed that players were ready and already thinking about their shots before they got to the ball. They didn’t have the chance to second guess themselves, or overload themselves with information, and their performance benefitted as a result.

Our players have shone a spotlight on this topic and this is now the lightbulb moment for our sport, but it is incumbent on all of us involved in golf to act. The main Tours and four Major Championships have begun dialogue, but as the most powerful entities in global golf, we have to be united and consistent in fighting this battle if it is one we are to win.  

I do believe that with technology advancements down the road, there will come a time in the very near future when we will be able to time every player, on every shot, on every hole. Until we are all ready from a technology perspective, our four point plan has decisive, concrete action on how we can combat this issue right now.

European Tour to tackle "slow play".. details of "Four-Point Plan"

The European Tour has announced a concrete four-point plan aimed at tackling the issue of slow play in professional golf.

The plan, which will be implemented at the start of the 2020 season, was approved by the European Tour’s Tournament Committee in July and fine-tuned over the past month. It will focus on four key areas: regulation, education, innovation and field sizes.
Key to the regulation changes will be a player only having to breach the time allowances twice in a round to incur a one-shot penalty. In addition, there will be significantly increased fines for players who are regularly placed ‘on the clock’ throughout the season, alongside reduced times for players to play shots.

FOUR-POINT PLAN – EXPLAINED IN FULL
1. Regulation
» When players are out of position and either being monitored or timed, a one-shot penalty will be incurred after two bad times – currently a player would be ‘monitored’ and if he breaches the time allowance (50 seconds for first to play, 40 seconds for second or third to play) he will then be ‘officially timed’ and would then have to breach twice more before being given a one shot penalty. Players will, however, have the option to request one time extension per round, giving an additional 40 seconds to hit a shot on this request.
» In Position timing, introduced at the same time as Monitoring, has been strengthened. The time allowed to play a shot when being monitored in position (currently double the out of position times above), will be reduced by 15%, from 100 and 80 seconds down to 85 and 70 seconds respectively for first and second/ third to play.  Referees are now mandated to be proactive in targeting known slow players for in position timing. 
» Fines for consistently slow players who are regularly officially timed during the season will increase significantly. For example, a player who is timed 15 times in the 2020 season will have to pay £26,000 in fines as opposed to £9,000 this season.

2. Education
» All new members will be assigned a dedicated referee to help educate them on pace of play at the start of their European Tour career
» As part of retaining their membership, every member will be required to pass an interactive online rules test with this being implemented for existing members towards the end of the 2019 season and all new members early in the 2020 season. This will be repeated every three years for existing members.
» Regular educational videos will be produced by the European Tour’s social media team on key rules and pace of play policies and shared with the players throughout the season in an effort to avoid unnecessary rulings and ensure they better understand the Pace of Play policy.

3. Innovation
» A trial Pace-of-Play system will be conducted at the BMW PGA Championship from September 19-22, 2019. This will provide referees with the times for every group through every hole to make sure that no gaps are missed.
» As part of this system, and in a ground-breaking development, on-tee displays on a minimum of three holes will provide groups with their position in relation to the group in front.

4. Field sizes
» Field sizes at fully sanctioned events will be reduced from 156 to a minimum of 144 so long as all entered players in Category 18 (the final 111-125 on the previous season’s Race to Dubai) and above make it into the event. This will create space for referees to push groups over the Thursday and Friday rounds.
» Larger starting intervals will be built into play on Saturday and Sunday to create a better flow between groups.

President Cup qualifiers are set, captains picks to follow... link to bios...

2019 Presidents Cup team selections/ bio's https://www.presidentscup.com/standings.html

The Presidents Cup will be staged down under at Royal Melbourne GC December 9-15 and today the 8 players who have qualified for each team has been decided. Four captains picks for each team will follow.

Ernie Els continues to captain the International Team who have lost 11 of the 13 events so far. Tiger Woods will captain the USA.

Click on my link above for all the details including teams, and how they qualified.

From a Canadian perspective Mike Weir is an assistant captain and Adam Hadwin and Corey Connors will need to be picked if they are to make the team.

Royal Melbourne GC was the scene of one of the best Presidents Cups when Ernie Els and Tiger were left to putt for the win, both made in the gathering darkness and captains Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player agreed to call it a draw.

My opinion: The International Team has to start winning or this event will eventually wither away and die. The Ryder Cup was always an American win and had lost all it's popularity on this side of the Atlantic until Jack Nicklaus lobbied to change the Britain and Northern Ireland team to become Team Europe in 1979, just in time for the arrival of Seve Ballesteros and the rest is history.

My suggestion is to exclude any American player who made the previous year's Ryder Cup team, from playing in the President's Cup the next season. I admit it's not an ideal suggestion but getting waxed every year cannot continue. The American team plays every year, giving them another distinct advantage.


Bryan Angus

Thomas wins BMW Championship. Connors off to the Tour Championship.. full field..

PGA Tour BMW Championship final leaderboard https://www.pgatour.com/competition/2019/bmw-championship/leaderboard.html

Tour Championship field https://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/tour-championship/field.html

Justin Thomas led by six going into Sunday, and with a -4 68 he did enough to win the BMW Championship by three at -25 263 and that is seven shots lower than what Tiger Woods shot at Medinah when he won the 2006 PGA Championship. Woods by the way did not quaify to defend his Tour Championship title, and will now concentrate on his captains role for the Presidents Cup.

The victory for Thomas gives him a two-shot lead starting the Tour Championship next week as the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup chase the $15 million prize.
The field will have a staggered start based on their position in the FedEx Cup, meaning Thomas starts at 10-under par, right down to #25 who will begin at -1.

Corey Conners (69) T7 at -15 to finish 23rd in the Fed Ex standings and earn a spot with the top 30 at the Tour Championship. He will start there at -1.

After beginning the season with only a partial PGA Tour card, Conners has now earned a spot in all four majors next season, the World Golf Championships and a full tour card for 2020.

Adam Hadwin foundered with a +4 76 T43rd at -6.

See my link above for the full field at this week's Tour Championship at East Lake GC in Atlanta.

Bryan Angus

Cries to restrict the golf ball arise as the pros crush mighty Medinah at the BMW Championship

PGA Tour BMW Championship leaderboard https://www.pgatour.com/competition/2019/bmw-championship/leaderboard.html

Here's how things stand for the Canadians today going into the final round of the BMW Championship. Corey Connors T6, 69 66 69 -12 (projected 20), Adam Hadwin T13 67 68 71 -10 (projected 42)

Corey is in good shape to make it to the Tour Championship where only the top 30 from this week qualify, as he is projected to finish 20th. So he needs to protect that position with another solid round.

Adam hurt his chances with that 71 yesterday on a soft Medinah course that is being trashed by these pro's who have reduced the scoring average to 68.3. Hadwin will need a low number today, say 66, to move from projected 42 inside the top 30.

As for the tournament, one of the hot topics this week has been fuelled by Adam Scott who said on Instagram that " understand, when we are presented with a soft golf course, we are going to tear it apart with today's equipment and the ball. Length means nothing to us, they can't build them long enough"

Hideki Matsuyama set the course record -9 63 on Friday, Justin Thomas 65 69 61 -21 beat it by 2 shots with that -11 61 yesterday and he leads by 6 shots today.

As I mentioned earlier this week I spent 5 days at the magnificent Medinah CC in 1990 where Hale Irwin won his 3rd US Open title with scores of 69,70, 74 67 -8, then shot a 2 over 74 in the Monday playoff to tie with Mike Donald, eventually winning it with a sudden death birdie. The course is long, lush, hilly, tree lined and tough.

Flash forward to this week, 29 years later, and with the soft conditions, today's equipment and all importantly, the ball, Justin Thomas is already at -21, with a 6 shot lead, likely to win with something like -26, more that 3 times lower than Irwin's winning score. In fact as play gets underway today, Hale's -8 would leave him T24 !!.

In an interview I did with Gary Player back in 1995, he told me and everyone listening that " 20 years from now (ie 1995) players will be standing on the tee hitting the ball 400 yards, they will be fitter, and better. Their equipment and the continuing progress of the golf balls will mean they will outgrow all of these world class courses we play on today"..

Golf is a gazillion dollar business, you and I all thrill, when our drives fly 25 yards longer, we enjoy the wide range of enabling shafts, and struggle to miss hit a drive with the huge heads on today's weapons. We spend a fortune on those balls and new tailor-made clubs.

However to save the integrity of the pro game, particularly the men, golf ball manufacturers whether they be Titleist, Bridgestone, Calloway, Wilson or whomever will have to be rewarded financially by the governing bodies at St Andrews and in New Jersey, to make them agree to settle on one standard pro ball. One that for the sake of comparison, has standards that would act as a governor, much like the one's they fitted in stock cars to slow them down.

This in return would make the guys play great courses like Medinah the way they were designed, with drives averaging 280 yards instead of 340, 7 irons flying 160 instead of 210.

However the question is, is that what you want to watch, or are you more turned on watching Rory bomb it 360, over all the trees and traps, leaving a flip wedge into what was once a demanding 450 yard par 4, and remember he's not alone, most all the guys are ridiculously long now. Not just Jack and Arnie..

That's one of the dilemma's facing the pro game today and I suspect it won't be resolved soon, as long as the crowds keep pouring in, and more importantly as TV ratings remain lucrative.

Bryan Angus

Hadwin and Connors just 3 shots back at BMW Championship.. Saturday pairings

PGA Tour BMW Championship leaderboard https://www.pgatour.com/competition/2019/bmw-championship/leaderboard.html

Saturday pairings https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html


Hideki Matsuyama made five birdie putts from 15 feet or longer and broke the course record at Medinah with a -9-under 63 for a one-shot lead going into the weekend at at -12 132, one shot ahead of Patrick Cantlay (67) and Tony Finau (66). Justin Thomas (69) is at -10.

Adam Hadwin (68) and Corey Conners (66) are both looking very comfortable T5 -9 just 3 shots off the lead. Remember the top 30 qualify for the Tour Championship, the Fed Ex Cup finale.

Tiger Woods made only two putts longer than 6 feet, made a pair of bogeys from the bunkers late in the round and had to settle for another 71 -2. Woods needs a top 10 to advance to the Tour Championship, is T49.

“I’m going to have to have a great weekend and make a lot of birdies and post some rounds in the mid-60s to give myself a chance at it, putt well and I’ll shoot good scores. I haven’t done that.”

Matsuyama was #2 in the world just two years ago after the U.S. Open but he has gone two years without winning, and Friday was the first time he has led after any round since his most recent victory at Firestone in the Bridgestone Invitational.

Hadwin, Connors set to go at BMW Championship.. tee times.

BMW Championship tee times/ scoreboard https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html

This is the penultimate week for the PGA Tour and it's the BMW Championship at a magnificent Chicago course called Medinah. In 1990 I spent the weekend there when Hale Irwin made that 80 foot putt across the 72nd hole to force a playoff with a poor guy called Mike Donald, who has hardly been heard off since. Irwin beat him to win the US Open in a Monday playoff.

All the big names are in attendance, the top 70 will be reduced to the top 30 as of Sunday night.

Corey Connors and Adam Hadwin are the remaining Canadians in the field. Follow their progress on the link above.

This is a big, hilly parkland course folks, but it doesn't mean a bomber will win it.

Bryan Angus

European Team announced for the Solheim Cup

European Captain Catriona Matthew announced her four Captain’s picks for this year's Solheim Cup, France’s Celine Boutier, English stars Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Bronte Law and Norway’s Suzann Pettersen  at a press conference at Gleneagles, Scotland, today.

Pettersen has played in a remarkable eight Solheim Cups and qualified for a ninth in 2017 but an injury forced her to swap to a Vice Captain role, while Ewart Shadoff has played in two Solheim Cups, 2013 and 2017, and has had four top tens this season.

Law is currently the highest ranked British woman, sitting at 25th on the Rolex World Rankings, while Boutier finished sixth at the AIG Women’s British Open earlier this month and fifth at the 2019 US Women’s Open and is currently ranked 59th.

The eight players who automatically qualified for The 2019 Solheim Cup at Gleneagles, from 9^th to 15^th September, at the conclusion of yesterday’s Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club were Carlota Ciganda, Anne Van Dam, Caroline Hedwall, Charley Hull, Georgia Hall, Azahara Munoz, Caroline Masson and Anna Nordqvist.

Scotland’s Matthew, who has played in nine Solheim Cups, explained the reasoning behind her four selections: “Bronte and Celine’s excellent recent form speaks for itself in terms of why I selected them, and I think they are both going to have fantastic Solheim Cup debuts. I chose Jodi and Suzann for their vast experience, their recent good form and because I know exactly what they bring to the European team room. With our only other rookie being Anne Van Dam, who has also had an excellent year, I feel the experience of our team will be a great advantage to us along with the home crowd support.”

Three of the Captain’s picks were in the room when Matthew announced her final line-up while Ewart Shadoff was not able to attend after having a minor procedure last week.

Ewart Shadoff said: “I am gutted not to be there for team practice today but I will be back hitting balls next week and I am really excited to be part of Catriona’s team. I think the team looks incredibly strong, probably the strongest team I’ve been a part of and I’m honoured to have been chose by the Captain to be part of it. This will be my first Solheim Cup in Europe and just to experience the home crowd will be amazing and a big advantage for us.”

Law said: “I couldn’t be happier to be making my Solheim Cup debut here at the beautiful Gleneagles. I am so grateful to Catriona and all the Vice Captains for picking me and I can’t wait for it to start. To be part of this great team with so many Solheim Cup legends is pretty surreal but they have all been very generous in giving me advice ahead of making my debut.”

Boutier said: “I have been dreaming of playing Solheim Cup since I was a little girl and it really is amazing to be here at this press conference and know that my dream will come true in a month’s time! Getting out there to practise with the team today on the PGA Centenary course where I watched so much of the Ryder Cup was fantastic and I think this course is going to suit me very well.”

Pettersen said: “Catriona knows that match play brings out the absolute best in my game and that I will be ready to deliver points for her come September. I honestly believe that my best contribution to our Solheim Cup campaign will be on the course and I am very grateful to Catriona for having the confidence to choose me for this year’s team.”

With Pettersen stepping out of her Vice Captaincy role, Matthew announced that Mel Reid would now be her final Vice Captain, joining Dame Laura Davies and Kathryn Imrie.

The final qualifying event for the USA team will end with the CP Women’s Open in Canada, 22^nd to 26^th August, with many players still fighting to join their team in defending the Solheim Cup in Scotland next month.
  
Lexi Thompson, Nelly Korda, Danielle Kang, Lisette Salas and Jessica Korda are all safely qualified while past US Solheim Cup team standouts  Cristie Kerr and Stacy Lewis, would need to win the CP Women’s Open to claim their place without needing a Captain’s pick from Juli Inkster.

For the final rankings of the European team and latest US team rankings, please click here

Bryan Angus (edit)
(notes lpgatour.com)

Golf and playoffs just don't work..

The PGA playoffs began last weekend under the Statue of Liberty in New Jersey, Patrick Reed won the Northern Trust for the second time, and will march on with 70 survivors (which include Adam Hadwin and Corey Connors) to this week's BMW Championship in Chicago. After that the top 30 will play the Tour Championship in Atlanta with a $15m bonus to the eventual winner of the Fed Ex Cup.

Are you pumped?.. can't wait for the pulsating drama to unfold?.. on the edge of your seat..nervous stomach ??

Didn't think so..

We all know about the absolute heart pounding drama of playoffs, especially here after the Toronto Raptors took this city, heck this country on the wildest ride imaginable to the NBA Championship. Men and women who never watch a game were swept up in a national pride which rarely happens in this country. The Jays in '92 and '93, Leafs away back when, Argos on a smaller scale, Mike Weir in 2003 at Augusta, 2010 winter Olympics, Ben Johnson briefly in Soeul, just some other examples.

Golf also provides the most exciting 3 days in sport at the Ryder Cup for the men, and at the Solheim Cup ( which is at Gleneagles in Scotland next month) for the women.

Every shot matters, especially as the week progresses, national pride is at stake, the pressure is just unbearable, 5 foot putts become monsters, rivalry boils over, history is on the line.

In 1980 I sat 3 rows from the centre court at Wimbledon, to witness the greatest match I've ever seen, Bjorg winning his 5th straight, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (16-18), 8-6 over "the Brat" John McEnroe.

It had everything including hero vs villain, heck we booed every shot McEnroe hit in the warm up. When Bjorn won the 3rd set 6-3, the table was set, McEnroe had to win the 4th to survive. Every, I mean every shot was crucial. The drama was unbearable, McEnroe finally shut up, and grew up in front of our eyes, winning that epic set, 18-16, and on we rocked to the 5th, where Borg stepped up his service to run out the winner.

They made history, left the court arm in arm, they even made a movie about it.. That's what playoffs are all about.

None of those qualities are in place at the Fed Ex Cup playoffs, or the Race to Dubai for that matter. Stroke play golf doesn't lend itself to it.

Sure I'll watch and relay the progress of Adam Hadwin and Corey Connors, because they are Canadian, I'll admire this generations astonishing shot making, hopefully enjoy a close finish.

I'll watch closely to see who will make the Presidents Cup teams, but sadly that event is a foregone conclusion every two years.

All pro athletes get paid extraordinarily well, especially when they win the playoffs, but we don't all get told exactly how much. For many, the staggering $15m bonus the winner of the Fed Ex Cup gets just seems superfluous to everybody watching, except for the players and their wives.

It's not the golfers fault that their sport's playoffs just don't have the same breath taking drama of what we expect from playoffs. Too slow, no national pride, no team, no agro, no good guy vs. bad guy, too complicated..

The fact is that golf and playoffs just don't work.

Bryan Angus

Northern Trust tee times....5 Canadians, live scoreboard..

PGA Tour Northern Trust Open..tee times  https://www.pgatour.com/competition/2019/the-northern-trust/leaderboard.html

Adam Hadwin, Mac Hughes, Roger Sloan, Nick Taylor and Corey Connors are the Canucks at the Northern Trust in New Jersey, the first round of the 121 man field in the Fed Ex Cup playoffs where Brooks Koepka is the 8-1 favourite to win the $15m first prize..

Rory and Brooks  are the 1 and 2 seeds...

Bryan Angus

Thoughts from the weekend..including Hinako Shibuno and the top 125 list.. final scoreboards

For most who have moved on from following golf now that the majors are over, enjoy, however as devotees know, there is an awful lot happening all year round and this weekend was no different.

Here are some highlights for me.

* Taylor Pendrith ("Pendy") from Richmond Hill is another good guy Canadian, playing on the MacKenzie Tour (PGA Tour Canada), and after two straight top 3 finishes, he broke through at the 1932byBateman Open in Edmonton, and he did it in style with a final round, course record 62, -17 total for his first victory on tour.
Final scoreboard https://www.pgatour.com/canada/en_us/tournaments/1932bybateman-open/leaderboard.html

* Corey Connors (67) and Mac Hughes (69) finished T22 -13 at the regular season ending Wyndham Championship, in Greensboro. So they will begin the Fed Ex Cup playoffs next week at the Northern Trust Open in New Jersey with Adam Hadwin, Roger Sloan and Nick Taylor.
Here are the top 125 who made the playoffs : https://www.pgatour.com/fedexcup/official-standings.html

* while Brooke Henderson shot (69 71 74 72 -2) T41 at the Woburn GC in the AIG Women's British Open the story, probably of the weekend was a cute little 20 year old Japanese girl, playing her first LPGA Tour event, Hinako Shibuno ( 66 69 67 68 -18) who birdied 5 of her last 9 holes to catch Lizette Salas, and pass her with a 25 foot birdie putt at the last to win, and change her life forever. She will be a huge star in Japan, likely on the world stage as well.

She put the icing on the cake by reading the traditional thank you to sponsors, volunteers and ground crew in broken English to the rapturous applause of all who were watching.
Final scoreboard https://www.lpga.com/leaderboard

* Lee Trevino was the last player to win a 72 hole PGA Tour event without making a bogey until Sunday when a Carolinian, JT Poston shot -8 62 on a very easy Sedgefield CC at the Wyndham Championship, to win his first PGA Tour title, and he did it bogey free with a par saving 8 footer at the last.
Final leaderboard https://www.pgatour.com/competition/2019/wyndham-championship/leaderboard.html

* Jim Nelford was the last Canadian to win the prestigious Western Amateur until Saturday when NHL referee, Garrett Rank beat an American called Daniel Wetterich from Cincinnati 3 and 2 at the Point O' Woods G&CC, in Benton Harbour, Michigan.

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are amongst the illustrious list of past champions.



Bryan Angus

Hughes T2, 63 leads Canadians at the Wyndham Championship.. live scoreboard

PGA Tour Wyndham Championship scoreboard https://www.pgatour.com/competition/2019/wyndham-championship/leaderboard.html

This Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield GC in Greensboro, SC is the last regular season event before the Fed Ex Cup playoffs and a lot is on the line, especially for guys trying to crack the top 125 who will qualify, as I mentioned in  my last missive, at a notoriously easy Sedgefield GC track..

Brandt Snedeker, the defending champion, shot a 59 here last year here. Snedeker, who also won the tournament in 2007 and Webb Simpson, who did it in 2011, wasted no time in assuming their superhero identities here, each opening with a -6 64 to trail early leader Byeong Hun An by two strokes after the completion of the morning wave. There there are 8 Canadians in the field and here is their standings.

Corey Connors (31), Adam Hadwin (41),  Roger Sloan (91), Mac Hughes (103) and Nick Taylor (114) are all set for the playoffs and they are all in the field along with Mike Weir, Ben Silverman (181), Adam Svensson (171).

Nick Taylor at #114 needs a steady week, just don't miss the cut. Weirsy is padding his Champions Tour bank account, Silverman and Svensson are heading for the Korn Ferry playoffs..unless they win, along with David Hearn..

update : Mac Hughes has shot -7 63 T2 in the early wave..  Adam Hadwin T52 -2 68, Ben Silverman T32 +2 72..

The clubhouse leader at -8 62 is Ben An from South Korea...

Bryan Angus