First, congratulations to Jim Furyk for his win on Sunday at the Transitions Championship. That big “whoosh” that you may be hearing is PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem breathing a sigh of relief that Furyk joins Els, Poulter, and Villegas as recent winners who might be recognizable to the more casual golf fan.
Another congratulations goes out to Team Lake Nona, for successfully defending their Tavistock Cup title on Tuesday, winning for the first time at Isleworth. Isleworth’s Nick O’Hern took the Payne Stewart Salver Award for lowest individual score, with a course-record-tying 65.
Now on to the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. The course was the most challenging non-major course in 2009, and while it has returned to a par-72 from last year’s par-70, it’s sure to have its challenges still awaiting a very strong field. I’ve got two “spotlight players” this week:
* Nick Watney. Watney finished 4th here last year, and also 4th at Tampa last week. His 2010 season started a bit slower than I’d expected, but he seems to be coming around now.
* Graeme McDowell. Regular readers know that I’m a bit partisan toward McDowell, but this is actually the first time I’ve picked him in 2010. His season also took a bit of time to warm up, but his game currently looks very solid. He played reasonably well here through the first two rounds last year, before fading on the weekend; however, his game seems to be holding up better through four rounds this year than it was at this point last year.
My Yahoo Fantasy Golf picks don’t feature a lot of the popular picks (Stricker, Mickelson, Dustin Johnson); I’ve used many of them several times already this year, and saving them for tournaments where I feel they’ll be better used.
“Front 4": Zach Johnson, Nick Watney, Robert Allenby, Graeme McDowell
“Bench team”: Stephen Ames, Pat Perez, Retief Goosen, John Senden
Last week was a pretty good week for picks. My spotlight players, Steve Stricker and Charlie Wi, finished 8th and 20th, respectively, and K.J. Choi proved an especially good B-pick, with his runner-up finish. My Yahoo team now has 1675 points, in the 76th percentile.
Best of luck to all!
Showing posts with label Graeme McDowell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Graeme McDowell. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Doral Diary: Sunday
The final day at Doral was sunny and beautiful. The wind was down from earlier in the week, though it was definitely still a factor. I not only “walked 26", I walked 27 today. I started out with Scott Verplank and Ross McGowan. After nine holes with them, I walked through the next two groups (Zach Johnson/Sergio Garcia and Brian Gay/Jason Dufner) and eventually walked the final four holes with Dustin Johnson and Kevin Na. After a break for lunch, I picked up my “usual suspect” Graeme McDowell and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano on their second nine and walked to the end. My observations:
* This is by far not the first time that I’ve mentioned it this week, but something MUST be done about slow play. I decided to forego a second nine with Verplank/McGowan largely out of frustration at their pace. There were times when I thought one of them was waiting for his lie to improve, or waiting for the right club to announce itself. Just hit the ball, guys; if it’s a bad lie, take your medicine and move on. As I walked ahead through the subsequent groups, I walked the entire par-5 12th hole without encountering a single player on the tee or on the green, and I wasn’t speed-walking. Kevin Na was pretty “deliberate” as well. Where’s John Paramore when we need him?
* Jason Dufner wins an award that no one wants to win from me: the Dude, There Are Children Present Award. Following a terrible shot on 13, he walked up the fairway letting loose a verbal tirade that featured two “F-bombs” and a few other high-level profanities, all of which were distinctly audible from at least 50 feet away. I understand frustration, but really wish that professionals would remember that there are often children within earshot and try to use a bit more discretion in their choice of words, or at least their volume level.
* It’s always nice to follow a player who’s having a great day, and being there for the second half of McDowell’s 66 was great. There was much cheering and general high energy. Unfortunately, Fernandez-Castano struggled at the same time and was clearly discouraged; it’s probably even tougher to have a bad day while your playing partner is having a good one.
* I was glad to see Ernie Els win the tournament. Ernie had been practicing late into the evenings after his rounds this week, and was at the course earlier in the mornings than most of his late-round counterparts. For those who counted him out, he’s still got a lot of game left.
It’s a sad thing to be leaving sunny south Florida and the golf course behind in the morning, but I’ll be reporting live again from Bay Hill for the final two rounds in two weeks. And, of course, my picks for the Transitions Championship will be up in a few days!
* This is by far not the first time that I’ve mentioned it this week, but something MUST be done about slow play. I decided to forego a second nine with Verplank/McGowan largely out of frustration at their pace. There were times when I thought one of them was waiting for his lie to improve, or waiting for the right club to announce itself. Just hit the ball, guys; if it’s a bad lie, take your medicine and move on. As I walked ahead through the subsequent groups, I walked the entire par-5 12th hole without encountering a single player on the tee or on the green, and I wasn’t speed-walking. Kevin Na was pretty “deliberate” as well. Where’s John Paramore when we need him?
* Jason Dufner wins an award that no one wants to win from me: the Dude, There Are Children Present Award. Following a terrible shot on 13, he walked up the fairway letting loose a verbal tirade that featured two “F-bombs” and a few other high-level profanities, all of which were distinctly audible from at least 50 feet away. I understand frustration, but really wish that professionals would remember that there are often children within earshot and try to use a bit more discretion in their choice of words, or at least their volume level.
* It’s always nice to follow a player who’s having a great day, and being there for the second half of McDowell’s 66 was great. There was much cheering and general high energy. Unfortunately, Fernandez-Castano struggled at the same time and was clearly discouraged; it’s probably even tougher to have a bad day while your playing partner is having a good one.
* I was glad to see Ernie Els win the tournament. Ernie had been practicing late into the evenings after his rounds this week, and was at the course earlier in the mornings than most of his late-round counterparts. For those who counted him out, he’s still got a lot of game left.
It’s a sad thing to be leaving sunny south Florida and the golf course behind in the morning, but I’ll be reporting live again from Bay Hill for the final two rounds in two weeks. And, of course, my picks for the Transitions Championship will be up in a few days!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Prediction: Omega Mission Hills World Cup
I don’t often make pre-tournament predictions of who I think will win a tournament (usually, I just have my “top picks”), but in the case of the Omega Mission Hills World Cup, I’m making an exception. Here are my predictions for the top two teams:
The winner: Team Ireland, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy. McIlroy is coming off yet another top-10 finish in the Dubai World Championship and a runner-up finish in the Race to Dubai, so the odds are already pretty good that he’ll put up a good showing in China this week. But after watching he and McDowell team up in the Vivendi Trophy a few months ago, I said that they would be the World Cup champions. They seem to be one of those teams that are nearly a “match made in heaven”, and while it’s still early, they could well be the next Ryder Cup “power pairing”, a la Olazabal/Ballesteros or Clarke/Westwood. I predict that Irish eyes will be smiling on Sunday.
The runner-up: Team England, Ross Fisher and Ian Poulter. Fisher and Poulter both have wins in the last few weeks: Fisher won the Volvo World Match Play Championship the same week that Poulter won the Barclays Singapore Open. They may be the most solid team in the field, in terms of each individual’s performance lately. Ireland gets my nod because they’re more established as a pairing, but I think England will keep it very close and very interesting down to the wire.
The winner: Team Ireland, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy. McIlroy is coming off yet another top-10 finish in the Dubai World Championship and a runner-up finish in the Race to Dubai, so the odds are already pretty good that he’ll put up a good showing in China this week. But after watching he and McDowell team up in the Vivendi Trophy a few months ago, I said that they would be the World Cup champions. They seem to be one of those teams that are nearly a “match made in heaven”, and while it’s still early, they could well be the next Ryder Cup “power pairing”, a la Olazabal/Ballesteros or Clarke/Westwood. I predict that Irish eyes will be smiling on Sunday.
The runner-up: Team England, Ross Fisher and Ian Poulter. Fisher and Poulter both have wins in the last few weeks: Fisher won the Volvo World Match Play Championship the same week that Poulter won the Barclays Singapore Open. They may be the most solid team in the field, in terms of each individual’s performance lately. Ireland gets my nod because they’re more established as a pairing, but I think England will keep it very close and very interesting down to the wire.
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