Showing posts with label Davis Love III. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Davis Love III. Show all posts

2/25/2016

Lowry Tops Honda Leaderboard

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Shane Lowry signed for an opening round of 67 at The Honda Classic courtesy of a birdie on the 17th and then an eagle 3 on the 18th in the opening round of The Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. .

He shared a threeway lead in the clubhouse with Sweden's David Lingmerth and American George McNeill, who has missed the cut in his last five events and whose last competitive round was an 84 in the Farmers Insurance Open.

"It wasn't easy," McNeill told PGA Tour radio after a round containing six birdies, one bogey and a double bogey. "The wind always blows here, it was the opposite direction to what it was in the practice rounds and the pro-am and a little cooler.

"I putted pretty phenomenal, that's really all I did well. I haven't made a putt in two years so it kind of felt good! To see them consistently go in, I didn't expect to make that many, but it was nice.

"Being back in Florida I feel a little more comfortable being back on Bermuda grass and greens. The stuff out west, I have fits out there just because I can't read it and putt it there. Being back in Florida helps."

Out on the course, the start of Sergio Garcia's round was as spectacular as Lowry's finish, the Ryder Cup star holing his approach to the second from 148 yards for an eagle two.

The world number 19 then holed from six feet for birdie on the par-five third to move into a share of the lead, with playing partner Rickie Fowler a shot behind after birdies on the second and third.


8/12/2015

The Making of a Captain

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Darren Clarke is steeped in Ryder Cup history and a specially commissioned half hour documentary – produced by European Tour Productions and shown on Sky Sports this week – looks not only at that aspect, but also goes behind the scenes to capture the man behind the headlines.

‘Darren Clarke – The Making of a Captain’ – looks back on his five Ryder Cup appearances as a player and two as vice-captain, and also spends time with the 2011 Open Champion at his home in Portrush as well as garnering the thoughts of the people closest to him as to what makes the 46 year old the man he is today.

At times poignant, at times funny, the documentary – which gets its first airing on Thursday at 1.00pm on Sky Sports 4 – explains why the 14 time European Tour champion feels the captaincy is the highest honour which could be bestowed on him by his Tour peers, and also how he feels about going up against his good friend, Davis Love III in Minnesota.

Speaking to the media ahead of this week's US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, Clarke said the anticipation was growing ahead of the impending start of the Ryder Cup Points Race but that he would be focusing on his own game for now.

"First week in September when the Points Race starts, I'll start playing very close attention to what's going on," said Clarke. "But at the moment I still want to try to play the best I can myself. But that will change as soon as the points start. I'll be more into how the team is shaping up and what's going on.

"But we have a big date coming up the end of the September, where Davis and I are at Hazeltine, we'll have a lot of stuff to do there. I know the European Tour have been out to Hazeltine looking at things. But Davis has the first choice on team rooms, hotel rooms, and rightly so, he's the home captain. But when I get there, I'll have the opportunity to look at things and make some more choices then.

"But certainly there's a lot of things that go on behind the scenes. But in terms of my first and foremost role is to try and do whatever I can to enable the European Tour to have the strongest team possible. My interest is more in the players. We've got a wonderful backroom team in the European Tour looking after the Ryder Cup. I trust those guys implicitly with their decisions that they make. They involve me in them, but I trust them enough that they will make the right decisions for me. My interest is more on what the players are doing, and what their plans are."


2/26/2015

McIlroy in Love Surprise

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Rory McIlroy concedes he was very surprised by at the appointment of Davis Love III as 2016 United States Ryder Cup captain.

McIlroy is returning to competition at this week's Honda Classic and teeing up for a first time this year on American soil following a three-week break since winning the Dubai Desert Classic.

But the World No 1 believes it will be intriguing to see Love coming up against European captain Darren Clarke at Hazeltine.

"It came as a big shock when they announced yesterday Davis was going to be the next US captain," McIlroy said.

"It will be great to see Davis and Darren go head-to-head at Hazeltine and they will be formidable opponents.

"I feel they're overdoing it with the setting up of a task force and also talking about all the changes they want to bring in."

"It's been said by a few players since we won at Gleneagles that it's not rocket science why Europe have won the last three Ryder Cups and eight of the past 10.

Love captained the US team in 2012 in Medinah when they blew a 10-6 lead going into the final day to lose the trophy.

"Davis is going to be a great captain and it was a freak we won at Medinah in 2012, and it was not supposed to happen given they had a 10-6 lead.

“If the States had of won Davis would have been looked upon as a great captain.

"So I get the sense the States, what with their task force and everything that came out in the announcement yesterday, that they're desperate to win back the Ryder Cup.

"And I will say it again because it's not that complicated why Europe has been winning."


2/23/2015

Clarke Looking for Hazeltine Effect

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Darren Clarke hopes being Europe’s 2016 Ryder Cup captain can have a galvanising effect on his performances.

The Northern Irishman is without a title since his memorable 2011 British Open victory at Sandwich, the only major championship win of his career, and is now down to 470th in the world rankings.

“Obviously my own competitive instincts haven’t been too good of late,” Clarke said on Monday.

“The captaincy might actually be a blessing in disguise in terms of my golf because it will take my mind away from practising too hard and I’ll have a lot of things to focus on. Hopefully it will help me play a little bit better.”

Clarke accepts, however, that the demands of the Ryder Cup role are bound to affect him on the fairways as the biennial team event draws closer.

“This year I don’t think the captaincy will make an awful lot of difference but I would imagine next year it would make a big difference in my playing schedule,” he said.

Clarke has won 14 times on the tour and will have a chance to make it 15 when he competes in this week’s Joburg Open in South Africa.

The 46-year-old was named Ryder Cup captain last Wednesday after winning the unanimous vote of a five-man selection panel that included the last three skippers, Paul McGinley, Jose Maria Olazabal and Colin Montgomerie.

Clarke looks likely to be up against Davis Love III when Europe chase a record fourth successive victory against United States in Hazeltine, Minnesota next year.

Love is expected to be announced as American captain on Tuesday.


11/14/2014

Harrington Opens with 74 in Mexico

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Pádraig Harrington signed for a three over par first round at the OHL Classic and settled  for a 74 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico - and off the pace.

Daniel Berger was making his sixth PGA TOUR start, and birdied 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7 and finished with two pars to match Will MacKenzie, Robert Garrigus, Steve Wheatcroft, Hudson Swafford and Tony Finau at 6-under 65 on Mayakoba's El Camaleon course.

"This is what we work so hard for, so it's great to get off to a good start, but got to keep it going," said Berger, the 21-year-old former Florida State player who earned a PGA TOUR card last season on the Web.com Tour.

The six-player tie is the largest after 18 holes since six players also topped the leaderboard in the 2013 St. Jude Classic.

The Greg Norman-designed course requires accuracy off the tee.

"I think I hit maybe two drivers all day," Berger said. "It's just kind of one of those courses where you've got to hit the fairway. Super tight off the tee, so just put it in play and you've got some birdie opportunities."

The long-hitting Finau hit driver only once.

"I'm still able to use my length by hitting 3-woods and 2-irons and moving it up the fairway still where most guys would have to hit driver," Finau said. "I definitely wasn't able to use my driver length, but I still use my length off the tee."

Fifty-year-old Davis Love III was at 66 in a group that included Aaron Baddeley, Charley Hoffman and Pat Perez.

"I made some putts when I had to," Love said. "I had four birdies in five holes in a little spurt in the middle of the round, and put the ball in play. I think that's what you have to do here. You have to keep it in the fairway and you have to putt well."

Defending champion Harris English closed with a three-putt bogey for a 67.

"It hurt on the last hole, three-putting, but I'm still going to take a lot of positives out of today," English said.

Carlos Ortiz topped the seven Mexican players in the field at 67. He won three times on the Web.com Tour last season.

"I started a little bit nervous with all the people who were watching, family, friends," Ortiz said. "But I had a very good beginning on the first hole with a birdie and then I birdied 3, 4, 5. It helped me a lot to get relaxed."

Canada's Nick Taylor, the Sanderson Farms Championship winner Sunday in Mississippi, had a 71.


11/12/2014

Harrington Plays Mayakoba Classic

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Pádraig Harrington plays the Mayakoba Classic this week at Playa del Caemen in Mexico this week. following a disappointing 73rd place finish at the Sanderson Farms Classic in Mississippi last week.

Having slipped to 353rd in the latest world rankings, Harrington makes one attempt before the Christmas break to get back up the rankings. Attracted no doubt by the prize fund of $6.1million, with almost $1.1million of it to the winner.

Former US Open and Masters champion Angel Cabrera is the top ranked player in the field at 60th, while five players who have the joint lowest ranking possible of 1,547th are competing at El Camaleon.

Defending champion Harris English is currently 66th in the world after struggling to rediscover the form which brought him a second PGA Tour title in the space of five months.

English was second in the FedEx Cup standings in the early stages of last season but drifted all the way to 32nd, therefore narrowly missing out on a place in the Tour Championship in Atlanta for the second year running.

“Last year I didn’t finish the way I wanted to,” English told a pre-tournament press conference.

“Obviously I was in the driver’s seat to make it to the Tour Championship (open to the top 30 players after the BMW Championship) and missed out again. I finished 31st two years ago and 32nd this past season. It’s close. I know I’m kind of knocking on the door.

“I don’t want to be in that situation again where I’m not having to pull against people but knowing my fate is in other peoples’ hands about getting to the Tour Championship. I don’t want that to happen.

“I want to control my own destiny and it’s really made me realise how important every tournament is.”

English has missed the cut in two of his first three events of the 2014-15 season, but did finish 16th in the Shriners Hospitals for Children's Open in Las Vegas.

“I don’t want to panic,” he added. “In this game you can be so close sometimes. It’s a brutal game. It’ll knock you down when you’re at the highest of the high and it’ll do some unexpected things – when nothing’s going your way you’ll do something crazy. You’ve just got to let it come to you.

“It’s getting a lot better. I’ve been working hard the past couple weeks, couple months and it’s coming together.

“I know it’s not perfect right now. It’ll never be perfect but I’m feeling good. If I can keep getting better and better every day and keep giving myself opportunities, then it’ll click.”

Spanuards Gonzalo Fernandez-Caratano  and Alvaro Quiros also play


9/12/2013

Clarke Rejoins PGA Tour

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Darren Clarke is set to rejoin the PGA Tour for next season.

Clarke will make use of a five-year exemption for winning the 2011 British Open and will be committed to playing a minimum of 15 PGA Tour events.

The restructured season starts in a month's time and will be split over two calendar years ending with the Tour Championship each September.

Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano of Spain and Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark also will join based on having enough money or FedExCup points equal to the top 125. 

Meanwhile, former Masters champion Mike Weir, Stephen Ames, Fred Funk and Mark Calcavecchia are using their one-time exemption from being in the top 50 in career money. 

Robert Allenby and Scott Verplank are using one-time exemptions from the top 25 in career money. 

Vijay Singh and Davis Love III will be exempt as life members – both have at least 20 PGA Tour wins in their careers.
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