McDowell blown off course as Noren holds Wales Open lead

Despite windy conditions across The Celtic Manor Resort making scoring much more difficult than in previous rounds, Sweden’s Alex Noren maintained his slender lead at the top of the leaderboard for the Saab Wales Open.

Noren’s sole possession of top spot came courtesy of a final hole birdie as he carded a round of 71 to keep his 1-shot advantage intact.

The front nine proved a lot tougher for many in the field, and Noren was no different – turning in 3-over par 39 after bogeys at the 4th, 6th and 9th holes. But the Swede got to grips with the conditions on the homeward nine to rattle off three birdies in four holes from the 11th before a bogey-birdie finish on 17 and 18.

Noren’s fellow Swede and Ryder Cup player Peter Hanson, and Dane Anders Hansen share second spot just one behind. Hanson shot a third round 69, while Hansen put together a best-of-the-day 66, despite opening his round with bogeys at the 1st and 3rd – although he did eagle the 18th. Hanson had also started out with two bogeys, but went on to play the other 16 holes in 5-under par.

Welshman Jamie Donaldson shot a level-par 71 to finish two shots behind in fourth place as he seeks not only to become the first home winner, but also grab his first European Tour victory in well over 200 starts; while England’s Steve Webster and Frenchman Victor Dubuisson shot rounds of 70 and 72 respectively to share fifth spot.

Swede and tipster pick Johan Edfors birdied his last four holes to remain in contention, closing with a 1-under par 70 to take sole possession of 7th place on 4-under par. But Simon Dyson and Rhys Davies both shot 74s to slip out of contention on 3-over and 4-over par respectively.

And defending champion Graeme McDowell was completely blown away in the wind; the current US Open suffered a disastrous 81. McDowell was 6-over par at the turn, but could have been higher had he not birdied the 8th and 9th holes. He lost further ground with a bogey at the 11th and a quadruple-bogey at the 12th before a birdie on the last.

Noren takes halfway lead at Wales Open

A second successive round of 67 moved Swede Alex Noren to the top of the leaderboard after the second day’s play of the Saab Wales Open at The Celtic Manor Resort.

After struggling to make any progress on the leaderboard earlier, Noren finally clicked to birdie four of his last five holes to post a half-way total of 8-under par 134 and take a one shot lead over defending champion Graeme McDowell.

McDowell started his second round slowly with a bogey at the opening hole before a run of four birdies in five holes from the 8th turned his round around, and despite a second successive bogey at the 14th hole, a birdie at the last saw the reigning US Open champion home in 68.

Perhaps McDowell’s shot of the day came at the par-3 10th hole, where he splashed out from underneath the lip of a bunker to two feet to save par.

“This is absolutely perfect for the US Open.” McDowell said afterwards. “I said I just wanted to get in the mix and get the juices flowing and it’s kind of mission accomplished.”

Welshman Jamie Donaldson and France’s Victor Dubuisson share 6-under par; Donaldson carding a second consecutive 68, while Dubuisson was a shot worse with a round of 69.

Peter Hanson, a Ryder Cup team-mate of Graeme McDowell in 2010, was a further shot back on 5-under par alongside first round leader Keith Horne and veteran Barry Lane. Hanson had two double bogeys on his card as he carded a 1-over par round of 72, while Horne couldn’t find a birdie at all and carded two bogeys in his 2-over 73. Lane carded four birdies and two bogeys as he went round in 69.

Tipster pick Johan Edfors threatened to move up the leaderboard, but in the end had to settle for a level par 71. Edfors had gone 2-under through his first four holes but back-to-back bogeys dropped him back and he could never recover the momentum. The Swede remains in touch though and lies in a group of players on 3-under par – five shots off the lead.

The remaining players in the tipster trio – Simon Dyson and Rhys Davies have work to do to get involved. Dyson shot a 1-under par 70 to close at level-par for the tournament, while Davies shot a 71 to close on 1-over par.

Ross Fisher’s quest for a US Open spot looks doomed to failure after the Englishman shot a 79 to miss the cut. Fisher, ranked 52 in the Official Golf World Rankings needs to finish in the top-50 by next weekend to qualify.

Horne upstages Ryder Cup heroes at The Celtic Manor to lead Wales Open

Ryder Cup heroes Graeme McDowell and Peter Hanson returned to the happy hunting ground of The Celtic Manor and were amongst the front runners at the Saab Wales Open after the first round; but both were upstaged by journeyman South African Keith Horne.

Horne, a lowly 289th in the Official Golf World Rankings, came home in a blistering five-under par 30 to post an opening round 64 and take a narrow lead at the top of the leaderboard, with Hanson one shot back.

Three players tied for third on 5-under par, following opening rounds of 66 – English duo Paul Broadhurst and Steve Webster, along with Spaniard Alvaro Velasco.

Frenchman Victor Dubuisson, who had taken part in Monday’s Power Play Golf event alongside McDowell shot an opening 4-under 67, as did McDowell who bettered his opening round of last year which he went on to win. Also on 4-under par were Swede Alex Noren and Irishman Damien McGrane.

McDowell’s round consisted of three birdies and an eagle, but also a dropped shot at the par-4 14th hole. But it was a solid start for the defending champion, who has appeared to be largely out of sorts in past weeks.

“It’s all simmering nicely. I need to get into the mix this weekend and get the old juices flowing again.”

Tipster selection Johan Edfors looked primed to post an impressive total, having reached 4-under par through 11 holes. But the Swede suffered a blip with back-to-back bogeys at the 13th and 14th holes. He looked to have stopped the rot with a birdie at the 15th, but another bogey at the 16th followed. However, Edfors battled back to finish par-birdie to post a round of 68 – 3 under par.

The remaining tipster picks fared less well as Simon Dyson got off to a slow start in his first round, posting a 1-over par 72. Dyson had turned in 2-over par, but had battled back to level after 13 holes. However, the Englishman then bogeyed 2 of the next 3 holes before a birdie on the 17th hole limited the damage.

Home player Rhys Davies also posted a 1-over 73. Davies had been solid throughout his first round, but a birdie on the 8th was his only gain of the day. He lost it, however, plus another stroke at the 14th where he racked up a double bogey.

Colin Montgomerie, who captained the victorious European team in the Ryder Cup at The Celtic Manor, couldn’t build on his first top-10 finish for three years at last week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth; the big Scot slumping to a 7-over par 78.

Ross Fisher and Miguel Angel Jiménez are the other two members of last year’s European side taking part.
Fisher, who on Sunday week needs to be back in the world’s top 50 from his current 52nd if he is to play in the US Open had a level par 71, but Jiménez could only manage only a 2-over par 73.

WGC-Cadillac Championship Betting Preview

There’s no supporting European Tour event this week, with the big draw being the WGC-Cadillac Championship at TPC Doral. The Blue Monster – so named due to the plentiful water hazards around the course – will be playing to a par 72 this week, and measuring in at a shade over 7,125 yards.

The field for this event is a select one, with the world’s top-50 players taking their places amongst the 69 players who will set out, and this year Europe has the top three players in the world rankings, in Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald.

The defending champion is South Africa’s Ernie Els, who took the title with an 18-under par total.

Read more

WGC Accenture Match Play Championship Second Round Matches Review

Thursday’s 16 second-round matches at the WGC-Accenture Match Play championships produced a day of shocks as several big names crashed out.

In the Bobby Jones bracket, young Italian Matteo Manassero continued his giant-killing with a 1-up victory over South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel and set up a clash with Ryder Cup star Luke Donald, one of the best exponents of match play golf in the world. Donald won his clash with fellow Ryder Cup player Edoardo Molinari by 2&1.

Lee Westwood had yet to progress further than the second round in this event, and kept that run going, after losing to United States’ Nick Watney who saw off the challenge of the world number one by 1-up to set up a clash with Ryan Moore, who defeated K.J. Choi 5&4.

3rd Round Matches:
Matteo Manassero v Luke Donald
Nick Watney v Ryan Moore

In the Ben Hogan bracket, US Open champion Graeme McDowell saw off Ross Fisher by 4&2 to set up a third-round tie with Y.E Yang, a former holder of the US PGA Championship. Yang defeated Stewart Cink – who had eliminated defending champion Ian Poulter in the opening round – by a comprehensive 4&3 margin.

US Masters champion Phil Mickelson was on the wrong end of a 6&5 drubbing by Rickie Fowler. The young American star progresses to the third round where he will square off against Matt Kuchar, who defeated Bo Van Pelt 3&2.

3rd Round Matches:
Graeme McDowell v Y.E Yang
Rickie Fowler v Matt Kuchar

Martin Kaymer continued his march through the Gary Player bracket, with a battling 20th hole victory over Justin Rose. Kaymer progresses to take on Hunter Mahan in the third round. Mahan progressed courtesy of a 2-up victory over Robert Karlsson.

Meanwhile, Spaniard Miguel Angel Jiminez will take on Ben Crane in the third round. Jiminez saw off Ryan Palmer 4&2, while Crane handed out a 8&7 thrashing to Rory McIlroy.

3rd Round Matches:
Martin Kaymer v Hunter Mahan
Miguel Angel Jiminez v Ben Crane

And in the Sam Snead bracket, top seed and tournament favourite, Paul Casey crashed out of the event after losing to Jason Day by 4&2. The match garnered some bad blood between the pair after Day made Casey hole an 18-inch putt at the 13th hole, rather than concede the putt as is the traditional match play etiquette.

J.B Holmes meanwhile set up a clash with Day, after overcoming Ernie Els by 1-up.

Geoff Ogilvy progressed to the third round at the expense of Tiger Woods’ conquerer, Thomas Bjorn. The match went all the way to the final hole, where Ogilvy eventually won 1-up. Ogilvy will now take on Bubba Watson, who defeated Mark Wilson by a comprehensive 6&5 scoreline.

3rd Round Matches:
Jason Day v J.B Holmes
Bubba Watson v Geoff Ogilvy

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