Tag: PGA Tour

Golf: Hyundai Tournament of Champions Preview

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It’s great to see tournament golf in Hawaii. It’s even better when the tournament is sanctioned by the PGA Tour and features only those players that have had a win in the previous season. Marking its 13th consecutive PGA Tour stop the Hyundai Tournament of Champions (TOC) is a nice way for golf to begin in 2015. Part of the wraparound 14/15 season the Hawaii stop still gifts 500 FedEx Cup points to the winner, but for most of the players it’s a chance to blow out the cobwebs after a holiday break.

Although some notable players are missing out – Rory, Rose, Scott, and Kaymer – to name but a few, the field still features a strong list of (obviously winners) but also seven of the top twenty ranked players.

The Course

The Plantation Course at Kapalua measures 7,452 yards, with just three Par 3’s. The course has views of sea and mountain in West Maui. The wind can get up on the exposed course but more often than not it’s hot for all four days. The course is one of the first Bill Coore/Ben Crenshaw collaborations.

The Sound Bites

“I know you can count on the weather being perfect out there,” he said. “Plus, coming from the East Coast, it gets me a little more acclimated to West Coast time and closer to Hawaii time.” – Matt Kuchar explaining why he’s making the trip

“I feel like the only thing I did was work out. I was really focused on trying to get in good shape and get this year off to a good start.” – Jason Day leaving out his anniversary when outlining his holiday period.

The Defending Champion

Zach Johnson was the defending champion when we last previewed a PGA Tour event, and he’s also the defending champion of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

The Contenders*

Matt Kuchar – $8.00

Russell Henley – $9.00

Jimmy Walker – $9.00

Zach Johnson – $13

Sang-Moon Bae – $15.00

Geoff Ogilvy – $126.00

*Hyundai Tournament of Champions odds courtesy of Sportsbet Australia.

The Winner

It’s likely to be a very low score that wins this week so look for guys that are consistent in all facets of their game. Games that can’t gather too much rust. That’s why we’re picking Zach Johnson to go back to back. We’ll also throw some money at two time winner and Aussie favourite Geoff Ogilvy.

 

 

Golf: Spieth wins by ten, Woods last

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Jordan Spieth capped off a remarkable fortnight by winning his second consecutive golf tournament at the Hero World Challenge.  Against an elite field featuring 18 of the World’s top ranked golfers, Spieth pulled away on day 3 and strolled home to win by a massive ten shots.

Both of Spieth’s wins (the other came at the Australian open) featured a display of control around the greens that had to be seen to be believed, especially around such tight lies and slippery putting surfaces.  The Hero World Challenge win featured rounds of 66, 67, 63 and 66, and reinforces Spieth position as a star of the future.  At just 21, Spieth has already chalked up three professional wins to go with his celebrated amateur career.  His future looks set to include a plethora of further wins, probably in golf tournaments he has had to go toe-to-toe with Rory McIlroy in.

Spieth was ten shots better than Henrik Stenson (69), with Keegan Bradley (70) and Patrick Red (68) a shot further back.

The win was record breaking for a number of reasons:

– Spieth’s 26-under broke the tournament record of 266 set by Woods in 2007 and Davis Love III in 2000, both at Sherwood Country Club in California;

– The victory margin of ten shots broke Tiger Woods’ tournament record of seven shots that Woods had in 2007; and

– His victory is the biggest margin in golf in 2014.

At the other end of the tournament leaderboard was Tiger Woods, returning to golf for the first time since the PGA Championship at Valhalla in August.  Tiger battled an opening 77, a fever, and a horrific short game to record two sub-par scores on his former home course.  He mixed some decent golf with some expected rustiness in a tournament where he only briefly left last position.  The silver lining for him was the ability to make aggressive swings pain free.

Spieth though got his 2014 wish of two wins.  What look improbable only a few weeks ago became a reality; a familiar one too as he strode down the 18th hole at Isleworth with a big lead, just as he had done in his amateur career.

Golf: Woods’ return the Hero of World Challenge

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The obvious talking point of the Hero World Challenge is the return of Tiger Woods.  The highest profile player in the history of golf marks his return to professional golf with a new swing coach and a remodelled golf swing.  Woods has been absent from all golf since August, so it’s fitting he returns at the tournament that supports his charitable foundation and that he has won five times.

The event features a field of only 18, hand-picked by Woods himself.  However, the field is still full of high quality players including Jordan Spieth who won in Australia last week, Bubba Watson, and Jason Day, who is also returning from a back injury and paired with Woods for the first two rounds.

The quality of the field is evidenced by the spreading on offer at Ladbrokes Australia.  Only $34 separates the best and worst odds offered for the tournament winner, and while the competitiveness will be interesting to watch, most eyes will be on Tiger as they always are when he plays in golf tournaments.

Can he find a swing that fits his ageing body?  Can he return to a more fluid and comfortable swing?  Can he go low?

All will be answered at the Hero World Challenge Golf tournament starting today.

The Course

Moving away from the famous Sherwood Country Club, the Hero World Challenge is now being hosted at the Isleworth Golf & Country Club.  Isleworth’s signature 18-hole championship course, was originally designed by Arnold Palmer before being enhanced by Steve Smyers in 2003.  The course is built on rolling terrain and features greens that are generous, undulating and fast, earning its title as the toughest and longest course in the state by the Florida State Golf Association.

The Sound Bites

“We looked at a lot of video from when I was a junior – even when I came out there and had some really nice years where I hit the ball really well. We went back to some of those old videos and really looked at it.” – Tiger Woods on his new swing under coach Chris Como.

“It looked a lot freer, didn’t look like he was getting in his way. It looked like it was on a better path.” – Steve Stricker on Woods’ new swing.

“It looked great to me, I’m glad he’s playing.” – Zach Johnson on Woods.

The Defending Champion

Zach Johnson won last year in a bizarre playoff finish. Johnson holed out for an unlikely par to get there and then Tiger Woods missed a clutch putt (you don’t say that often) to hand him the title.

The Field*

Henrik Stenson – $7.00

Justin Rose – $7.50

Bubba Watson – $8.50

Rickie Fowler – $10.00

Jordan Spieth – $10.00

Tiger Woods – $13.00

Jason Day – $15.00

Matt Kuchar – $15.00

Hideki Matsuyama – $15.00

Graeme McDowell – $15.00

Chris Kirk – $23.00

Jimmy Walker – $23.00

Billy Horschel – $26.00

Hunter Mahan – $26.00

Keegan Bradley – $29.00

Zach Johnson – $34.00

Patrick Reed – $34.00

Steve Stricker – $41.00

*Hero World Challenge Golf odds courtesy of Tom Waterhouse

The Winner

Hard to go past Speith, Watson or Stenson.  But don’t discount McDowell – he’s won the event twice.

Golf: Spieth conquers The Australian, wins Open

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How good is Jordan Spieth going to be?

Well, if Sunday’s final round of golf in the Australian Open is anything to go by, then damn good.  The 21-year-old American shot a course record 63 to completely dominate the local challengers and seal victory by a mammoth 6 shots.  His bogey-free final round at the otherwise difficult course separated him from a host of well known local players including Rod Pampling, Brett Rumford, Adam Scott, Robert Allenby and Greg Chalmers.

The Australian course proved too much for most of the field, bar Spieth who made it look tremendously easy with three consecutive birdies between 5 and 7, and back to back birdies twice on the back nine.  Spieth’s impeccable putting within ten feet and his unflappable scrambling were the standout features of his golf.  Inevitably the unflappable nature of the Titleist player’s closing issued a seriously strong statement to other top ranked golfers.

Golf’s best player issued a remarkable complement on Twitter saying, “you could give me another 100 rounds today at The Australian and I wouldn’t sniff 63…. Well done @JordanSpieth very impressive!”  Illustrating the difficulty that he and others faced on the wind swept course.  His weekend scores of 76 and 72 further highlighted his struggles, yet he still finished in a tie for 15 with other notables Boo Weekley and Steven Bowditch.

Pre-tournament favourite Adam Scott couldn’t quite build the momentum that is necessary to win golf tournaments.  His 4-under total was never going to be enough, and he will understandably rue his horror opening nine of 40 for curtailing his chances.

Spieth though; moves to 11th in the World Rankings; records his second win of his career; proves that he can go really low under pressure and in difficult conditions; and emphatically answers the writer’s first question – he’s as good as anyone and along with Lydia Ko and Rory McIlroy one of the most exciting youngsters in the game.

BetEasy Masters Preview

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Australia’s action packed golfing summer gets properly underway today with the first round of the BetEasy Masters.  While the Australian Open will also see a quality International field embark upon Australia, the BetEasy Masters filed has a quality look to it, including several strong performing Americans.  Boo Weekley is arguably the most well known, having won three times on the PGA Tour.  He’s making the trip to Australia for the first time and is being heavily backed by the BetEasy Masters punters.  Of the local hopes, the obvious onus falls on World number 2, Adam Scott.  Any Scott rustiness (he hasn’t played for weeks) should evaporate over the four days.  Scott is simply too good a ball striker, too experienced in Australian conditions, and too calm not to feature on the BetEasy Masters leaderboard come the business end of the tournament.

The Course

Despite an impressive list of tournament hosting duties, including the World Matchplay Championship in 2001, Melbourne’s Metropolitan Golf Club hosts the BetEasy Masters for the first time.  The highly regarded sandbelt course is widely recognised as one of the greatest competitive courses in Australia.  This week it aims to test a strong field using its bent grass greens and 96 bunkers to protect itself from scoring that could threaten to match the high temperatures forecasted.

The Dick Wilson and J B MacKenzie co-designed course has, in total, hosted seven Australian Opens, five Australian P.G.As, ten other Professional tournaments and in 2001 hosted the Australian Amateur Championship for the fifth time.

The Sound Bites

“It’s a neat golf course. I never played a golf course that had bunkers that ran off or the green that ran off into the bunker.  It’s one of them ones that’s going to be in the Top 10 of golf courses that I ever played.” – Boo Weekley

“But like I said, there’s 120 odd other guys here who also have that dream, and I’m sure there’s going to be tough competition this week” – Adam Scott

The Defending Champion

Adam Scott – Two time defending champion after wins at Kingston Heath in 2012 and Royal Melbourne in 2013.  BetEasy have him as the $3.25 favourite.

The Field

a. Notable Australians*

Stuart Appleby and Steven Bowditch – $23 Beteasy

Oliver Goss – $67 Beteasy

Geoff Ogilvy – $15 Beteasy

Geoff Ogilvy – $26 Beteasy

 

b. Notable Internations*

Boo Weekley (USA) – $26 Beteasy

Kyle Stanley (USA) – $34 Beteasy

Zac Blair (USA) – $26 Beteasy

 

The Outsiders

Michael Hendry (NZ) – $51 Beteasy 

Bronson La’Cassie (AUS) – $101 Beteasy

Nathan Green (AUS) – $51 Beteasy

 

Experience Prevails at PGA Tour’s OHL Classic

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New Zealand’s Danny Lee was the early star of the final day of the PGA Tour’s OHL Classic.  The 24 year-old scorched around the front nine in 7-under 29 to lead by one at the turn.  His run included 7 straight birdies, but his game eventually fell away under the pressure of a difficult back nine and the thought of winning for the first time.  His round was curtailed with a bogey at 12 (even with a long range putt to save bogey).  Unfortunately, Lee is a streaky player, which means he either makes lots of birdies or lots of bogeys and struggles to plug bad runs.  In what professionals call a dreaded ‘two-way miss’, meaning he was losing shots both left and right in the closing stages, his exciting challenge collapsed and he finished in a tie for 3rd.

His nearest competitor throughout most of the final day was another third year PGA Tour player, Shawn Stefani.  Stefani who went into the final round one behind the leader also went low on his front nine, posting a 3-under 33.  But for Lee’s front nine fireworks, Stefani may have been well clear of the field at the turn.

However, Stefani made errors too, whacking a ball in the hazard on the easy 13th to make bogey and see his momentum fade.

Without a clear winner eventuating, Charley Hoffman took his opportunity (and a fortuitous  break on 13) to take the outright lead after another Danny Lee bogey on 15.  Hoffman’s previous PGA Tour experience including wins in 2007 and 2010 was a critical factor in pulling away from his younger foes.  A birdie on 13 and glorious chances on 14 and 15 should have been enough to break his four year winless drought on the PGA Tour.  In the end, it was a birdie on 15 that clinched the title courtesy of a precision approach, despite only leading by one going into the 18th (and making bogey that included a left handed swing).

Hoffman wins a 2 year PGA Tour exemption, an invitation to the Masters, and jumps up to 6th in the FedEx Cup standings.

Of our predictions, Carlos Ortiz (T9 ) was the best, followed by Billy Hurley III (T23), Robert Streb (T37), and Hudson Swafford (T51).  Although we did pick Danny Lee two weeks ago.

Golf entertainment during the holiday period comes courtesy of a couple of hit and giggle events, but for the main, the PGA Tour takes a break for the rest of the year and returns with the Sony Open in Hawaii on 15 January.