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 ?

 

Masters. Sergio Suddenly Surprises.

Sergio Garcia suddenly surprised everyone by sharing the first round lead of  the Masters at Augusta National with Aussie Marc Leishman.

Sergio Garcia / Reddington/ Getty Images

Sergio Garcia grabbed a share of the Masters lead on day one of the Masters with Aussie Marc Leishman, both players at -6 under par after their first round scores of 66. Having Sergio’s name at the top of the leaderboard came as a surprise to all the pundits, who were all of the opinion that he hated Augusta National;

” No, I mean, well,obviously, it’s obviously not my favorite, my most favorite place, but we try to enjoy it as much as we can each time we come here. Sometimes it comes out better than others, but today it was one of those good days. And let’s enjoy it while it lasts. But like I said before, every time I tee it off, I try to play as well as I can, hope that my best that week is really, really good, and if I manage to do that, I will have a chance at winning. If my best is not that good, then, I’ll struggle a little bit. Today my best was pretty good, and I’m looking forward to doing the same thing the next three days. We all go through those moments, the beauty and the bad thing about this game is that it can have such highs and such lows, because it’s a lot more mental than some of the other games. So you know, the most important thing is to make sure that you get through those nicely and learn from them. Sometimes I do feel like there is such a thing as being too hyper about something, you’ve still got to keep calm. I still get very excited about playing the game and every single week and trying to win tournaments. It’s obviously not the same feeling that I had when I was 19, 20 or 21. But that’s kind of normal.”

Keep it going tomorrow Sergio.

In third place alone is Dustin Johnson, who came through the first round at -5 under par. Many think that the big hitting American can do well here this week, and his opening round of 67 goes a long way to substantiating those claims.

There are six players tied for fourth spot, they are; David Lynn, Rickie Fowler, Gonzo, Trevor Immelman, Fred Couples and Matt Kuchar. These all had opening rounds of -4 under par, 68.

This is The Masters, so don’t be surprised if this top section of the leaderboard changes dramatically  tomorrow. Bad weather is forecast so anything could happen.

 

 

 

Arnold Palmer Invitational, Tiger Triumphs

Tiger Woods triumphed at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge, on Monday. The win equalled Sam Snead’s record for winning the same tournament eight times, it also took Tiger to the top of the FedExCup standings, not to mention elevating him back to World number one.

 

Tiger Woods with Arnold Palmer / Cannon / Getty Images

Tiger strolled round the course, with a final round of -2 under par 70, and a tournament total of  -13 under par, giving him a two shot win over Justin Rose. It has been a long time since Tiger was last World number one, actually it was late October 2010. When the collapse came it was pretty devastating, he fell as low as 58th in the world rankings before making his remarkable recovery.

Tiger said it was all down to hard work;

“It’s a byproduct of hard work, patience and getting back to winning golf tournaments.”

Arnold thinks Tiger’s record will stand for a long time;

“I don’t really see anybody touching it for a long time. I had the opportunity to win a tournament five times, and I knew how difficult that was.”

Justin Rose also finished with a last round of -2 under par 70, securing him second place alone. Not what Justin would have had in mind when he was leading the tournament by two shots before his uncharacteristic melt down at the end of the third round.

Rickie Fowler had to settle for a +1 over par 73 and a tie for third place with Mark Wilson (71), Keegan Bradley (71) and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (72).

Congratulations to Tiger, it will be interesting to see if the other players on tour can mount any sort of challenge to Tiger’s dominance.

 

Arnold Palmer Invitational. Tiger Trounces the Course. Justin suffers the Jitters.

Tiger Woods trounced the Bay Hill course in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, shooting a third round -6 under par, 66. Meanwhile Justin Rose, who seemed to be cruising with a two shot lead, suddenly suffered a severe case of the jitters.

Tiger Woods and Rickie Fowler / Greenwood / Getty Images

Tiger putted like a champion today, it helped him to his -6 under par round and a tournament total of -11 under par, a lead of two shots over the field. The man looking most likely to mount a serious challenge to Tiger is Rickie Fowler, no slouch himself today, with a third round of -5 under par, which elevated him to -9 under par and in a tie for second place. He will also play with Tiger for the final round, something that he could not handle last year when he faced the same task. He shot a last round 84 that day, compared to the winner Tiger Woods, who came home in 67.

Tiger said he now knows how to fix his game while out on the course;

” I just understand how to fix my game, it’s taken me a while. I was hurt for a long time. The changes to make the swing from where I was to now is a pretty big change.I hit a bad shot here and there, and that’s easy to fix. I know what my fix is going to be and that makes a big difference. I’m much more comfortable, but also I think that I’m feeling pretty good physically, that was huge. I’ve had one more year of working on my game, and here I am. Just because I’ve won here doesn’t ensure that I’m going to win the tournament, the conditions are different. The game might be different. But the objective is still to put myself in position to win the golf tournament and somehow get it done on Sunday. Over the course of my career, I’ve done a pretty decent job of that.”

Rickie remembers that bad day at Memorial;

” After Memorial, I’m looking for a little redemption, I’m feeling good about the pairing, about my game. I’m going in there with the attitude that I have nothing to lose and we’ll see what happens from there. He’s definitely the guy to beat but I’ll be right there to see what’s going on. With him having leads on courses he loves like this and Torrey Pines and Doral, and I’m sure there are others, he’s basically never lost with a lead in the final round. So I’m looking forward to tomorrow and seeing if we can go do that.”

Tied in second place with Rickie are jittery Justin Rose and John Huh, Justin with an even par round and John a -1 under par round.

There are five players another shot back at -8 under par for the tournament, they are; Thorbjorn Olesen, Gonzalo Fedez- Castano, Jimmy Walker, Ken Duke and Bill Haas.

To be honest I can not see anybody challenging Tiger for this title, it is his for the taking. Winning would move him to the top of FedExCup leaderboard, becoming the first player to hold the top spot in five different seasons. Additionally, he’d match Sam Snead as the only other player to win the same tournament eight times and of course he would move back to No. 1 in the World, for the first time since Oct. 30, 2010.

Nobody is going to stop Tiger.

The Honda Classic. Young Guns Luke & Michael Hold On.

Michael Thompson & Luke Guthrie / Ehrmann/ Getty Images

The Honda Classic has two tied at the top of the leaderboard going into the Final round on Sunday. Michael Thompson and Luke Guthrie are locked together at -8 under par for the tournament, but their sluggish third rounds of par for Michael and +1 over par for Luke has let the more experienced players close the gap. Perhaps the chilly, windy conditions slowed these two down, Lee Westwood and Geoff Ogilvy are poised nicely just two shots adrift of the young guns, and will be certain to push hard tomorrow to see if the youngsters break under the pressure.

Lee Westwood likes his chances;

” I like my chances regardless of the conditions, I’m playing nicely. Just got a couple of mistakes I made today, but other than that, I’m playing solidly. I have to start making a few putts. I had a lot of chances to make putts that just grazed the hole. I like being out late on a Sunday and having a chance.”

Geoff Ogilvy felt that even par for the day was always going to be good enough to keep in touch with the leaders;

“Even par for the day was never going to go backward, it was only going to go forward, and I did that.”

There are eleven players separated by just four shots who are contesting the final round, a group that includes Rickie Fowler, Charles Howell III, Keegan Bradley and Justin Rose.

Rickie Fowler, is finally in the mix on a Sunday, he is looking forward to still being in contention on the back nine;

“The biggest thing is being within a few shots going into the back nine tomorrow, that’s where the tournament really starts.”

The big name  missing from the mix was Tiger Woods, who started well with a 32 on the front nine, and then faltered on the back nine, finally folding to a double bogey on the par-3 17th, when his tee shot plugged into the bank short of the green and he never found the ball. Tiger finished with a round of 70, pretty much the same as everyone else, when what he needed was a low score.

It will interesting tomorrow to see if the young guns can keep their heads and gain a first Tour victory, or will the experience of the likes of Lee Westwood, Geoff Ogilvy, or even Rickie Fowler step up to the plate.

 

 

Honda Classic, Camilo Villegas,Surprise Leader,

Camilo Villegas / Chris Condon / Getty Images

Camilo Villegas is the surprising first round leader of the Honda Classic at the PGA National Champion Course,Palm Beach Gardens, with a round of -6 under par 64. It is  four years now since his back-to-back wins in the FedEx Cup Playoffs events, when he  rose to as high as No. 7 in the world. The  31-year-old Colombian then plunged  into a slump that  was so bad that over the last 18 months he lost his card last year. Camilo won The Honda Classic in 2010 at PGA National, so he at least has that to build on. But despite the good start, he wasn’t afraid to risk ruining the day on the last hole. Even his caddie asked what he was thinking of when he was addressing a shot on the last hole;

“My caddie said, where are you going to go with this one,. And I said, I’m looking straight at that flag. And I hit a great shot.”

Tiger Woods saved his round with a shot from out of the water on the par 4, sixth hole, taking his shoes off to enter the hazard, he finished the day at even par;

“I was 1 over at the time, and if that ball is not playable from where it’s at, where I crossed was pretty far back, looking at six, three over and all of a sudden I flip it, make par there and birdie the next.”

Charles Howell 111, Chucky three-sticks,  opened with a -3 under par, 67. He has just until the end of the month to go from No. 64 to the top 50 in the World Ranking to qualify for the Masters in his hometown of Augusta.

Branden Grace,  Rickie Fowler, Graham DeLaet  and Robert Streb, are all tied in second place at -5 under par for the opening round of this tournament.

 

TW World Challenge, Magnificent G-Mac Wins

Graeme McDowell, G-Mac/Dunn/ Getty Images

Graeme McDowell, G-Mac,  finished  with a 4-under par round of 68, and a tournament total of  -17 under par, to win the Tiger Woods World Challenge presented by Northwestern Mutual by three shots on Sunday. It was Graeme’s  first title in two years, he was determined to win as he held off the challenge of  Keegan Bradley. G-Mac was really happy with this result;

“This really caps off my season, we try not to put winning on a pedestal, but this one feels very sweet because it’s been a grind all year. Certainly I will draw some confidence from this one, the game hasn’t given me a huge amount this year. My dollar average around this country club is fairly high, I’m probably right up there in the top-five in the world in California, no doubt about it. We’ll have to look at playing a little bit more here on the West Coast. I’m over the moon to get the job done, for two years I’ve been saying things like processes and trying to get better and be patient and hopefully the wins will come. So I guess I got fed up with telling everybody that I’m playing well. I guess I’m relieved to get across the line and take some nice confidence into this little off period I’ve got coming up.”

Graeme won for the first time since he beat Tiger Woods in a playoff at Sherwood Country Club to close out a dream season in 2010, that included his first major at the U.S. Open and the winning point for Europe at the Ryder Cup.

Second placed Keegan Bradley was at -14 under par for the tournament after his final round of -3 under par 69. Bo Van Pelt finished alone in third spot at -10 under par, with a last round of -2 under par 70.

Tournament host Tiger Woods finished tied in fourth place at -9 under par, with Jim Furyk and Rickie Fowler, Tiger admitted he had struggled a bit this week;

“I struggled with my game a little bit this week, I just managed myself well to get around in these conditions. It’s been a long year, and I’ve played a lot, and just really looking forward to a break. Just having nothing to do with golf for a few weeks, just put the clubs away, enjoy the holidays, be with my kids and just really enjoy that. Then after that I’ll start cranking back up again and start focusing on my shots.”

Tiger Talks on Rory’s Club Switch

Rory & Tiger in China/ Wu/ Getty Images

Tiger Woods certainly knows about equipment change, he himself switched from Titleist to Nike in 2000, starting with the Nike Golf Ball, and two years later also switched to Nike Clubs, so he is perfectly placed to advise Rory on the subject. Tiger knows it is a big deal, something that other golfers have not accomplished too well, most recently Rickie Fowler who had been using Titleist driver and irons switched to Cobra, and as yet has not fared too well. At the time of the switch Rickie said;

“Obviously they tried to put together something that was as close to the specs as before,” he said. “The shaft, weight, the swing weight, everything like that. It just took a few drivers to get the right setup with the loft and everything, and I’ve actually been hitting it really well, so hopefully this week I’ll be able to pump a few out there. I think they did a very good job preparing themselves and getting everything ready for testing. They did a very good job with the irons getting them similar and comparable to the ones I was playing before [Titleist 712 MB] so there really wasn’t a big transition there. They felt the same, flew the same, so it was basically like putting a new set of what I already had in the bag.”

Rickie and his Cobra equipment.

At the moment the clubs are not swinging quite the same for Rickie, and it appears it is that sort of conundrum that might affect Rory, this is what Tiger said;

” Any time you make a change in equipment, it’s certainly a big deal, going through the testing process, trying to get the right shaft, and the club head, plus the ball, it’s a challenge. Sometimes it’s taken almost a year, sometimes it’s taken just a few weeks. Is this equipment in general,  going to help me win golf tournaments? If the answer is yes, then it’s in the bag. If the answer is no, then it’s not. But when you get it right, it’s pretty good. It’s a huge process to get to that point, it was very time-consuming. It’s tiring quite frankly because it can take a long time, but it’s worth it in the end if you get it right.”

Michael Bannon, Rory’s swing coach has no doubts about the switch, he said;

“He’ll have no problems at all with new equipment. f you look at the clubs he is going to change to, all the shafts are the same. He is also going from blade to blade, which is quite an easy thing to do. The ball is fine, he just has to practice a wee bit more with it and get used to the feel of it. He has to play a few rounds of golf as well, which he hasn’t been able to do with new equipment yet. People overstate what the change could mean. It is something to talk about but I think this will be an easy transition for him. I don’t see it being a problem at all.”

The wonderfully attired late Payne Stewart suffered a season-long slump in 1994 after leaving Wilson for a lucrative deal with Spalding. I know of many friends who have switched clubs recently and some of them have fallen back, citing that  the new clubs do not play quite the same as the old ones, but they are certain things will get better. Lets hope for Rory’s sake the transition is as smooth as silk.

    

Payne Stewart in some of his colorful outfits, he could play well too.

DP World Tour Championship, Rory Signs Off in Style.

Race to Dubai Champion and DP World Tour Champion

Rory McIlroy/Getty Images

Rory McIlroy signed off on his remarkable season by winning the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates, Earth Course, on Sunday. Rory’s last round of -6 under par 66, gave him a tournament totel of -23 under par, two shots ahead of his nearest rival, who was Justin Rose. Rory said his year had been “Unbelievable.”  He had heard the cheers around the course as Justin came charging through the field, and watched as Justin birdied the last, the par five eighteenth from around 100 feet.

“I saw Justin make a charge, I heard the cheers, but to finish like that was great. I could not have wished for any better. To back up 2011 with another Major and to be part of an unbelievable story at the Ryder Cup has made it an incredible year. But hopefully I can emulate it or do even better next year! It’s an unbelievable feeling, I said I wanted to win both trophies this week and that is exactly what I’ve managed to do even though I didn’t get off to the best of starts with a bogey on the first. I knew I needed to do something special over the closing few holes, I really couldn’t have wished for a better ending. I made all the targets that I set for this year and I’m already looking forward to 2013. Today I went out with a target of 22 under par, which I thought would be enough to win so making it to 23 under par gave me a bit of a cushion.”

Justin’s compensation for his Earth Course record of -10 under par last round 62, and second place at -21 under par, is fourth spot in the World Golf Rankings, pushing down Lee Westwood, the first time Lee has been outside the top four in three years. He played the last six holes in -6 under par, and also has the memory of that 100 foot putt, that everybody thought was actually going in. It would have been even more miraculous than the Ryder Cup birdie against Phil Mickleson. The putt looked like it was going to stop at the top of the ridge, but then gently trickled down to the side of the hole, Justin summed it up as:

“Probably four Mickelsons, maybe five. I knew it was hero or zero there, I was one roll away from looking like an idiot. I actually got goosebumps. I thought it was going to go in for a second.”

Luke Donald went 102 holes without a bogey, but sadly finished his tournament with a last round of -1 under par 71, tied in third place with South African Charl Schwartzel, both completed the tournament at -18 under par.

But the day, and the year, belonged to Rory McIlroy, lets hope he can continue the good form next year. It is always hard to follow a really good year with another, and even more of a challenge for Rory, as he has decided to change his clubs for next year, no more Titleist, it is rumored he will now play Nike. Rickie Fowler has not played so well since his switch to Cobra, lets trust that Rory has not made the same mistake.

Miracle At Medinah Ensures a Healthy Future for the Ryder Cup

A Happy Justin Rose/Reuters

The Miracle at Medinah ensures a vibrant and healthy future for the Ryder Cup, some people are already committing to buying tickets for Ryder Cup 2014 in Scotland at Gleneagles.

The European Team have now won the Ryder Cup seven times in the last nine events, some people have suggested that the Trans-Atlantic showdown, while always hugely anticipated affair, has become a bit of a lop-sided affair. This not so true, the reality of the last three matches between the two teams has underlined how close the contests have become.

Back in 1999 in Kentucky  the then Captain Paul Azinger, inspired the Americans to deliver in some style as they beat Europe by 16-1/2 points to 11-1/2 points. The Americans  were beaten in Wales two years ago, the margin of that defeat was another wafer-thin victory, 14-1/2 points to 13-1/2 for the Europeans.  The U.S.  visiting team again showed passion and cohesion, especially through Ryder Cup rookies such as Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler.

At  Medinah the separation between the teams was widely perceived by many observers to be non-existent, with some critics predicting an eventual tie, which it could have been if  Tiger Woods had insisted Francesco Molinari make the remaining short putt, instead of conceding it.

Rory McIlroy summed up the passion for the Ryder Cup;

” This is the most special and unique golf tournament we have, period. To bring this group of guys together, to all play for the same cause. We win together, we lose together, and luckily the last two Ryder Cups, we have won together.”

American newcomer Keegan Bradley was also ecstatic about The Ryder Cup, the Team spirit and partnering  his mentor Phil Mickelson;

“I’ve never really felt more on a team in my life. We are all very close, and it was just such an unbelievable week to share with these guys and the captains. It’s a week that I’ll never forget, and I’m going to be disappointed that we are not going to get together tomorrow to all get ready to play.”

So now it is over to Scotland, Gleneagles for the 2014 Ryder Cup, I wonder where we will all be come game time ?

The Winning European Team, not sure about those jackets !!!/picture AP

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Winning Team/AP