Poulter claims early Singapore Open lead

Although a lightning storm delayed play in the Singapore Open first round, England’s Ian Poulter had already carved out a 5-under par round of 66 to take a one-shot lead over Ernie Els and Chan Yih-shin into the second round.

The lightning storm, which caused play to be delayed for some three hours caused a further delay when, with around half of the field still on the course, play had to be halted due to darkness. Among the players who will finish their first rounds on Friday morning are Padraig Harrington and Geoff Ogilvy.

Phil Mickelson, looking to build on some good recent form lies three shots off Poulter following a round of 69 which places the American into a group of seven players at two-under par. His round included an eagle and three birdies, but was tempered by three bogeys.

Poulter, returning from a break, is looking to move up the rankings of the European Tour’s Race to Dubai, where he’s currently in 29th place. The Singapore Open is co-sanctioned by the European Tour and Asian Tour and is being contested over the Sentosa Golf Club.

Ernie Els, who had earlier launched a scathing attack at European Tour organisers for scheduling the event on the same dates as the Volvo World Match Play Championship in Spain, carded a bogey-free round as he bids for a first trophy win since the Honda Classic in 2008.

Since turning professional in 1989, Els has won at least one event every year although he is fast running out of time to maintain that sequence, with the ‘Big Easy’ claiming he will play only three more events after the Singapore Open. His world ranking has slumped to 22, its lowest in 15 years.

Lemuria Resort Seychelles Review

I’ve set myself the tough challenge of reducing my handicap from 25 to 5 in 12 months – it’s going to be difficult but you can check out my progress on the blog here. Hot on the heels from a spectacular weekend at Bovey Castle (Devon, UK) where no fewer than 50 balls perished, we head for the Read more

Golfers in the wars

A few of the game’s big names are nursing a collection of injuries which threaten to disrupt their tournament plans.

Young Englishman Chris Wood was forced to withdraw from the weekend’s Castello Masters in Spain after injuring his ankle falling down a flight of stairs in the Clubhouse. The player is set to undergo an MRI scan in his hometown of Bristol and hopes to recover in time for the Singapore Masters.

Meanwhile 2008 US Masters champion, Trevor Immelman, has undergone surgery for tendonitis in his left wrist, which is likely to sideline the player for the remainder of the season.

The Volvo World Match Play Championship gets underway this week in Finca Cortesin; but although the groups have been announced for the tournament the schedule could yet be plunged into chaos as several of the competing players are less than fully fit.

Indian Jeev Milkha Singh has suffered a recurrence of an ankle injury after he wore the wrong pair of golf shoes during his appearance at TPC Summerlin. The player, who wears specially-padded golf shoes which cushion his ankles wore a pair which, according to the player, caused him pain and he has been advised to rest.

Also struggling with injury are Paul Casey, who hasn’t played competitively since August due to a torn rib muscle, and Martin Kaymer who played his first tournament in several weeks at the Castello Masters since breaking toes in a go-karting accident. Despite playing into a tie for second place, Kaymer was clearly in some discomfort during the tournament and there must be doubts surrounding his participation.

Ernie Els, who would have defended the World Match Play Championship, has instead elected to take a rest from competitive golf in order to prepare for next season and also to test some new Callaway equipment and will not compete in the $4.8million Nedbank Challenge at Sun City during December.

World Matchplay Championship draw Announced

The four highest earners on the European Tour money list have avoided one another in the World Match Play Championship draw which gets underway later this week at Finca Cortesin, Spain.

In a change to the previous format, the competition now sees players compete in a group stage round-robin – similar to the UEFA Champions League – with the group winners advancing to the semi-finals.

Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Rory McIlroy and Paul Casey have each been drawn into different groups for the competition.

Paul Casey plays in Group A and will be joined by South African Retief Goosen, and Americans Anthony Kim and Scott Strange.

Sergio Garcia will play in Group B alongside Kaymer, Oliver Wilson and Robert Allenby while Rory McIlroy will contest Group C with Henrik Stenson, Simon Dyson and US Masters champion Angel Cabrera.

Westwood, in Group D will be joined by fellow Englishman Ross Fisher, Camilo Villegas of Columbia and Indian star Jeev Milkha Singh.

Casey, the number one seed for the tournament, McIlroy and Kaymer could attain the European number one spot from current incumbent Lee Westwood should any of them make the semi-finals.

The tournament format will see each player matched up against every other competitor in their group during Thursday and Friday before the semi-final knockout stage on Saturday and the final on Sunday. The semi-finals will see the winners of groups A & B and groups C & D compete for a place in Sunday’s final.

Both the semi-finals and the final will be contested over 36 holes and the tournament carries a prize fund of €3,250,000, with the winner collecting €750,000.

Ian Poulter heads up National Golf Club Challenge

European Tour golfer, Ian Poulter, continues to demonstrate his support for the National Golf Club Challenge by agreeing to head up the Challenge’s national poster campaign.

The poster – encouraging golfers to get involved in the National Golf Club Challenge, in aid of Help for Heroes – will be distributed to hundreds of golfing venues throughout the UK and will be seen by over a million golfers.

“We are thrilled to have Ian head up our poster campaign.” Said event organiser Stacey Jeffries. “Ian is a world renowned golfer and so his continued help and support is invaluable to us in spreading the word about the Challenge.”

The National Golf Club Challenge poster campaign is one of many ways in which the event is being promoted amongst the UK golfing community. Other activities include TV coverage from Sky Sports (starting in November), and features in The Sun newspaper.

The National Golf Club Challenge, to be held on the 24th and 25th July 2010, will bring hundreds of golf clubs, and thousands of golfers together on the same weekend as part of a nationwide charity golf event.

When speaking about his support for the Challenge, Ian Poulter said “I am so proud of our troops, their commitment and dedication is something that needs recognition. As a sportsman I can only imagine how difficult it is to deal with the debilitating injuries, both mentally and physically.”

“Help for Heroes provides an incredible support for these tough and inspiring people” Ian adds, “and I am proud that British golf clubs and golfers are giving their full support. I hope the National Golf Club Challenge raises a huge amount of money and that men and women all over the country have fun participating.”

The format for the National Golf Club Challenge is very simple; the Challenge will coincide with each participating golf club’s monthly stableford event, with each club turning the day into their own charity golf event, raising much needed funds for Help for Heroes. The competing clubs will submit their aggregate scores from their best scoring 10 players. This will determine the top 6 golf clubs against standard scratch, who will then be invited to compete in the National Final.

The two day Grand Final, sponsored by YourGolfTravel.com will be hosted by The Belfry, one of the world’s leading golf resorts, and four times host to the Ryder Cup. The Final will be an unforgettable event and include a practice day, golf clinic, overnight accommodation, the final competition, a gala dinner, guest speakers and the prize presentations.

For more information about The National Golf Club Challenge, including how to enter your golf club, go to http://www.nationalgolfclubchallenge.org.uk.

For more information on the Help for Heroes charity and the work they do please visit their website: http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk

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