Golf Picture of the Week – Old Head Golf Links

Ian Poulter wins Australian Masters

England’s Ian Poulter came from behind to secure a three-shot win in the JBWere Australian Masters in Melbourne.

Poulter had gone into the final day’s play two shots behind home favourite Geoff Ogilvy, but produced a closing 67 in windy conditions to run out a comfortable winner.

Many people had expected the final round to develop into a shoot-out between overnight leader Ogilvy and the flamboyant Poulter, but it never materialised as the Australian failed to cope with the windy conditions.

Ogilvy’s two-shot margin was immediately eroded on the opening hole as Poulter produced a stunning eagle at the short opener. While Ogilvy stemmed the flow to remain in touch with the Englishman, an error-strewn back nine saw him fade into third place as Poulter was relentless in his pursuit of the win, taking the lead with a birdie at the seventh and extending his advantage to two shots at the ninth, where his approach stopped inched from the pin.

From that point, it was Poulter’s to lose – but that scenario was never likely to happen

It was a win borne of justice for Poulter, who had battled a bout of food-poisoning on Friday, and been subject to media criticism over his image and eye for fashion.

Marcus Fraser came through for second place on 12-under par, with Ogilvy settling for third place, a further shot behind. Veteran player Peter Senior shot a closing 70 to share fourth place with Adam Crawford. Senior was one of only three players in the field to shoot all four rounds under-par – Poulter and Fraser being the other two players to achieve the feat.

Luke Donald, fresh from being crowned world number one, and topping the money lists on both the PGA Tour and European Tour, eased home with a 72 to join Greg Chalmers on 4-under par. Chalmers had been bidding to secure a hat-trick of wins following successes in the Australian Open and PGA Championship.

As is normal for Poulter, he immediately turned to Twitter to voice his celebrations at winning the title. Poulter shared the line “Winner winner chicken dinner Merry Christmas everyone. 2012 JBWere Australian Masters Champion. What a way to finish the year” on the social network, where Poulter boasts 1.2 million followers.

In addition to the winner’s Gold jacket – which will no doubt look incredibly natty in his wardrobe – Poulter climbs into the world’s top 20 following the win – from 28^th place to 16^th.  Poulter also scooped a winner’s cheque of AUS$180,000 (£116,000), but the money took second place behind the significance of Poulter’s win.

“To win this is the second highlight in what has been a tough year for me,” Poulter said during his media conference. “I needed to play well this week. It will move me 10 or 12 spots up the world rankings. Any win, whether it’s in Asia, in Europe, in America, moves you forward. That’s how you work out how well you’re playing; take a look at the world rankings, they don’t lie. To do this in a Ryder Cup year and move inside the top 20 on the world rankings means a heck of a lot.”

Lee Westwood finishes 2011 on a high with Thailand win

Lee Westwood ran out a comfortable winner of the Thailand Golf Championship in Bangkok, and ended 2011 on a high note following his earlier victory in the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

Westwood, a former world number one, had raced into a halfway 11-shot lead before South African Charl Schwartzel – the current US Masters champion – had reeled him back to just four shots in the third round; setting up a tense final round for the Worksop golfer who has had a largely indifferent year.

However, despite the attentions of Schwartzel, Westwood was solid throughout Sunday to post a final round 69 for an overall score of 22-under par 266 – seven clear of second placed Schwartzel.

It wasn’t until the turn in the final round before Westwood could breathe easily; despite birdies at the second and third to give him some breathing space, Westwood added another on the 12^th and followed with another gain at the next to effectively put the seal on the win.

But with the island 17^th to come, Westwood knew he still had work to do. Thankfully for him, he navigated the hole safely, but Schwartzel wasn’t so fortunate and made bogey.

“I wasn’t happy until I was on that boat coming back from the island on 17 with a big lead.” Westwood said afterward his round, knowing that despite his big advantage heading into the hole, one slip could have undone much of his good work.

Schwartzel’s bogey on 17 was followed by another on the final hole, but it wasn’t enough to damage the US Masters champion’s second place. American Michael Thomson finished alone in third, while Simon Dyson took a share of fourth place on 12-under par alongside home player Chawalit Plaphol.

The win in South Africa and in Thailand ensured Westwood will go into the winter hiatus with a lot of renewed confidence after a relatively disappointing 2011. Westwood picked up wins at the Asian Tour’s Indonesian Masters and the co-sanctioned Ballantines Championship, before wins at the Nedbank Challenge and this past weekend.

Westwood will now take a break over the Christmas period before kicking off his 2012 season, and to help in his quest for an elusive first major, Westwood has rejoined the PGA Tour full-time for 2012.

“I’ll go into the winter with a lot of confidence and I’ll try to come out next year playing the same kind of golf as I played this week, a little bit leaner and well rested.”

Westwood also finishes the season ranked number 3 in the Official Golf World Rankings.

Top 5 Golf Shots – 2011

2011 has been one of the best seasons of golf in recent memory. The guys on tour have provided golf fans with some serious thrills and spills over the last 12 months and with Tiger seemingly on the way back to challenge McIlory & Co. we hope 2012 will be every bit as exciting. With so many golfing highlights it is tough to pick a best moment from the 2011 golf season but we can at least check out five of the very best shots from the last 12 months. There are some real corkers here and we want you to vote for your favourite. Read more

A look back at the 2011 Golf Season

Despite the absence of the man who has defined golf over the last decade and a half, 2011 was a barnstorming year of golf. We were treated to some of the finest displays by the top guys on tour throughout the year as well as an unprecedented number of breakthrough wins. Despite infinite highs during the season the golfing world also experienced a terrible loss, following the tragic passing of the legendary Seve Ballesteros.

One could argue that Tiger’s absence made the game more exciting as rookies one left, right and centre and the battle for the world number one spot raged on right through the year with not just two, but four or five guys scrapping it out to reach the summit of the golfing world. However potentially the greatest golfer to ever play the game was never far from the headlines and typically he had to have the last laugh by winning his first event in two years at the Chevron World Challenge.

As golf fans look forward to 2012 where we will hopefully see a resurgent Tiger take on the ‘new breed’ for the first time, we take a look back at the good, the bad and the ugly from 2011. Read more

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