Toshiba Classic. Frosty Freezes Freddie with Five Shot Win

David Frost froze out all of his foes in the Toshiba Classic, winning by five shots at Newport Beach Country Club.

David Frost / Getty Images

David Frost triumphed over Fred Couples by five shots at the Toshiba Classic, equaling the record of 19-under par, set by Jay Haas in 2007. Fred chased the wire to wire winning all the way, but there was really nothing that he could do to prevent the South African picking up the title. He could only stand and watch as things unfolded in front of him, like the 50ft birdie putt David sank on the 17th green.

David said afterwards that he had enjoyed the tussle with Freddie;

” I felt as good as I did the first two days, I really enjoyed the tussle with Freddie Couples out there. ’I've been playing really, really consistently and haven’t had any of those ups and downs. I know they will come, but right now I am playing well. ’Freddie was the one they were rooting for, fortunately, my putter was a little hotter than his was. There was too much work for him. I wasn’t really hitting bad shots.”

Freddie said he became really stiff out on the course;

” I was feeling good, but then I got really, really stiff, I hit a lot of bad wedges. I hit a bad wedge on 6 and 7 and 16. I was kind of flinching at it. They weren’t very good swings, either.”

In real terms -14 under par is a pretty good score, so Freddie cab take good heart by that performance.

Jay Haas and Peter Senior finished tied for third at 11 under par for the tournament. Tom Watson finished fifth another stroke back at -10 under par, and the Champions Tour rookies Rocco Mediate and Esteban Toledo tied for sixth at -9 under par.

Australian PGA Championship, Popovic Prevails.

Daniel Popovic / pga.org,au

Daniel Popovic prevailed at the Australian PGA Championship on Sunday at the Palmer Coolum Resort golf course, to win by four shots after beginning the last round with a two shot advantage. Daniel  kept his emotions in check to par the last hole for a closing 69 to finish the tournament at 16-under par and claim his first professional victory. A delighted Daniel said;

“I can’t believe this has happened. I really just can’t believe it”

Anthony Brown finished in a tie for second on -12 under par along with Rod Pampling. Tied in fourth place was Geoff Ogilvy and Brad Kennedy at -11 under par. Big talking Peter Senior failed to match his arrogant rhetoric before the final round, falling to a +5 over par round of 77. No big winds to give him an advantage this week, with his broomstick putter. That should give the R&A and the U.S.G.A  something to ponder over before announcing their anchoring decision.

Congratulations to Daniel, I hope this win will be the first of many more.

Australian PGA Championship, Daniel Popovic has 2 point lead for Final Round

Daniel Popovic / pga.au

Young gun Daniel Popovic has a two point lead going into Sunday’s final round of the Australian PGA Championship at the Palmer Coolum Resort golf course. Daniel carded a -3 under par 69,  for tournament total of -13 under par, in calm conditions on Saturday to lead fellow Victorian Anthony Brown by two shots, and is confident he’s got the game to hold off an experienced chasing pack and claim his first Australian PGA Championship.

” I knew that I had it in me and I still know that I have one more good round tomorrow in me. I’ve just got to keep my routine going , what I have been doing has been working this week and tonight is going to be exactly the same and so is tomorrow morning in my warm up. I’ve been in pressure situations before, like say Q-School which is for me almost the most pressure that you have for the year because it determines where and how many tournaments you are going to play. It does surprise me in a way that I did handle it so well today without sort of having my A-game, but I am going to walk away from here thinking this can be done tomorrow and I’m going to give it a fair crack. It’s going to be an incredible ride for the whole family I think, tomorrow for myself, my mum and my dad is going to be huge.”

Daniel said he was excited to playing alongside another Australian legend on Sunday,Peter Senior,after playing with Geoff Ogilvey on moving day.  In the final group will be Anthony Brown who is two shots back at -11 under par and Peter is three shots behind at -10 under par;

“It’s fantastic, I mean Pete Senior is another one with so much experience and watching Geoff the way that he went about things today, I learnt so much again today playing with him. Geoff is such a great guy and I really hope that I get to play with Geoff again but Pete Senior, I have never met him in my life and I am sure that he is about the same sort of bloke as what Geoff is,  I can’t wait.”

Daniel may be excited but Peter Senior has issued a warning to the leader as he chases a fourth  Australian PGA Championship, declaring he’s in better form than when he won last week’s Australian Open.

” Pretty happy with the way things are going, I played a lot better today than I had even last week. I hit a lot better quality shots, driving it really well and I was just hitting it and picking up my tee which is always a great feeling, it sort of sets the holes up a little bit. I hit some better iron shots today that felt better than what I have been doing and made some birdies on some good holes, like 14 and 18 today, those were the real bonus holes. I just haven’t been making birdies on the par-fives, there are 15 par-fives and I think I’m about three under, the longer hitters are sort of knocking them to pieces so the par-fives are really letting me down.”

Emirates Australian Open, Advantage to Broomsticks in the Wind.

 

Peter Senior / The Daily Telegraph

Veteran Aussie, 53 year-old Peter Senior won the Emirates Australian Open, leaning on his broomstick in the gale force winds. Peter achieved his win shooting par in the last round to win by one shot at -4 under par. In second place was Brendan Jones at -3 under par, also another of the Broomstick brigade. If you have ever had any doubts about the advantage gained from using a Broomstick, this tournament was a glaring example of the advantage in windy conditions. It was plain to see that both players were standing steady on the greens over their putts, anchored to the ground before stroking the ball.  Peter said after his round;

” These are the conditions I thrive in,  if the conditions were good, the really good players would have shone this week,”

Peter becomes Australia’s oldest winner of the Stonehaven Cup, surpassing the great Peter Thomson, who won as a 43-year-old in 1973.

Cameron Percy was in third place at -2 under par with world number four Justin Rose finishing tied in fourth place with Kieran Pratt and Kim Felton. Justin Rose struggled with the putter in the terrible conditions, so bad were the winds that play had to be suspended for over three hours. The howling wind blew over a television tower and a marquee got crushed during the mayhem, which finished in near darkness, Justin Rose summed it up;

” It was like a day-night match,  I’ve never played a hole with shadows from a spotlight.”

 

Emirates Australian Open, John Senden Regains Lead

John Senden / emiratesaustralianopen.com.au

John Senden regained the lead of the Emirates Australian Open at The Lakes, Sydney, with a battling third round of  -2 under par, 70 and a tournament total of -7 under par.  John takes a handy two-shot lead over Justin Rose of England into tomorrow’s final round, the second year in succession that he has led the national championship through 54 holes, but last year at The Lakes he was reeled in by Greg Chalmers. That statistic is something that John is acutely aware of, he mentioned it in his report, along with his Eagle at the par 5 eleventh;

“I know where I stand,’ I have to deal with that and go out tomorrow and play my game. You have to be able to control the ball any time you play golf, but in these conditions you have to be really on your game. I had a good number I was planning on just hit through the shot. If it goes a little long, that’s okay’. I took a risk there and pulled it off.’’

John is also mindful of the speed of the greens. and hopes the tournament organisers are also thinking about the course set up, the putting surfaces were running at 11 on the stimpmeter at the start of today’s round, but were much quicker by the end.

“If they’re predicting windier conditions tomorrow, they’ve got to make sure they take care of that,’

World number four Justin Rose  is in second place alone at -5 under par, he was superb with his control, not making a single bogey until the 17th hole, and had possession of the lead for some time. But then the Englishman chipped off the green and dropped a shot, then missed the 18th green to the right and could not make par there either, Justin finished with signing for a -2 under par, 70, and will start two shots adrift of John Senden, but will be playing along side of him in the final pairing tomorrow. Justin said the conditions got tougher as the day went along;

“It got progressively tougher as the day went on, by the end of the round it was tough to even tap in, to be perfectly honest with you. Even from three feet you were getting buffeted around, the wind’s moving you. It’s very difficult to get the ball in the hole. Whoever literally stands up, the last man standing will win the golf tournament. I think it’s going to be a battle.’’

There are three Aussies tied in third spot at -4 under par for the tournament, Matthew Jones, Kieran Pratt and veteran Peter Senior.  2009 Australian Open champion Adam Scott is not quite  out of the running just yet.Adam is at two-under-par for the tournament, just five shots back of the lead, especially if he gets the type of generous early morning conditions that most of the players have experienced this week.

Marcus Fraser had a disastrous third round of +4 over par 76, and he also will need something special on Sunday if he wants to get up and contend this trophy.