"I'm a firm believer that in the theory that people only do their best at things they truly enjoy. It is difficult to excel at something you don't enjoy."
Jack Nicklaus
Showing posts with label PGA European Tour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PGA European Tour. Show all posts
Monday, 18 June 2018
Wednesday, 20 January 2016
European Tour Choose Short Cut
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| Getty Images |
The stars of The European Tour got all their leg work done ahead of this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship as they were allowed to wear shorts during practice days and pro-ams for the first time following a new initiative which Chief Executive Keith Pelley believes will help “modernise the game”.
Among the players making the most of the new initiative on the eve of the opening tournament of the Desert Swing were Ian Poulter, Ernie Els, Lee Westwood and Chris Wood as they sported their knee-lengths.
European Tour Chief Executive Pelley heralded the development as a positive step towards modernising the game and bringing a youthful, fun element to tournaments.
“The players have embraced it,” he said. “Shorts are a natural evolution to help modernise the game. It puts our players first and our fans first as well. The fashion of golf is something that the youth adopt. We will have strong rules, but there will be some fashion statements, and it’s a great start.”
Rory McIlroy also spoke positively about the move, saying: “I like it. I think it's a good idea to let guys wear shorts in practise rounds. I probably just need a couple more weeks in the sun to get my legs out in public! I think all the guys enjoy wearing shorts, especially in practise, and especially if it gets hot, I think it's a good idea.”
Jordan Spieth, playing the first regular European Tour event of his professional career and on his first visit to the Abu Dhabi, said: “I think it's awesome. I think it will be something that I would love to see on the (US) PGA Tour, as well.
“Guys seem to all love it over here. And most of the guys that are really talking highly of it are the older guys oddly enough. Yeah, I think it's a great move.”
Many players took to social media today to support the news.
Sunday, 18 January 2015
Kaymer Ten Stroke Collapse
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| Getty Images |
Two-time major winner Martin Kaymer stood on the sixth tee at the Abu Dhabi Championship holding a 10-shot lead in the final round and with records in his sights.
Then came one of the biggest turnarounds the sport has seen.
Within 90 minutes, the normally unflappable Kaymer dropped six shots in eight holes and got swallowed up by Gary Stal as the No. 357-ranked Frenchman mounted an improbable surge to win his first European Tour title Sunday.
"A little shocked, surprised," said Kaymer, his brow furrowed. "I don't know how to put it into words."
The 22-year-old Stal was in a state of shock too after shooting a 7-under 65 for a one-shot victory over top-ranked Rory McIlroy -- one of his idols. Kaymer was a stroke further back in third after a 75.
Stal had teed off at Abu Dhabi Golf Club that morning with a deficit of eight shots to Kaymer and only second place on his mind. Kaymer, a three-time winner of the event, started the final round protecting a six-shot lead, and even McIlroy had said the German was "playing in his own tournament."
Three birdies in his first four holes helped stretch the lead to 10 shots. At 23 under, Kaymer was one stroke off his record under-par score around the National Course.
"When I saw the leaderboard on the fifth hole, I thought it's not possible to win," said Stal, who had an overall 19-under 269.
Kaymer's round started to unravel at No. 6 when he made his first bogey since Thursday -- a run of 47 holes. He then had a double bogey at No. 9 after being forced to take a drop when his drive landed under a bush.
The lead Kaymer had held since the first round was wiped out for good when another drive wound up at the base of a bush on No. 13. A drop gave him a poor lie in the sandy wasteland, and after chipping out into the fairway, he scuffed his approach shot 10 yards short of the green. He two-putted for a triple bogey, and Stal was in front for the first time.
"I do miss fairways, but usually you get away with it OK. You don't make double or triple bogey," Kaymer said. "This is what happened today."
Stal, playing in the group in front of Kaymer, made six birdies from holes 4 to 11 and sank a 25-foot birdie putt on the 16th to move two shots ahead of Kaymer and McIlroy, who stormed into contention with three straight birdies around the turn. Stal's approach to the 18th was tentative and landed in the rough to the right of the green, but he got up and down in two.
Kaymer needed to eagle the final hole to force a playoff, but a drive into a fairway bunker ended his hopes and he made par.
Stal shed tears after being applauded off the 18th green. He said he was thinking about his mother, Christine, who died of cancer last year while he was playing in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
"I can't believe this," said Stal, whose previous best finish was a tie for fifth at the South African Open seven days earlier.
Kaymer said it was an "interesting day that I need to reflect on," but he tried to take the positives from an otherwise impressive first tournament of 2015.
The same can be said of McIlroy, who shot 66 after hitting every green in regulation Sunday to finish second in Abu Dhabi for the fourth time. His ballstriking was superb all week, but missing a string of putts Saturday -- when he shot 71 -- cost him.
"Just a little too late for me today," McIlroy said. "I feel like I'm hitting the ball very, very well. I didn't putt as well as I'd have liked this week, but all parts of my game feel pretty good."
Stal is likely to move into the top 100 in the rankings Monday after a victory that gives him an exemption on the European Tour until the end of 2017.
Belgium's Thomas Pieters (70) and France's Victor Dubuisson (67) tied for fourth at 16 under.
Monday, 26 August 2013
EurAsia Cup Tees Off in 2014
Europe's top golfers will take on Asia in a new matchplay tournament, the EurAsia Cup, from next year.
The inaugural EurAsia Cup will be held at the Glenmarie Golf and Country Club in Malaysia on 28-30 March 2014, with a format similar to the Ryder Cup.
Europe's 10-man team will consist of the Race to Dubai 2013 top four, the top four available from the world rankings and two captain's picks.
The captain will be selected by the European Tour at a later date.
The Asian team will include the top four players from the final 2013 Asian Tour Order of Merit, the leading three players invited on the basis of their world ranking, and three captain's picks.
Hideki Matsuyama, 21, is expected to be the star of the Asian team with three top 20 finishes in majors this year.
It will become the third matchplay event involving Europe after the Ryder Cup and the biennial Seve Trophy, which began in 2000 and is contested between teams from Great Britain and Ireland, and Continental Europe.
The EurAsia Cup, which will be an early part of the European Tour 2014 schedule, is one of two new events announced.
The Nedbank Golf Challenge, which takes place in South Africa from 5-8 December 2013, will now feature a 30-player field instead of the usual 12.
Sunday, 28 July 2013
From Russia with Love for Hoey
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Michael Hoey romped to a four shot victory as he sealed a fifth European Tour title at the M2M Russian Open.
The Northern Irishman started the day with a four shot lead after a brilliant third round 65 at Tseleevo Golf & Polo Club.
A closing two under par 70 was enough to give Hoey a 16 under par total and four shot winning margin over France’s Alexandre Kaleka and England’s Matthew Nixon.
“I have absolutely loved the golf course this week,” said Hoey. “It is a great Nicklaus design and one of the best we will play on Tour for the whole year. The greens are just so pure and when you have surfaces like that to putt on then you can make a lot of putts.
“The putting was the key for me this week. I have been working hard on that a lot recently and the improvement is really showing because I making a lot of birdies.
“That is the main difference at this level - you have to be able to make a lot of putts because the standard is so high these days that it usually comes down to who makes the most putts.
“It’s pretty amazing to think that I have won five European Tour titles. It is a great feeling to win and every time you do it you just want more and more. Hopefully I can get at least another one before the end of the season.
“It has given me a great boost. I am not the most consistent player in the world but when I get into these positions I usually do ok. But the next aim for me has to be to become a bit more consistent because that is the only way I will be able to get back among the best players in the world and stay there.”
The 34 year old - who had not finished better than 25th on The European Tour this season and missed seven of his last ten cuts coming into the event – began his final round with six consecutive pars but birdies at the seventh and eighth saw him advance to 16 under par and turn five clear.
His only dropped shot of the day came at the 12th, and last year’s winner Kaleka and Dane JB Hansen closed the gap to two before Hoey birdied the 17th, with both his nearest challengers dropping shots on the last.
“It was tough for me today because when you have a five shot lead your natural instinct is to defend the lead,” added Hoey. “I was trying to be more aggressive because that is usually the best form of defence but it is tough in the final round when you know you are so far ahead.
“Then there are always a couple of guys who are going to come out of the pack. It was Rikard [Karlberg], who I was playing with, on the front nine and then Alex really got close to me on the back nine.
“I did feel the pressure a bit today because I wasn’t swinging it as freely as I had done yesterday but I got the job done in the end. Making my first birdie of the day on the seventh was a bit of a turning point because I had burned a few edges before that and you start to wonder if it is going to be your day.”
Kaleka, who captured this title last year when it formed part of the Challenge Tour schedule, had five birdies before bogeying the 18th for a 68, while Nixon came home in 33 for a 69.
Hansen finished alone in fourth after dropping two shots on the 18th for a 68, with China’s Liang Wen-chong, France’s Gregory Havret and English pair James Morrison and Mark Foster a shot further back on ten under.
Sunday, 21 July 2013
Jimenez is Oldest Euro Swinger
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| Getty Images |
Miguel Angel Jimenez became the oldest winner on the European Tour by clinching victory in the Hong Kong Open at the age of 48 years and 318 days.
The Spaniard hit a final round 65 to beat Sweden's Fredrik Andersson Hed, who had hit a 64, by one shot.
He is 284 days older than Ireland's Des Smyth was when he lifted the 2001 Madeira Islands Open.
"It's always an honour to make records and I hope it's not the last one," said Jimenez.
He now has three Hong Kong title wins in his 19 European Tour triumphs and added: "The way I am playing and handle myself I can be fit to win another one."
Jimenez has 19 European Tour wins. There are only 10 players who have ever won more on the circuit than the former caddie, who turned professional in 1982 and had to wait a decade for his first success.
The Malaga-based golfer carded only two bogeys in four rounds of 65, 67, 68 and 65 on the way to victory. He said: "Distance does not matter here. I controlled the ball well and gave myself many chances for birdie which you have to do here."
Michael Campbell was in the overnight lead with Jimenez but the New Zealander finished eighth after a two-over 72.
The 43-year-old was trying to win his first tournament since the World Match Play Championship seven years ago.
World number one Rory McIlroy had missed the cut on Friday at five over.
Australian Marcus Fraser's final round 64 lifted him up to third place, while Matteo Manassero, the 19-year-old who won the Singapore Open last week, was fourth along with Scotland's Stephen Gallacher and Ireland's Peter Lawrie.
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