Golf Things

Former world number one Adam Scott has said that competitive rust might have cost him another title as American golfer Dustin Johnson stamped his authority on the rest of the pack as he marked his return to professional golf with a massive victory at the World Golf Championship in Miami.

The Aussie golfer started the final round of the event eight shots behind the lead but threatened to make a late dash for the title when he had halved the deficit by the end of nine shots.

However, an 11th hole bogey messed up whatever strategy he might have had, forcing the 34 year old to go on the attack on a course that is difficult to manoeuvre.

That decision backfired greatly on the Queensland ace as he finished in fourth place eventually, a good five shots behind Johnson. This was the first tournament that Adam Scott has played since playing at the Australian Masters in December last year, taking an extended break at the end of the season.
He said that he tried to challenge the course a bit after hitting a bogey on the 11th. He added that in hindsight, he feels that he didn’t need to do it but he wanted to be aggressive and feels that he scrambled much of the rest of his game around.

According to Adam Scott, lack of competition might have played a part in him not being able to get over the line. He added that it is obvious that one needs a few shots under his belt on Tour and it is quite different from hitting balls around the course with friends. He also accepted that still has a lot of work to do if he wants to perform well at the Masters tournament, which tees off in Augusta next month.

Davis Love III, the US Ryder Cup captain, told that Tiger Woods is very much confident of making it to the 2016 squad. Earlier, Woods took himself out of the contention for last year’s game at Gleneagles, as he intends to take a break from golf.

The thirty nine year old, who is now ranked ninety six, has started just 2 events this year and he is on yet another break to get his form back. Speaking to BBC Radio, Davis Love told that he is anticipating him to make it to the team. He keeps in touch with Tiger a lot more than they have. He is working very hard and he is still in a great attitude.

Woods, the former world No 1, who won the last of his fourteen majors in 2008, made his debut in the Ryder Cup in 1997. He has made total seven appearances at the event.

After recovering from an operation on a pinched nerve that forced Woods to miss Masters and US Open last year, he missed the cut in his 1st ever tournament of the season – Waste Management Phoenix Open, when he registered an eleven-over-par 82, the worst round of his pro career – when he had been one of the favourites on the titanbet website.

Later he announced another indefinite break from the game saying his game was not acceptable for tournament play, but later he dais that he is expecting to play in the first major of the year – Masters at Augusta from April 9-12.

Golf is all set to make its much awaited return to the Olympic Games in the summer of 2016 when the greatest show on Earth hits Brazil and Rio de Janeiro, but if it were up to him, former world number one Adam Scott would ensure only amateurs played in the event.

The Aussie golfer who is currently ranked at number 3 in the world doesn’t want the integrity of the Olympic Games to be diluted by the presence of professional golfers. Several well known sports columnists in Australia have voiced their opinion on the game’s professionals playing in the Olympic Games and that shouldn’t be the case. And now, Scott has come out in support of them.

Scott said that the Olympic Games was and should always for amateurs. Speaking at an event organised by the Australian PGA, the two time major winner said that people already get to watch the professional golfers for 45 of the 52 weeks in a calendar year.

Adam Scott added that these people have grown tired of seeing the same old faces week in and week out and if the golfing fraternity is serious about making the game popular and growing it into more territories, then they should ensure that only amateur golfers take part in the Olympic Games.

He however did mention that he does want to participate in the Games when they kick off in 2016; he said that his focus is mainly on other things, especially the four major tournaments of the year.

According to Adam Scott, the Games in Rio is not something he has given a lot of thought about but it definitely is something that he would love to be a part of, adding that his focus remains on the four majors and that will not change.

Luke Donald is a professional English golfer and a former world number one, currently playing in two of the biggest golf tours in the world, the United States of America based US PGA Tour and the European Tour.
The Englishman has several accolades under his belt but perhaps his greatest year in terms of achievements remains the 2011 season during which he won several tournaments and the money list of the US PGA Tour as well as the Race to Dubai of the European Tour, completing a historic double, therefore, becoming the first player in the history of the sport to top both the lists in the same year.
That same year, he was named Golfer of the Year for both the European Tour and the US PGA Tour as well, becoming the first ever Englishman to win the US PGA Tour Player of the Year award. Luke Donald climbed to the top of the Official Golf World Rankings in May 2011 and held the position for a whopping 40 weeks before he was briefly dethroned in March 2012 by the up and coming Rory McIlroy.
The two would go on to exchanged positions before his successful defence of the BMW PGA Championship saw him return to the top of the rankings. Donald would hold on to the position for a further ten weeks before he was dethroned on a permanent basis by McIlroy.
In all, Donald spent a cumulative 56 weeks at the top of the rankings as well as a further 200 weeks inside the top ten before falling out of the list on the back of a dodgy season in 2013.
Luke Donald was awarded the MBE award by the United Kingdom and Queen Elizabeth II in her birthday honours in 2012 for his services to golf.

The last major championship of the golf gets underway. For some it is last major titles while for some of the US players the tour can be a direct entry to the Ryder cup team. As the Ryder cup team for US has been announced there is a spot for some players yet to be achieved and this tour will help the captain Watson to decide on the player those who will make it to the team representing US in the famous Ryder cup. Phil Mickelson is among the names those who are looking for the top 9 spots to qualify for the Ryder cup team. The US team captain Watson in a press conference announced that on September 2nd the he will be announcing 3 wild card names for his Ryder’s team. Players taking part in the PGA will have a greater say and thus only the trophy s not up for grabs for Mickelson.

He currently is well placed in the championship and a good next week will see him gain some good spots in the table and it can mean a direct entry to the Ryder cup. The biggest thing to note is that the Ryder cup point gets doubled during the PGA week. This brings in even a better opportunity for Mickelson as for every $1000 earned he will be gaining 2 points for the Ryder cup and it will increase his chances of making it to the team. After 36 holes he is on a tie for the 7th spot in the tour. A good next week will not only give Mickelson a chance to represent his team but it will give Watson a chance to use well his options of selecting the last 3 players for the Ryder cup tournament easily and freely.

The final major championship of golf is on its way and one of the major concerns for the fans is the growing injury list of golfers. Matt Kuchar the golfer from US withdrew his name from the PGA tour. His decision of withdrawing his name came as he was facing a bad back just before the start of the tour. This was a bad news for the world of golf as the player is ranked number 6 in the world ranking of golfers. His absence will be felt at the PGA tour for sure as a player of his calibre would have been a great challenge for others. His absence from the tour is not only a matter of worry for the organisers of the PGA championship but rather than that his matter injury is a big matter of concern for Tom Watson. Watson was named as the captain for the US team that will be playing in the Ryder’s cup this year. US team is undergoing a matter of concern due to injuries and Matt Kuchar is one of the biggest names in that list. Watson the team captain will be hoping for Kuchar to get fit as soon as possible so that his concerns over this year’s Ryder cup gets over.

As it is believed that a bad time for someone brings in good time for some. This was the case with John Huh as he got the direct entry into the PGA championships as Matt Kuchar withdrew his name from the tournament and gave chance to Huh to take part in the championship this year. There are still speculations over Tiger Woods being fit to take part in the PGA championship and still it remains a doubt over his return to major championship.

Australia’s Adam Scott was a happy man when he walked out of the course on Thursday evening at the U. S Open. He scored a 3 under 67 to be the second on the list just after Germany’s Martin Kaymer. He told Reuters that he could have got a 70 on the score card, but the conditions were not the easiest ones for the game that morning. Scott opened with a 73 when he started on Thursday afternoon.

With the overnight showers, the course moistened on Friday morning and players found a very welcome relief from the fire out there. Scott was heard saying that he believed in playing steady. He did not change his game plan based on the course conditions on the second day – he just played his natural game all throughout. But in spite of the early lead, most of the early starters with the exception of Kaymer, could not go ahead of 67. Scott’s ball striking was very good, especially compared to the fellow contenders. Though he was disappointed with few of the shots he played, he still managed to grab the second spot and maintain his lead.

While talking to the media, Adam Scott said that he had putted well and hence his success at the tournament. He also spoke about how it became easier on Friday with the change of the climatic conditions. On being asked about the competition amongst the fellow golfers at the tournament, he mentioned and praised Kaymer on his game. Though Scott was very positive about taking on with Kaymer, the latter’s lead at the tournament looked insurmountable.

With a lot many tournaments planned back to back this year, Adam said that he wanted to be at his best- both at his game and fitness and looks forward to the good competitions that are lined up for him.

Of late Kevin Na has been much in talk because of his slow play in PGA Tour. However a second contender has risen to give his poster boy position for slow playing. This has raised a question as to whether he is at all PGA Tour’s slowest player. During an interesting conversation between Arron Oberholser and Brandel Chamblee on Saturday Morning they agreed that Kevin Na’s position is being seriously targeted and he is no longer the slowest golfer on the tour. Oberholder however did not comment on whom he thought was the slowest golfer, but he mentioned that Kevin Na is being unduly scrutinized for slow game play.

Brandel Chamlee however commented that the tag for the slowest golfer in PGA Tour definitely is for Jim Furyk. He added that Jack Nicklaus definitely was slow and Bernhard Langer might have been the slowest golfer in the history, and Jim Furyk at present is the slowest in PGA Tour. He feels that no other slow player like Langer and Nicklaus has been criticized as much as Kevin Na is being right now. Chamblee stressed that since golf enthusiast get to see Kevin’s pre hit incertitude, he is being criticized even further.

Jim Furyk is a much slow player as to Kevin Na, however Furyk is quite consistent in his pre hit routine. Lance Barrow, Brant Packer and Tommy Roy, producers of a popular TV Channel commented that they don’t go to him until and unless he pulls back from his first putt and that’s why viewers don’t see the deliberation Jim Furyk goes through. There were couple of instances, once in the Players Championship in 2012 and again last Saturday, where Na was quite inconsistent about his pre hit routine.

In what could be interpreted as a complete disregard for world number one Tiger Woods, the reigning Masters champion Adam Scott has stated that his generation of players is no longer worried by the influence of the world number one.

Woods won five titles five titles in 2013 but he failed to win a single major title leaving him on fourteen titles. The last time he managed to win a major was back in 2008 and for a player of the caliber of Woods to be on such a barren spell is something that hasn’t gone down well with his fans.

Scott also mentioned that he doesn’t think Woods has become any less of a factor, and that is something his fans will admit as well as the players. But he added that judging by the way the majors have been shared round in the last few seasons, the players have more confidence on them and do not fear the presence of Woods.

Adam Scott went on to add that his generation has raised the level of its game, they are more confident on their own abilities and do not need players of the caliber of Woods, or Phil Mickelson or even someone like Rory McIlroy to falter to claim a major title.

He stated that Jack Nicklaus also had a dry spell like the one Woods is going through and he is still seen as the best player of all time. It wouldn’t surprise Adam Scott at all if Woods comes back to claim a major title this season but his generation of players is giving them more of a chance right now than they ever had.

Moreover, they have improved drastically over the past few years and years of experience have given them an edge in that battle against him.

The Masters Golf Tournament is a major professional golf championship held in the Augusta National Golf Club (Augusta, USA). Ever since 1934, Masters Tournament is taking place every year and many popular golfers such as Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, Jimmy Demaret, Nick Faldo, Phil Mickelson etc have won the tournament more than once.

In the year 2013, Adam Scott won the Masters Golf Tournament which was actually the 77th edition of the tournament. In fact, Scott is the first golfer belonging to Australia who became the winner of the Masters tournament by defeating Angel Cabrera (Argentina). In the past, no Australian was able to win the Masters including Greg Norman who was able to become only a runner-up in the 1986, 1987 and 1996 Masters Tournament.

Adam Scott is going to be the 1st Master Champion who is going to defend his current title against around 100 golfers. Augusta National has added fourteen players after the 2013 Official World Golf Ranking list was released. This means that the field has been increased to ninety players and it might happen that the field is increased to more than 100 in the upcoming tournament.

Since the Augusta National Golf Club has a small field, the organizers used to keep the number of players under 100. Only in the 1996 Masters Tournament around 103 players participated and in the 2011 Masters Tournament there were around ninety-nine players.

Some of the golfers who have been qualified for the tournament because they were a part of the Top 50 of the 2013 Official World Golf Ranking list are Thomas Bjorn, Peter Hanson, Branden Grace, Hideki Matsuyama, David Lynn, Rickie Fowler etc.

Authorities have made certain changes in relation to the criteria for the Masters Tournament 2014 which is going to be held from 10th of April to 13th of April 2014.