Thursday, November 22, 2012

THIS WEEK'S GECKO PRO TOUR SCOREBOARD


FOR ALL THE SCORES FROM THIS WEEK'S SPANISH GECKO PRO TOUR EVENT AT TORREQUEBRADA

CLICK HERE

AND THEN SCROLL DOWN THROUGH THE LIST OF THE YEAR'S EVENTS UNTIL YOU GET TO
NOVEMBER 
THEN CLICK ON 20-21 TORREQUEBRADA 

Labels:

RYDER CUP CAPTAINCy: I WAS UNLUCKY, SAYS FALDO, OLAZABAL WAS LUCKY

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By JAMES CORRIGAN 
There are lucky Ryder Cup captains and unlucky Ryder Cup captains. Of this Sir Nick Faldo has no doubt. But he is not sure if there are good captains and bad captains. 
Many will believe Faldo (pictured) would think that, considering his standing as the only Europe captain to lose this century. 
That defeat in Kentucky dares to stand out on a CV which features six majors and a longer successive spell at world No 1 than all but Tiger Woods With every passing blue and gold glory, the sole loss in six matches inevitably gains more notoriety. 
It is fair enough to say Faldo has endured enough of the light swinging above his head. 
“I do get sick about the ongoing inquisition,” he said. “It’s four years ago, it’s gone. The bottom line is we went there and played and were outplayed and got beaten. It was about professional golfers competing. But no, it was all my fault.” 
To Faldo it is fairly simple. His top three players did not perform. 
“When Sergio [Garcia] says to me after the first day, ‘Excuse me ladies, I’m f----- , I don’t want to play any more,’ that’s a belter for a captain. ‘Uh, you’re one of my main guys and you don’t want to play? Terrific, great, thanks’. 
"How do you deal with that one? 
"Then I had [Padraig] Harrington exhausted and [Lee] Westwood, who was in a different place. They were my top three players and gave me 1½ points. It’s pretty tough to do anything with that. That’s the fact, but as a captain you get walloped with other stuff.” So there was the lack of assistant captains, the lack of inspirational speeches and poor communication-management skills. 
As one of British sport’s most self-driven of champions, Faldo plainly is baffled by the criticisms from certain players on his team.
 “As a golfer you go there to compete and all that matters is playing the match,” he said. “So it’s hard work for a captain when you get all sorts of things blamed on you afterwards. 
"But then I did pick [Poulter], which I also got slaughtered for when I named him. And he went on to win four points out of five, which was then the best return for any wild card. Hey, my claim to fame. The only decent thing I did all week.” 
Faldo does sarcasm well. It has helped him earn millions as one of American TV’s premier golf analysts. He was there at Medinah six weeks ago when Jose Maria Olazabal’s men pulled off the greatest comeback in the event’s history. And he recognises the absurdity in the captain’s narrative.
 In the background, Peter Hanson was furious for playing only once, while Paul Lawrie complained about the lack of information being handed down from management. 
“Look at Ollie on the Friday and Saturday,” said Faldo. “Ollie was p----- off and told them they were not playing to their expectations. There was an awful lot going on. America had totally outplayed us. They were 10-6 up and if Poulter hadn’t have saved us it could have been a dreadful whitewash. 
"Ollie would have been labelled a terrible captain and rightly he would have said, ‘No I’m not taking all the blame’. 
"To some things, you have to put your hand up and say we could have done differently. But essentially it comes down to moments from individuals on the course.” 
And yes, Faldo does believe fortune plays a heavy hand in those three days when golf enters the spotlight of the Premier League or NFL. 
“Talk about lucky. Imagine if Rory [McIlroy] hadn’t made it to the first tee in the singles, if that police car he had to jump into hadn’t been there. It turned into a joke when he got there with 10 minutes to go, but if he hadn’t and everything had have unfolded the way it did, Rory would have cost Europe the Ryder Cup 
"Just think of the outcry. Rory would have been scarred for life and the finger would also have been pointed at the leadership and organisation. The whole thing would have been a disaster.” 
It turned out to be exactly that for America and for their captain, Davis Love. 
"But if Davis had put his arm around Phil Mickelson on the Saturday and said, ‘I know we said you’d only play four matches but we’ve got them on the ropes’ and persuaded him to play in the afternoon and they’d got a half then it would have been all over. It’s easy to discuss that now with hindsight. And it did help to make brilliant TV.” 
Didn’t it just. Not only on the Sunday but on the Saturday, too. While Europe slept on Poulter’s five finishing birdies which gave the visitors that most alluring of sniffs, Faldo held court in entertaining fashion on the Golf Channel. 
“We had a great night discussing how the impossible had suddenly become possible. David Feherty [Faldo’s former Ryder Cup team-mate who is also an analyst] came up with a fantastic line saying that after Poulter’s win the teams ‘were tied at 10-6’.
"We were sitting in a studio with a full moon behind us and during an ad break I asked the stats man, ‘When’s the last time there was a full moon during the Ryder Cup’? He looked it up and said, ‘You won’t believe this – it was in 1999 at Brookline [when America came from 10-6 down to win]’. So I went with this, saying, 
‘There’s something going on, there’s something in the air’. We could all feel it that night and we laid out what would have to happen. And it all did, just as we said. Incredible.”
Faldo is never shy to put himself into the story. Why should he be? He has appeared in more Ryder Cups than any other player (11), has won more Ryder Cup points than any other player (25) and since the war (the first one, that is) Faldo has won more majors than any other player from his continent.
And as the last player to win a major under the flag of St George he will remain central to England’s golfing story until the likes of Westwood, Poulter, Luke Donald or Justin Rose follow his example.
At least one of this quartet has sought him out for advice. 
“Luke came to me in the summer. He’d been torturing himself with his schedule and basically I told him to spend more time at the major venues. Did Luke do as I advised? No, he did he opposite. It was so funny,” said Faldo, with a laugh.
“1. I said don’t tell anyone you’ve been to see me – he did.
“2. You’re world No 1, don’t do 20 interviews saying you’re going to do this and that – he did.
“3. Get to Olympic [Club, venue for the US Open] as soon as possible, go for two days on a recce – he didn’t.
“4. With strategy on the golf course, par will be your friend, find a way to make a par and don’t hit it at the flag – he misses the cut.
“Luke was just lost with it all. I think he realised his preparation wasn’t right. He did a bit more at Lytham and I hope he does more again. He’s so good.”
Certainly Faldo would be interested in talking more with Donald. He would be happy to counsel any of the Europeans trying to break their major ducks.
“I’d love to do it. It’s more than just coaching. It’s not just bits of a swing – it’s the walking bits in the middle. You can talk all very well on the range, but unless you’ve stood there in a fairway you don’t know what it’s like when your guts are churning, your head is spinning, you have no saliva and you have to make a decision. I think I could help guys with that. They’ve got my number.”
For the amateurs, there is his book A Swing For Life, first published in 1995 but now updated. Faldo has knowledge to impart and clearly wants to, whether it is in his TV role, through literature or as a mentor. The game still fascinates him and although he is 55 he has not yet given up completely.
“I’m playing in a father-and-son event with Matthew in December and some of my academy coaches said can we train you properly. It’s been kind of fun. I’ve been getting into some old positions and it’s like ‘oh blimey’. We’re treating it seriously like real golfers and the competitive juices are starting to flow again.”
Enough to make an emotional return at next year’s Open at Muirfield, venue for his first major 25 years ago? “If this inspires me, you never know. But more as a journey, not as a mission. For the love of the game, if you like.”
A Swing For Life by Nick Faldo is published by Simon and Schuster, £19.99

Labels:

JACO VAN ZYL LEADS CAPE TOWN OPEN WITH A 67

FROM THE SUNSHINE TOUR WEBSITE
Jaco van Zyl braved the strong winds to card an impressive five-under-par 67 in the opening round of the Lion of Africa Cape Town Open.
His performance with just a single bogey on his card left him one stroke off the morning pace set by Mark Williams in the R2-million tournament at Royal Cape Golf Club which marks the return of the Sunshine Tour to the Mother City after an absence of 10 years.
He deposited his drive on the 18th just 50 metres from the pin as he rode the south-easter to make his final birdie of the day. “You’ve got to take what you can downwind, and hold on to whatever you’ve got into the wind,” he laughed.
The single bogey came on the 171-metre par-three eighth. “The wind was hard off the left, and I tried to hold it up against the breeze,” he said, “and I missed the green left. I couldn’t get it up and down, but my short game was really good.
“I made a lot of par-saves in the first nine holes, and I started hitting it nicely on the back nine,” he added.
Having turned at one-under after that bogey spoiled his two birdies, he proceeded to make four birdies on his way in to be easily the best player in the afternoon field as the wind picked up during the day.
“I’ve been playing nicely enough for the past couple of weeks, and to get that score in the wind and with the greens starting to get a little bit bumpy in the afternoon, I’m really happy,” he said.
Williams went out in the morning before the wind really picked up to its afternoon levels, and the man who won the Sunshine Big Easy Tour Final back in September grabbed his opportunity gratefully.
“One thing I did today,” said Williams, “was every time I made a mistake I managed to bounce back with a birdie and that always keeps your round going. It feels like you’re going lower and lower.
“I hit the driver really well, two-iron straight, so I kept the ball in play and that’s the most important thing. The greens are rolling superb and the course is set up nicely, so there are a lot of fair chances. If you don’t hit it great you’re not going to score well,” he said.
With Van Zyl one stroke behind him, a group of five players shared third at three-under-par 69: Toto Thimba, Colin Nel, Alan McLean, Andre Cruse and Darren Fichardt all positioned themselves nicely to take advantage of the slightly gentler winds forecast for the second round.
For Van Zyl, who had a three-month injury break in the middle of the year, it’s all about taking advantage of opportunities the Lion of Africa Cape Town Open offers as a new event:
 “The Sunshine Tour has expanded nicely. We’ve also got the Chase to the Investec Cup now, so there’s a lot to play for on one of the strongest tours in the world,” he said. 

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

CLICK HERE

Labels:

KPMG GOLF BUSINESS FORUM AT FAIRMONT ST ANDREWS NEXT JUNE

NEWS RELEASE
KPMG has announced the 2013 Golf Business Forum will take place at the Home of Golf, St Andrews, from June 3-5 next year.
Fairmont St Andrews will host the special 10th anniversary edition of the annual conference, which has become the most important golf industry event in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, bringing together up to 300 leading players from the golf, real estate, finance and tourism sectors from more than 40 countries.

Labels:

SCOTLAND COULD SCORE A DOUBLE WHAMMY IN PORTUGAL

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Scotland are set to pull off a dandy double in the PGAs of Europe international team championship  in Portugal.
With only Friday'# fourth round to go, Gareth Wright (West Linton), David Orr (Mearns Castle) and David Patrick (Elie Sports Club) lead by five strokes in the team race.

With Patrick struggling for a 76 and Wright slackening his hot pace of the first two rounds with a 71, Orr (pictured) raised his game to keep the Scots' challengers at bay.Orr, after rounds of 71 and 72, hit top form with a five-under-par 67 over the Alvor course to give the Scots a two-man third-day aggregate of 138 under the best two from three scores to count daily format.That put them on 16-under-par 416, five ahead of England  and nine shots behind defending champions France.
Gareth Wright leads the individual table with an eight-under-par tally of 208, one shot ahead of England left-hander Stuart Little with David Orr in third place on 210.


 PGAs OF EUROPE INTERNATIONAL TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Onyria Palmares Golf and Beach Resort, Algarve, Portugal.

 TEAM TOTALS 
Par 432 (6x 72)
416 SCOTLAND 137 141 138.
421 ENGLAND 137 144 140.
425 FRANCE 145 142 138.
428 HOLLAND 146 140 142.
433 GERMANY 145 144 144.
434 PORTUGAL 146 143 145.
439 iRELAND 143 149 147, SPAIN 150 143 146.
441 SOUTH AFRICA 144 151 146.
442 WALES 148 147 147.

445 SWEDEN, ITALY
447 POLAND
448 AUSTRIA
450 NORWAY
452 FINLAND
455 SWITZERLAND
450 BELGIUM, GERMANY
460 SLOVENIA, DENMARK
465 CZECH REPUBLIC
470 CROATIA
476 RUSSIA
484 ICELAND  

 LEADING INDIVIDUALS
 Par 216 (3x72)
208 Gareth Wright (Sco) 68 69 71.

209 Stuart Little (Eng) 70 71 68.
210 David Orr (Sco) 71 73 67.
211 Benjamin Nikolay (Fra) 73 72 66.
212 Robin Swane (Holl) 72 70 70, Steve Parry (Eng) 67 73 72

SELECTED SCORES 

217 David Patrick (Sco) 69 72 76 (T11).
219 David Gleason (Ire) 72 73 74 (14th).
220 Andrew Barnett (Wal) 75 74 71 (T15).
221 Craig Shave (Eng) 70 73 78 (17th).
223 David Ryan (Ire) 71 76 76 (T18).
224 Richard Dinsdale (Wal) 75 73 76 (T21).
225 John Kelly (Ire) 73 79 73 (T23).
229 Simon Edwards (Wal) 73 79 77 (T39).

Labels:

Copyright © Colin Farquharson

If you can't find what you are looking for.... please check the Archive List or search this site with Google