BMW PGA Championship. Manassero Magic.

Matteo Manassero produced some magic when winning the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club in a play-off that lasted for four holes on the famous West Course.

Matteo has become the youngest player ever to win the BMW PGA Championship with his thrilling victory at the Wentworth Club. The 20 year-old Italian was tied at -10 under par with Englishman Simon Khan, a winner here in 2010, and Scotland’s Marc Warren at the conclusion of regular play.

On the first play-off hole, Marc put his tee shot into the tree’s down the 18th and was subsequently eliminated. Matteo and Simon halved the par 5 eighteenth twice more before Matteo stepped up to birdie the hole at the fourth attempt, for his dramatic win. Simon unfortunately put his second shot into the water, while Matteo found the green in two on the par five, and then had a two putt birdie.

Two Spaniards finished tied in fourth place, Miguel Angel Jimenez and the overnight leader Alejandro Canizares finished the tournament at -9 under par, agonizingly just one shot from the play-off.

Lee Westwood had held a two-shot lead after his birdies on the second, third and fourth holes, but he followed that with a very disappointing back nine performance of 40 , and finished joint ninth at -7 under par.

 

Lee Westwood wilted under the pressure on the back nine.

BMW PGA Championship. Cañizares Claims Lead.

Alejandro Cañizares has claimed the lead after the third round of the BMW PGA Championship, played on the West Course at the Wentworth Club in England.

Alejandro Cañizares / Getty Images.

Alejandro Cañizares has a one shot lead at the BMW PGA Championship, shooting a third round of -4 under par 68, and claimed top spot of the leaderboard. He had been taken ill on the flight from Korea to China and had to withdraw from the Volvo China Open, being diagnosed with viral meningitis. He came here with little ambition;

” This week I was just happy to be able to swing the club,  after the practice round on Tuesday I felt really tired because it was the first 18 holes I had walked in three weeks. I had no idea how I was going to feel so I am very pleased that it’s working out for me. Every now and then I get a little weird feeling in my head, but the doctors say that is normal.”

Sitting right behind him on the leaderboard is Lee Westwood, his third round score of -5 under par 67 has put the Englishman firmly in contention for this title. This his first tournament in England since his move to Florida in the States, and this is his 20th attempt at winning the BMW PGA Championship. Lee thinks it would be ironic if he won now;

” I’m still far from holding the trophy but it would be ironic,  it would be great and I am after as many wins as I can get, but it’s a crowded leaderboard and I will have to play as well if not better than I did today. I felt much more in tune with my swing and had a lot better distance and direction control with my irons and set up a lot of chances. It was one of the most fun days I have ever had on a golf course. It was good to see a lot more smiling faces and a lot more people prepared to take their hands out of their pockets and applaud. I get great support here but even more so today.”

Matteo Manassero (69) and Mark Warren (70) share third place on seven under par, Mark said it would be huge for him to win:

” It would be huge to win, this is our premiere event, this is the biggest event we play outside the Majors for us, it doesn’t get any bigger. Career-wise it would mean the world to me.”

Sergio Garcia, who has had a rough time with the media this week, has enjoyed the support of the crowd at Wentworth, and thinks he could finish strongly tomorrow, he is in a group of eight players just four shots off the lead:

“I think it’s been a tough week but we’ve been getting better every day, so hopefully we can finish on a high note tomorrow. There’s no doubt that everybody has made it so much easier for me. The crowds here, I don’t have words to explain what I feel towards them. They have been amazing, every single tee, every single green, cheering me on. I can never pay them back.”

BMW PGA Championship. Francesco Molinari Leads at Wet Wentworth.

Francesco Molinari leads at the BMW PGA Championship after the conclusion of the second round at the Wentworth Club on the West Course.

Francesco Molinari / Getty Images

On a wet and cold second day at Wentworth Francesco Molinari leads the BMW PGA Championship by just one shot after his second round of -4 under par, for a tournament total of -6 under par.

Francesco is happy to be at t he top, but is under no illusions as to how hard it will be to stay there on this difficult West course;

” I’m really happy with yesterday and today. The conditions were quite tough but I hit the ball well and the putter is working well so I am really happy at the moment. Six under is a good score given the conditions, I live over here now so I am used to it,  and I’m in a great position going into the weekend, but it’s a really tough course so anyone six or seven behind is still in it.”

Tied in second place is George Coetzee, at -5 under par, the South African has fared better than his compatriot James Kingston, who topped the leaderboard yesterday but collapsed today with a second round 77. Ten shots worse than his 66 of yesterday, he now has a tournament total of -1 under par.

Joining George at -5 under par are Alejandro Cañizares, Marc Warren and Mark Foster.

Lee Westwood is lurking at -3 under par and thinks he could be dangerous if his short game keeps improving, and his long game comes together;

 ” My short game’s been red-hot. I played some nice pitches and walking off the back of the 12th green, where I pitched to about four feet, Ernie said ‘Bit of a short-game wizard now.’ I also got up and down on 18 after hitting it in the hazard and those sorts of things can make a big difference to your week and going into the weekend with momentum. If my long game starts to come together, I could be dangerous.”

Lee’s Ryder Cup team-mate Luke Donald made a premature exit in his bid for a hat-trick of titles and fellow heroes of the Miracle at Medinah also made an early departure from The European Tour’s Flagship Event, with Rory McIlroy (75), Graeme McDowell (75), Ian Poulter (76) and Paul Lawrie (72) all joining Luke in missing the halfway cut.

Dehydration While Playing Golf. Is This Your Problem On The Back Nine ?

This is a post from Ian Hardy, well worth reading. If you have not already caught up with Ian and his Blog, this is the link http://golfhabits.com/   Why you need to seriously consider drinking while playing golf Posted: 19 May 2013 02:31 PM PDT “I learned you can’t drink whiskey and play golf.” – John Daly By Ian Hardie Ever had a round of golf that the further you went The harder ‘work’ it seemed? You felt more and more tired as you went along You struggled to concentrate Your body temperature increased so much that you started to feel uncomfortable And no matter how well you were playing in your previous round or practice session Your technique and abilities seemed to have completely disappeared? A lot of golfers apparently do And it comes down to a simple thing Those golfers that experience what I have described above Aren’t drinking on the golf course Well actually to be more correct, it would be more like They are not drinking enough before they play and while on the golf course Turns out that drinking while playing golf Is incredibly important In fact I would go so far as to say it should be compulsory to Drink water while playing golf and lots of it! What did you think I was talking about? Before you go any further though – this is going to get a bit technical And potentially outside my area of expertise So make sure you read my Disclaimer before you go on The states described above are symptoms of something called Dehydration Which occurs when the body eliminates a greater quantity of water Or receives a lesser amount than it requires To adequately cover its needs during an activity Considering that most golfers either don’t take a drink or if they do They take one that would be less than a litre in size Most golfers potentially suffer dehydration to some degree Nearly every round they play Mainly because instead of keeping themselves fully hydrated during the round They generally only react to their feelings of ‘thirst’ Which apparently because they take a bit of time to come to us Only do so once we have water loss of around 1 – 1.5% of body weight And you might think that’s not that important Until you read the following; The elimination during a round of more than 2% of body weight by dehydration reduces our physical capacity by between 5% and 10% That’s a pretty big decline in performance! One that is basically influenced by our water intake during a round And it gets worse; More than 3% loss of weight by dehydration during a round lowers the capacity of muscle contraction by more than 20% and muscle cramps can begin The scariest fact that I found; If during a round you had more than 8% loss of body weight by dehydration there may be a serious risk of death I’m pretty sure that’s not ideal! So it seems there is a fine line between feeling thirsty on the golf course Which most experts will agree is actually too late to start drinking water And becoming badly dehydrated on the way around As for the effect that this dehydration can have on golfers performance I found this brief study summary ‘EFFECT OF ACUTE MILD DEHYDRATION ON COGNITIVE-MOTOR PERFORMANCE IN GOLF Smith M.F., Newell A.J., Baker M.R (2011)’ Which was done on 7 low handicap amateur golfers a couple of years back The numbers are pretty sobering It looks like they started by having the golfers perform three skill tests as a base line Target accuracy, distance control and total distance The study then induced a 2% dehydration in the golfers Which with the average weight of participants being 75kg Means the golfers lost 1.5kg from dehydration during their round They then tested the golfers skills using the same tests as prior to their round The average base line target accuracy was 4.1m before Which nearly halved to 7.9m after only 2% dehydration The golfers distance control of 4.8m Suffered similarly, moving out to a 8.4m variation The total distance of their shots (I’m not sure how this was measured) Went from 128.6m base line Down to 114.4m after 2% dehydration Does that go some way to explaining how sometimes on the golf course It just doesn’t go as you think it should? I’m going to cover how to work out the amount you need to drink while on the golf course And a few other things about hydration In ‘Why you need to seriously consider drinking while playing golf – part two’ soon Until then take some water with you if you don’t already And of course Drink it before you feel thirsty! Play well

Tiger is The PLAYERS Champion. Sergio Shoots Himself in the Foot.

Tiger Woods won The PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP at TPC Sawgrass on the Stadium Course, in the end by a canter.

Tiger Woods acknowledging his win / Getty Images

Tiger finished The PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP with a final round of -2 under 70, for a  tournament total of -13 under par. He said he was trying to get better each year;

“Each year I’m tying to get better, so far this year, I’m off to a pretty good start.”

Talking about his errant tee shot on 14, which found water;

“Just hit absolutely the worst shot I could possibly hit, but it was the only bad swing I made all day. I told myself I could still win the tournament.”

Sergio Garcia stood on the tee box at the 17th par 3 Island hole tied with Tiger at the top of the leaderboard. Two lazy tee shots later and a couple of putts and it was all over, a quad bogey deflating Sergio. His slump was so bad he double bogied the 18th as well, dropping six shots on the final two holes, crashing down to tie for eight place at -7 under par. Sergio’s tender temperament under pressure was in question again. Why did he take a pitching wedge to the 17th green, when just about everybody else used a nine iron. He came up short, and in a strange move decided to replay the shot from the tee, ignoring the easier option of walking over to the drop zone, he failed again, his tournament was all over.

Three players tied in second place, Kevin Streelman, Jeff Maggert and David Lingmerth, all at -11 under par. Kevin put together a very good last round of -5 under par, 67. Jeff was in the hunt for most of the day, he finished with -2 under par of 70. David Lingmerth was unable to improve on his third round total and finished the day with an even par round of 72.

Martin Laird, Henrik Stenson and Ryan Palmer were the next bunch of players, they completed the tournament at -10 under par.

Joining Sergio on -7 under par were; Ben Crane, Rory McIlroy, Brandt Snedeker, Marc Leishman, Lee Westwood and Casey Wittenberg.

Not sure if this tournament will be better remembered for Tiger’s second win at The Players, or Sergio’s monstrous  meltdown on the intimidating island green par three 17th hole.

The Players Championship. Sergio Surges, Castro Crashes.

Sergio Garcia surged to the top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage of The PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP at TPC Sawgrass, while Roberto Castro, yesterdays first round hero crashed down the board.

Sergio Garcia / Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Sergio shot a second round -7 under par 65, to surge to the top of the leaderboard with a tournament total of -11 under par.

Sergio, a past winner here, in 2008, is his own man, and fears no one, not even second placed Tiger;

“I don’t have to measure myself against anybody, I know what I want to try to do, and any given day I can shoot a round like this and any other day he can shoot a good round and beat me. Like we always say, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. So there are going to be good days and not so good days, so just got to enjoy the good ones as much as possible. Fortunately for me, I’ve managed to play quite decent on this golf course, so any good thing that you can get in your head, it’s obviously positive and those kind of things always help. But it’s a different year. We’ll see if we can manage to do something similar.”

Tiger is just one shot adrift of the leader, at -11 under par, after his second round of -5 under par 67.

Tiger was pretty happy to be where he is;

“ I’m pretty pleased with where it’s at right now, I’ve just never been able to put it all together for this one particular week. But so far this year, I’m right there. Even though I haven’t played well in the past, I’ve still won here, actually, I’ve won here twice, technically. { Tiger was referring to the U.S. Amateur in 1994 }  I haven’t played my best here, but I’ve always felt that courses, even though it’s been a while I’ve won on them, I’ve still won on them, I know how to get around this golf course. This course, more than most, really tests every facet of your game. You have to drive the ball well. You have to hit your irons in the correct spots, and if you don’t hit your irons in the correct spots, you’re going to have some really funky up-and-downs. It’s trying to manage the ball in the correct spots, and I’ve done that the first two days.”

There are three players tied in third place, at -9 under par for the tournament; they are, Kevin Chappell, second round -6 under. Lee Westwood also with a -6 under,66, and Henrik Stenson, -5 under par second round.

Roberto Castro crashed down the leaderboard, struggling with a second round +6 over par,78, but he did make the cut.

Big name cut casualties include, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Rickie Fowler, Jim Furyk, Ian Poulter, Justin Rose, Graeme McDowell and Ernie Els. Quite a star-studded list.

Tomorrow is moving day, who will move out of the reckoning ?

 

Wells Fargo Championship. Derek Ernst Wins In A Play-Off.

It took a two way play-off to decide the winner of the Wells Fargo Championship. The only real surprise was that Phil Mickelson was not involved. Derek Ernst won the title, beating David Lynn at the first extra hole.

Derek Ernst / Getty Images

Six days ago Derek Ernst received a phone call telling him he was in the field of the Wells Fargo Championship. The Rookie has made the most of that opportunity by winning the event.

Derek and David finished the tournament at -8 under par, Derek made it courtesy of a super six iron shot on the last hole of regulation, to with-in four feet of the pin, that set up the then converted birdie opportunity. It was one of only four birdies on the hole all day. Phil Mickelson needed a birdie there to get into the play-off, and didn’t make it.

Derek said the week had been unbelievable, especially that last approach shot in regulation;

“I was trying to hit it as close as I possibly could. This feeling is unbelievable right now.”

David Lynn said he had never heard of Derek previously, but was full of praise for the way the rookie played;

“I’ve never heard of him, he’s a nice player. He said he was 180th on the FedExCup list when we were chatting on the way around. He played super. I mean, he could have won it quite easily in regular play. He played the finish really solid, and then he hit two really solid shots in the playoff. So every credit to him. Well done. I’ve not been particularly driving it well, so took that tee shot down in the playoff and obviously found a bit of a crooked spot and then didn’t play a great bunker shot either.”

Phil Mickelson finished in third position, one shot out of the play-off which he should at least have been in. Phil had a one shot lead heading into the Green Mile, the last three holes. Bogey at 16 and 17 meant he needed that birdie on the last.

“I felt like I was in control, and I let it slip away there the last few holes, so it was disappointing. I’m pretty bummed out, I thought that this was one I had in control. If I could have gotten that bunker shot up-and-down on 15, I would have had a two-shot lead heading into those last three holes, which I know are difficult holes, so it would have been nice to have that. There is just no excuse,” it wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary or difficult. I should have made par.”

Lee Westwood and Robert Karlsson finished tied in fourth place, both of these players could also have won this tournament, apart from crumbling over the Green Mile.

Wells Fargo Championship. Phil Fumbles, Nick Nips In.

Phil Mickelson fumbled at the end of his round today, allowing Nick Watney to nip in and tie him for the lead, at the Wells Fargo Championship, Hollow Quail Club. The pair of them are at -8 under par for the tournament.

Nick Watney and Phil Mickelson / Lecka / Getty Images

Phil’s third round was a mixture of the good, the bad, and the ugly, he finished at +1 over par. This was not the direction Phil wanted to be heading in on moving day. The good was the birdies at 5,8.10 and 14, the bad was the bogeys at 3,12 and 16, with the ugly being a double bogey at the par five 15th, a seven, no less. It was some pretty average golf and Phil admitted it was;

“It was some poor play coming down the stretch.After I made that putt on 14, I felt really good. I thought I could get one on 15. I got lucky on the tee shot that didn’t go out-of-bounds, I missed it so bad, but the second shot should not have been a problem.”

Nick had his own troubles, just when it looked like he would grab the lead on his own, and after a long, long wait on the 17th tee, Nick managed a double bogey on the par three, Thanks to a hackers shank off the tee, with a six iron;

” I can’t remember the last time I did that in a tournament, so it was a bit unsettling. The big picture,  I’m tied for the lead, and I would have taken that on Thursday morning. It’s a tough hole, and I’m sure guys hit shots they thought were good and it just hooked a little and went in the water and made double. It just so happened that I’m playing really well and it was on TV, so that’s where the embarrassment comes from. But the other thing is you like to put as much distance as you can between you and the other guys, so a bit of anger and definitely some embarrassment. If I have any chance of playing well tomorrow, I’m going to need to get past it and come out ready to go or else I’m going to get run over, I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

In third place alone is George Mcneill, at -7 under par, after his third round of 72, just par. He missed a birdie chance on the 18th to join the two leaders. George, like many of us, thought Phil was going to run away with it, he didn’t;

” Phil looked like he was kind of moving ahead of everyone, and then I don’t know what he did on 16, but it looked like either 15 or 16 he had kind of a mess-up. Then Nick, with the shot that he hit on 17, that actually shook me up probably more than it shook him up. Honestly, I didn’t even know until I was standing on 18 green, and then I looked and I’m like, Oh, wow, I’m tied for the lead.”

There are a whole bunch of players on -6 under par, including Lee Westwood, Lee could only manage a par round today. This tournament is wide open now, almost anybody could still win it, someone will come out tomorrow and shoot a low round.

Wells Fargo Championship. Quail Hollow Asides, The TV Sleuth Strikes Again.

 

Sergio Garcia was the recipient of a ruling from the Lazyboy TV referee. He called in because he thought Sergio had marked his ball incorrectly, he made this judgement after watching the slow-motion replay a couple of times. Sergio marked his ball prior to attempting a 4-footer for par at the 17th hole on Friday during the second round of the Wells Fargo Championship, apparently incorrectly. The TV sleuth thought Sergio had marked the ball to the side, and not behind the ball. Sergio said he had marked slightly to one side, but still behind the ball, because the marker would have been on the line of the putt of Bill Hass. He reported;

“Then I put it straight up or straight down where I thought it was the same spot. I thought I put it as close as I could, obviously, with the coin still behind the ball. It looked like it might have moved a tiny bit, but the rules officials felt that obviously I didn’t gain anything by it. There are obviously a lot of times that you try to put it in exactly the same spot but it’s difficult to do, not just for me, but for everyone. They thought that it was fine.”

Sergio had a discussion with the two Rules officials, who had to watch the slow-motion replay several times to even see the so-called infringement;

” And I said if you guys feel like I gained something by, obviously, moving it, I don’t know how much, like a centimeter or couple centimeters, whatever it is, I’m fine with the two-stroke penalty. I’d rather take the two-stroke penalty than come out here like I was a cheater. Obviously, they felt that wasn’t the case. I told them exactly what I did, and they felt it was fine. That’s pretty much it.”

I think it really is time to ignore these slow-motion TV viewing idiots, if the infringement is not called on the course during play, then as Paul McCartney famously said ” Let It Be”

Lee Westwood is battling against a chest infection, but nothing, not even the unfortunate state of the greens is going to stop him;

“I like this golf course way too much. It’s a lot of money that we’re playing for and a title at the end of the day. Somebody’s going to say a speech and thank everybody and thank the greens keeper and Wells Fargo for putting up the cash at the end of the week, and somebody’s going to be happy with the way the course is set up. Certainly helps when everybody in the group is playing well. You’re seeing good shots all the time, and you get the feeling that the course is giving up birdies and isn’t playing quite as hard as it might be. I just won’t do too much practice this afternoon, I’ll just go back to the room and lie down, really.”

Lee Westwood / Ehrmann / Getty Images

A sad sight to see at Quail Hollow, was Padraig Harrington using a long putter, despite saying that he felt long putters were bad for the game;

“In terms of the mechanics, it was a far better stroke, it wasn’t very good today. I just wasn’t quite as comfortable, which I kind of knew was coming. The grip of my normal putter is open and the grip of this is square, so I’m not quite used to it yet. There was a bit of resetting when I was over the ball, which, obviously, I prefer not to have. But that’s just familiarity, and it will be interesting to give it another go tomorrow. I think it’s bad for the game of golf, but I’m going to use everything, if something’s going to help me for the next three and a half years, I’m going to use it.”

Sounds similar to Ernie Els statements.

Wells Fargo Championship. Philly Mick Posts his Intentions

Phil Mickleson has posted his intentions in the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte.

Phil Mickelson / Getty Images

Phil shot a second round -5 under par, 67 which moved him to the top of the leaderboard, leading by two shots at the close of play in the Wells Fargo Championship.

Phil is happy with his putting, despite the poor state of the greens, but his driving still leaves a lot to be desired;

” I got off to a good start. I birdied the first two holes, so that set a good tone for the round. The first 27, 28 holes I have not driven the ball very well which is, most people would say, not surprising. But before I came here, I was driving the ball phenomenal. I really am excited about the way I’ve been hitting it off the tee, and I’m looking forward to this weekend. After the 28th hole, after I played 10, I made a slight alignment adjustment and I was able to get it back to where I had been driving it. I think if I drive it well this weekend, it’s going to be a fun weekend and I fully expect to. I’ve putted really well. It’s been fun.”

Phil is a from horse, and it is difficult to beat a form horse to the finish line, unless of course there are some real thoroughbreds coming up behind. There are a few in this field, so Phil had better be aware.

Three players share second place at Quail Hollow, all at -7 under par for the tournament, they are; Scott Gardiner, Nick Watney and George McNeill. A -5 second round from Scott, -4 from George and a modest -2 under par from Nick.

Nick is excited about the week-end;

” I’m excited for the weekend. It’s always fun to play with Phil and Rickie. We had a good time, and I’m in good shape, so I’m excited.”

Scott was surprised to be where he is;

” Probably nobody’s more surprised than I am. But it’s really a treat to play on such a great golf course. I’ve watched this tournament for many years, and I’m just it’s great to be out here on the PGA TOUR and to play some good golf is nice too.”

George said there were some low numbers to be had out there;

“ There are some low numbers out there because the greens are soft. They’re not putting great, but the greens are soft, so you can still aim at the flags and try to get close in. So I didn’t feel like I had to shoot a low one. I just kind of plodded along and made some birdies here and there and not too many mistakes and we’ll see where I end up.”

A bunch of players are at -6 under par, including Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy. Lee had a second round of -4 under par while Rory could only manage a -1 under par 71.