Review of 2019: Koepka and McIlroy inseparable after brilliant years, Lowry’s Open triumph the stand-out moment December 16, 2019 Golf has enjoyed another great year and with 2019 drawing to a close it is time for me to look back on its stand-out protagonists, moments and more. Player of the year This is a tricky one, but the world rankings don’t lie: Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy are No1 and No2 for a good [...]
Patrick Reed controversy and Tiger Woods’ dual role could help the international team win the Presidents Cup December 9, 2019 One of golf’s simplest rules is that you cannot do anything to improve the lie of your ball, so I was astonished to see what Patrick Reed did on the weekend. The American was handed a two-shot penalty at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas after twice flattening the sand behind his ball with [...]
Pablo Larrazabal’s comeback win at the Alfred Dunhill Championship was a triumph for doggedness and passion December 2, 2019 It all looked to have gone wrong for Pablo Larrazabal during the final round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship on Sunday. The Spaniard had led from the end of the second round in South Africa, but struggling with blisters, he shot a horrible first nine which looked to have ruled him out of a first [...]
Race To Dubai winner Jon Rahm gets better each year – his first Major is a matter of when not if November 25, 2019 Many a man would have buckled in the situation Jon Rahm found himself on Sunday afternoon at the European Tour’s season finale, the DP World Tour Championship. Chasing a victory that would also earn him the Race To Dubai title and a combined windfall of £4m, the Spaniard made the perfect start, holing five birdies [...]
Tommy Fleetwood’s in form but Jon Rahm is my favourite to win Race To Dubai in season finale November 19, 2019 With classic catch-up golf at Sun City on Sunday, Tommy Fleetwood put himself in a prime position to claim the Race To Dubai this week for the second time in three years. Fleetwood played fantastically, shooting a seven-under-par final round of 65 that included a phenomenal three eagles in the space of six holes, to [...]
Guy Kinnings interview: European Tour deputy CEO on growing the Ryder Cup, criticism from Rory McIlroy and the prospects of a single global tour November 18, 2019 It has been an eventful first year in the job for Guy Kinnings, golf’s poacher-turned-gamekeeper. The former agent to Colin Montgomerie and head of the sport at industry behemoth IMG joined the European Tour 14 months ago with a wide-ranging brief that includes maximising prize asset the Ryder Cup, overseeing all commercial activity and acting [...]
Tyrrell Hatton’s Turkish delight was his just desserts – and now even bigger things beckon November 11, 2019 It was all over for Tyrrell Hatton when his third shot came to rest off the green at the first replaying of the par-five 18th hole at the Turkish Airlines Open on Sunday. Or so it seemed. Hatton conjured a birdie with an extraordinary chip to keep himself in a record-equalling six-man play-off, which he [...]
Phenomenally consistent Rory McIlroy will draw motivation from Brooks Koepka’s comments November 4, 2019 Rory McIlroy has played some incredible golf this year and he put in another exemplary performance at the WGC-HSBC Champions in China last week to win his fourth title of 2019. Not bad for someone who world No1 Brooks Koepka has said he doesn’t consider a rival. McIlroy’s consistency is phenomenal. The Northern Irishman has [...]
French win can spark resurgence for Nicolas Colsaerts October 21, 2019 Until Sunday, Nicolas Colsaerts had not won anywhere for seven years, since beating Graeme McDowell to win the Volvo Match Play Championship in May 2012. A few months later the Belgian would make his Ryder Cup debut, holing eight birdies and an eagle in an amazing fourball in the week that Europe pulled off the [...]
Fit-again Bernd Wiesberger is riding a wave of euphoria to the top of golf October 14, 2019 Injuries need a lot of respect, especially in a physical game such as golf and in particular when it affects your wrist, like the one that sidelined Bernd Wiesberger for most of last year. But they can also allow you to reset your targets, to take stock of elements of your game that you want [...]