Tag: Rory McIlroy

Australian Open Preview

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The duel between the World’s best golfers is the obvious talking point of the Emirates Australian Open starting Thursday.  The pair meet again at the Australian Open after an enthralling final round in the same tournament a year ago, and despite not being paired together for the first two rounds are destined to be the focal points of much of the tournament coverage.  Competing for attention are a host of local journeymen (Allenby, Appleby, Ogilvy), some younger starlets (Oliver Goss, Cameron Smith), and overseas visitors (Jordan Speith).  The result of which should be an epic Australian Open.

The Course

The patriotically named host of the Australian Open is one of Australia’s most exclusive golf clubs.  The Australian is old too; potentially the oldest in Australia, just beating out Royal Melbourne and Royal Sydney.  The private members course, that is only available to join by invitation only, has hosted countless Australian Open’s, including the first tournament in 1904.  In doing so, the course has seen the best players in the World vie for the Stonehaven Cup, in what many pros think should be the fifth major.  The likes of Nick Faldo, Raymond Floyd and Jack Nicklaus have all visited and rated the course highly; Niklaus even etching his name on the silverware in the process.  The most recent Australian Open winner at the 6610m, Par 72 course was current joint course record holder, Craig Parry.

The Sound Bites

“I just remember it as a long, tough, demanding golf course and that suits me” – Adam Scott

“I’ve spent more than a year of my career at number one, so if I’m not used to it by now, then there’s something wrong. I enjoy it. It’s where I want to be. I want to be the best in the world and I want to keep it for as long as I can” – Rory McIlroy

The Defending Champion

Rory McIlroy – Last year Rory McIlroy made a birdie at the final hole to stop Australia’s Adam Scott from completing a rare triple crown of Australian wins.  McIlroy put a torrid year of management and equipment issues behind him to record his only win of the year at the Royal Sydney Golf Club.  Rory is paying just $3.50 at Luxbet to repeat his Australian Open win.

The Field

Notable Australians*

Adam Scott – $5

John Senden – $23

Geoff Ogilvy – $26

*Australian Open odds for local picks courtesy of Tom Waterhouse.

 

Notable Internationals*

Jordan Speith $12

Brendon de Jonge $34

Kyle Stanley $61

*Australian Open odds for International picks courtesy of Centrebet.

The Outsider

Rhein Gibson (Aus) – $51 – BetEasy

Nick Cullen Surprises Scott to Win BetEasy Masters

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Adam Scott’s stranglehold on the BetEasy Masters trophy was wrestled away by Adelaide’s unheralded Nick Cullen on Sunday.  The 30 year-old leftie was sitting just inside the World’s top 600 in the Official World Golf Rankings prior to the final round; a stark contrast to closest rival Adam Scott (T2) who as the second best player in the World was a $3.25 favourite to take the title last week. However, as the final round progressed, Cullen was looking the more composed,and the more likely of the many Australians on the first page of the leaderboard to win the BetEasy Masters title.

His 69, including a fine bunker shot on the 18th, which he later described as the best shot of his life, was enough for a one shot victory over Scott, James Nitties, and Josh Younger, with four others a further shot back at -7.   Scott needed a strong final round to contend and his 68 was just shy of being the perfect tonic.  He was slightly unfortunate to kiss the edge of the cup with a birdie try on the last that may have sent it to a playoff hole, but even the staunchest Scott fans couldn’t deny the former One-Asia Tour player a deserving title, even though he was denying Scott a BetEasy Masters three peat.

Interesting, Nick Cullen’s twin brother Dan Cullen played one test and five one day internationals for the Australian cricket team.  Now the family will be arguing which is the more prestigious achievement and finding room in the pool room for the BetEasy Masters trophy and the coveted gold jacket.

We imagine Cullen will put his BetEasy Masters $180,000 winners cheque to good use by having the gold jacket better tailored.  The diminutive Cullen looked like Paddington Bear playing dress up in an old mans wardrobe as he collected his oversized prize.

Of our predictions, Scott was quite predictably the best finishing.  Although, in our preview post we pretty much covered the entire field, so we don’t deserve too much credit there.

Adam Scott moves on to an Australian Open showdown against Rory McIlroy starting on Thursday.  We’ll preview the odds for that event later in the week.

Ben Martin Shrines on PGA Tour

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If you’re lucky, one of the takeaways from a trip to Las Vegas is a massive wad of cash (the unlucky, is undoubtedly an invoice from a night of what you thought was reciprocal passion).  Ben Martin understands the financial beauty of Vegas now, as the winner of the PGA Tour’s Shriners Hospital Open last weekend he walked away with $1,116,000 (USD).  The jackpot also came with 500 FedEx Cup points, which skyrockets Martin up to 1st equal in the FedEx Cup standings.

The win capped off a remarkable turnaround for unheralded Martin.  During a run in April Martin missed seven of eight cuts.  In the 2014/14 PGA Tour opener he was the second worst player in the field.  Even at the Shriners he was scrambling poorly (only got up and down 4-of-13 times), and in the final round was struggling with the putter (until 16 he had only made one putt over 3 feet – he then bombed an eagle and closed 18 with a 19 footer).

Of note:

– Rookie Tony Finau played well again.  The huge hitter is right at home on the PGA Tour.  T12 at the Frys.com and T7 at the Shriners.

– Two time leukemia battler Jarrod Lyle used a sponsors exemption nicely to again make a cut.  He finished T42 and now heads to Australia to compete in the popular Triple Crown (including Rory McIlroy defending his Australian Open title).

– Wes Roach birdied 8 of his first 9 holes on Thursday at the Shriners.  The run didn’t last though; he made just 10 more over the rest of the week to also finish T42.

The McGladrey Classic

The move to Georgia this week is not to Augusta unfortunately.  However, the Sea Island Golf Club near Brunswick is still a beautiful PGA Tour venue.  The Seaside course is a picturesque oceanside layout featuring creeks, dunes and marshland.  Notwithstanding, the strong filed (of which 87 are making their third starts of the season), the test for the players will be in the difficulty in pulling away from the filed under the stigma of the McGladrey title.  In the four PGA Tour McGladery tournaments all of them have been decided by one shot or less; a playoff here looks a distinct possibility.

A local winner is also strong possibility; the field features locals Chris Kirk, Matt Kuchar, Zach Johnson.

Top Picks

Chris Kirk – $17 – Unibet

Russell Knox – $34 – Tom Waterhouse (E/W)

Webb Simpson – $13 – Unibet

Zach Johnson – $26 – Centrebet (E/W)

Scott Brown – $34 – Luxbet

If anything Ben Martin’s stats from the Shriners prove just how difficult it is pick a winner on the PGA Tour.  But this week lets go with Russell Knox.  He makes the cuts at the Seaside course; led the field last week in Par 4’s and finished solo 3rd.

Ryder Cup Preview and Predictions

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Ryder Cup Preview

With no Tour golf to focus on the golfing World shifts its attention to the three day masterpiece that is The Ryder Cup.  The 2014 addition will be held at Gleneagles in Scotland, with many pundits asking whether the Americans can win their first Ryder Cup since 2008.  The answer to that question is, much like the result of the recent Scottish referendum on independence, likely to be ‘no’.

The Americans simply do not play good team golf. Phil Mickelson is an exceptional golfer but his Ryder Cup record is a poor 14 wins from 38 matches. Tiger’s record is similarly average – he’s won 13 of 33.  On the other hand the Europeans thrive in the pressure cooker.  Ian Poulter is the perfect example of passion.  His Ryder Cup record is impeccable – never having lost a point a singles match (12 wins and three losses in total).

Let’s look at both of The Ryder Cup teams:

Team USA

Captained by Tom Watson the team features a nice mix of Ryder Cup veterans (Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson) and up and coming youngsters.  The youngsters in this group who have featured prominently in majors and tour golf this year may well provide the impetus the dour Americans desperately need.  Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson, Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth, and Rickie Fowler are all under 30 and should have the requisite enthusiasm based on their solid years and the fact that most of them have played recent golf in the FedEx Cup playoffs.

The one positive of the US side is that without home advantage viewers won’t have to put up with the aggressive chants of USA after every shot.

Team Europe

Paul McGinley leads a European team that is littered with top 20 golfers.  Rory McIlroy who is rightly the first player mentioned when it comes to discussing the European team is joined by Garcia, Stenson, Rose and Kaymer.  All of whom have played some exceptional golf at times this year.  Add to the mix Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, and Rookie of the year nominee Victor Dubuisson and the European team will again be hard to topple.

On paper the Europeans look to have the advantage.  They ooze confidence and have historically found a way to use the home advantage and momentum to their benefit.

Predictions

Bet365 are offering a number of options on this weeks play.  Here’s where I would be focusing my attention.

Top Debutant – Debutants don’t always see a lot of action and Jordan Spieth is attracting the bulk of the money, but I wouldn’t look past Victor Dubuisson (9/2).  Three top 10s in the Match Play Championship, The Open and The PGA highlights his incredible season.

Top Combined Points Scorer – Picking one player from 24 when they’re effectively the best players in the World this year is no easy feat. Poulter’s record is incredible.  Rory is in fine form and has been driving the ball beautifully.  Furyk and Kuchar are incredibly solid and would make highly sought after teammates. Interesting I’m picking Sergio (8/1).  Although short odds, Sergio’s team record is strong he just plays singles poorly.  I’m backing him to turn it around.

Correct Points Score – Like predicting how many women Shane Warne has bedded, but lets’ try Europe to win the Ryder Cup 15-13 (15/2).

The Tour Championship and PGA Tour Review

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The culmination to the PGA Tour season is always a confusing affair. With all the talk about bubbles and projected standings it can get a little tricky working out whether your favourite player has the opportunity to win the coveted FedEx Cup, not to mention if they’ll even make it through to the next event.

Luckily, with Billy Horschel’s win in the season ending Tour Championship we don’t need to worry anymore. Instead we can look forward to the passion and prestige of the Ryder Cup, set to begin at Gleneagles on the 23rd of September.

But before we start predicting whether the USA can prevent a Europe three peat, let’s take a look at the Tour Championship and review the 2013-14 PGA Tour season. 

The Tour Championship 

Held at Eastlake in Georgia the final event of the season is played by only the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings and comes with an excellent purse of $8 million. (The FedEx Cup too comes with a $10 million bonus.)

The Eastlake course was the home of the legendary golfer Bobby Jones, and while none of the current field have reached his lofty heights (seven majors), two players playing pretty great golf of late were locked in a gripping final round battle.

Coming in to the final event at number 2 and number 4 in the FedEx Cup standings, Billy Horschel and Rory McIlroy could both get their hands on the FedEx Cup with a win. Paired together for the final day the two were expected to buck the trend of 4th round conservatism. However, with only Jim Furyk (and he hasn’t had a win since 2010) offering any real challenge the two could play match play of sorts – winner takes all. Rory’s challenged was effectively over on the sixth when he found water and when Horschel signed for a 12th consecutive round in the 60’s the double was his.

It was, on reflection, a wonderful achievement from a guy who started the playoffs in 69th position and before today was best known for being a bit of a hot head. Today’s win makes him a good pick for next year’s events and a sleeper for the majors.

The PGA Tour Season

It’s admittedly hard to think back to October 2013 when the season started, not because of too many gold rum and cokes, simply because of the sheer number of tournaments and the musical chair winner’s circle that the PGA Tour entails. Having said that there were some players and some moments that stood out.

Jimmy Walker dominated the early stages thanks to thee wins (at the Frys.com Open, the Sony Open, and the AT&T at Pebble Beach) and sat in pole position for the post-season events. Bubba Watson won twice including his second Masters title. Lots of Aussies enjoyed wins (Adam Scott, John Senden, Matt Jones, Jason Day, Steven Bowditch, Geoff Ogilvy, and as a nation they won the World Cup of Golf). Tiger spent most of season on the operating title, and Rory dominated every golf story in the latter part of the season, both for his golf and for the abrupt halt to his engagement.

Outside of the golf, Dustin Johnson had his ‘issues’. Adam Scott got married in secret and broke the hearts of a host of female fans. McIlroy’s dad, Gerry, got in on the action too by netting a huge payout from a ten-year-old bet, predicting his son would win an Open Championship.

Looking ahead to 2014-15 here are a few predictions:

  • Tiger won’t win a major. Rickie Fowler will.
  • Anthony Kim (remember him) will return to the game. But will be terrible.
  • More pros will throw away their anchored putters in preparation for the 2016 ban.

US PGA Championship 2014 Preview

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Jim Furyk did us proud at the British Open with a healthy each-way return at odds of 70-1. Dustin Johnson was also in the firing line at 40-1 until fading on the final day so what can we conjure up for this week’s US PGA Championship.

The 96th US PGA takes place at the dramatically named Valhalla with many scribes already prepared to hand a second major of the season to Rory McIlroy. Spain’s Sergio Garcia must be sick of the sight of McIlroy having been runner-up to him in the past two events. I am never keen on backing golfers at single figure prices unless it is a matchplay event so we must look elsewhere for some value.

A whole host of big names played well at The Bridgestone Invitational including Keegan Bradley (T4th), Justin Rose (T4th) and Rickie Fowler. Other significant contributions came from Graeme McDowell, Ryan Moore and Mark Leishman while Phil Mickelson (62) and Lee Westwood (63) ended the tournament in style.

The PGA has often produced an unexpected winner but Keegan Bradley hardly fits into that category these days. He won this event in 2011 and has since finished third and nineteenth. He has also produced good efforts at this year’s US Open and made the top twenty at the British Open.

The American challenge is likely to be strong with Furyk (top twenty in last four majors) and Fowler (top twenty in last three majors) also capable of featuring strongly this week. Unfortunately the bookmakers agree and they are both at much shorter odds than they were for Royal Liverpool. Furyk led by one going into the final round last year but was beaten by Jason Dufner. We could worse than invest some of our Open winnings at 40-1.

Lee Westwood has been poor this season and he has missed the cut in the last two majors. I cannot quite be convinced by a single round of 63. Instead, I am going to put up Graeme McDowell who has been in the top 15 in three of the last five PGA championships. He also played well last week and looks better each-way value.

Adam Scott could easily regain the world number one spot this week but that is reflected in his price and I’d sooner take a chance on his countryman Marc Leishman. He finished third at Bridgestone following a fine fifth place at the British Open and should give us a run for our money.

Keegan Bradley @33-1 Boylesports

Graeme McDowell @40-1 BetVictor

Jim Furyk @40-1 888Sport

Marc Leishman @50-1 Bet365

¼ odds, 1,2,3,4,5