Author Archives: Big Dane

Can Bryce Molder Defend His Title at the Frys.com Open?

The PGATOUR will be making a small jump from Las Vegas over to California where they will play the Frys.com Open, which is now being played at CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin. This event is being played for the sixth time and it will be the third consecutive year that they play at this great layout . The first three years were played at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. When the event was first started in 2007, it was called Fry’s Electronics Open. That, however, changed after the first year.

This event, like last week’s event, is part of the PGATOUR Fall Series. This series consists of four events starting October 4^th and ending on November 11^th with the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Classic. The final event is played down in Lake Buena Vista in Florida to try and take advantage of the best weather possible at this time of the year.

The defending champion this week is Bryce Molder, who won the event last year with a total of seventeen under par, which was good enough for him to collect the winning prize of $900,000. The record for the tournament was set in 2008 when Cameron Beckman won with a score of eighteen under par. That record was tied in 2009 by Troy Matteson, Rickie Fowler and Jamie Lovemark. Matteson won the tournament in a playoff.

We have to remember that the record was set on the old course, so in my mind, the record for this event is seventeen under par shot by Molder last year at CordeValle. The one record that I am impressed with is that of Matteson, who set the thirty-six hole record by shooting back to back rounds of sixty-one during his second and third round in 2009. On a personal note, I feel that Molders score is more impressive than that of Matteson and Beckman because his score was set on a par seventy-one that plays long for its distance.

If the weather is good this week, you can count on the scores being low, like they have been over the last two years here in California. Let’s just hope that no one runs away with the tournament.

Scott Piercy’s Win Puts him in World Golf Championship

What a wild finish to last week’s RBC Canadian Open! For the longest time, it looked like the winner would be William McGirt. He was in control of his game, had the lead and was playing very well. . His first 3-putt bogey on the 15th hole changed everything. It began to look like no one wanted to win as the players were dropping shots left and right. No one was able to hit the ball with any accuracy. It was clear what was happening…. the three front runners were starting to feel the effects of nerves – they were starting to feel the pressure.

William McGirt has never won as a professional, so everyone was expecting him to crash and burn. Don`t get me wrong, I was rooting for McGirt to win, but it is always that much harder to win when you have never done it before. The second player, Scott Piercy, had only won one PGA event. The last player who was part of the group trying to win was Robert Garrigus. He, like Piercy, had won once before on the PGATOUR. So when they came down the stretch, the two players who were past winners were the favorites to take the title. There was no way I would have thought that Piercy would have taken home the title with a simple par on the last hole. That was all he needed considering that McGirt made a bogey from the middle of the fairway when he hit his approach shot into the greenside bunker. With tremendous pressure on him…his second shot was poor. When he gets himself into such a position again, he will most likely know how to handle the pressure.

What a great win for Piercy. He now has two wins on tour and he can add this trophy to his 2011 Reno-Tahoe Open trophy. With this great win, he now has the ability to play at this week’s World Golf Championship, the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio. The sad part, however, is that he won`t be back in Nevada to defend his title at Reno. Luckily, the Bridgestone Invitational is a much better event that pays more, has far greater prestige, and has a much smaller field.

Peter Uihlein Makes His Professional Debut in India

Not too many people might know, but the Challenge Tour is the second tier golf tour in Europe, just like the Nationwide Tour is in the U.S. It might not be that well known since not a lot of people even pay all that much attention to the regular European Tour.

This week marks the first time that Peter Uihlein, the kid from Oklahoma State, will be making his debut as a professional golfer. Ok, so most of you are probably saying…who??? How is a player with so much talent as Uihlein playing the Challenge Tour and not the PGA Tour? Especially considering he won the US Amateur title and he was one of the best college players of his era. Who is this Uihlein???

The reason why Uihlein will be in India this week, so far away from his Florida home, is simple. It is because he got a sponsor invite. He is floating around without any full status so this is a great way to get playing time and a chance to win and build his confidence. I wish him all the best on this new journey. You will also be able to see him in a few weeks on the regular European Tour. Overall, I admire his will. Other players might have passed on such an invite, but he didn’t. He proves that he is humble and ready to play his way onto the big tour. There is no doubt in my mind that Uihlein will make it onto the PGA Tour. It is simply all a matter of when he will do so. I am confident he will find the winners circle soon.

The player that will have all eyes on him will be Indian born, Gaganjeet Bhullar, who became the first Indian to win in the twenty three years of the tour. He will look to try and add to that magical history. He has a tough task in front of him, as one of the favorites to win the event is Shiv Kapur. Kapur is the man to beat and he is sure to be getting all of the attention from the locals.

Two Undefeated Teams Remain

We are so far into the college basketball season it is incredible to think that we still have two teams that are undefeated. The two teams with perfect seasons more than deserve it. Until recently there were three undefeated teams in college basketball, the third team was Baylor. The Baylor Bears lost their undefeated record when they got smacked around by the Kansas Jay Hawks in a game that actually looked way too one sided. I was disappointed by the way that Baylor performed, but everyone knows that there is a difference in conference game play and playing on the road.

Baylor, even with a loss to Kansas, will most likely drop a little in the standings, but should be ranked among the top ten teams – perhaps even the top five. Baylor now has the same record as the Kentucky Wildcats, who are 17-1 for the season. Kentucky is ranked second behind Syracuse.

So we are now left with two undefeated teams, Syracuse and Murray State. Syracuse is ranked first in the nation with the perfect record of 20-0. They are currently 7-0 in Big East play which is just as impressive due to the fact that the Big East is one tough conference. The Orangemen will have to defend their perfect season, this Saturday, against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame whom are 11-8 for the season and 3-3 in Big East play. So far this season, the closest game for Syracuse was when they beat the then ranked number nine Florida Gators by four points.

The second undefeated team, The Murray State Racers, are 18-0 for the season and 6-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference. They are currently ranked number ten in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll and number twelve in the AP Top 25. I have to say that I am not that impressed with this team. The teams they have played have not been that notable, with the exception of the Memphis Tigers who were ranked 20th when they played. The Racers have had two close calls, a seven point win against UAB and a 70-67 squeaker by San Francisco.

Putting aside the fact that Murray State plays in a weak conference, it is still impressive to be undefeated. After all, winning eighteen straight games takes merit and some good basketball playing! Their next opponent will be Morehead State on Wednesday. It will be interesting to see if they can keep the streak alive and keep rising in the rankings.

2012 Volvo Golf Champions

Volvo Golf Champions
The Links at Fancourt, South Africa
January 19 – 22, 2012

For the third week in a row, the European Tour will be in South Africa. But, there are two things that are different this week. For starters, the defending champion is not a South African, and second, the event is not co-sanctioned with the Sunshine tour. This means you won`t see as many South African players this week as you did in the previous weeks.

This is only the second time this event is being played and, unfortunately, defending champion, Paul Casey, will be unable to play due to injury. Casey injured his shoulder while on holiday snowboarding. His injury was so severe that they thought he may need surgery – but that ended up not being the case. He will simply be sidelined for a few weeks until his shoulder recovers completely.

Paul Casey holds the tournament record of twenty under par while playing in Bahrain. This year’s event will be played in South Africa at a different course. This year’s course is The Links Course at Fancourt, which was designed by none other than South Africa`s Gary Player. This will be a real treat for the players considering that the course has been consistently featured in the Top 100 Golf Courses in the World. Even more, many say it is the best links course located outside the UK and Ireland.

There is no doubt that there will be an amazing amount of talent here in South Africa battling it out for a win early on in the season. Just like the PGA Tour`s event in Hawaii, this event also features players that won last year on tour. So, to me, that means that there will be real stiff competition. I will have to go with Thomas Bjorn to win. He is my golf hero and just like me, he is from Denmark. I will be cheering for him the whole way.

Steve Stricker to Start Season With Back to Back Wins

The Sony Open
January 9 – 15, 2012
Waialae Country Club, Hawaii

What a great way to start the season for Steve Stricker! He walked away with a huge win at last week’s Hyundai Tournament of Champions. It is always impressive to win the first tournament of the year, considering that several golfers get a bit rusty over the long break. This was not the case for Stricker, as he won by three strokes. Winning by three was great, but even better – Stricker shot all four rounds in the sixties.

Out of this year’s star packed field only two players were able to finish at twenty or more under par, Stricker and Martin Laird. They were the only two players that managed to shoot all rounds in the sixties. The two that managed to go low everyday at the Plantation Course were Stricker and Webb Simpson.

Both Stricker and Simpson are ready to tee it up at the Sony Open this week. If they continue their strong play there won`t be much for the others to do but sit back and watch one of them win the event. One player that also played well last week was K.J. Choi. He will be present there this week and he is one of those players that when he gets close to the lead, he can smell the win and just seems to power past everyone.

This year’s Sony Open will be played at the Waialae Country Club in Hawaii. The Waialae Country Club is a par 70 course. The defending champion, Mark Wilson, won the event last year with a score of sixteen under par. The record at this event was set by Brad Faxon and John Houston who both shot an aggregate score of 260. The lowest par record was set by Houston when he managed to shoot twenty-eight under par for the four day event.

Most of the players from last week`s event will be playing at the Sony Open. There are three groups that you should definitely keep an eye on. The first group is that of Keegan Bradley, Stewart Cink and Vijay Singh. These three are all past major champions. The next group to watch is Webb Simpson, K.j. Choi and Ryo Ishikawa. This group has so much talent – no doubt plenty of birdies and great shots are sure to be seen with these players. The last group that really catches my eye are tour veterans Stricker, Davis Love III and Sean O`Hair. Stricker will attempt to become the second player ever to win the Tournament of Champions and follow it up with a win at the Sony.

Big Ten Matchup between Michigan and Indiana

For all you Big Ten fans out there, you can`t miss this game that is being played on Thursday at 9pm ET between the Michigan Wolverines and the Indiana Hoosiers. It will be aired live on ESPN2. Just in case you are not a Big Ten fan, that is not an issue here! As long as you enjoy watching great basketball, then this is the game for you… they are Ranked 13^th and 12^th in the Nation.

For those of you out there that have been out of the loop - the Indiana Hoosiers are probably one of the hottest teams in the nation and they are going to be one of the contenders to win the Big Ten. And not only that, but also to make an extremely impressive run in the NCAA Tournament as long as they keep playing the way they have been so far. This Indiana team has beaten some of the best teams in the nation already. They, first of all, knocked off number one in the nation, Kentucky, on December 10^th by a score of 73-72. This past December 31^st, they beat number two in the nation, Ohio State, by a score of 74-20.

The only team they have lost to is Michigan State, in Michigan, who were ranked 17^th in the nation. They lost the game by a score of 80-65. It was a disappointing loss for the Hoosiers because they were on a roll and had won a nice twelve games in a row. This match against Michigan will be a big test for Indiana, but in their favor, they will be playing at home and that will for sure make a big difference coming down the stretch.

Both of these two teams love to shoot three pointers, so it will interesting which of the two come out firing strong first. I feel that the team that takes the early lead will be the team that leads the whole way. There is nothing tougher for a team to fall behind and then have to make a comeback against a team that shoots three pointers just as well as they do. I think if you really want to make a bet on this game, then bet the team total of Indiana going over or the over for the game.

Jonathan Byrd Looks To Start Year Off In Right Direction

The PGA TOUR is starting this week and I for one can remember always looking forward to watching the first event of the season which used to be called the Mercedes Championship, but is now known as the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

This event always used to be filled with the best of the best players in the World, and I for one, have to say I am rather disappointed this year when I take a look at the list of the Field. Yes I know that in order to make it here you have to win an event and that there are so many new kids out there with lots of talent, but still I am not impressed with the names playing this week.

It was in 1999, the first year they moved this prestigious event to Hawaii, that David Duval won the event with a total of twenty-six under par. The record for this event was set by the Big Easy in 2003 when Ernie Els shot thirty-one under par. Last year, it was Jonathan Byrd that won the event with a total of twenty-four under par.

Since they moved to Hawaii, there have been two players that have won back to back titles. The first to do so was Stuart Appleby, who won it three years in a row 2004, 2005 and also in 2006. The other player to pull off that feat was also an Australian, Geoff Ogilvy, who won it in 2009 and again in 2010. This year, Jonathan Byrd will have a chance to join that group if he is able to win this week, but the odds are against him since there are so many young guys there that can straight up play.

The only thing that really is missing from this year is the big names. The biggest names this week will be Steve Stricker and K.J Choi. They will have to compete against the likes of Webb Simpson, Keegan Bradley and Bill Haas. If you ask me, Keegan Bradley might be the favorite to win this week. I don`t think many players really had a better year than what he had, and he has the length to take advantage of this great layout. To be fair, the winner this week will be for sure one of those guys that can just bomb the ball out there - so don`t count out Gary Woodland as long as he can make the putts when it matters the most.

The Hyundai Tournament of Champions takes place Friday, January 6, 2012 through Monday, January 9, 2012.

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