Masters Thoughts

What an exciting finish to the Masters. Charl Schwartzel wins with four straight birdies on the closing four holes. We're used to seeing him in contention early in the year evey time he tees it up. So, it was very exciting to see him reach out and grab the Masters win. Jason Day, Adam Scott, Angel Cabrera were also fantastic contenders. Too bad about Rory McIlroy, but those days are going to happen. And how about Fred Couples with a top 15 finish? I love the fact that so many players were in contention. I think this makes golf more exciting than the scenario we've been living with the last several years with just a couple of guys who were billed as the only contenders. Shame on you, media. See what you've been missing.

Catching Up

I haven't been keeping up the blog lately so I thought I would hit some recent highlights in golf. Jose Maria Olazabal has been the subject of a few really good articles. This one talks briefly about his golf game and his plans for the rest of the year. This article goes more indepth with Olazabal and discusses his friendship with Seve Ballesteros. And Olazabal plans to play this week at the Houston Open and then the Masters. Can't wait for that. Sergio Garcia finished in the top ten of the Arnold Palmer Invitational today. Glad to see he's working his way back into good form. Martin Laird won today at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Paul Lawrie won in Malaga, Spain. Gary Woodland and Raphael Jacquelin won last week.

A Great End to the WGC Accenture Match Play

I watched the Championship and Consolation matches today and was thrilled to have a few hours of pure golf to watch. Luke Donald won for the first time in the US since 2006 and it was a very meaningful win on different levels. It was meaningful to him personally, to Europe, and to the world. Luke will go to #3 in the world rankings and in doing so made it possible for there to be four European players in the top 4 spots of the world rankings since 1992. Martin Kaymer will claim the #1 spot when the rankings come out tomorrow. Lee Westwood and (I'm assuming) Graeme McDowell will join Kaymer and Donald.

Anyone who follows this blog knows I've been a great supporter of Martin Kaymer for the last few years. He has been my Player to Watch for a couple of years and it thrills me to no end to see him claim the #1 ranking. He is playing the best golf of anyone currently and deserves the ranking.

WGC Accenture Match Play

It looks like it was a spectacular first day of the Accenture Match Play. I didn't watch it since I don't watch golf when Tiger plays, but I did get the highlights from Twitter. Thomas Bjorn won his match against Tiger. Matteo Manassero won his match against Steve Stricker. Other winners include Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell. I may check out some of the rest of the event now.

Dubai Desert Classic

Some excellent results this week at the Dubai Desert Classic. Alvaro Quiros won the event. Jose Maria Olazabal finished tied for 15th (a spectacular finish for him given his lack of play in the last couple of years), and Lee Westwood finished one shot better than Tiger. Sergio had a good first two days of the event, but struggled the last couple of days.

Qatar Masters

Here are the highlights of the Qatar Masters: Thomas Bjorn wins, three Spaniards finished in the top 10 (Cabrera-Bello, Alvaro Quiros, and Sergio Garcia), and John Daly and Jose Maria Olazabal made the cut. Iwatched a good bit of the third and fourth rounds this weekend but was disappointed in not seeing any of Olazabal's play.

Volvo Golf Champions-Round 4

Paul Casey emerged as the winner today with a score of -20. Peter Hanson and Miguel Angel Jimenez came in tied for second. It was nice to be able to watch more than just a few hours of a tournament on the weekend for a change.

Volvo Golf Champions-Round 3

Today was pro-am day at the Volvo Golf Champions. One amateur joined each pro pairing and the lowest group would win the pro-am portion of the tournament, with the two pros winning cars. Paul Casey, Darren Clarke and their pro won the pro-am competition. Paul Casey is also tied for the lead with Peter Hanson. It looks to be a good final round.

Volvo Golf Champions-Round 2

As this was a day off for me, I was able to watch most of the second round. The highlight of the round was Miguel Angel Jimenez using his wedge as a putter after his putter met with a tragic end. Sergio Garcia also did well, though he did have a few wayward shots. In addition, the Molinaris played well too. One disappointment was that Jose Maria Olazabal missed the cut.

The leaders going into the weekend are Jimenez, E. Molinari, Raphael Jacquelin, and Peter Hanson, all at -11. This is setting up to be a great weekend of golf.

Volvo Golf Champions-Round 1

I was able to see some of this tournament, but for an upsetting reason. My dog PJ needed to make a semi-emergency trip to the vet. She's had a hernia since birth (she's almost 4 yrs old) and last night it became a serious condition. And this morning, she was in some pain over it. So, I left work early to get her to the vet. He decided she needed surgery so while she was having surgery, I was at home watching round 1 of the tournament. I caught the last hour of the coverage and got to see Jose Maria Olazabal. Looks like he's doing well at -2. Hopefully, he'll play the weekend. I understand the cut is top 60.

Hope I can watch some of round 2. I have to get out to the bank at some point tomorrow. Walking up and down my long driveway thanks to the snow.

Volvo Golf Champions

This week's event on the European Tour is the Volvo Golf Champions in Bahrain. Sergio Garcia is making his return to golf in this event. And Jose Maria Olazabal is planning to play as well. I'm looking forward to watching this one and hopefully, I'll get to see Garcia and Olazabal play the weekend. Check out this brief article about Sergio's outlook for this year.

A Great Interview with Jose Maria Olazabal

I found this really great interview with new Ryder Cup Captain, Jose Maria Olazabal. You should all read it. I plan to memorize it.

Wrap Up

So many good things happened yesterday. Lee Westwood is still #1. Martin Kaymer won the Abu Dhabi event for the third time. He not only got to keep the trophy, he replaced Tiger Woods as the #2 player in the world. I like saying that, he replaced Tiger Woods as the #2 player in the world. Graeme McDowell broke out of the 4th place tie with Mickelson and claimed the #4 world ranking for himself. Elsewhere in the world of golf, Jhonattan Vegas from Venezuela claimed the Bob Hope Classic title yesterday in a playoff. This is his first win in only five starts on the PGA Tour. And he is the first Venezuelan to earn a US PGA Tour card. I love it when the rookies win.

Jose Maria Olazabal returned to playing golf at Abu Dhabi but didn't make the weekend. He's set to tee it up again in this week's event. Hopefully, he'll do better this week and I'll get to see him play this weekend. I do have Friday off. Maybe I'll see him on Friday's coverage.

Yippeee!!!!!!!!!!

It's now official. Jose Maria Olazabal is the next European Ryder Cup Captain!! According to this article, the decision was the first unanimous one since 1987's Captain was chosen. Although I can't wait for the next Ryder Cup, I have a feeling part of me will be watching the event with my eyes covered, afraid the team might actually miss a shot. And I agree with Olazabal that the Top 10 should have special significance. I think I'm going to search Twitter to see what everyone's saying about the new Captain. Someone should talk Olazabal into joining Facebook and Twitter. He wants to stay in touch with his players and social networking is a popular way to do it.

Exciting Finish to the Africa Open

I just finished watching the Africa Open and was pleased by the exciting ending. Louis Oosthuizen, Manuel Quiros and Chris Wood all battled their way to a playoff with Oosthuizen bringing home the win. I hope Quiros and Wood find wins of their own this year as they were quite deserving today.

An observation - Oosthuizen was sweating during his round today while I'm sitting here in WV freezing and watching the snow on the ground. Is it any wonder I like golf. At least someone gets good weather.

News on Olazabal

According to this article, Jose Maria Olazabal will be playing in the Volvo Golf Champions tournament the last week of January. I can't wait to see him back in action and hopefully he will do well not only that week, but all year long. If anyone deserves it, it's Olazabal.

Rumor?

I read this article regarding a rumor that Lucas GLover, 2009 US Open Champion and owner of the coolest voice in golf, may be quitting the game. I don't usually subscribe to rumors but I'm providing a link to this article for just two sentences. The ones about Glover's not so superstar status and his fondness for books. You'll have to click the link to see them, but trust me, they are worth it. As for the rumor, I would love to see him find success on the golf course again, but if he wants to go in a different direction, then good for him. There's no law that says you have to be what you are. There's always an opportunity for change.

Killing TV

I read this news this morning in a local paper. Apparently, the PGA Tour may pair golfers up and change up pairings during a tournament with the main focus being to appease ratings watchers. I guess this means that viewers could be tuning in on Thursday and Friday and seeing the same three or four players just because some ratings people think these three or four players draw the most viewers. Yuck, yuck, and more yuck. So, here's the flipside that people haven't thought of yet - what if you've seen enough on Thursday and decide you don't have to watch the same guys play on Friday?

Everyone who reads this blog knows I rarely watch any tournament that Tiger plays in. I can't imagine being subjected to him two days in a row and then on the weekends too. At least you'd have one day of coverage without him the way they used to set the pairings. Not to mention the obvious point - the first two days of the tournament, everyone plays. It's their chance for their family and friends to see them on tv. If the tour switches to this 'winners category' thing, then some of these guys playing in the first two rounds won't be seen on tv and that's insulting to those guys. They need to get on tv to sell their sponsors' crap too.

The Tour hasn't learned anything from the Tiger issues of 2009-10. They need to be promoting the lesser known guys, not putting all their eggs in the 'winners category' basket.

Guess I'll be watching even more European Tour golf now.

The Best Time in Golf

This week marks the beginning of what I believe is the best time in golf - Hawaii in January. Considering it's winter here, cold and snowy, I always look forward to the Hawaii tournaments and the warm, beautiful scenic views captured by the cameras at the tournaments.. This week's event for 2010 Champions promises to be a good one with several European players making the trip to play.

2011 Players to Watch

After some consideration, I have selected two players to watch this year. Hopefully, they will experience some of the same success that Martin Kaymer, last year's player to watch, experienced. The players I've selected are: Matteo Manassero and Jose Maria Olazabal. I chose Manassero because I want to see if he experiences a sophomore slump or if he continues his good play. As for Jose Maria Olazabal, I desperately want to see him return to the game and have a complete recovery from the ailments that have had him sidelined for quite some time. So, spend a few minutes clicking on the links in the side bar and read what the European PGA Tour's official website has to say about these two exciting players.