The Irish Golf Club Gazette

10/28/2013

Shane is Shanghai Alternate

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Shane Lowry sits in Shanghai over the next day or so as one of the alternates for the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions which gets under way this week with Henrik Stenson one of the names on the watch list.

The Swede is scheduled for an MRI on Tuesday on a swollen right wrist that flared up while practising at home in Orlando

Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy are the Irish contenders in the field with both wanting to improve on last week's four rounds at the BMW Masters presented by SRE Group at Lake Malaren.

Although McIlroy arrives to the event boosted by a win having beaten Tiger Woods in an exhibition match at Mission Hills on Monday.

The course this week is the Sheshan International GC (West), a 7,266 yards, par 72 course and set amid 1,000-year-old gingko trees, manmade waterways and a natural quarry. The Nelson & Haworth design returns as host after a one-year absence when the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions went to Mission Hills.

Sheshan International opened in 2004 as the Shanghai region’s first golf club and remains one of its most exclusive. Tiger Woods once called the layout “the crowning jewel of all of Asian golf.” To create the layout’s drastic elevation changes, work crews reportedly moved more than 2 million cubic yards of earth.

The new FedExCup champion Henrik Stenson and three reigning major winners join defending champ Ian Poulter in the 77-man field. Stenson is up to No. 4 in the Official World Golf Ranking after winning the Deutsche Bank Championship and TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola in the FedExCup Playoffs and with world No. 1 Tiger Woods and No. 2 Adam Scott sitting out, British Open champion Phil Mickelson is highest ranked player in the field at No. 3.

U.S. Open winner Justin Rose and PGA Championship titleholder Jason Dufner also make the trip. Jordan Spieth, fresh off Rookie of the Year honors, tees it up for the first time in a WGC event. He took three weeks off after The Presidents Cup, where he went 2-2 as a Captain’s Pick.

Former U.S. Amateur champion Peter Uihlein also will make his WGC debut. He won a European Tour stop in Portugal last May.

Last year Poulter roared back from a four-shot deficit entering the final day with a 7-under 65, adding a stroke-play title to his Ryder Cup heroics less than a month earlier. No fewer than five different players topped the leaderboard in the final round, but the English pro proved steadiest in collecting another World Golf Championships title to go with his Accenture Match Play crown in 2010.

The victory allowed Poulter to avoid just his second winless season since turning pro in 1995. Jason Dufner’s closing 64 highlighted a four-way tie for second, two shots off the pace alongside Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson and Scott Piercy.

This year even without Woods and Scott, the WGC-HSBC Champions has the strongest field of the PGA TOUR’s new fall start.

The lineup features 15 of the top 25 players in this week’s world rankings with Stenson leading the European Tour’s money list entering its four-event Finals series.

Europeans have claimed the trophy in each of the past three years – Poulter, Germany’s Martin Kaymer (2011) and Italy’s Francesco Molinari (2010).

The final field contains 25 of the 2013 European Tour winners, 22 of the 2013 US PGA Tour winners, 40 of the world's top 50 ranked players and 23 Ryder Cup players with 66 appearances between them. The stellar field boasts 19 Majors, 12 World Golf Championships, 244 European Tour victories, 244 US PGA Tour victories and four players who have been ranked number one on the world rankings. T

he USA enjoys the highest representation in the field with 24 American stars hoping to join Phil Mickelson on the winner's roster, while England have ten players and South Africa, the third highest, with eight. There are six Chinese golfers in the field; Wu A-shun, Li Haotong, Huang Mingjie, Hu Mu, Liang Wenchong and Huang Wenyi.

McIlroy Wins Mission Hills

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Rory McIlroy beat Tiger Woods by one shot in an 18-hole exhibition event in Haikou, China, to claim victory in the event for the second year in succession.

Woods had an opportunity to tie the match at the final hole but failed in a 20-foot eagle attempt to hand McIlroy the victory.

While the tournament is meaningless in all, bar the considerable appearance money on offer to both players, victory will come as some relief to the 24-year-old former world No. 1 after his recent travails.

Despite the relatively relaxed nature of the event, he will be delighted with his form.

McIlroy struck eight birdies to Tiger's seven, while a double bogey at the fifth was cancelled out by two dropped shots from his opponent over the course of the round.

The Northern Irishman has spent the last few weeks in Asia, playing tournaments in Seoul and Shanghai, but he has been unable to come close to ending his long title drought.

The event in Hainan province was expected to earn McIlroy close to £1 million, per The Telegraph, with Woods earning well in excess of that figure as China continues to flex its financial muscle to attract major sporting stars and events to the country.

A relative non-event on the international golf calendar, the day was given major billing by the Chinese media.

Besides the round, the golfers were also involved in a skills demonstration with young Chinese prodigy Guan Tianlang, who, at age 14, played the Masters at Augusta last year.

McIlroy said afterwards: "I've seen a lot of promising signs over the past few weeks in practice and also in competitive play.

"I still have four tournaments left until the end of the season and I would love to finish 2013 strongly and get a little bit of momentum going into next season. But I think as I showed out there, I'm hitting the ball well."

10/27/2013

Lowry Best as Gonzo Wins

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Shane Lowry reversed the fortunes of the previous three days to fire a final round 67 at the BMW Masters presented by SRE Group on Sunday to earn a share of 24th places and finish ahead of his four fellow musketeers.

Just the one dropped shot on the par 3 sixth as a setback carding six birdies in total on his way to a five under par round. A welcome reverse on his opening 78 on Friday in Lame Malaren.

Rory McIlroy had to settle for 37th spot after a mixed round of the good and bad left him one over on the day and -1 one overall aggregate of 287.

Padraig Harrington joined the same group and fortunate to finish only one over after double bogeys on the 6th and 9th put him 38 at the halfway stage. But a one under par back nine undid some of the damage.

Paul McGinley also signed for a 73, finishing T42, after double bogeying the par four 5th.

Graeme McDowell ended the week two over for the day, +6 for the week, with a triple on the par four 10th the major problem. All a contrast to his opening day which included a 100 foot putt for an eagle three.

However the real battle was seventeen strokes ahead with Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño producing a stunning final round 68 to win the first Final Series event on The Race to Dubai. Which included a late wobble at the last – where he found two bunkers en route to a double bogey six.

But 17 holes of flawless ball striking had given him sufficient room to claim a seventh European Tour title with a closing 68 and 11 under par total at Lake Malaren.

That was one shot ahead of Seve Trophy team-mate Francesco Molinari and Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee, the Italian coming from six shots off the pace at the start of the day.

The Ryder Cup star’s chances looked to have disappeared with a bogey at the 12th despite a front nine of 34, but Molinari then went on a brilliant scoring run, making an eagle on the par five 13th and following that with four birdies in succession to join Fernandez-Castaño on 10 under before eventually completing a superb 64.

Fernandez-Castaño edged back into the lead with a birdie on the 13th and looked to have sealed a comfortable win with further birdies at the 15th and 17th, where he chipped in from just over the green.

He made hard work of the last, though, finding sand off the tee and another bunker with his third shot before holding his nerve to complete his first victory since last year's Open d’Italia.

"I knew it wasn't going to be an easy round, especially the way I started. I started hitting the ball pretty bad," Fernandez-Castaño said. "But my caddie kept me cool and told me how good I had been hitting the ball through the week and I played fantastic after that.

"On the last I played too conservative and it was a fighting six at the end for sure.

“BMW is one of the great supporters of The European Tour through the years, they know how to run events and they make the players feel so comfortable.

“It's pretty much like playing at home and it's also great to see the crowds this week. I think they have been pretty amazing.”

Guthrie finished two shots behind on nine under after a closing 71, with Thomas Björn, Peter Uihlein and Pablo Larrazábal a shot further back.

Defending champion Peter Hanson finished seven under after a superb closing 63, the Swede having started the tournament - which does not have a halfway cut - with a round of 79.

"I was playing with Paul McGinley, the Ryder Cup Captain, and I guess I wanted to impress him," Hanson joked after a round containing 11 birdies and two bogeys.

"I had no expectations on coming back from injury and I was obviously very rusty on Thursday. But I have felt better and better throughout the week and to finish with a round like that is very pleasing. As a defence, it wasn't bad!"

The win moves Fernandez-Castaño into the top five on The Race to Dubai and greatly improves his chance of a Ryder Cup debut at Gleneagles next year.

“It's perfect timing because it's Ryder Cup qualification period right now,” he added. “It doesn't get any better than this; first event of the first ever Final Series and I got the victory.”

The Final Series remains in China for next week’s WGC-HSBC Champions, before heading to Turkey and then Dubai, where the top 60 will compete for the DP World Tour Championship.

10/26/2013

Dunbar Missed Cut in Oman

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Alan Dunbar returns home from Muscat after missing the cut at the National Bank of Oman Golf Classic on Friday. Rounds of 78 and 83 left him +17 and twelve shots beyond the mark for the weekend.

A total of five double bogeys over the two days proved the core problem with the second round compounding the troubles from Thursday.

Dunbar is due at El Saler in Valencia, Spain, on November 2nd for his opening round of European Tour Qualifying School Stage 2, where he will join other Irish hopefuls Colm Moriarty, John Daniel Guiney and Kevin Phelan.

In Oman meanwhile Daniel Im led at the midway point of the inaugural National Bank of Oman Golf Classic, as the American carded a three under par second round of 69 with his brother on the bag to move one clear in Muscat.

Im admitted that he had not been very close to his younger brother growing up due to a five-year age gap but they have recently bonded as the older of the two began his quest for European Tour stardom.

It certainly gave him a fillip on day two at the stunning Almouj Golf, The Wave as he moved one clear of the chasing pack on six under, thanks to five birdies and two bogeys.

Im currently lies in 21st position in the Challenge Tour Rankings and needs a big finish to the season if he is to move into the crucial top 15 and secure graduation to The European Tour, barely a year after travelling to Europe for the first time.

He did those chances no harm at the penultimate event of the 2013 campaign and Im thinks his brother - also a professional golfer who plied his trade in Asia this year - has brought the perfect blend of added expertise and mental tranquillity to the equation having taken up the bag at last week’s Foshan Open, where ‘Team Im’ finished tied 12th.

“I've been hitting it really well all year and just haven’t been making the putts but my brother has been helping me with my putting stroke and I think it’s working,” said the 28 year old.

“He’s my younger brother and he also plays but he has some time off now so he just said, ’bro I want to come out and help you out’.

“He makes me laugh sometimes when I'm heated and that keeps me in a good mood. He will be with me next week at Grand Final and hopefully for a while.

“It’s great having him on my bag. When we grew up we were kind of distant because he is five years younger and we had different groups of friends. But starting at the end of last year when he caddied for me at Qualifying School Final Stage (where Im earned his Challenge Tour card), we got together for a good period of time and shared some moments and got pretty close.

“Now it’s pretty comfortable I guess and it’s helping my golf. I can trust him, he’s a professional golfer and I know that he cares, so it’s helpful mentally.

“I'm just going to keep doing what I've been doing for the last couple of days, keeping it on the fairways and greens and trying to make one-putts or two-putts.

“I haven’t had a good run of a few good results this year so hopefully this is that stretch for me. I'm looking forward to the weekend.”

There were three players tied for second place heading into the weekend in Oman including Finland’s Roope Kakko, who currently lies in 17th position in the Challenge Tour Rankings and is chasing a big result to climb into the top 15 with next week’s season-ending Dubai Festival City Challenge Tour Grand Final hosted by Al Badia Golf Club looming large. He carded a three under par 69 to move to four under par for the tournament.

Marco Crespi is also just one shot off the pace in Oman after a second round 67 and his goals are a little different as he attempts to consolidate or better his 14th position in the Rankings, the Italian edging closer to a rookie season on The European Tour.

They were both joined by promising 20 year old South African Brandon Stone, who carded a four under par 68.

Irish Trail Shanghai Duo

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Padraig Harrington eagled the par five seventh on Saturday at the BMW Masters presented by SRE Group and reached the turn four under par at Lake Malaren. Only to sign for a two under par seventy after the Dubliner dropped two shots on the final holes to retain a share of fourteenth place ahead of Sunday.

Rory McIlroy signed for a 71 with a double bogey on the final hole scratching four consecutive birdies immediately after the turn. The Holywood golfer is also in a tie for 14th place on 2 under - and six adrift of the leaders.

Paul McGinley finished his third round two over par overall carding a two under 70 in Shanghai, with four birdies and two bogeys the colours on his card.

Shane Lowry was also two under par in 34th place with birdies, bogeys and eagle three on the seventh and a double on the thirteenth the story of his round.

Graeme McDowell went around in two 38's with five bogeys only saved by a birdie on the par 3 fourth to limit the damage. He drops tp 36th place on +4.

Meanwhile behind in 57th place Henrik Stenson got the worst end of the day with two doubles and a triple bogey on the par 3 seventeenth talking its toll on his round of 79.

In contrast Rafael Cabrera-Bello carded a flawless five under par 67 to catch Luke Guthrie at the top of the BMW Masters presented by SRE Group leaderboard.

Cabrera-Bello, a two-time European Tour winner, birdied the first two holes of his third round and kept that momentum going with birdies at the seventh and 11th at Lake Malaren.

A brilliant tee shot at the short 17th left a three footer for birdie, and after converting that the 29 year old got up and down from sand at the last to set the clubhouse target at eight under par.

That was still one behind Guthrie at the time, but the American took three shots on the final green – the first of them a pitch onto a bank that ran six feet past – and bogeyed for a level par 72.

“Really happy to keep playing good and happy, also, to put a good round together and be in contention tomorrow,” said Cabrera-Bello, who shot to prominence when he matched The European Tour’s lowest round of 60 to win the 2009 Austrian Open.

“I started with two birdies today, which was good. It gave me confidence straightaway, and then I just stayed calm, one shot at a time, and today it worked.

“I'm happy, I'm proud, I'm confident and I'm enjoying the tournament so far, so hopefully tomorrow I can keep those feelings and take them on to the golf course with me, go out there, play my best and enjoy.”

Guthrie led by four at the halfway stage of the first event of The Race to Dubai’s Final Series, and held the same margin when he chipped in for birdie at the eighth.

The 23 year old came up short of the ninth green and missed the putting surface with his tee shot at the 12th for bogeys either side of a gain at the tenth.

A birdie at the long 13th followed, but Guthrie found sand at the 15th and 16th before finding an awkward spot on the final green as the field closed in.

“At the beginning the week, if I was tied going into the fourth round tied for the lead, I'd have taken it,” said the World Number 85.

“As today went it was a little frustrating. When I made a couple birdies, I seemed to step on my own foot a few times. Like at 18, I didn't hit my greatest shot obviously, but wish I didn't have to chip it on the green to get it close.

“Overall I was hitting it well, putting well, and just let a few shots get away toward the end and that's never fun really. I'm tied for the lead going into tomorrow and I'm excited.”

Cabrera-Bello’s compatriot Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño recovered from hitting his tee shot into the water at the 17th with a fine approach to six feet at the last for a 67 that leaves him one off the pace in third, with Gregory Bourdy in fourth on six under.

The Frenchman holed a remarkable 100 foot putt for birdie at the ninth and held his nerve from 12 feet for par at the last to shoot 67.

Race to Dubai leader Henrik Stenson shot a 79 that left the door ajar for his rivals in the battle to become European Number One to make inroads into his advantage.

Simon Dyson's chances of victory had earlier disappeared when he was disqualified for signing for an incorrect score in the second round.

The 35 year old, six times a winner on The European Tour and joint second at halfway, failed to add a two shot penalty to his card after an incident on the eighth hole, when he touched the line of his putt after marking his ball.

European Tour Chief Referee John Paramor said in a statement: "Simon Dyson has been disqualified from the BMW Masters presented by SRE Group under the rules of golf (6-6d). Simon was found to have breached rule 16-1a, which states that a player must not touch his line of putt.”

Dyson's disqualification dealt a huge blow to his chances of making the lucrative Race to Dubai finale.

Only the top 60 are eligible for the final event, with Dyson currently ranked 66th. He will now need a good performance in either the WGC-HSBC Champions or Turkish Airlines Open presented by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture to qualify for the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

10/28/2013

Shane is Shanghai Alternate

McIlroy Wins Mission Hills

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10/27/2013

Lowry Best as Gonzo Wins

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10/26/2013

Dunbar Missed Cut in Oman

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