MBE for Catriona Matthew
December 31, 2009 by Brian · Leave a Comment
Scottish golfer Catriona Matthew has been awarded the MBE in the New Year Honours List to cap a fantastic year for the Edinburgh-born player.
40-year old Catriona is responsible for one of the great golf stories of 2009 when she won the Ricoh British Open at Royal Lytham and St. Annes just 11 weeks after giving birth to her second daughter. Her win in the tournament was all the more remarkable after she cheated death just a week before after being forced to flee to escape from a hotel fire.
Matthew as also a major player for the European Solheim Cup team which lost out to the United States and the Ladies European Tour has recognised her contribution to the sport throughout the year and also her career. Matthew is highly regarded on the tour and the LET released a statement following the announcement of Matthew’s award.
”Catriona has always been a wonderful ambassador for the game of golf but she shot to prominence in 2009 as one of the UK’s finest sporting talents with her sensational victory at the Ricoh British Open.
”In recognition of her achievements the Ladies European Tour membership recently voted her as the Players’ Player of the Year and clearly she thoroughly deserves this honour.
”Her conduct on and off the course is exemplary and in sport there can be no greater role model.”
Congratulations, Catriona!
Woods’ 2009 season could benefit LPGA Tour
December 30, 2009 by Brian · Leave a Comment
2009 has been a strange year for Tiger Woods and one he will surely want to forget in a hurry. But the problems surrounding the world number one could prove beneficial for the LPGA.
Stenson seeks to complete Middle East treble
December 30, 2009 by Brian · Leave a Comment
Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, the world number eight, aims to complete his set of Middle East titles with a victory in next month’s Abu Dhabi Championship – the only one to elude him.
Stenson has a home in the United Arab Emirates and will face a strong field for the event which gets underway on January 21st 2010. Among Stenson’s rivals for the title will be European number one, Lee Westwood; two-time Abu Dhabi winner Paul Casey and current injury victim, Sergio Garcia of Spain who is hoping to shrug off a strained wrist.
Also taking part will be young Irishman Rory McIlroy, Camilo Villegas of Columbia and Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy, a former winner of the US Open.
The Abu Dhabi Championship represents the first event on the European Tour’s Middle East section, with further events including the Qatar Masters between January 28th-31st and the Dubai Desert Classic from February 4th-7th inclusive.
Stenson has twice finished runner-up in the Abu Dhabi event in 2006 and 2008, and has won in Qatar (2006) and Dubai (2007). A win in Abu Dhabi will give the Swede a nap-hand of titles from the Middle East phase of the Tour.
“It would be great to be the first golfer to complete the Middle East treble,” Stenson told the European Tour’s official website (www.europeantour.com) on Wednesday.
Stenson will also form part of the European team for the Royal Trophy, which also includes Robert Karlsson, Simon Dyson and Soren Kjeldsen. The Royal Trophy will be played in Thailand over Bangkok’s Amata Spring Country Club from January 8th-10th inclusive.
Sergio to see specialist over sprained wrist
December 29, 2009 by Brian · Leave a Comment
Spain’s Sergio Garcia will visit a specialist in an attempt to cure a hand injury which has curtailed the player’s preparation for the new golf season. The injury, which Garcia sustained during the third round of the Dubai World Championship, has so far failed to respond to rest and has prevented him from swinging a club since.
Garcia hopes to be able to return to action at the $3.3millionAbu Dhabi tournament, scheduled for late January 2010 and will be looking to build on his 2009 season, in which he won one tournament and earned $2.4million in prize money. Garcia will also hope to mount a challenge to be included in Colin Montgomerie’s Ryder Cup team to take on the United States at The Celtic Manor resort, Wales.
When asked about the injury, Garcia told the Spanish media:
“The hand is not well … I haven’t played for three weeks and I still feel pain. It’s not healing as fast as we thought it would. What’s clear is that even with the rest it’s not better and we’re a little bit worried.”
Garcia finished seventh in the Dubai World Championship, 11 shots behind runaway winner Lee Westwood.
Could Michelle Wie Save the LPGA?
Recently the LPGA released their 2010 Tour schedule and it is clear that the women’s circuit has been something of a victim in the wake of the global financial meltdown. The main proof is in the fact that since 2007 the number of tournament staged on the LPGA has dropped by almost one quarter from 31 tournaments to just 24.
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