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Weir and Allenby to shine

July 2nd 2008 08:04
Here’s a theme. Someone who tied for 18th at the US Open will win Tiger Wood's tournament at Congressional this week.

Woods, who hosts the tournament, can't be there because his knee surgery won't let him travel. In his absence, some of those not far behind him at Torrey Pines have a chance to win, particularly those who were tied for 18th!

Mike Weir was tied for eighth here last year and he’s in top form, coming off a tie for 18th at the US Open and before that a tie for second at the Memorial tournament.

And Weir’s game is in much better shape than this time last year so there’s no reason he can’t improve on last year’s placing.


And what I like about Weir is that he plays well on traditional, major championship-style courses. Congressional hasn’t hosted a major for a while but it’s the kind of old-fashioned course that will suit Weir.

In the same boat is Robert Allenby. Regular readers of this blog will know I’ve been waiting for Allenby to win for weeks.

Like Weir he was tied for 18th at the US Open and was sixth here last year. He’s got his game in such good order he should contend every week and he’ll be there again this week.

The in-form guy is Hunter Mahan. Guess what? He was tied for 18th at the US Open and was second last week at The Traveler’s Championship and finished top-10 here last year when in a similar vein of form.

How about Rocco Mediate? Yeah, the guy who lost to Tiger at the US Open. He amazingly came out that performance and all the media attention with his focus intact enough to finish tied for 28th last week and he’s another guy who will like the old-style layout at Congressional. He could surprise again.

My fifth pick is a real toss-up between Pat Perez and Jeff Quinney but I’m going for Perez. He was third here last year and his form lately has been OK. He’s a good, solid player and can win here.


In Europe, it’s hard to get a bead on who might play well at the European Championship because it’s being played at the London Club. It’s the first time the course has seen a European Tour event and therefore there’s no form-line here.

So I’m going with form and class.

The form guys are: Richard Green, the left-handed Aussie is in great shape, Franceso Molinari, the Italian who has been on the fringe of a win lately and young Englishman Oliver Fisher. The class is deep but I’m with the revirtalised Colin Montgomerie and Sergio Garcia.

Good luck.

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Whacky Woody hands it to KP

June 30th 2008 22:34
You gotta hand it to Kenny Perry … well, that’s what Woody Austin did at the PGA’s Buick Open in Michigan yesterday.

Whacky Woody was leading at 20-under with two holes to play and KP was in the clubhouse at 19-under having made a big jumped when he scored a sandy eagle at the short par-4 14th, by holing his bunker shot.

Woody, who is eccentric to say the least, spends much of his round chastising himself, his putter, his ball … and seems as wound up as a Jack Russell puppy on speed.

So the idea of him trying to steady himself is about the same as him wearing a mono-coloured shirt, or even a shirt that looks vaguely fashionable.

So instead of making straightforward pars at the par-17th and the relatively short par-4 18th, Woody went bogey-bogey to cough up a title that was his for the taking. On both holes it was inability to hit a lag putt to within 10 feet and each time failing to make the come-back effort.

Golfdelerium’s best tip was Briny Baird, who finished in a tie for 12th – which was an OK effort but he could have done better.

In Europe, we had a better result with Soren Hansen finishing third behind young Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal.

Larrazabal distanced the field with his exhuberant and risky approach. Whether he can play with such attacking flair week after week and keep winning is another thing.

*Who says you can’t learn anything by watching golf? I was fascinated during the coverage of the Buick to hear Peter Kostis talking about why Woody Austin doesn’t use a tee for his driver.

Woody scuffs up a bit of turf and places the ball on top, a few millimetres off the ground and nowhere near as high as it would be if he’d teed it up.

The idea, said Kostis was to stop the ball going left. For whatever reason, maybe the fact the club contacts the ball lower on the face, the ball tends to go right – that means you can safely eliminate the left side of the course.

Amused, I tried this in a sense by simply teeing my ball a bit lower than normal. For each drive I aimed down the left hand side of the fairway on the basis this set-up would rule out dragging the ball further left and leave virtually the entire fairway to land on. And you know what … it worked and I had one of my best rounds in ages courtesy of hitting more fairways than normal.

So there you go. Until next time, good golf and better betting.
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Drawing a Grand Blanc

June 24th 2008 02:33
Well, another week, another winner: tote them up and we’ve had a few this season already.

Sure Stewart Cink was the favourite to win the Traveler’s Championship but golfdelerium not only tipped Cink on top but threw in Heath Slocum for good value, and he obliged by finishing in the top five. We also mentioned Hunter Mahan as a danger and he finished tied for second.

In Europe, we weren’t so flash, although Martin Erlandsson’s tie for sixth was just a shot away from a top-five finish and a collect while Retief Goosen couldn’t quite get going and had to be content with a tie for 13th.

This week, it’s the Buick Open at Warwick Hills in Grand Blanc, Michigan.

Normally the field here would include a certain Tiger Woods – he’s sponsored by Buick, you see – but with Tiger resting thanks to that largely wrecked left leg of his, the field’s more open.

Usually, this event has been won by an experienced player (Brian Bateman’s upset last year was a recent exception). Veterans who like here include Jim Furyk and Justin Leonard and both those guys will be around the money, you’d expect.

Heath Slocum is in hot form but his record at Warwick Hills iffy. Over the past five years he’s missed the cut three times but the times he’s made the cut he’s finished high up; 14th and 8th. He’s currently on a streak of 13 made cuts and has two top 10s in his past two starts. Gamble on a good one.

Brandt Snedeker was tied for ninth at the US Open at his last start; a welcome return to form after his great Masters showing was followed by a dip. He was 10th at his only start at the Buick and this tournament seems tailor-made for him.


I’d consider roughies have been playing well enough recently, and at this course over the years. They are Briny Baird and Lucas Glover. I have serious doubts about Glover’s mental strength, sometimes I think he flags it a bit too easily, but when he’s on song he’s certainly got the game to win.

Baird is one of those players, like Tim Clark, who’s played hundreds of tournaments without winning but this year he’s been more consistent than ever and despite his wonky putting style he hits enough greens in regulation to be a threat.

Chris DiMarco has been finding a semblance of his best form, and when he was at his best he was a contender in this tournament – don’t discount him yet although I might wait another week or two for him to consolidate his recent good finishes.

In five: I’ll go Heath Slocum, Brandt Snedeker, Jim Furyk, Briny Baird and Lucas Glover.

In Europe, it’s the French Open and I’ve got a hunch England’s Graeme Storm can repeat his win of last year.

He’s been inching back into good touch the past two weeks and it would be no surprise to see a successful defence of his title.

Fellow Englishman David Lynn has been consistent for sometime without quiet threatening to win but he has a good record at the tournament.

Outside that I’m doing all-Dane: Soren Hansen, Anders Hansen and Soren Kjelsen.

The trio have been in good nick around the traps, with Anders Hansen missing a win last week in a playoff against Martin Kaymer, Soren Hansen doing OK at the US Open and Kjeldsen returning a string of top-20s.

They are my five.
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How long left for Woods

June 18th 2008 01:52
There is not much more to say about Tiger Woods’ remarkable win in the US Open other than to urge golf fans to watch him while you can.

Because suddenly the prospect of golf without Woods is real


[ Click here to read more ]
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Tiger's good!

June 16th 2008 02:10
There are no superlatives left to decribe Tiger Woods' ability to overcome the odds.

Injured, hitting it badly and in danger of losing a major championship that was practically in the bag, Woods summoned all his willpower to make a birdie putt on the 18th and force an 18 hole playoff with the genial 45-year-old Rocco Mediate


[ Click here to read more ]
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US Open - on the back nine

June 15th 2008 22:42
Well, Tiger Woods, after dropping three shots in the first two holes and battling knee pain has steadied his round.

He’s coping with the knee problem by easing off his shots and going for a more conservative approach


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US Open final round update

June 15th 2008 20:55
Tiger Woods has just played hack-o-rama on the first hole of the final round of the US Open.

His tree-bashing, rough-trekking double bogey was followed by a drive on the second that had him doubled-over in pain as his bad knee flared up


[ Click here to read more ]
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Tiger writes blockbuster script

June 14th 2008 22:16
So, will Tiger bring them to their knees again?

Tiger's just teed off in the third round of the US Open and if he can managed to win tis thing it's a that'll hobble all the way up the road from San Diego Hollywood as the Woods legend grows in ways you'd never imagine


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US Open round one update

June 13th 2008 01:44
What a spectacular course and what a start to the US Open.

Tiger Woods definitely suffered from a combination of his sore knee and the layoff he required in recovering from surgery


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Tiger burns less brightly

June 11th 2008 01:57
This is just a quick update ahead of the US Open which tees off in just over 24 hours.

Judging by the comments from those close to the action and a drift in the betting markets, the vibe around Tiger Woods is that he won’t win the US Open


[ Click here to read more ]
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