European Tour: Commercialbank Qatar Masters

First topic message reminder :

I'm not sure if Mac or anyone else was planning to start a thread for this...
I woke up early today and had a look at the Qatar LB and I liked what I saw - it's always nice to see the top guys putting up top performances. And that's exactly what seems to happen this morning. We were talking about Colsaerts yesterday on kwini's thread, and there he is in an early lead, confirming once again his intentions for a (hopefully) special season. We've seen already Ollie playing very well this year, but how great would be to see him doing this consistently once again. Earlier on he was leading at 5-under, pitty about those two bogeys at 3rd and 4th, but still very well placed. Good to see also Paul Lawrie continuing to show some great form.

The last couple of days I saw a lot of the guys were complaining on tweeter about the very strong winds in Qatar and sand getting in their eyes as they were practicing, not sure how the conditions are there today...

Last year Bjorn had that brilliant win here, confirming his great return to form, will he be able to repeat that again this week?At the moment from all the top players in the field, only Goose had a relatively slower start, but there is plenty of time for things to change...

But look who moved to the top now as I've been writing this... It's the Americans!
John Daly and Ben Curtis leading on the European Tour?! Whatever next...

Perhaps the appearance fee for token American should have gone to Micheel rather than Mahan?

What course is Jason Day playing?

When is John Daly going to mess up??

Can he win?

Would I be the only one happy at seeing the possibility of a John Daly win.

Jason Day seems to be playing something that represents playstation golf. Everything he touches at the moment just comes off right.

Day lent his playstation to David Luiz, for one hole at least.

If Lawrie doesn't win this, here's hoping Sergio does. Good early shout for the Match Play?

Nearly 30 players within 5 shots of the leader..its wide open.

Here come the French.. and the German. But Sergio's been getting better every day. It would be a good time of the year to get close to peak form.

What was Daly drinking from that pint? Bet it wasn't lemonade...

Bang!!!

3-horse race, or is Hanson still in with a chance?

Disappointed to see all those bogeys from Westwood - he seems to "grind it out" much better in the US than he does in Europe.

If Paul Lawrie & Dundee Utd both win today, I plan to streak naked through my local pub!!

Don't know much about Dundee utd but Lawrie looking very good for closing out this tournament, so you may need to start rehearsing your streak!

Lawrie not giving any hopes to the others, certainly deserves to win this. Looks like another runner up place for Jason Day, but he certainly looked very good today. Solid finish by Westwood, but too much damage done earlier on.
Is Daly really going to go away with a top 3 finish... ?

Rangers 0 vs Dundee United 1

Just saying . . . .

BANG! Hanson!!! That could wipe 25k off Daly's cheque and 50k off Jason's...

Pretty good from Jason Day, That's earning your appearance money - and everything else. Back up to 6th or 7th, Peter Hanson and Webb Simpson permitting.
Is Lawrie playing as well as the leaderboard suggests?

Rangers 0 Dundee 2
Where's EmmDee's local...?
If Hanson knocks that in for eagle, Day moves only to #8...

Kwini

Not sure how good lawrie is playing but capitalizing on some good early season form may have just transformed his year. So often you see players in the mix after the first two days for a few tournaments in a row but they dont finish off high enough to really make a difference. Lawrie has finished well in events with tough fields.

Fantastic result for Paul Lawrie; that'll raise a few eyebrows.
And this win should open some doors for him, the WGC MatchPlay, hopefully the WGC Cadillac, perhaps The Masters and US Open, and certainly the WGC Bridgestone and PGA Championship.
Ryder Cup points accumulating also and a reminder that he did rather well at The Country Club!

Lawrie has looked like a new player this past year, the last 4 months in particular. Long may it continue.

Well done Paul Lawrie.

Superb performance......................

Great performance from Lawrie and being from Aberdeen delighted for him Disappointing finish from Sergio but his momentum just went when he 3 putted for bogey on 13. Although in saying that, I dont think he would have won after all as dont think he would have got near Lawries 15 under.

Loving the fact Lawrie and Dundee Utd won their respective events. Great day for Scottish Sport.

Wasn't allowed to streak in the pub, was warned I'd be banned for a year!!!

Kwini - Lawrie played fantastic golf. Dear Radar, on course, compared him to Faldo which Lawrie himself rejected in post round interview, but it was pure class.
Maybe he is setting himself up to ram a 1999 barb from this years US Ryder cup captain straight back down his throat?

What did Davis Love say about Lawrie?

After Lawrie won the Open, and DL3 and others had been savaged by Carnoustie he said " well they got the champion they deserved"
I thought DL3 was better than that, but Lawrie was not impressed and I just wonder if it lives on?

Oh dear, Not very Davis-like. I had heard the comment but not realised who made it.
I imagine Paul Lawrie might get almost as much satisfaction out of success in this phase of his career than his earlier successes. Great to see, and looking forward to seeing him play over here once again.

He really is swinging so smoothly and hitting further than ever. Not the longest but mostly keeping up with Hanson and Colsearts yesterday. Has to be said Colsearts did not play well and when he does catch one out of the middle it is as good as any over here!
On the Open comments, I think DL3 was close that year but ultimately along with many others thought the course was unfair. I think that was the year they had put fertiliser in the rough to make it a bit more sporty!!!!!!!

As another Aberdeen resident, absolutely delighted for Lawrie. A big win has been on the cards for a few months now, as he's swinging absolutely beautifully ... and his short game is matching it. He's always been an excellent chipper, but his putting is now coming to the party as well. He had so much riding on yesterday's final round (a potential Masters spot for starters), but he looked like he was playing round his local course. Fantastic stuff under huge pressure.

Davis love III must look back in horror at his own major record, a little like ernie els must.

I wouldn't think so Mac, he was one of the best putters of his generation but there were always many better players around than him.
He had some very good major results and a win in the PGA. I doubt he's that horrified. HIs big thick mullet would be more of a regret for him I would think.

More about Paul Lawrie and his efforts for Scotland's Junior Golf:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/golf/16517786

Hadn't read this before, but a great story.

Kwini ... Yes, it's a great story about Lawrie. He's been supporting junior golfers for ages now through his Paul Lawrie Foundation. His decision to personally sponsor the Scottish Boys championships at Murcar is just another example of him putting his hand in his pocket to give something back to the game. I've met him on a few occasions and he's a really sound, down to earth bloke. He's also hitting it magnificently, and could have a very useful 2012.

Thanks for that update Dave; I know he tends to be very popular on here, sure he'll grow on Davis Love also!

In all honesty I find that comment from Davis Love to be very much an american thing in general that because a course, or sporting arena they have played at has resulted in a loss they take to insulting the winners or hosts.

If they learnt to be graceful in defeat then perhaps they would be looked upon with greater favour. Lets just hope Davis is more sporting should Europe win the ryder cup again this year.

Must admit, I was always inclined to think Davis Love was an uber privileged pr1ck, but was fortunate enough to follow him for 18 US Open holes many years ago and found him a very enjoyable golfer to watch.
Sometimes he comes across as a bit of a goober, and s_r is right about that hair. But he's pretty good mates with some of the Europeans, DC especially, and I'm inclined to feel he's a pretty decent guy occasionally prone to verbal gaffes.
Would think he'll be a popular RC Captain, win or lose. Certainly not of the Palimony-Hal Sutton mould; no cowboy or camo hats at Medinah.

Not too sure about DL3 as a RC captain. Doesn't really have charisma (in fact he has anti-charisma) and doubt how he can motivate the team. What could be a deciding factor would be whether Tiger will play or not. Likely he will - which I think will be to our benefit.

pedro wrote:Not too sure about DL3 as a RC captain. Doesn't really have charisma (in fact he has anti-charisma) and doubt how he can motivate the team. What could be a deciding factor would be whether Tiger will play or not. Likely he will - which I think will be to our benefit.

Barring further injury Pedro I think you can say he's a certainty. He's currently the 8th Septic in the rankings and hasn't got many points to drop each time he plays. At that rate DL3 wont even have the controversy about whether to pick him or not. If he ends up being in a position between 9th-12th he would still be a non controversial pick. If he slips further than that (David Toms is currently the 13th Yank at 30 in the rankings) due to form, then that's where it would get interesting. In such a scenario I think DL3 would actually have the balls not to pick him.

Very very very early days.
But the current US rankings offer a glimpse of the tough choices DLIII will have to make:
Top 8 qualify automatically: Then four wildcards.
Stanley
Bradley
Stricker
Wagner
Snedeker
Wilson
Dufner
Crane
--------
Mickelson
D.Johnson
Garrigus
Simpson

Among those on the outside looking in, with current positions, are:
Haas: 15th
Toms: 17th
Bubba: 21st
Fowler: 24th
Kuchar: 34th
Woods: 38th
Watney: 42nd
Mahan: 45th
Furyk: 67th

Premature to draw many conclusions from this, as the qualifying period has only just started, but clearly some well known names will be missing out - by the time the Masters is over we should get a clearer idea as to who might be the leading automatic qualifiers, who might struggle.
Kyle Stanley to be this year's Webb Simpson? Only better??

Blimey. OK, so it is very early (especially considering the big players have not over-exerted themselves in terms of proper tournaments for the last few months), but the implication is that the US team might mostly comprise rookies!!!

[Or Ryder Cup "Boom Babies" as they now may be known since the infamous celebration by 2 of them last time?]

Kwini

Do the US team only accululate points for ryder cup selection on the PGA tour?

Sky,
As I said, very very early days, but I was trying to make the point that some unexpected names have got off to a good start, other more established/publicised are struggling.

Mac,
Yup, broadly speaking it's just last year's Majors that earn points and every PGA Tour event, including "opposite field" tournaments, including the four Majors. Nevertheless, the usual suspects, Mickelson, Furyk, Woods, Mahan, Kuchar didn't do much at the 2011 Majors and have not registered yet this year.

Pretty young (but I'd say, not yet tested long term) US team at the moment... In contrast, if you look at the current shape of the European team (not necessarily in the proper order):

1. Rory McIlroy
2. Martin Kaymer
3. Luke Donald
4. Lee Westwood
5. Gonzalo Fdez-Castano
6. Alvaro Quiros
7. Sergio Garcia
8. Paul Lawrie
9. Justine Rose
10. Graeme McDowell
---------------------------
11. Peter Hanson
12. Thomas Bjorn
13. Joost Luiten, Michael Hoey, Robert Rock, Simon Dyson, Colsaerts, Poults, Jimenez, Casey(?), etc...

...it contains already many of the usual suspects.
Things can change of course, but at the moment I can't really see yet guys like Luiten, Hoey, etc. as being preferred picks to others like Poulter for example, so I think they're best bet is to try and make the direct qualifying places, which won't be easy...

Very interesting. I have to say I somewhat struggle with using stroke play to pick a team for a match play competition, but I guess it's the chosen method, and I can't actualy think of anything better.

If I was captain of the Europe team, I'd be hoping for Bjorn and Poulter to make it through. I recokon they would worry an opponent in man to man match play, which is what makes the biggest impact on the RC (IMHO). I'd also see Gonzo and maybe Alvaro as being weaker links in singles match play. No real science to it, just gut feel on who I'd like to see standing on the tee on Sunday. I think match play needs a slightly different form of mental toughness.

princedracula wrote:Pretty young (but I'd say, not yet tested long term) US team at the moment... In contrast, if you look at the current shape of the European team (not necessarily in the proper order):

1. Rory McIlroy
2. Martin Kaymer
3. Luke Donald
4. Lee Westwood
5. Gonzalo Fdez-Castano
6. Alvaro Quiros
7. Sergio Garcia
8. Paul Lawrie
9. Justine Rose
10. Graeme McDowell
---------------------------
11. Peter Hanson
12. Thomas Bjorn
13. Joost Luiten, Michael Hoey, Robert Rock, Simon Dyson, Colsaerts, Poults, Jimenez, Casey(?), etc...

...it contains already many of the usual suspects.
Things can change of course, but at the moment I can't really see yet guys like Luiten, Hoey, etc. as being preferred picks to others like Poulter for example, so I think they're best bet is to try and make the direct qualifying places, which won't be easy...

Shouldn't number 9 on that list be playing in the Solheim Cup?

haha, there is some sort of justification for that, but i won't go into details here...

Agree re. Bjorn. Had three wins last year. Hope he makes it. Like him or not, as far as I know he earns great respect amongst the players, and has had positive impact the times he has been player or vice captain.