European Tour: Johnnie Walker Championship @ Gleneagles

After two great European wins in US we're back this week (without the two winners, unfortunately) on the Europeant Tour with the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles. And as we've heard many times already over the past week or so, it's all about Ryder Cup (well, almost all...). The tournament was moved only recently (since 2007) to the end of August and has been indirectly linked eversince with the Ryder Cup as being the last ET event counting for the European RC team selection. And surprise, surprise, to the organisers' delight, no doubt, this had an immediate effect on the tournament's field strength...

Spoiler:

Can you guess which are the Ryder Cup years...?

Talking about the Ryder Cup, there is, of course, also a direct connection with Gleneagles, as this is the venue for the next edition organised in Europe in 2014. I'm not sure if the Johnnie Walker tournament will still be organised on the same course just before the Ryder Cup that year, but if it will, I wouldn't be surprised at all if it turns out to be one of the best fields in its history.

But going back to this week's event, Captain Olly is in the field, of course, and apart from his game he'll be keeping a close eye on how guys like N. Colsaerts, R. Cabrera-Bello and D. Lynn will perform. As we've been discussing already, the field strength this year is probably even more relevant than in other years, and some of the late withdrawals from the initial field are already having an impact on what will or could have happened. As it stands now, it looks that the winner will receive 30 owgr points and at this level Colsaerts needs a 3-way tie for 2nd or better (solo 3rd is not enough) to move ahead of Kaymer (just in case there is some last minute WD and the field strength drops to 28 points then he'll need a 2-way tie for 2nd or better). Unfortunately, if the field strength would've stayed at 32 points (as it was just a few days ago, before P. Hanson WD), both Cabrerra-Bello and Lynn would still have the chance to overcome Kaymer in the World Points Standings with a win, but as it is now they've no chance, and in fact Lynn will end up only ~0.7 points short, should he win... I just came across this piece that confirms the regrets that David Lynn feels now after choosing not to stay one week longer in US (as smart Colsaerts did) and play Greensboro, despite being pressed on that by Harrington, who ended up giving him a lift to NY in his private jet...

http://www.espnstar.com/golf/news/detail/item841473/Lynn-regrets-not-staying-on-in-US/

Anyway, whatever happened, happened and this is the situation we're in now... Apart from those mentioned, the next three in line in the RC qualification standings are also in the field (Bjorn, Siem and Dyson) and although no one gives them any realistic chance, a win here could bring any of them right behind Colsaerts and... you never know...

It should be an interesting and intriguig weekend, no doubt...

It looks like ESPN Star and Doug Ferguson are consulting 606v2 for authoritative advice on owgr ramifications!

I'm a bit surprised that Bjorn was content to be a VC rather than a potential Captain's pick. Plus, it seems the Most Interesting Man In The World is content to relax with his and rather than participate at Medinah. Stay thirsty Miguel . . . . . .

kwinigolfer wrote:It looks like ESPN Star and Doug Ferguson are consulting 606v2 for authoritative advice on owgr ramifications!

Doug Ferguson is basically the only american journo who seems to have any clue what he's talking about, I guess now we know why

This is the least cmplicated RC qualification finish i can ever remember.......although im sure if Colsaerts is in contention over the weekend, the Journos will be talking about "having the calculators out"!!

Despite my fondness for Harri, i believe Colsaerts is worthy of a pick alongside Poulter should he not make it............

BTW, a bit mean of the ET to have him out Thurs MORNING after the Monday finish and all the travel.................

John Cregan wrote:This is the least cmplicated RC qualification finish i can ever remember.......although im sure if Colsaerts is in contention over the weekend, the Journos will be talking about "having the calculators out"!!

Despite my fondness for Harri, i believe Colsaerts is worthy of a pick alongside Poulter should he not make it............

BTW, a bit mean of the ET to have him out Thurs MORNING after the Monday finish and all the travel.................

You are absolutely right, Colsaerts is the man in form as he is showing once again today (he leads the pack at -3 together with Hoey and good old Paul Waring, who is playing one of his last exemption tournaments if I am not mistaken). Deserves a pick imo.

The real question is, if Colsaerts moves into the top 10, who should be in alongside Poulter (I believe there is consensus that Poults will be one of the two captain's picks)

themightyone wrote:The real question is, if Colsaerts moves into the top 10, who should be in alongside Poulter (I believe there is consensus that Poults will be one of the two captain's picks)

it's difficult, but for me, i think it's between Freddie Jac & Harrington............he won't pick either though

This might sound completely off the wall but if he picked Casey, i think the lift that would give him could see him playing at his best............................

John,
Completely "off the wall"! Ryder Cup is not a rehab clinic.
Freddie Jac certainly is worthy of consideration.

And: I wonder: Is this week a final examination for The Mechanic?
If he plays well he'll be a pick.
If he plays average he'll be a VC.

Doubt he'd select Cabrera-Bello but he'd probably like another Spaniard in the works.

Colsaerts off to a great start. Similar to Eddie Molinari a couple of years ago. If he does win then he deserves huge credit for getting in the top10 on merit.

Think I'll go up to it tomorrow afternoon and follow the big Belgian. Always a nice walk round the course and there's a great burger stall just down from the 18th tee

It's an excellent start from Nicolas despite the early start and if he manages to finish today with a good score, he'll be happy to have a longer break/rest before the second round... It's great to see players responding in this way to this sort of direct attention and pressure placed on them (same applies to what Garcia did last week).
As themightyone said, the tricky part in all this is if Colsaerts does manage to kick Kaymer out of the automatic qualifiers and Olly has to pick then two others... There's pretty wide agreement on Poulter, but the second pick is not at all that clear in that situation... I would really have to wait to see the results of this week to make my mind up on that.

Far too much unhelpful chatter going on as far as I'm concerned, stirred by parts of the media as well, about the whole Sergio vs Padraig relationship, etc. They're both great golfers in their own different ways with very strong and very different personalities and this sort of debate doesn't really help anybody at this point... Padraig should just concentrate on the Barclays and do the best he can there and I'm sure he's smart enough to figure that out... And if they end up paird together later in the week or will end up fighting head-to-head in a play-off... then God help us all!

I think Olly could do worse than pick Olesen alongside Poulter as his two picks.

Kaymer and Harrington are not in form.

Super, if Harrington is not in form then everyone had better watch out if he does start to play well. He's got the 8th best stroke average on the PGA Tour for 2012 in more than 50 rounds. Not bad for somebody apparently out of form.

Don't start twisting things by going on about the differences in strokeplay & matchplay, etc. I'm well aware of those. I'm simply questioning your silly point above that he is not in form.

super_realist wrote:I think Olly could do worse than pick Olesen alongside Poulter as his two picks.

Kaymer and Harrington are not in form.

Olesen would be an interesting pick for sure - I've been impressed with him this year, as he's quite the cool customer. Siem is (finely) maturing nicely, but this one is a year at least too early for him.

Tinmar wrote:Super, if Harrington is not in form then everyone had better watch out if he does start to play well. He's got the 8th best stroke average on the PGA Tour for 2012 in more than 50 rounds. Not bad for somebody apparently out of form.

Don't start twisting things by going on about the differences in strokeplay & matchplay, etc. I'm well aware of those. I'm simply questioning your silly point above that he is not in form.

I can think of plenty people more deserving of a place than him, besides his Ryder Cup record is deplorable.

kwinigolfer wrote:And: I wonder: Is this week a final examination for The Mechanic?
If he plays well he'll be a pick.
If he plays average he'll be a VC.

If the match was in Europe id give Jiminez a shout but he generally doesn't do well in the US...............

Do you really believe he'd pick Jiminez over Colsaerts?

John,
No! But if Colsaerts played his way on the team then I could quite easily see Miguel as the twelfth man - six Major Top Tens in the US - and he seemed to team well with Hanson.

Not for any reason of form (which has been excellent this year) or even his Ryder Cup record (which is not as bad as it looks), but I don't think Padraig stands an earthly of getting a "pick". He had his free pass from Monty and is well adrift of qualifying - just don't see it.

Colsaerts,
Poulter,
Castano,
Cabrera Bello,
Lynn,
Bjorn,
Rock,
Dyson,
Siem and Quiros are all ahead of Harrington in qualification on both World and European lists, so lets drop this silly notion that Harrington is anywhere near getting picked. He isn't, in fact he's not even in consideration. He'll be at home tending to his King Edwards.

Back to back 8's for Michael Campbell. He was going along not too bad until that happened.

Super,

I think you are failing to recognise the purpose of "wild card" picks on purpose so that you can have a go at Harri. The whole idea of them is that the "next best" (ie No's 11 & 12) on the qualification tables are not "forced upon" the Captain.............the list above from Colsaerts to Dyson is completely irrelevent...............

Yes indeed John, but a wild card is still someone deserving of the pick. PLenty ahead of Harrington more deserving.

THere is plenty I admire about Harrington, his mental ability, putting etc, however he's a serious outsider for a pick, if not absolutely certain to be overlooked.

SR,

Agree he has no chance as Ollie despises him following their bust up at the 2003 Seve Trophy, but i think him worthy of consideration, that's all.............personally, i would have also thought T.Bijorn worthy of consideration but then again, i suppose he's happy to keep playing the VC role until eventually he gets the Capt job.................and T.Bijorn definately worthy of being ahead of McGinley for Captaincy consideration...................

Olesen, Bjorn and Colsaerts leading the pack at this moment....

By the way. I see Bjorn is playing with Colsaerts, McGinley with Lynn, and Miguel with RCB. I wonder if it's coincidental....

Good birdie start for Rafa Bello as well, let's see how he does...

As they say, you can't win it first day, but you can certainly lose it... and at that end Siem is the one slowly ruling himself out already. But it's still early days...

RCB -2 after 2

E Molinari's performance last year was so impressive but it seems we may get a repeat showing this year.

Early days yet but if any of the RC contenders end up winning they deserve the pick even if they don't crack the top 10.

The putt Molinari (E) sank on the 17th was absolutely amazing. Did well to hold his nerve to hole the putt on 18 as well. It was an unbelievable finish.

Yeah I remember that a huge breaking putt.

To birdie the last 3 holes and clinch a spot - it was great tv and one of the best finishes i've seen at a golf tournament. (Still think Charl at Augusta will take some beating for modern memories)

Four years on from Valhalla, how sad it is to see Oliver Wilson propping up the "leaderboard" at Gleneagles.

Strange he never "trained on". Great swing.

Talking about people disappearing: what happened to Rhys Davies, the RC buggy driver in Wales and "next big thing"?

Think he disappeared down the same hole as Oliver Fisher, surely the worst ever pro.

Off the top of my head, I remember various times when all the talk was of people like Zane Scotland, Oliver Fisher, Rhys Davies, Tana Goya, Graeme Storm, Victor Dubission etc etc. I don't think are bad players - just the press delights in trying to tell us who the next big thing is, when in reality they don't have a clue. I assume they think if they say enough names, they'll get it right occassionally, and indeed, many of those names are young enough to still rise up the rankings, so shouldn't be discounted.

But based on statistics alone, more players are going to slide into relative obscurity rather than become superstars.

Kennie Ferrie, Ian Pyman,

Exactly - the can't all be top 10.

Bob_the_Job wrote:Off the top of my head, I remember various times when all the talk was of people like Zane Scotland, Oliver Fisher, Rhys Davies, Tana Goya, Graeme Storm, Victor Dubission etc etc. I don't think are bad players - just the press delights in trying to tell us who the next big thing is, when in reality they don't have a clue. I assume they think if they say enough names, they'll get it right occassionally, and indeed, many of those names are young enough to still rise up the rankings, so shouldn't be discounted.

But based on statistics alone, more players are going to slide into relative obscurity rather than become superstars.

Very harsh on Dubuisson! Only in his second year as a pro, and already a big improvement on his 2011, he's progressing nicely enough so far. Still plenty of time for Davies too, just having a quiet year after a fast start, but he is in a group of British guys (Horsey, Jamieson, Maybin, Wood, Willett) who seem to be stalling slightly. Would be disappointed if none of those became top 50 regulars.
Goya is a good shout though, expected big things from him but he seems to have turned into the tour's youngest journeyman, keeping his card with ten places to spare every year thanks to a few obscure back-door top tens. But then South American golf in general seems to have totally fallen off a cliff in the past 18 months. Cabrera, Vegas, Villegas, Romero all completely out of form, and no one stepping up to replace them.

Fair enough on Dubuisson - but I was more just pointing out how many "next great things" we get told about, and that they all can't be it. I actually meant it's unfair to say they've not fulfilled their potential, when we're being told what their potential is by people who have the job of making the news.

But you've added a whole lot of names to the list I now remember. Also see Danny Lee.

Danny Lee was recently fired by his caddie!

Chris Wood did get finally that small but sweet, no doubt, first win in Thailand a couple of weeks ago and I'm curious to see if that gave him new wings... was having a strong start today, but seems to be falling back a bit at the moment.

And talking of 'next big thing' candidates, one for consideration at the moment has to be Kristoffer Broberg from Sweden. He almost made history last week when he came close to winning the third consecutive week on the CT! Finished 'only' T3 after his two wins the previous weeks... But if you have a quick look at what's been happening in Geneva the last couple of days, Broberg is leading again with 15-under par (!) after two rounds! Talk about who's gonna be Olly's last pick...

This guy (26 yrs old) comes from nowhere, really... has only 6 events as a pro finishing 1,1,T3,T9, T29 and T30, the last two being at Nordea with the big guys... Should he win again this week, he'll jump inside the top 200 owgr and will be probably leading the CT ranks. One to watch for the next period, but that doesn't mean we won't be asking the same questions about him in a few years time...

Quite fancy Howler to win this.
I watched him about 4 years ago when he finished well.
He had about 5 unconverted birdie putts on the inward half.
I think the course suits him.

Well, it wasn't the journos asking Rhys Davies to drive the RC buggy. Fair enough, he's still young, but he made a total houdini after that.

Fast start from RCB this morning. Even Monty having a charge for a last minute pick...

Monty 5 under through 9!!!!!

Thing is he probably does think he is in with a shout of a pick.

For me it's Poulter for sure and then Colesarts, whatever happens this weekend, but if NC manages to knock Kaymer out of the last spot then it's wide open.

I'd reckon using that pick to compliment the team, as the current qualifiers are all fairly seasoned pros then a good prospect for future years. Trouble is the obvious contenders are not spring chickens; even RCB and Gonzo both late 20s early 30s.

Pods form and major record this year is hard to ignore, if he wins Barclays even harder. On the down side I would kind of prefer to see a euro tour golfer get the nod, Pods more of a minimum no of events possible player. Prob only plays 2 or 3 events in mainland Europe each year.

Tough choice whatever happens but good to see lots of the guys in contention playing well and making it difficult for Ollie.

Also good to see Paul Lawrie going well after an indifferent second half to his season.

There'd be nothing wrong with Colsaerts making a few birdies.
But perhaps Doon's Water is right and this is David Howell's week.
Captain's pick for Howler? Nah . . . . but great to see him playing well.

Kwinni
If my memory is correct.
He has finished 3rd at Loch Lomond, 3rd at Carnoustie/St Andrews/ Kingsbarns and 3rd at Gleneagles.
He must surely be due a win in Scotland.

If not this week, Doon, then a Muirfield win would be mighty popular.

Colsaerts and Howler may well play together tomorrow...

Meanwhile, Kristoffer Broberg... remember him?
He's leading with -23 after three rounds in Geneva, where is he going to stop? -30?

Howler has never played well at Muirfield.

Monty
4 behind with a round to go
Could he?

I always thought he had one last win in him.

Howler birdied the last three to save his round.
I really think he is back now.

Prince D may get his wish after all.