WGC-Accenture Match-Play, Rory & Tiger Fall at First Hurdle, Again !!

 

 

Rory & Tiger, early exits again. / Stan Badz/PGA Tour/ Getty Images

The WGC-Accenture Match-Play tournament brought two more early exits from Rory and Tiger at The Golf Cub at Dove Mountain, on the resumption of the first round today.

Shane Lowery defeated Rory McIlroy 1 up, Rory definitely seems to be having problems with his new equipment, Shane was feeling pretty good about his win;

“Obviously it was always going to be a tough match for me against Rory today, playing against the world No. 1. But I’m feeling quite good now, but it’s important not to get too high now because it’s only the first round, and I’ve got another match tomorrow and really looking forward to playing that.”

Rory admitted he just did not do enough to win the match;

“I didn’t make enough birdies in the end, Shane had a nice little stretch around part of the back nine. I hung in there, but I just didn’t do enough.”

Chucky Three Sticks defeated Tiger Woods 2 and 1, and said he knew he needed to play at his best to have a chance against Tiger;

“I knew I had to play my best to have a chance out there, he’s Tiger Woods and I was just happy to hang in there.”

Tiger felt he had played well;

“I didn’t really miss a shot today. We both played well, he made a couple of more birdies than I did. He played well, and he’s advancing.”

Luke Donald beat Marcel Siem 1 up. Marcel was making his World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship debut. He played well, but Luke said he did not worry when Marcel took the lead;

“I didn’t worry because I was hitting good shots still, I hit a couple of left shots on the back nine but drove it great today, hardly missed a fairway, hit a lot of solid iron shots and putted well. I obviously made it tough on him, too, and I just felt good about my game, so I wasn’t worried when I went 1 down on 12.”

There are still some first round matches to be completed, on Friday, before the second round can get under way.

Other notables winning today were Justin Rose, 2 and 1 over K.J. Choi; Ian Poulter, 2 and 1 over Stephen Gallacher; Martin Kaymer 2 and 1 over George Coetzee.

A loss for Lee Westwood at the hands of Raphael Cabrera-Bello after 19 holes, another poor result for Lee in this competition.

 

Omega Dubai Desert Classic, Stephen Gallacher Wins

 

Stephen Gallacher / Getty Images

Stephen Gallacher won the Omega Dubai Desert Classic at the Emirates Golf Course in Dubai on Sunday, with a final round of -1 under par 71, for a -22 under par total. Stephen won by three strokes from Richard Sterne who also had a last round of -1 under par and a tournament total of -19 under.

The defining moment came when Stephen holed his approach to the par four 16th, for his fifth eagle of the week to finally shake off the strong challenge of Richard. Obviously Stephen was delighted with his second European Tour win;

“I’m obviously delighted. I’ve holed four shots this week, but you’ve got to do that these days to win, you need that little bit of magic.”

Stephen is now  set to climb into the top 60 of the Official World Golf Ranking in time for the WGC-Accenture Match Play, and has a great chance to move into the top 50 in time for a Masters Tournament debut at Augusta National. It’s the only Major he has not competed in;

” It’s the only Major I’ve never played, I sit and watch it in the house with the kids every year and obviously it would be a dream to play there.  My plan at the start of the year was to try and get into the top 50 to try and make The Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in 2014.”

Richard Sterne was understandably upset at not being able to clinch victory here, but took some positives out of the week, he said the chip in Eagle at the 16th took the wind out of his sails;

” Second place is obviously pretty good, but when you’re tied for the lead and there’s one shot in it here and there. Everything swung around on 16 really, that took the wind out of my sails. I gave it as good a run as I could, I’m not too disappointed.”

Chile’s Felipe Aguilar and Dane Thorbjørn Olesen finished tied for third and England’s Lee Westwood was joint fourth after hitting his second shot into the water on the par five last hole.

 

Omega Dubai Desert Classic, Gallacher leads

Stephen Gallacher / Getty Images

Stephen Gallacher has a three shot lead at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic after the conclusion of the third round at the Emirates Golf Club. His round of -10 under par 62 included a  40 yard bunker shot on the last hole, that went in for an Eagle, and in doing so broke a 12 year-old record at this tournament set by Tiger Woods, for the lowest three round total. Stephen who is a  nephew of former Ryder Cup Captain Bernard Gallacher, has won only once in more than 400 European Tour events and that was nine years ago on home soil at St Andrews.

Stephen recalled the moment the bunker shot holed out;

“The moment I hit it it was either stiff or in, I’m excited and looking forward to tomorrow. I’m pretty familiar with his course, I come out here on holiday with the family. I struggled last week in Qatar and my driver cracked, but with the new one I’m hitting more fairways and I’ve putted really good.”

Richard Sterne who led by one stroke after the first two rounds, he opened this tournament with a 62, might have expected a 66 to keep him out in front, but he had to be content with second place at -18 under par.

Thorbjorn Olesen, from Denmark, is in third position, he is at -16 under par for the tournament, but at five shots back of the leader has a huge task if he wants to lift the trophy.

The title will belong to one of these three players, everyone else is too far back to make a serious challenge. Would be nice to see Stephen Gallacher claim his second European Tour title.

Omega Dubai Desert Classic, Richard Sterne Leads after Round Two

 

 

 

Richard Sterne / Getty Images

Richard Sterne birdied the final hole at Emirates Golf Club to secure a one shot halfway lead standing at -12 under par for the tournament, in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. Richard said the course was tough;

“The course was a lot tougher with the wind and the greens definitely firmed out a bit. I think it’s going to be quite tricky coming to the weekend. There’s a lot of guys bunched up and you’re going to have to play pretty well to be there on Sunday. I had a long time sitting at home watching all the guys and especially the South Africans winning, so it’s nice to be back in the action and to have a chance.”

Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher and two of The European Tour’s rising stars, Dane Thorbjørn Olesen and England’s Tommy Fleetwood, are just one shot back at -11 under par.

Former Challenge Tour winner Tommy Fleetwood, 22, has yet to drop a stroke and after a second round of 68 said;

“It’s just nice to be up there with all these great names.”

Stephen Gallacher is also delighted to be in the hunt for the title;

“It was a lot trickier with the wind switching all over the shop and I’m delighted to be still in the hunt.”

 

Foot-note:

Apparently Dubai has no proper sewerage system, this report is from FeedingTruth.com:

The glittering supercity of Dubai has no sewage system. At least no underground sewage system…(VIDEO)

Posted By: MrFusion [Send E-Mail]
Date: Thursday, 16-Aug-2012 22:56:48

[Credit to lamamaba of STA for finding this...]
Rather than a sewage system, Dubai has more of a sewage caravan. Hundreds and hundreds of 10,000 gallon sewage trucks lined up for their turn to dump their loads into the ocean. Swimming on the beaches of Dubai is not recommended.

http://www.boreme.com/posting.php?id=31361

 

UBS Hong Kong Open. Maical Miguel Makes it Three

Magical Miguel Angel Jiménez makes it three wins at this event, the UBS Hong Kong Open, and he also became the oldest winner on the European Tour in history. Miguel’s tournament winning score was -15 under par, with a last round of -5 under par 65, to lift the trophy.

Miguel Angel Jiménez/ Getty Images

Miguel is six months older than Des Smyth was when he won the 2001 Madeira Islands Open, the victory was Miguel’s 19th on The European Tour and the 12th win since he turned 40, with two of which also came in Fanling in 2005 and 2008. Miguel, the  assistant Captain at The Ryder Cup at Medinah, said he hoped it was not his last victory;

“It’s very nice , I hope it’s not the last one, I really love this place. I love the golf course, it’s a great golf course where you have to control the ball very well, it’s not a matter of distance.”

Of his longevity playing golf Miguel admitted;

“This is maybe the olive oil in my joints, and the nice Rioja wine and those things keep you fit and flexible. The most important thing, I do what I like to do in my life, and golf has given me all of this pleasure. Winning now, at 48.  My goodness 24 years I’ve been on the Tour. I still love it and I think that is fantastic, to love what you’re doing, and enjoy yourself, keep fit, keep working myself a little bit and stretching a lot, and that’s the main thing to do to compete with the new guns. “

Fredrik Andersson Hed , another veteran player, at 40, made a charge and could have got up to make it a play-off, but just came up short, claiming second place on his own at -14 under par, he rued a couple of missed birdies on the back nine that would have made the difference;

“I don’t think I’ve ever played better than I did today under pressure. There were a couple of loose shots on 15 and 16 that I got away with and made pars and then unfortunately couldn’t get the birdies in on 17 and 18. It always feels good to finish second in a golf tournament; you know you’ve done something good. It’s a pity I couldn’t get one of the putts on the last two holes to put a little bit more pressure on him on the last hole. He did fantastic, though, with a perfect tee shot, the perfect second shot and easy two-putt, so all credit to Miguel.”

Marcus Fraser was third at -12 under par, and tied for fourth was Peter Lawrie, who  sealed his place next week  at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai in the process, Scot Stephen Gallacher and the first of the young guns, 19-year-old Italian Matteo Manassero, last week’s Barclays Singapore Open champion, they finished at -11 under par.

The re-emerging Kiwi Michael Campbell, joint overnight leader with Miguel, and playing in the last pairing, fell away to joint eighth, with a sad last round of +2 over par.

Louis Oosthuizen Wins Maybank Malaysian Open

Louis Oosthuizen (Getty Images

Louis Ossthuizen won the Maybank Malaysian Open, putting behind him the disappointment of  The Masters defeat at the hands of Bubba Watson. Louis had  to overcome tiredness and jet lag from his long haul flight from Augusta to  to win by three shots at the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club. He mentioned the tiredness;

“I thought I was going to be a lot more tired, it was a long journey to get here and I have to be honest and say that I didn’t expect to play this well because of the tiredness. The one thing I did know was that the game was there so that helped a lot. I was pretty tired at points in those first couple of rounds but overall it has been great and I am over the moon with the result. On Thursday I knew the game was there,  it was just a question of whether or not I would be able to go all the way physically. Having a good week this week was important and playing well. I didn’t want to come here and play bad but to win means a lot because I have been playing well for the last few weeks now and to win gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the season.”

Three shots back in second place was Stephen Gallacher,  the 2004 Dunhill Links Championship winner was still delighted with his week’s work, but is still waiting for his second Tour win. He had a dodgy moment when he signed for a wrong score, but after it was sorted out he settled down to play well. The confusion came in the storm delayed third round when he signed for a four rather than birdie three on his card.

Getty Images

“I’m pleased with myself, only a couple of bogeys throughout the whole week and even threw in a shot which wasn’t there. Signed for a wrong score this morning. Apart from that, I kept my head. I’m quite proud of myself for that. I thought I signed it properly. Signed for a 69 when I shot a 68 . I only found out when I was at the first tee. I thought I was tied for the lead, and then was one behind but luckily it didn’t affect me that much. It’s one of those things that you learn. It didn’t cost me much. I played lovely, really good. It was just a battle , it was really hot and I’m absolutely shattered. That’s what you want to be in the last round , last group, second last group , that’s what you want to do. The more you do it, the more chances you can knock a couple off. It was a phenomenal performance [by Louis] after last week. I thought he may get tired today and obviously he didn’t. Fair play to him, he played great.”

Louis Oosthuizen leads at completed third round @ Maybank Malaysian Open

Louis Oosthuizen (Getty Images)

Louis Oosthuizen lead the Maybank Malaysian open after the completion of the storm affected third round at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.

Danny Willett and Rafael Cabrera-Bello both enjoyed early birdies to move into a share of second with Stephen Gallacher. A lot  time was lost to lightning storms on days two and three, the final round was underway immediately. Will catch up with this tournament later in the day, to see who finally comes out on top.