Written by Today's Golfer on Monday 14 March 2016
It’s hasn’t all been plain sailing for Keith Pelley, the new boss of the European Tour, since he took over last autumn. He made headlines when he bent the rules for Rory McIlroy, changed the Ryder Cup qualifying rules and pledged to tackle slow play – but Pelley is also thinking about the bigger picture… How’s it been so far? Very busy.
Written by Rob McGarr on Monday 14 March 2016
We feel sorry for Brandon Hagy’s golf ball. The 24-year-old American hits it HARD. During yesterday’s final round of the Valspar Championship, Hagy hit three drives on holes that were being tracked by TrackMan. One of them had a ball speed of 193.65 miles per hour, one was clocked at 191.32 mph, and even the slowest of the three was...
Written by Rob McGarr on Friday 11 March 2016
Jordan Spieth hasn’t been very Jordan Spiethy lately. He finished outside the top-20 at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, missed the cut at the Northern Trust Open, and finished tied-17th at last week’s WGC-Cadillac Championship, only registering one round in the 60s. It’s a long way from being a disaster – it’s not even a slump – but the world number...
Written by Rob McGarr on Thursday 10 March 2016
The Olympic Golf Course in Rio just hosted its first event, ahead of the game’s reintroduction to the Olympics this August. Five men and four women, all Brazilian professionals, took part in a test event designed to see how the course handles quality players and shots. Miriam Nagl was the best-performing woman of the day, shooting a 4-under par 67, while...
Written by Rob McGarr on Thursday 10 March 2016
Adam Scott, a man dismissed by many as a 35-year-old has-been destined for a life of misery with a short putter he can’t use, has proved his doubters wrong by winning the last two events on the PGA Tour. Scott, who now has 13 PGA Tour wins to add to his 10 European Tour victories and one major, won the Honda...
Written by Rob McGarr on Wednesday 2 March 2016
If there’s one part of Rory McIlroy’s sensational game that sometimes lets him down, it’s his putting. He’s ranked 189th in ‘strokes gained putting’ this year. The two players ahead of him in the world rankings, Jordan Spieth and Jason Day, are ranked second and 18th respectively for the same statistic. McIlroy’s 29.71 putts per round puts him 169th in that...
Written by Rob McGarr on Monday 29 February 2016
With just over a month until The Masters, we’re already getting excited about watching the action from Augusta National. Will Bubba Watson overpower the par 5s with driver-wedge? Will Spieth defend his crown and set up another shot at a grand slam? Will Rory McIlroy finally get the Augusta monkey off his back to pick up a green jacket and...
Written by Rob McGarr on Tuesday 23 February 2016
That sounds like a stupid question, doesn’t it? Doesn’t everyone look at the ball when putting? Well, no. Jordan Spieth looks at the hole when putting Jordan Spieth looks at the hole, rather than the ball, when hitting a short putt. “I think that the most important fundamental in putting is understanding where your putter is aligned,” explains Spieth. Golf’s most influential psychologist, Bob Rotella,...
Written by Rob McGarr on Monday 22 February 2016
In the past, anyone with two shoulders and the ability to grunt, “Aye, a seven’ll get there” could be a caddie. But things have changed. The role of caddie is now a highly technical, respected, and, in some cases, well remunerated one. In a world where one shot can cost you hundreds of thousands, the top professionals acknowledge that golf...
Written by Rob McGarr on Monday 22 February 2016
Bubba Watson won the Northern Trust Open in California for the second time in three years. Watson shot 68 in the final round to finish on 15-under for the week, one shot clear of Adam Scott and a further one ahead of Dustin Johnson. Here are the best shots from the Northern Trust Open: Ryan Moore made a lovely ace at the...
Written by Rob McGarr on Friday 19 February 2016
We’ve all turned to the internet for help when our golf game isn’t on song. Don’t believe us? 74,000 people a month search for “shank” on Google, and it’s not because they’re trying to buy some delicious lamb for their dinner. One breed of golfer we assumed was beyond search bar diagnosis was tour pros. After all, these are the world’s...
Written by Rob McGarr on Friday 19 February 2016
Some of the world’s top tour pros seem to win on an almost monthly basis, but for others, the gap between wins can be pretty long. Take yesterday’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am winner, Vaughn Taylor, for instance. Taylor, now 39, had to wait 10 years, five months and 24 days between victories, a drought that extended back to his win at the...
Written by Rob McGarr on Friday 19 February 2016
We’re only six months away from Olympic golf! The provisional schedule has the men’s tournament down for 11th-14th August, with the women’s event to follow on 17th-20th August. The top 15 players of each gender will automatically qualify for the Olympic golf event, limited to four per country. The remaining 45 spots will go to the highest-ranked players from countries that do...
Written by Michael Catling on Friday 19 February 2016
If you ever wanted to catch people out at a pub quiz, ask them to recall the four rookies who represented USA at the 2006 Ryder Cup. Zach Johnson will likely gather the most votes. After all, he has carved out a pretty successful career since, as his two major titles would testify. The names of J. J. Henry, Brett...
Written by Rob McGarr on Thursday 18 February 2016
Lydia Ko is unbelievable. She is the world number one. She was the youngest golfer of either gender to be ranked number one in the world. She was the youngest to win a professional event. She was the youngest to win a major. She was the youngest to get five wins. The youngest to get 10 wins. She was the...
Written by Rob McGarr on Friday 5 February 2016
Bubba Watson isn’t always the most popular golfer. His tendency to say what he thinks, even if what he thinks is not a lot, has, at various times, offended almost as many people as Donald Trump. Bubba’s attitude led to him being voted the player his fellow pros would be least likely to help in a fight. Stuart Appleby once tweeted, “Rumour...
Written by Rob McGarr on Thursday 4 February 2016
Raymond Kurzweil once said, “There are physical limits to computation, but they’re not very limiting”. What he was getting as is that there isn’t much that computers can’t do, or at least won’t be able to do in the very near future. We all know that robots are going to take over. Terminator… The Matrix… I, Robot… Ex Machina… Robot Wars… That moment when Siri...
Written by Rob McGarr on Wednesday 3 February 2016
Ernie Els did not have a good year with the putter in 2015. If you don’t like scary movies, look away now, because here follows two videos of Ernie Els missing extremely short putts. There was this yippy horror show at the Dunhill Links Championship: And this painful to watch miss at the CIMB Classic: We could easily show more, but we’ve...
Written by Rob McGarr on Tuesday 2 February 2016
Brandt Snedeker shot an incredible 69 to win the Farmers Insurance Open! I know what you’re thinking. A 69 doesn’t sound that special. Players shoot 69 all the time. In fact, more often than not, four rounds of 69 would barely get you into the top-10, let alone the top of the leaderboard. So what was so special about the 69 that Brandt Snedeker shot...
Written by Golf World on Monday 1 February 2016
We examine the courses, check the history books and crunch the numbers to predict who will win golf’s majors in 2016… The Masters, 7th-10th April, Augusta National What’s the course like? Augusta is a tree-lined layout that suits players who move the ball right-to-left through the air, although it isn’t vital. There’s pine straw under the trees and the greens are undulating. What type...