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badds to be good

April 16th 2009 03:50
First up, I’ve got to say how much I love Angel Cabrera.

I love the fact he’s a big burly guy and not some Tiger Woods-clone chiselled athlete. And around the course he seems pretty happy-go-lucky in as much as he plays quickly, makes instinctive decisions and gets on with things if something goes wrong.

He certainly doesn’t take very long over his shots – witness his shot from behind the tree on the 18th, the first playoff hole, when he just walked up and whacked it.

As much as l like his style I never could have predicted Cabrera was going to win the Masters. He doesn’t win often but when he does he makes sure they’re big ones.


As for my tips, I think Tiger was disappointing and I’m surprised his swing was so out of whack – maybe he’s tried to make too many changes because of the knee injury and the exactitude demanded by Augusta was too much for him.

I was furious Retief Goosen missed the cut but when I tipped him I thought the course was going to play a lot harder – the fact it was relatively easy counted against him but she still should have done better.

Nick Watney acquitted himself well and is a player for the future at Augusta.

But that’s all old news and the thing we want to know is who will win this week at Harbor Town, the traditional week-after-the-Masters tournament.

I’m a big fan of Aaron Baddeley here. He’s won here previously and has been runner-up as well and he’s coming off his best Masters ever which means his iron play must be in good shape to tackle Harbor Town’s notoriously small greens.

There’s a roughie I like in the form of Ken Duke, who is at odds of over 100-1. He’s gone OK at the course before and while he was in scratchy form in the early part of the season his rock steady Masters tournament gives me hope that he might have turned a corner. On his day his accurate iron play will put him contention for most events – none more so than this one.


Finally, Kevin Na has to cap his good form one day and here’s as good a place as any.
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What knee? Or Watney?

April 8th 2009 21:59
In the early part of this decade The Masters was one of those event that you used to think only certain players could win – you know the ones, Tiger, Phil, Vijay – then along came along Mike Weir, Zach Johnson and Trevor Immelman to blow all theories out of the water.

It used to be the Masters was considered the domain of long-hitters but Weir and Johnson in particular showed that being able to thread a needle with your short irons was equally important.

So long hitting, as long it’s in the fairway, or accurate iron play … either can work. The key is getting to the right part of the greens to give yourself the easiest putts.

And that’s what hasn’t changed over the years at Augusta: the need to putt well. Tiger said this week that some years at Augusta he putts well and wins. In other years he putts badly and doesn’t win.

The greens are so tricky, so subtle, so fast, that you need to be both confident and accurate.

So in looking for my top tips for the Masters I’ve added putting stats to my usual categories of form at the course and current form.

To my mind the best players this year have been Geoff Ogilvy, Paul Casey, Tiger Woods, Nick Watney, Sean O’Hair and Retief Goosen.

Of them, the best form at Augusta is easily held by Tiger (four wins), Goosen (second or third four times), Casey (three times in top 11) and Watney (one start for 11th).

Of those four the best putters are Woods, Goosen and Watney.

So they are my three tips. As simple as that.

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Houston we have a Hoffman

April 2nd 2009 02:04
OK, so it wasn’t hard to tip Tiger Woods to win at Bay Hill last week but there was a risk in the fact it was only his second full tournament back from injury.

But if you had any doubts about where to get the best golf tips I think I put those to rest with the second 1-2 prediction of the year after I tipped Woods and Sean O’Hair among my top three.

Woods was, typically, amazing, holing a 17-footer in near darkness to make the birdie he needed to win. He is not the best clutch putter the game has ever seen. His technique never fails him and his mind always remains incredibly focused … he just forces himself to make these putts.

O’Hair, you have to feel sorry for. A terrible four-putt early on signalled this was not going to be his day but he was right in it until he got too aggressive on the 16th and dropped it in the water to lose his lead at the wrong time.

He’ll win this year I think but might need time to mentally recover from this loss.

So to this week at Houston where the field is mega-strong with all the world’s top-10 in attendance bar Woods.

Phil Mickelson and Geoff Ogilvy are the favourites but Mickelson has never really done well at this course. Ogilvy has had three top-10s here and it’s a big risk to leave him out but I think he’s probably got Augusta on his mind right now so I’m going outside the box for my best three.

My top picks are Charley Hoffman, Kevin Na and Daniel Chopra and I’ll tell you why.

Hoffman hasn’t been outside the top-30 all year and his ultra-consistent form deserves reward. He was sixth at Redstone last year and was 21st and 31st before that. Good form on the course and in good form – you can’t beat the combo.

Na is probably one of the most consistently in-form in the past month with a string of top 20s to his name. he was 26th here last year after recovering from a first round 76 which killed his chances. He’s a much more consistent player now and I expect him to be hovering around the top-10 again.

Chopra is an interesting character. The Swede can really streaky and his eighth place finish at Bay Hill suggests he might be back in the groove and therefore he’s just too good to risk at odds of 125-1

Other guys I looked at included Lucas Glover, who had an added edge to his game last week which was good to see, Chad Campbell and Stuart Appleby, who loves this set-up.

In Europe, the Estoril Open in Portugal is ready to be won by Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano. This guy can really strike low scores when he’s in good form as he is now. I like him a lot.

Irishman Damien McGrane can be forgiven his recent miss, he’s been in good nick and has played well here before.

Of the rest, David Drysdale, runner-up to Soren Kjeldsen last week, has done enough to be given a chance.

If you want an early bead on the Masters my top three at the moment are Tiger, Nick Watney and Robert Karlsson – yes, Robert Karlsson.
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Apples at Arnie's

March 24th 2009 18:42
Arnold Palmer’s invitational tournament has traditionally been the domain of Tiger Woods, who used to win this almost annually until a four-year blip in which Chad Campbell, Kenny Perry, Rod Pampling and Vija Singh had turns before Tiger won again last year.

So if not Tiger, then generally it’s a player of class who wins, with David Duval one of the winners before Tiger’s four-year sweep started


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Right this time

March 10th 2009 18:39
OK, I skipped a week but I had things to do right. And anyway, I was never going to tip you YE Yang as the winner of the Honda Classic so you haven't missed anything right?
This week, it's another of those slightly annoying WGC events, annoying because they seem, these days to be the domain of Geoff Ogilvy and Tiger Woods!
Woods and Ogilvy are the two dominant players in this tournament, as they are at the previous WGC event the world matchplay.So you immediately have to throw them into the mix, right


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Tiger back, Sergio to surge

February 25th 2009 07:22


So, here he is 200 and something days since he was last seen hobbling goff into the sunset with the US Open trophy, Tiger Woods is back


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This time for Weir

February 17th 2009 19:45
Am I hot or what? If you’re a regular to this blog or a first timer who’s stumbled across it, check out the previous blog and, if you’re into golf, tell your mates.

After all, it’s not every week someone will predict the quinella in a PGA Tour event – but that’s exactly what I managed last week when Dustin Johnson beat Mike Weir in the weather-wrecked Pebble Beach pro-am


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Weir to wire winner

February 12th 2009 01:32
The Pebble Beach pro-am is often a test of a player’s mental patience as well as his golf game given the number of distractions he has to face in the form of celebrity playing partners and general hijinks.

So players who have performed well in the past at the famed California course are my tips to perform well again – they’ve obviously got the head for it


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Luke's luck

February 4th 2009 23:20
What a close call we had last week when I tipped Scott Piercy as one of the best chances in the FBR Open at Phoenix. Piercy was at huge odds and looked ready to shock the golf world when he led the tournament with eight holes to go.
But sadly, he rang up a trio of bogeys through 11, 12 and 13 to fall by the wayside as Kenny Perry defied his age and a hell week to triumph in a playoff over Charley Hoffman.

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tom-toms are beating

January 27th 2009 01:45
Before I get to this week, here’s a few words for Pat Perez, the winner of the Bob Hope Classic: go on with it.

Perez could be viewed as just another journeyman getting a win for just hanging around. But this guy, who looks just a little like Phil Mickelson, has got a really classy game and now that he’s won he could go on and win a few more. Watch out for him in the majors


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