The Masters. Sergio Sinks, Jason Jumps Up.

It was all change at the Masters on day two with, Sergio sinking while Jason Day jumped up into the outright lead.

Jason Day / Redington / Getty Images

Jason Day shot a -4 under par second round to lead the tournament at -6 under par, and by just one shot from high-flying fifty-three year old Freddie Couples, and Aussie first round leader Marc Leishman.

Jason spoke of the pressure on his shoulders, on trying to become the first Australian to win the Masters;

” Obviously there’s a lot of pressure on my shoulders, being from Australia and no Australian has ever won the event.  They have been very, very close, but I’ve just got to try to get that out of my mind and just plug away. It’s all how you look at it. If you look at it as pressure, you’re going to worry about it more. If you look at it as a challenge and an opportunity to be the first and stay positive with it, you know, it only motivates you to play well. So I’ve just got to really not think about it at all I really need to stay committed to the game plan, stay aggressive to my target and just not worry about anything else but hitting the shot in front of me.”

Freddie had a -1 under par 71 second round while Marc Leishman stumbled to a +1 over par 73, the same score as David Lynn, David is now tied in the group of players sitting tied in seventh place. There are seven competitors in that position, including Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Jason Dufner, Lee Westwood, Justin Rose and K.J. Choi.

Angel Cabrera, Jim Furyk and Brandt Snedeker are all tied in fourth place, at -4 under par.

This Championship is still wide open, anyone shooting a real low round tomorrow will definitely put themselves in the box seat for the final round on Sunday.

It was a day of bad luck for some, Chinese amateur Tianlang Guan was penalized one shot for slow play, the first player ever to be punished for this offence for 77 years at Augusta National. A very harsh penalty when you witness some of the slow play out there today, the second round took thirty-six more minutes to complete than the first round, hard to believe that only one player is penalized for slow play. Makes you wonder why none of the Professional players were not penalized. Tianlang still made the cut, right on the number of +4 over par, along with defending Champion Bubba Watson.

Before he started play today Tianlang said ;

” If I can make it, I would be really happy for it, but if I didn’t make it, it’s still a great week.”

A great week indeed for the Chinese youngster.

Gary Player remarked about the Tianlang incident;

” One of the saddest things I’ve seen in golf. When I heard, I prayed that he would make the cut.” 

Tiger Woods had an approach shot hit the pin and ricochet into a water hazard on the par 5 fifteenth hole. Tiger assessed the shot as being a good one;

“ The sun was in my eyes, so I knew I started the ball on the flag. I didn’t know if I cut it enough, but evidently it was a really good one.”

Finally on this incident impacted day, the big names who managed to miss the cut;

Last weeks winner Martin Laird, Matteo Manassero, who played alongside Tianlang, Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen, Webb Simpson, Ian Poulter and Padraig Harrington.

US PGA Tiger Woods World Challenge, Nick Watney Leads

Nick Watney leads the US PGA Tiger Woods World Challenge, presented by Northwestern Mutual at the Sherwood Country Club, Thousand Oaks  in California. Nick leads the event by two shots, after his opening round of -5 under par, 67.

Nick Watney / Dunn / Getty Images

Nick is ahead of Keegan Bradley, Graeme McDowell and Jim Furyk, who are all at -3 under par, after their rounds of 69.  Graeme McDowell is just one of thirteen Ryder Cup Players who are contesting in this event, making a very strong field indeed. Tiger Woods is in the group at -2 under par 70, he is in good company with Bo Van Pelt and Webb Simpson both on the same score. There are three players at -1 under par, they are Bubba Watson, Hunter Mahan and Aussie Jason Day. Everybody else is over par, the last player on the board is Brandt Snedeker at +3 over par.

Nick shot a round of  80 in the final round in 2010 and then finished last in the 18-player field last year at Tiger Woods’ World Challenge, he said about today;

“I figured since Tiger is nice enough to invite me, I might as well prepare and try to play well. I’m a little better prepared than I have been coming in here. I’ve come in the past two years pretty rusty, hadn’t been doing much work. This tournament’s definitely not as serious or as cut-throat, maybe, but I think when Sunday comes, we’re all very competitive people. If we’re tied going to the last hole, we definitely want to beat the other guy. Winning this event would be an honor. The list of champions is pretty strong. I think everybody comes here wanting to win even though it’s during the holiday season and all that stuff. I’m trying to use it to prepare for next season, and winning never gets old, so that’s the goal.”

Keegan Bradley said he had played solidly all day,

“I did have a bad break on the last hole, but I played so solidly all day.  The drive on No. 18 was literally resting up against a root, and then just to the right of it was a rock. You know, it was a bad break, but also if it didn’t hit that root it probably would have rolled all the way back down that hill toward the ninth fairway.”

Tiger admitted he did not play to the best of his abilities;

“”I didn’t hit it very good, it was nice to scrape out a good score. I could have easily shot myself out of the tournament, but I kept myself in it.”

Tomorrow is another day, and tournament host Tiger Woods will be keen to assert his authority.

 

Euro Tour WGC-HSBC Champions, China. Incredible Ian Poulter Wins

Ian Poulter/getty images

The incredible performances of Ian Poulter continue to impress everyone, as he pulled off another wonderful win at the WGC-HSBC Champions in Mission Hills, China, with a grittty -7 under par 65 last round to win in style. It was in the same fashion as his amazing Ryder Cup performance for Team Europe last month where he won all four of his matches, Ian’s putter display was as equally destructive at Mission Hills as he carded eight birdies before dropping a shot at the penultimate hole to finish with a score of -21 under par for the tournament. This victory is Ian’s 12th European Tour title and his second success in a WGC event,  he won the Accenture Match Play Championship in 2010. Ian spoke about his amazing run of recent form;

“ It’s been an amazing five or six weeks with The Ryder Cup, and then coming here in good spirits, I played well last week and took a lot from that. I knew that if I stayed patient I’d be right there at the end. It was a special day, I knew there was a good round of golf in me out there on that golf course. As we saw yesterday, if you start going low and get a number on the board then you’re going to be hard to beat. I feel confident with the putter right now. It’s so nice to get my hands on another trophy and get back in the winner’s circle. I feel fantastic, I feel great. After looking at the board after two days, Louis being five shots clear , if he carried on that way, he was going to run away. But it was nice to put up two scores over the weekend, -14 under for Saturday and Sunday is a decent finish, and nice to get another victory in a year where there one was sorely needed. As well as I’ve played this year, it would have been a disappointment personally to have gone that year without winning, and for me and for how I played this year, it’s obviously a great and fantastic feeling especially after The Ryder Cup to get my hands back on a great trophy like this. I definitely think it is a part continuation of The Ryder Cup. I played great and I felt like I holed putts at the right time, which I did. After two days, I felt I was probably too far back with the way Louis was playing, but as you saw anything is possible on this golf course once you get the putter warm. I’ve already spent the cheque last week. I’m not going to tell you what it is until it arrives and I’ve got it home safe and sound, but yes, it was a vehicle, and yes, it was very expensive. I’ll let you all know what it is when it arrives. Some things don’t change!”

Phil Mickelson shot -4 under par 68 last round which left him with a share of second place with compatriots Jason Dufner and Scott Piercy, as well as Open Champion Ernie Els. Phil missed a makeable birdie putt on the 18th, which would have given him second spot alone. For a good part of the day it appeared that Lee Westwood was going to break his WGC duck at the 41st attempt, but sadly his short game let him down on the 15th and a bogey there saw him sign for a par round of 72, the same as Louis Oosthuizen, as the overnight leaders tied for sixth. Martin Kaymer ran up a triple bogey six at the par three 17th after finding the greenside bunker, and followed that mistake with a poor bunker shot, and he eventually finished ninth behind first round joint-leader Adam Scott.

Congratulations to Ian Poulter, I can not wait to see what car he has bought, on offer last week were Ferrari, Maserati and Rolls Royce, my guess would be Maserati, I think that fits Ian’s style.

Euro Tour Downunder, American Bo Van Pelt Wins

 

 

Bo Van Pelt (Getty Images)

Bo Van Pelt won the ISPS Handa Perth International on the Lake Karrinyup Country Club course with a last round of  -4 under par,  68 , and a tournament total of -16 under par propelled him two shots clear of  American compatriot Jason Dufner, with first round leader Alejandro Cañizares of Spain coming through to take third on -11 under par. Bo said of the tussle with Jason;

“Jason and I had a great battle and played well,” it definitely got tight there at the end but luckily for me I came out on top. I have a lot of respect for Jason and his game, he’s a world class player and I knew it was going to be tough today. I knew he was going to keep the pressure on me, and I needed to play well if I was going to come out on top. It was fun, that’s why you practice, to give yourself a chance to win with nine holes to go. All in all I was pleased with how I played today. I had a loose shot there on 17 that I was not that happy with, but fortunately I had a lead at that point and was able to make a putt on 18 and get it done. Lake Karrinyup was a great test of golf all week. It’s been a battle, the wind blew, the greens were firm and fast, and it was just a joy to play all week. Whenever you get a lead you want to take advantage of it so it was nice to finish one off this week.”

Jason said he had enjoyed his trip to Aussie;

” It’s been a good trip, it’s good to get back out and compete and nice to be in the hunt after a couple weeks off and after The Ryder Cup. Nothing to be ashamed of, just got to tighten up a couple things.”

Alejandro was pleased his is now in the field for Singapore;

“The top five here gets me into Singapore which helps a lot. I didn’t have that tournament before because of my ranking from last year, so I’m happy to be able to get there on my own merit. It helps me, gives me one more chance to consolidate in the top 60 and hopefully play in Dubai.”

 

 

 

Euro Tour Down Under, ISPS Handa International, Bo Van Pelt Takes Control

Bo Van Pelt/getty images

American Bo Van Pelt took control of the ISPS Handa International at Lake Karrinyup Country Club in Perth Western Australia, in the third round. Bo holed a 60 foot birdie putt on the 18th green, for a third round score of -5 under par and a tournament total of -12 under par, to take a one shot lead into the final round.

Bo said of his monster putt on 18;

” Once in a while a hole just gets in the way.I felt like I hit a pretty good second shot, just carried about five yards further. I was just trying to get the ball down there and two-putt and get out of there, and lo and behold, it goes in the hole. There’s still a lot of golf to be played. It was just nice to finish with a birdie like that and hopefully take that into tomorrow. Jason is a great player, Grillo is playing well and he’s probably going to come out and probably shoot a low one tomorrow. You’ve got to drive the ball straight and then put the ball in position on the greens, because they have a lot of slope and they are getting firm and they are getting fast.”

Jason Dufner, the World’s Number Ten, and the highest-ranked player in the field was delighted to have given himself a chance going into Sunday. He also had a good third round, matching  Bo’s -5 under par round to sit alone in second spot, with a tournament total of  -11 under par.

” It was a nice day to get a good score and move up and have a realistic chance of not having to do anything crazy tomorrow and being in contention to try to win the tournament. Sometimes in the middle of a round, something happens that spurs you to some better play, and I got a little bit of a tough break on seven on my tee ball. Thought it would be in the fairway but hung up in the rough, which put me a good way back and I ended up getting into a bunker 70 yards or so and hit it over the back and then chipped in. So not really thinking that you’re going to make birdie; in your mind you’re almost feeling like maybe bogey might come on a pretty easy hole. Chipped in there and then hit one stone on nine and birdied 10, 11, 12.”

 Emiliano Grillo started the third round with a four shot lead, but had a poor round of +1 over par, a very costly inward nine of 37 strokes did the damage as the Qualifying School graduate hopes to cement his place in the top 115 on The Race to Dubai. Emiliano currently lies in 112th place. With a tournament total of -10 under par, and third place, Emiliano is still only two shots adrift of the lead and will be sure to contest tomorrow.

Tied in fourth place are Spain’s Alejandro Cañizares and England’s David Howell, and although the pair are five shots off the pace, they both have plenty to play for. In The Race to Dubai they are currently 70th and 71st on the list, meaning they both need a big finish to force their way into the top 60 players who will make the trip to Jumeirah Golf Estates next month.

European Tour Down Under, Round 2, Sizzling Grillo

 

 

Emiliano Grillo/Getty Images

Emiliano Grillo, a 20-year-old Qualifying School graduate from Argentina holds a four shot halfway lead at the ISPS Handa International which is being contested at Lake Karrinyup Country Club in Perth, after a second round of -5 under par, 67. Emiliano is just playing shot by shot, he is desperate to keep his card for next year;

“I think I hit it better yesterday than today but a couple eagles and a hole-out from the bunker helped a lot. Just go shot by shot, that’s the main goal. You cannot think about the third hole when you’re playing the second hole. It’s the hardest thing in golf probably, but it’s the best thing to do. I had a lot of people following today and I was fine with it. I kind of like the golf course, and it seems to suit my game. I just want to have a good week. My goal this week was having a good one to keep my card for next year. If I can win, awesome.”

Emiliano received congratulatory Tweets from the youngest winner in European Tour history, Italian Matteo Manassero. It is these victorious exploits at such a young age that has inspired Emiliano to play well;

“We try to spend as much time as I can with him because he already won twice on the Tour and he’s the youngest player on the Tour. Everybody wants to have him as a mirror, and he’s one of the few guys that I have as a mirror. I try to copy his putting and his short game. He’s an amazing player and a very good friend. It’s hard for the first win but he’s already done it twice, so why not me?”

Tied in second spot is American Bo Van Pelt, and Jason Scrivener of Australia. Jason had a -3 under par 69 for his total of -7 under par. Bo matched the leader with a second round of -5 under par 67, but is four shots adrift of Emiliano, Bo said of his round;

“It was a solid day, I would say the biggest difference from today from yesterday, I think I played the par fives five under. I think I only missed three greens, so I was driving the ball in play, and was able to take advantage of the par fives.
All in all, seven under, I’m very pleased. I haven’t played a tournament in a few weeks, so I like the golf course a lot. I’m just excited about the opportunity. Last time I was in Australia, I didn’t get to play the weekend, so nice to get to play the weekend. There are a lot of great players here, but I think I was five back going into today, and whenever you’re that far back, you try to shrink it going into the weekend. So hopefully I’ll be closer than five back when the day ends and hopefully after tomorrow do the same thing, get a little bit closer. You try to have a chance to win with nine holes to go on Sunday. That’s something my caddie and I always talk about is just trying to give ourselves a chance on Sunday, and then you just never know what will happen.” 

There are four players currently tied in fourth place; Max McMardle, Jason Dufner, and the two first round leaders Michael Hendry and Alejandro Canizares, who both had second rounds of +1 over par 73.

 

 

Tiger Woods, Ryder Cup Captain ?

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods has expressed a desire to one day be the U.S.A Ryder Cup Captain, he said recently;

“It would be a huge honor, hopefully it doesn’t happen in the near future. I would like to be able to play for a lot more teams but certainly one day when my career is slowing down or it’s over, it would be huge to be part of a Ryder Cup from the captaincy side.”

Given that Tiger has lost six times against Europe in seven appearances, including most recently at Medinah Country Club where the USA threw away a commanding lead on the final day, his resume for the tournament does not instill one with any confidence in his ability to lead a team. In fact it is Tiger’s inability to perform well in a team environment that really astounds everyone. Instead of leading from the front, he seems to retreat into a shell in a team effort. I personally doubt that a man, no matter how great a player he is, if he can not perform well in a team environment, how will he be able to inspire others to do what he could not.

Tiger also confirmed that he has apologized to the four rookies who played on the United States’ team, Keegan Bradley, Jason Dufner, Webb Simpson and Brandt Snedeker, for not contributing a single point in their devastating loss at Medinah. He admitted he found it tough;

“I had an opportunity to earn three points in team sessions but I did not do that. It was tough. Stricks and I went out there and tried to earn points for the team and didn’t do that and it was frustrating. We had a four-point lead and we went 0-3.”

 

Ryder Cup 2012; Europe beat USA after record comeback

 

European Ryder Cup Winning Captain Jose Maria Olazabal

The Ryder Cup 2012 turned into a magical explosion of great golf as the European Ryder Cup Team produced a stunning final-day comeback to win the Ryder Cup at a shell-shocked Medinah Country Club on the final day of this wonderful competition, to beat Team U.S.A. I personally have to eat humble pie, after yesterday saying a betting man would not give Europe a chance, you can see why I am not a gambling man.

Team U.S.A.  only required four points from the 12 on offer on the last day, Team Europe somehow secured eight and a half to clinch a historic 14½-13½ win. German Martin Kaymer sank a five-foot putt on the 18th green to get his team to the 14 points needed to retain the Ryder Cup Trophy, before a Tiger Woods bogey in the final match gifted them overall victory.

Etched in the sky during the last day was a message about remembering  Seve,  so I guess it worked. Team Europe wore the trademark Seve Ballesteros colors for the final day, it was a fitting tribute. European Team Captain said,

“Seve will always be present with this team. He was a big factor for this event, for the European side, and last night when we were having that meeting, I think the boys understood that believing was the most important thing, and I think they did.”

This was the first time in three days that Team Europe had come charging out of the traps, Luke Donald going into an early two-hole lead over Bubba Watson and muting both his opponent and the crowd in the process. Then with Justin Rose also two up on Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy held off the previously unbeatable Keegan Bradley and the unsung hero Paul Lawrie taking early control against Brandt Snedeker. There was an entirely different atmosphere around the course than there had been on the first two one-sided days. Team Europe won the first five matches of the day, and that set the tone, and paved the way to Victory.

In the end  it came down to the last two matches on the final two holes, both matches were all-square and is was all square on the leaderboard.  None of the four, Martin Kaymer, Steve Stricker, Francesco Molinari or Tiger Woods, had won a single point between them all week. Then suddenly Steve Stricker three-putted on the 17th green and Martin Kaymer had a one-hole lead. Tiger Woods went one up on Molinari on the 17th which left Martin Kaymer two putts for the Cup, and he somehow held his nerve as the shadows lengthened to seal an extraordinary triumph. The usually noisy home galleries were silent with disbelief, as a dazed Tiger Woods blew two putts from within eight feet to hand Molinari a half point, and with it victory.

U.S.A. Team Captain Davis Love 111 said in disbelief;

“We know what it feels like now from the ’99 Ryder Cup, it’s a little bit shocking. We were playing so well.”

USA 13½-14½ Europe

Singles matches:

Watson lost to Donald 2&1

Simpson lost to Poulter 2 up

Bradley lost to McIlroy 2&1

Mickelson lost to Rose 1 up

Snedeker lost to Lawrie 5&3

D Johnson beat Colsaerts 3&2

Z Johnson beat McDowell 2&1

Furyk lost to Garcia 1 up

Dufner beat Hanson 2 up

Kuchar lost to Westwood 3&2

Stricker lost to Kaymer 1 up

Woods halved with Molinari

U.S. Ryder Cup Captain DL111 & his Team

Davis Love 111/U.S. Ryder Cup Captain/Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

Davis Love 111, the U.S. Ryder Cup Captain had made his wildcard picks and now has his Team to challenge the Europeans at Medinah, starting on September 28th 2012. D.L 111 has included these players in his team as his four wildcard entries, they are; Dustin Johnson, Brandt Snedeker, Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker.

Here is the line up of both Teams;

USA                                                                         Europe 

Davis Love III (C)                                                Jose Maria Olazabal (C)
Tiger Woods                                                          Rory McIlroy
Phil Mickelson                                                     Luke Donald
Matt Kuchar                                                         Martin Kaymer
Zach Johnson                                                      Lee Westwood
Webb Simpson                                                    Ian Poulter
Bubba Watson                                                     Nicolas Colsaerts
Keegan Bradley                                                  Paul Lawrie
Jason Dufner                                                       Graeme McDowell
Dustin Johnson                                                  Sergio Garcia
Jim Furyk                                                             Justin Rose
Brandt Snedeker                                                Peter Hanson
Steve Stricker                                                     Francesco Molinari

 

Europe have World number one Rory McIlroy at the top of their lineup, and he is backed up by other consistent players like Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Justin Rose, the Europeans have a formidable squad.

The U.S. commentators think the American Team offer more consistency from top to bottom than the Europeans, and with the likes of Keegan Bradley, Jason Dufner and Webb Simpson, it’s a US squad that’s not to be dismissed easily.

Hunter Mahan said he felt empty when D.L. 111 told him the news of his omission from the U.S. Team;

 

” To not be a part of it, it feels empty right now, it feels more empty being at the course. It didn’t feel that bad when Davis told me because,  it ended up being a two-week trial, kind of a sprint to the finish, who was going to play the best, because I think he stated he wanted Stricker and Furyk, so there was really only two spots left, and Brandt and Dustin just outplayed me at the end of the day. I just didn’t play good enough. And that’s OK. It’s OK to get beat by somebody. That’s part of golf, and that’s part of the game. But like I say, it just feels empty right now.”

Tiger Woods commented on Hunter’s plight;

” It’s tough for Davis and it’s tough for Hunter. Unfortunately it just didn’t go Hunter’s way. I know that he’s pretty down about it, but he’s got two big events to play in. He’ll turn around and he’ll just start playing well.”

European Captain Jose Maria Olazabal said his was surprised that Hunter was left off the U.S. Team;

” They are very solid picks,  all the American players, from nine to 14 on the list, were very solid and Davis could have picked any four. The only question mark as I see it was Snedeker picked ahead of Mahan, but then Davis has gone for form. Snedeker has pretty much been playing well from the start of the summer and all the way to the FedEx series. However, Mahan has not been playing all that well, so Love went for form and in that regard, he has my respect.”

This is going to be a great Ryder Cup, let’s go play golf.

 

 

Wyndham Championship, Final Round Suspended. Weather Delay

  

Inclement weather caused the suspension of play in the final round of the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club on Sunday. The final round will commence on Monday morning with Sergio Garcia still leading, he is -1 under par after four holes and is currently at -15 under par for the tournament. Jason Dufner, Bud Cauley and Tim Clark are just one shot adrift, with all of them just beginning their rounds when play was halted.

American Ryder Cup Captain, Davis Love 111, is still on -11 under par after seven holes of his final round, and could still close the gap at the resumption of play tomorrow. Local boy Carl Pettersson is +2 over par during his first six holes of the final round and looks less than convincing in his bid for the title.

I am looking forward to tomorrows play, it should be a great tussle to the end.