Westwood #1 in the World

English golfer Lee Westwood attained the top spot in the world golf rankings on Sunday, replacing Tiger Woods, who had held the top spot for 281 weeks.  Westwood captured the top spot while on his couch in his England home, as Martin Kaymer’s 21st finish at the Andalucia Masters this weekend assured Westwood the #1 ranking.  Woods remains at #2, and Kaymer moves to #3 in the world with the finish.  Phil Mickelson and Steve Stricker are 4th and 5th in the rankings, respectively.

Westwood is the first player to attain the top spot in the rankings since Vijay Singh held it in June 2005, and Westwood is the 4th golfer to be ranked #1 without a major championship on his resume.  However, Westwood has contended in nearly every major in the past 2 years, barring the 2010 PGA Championship, when he was not healthy.  He has finished in the top 16 in each of the last 5 majors he has played, and finished in the top 3 in four of these major championships.

This weekend, at the HSBC Championship, in China, each of the top four players (Westwood, Woods, Kaymer, and Mickelson) will have an opportunity to claim the top spot next weekend.

Ryder Cup Final Analysis

The Americans were down 9.5 to 6.5 entering Monday, the final day, with 12 singles matches to be played.  The Americans battled.  The team that was thought to be out of contention battled back, and forced the final match between Graeme McDowell (EUROPE) and Hunter Mahan (USA) to be the deciding match for the Ryder Cup.

The 11 earlier matches were decided:                                                            Score

Stricker (USA) wins 2 & 1 over Lee Westwood (EUROPE)           9.5-7.5 EUROPE

Cink (USA) halves match with McIlroy (EUROPE)                       10-8 EUROPE

Donald (EUROPE) wins 1 up over Furyk (USA)                               11-8 EUROPE

D. Johnson (USA) wins 6 & 4 over Kaymer (EUROPE)                 11-9 EUROPE

Poulter (EUROPE) wins 5 & 4 over Kuchar (USA)                           12-9 EUROPE

Overton (USA) wins 3 & 2 over Fisher (EUROPE)                            12-10 EUROPE

Jimenez (EUROPE) wins 4 & 3 over Watson (USA)                         13-10 EUROPE

Woods (USA) wins 3 & 2 over F. Molinari (EUROPE)                     13-11 EUROPE

Fowler (USA) halves match with E. Molinari (EUROPE)                13.5-11.5 EUROPE

Mickelson (USA) wins 4 & 2 over Hanson (EUROPE)                      13.5-12.5 EUROPE

Zach Johnson (USA) wins 3 & 2 over Harrington (EUROPE)         13.5-13.5 EVEN

The final match was featured 2008 Ryder Cup hero Hunter Mahan (USA) vs. 2010 US Open winner Graeme McDowell (EUROPE).  Because the United States won the most recent Ryder Cup, in 2008, the team only needed to Mahan to halve the match, and 14 points would have been sufficient for the United States to reclaim the Ryder Cup.  The Europeans, however, needed McDowell to win the match outright to acquire the full point to capture the 14.5 points needed to win the Ryder Cup.  More and more players from each side filtered in to watch the deciding match as the other matches ended, and more and more patrons filled the specatator areas of Celtic Manor.  Mahan fought himself out of a 3 down position after only 6 holes to pull within 1 hole after 15.  However, true to form, at least in 2010, McDowell stayed cool and collected, and proceeded to take holes 16 and 17 to assure a European victory in the 2010 Ryder Cup.  After briefly shaking hands with Mahan on the 17th green, McDowell was stormed by his grateful teammates and his captain, Colin Montgomerie.  Montgomerie said of the Ryder Cup victory, “This is the greatest moment of my golfing career.”

Key players for the USA team:

Steve Stricker, Stewart Cink, Jeff Overton, and Zach Johnson were the key players that came up with big putts and big wins at the right times for the United States.  Stricker was electric with the putter all weekend, Cink took the tournament by storm on the first day and continued to play well, Overton was the Ryder Cup rookie that captured the moment best did the most for the US team, and Zach Johnson was the golfer to whom no one really paid attention this weekend, but consistently played well and acquired 2 points for the United States, including a critical late win in singles over Padraig Harrington.

The future looks very bright for the Americans in the Ryder Cup.  In two years, the Ryder Cup will be played at Medinah Country Club in Illinois, a course in the heart of Chicago that will prove to be a major home course advantage for the United States.  Medinah is a well-known, famous course that has hosted 3 US Open Championships and 2 PGA Championships, most recently in 2006.  One should fully expect to see Jeff Overton, Rickie Fowler, Zach Johnson, and many other young talents, including some not at Celtic Manor this year, such as Anthony Kim and Ryan Moore, to tee it up at Medinah in 2012 with full intention of bringing the Ryder Cup back to US soil.

Ryder Cup Day 3 Update

After the completion of the in progress matches from Saturday, the United States gave away the 6-4 lead it had, and put itself in a very difficult position moving forward.  The Europeans won every match today except for 1, which was halved with a clutch putt by Francesco Molinari to stop the momentum of the US’s hottest team, Matt Kuchar and Stewart Cink.  The Ryder Cup will move to Monday with 12 points still up for grabs, and the US team will need 7.5 points or more to win the Ryder Cup.  Sessions 4 and 5 will be played tomorrow barring any more weather delays.  Europe leads 9.5-6.5 entering Monday.

Ryder Cup Day 2 Update

After 2 days at the Ryder Cup, and 2 official sessions completed, the United States team is up 6-4, and the team only needs 8 points to bring the Ryder Cup back to the United States.  However, there are 6 matches in progress in the 3rd session, and Europe leads all six matches.  More to come tomorrow, the final day of the Ryder Cup barring any weather setbacks.

Ryder Cup Day 1 Update

The play at the Ryder Cup began this morning in Wales, 2:45AM EST.  The four American and European group began play in the pouring rain, until conditions became unplayable after about 1 hour.  There was an 7+ hour rain delay, which prevented the completion of 2 rounds of competition as was originally scheduled.  Instead, the morning fourball groups couldn’t even finish the first round, as the first group (Mickelson/Johnson, Westwood/Kaymer) finished 12 holes, and the last group (Overton/Watson, Donald/Harrington) completed only 8 holes.  Through the first day at Celtic Manor, the Americans lead the Europeans 2.5-1.5, a great start for the underdog USA team.

Current pairings, Scores*

Westwood/Kaymer (EUROPE) 1 UP THRU 12 over Mickelson/Johnson (USA)—1 point EUROPE*

Cink/Kuchar (USA) 2 UP THRU 11 over McIlroy/McDowell (EUROPE)—1 point USA*

Stricker/Woods (USA) ALL SQUARE THRU 10 with Poulter/Fisher (EUROPE)—.5 points each*

Overton/Watson (USA) 1 UP THRU 8 over Donald/Harrington—1 point USA*

*—Scores not official until full round is completed (tomorrow)

Prime Performers Today:

Steve Stricker (USA) has hit several big putts to keep his match square (Ian Poulter has been impressive and fired up for the Europeans in the same group)

Jeff Overton (USA), the newcomer, has continued to play very well under the radar.

Stewart Cink (USA)has been the most impressive player for the Americans thus far, and his play in rainy, windy conditions reminds this writer of his performance at Turnberry in 2009.

Lee Westwood (EUROPE) and Martin Kaymer (EUROPE) work like a well oiled machine in that group, which is why they are two of my favorite players and two of the best in the world.  Westwood seems to be at 100% even after the calf injury which has kept him off the course since early August.

Golfers who have struggled thus far:

The Luke Donald and Padraig Harrington pairing (EUROPE) has looked extremely sluggish, and is lucky to be only 1 down after 8 holes to Jeff Overton and Bubba Watson (USA).

Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson (USA) began their rounds atrociously, but have rebounded to cut the once 3 hole deficit down to only 1 with 6 to play tomorrow.  Mickelson began the round wearing two golf gloves due to conditions, which isn’t his norm, and turned his round in the right direction once he removed the extra glove.

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Stay tuned for continuous coverage of the Ryder Cup after every day of play.

Ryder Cup Begins Tomorrow

Tomorrow, the United States team will begin its defense of one of the greatest titles in golf, the Ryder Cup, at Celtic Manor in Wales.  Two years ago, on our home soil at Valhalla, the United States team shocked the Europeans and Captain Sir Nick Faldo to claim the Ryder Cup. Now, the Europeans are playing on home soil and would do anything to acquire the 14.5 points necessary to claim the Ryder Cup back for Europe.  The Ryder Cup is one of the most intense, emotion-filled events in all of golf, and the fans are in for a treat this weekend.

Each team is composed of 12 players:

USA- Captain (Corey Pavin)           Europe- Captain (Colin Montgomerie)

Phil Mickelson                              Martin Kaymer

Hunter Mahan                               Lee Westwood

Tiger Woods                                   Padraig Harrington

Rickie Fowler                                 Luke Donald

Stewart Cink                                   Ross Fisher

Bubba Watson                               Rory McIlroy

Matt Kuchar                                   Graeme McDowell

Jim Furyk                                        Peter Hanson

Steve Stricker                                  Miguel Angel Jimenez

Dustin Johnson                            Ian Poulter

Zach Johnson                                Francesco Molinari

Jeff Overton                                    Eduardo Molinari

The Europeans look to be the favorites, as the European team has combined for more worldwide wins than the USA team has this year, and has more recognizable names on the roster.  However, the Americans are looking to defend the title, and have a lot of up-and-coming players on the roster.

Friday Morning Fourball (Best Ball) pairings (arranged by first tee time):

1. Phil Mickelson/ Dustin Johnson vs. Martin Kaymer/Lee Westwood

2. Stewart Cink/ Matt Kuchar vs. Rory McIlroy/Graeme McDowell

3. Steve Stricker/Tiger Woods vs. Ian Poulter/Ross Fisher

4. Bubba Watson/Jeff Overton vs. Luke Donald/Padraig Harrington

My Predictions: Johnson will carry the Americans in the first group, Mickelson will have a few close chips for birdies, and the Americans will win the 1st group impressively, with Lee Westwood struggling due to his significant time off with his calf injury.

In the second group, the Americans have their work cut out for them in the European Rory McIlroy.  He is one of the most explosive players in golf and will thrive in this type of this environment.  I expect McIlroy to carry the second group for the Europeans.

The third group will be a rout for the Americans.  Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher are two of the weaker links on the European team, and Stricker and Woods are two of the top 5 golfers in the world.

The fourth group is a toss up.  The Americans are led by Bubba Watson, the longest hitter in golf, with relative unknown but consistent performer Jeff Overton also in the group.  Luke Donald has been playing very well, but Padraig Harrington has really been struggling, and was a reach pick by Captain Montgomerie.  I think the Americans will win a close match in the fourth match, and with my above predictions, I think the USA will have 3 points and the Europeans 1 point after the morning session.

My Ryder Cup Winners and Big Performers:

The United States will once again shock the Europeans, this time on their soil, to claim the Ryder Cup for the 2nd straight time.  Big factors for the United States will be Dustin Johnson, arguably the best golfer on Tour in big tournaments this season, Zach Johnson and Steve Stricker, two of the best putters on Tour, Jim Furyk, the most recent winner on Tour, and Tiger Woods, who is looking to avenge a lost season in 2010.

Some USA golfers who I believe will struggle this weekend include: Rickie Fowler, a gutsy captain’s pick with which I did not agree, Stewart Cink, a golfer who simply hasn’t done it in 2010, another shaky captain’s pick, and Matt Kuchar, a golfer who has been very good this year but struggled mightily last weekend when the pressure was put upon him.

Key players for the Europeans will be Martin Kaymer (one of my favorites), who is as consistent as it gets in the game of golf, and who rolls in 15-20 footers like it is nothing, Rory McIlroy, one of the best talents in all of golf, and Luke Donald, a golfer who is often undervalued but who is very consistent and has had a good year in 2010.

Some Europeans that I believe will struggle include: Ian Poulter, a golfer with whom I am simply not confident to perform consistently, Padraig Harrington, a golfer who, like Cink, hasn’t done anything recently, and Lee Westwood, who is still recovering from a calf injury which has sidelined him for months this season.

Furyk Wins Tour Championship, FedEx Cup

With a 2 1/2 foot par putt separating Tour veteran Jim Furyk from a victory at the Tour Championship, and his first FedEx Cup victory, Furyk reversed his Srixon hit to prevent water from dripping from the bill in the rainy conditions, calmly approached the putt, and sank it.  At this point he pumped his fists into the air multiple times before embracing his longtime caddy, “Fluff,” in celebration of a year’s worth of accomplishments.

With the victory Sunday, Jim Furyk accomplished multiple new feats.  The win marked the first season in his career in which he won 3 tournaments.  It also marked his first Tour Championship, and finally, perhaps most importantly, it was Furyk’s first FedEx Cup victory, placing him among the distinguished company of Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh as the only players to have won the FedEx Cup in the 4 year history of the season-long championship.

The win by Furyk was great for the sport of golf.  For a sport in which not all patrons are thrilled about the nature and setup of the FedEx Cup, the drama that it produced and the reaction it garnered from one of the Tour’s most even-keeled players in Furyk tells the whole story.  Furyk’s reaction shows that players care about the FedEx Cup, that it is a fit reward for a year’s worth of accomplishments, not simply a tool to artificially enhance or dramatize the last month of the season as many have been convinced.  It shows that golf fans want to and can get behind this new competitive element of the game, and allows them to follow their favorite players over the course of a full season, not simply 4 days a week in the tournaments.  This new element of golf has been and will continue to be very successful, and it could not have been exemplified any better than the drama and emotion that was delivered at East Lake Golf Club this weekend.

Congratulations to Jim Furyk for a big step forward in his career, and congratulations to the sport of golf for a great success in the FedEx Cup.

Tour Championship Begins Tomorrow

Tomorrow, at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, the final event of the PGA season will begin.  The Tour Championship is the tournament that will decide the winner of the 2010 FedEx Cup (golf’s year long championship).  The FedEx points standings and the tournament rules change for this tournament specifically each year, and here are some guidelines on how the tournament will be run this weekend:

The FedEx Cup points standings have been reset for the sport’s final tournament of the season.  After last weekend’s BMW Championship, points leader Matt Kuchar had a 636 point lead on 2nd place Dustin Johnson, a 1,486 point lead on 3rd place Charley Hoffman, and a 3,363 point lead on 30th and final Tour Championship qualifier Bo Van Pelt.  Now, after the points reset, Kuchar has a 250 point lead, a 500 point lead, and a 2,290 point lead over these players, respectively.  Kuchar officially has 2,500 points now (down from 4,935 after the BMW Championship), and the 2nd through 30th players also had their points reset from there in a waterfall style by reducing the golfer’s score ahead of them.

More clearly stated:

Player                          Previous Points                  Reset Points

1. Matt Kuchar                    4,935                                   2,500

2. Dustin Johnson              4,299                                   2,250

3. Charley Hoffman            3,499                                  2,000

4. Steve Stricker                  3,372                                   1,800

5. Paul Casey                        3,015                                   1,600

…………………..                      ………                                   ………

28. Nick Watney                 1,584                                    230

29. Kevin Streelman          1,575                                     220

30. Bo Van Pelt                   1,572                                     210

The reset is done each year regardless of the points standings so that each player has a chance to win the FedEx Cup with a victory at the Tour Championship.  The winner of the Tour Championship will be awarded 2,500 FedEx Cup points.  The reset of the points plus the awarded point total for winning this tournament ensures that, with a victory, each of the top 5 golfers in the points standings are guaranteed the FedEx Cup.  Second place will receive 1,500 points, third will receive 1,000 points, 4th will receive 750 points, 5th will receive 550 points, and the point totals continue to decrease, until 30th (last) will receive only 205 points.

Again, if any player in the top 5 in the points total entering the Tour Championship wins, that player can not be passed in the points standings and will win the FedEx Cup.  If the 6th seed wins (Jason Day), then the only other player who could win the FedEx Cup is the points leader (Matt Kuchar) with a 2nd place finish.  If the 7th seed wins (Luke Donald), then only the 1st and 2nd places in the points could take the FedEx Cup from Donald (with a 2nd place finish).  If the 8th seed wins (Ernie Els), the same applies as with the 7th seed except that the 3rd place player in the points standings could tie with a 2nd place finish.  If the 9th seed wins (Martin Laird), then 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in the points standings could win the FedEx Cup with 2nd place, and 4th in the standings could tie with a 2nd place finish.  If any of the 10th-14th seeds win, then any of the top 4 seeds could win the FedEx Cup, and the 5th seed could tie.  Finally, if any of the 15th-30th seeds win, then any of the top 5 seeds could still win the FedEx Cup, and the 6th seed could tie.

Take a deep breath.  That’s a lot of information.  A good way to think of it is this: Winning the tournament is almost essential to winning the FedEx Cup.  If a player doesn’t win the tournament, he will need to have been very highly seeded, still place in the top 5, and will need a very low seed to win the tournament to have a chance.

Last year (the first season of reset points), Phil Mickelson won the Tour Championship, but lost the FedEx Cup because then points leader Tiger Woods finished 2nd in the tournament.  Tiger still won the FedEx Cup because Mickelson was outside the top 5 in the points standings entering the tournament, and therefore could not make up the points differential.  The points reset makes things much more interesting for golf fans, because the year before, Camilo Villegas won the Tour Championship, but lost the FedEx Cup to Vijay Singh, who finished T22 (out of 30) at +9.  Vijay still won the FedEx Cup solely because of his huge points lead entering the tournament.  The beauty of the new system is that the FedEx Cup winner is guaranteed to finish in the top 5 at East Lake this weekend, and there won’t be any Vijay Singh type scores winning the Cup on Sunday.

My pick:  For the purposes of my prediction I will assume that the winner of the tournament will win the FedEx Cup.  I could be wrong, but I think it is the safest way to predict a winner.  One of the hottest players that no one is talking about is Jason Day, as he has flown under the radar and has been very impressive down the stretch in the regular season and into postseason play.  I’ll take Jason Day as my sleeper pick to win the Tour Championship and the 2010 FedEx Cup.

PGA Playoffs Begin with Drama

The first round of the FedEx Cup playoffs began this past Thursday with the Barclays, the tournament where the top 125 golfers in the FedEx Cup standings battle to position themselves in the top 100 to advance to the Deutsche Bank Championship, which will be played next weekend.  Tiger Woods found himself outside the top 100 entering the tournament (112), and needed to play well this weekend to move into the top 100 and advance to next weekend.  Ernie Els led the FedEx Cup standings entering the week, and was assured a spot in the top 10 regardless of his performance this weekend.  Jim Furyk was 3rd, but dropped 5 spots in the FedEx Cup standings after he was controversially  disqualified for not making his Wednesday Pro-Am tee time.

On the first day of the tournament, Tiger Woods looked to make a Herculean climb in the FedEx Cup standings.  He shared the lead after Round 1 with a score of -6, and if the first day results held, Woods would have moved into the top 5 in the standings.  This type of climb would have been shades of Heath Slocum last year in the Barclays, who by winning the tournament moved from out of the top 100 to 3rd in the FedEx Cup standings.  However, Tiger would come back to Earth in the next 3 days.  Tiger played the final 3 rounds at -1, and finished 5 strokes back on Sunday.  This was good showing compared to some of Tiger’s recent tournaments, however, and Tiger moved to 65th in the FedEx Cup standings as a result of his Barclays performance.  If the results hold, he will be safe to advance past the Deutsche Bank to the BMW Championship, which hosts the top 70 golfers in the FedEx Cup standings.  Phil Mickelson was cut this week, but due to his good performance during the regular season, remains at 10th in the standings, and only dropped 6 spots.

The Barclays leaderboard remained very tight through the first 2 days of the championship, and on Saturday Martin Laird began to separate himself from the field.  He moved to -12 and 3 strokes ahead of 2nd place.  He was in control of the tournament, and a sizable comeback was needed from a competitor to challenge Laird for the title.  Matt Kuchar took that challenge.  Starting on Sunday at -7, 5 strokes behind Laird, Kuchar played an impressive round at -5 to take the lead in the clubhouse at -12 while Laird was completing his last few holes.  Through 17, however, Laird had a 1 stroke lead, and only needed to par hole 18 to win the Barclays and assume the top spot in the FedEx Cup standings.  Kuchar was given his shot to win the tournament after Laird 3 putted from about 20 feet on 18 to choke away his 1 stroke lead and enter a playoff with Kuchar.

On the very first playoff hole, Kuchar hit a punch shot from the left deep rough that rolled up to the back right of the green, where the ball played the ridge perfectly and rolled to about 2 feet from the hole for a tap in birdie.  Laird could not birdie the hole, and Kuchar won the Barclays thanks to his unbelievable 2nd shot on the playoff hole.  Kuchar became the FedEx Cup points leader with his victory, and leads 2nd place Steve Stricker by just under 1,500 points.  Kuchar has a big lead and a big advantage over the rest of the field, but the interesting aspect of the FedEx Cup playoffs is that next week’s Deutsche Bank winner will almost certainly climb at least into the top 10 or even top 5 in the points standings.  Kuchar needs to continue to play very well for his points lead to remain comfortable, and this makes the FedEx Cup postseason so exciting.

With the conclusion of the first round of the playoffs, there are only 3 events remaining before the FedEx Cup Champion is crowned.  This coming weekend, the Deutsche Bank Championship will be played, and the top 70 in the points standings after the tournament will advance to the BMW Championship, which will be held 2 weeks from now.  The top 30 players in the FedEx Cup Standings after the BMW Championship will advance to the Tour Championship, the final PGA event of the season.  The Tour Championship will be held two weeks after the BMW Championship (Sept. 23-26, East Lake G.C.), and the leader in FedEx Cup points after the Tour Championship will earn the title of 2010 FedEx Cup Champion.  The 2010 FedEx Cup Champion will join Vijay Singh (2008) and Tiger Woods (2007, 2009) as the only winners in the 4 year history of the FedEx Cup.

McIllroy Sets Historic Mark

Less than 7 hours after the dawn of the Open Championship, Rory McIllroy tied the all-time best stroke total in a major with a -9 63.  There have only been 24 other golfers that have shot 63 in any major.  McIllroy missed a 5 foot putt on 17 which would have given him sole possession of the record.