European Tour 2018

Selected tee times

Poulter auditioning for Thomas Bjorn??!!

Tks for posting sirb! Hadn't seen that DeChambeau was playing . . . . . .

kwinigolfer wrote:Poulter auditioning for Thomas Bjorn??!!

Tks for posting sirb! Hadn't seen that DeChambeau was playing . . . . . .

I’d agree that IJP is a dark horse for Paris. In decent form recently, so worthwhile keeping an eye on him.

7.50 above:
Danny Willett has withdrawn, complaining of an injury to his rotator cuff.
This is going to become a psychological barrier for Willett if he can't get healthy and show some form soon - seems everything that could go wrong HAS gone wrong for him since Augusta 2016. Sad to see.

You lose some, you win some.
Hadn't realised that Matt Kuchar is taking European Tour "affiliate" membership. As reported by the GC today.

"...As an affiliate member, Kuchar will not have a required minimum number of starts to make...."

https://sports.yahoo.com/kuchar-joins-european-tour-affiliate-195200658.html

So Mr Pelley, what is the requirement?  a pulse?

I thought I was salty GPB, who urinated on your chips today?

Affiliate membership is what a lot of the Asian Tour members used to take, trying to qualify for full membership via a couple of good results in the co-sanctioned events. Not sure it should be available for top 50 PGA Tour players looking for a busman’s holiday

kwinigolfer wrote:Poulter auditioning for Thomas Bjorn??!!

Getting some stage fright in his old age?

Probably!
Poults hasn't missed a cut for nine months - mind you, the following week he finished second at The Players so deja vu would be tres bien.

Good start for some RC hopefuls Rory, Fleetwood, Sulli, Pieters and Casey.

kwinigolfer wrote:Probably!
Poults hasn't missed a cut for nine months - mind you, the following week he finished second at The Players so deja vu would be tres bien.

He came back and had a good Rd2, but he couldn't overcome the Kwini Kiss of Death.

Westy trunk slamming too.

28 World RC points for Sergio -nice way to start his season.
Fantastic leaderboard in Abu Dhabi, whoever wins.

Fleetwood is a bit good isn’t he...

Hope he can maintain this form; 12 months now and very close to the World's Top Ten, maybe 10th?
Think Rory would see this as a promising comeback.
And: Does this result encourage Fish to keep his focus on Europe for another season?

If I was Fisher I don’t think I’d set foot in Europe til May. Dubai next week and then stateside if you’re serious about the PGA Tour. Schedule something like

Dubai
Pebble
Honda
Mexico
Bay Hill
Matchplay
Masters
Heritage
Quail Hollow
Players
PGA

Wonder how much the lack of a recent win is playing on his mind though. Lots of runner-up finishes.

Not sure about Pebble Beach among that lot, would think Innisbrook would suit him more, but otherwise looks sound. He'll hopefully add the Bridgestone in there, should be a cert for that now.

The Euros never seem that keen to play Pebble, and it baffles me every year, I think it’s one of the best opportunities all year for a lot of them, though maybe wouldn’t suit pure bombers like Pieters and Rahm so much. Certainly think most double dippers have a better chance there than Riviera the week after, for example. Agree that Innisbrook is another well suited setup, but in that instance they all seem to prefer to go to Bay Hill, which isn’t.

When is the Bridgestone then? I’ve lost track of what WGC is where and when, if I’m honest....

The drawbacks with Pebble include the weather, circus atmosphere with amateurs, and iffy greens, but agree it should suit Europeans as all US Opens there have shown!
Agree about Bay Hill vs Innisbrook.
And Bridgestone this year will be the week before the PGA, but may not even exist in 2019!

Future of English golf seems to be bright. I can see this being a big breakthrough year for Fitzpatrick, some big wins and pushing for end of year top 10. He really does look like he has everything.

I'd say that European golf is in good shape Diggers, not just English, lot's of guys currently on form (Rose, Fitzpatrick, Garcia, Hatton, Fleetwood, Fisher, Rahm, Pieters and even Casey) as the yanks might say, the Ryder Cup could be a "hum dinger"

super_realist wrote:I'd say that European golf is in good shape Diggers, not just English,  lot's of guys currently on form (Rose, Fitzpatrick, Garcia, Hatton, Fleetwood, Fisher, Rahm, Pieters and even Casey)  as the yanks might say, the Ryder Cup could be a "hum dinger"

I think you just mentioned 9 of the upcoming Euro Ryder Cuppers. Add Stenson, Rory and one of Molinari, Noren, RCB or Levy (French), you may be there.

Some nice groups there, sirb, thanks.

I'd follow the Pieters, Perez, Fleetwood - partly because Perez can be pretty combustible.
Don't know if he's only just looked at the US RC qualifying rules but he's bellyaching now that his win last autumn should count . . . . . and he's saying that during a busman's holiday (where he could buy a bus from the proceeds) instead of playing his hometown (and RC qualifying) tournament where he's played well in the past.

Strange comments from Perez.

Also don’t understand why Bjorn is in a celeb group rather than with potential RC’ers. But maybe it’s too early?

65 for R-mac. Not sure what went wrong for him last year (I know he claims injury) but his break from the game seems to have worked.

With him having claimed injury I suspect (maybe naively) he was injured. Intercostal (?) injuries do take a very long time to heal (esp when not allowed to heal properly the first time round!) and add in the rehab time (and/or pina colada time) and it sounds about right.

Seems to be pretty good so far this year so yes, whatever and whyever seems to have worked thus far.

Hope he wins at ANGC, if only so he can re-focus on accumulation of biggies. I think the final leg of the slam might be on his mind to the detriment of his chances of winning the others.

Scoring crazy low at Dubai today. Donaldson on a 59 watch. Not quite as star studded a leaderboard as last week either, wouldn’t have expected Horsey, Wall and Jensen to be up there whilst Stenson, Fitzpatrick , Westwood, Aphibarnrat struggle.

Jamie Donaldson going NUTS! -11 after 16 holes - 59 watch?
(Which will immediately place mockers on man from Macclesfield.) EDIT: Finishing bogey - mockers successfully applied, unfortunately.

SNAP!!!!

Incredible scoring? Do people prefer birdie fests or severe tests like the US Open?

Personally, tough scoring, cos I think it makes the Sunday more interesting if someone in the clubhouse early can stay in contention, like Carnoustie in 99 or Winged Foot 06. Room for both though.

See Danny Willett is still suffering. Brings up the old chestnut of what career would a golfer want? One like Curtis/Hamilton or Montgomerie?

sirbenson wrote:Incredible scoring? Do people prefer birdie fests or severe tests like the US Open?

I'm kinda with Ned; guys hitting it 350 yards off the tee to neighboring postal codes with no hint of impunity does nothing for me - there has to be a balance.
And not sure the USGA found that balance at Erin Hills and Chambers Bay.

Like a time warp with Immelman and the Mechanic in the Top Ten.

Shame for Miguel to finish with a late double bogey, but should still be a late starter tomorrow. Context - he turned 54 three weeks ago and is chasing his third straight top ten on the main tour. Closed with a 63 for T7 in Hong Kong before Christmas, and a 65 for T10 in Italy in the autumn. Someone persuade him to quit the Seniors and carry on playing with the kids.....

Good that Miguel still has his priorities right:
"I'm going to finish my cigar, take a nap, and have a beautiful bottle of wine."
Me too - hang on, it's only 10.30 . . . . .

Did you see the photo the Tour tweeted of his press conference today? Miguel just about visible through the fug by the light of his match...

kwinigolfer wrote:

sirbenson wrote:Incredible scoring? Do people prefer birdie fests or severe tests like the US Open?

I'm kinda with Ned; guys hitting it 350 yards off the tee to neighboring postal codes with no hint of impunity does nothing for me - there has to be a balance.
And not sure the USGA found that balance at Erin Hills and Chambers Bay.

I'd be interested to see how far a player who can hit it over 300 would hit a ball from circa 2003, probably still over 300.

NedB-H wrote:Personally, tough scoring, cos I think it makes the Sunday more interesting if someone in the clubhouse early can stay in contention, like Carnoustie in 99 or Winged Foot 06. Room for both though.

Yep, I prefer tests like the US Open over birdie fests tbh! But like you said there is room for both!

sirbenson wrote:

NedB-H wrote:Personally, tough scoring, cos I think it makes the Sunday more interesting if someone in the clubhouse early can stay in contention, like Carnoustie in 99 or Winged Foot 06. Room for both though.

Yep, I prefer tests like the US Open over birdie fests tbh! But like you said there is room for both!

The Open might be interesting for a change this year with it being at Carnoustie.

Is that really -8 for Perez's first nine holes?

Great round by Hao Tong Li, playing in the same group as Rory.

Wonder if Wozniacki's first Grand Slam will be any motivation for Rory.

Quite a few complaints from tour regulars about the Dubai setup this week, Larrazabal, Fitzpatrick, Pepperell among those suggesting it was too easy for the long and wayward hitters. Most interesting point I’ve seen was from Paul Waring, apparently the tour made a fanfare at the start of the week about reducing the size of the greens. But they didn’t bring the greenside rough in further and left the fringes at green quality. All pins have to be no fewer than three paces from the edge of the green, so essentially the smaller greens have just made for easier pin positions. Would never have thought of that.

NedB-H wrote:Personally, tough scoring, cos I think it makes the Sunday more interesting if someone in the clubhouse early can stay in contention, like Carnoustie in 99 or Winged Foot 06. Room for both though.

Not exactly European Tour fare, but Torrey Pines looks reasonably fair this week; challenging when you miss the fairway - unless your name is T.Woods.

GPB - Good call on Li. That was some finish. Not too many people can run Rory down.

Nice performance from Li. He also seems like a nice guy. Maybe Rory seemed a bit rusty on the back 9. The bogey on 16 was a terrible mistake.

The bogey on 16 wasn't great but Rory recovered with two birdies after that. Many times that would have sufficed but Li had an extremely strong finish. Rory didn't lose this Li won it.

McLaren wrote:The bogey on 16 wasn't great but Rory recovered with two birdies after that. Many times that would have sufficed but Li had an extremely strong finish. Rory didn't lose this Li won it.

For me, 13 was the turning point. Rory set up an eagle chance for himself, walked away with a par. Li miles behind Rory off the tee but secured his birdie. Then Li rolling in the long putt on 15 was the killer blow.

I don't think Rory blew it, but he didn't convert many of the chances that his dominant driving created.

Are you people across the pond familiar with the USA TV show "The Monkees" (about 50 years ago)

If so, you might enjoy this play on their theme song.

HERE HE COMES
WALKING DOWN THE STREET
Shooting Sixty-Two in MALAYSIA
He's the ONE to BEAT

Hey, hey, He's LEE WESTWOOD
Some say he can't golf Anymore
But he is too busy playing
Down in Kuala Lumpur

He goes to Indonesia
Getting Paid to Play
He doesn't have to retire
To Asia, he will find a way

HERE HE COMES
WALKING DOWN THE STREET
Shooting Sixty-Two in MALAYSIA
He's the ONE to BEAT

Mum mom loved the Monkees, so heard a bit of them.


Did you put that together GBP? nice work if so.

Didn't one of The Monkee's mothers invent Tipp-Ex or something like that?

One of them was also a Brit, presumably so they could sell it over here too.