Stenson takes first round BMW International Open lead

Sweden’s Henrik Stenson showed he still had all his old skills with a blistering eight under par 64 to take a one shot lead after the first round of the BMW International Open.

Stenson, a former Ryder Cup player, has slipped dramatically down the world rankings from a lofty fourth place to outside the top 100 in the last two years. However, after a spell in the doldrums it appears as if the Swede is finally recapturing some of his best forma and he featured on the leaderboard for much of last week’s US Open before posting a T23 finish.

And he carried that form to Munich, Germany by shooting seven birdies, one eagle and one bogey to lead England’s Gary Boyd by one shot amid some torrential afternoon downpours, and still sporting a bandaged figure after suffering a cut during his final round at Congressional.

Boyd might have been tied for the lead had it not been for a bogey on the last hole, but the Englishman turned in 5-under par 65, before adding a further three birdies on his homeward nine holes.

Little-known Dutchman Tim Sluiter shot 66 to take a share of third alongside much more recognisable names in England’s Danny Willett, South African Jbe Kruger and former British Open champion Paul Lawrie, with Engand’s Lee Slattery and Markus Brier posting 67s to lay one shot further back.

Defending champion, England’s David Horsey began with a solid 2-under par 70, the same score as American Dustin Johnson who is making a rare appearance on the European Tour. Spaniard Miguel Jiminez and Martin Kaymer also opened with rounds of 70, as did Colin Montgomerie.

The tipster picks had solid if unspectacular starts to their challenges. Dutchman Joost Luiten twice battled back from 2-over par to card a 2-under par 70, while England’s Ross Fisher posted a round of 71. But Dane Anders Hansen endured a poor homeward nine to post a 4-over 76 and leave himself sweating on making the cut.

Paul Casey was left to rue a quadruple-bogey eight on the par-4 seventh hole. After starting out on the 10th, world number 12 Casey had turned in 2-under par before adding two further birdies on the homeward nine. Then calamity struck as he racked up an eight before dropping another shot at the next. Casey birdied his last hole to post a level par 72.

An English Rose at Augusta?

With the US Masters at Augusta National just around the corner and European golf going stronger than ever, this might just be the year we get to see the first European winner since José María Olazábal in 1999 and maybe, just maybe the first English champion since Faldo’s win in 1996. Read more

WGC Accenture Match Play Championship First Round Matches Review

The first day’s play of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Champion threw up a few shock results, while some fancied named struggled in their first round ties.

In the Bobby Jones group, young Italian Matteo Manassero pulled off perhaps the biggest shock of the day by beating Steve Stricker 2&1. Stricker, playing on his 44th birthday was given a birthday present to forget, as Manassero – the youngest player ever to play a WGC event – overhauled a 1-hole deficit at the turn to win on the 17th green.

Luke Donald demolished Charley Hoffman 6&5, to send out a warning message to the rest of the field. Donald, one of the best exponents of match play in the world, was always in command after taking the lead at the second hole and never looked like losing against the American.

Edoardo Molinari fought back from two holes down through six holes to close out Scotsman Martin Laird by a 3&2 score, while Charl Schwartzel came through an intense struggle with Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa to win on the 2nd extra hole.

Korea’s KJ Choi got the better of a protracted battle with Retief Goosen to win 1 up, while Nick Watney dismantled the challenge of Anthony Kim 5&4. Kim wasn’t at his best in the match, hitting just five of the 14 greens in his match in regulation figures.

Lee Westwood defeated out-of-sorts Swede Henrik Stenson 3&2, while Ryan Moore beat Francesco Molinari 3&1 to progress in what many saw as an upset; with the Italian favourite to progress. Molinari was 4 down at the turn, and despite a late rally couldn’t quite bridge the deficit.

2nd Round Matches:
Matteo Manassero v Charl Schwartzel
Luke Donald v Edoardo Molinari
K.J Choi v Ryan Moore
Lee Westwood v Nick Watney

In the Ben Hogan bracket, the shock result came when former British Open champion Stewart Cink claimed the scalp of defending champion Ian Poulter at the first extra hole. Poulter was 2 up in the match with just four holes left to play, but inexplicably let Cink back in to claim the win to become the first defending champion to lose in the opening round since Steve Stricker in 2002.

US Masters champion Phil Mickelson proved to be too strong for Australian Brendan Jones with a 6&5 thrashing, while Graeme McDowell showed he’ll be no pushover with a 4&3 win over Heath Slocum to snap a three-match losing streak in the first round.

YE Yang needed 20 holes to see of Spain’s big-hitting Alvaro Quiros, while Ross Fisher saw off another Australian in Robert Allenby by 4&3. It was Allenby’s fourth first-round loss in five starts in this event.

Rickie Fowler got the better of Ryder Cup player Peter Hanson by 1 hole, while Bo Van Pelt defeated reigning Open champion, Louis Oosthuizen by 2 holes.

Matt Kuchar came out best in a long tussle with Anders Hansen, and was staring at defeat when the Dane was 2 up playing the 17th hole. However, a pair of bogeys by Hansen let Kuchar back in, and the American player eventually won out after a marathon first round match lasting 22 holes.

2nd Round Matches:
Stewart Cink v Y.E Yang
Phil Mickelson v Rickie Fowler
Graeme McDowell v Ross Fisher
Matt Kuchar v Bo Van Pelt

The Gary Player bracket went largely to plan, with only one real surprise result in Ryan Palmer’s 2-up defeat of Jim Furyk. Furyk is clearly struggling to regain the form which saw him win the FedEx Cup last season, and Palmer took full advantage of Furyk’s slump, which saw him hit just 8 out of 18 greens in regulation.

Rory McIlroy proved too strong for Jonathan Byrd in their match, with Rorz running out a 4&2 winner, while Ben Crane defeated Australian Adam Scott by the same scoreline.

Spaniard Miguel Angel Jiminez overcame a slow start to get the better of Japan’s Yuta Ikeda by 2&1 – the same score by which Justin Rose defeated Zach Johnson.

World number two Martin Kaymer demolished young South Korean 7&6, while Denmark’s Robert Karlsson defeated another Japanese player in Hiroyuki Fujita by 5&3.

Hunter Mahan took time to get into his game, but once he did there was little stopping him as he handed out a comprehensive 4&3 beating to Sean O’Hair.

2nd Round Matches:
Rory McIlroy v Ben Crane
Miguel Angel Jiminez v Ryan Palmer
Justin Rose v Martin Kaymer
Hunter Mahan v Robert Karlsson

Tiger Woods was the biggest scalp in the first round matches, losing out on the 19th hole to Dane Thomas Bjorn. Woods was a shadow of the player he was at his invincible best and again struggled for form, slipping 2 down after just 5 holes. With neither player performing to their best, Woods couldn’t quite overcome the Dane, even when Bjorn kept allowing Woods back into the match.

Match play specialist Geoff Ogilvy saw off the challenge of Padraig Harrington by a 4&3 scoreline, with Ogilvy – a two-time winner of this event – reaching the turn 3 up, despite making just one birdie. For Harrington, it was the third time in succession he has been eliminated in the first round.

Two-time 2011 PGA Tour winner Mark Wilson rose late to see off Dustin Johnson at the 19th hole after being 2 down with three to play, while Bubba Watson defeated Bill Haas 3&2.

Meanwhile, J.B Holmes got the better of Colombian player Camilo Villegas by 4&2, while Jeff Overton threw away a gilt-edged chance to claim the scalp of Ernie Els when he clattered an approach to the 19th into bushes at greenside, and with no chance to save par, Overton eventually conceded. Overton had started like a train to lead by 3 holes through six, but Els fought back to 2-up only to be all-square by the 15th.

Jason Day overcame Kim Kyung-Tae by 3&2, while tournament favourite Paul Casey – runner up in the last two renewals of this event – needed an extra hole to vanquish Australian left-hander Richard Green.

2nd Round Matches:
Geoff Ogilvy v Thomas Bjorn
Mark Wilson v Bubba Watson
J.B. Holmes v Ernie Els
Jason Day v Paul Casey

WGC-Accenture Match Play Betting Preview

With no European Tour event this week, the focus shifts to the WGC-Accenture Match Play which is to be held for the third time over the Jack Nicklaus-designed Ritz Carlton course in Arizona. The tournament will see Ian Poulter defend the title he won last year against Paul Casey, and the entire field comprises of the top 64 players in the world so competition is fierce.

Predicting the outcome of a matchplay tournament is a minefield for punters as it only takes one round to kill your bet stone dead, and so with each of the 64 players split into ‘divisions’ – the Bobby Jones Group, Gary Player Group, Ben Hogan Group and Sam Snead Group – our methodology this week is to analyse and look at the players who are likely to progress from their respective divisions to make Saturday’s semi-final.

Read more

Casey reigns in Bahrain

England’s Paul Casey came out on top after a titanic final 18 hole battle with Swedish Ryder Cup star Peter Hanson to win the Volvo Golf Champions event at the Colin Montgomerie-designed Royal Golf Club, Bahrain. It is Casey’s first tournament victory in almost two years; his last coming in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in 2009.

The final day’s play saw the lead change no less than 23 times, and in addition to Casey and Hanson, Spaniard Miguel Angel Jiminez would also challenge for top honours.

Jiminez might well have been the one to lift the trophy had it not been for ill-timed losses at the 13th and 16th holes, but a birdie on the last saw him set the clubhouse target at 19-under par, beating the previous target of 18-under par that had been set by Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher.

Both Casey and Hanson stood on the 18th tee locked together at 20-under par, but after Hanson had bogeyed the final hole, Casey had to hold his nerve to sink a six-footer for a winning par and the first prize of €283,329. Casey’s win moves him into the top 6 in the world, and could also see him climb into the top-5 when the next Offfical Golf World Rankings are published, but that latter scenario is dependant on the result of the Farmer’s Insurance Open.

“It feels fantastic – the most important thing to me is winning and that was huge. The goal is obviously the Majors, but how are you going to win Major Championships if you can’t win regular events?”

Favourable early conditions lent well to low scoring, with many players recording sub-par rounds; not least Soren Kjeldsen and Richard Finch, who both shot 63s to set and share a new course record.

Jiminez, Darren Clarke, Johan Edfors and James Kingston also all held a share of the lead at one stage in the final round but none of them could hold onto it, but Jiminez came closest to upsetting the leading pair of Hanson and Casey.

Stephen Gallacher took fourth place and Swede Robert Karlsson, the defending champion in Qatar this coming week, came fifth.

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