Golf Comment: McDowell has skills to thrive at Hoylake and don’t discount Tiger July 16, 2014 A FEW weeks ago I was asked who my tip was for the Open. At the time I thought Graeme McDowell, and the only reason to doubt that prediction now is that he won in France two weeks ago, so you wonder whether he could have peaked too early. I really fancy a player with [...]
Golf Comment: You can’t overpower strategic Hoylake, it’s like a game of chess July 14, 2014 ACCOLADES for British golf courses do not come much higher than a place on the Open Championship rota, so that speaks volumes for the quality of Hoylake, where the year’s third Major begins on Thursday. Like Royal Aberdeen, which staged the latest instalment of the Scottish Open last week, it is a class act. It [...]
Golf Comment: Timely win puts McDowell back in Ryder hunt July 7, 2014 GRAEME McDowell’s success at the Open de France was not just a long-awaited and deserved personal triumph, it was also brilliant news for the European Ryder Cup team. The Northern Irishman remarked afterwards that he had “really, really needed” that win, and he was right. Having won three times last season, this was his first [...]
Golf Comment: Rose maintains winning run as Ryder team takes shape June 30, 2014 ONE OF the greatest compliments you can pay Justin Rose is that it comes as no surprise whatsoever when he wins another title, as he did on Sunday in the National at Congressional. It may have been the Englishman’s first victory this season, but it kept up his run of winning a PGA Tour event [...]
Golf Comment: Future looking bright for Neil as Wie finally lives up to star billing June 23, 2014 BRADLEY Neil may not be a name familiar to many readers but it might just be one to remember after he claimed the British Amateur Championship on Sunday. A 2&1 victory in the 36-hole final at Royal Portrush saw the 18-year-old become the youngest Scot ever to lift the trophy and only the second winner [...]
Golf Comment: Kaymer’s 72 and 69 just as good as his pair of 65s June 16, 2014 NOT since the height of Tiger Woods’s dominance have we seen a Major victory as extraordinary as Martin Kaymer’s eight-shot win at the US Open on Sunday. The German loves the challenge of being out in front. Kaymer led from the start in claiming the Players Championship last month, and did it again in incredible [...]
Golf Comment: Rose and McIlroy my tips for US Open glory June 9, 2014 LIKE most of the Majors, the US Open is set up to be very fair, and that means accurate driving is a must for would-be winners. There is no rough at Pinehurst, which stages the tournament this year, so if you miss the fairway, it’ll be nigh-on impossible to get on the green. Leading contenders [...]
Golf Comment: Big names shape up for US Open June 2, 2014 HIDEKI Matsuyama and Thongchai Jaidee made the golf headlines with wins at the weekend but just beneath the surface there were signs that the big names are shaping up for the US Open. Next week’s Major at Pinehurst is followed not long after by the Open at Hoylake and the US PGA at Valhalla, so [...]
Golf Comment: Of course McIlroy found comfort in his clubs, he’s a star May 26, 2014 RORY McIlroy is a former world No1, a mega star, so it should never be a surprise to see him win. The shock element was that he did so from seven shots behind Thomas Bjorn going into the final round at Wentworth. Thomas struggled on the front nines in his second and third rounds of [...]
Golf Comment: Comfort in his game is secret to Jimenez’s everlasting success May 19, 2014 The main emotion I felt was awe when watching Miguel Angel Jimenez extend his own record for the oldest man to win on the European Tour and the first to do so in his 50s. His victory at the Spanish Open on Sunday was extraordinary. I have lived through that stage in life and I [...]