Mavs Weekly European & Challenge to update - Portugal Masters

Firstly allow me to offer my apologies for posting the weekly edition so late and after the events already begun. However in my defence Mrs Mav gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in the ealry hours of Thursday morning weighing in at 8lb 7oz so late wednesday evening when I was planning to put this together we were otherwise engaged.

So this week i'll be brief as am squeezing this in between nappy changes and daddy duties.

1. The average winning score in the Portugal Masters since the tournament began in 2007 is 267 and there 87 European Tour winners in the Portugal Masters field in 2011.

2.The Arnold Palmer designed course at the Oceânico Victoria Golf Club is somewhat of a birdiefest for the pro's with 1,610 the total number of birdies made during the 2010 tournament.

3. The course record stands at 61, having been st in 2007 by Martin Kaymer and equalled last year by Jeppe Huldahl.

There really is not much to say about this event being as it is relatively new to the tour compared to some of the more recent long standing events.

So a quick look at other news on the ET and CT circuits.

Sky sports new presenting a special report on the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah with interviews of both captains. Much again being made of the Azinger POD system something DLIII mentioned he was looking at and is currently profiling all his players in with a shout at the team. He also mentioned he wants an injury free Tiger next season as he wants him to be one of the old head on the team. Olazbal also singled out some players but was looking at new names those mentioned, Noren, Larrazbal and Dyson. Not surprisingly hinting at a possible playing role for Sergio and there seemed more than a hint at MAJ as a VC. What with DLIII stating he wants minimal rough on the course to allow for lots of birdies it could be a good 2012 at Medinah.

Staying with Sky Sports, a special clinic by resident pundit Denis Pugh giving an on screen lesson in how to anchor the belly putter and use it effectively. Many of those he showed how to use it said they felt instantly comfortable with the belly and would consider leaving it in the bag. Have to say would like to try one see how they feel, though I would never switch away from my current 1inch shorter than standard length putter as it's the best tool in my bag. Once trie a broomhandle to see how on earth it's supposed be easier and trust me its not!

So to the CT.

The Roma Golf Open this week, at a beautiful course I would highly recommend all to play, you can fit in some magnificient Roman architure in the city along with a trip to the Vatican then pop along to Olgiata Golf Club for some fine views and a fabulous 18 holes of golf.

Tommy Fleetwood back in CT action after a fine showing at the Dunhill, will be looking to secure No1 spot on the money list. Has come on leaps and bounds in recent months and looks to be set for a long prosperous career. Likewise Andrea Pavan home favourite this week will be looking to secure full playing rights for the ET proper and how good is Italian golf looking compared to say 5 years ago. We now have the Molinari's, Matteo, Gagli and Pavan a whole host coming off the factory assembly line. Look out some of those as future Ryder Cuppers.

One to certainly atch for this week is Sam Little could go 3 events won this year in just over a month then he wouldn't need worry about his money list postion as 3 CT victories in one season earns automatic promotion to a full ET Card as done previously by Ed Molinari and this year by Benjamin Hebert.

This week is the big week for many on the CT as its the penultimate event of the season, as the season closes down now until the final event on the 2 November the challenge tour grand final.

Cheers Mav and congrats!

Wonderful news Mav! Many congratulations!
And the best wishes to Miss&Mrs Mav and the rest of the Mav family!

In Portugal the top part of the LB is full of people looking to find their winning ways again: Khan, Franny, Kaymer, Rhys Davies, Webster, Hanson, Ross Fisher, etc... Who 's gonna be come Sunday? I'll cheer for Franny, but have a good feeiling for Kaymer this week...

the 2010 Kaymer would have run away with this birdiefest!

Many congratulations to you and your family! Must be thrilled for the new addition of... er... "Micro Mavette?".

And certainly no apology required - grateful for your weekly tournament commentary if/whenever you are able and inclined to post (I think most of us who read feel the same about the Kwini/Mav double act).

Well done Mr and Mrs Mav.
When baby sucks her thumb does she use the Vardon grip, one of my grandchildren did when newly born. This provided much amusement as both sides were golfers

Great work Mav, Sounds like you're doing double duty.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

Wonder if Baby Mavette and you were able to watch the interview with DLIII during the Golf Channel coverage of The McGladrey last night? Anchor Rich Lerner does a great job relating to the players and Davis was very forthcoming about his year ahead.

Looking further south, I see that Oliver Wilson and Monty are about the only two strugglers early in Round 2. Bad news for Wilson especially.

Is this the week we see Kaymer and Franny back to their best?

Tom Lewis -6 after 12 holes today.

Congrats Mav

The cut looks set for -4. Im interested in Gary Murphy's return to form of late. -6 so far......................

Congrats Mav.

When does baby mav begin her golf education? They say Tiger could swing a club before he could walk!

Well Done Mav, or rather well done Mrs Mav.

Another Mavette to caddy for! Congrats all round

Congratulations Mr Maverick. Wonderful news. Guess I'll have to let your grammatical mistakes slide for the foreseeable future. x

If you do get chance would you happen to know roughly how many invites a player finishing between say 115-150 on the ET would be likely to get the following year assuming they don't make it through QS? I know it would depend who enters each tournament but could they expect maybe say 10 and then have to battle on the Challenge Tour for the rest of it?

Also say someone qualifies through QS but then gets injured the following year are they entitled to a medical exemption to play on the main tour the following year?

Oh and it's not a test I just wondered if you or anyone you know would know so to speak!!

Cut will be -5 almost certainly now................

Hibbz, not 100% sure on what the deal is now but it used to be when a player finished outside of the rquired level to keep their tour card that they received invites to a maximum of 7 regular tour events and earned a category 7 card for the challenge tour which coincidentally is what your receive for finishing outside top 30 in Q school final qualifying.

However like I say that's what it used to be so let me do some digging and get back to you as the guys in the know are currently away playing but I'm sure I can get a definitive answer when they turn their phones on and get a few texts going

Congratulations Mav & family! Hope all are doing well!



Back to the golf... good to see the am Figueiredo going well, nice 65 today, he seemed to fall off the face of the Earth for a while. It must be a good few years since he was being hyped hugely in amateur circles, he had a good run at the Amateur Championship (semis perhaps?) and I remember someone on the old 606 declaring that they'd never seen a better links golfer for his age. Think he's been at college somewhere on the West Coast since then, but not heard a thing of him for a long time.
As for Hibbz's questions... to the best of my (limited) knowledge, it works like this:
- 116 to 150 get what the PGA Tour calls "conditional" status, which basically means they're first reserves when all the Q-school guys are already in the field. They'll get in the weak events like St Omer and Madeira, and a decent number of the lower-key events too, Austria, Czech Republic, even Italy.Hard to say for certain how many they'll play in, for three reasons: 1) Some will get invites to various events anyway, which distorts things, 2) they're still ranked, so no. 116 will get more starts than 150, and 3) Not all of them will take up the chances anyway, cos it's often more sensible to commit yourself to the Challenge Tour for the year. But to give you some idea of the potential: Hutsby and Edberg are the first two names in the category this season, and have played 9 and 10 respectively; but Marc Warren and Jamie Elson are also using the same exemption, and have 21 and 19 appearances. So the opportunities can be there....

- Q-school grads who get injured will, as I understand it, get a medical exemption for the following year, but their status is below every other CT and Q-school grad, so they don't get into many tournaments. The last guy I can remember it happening to was Henrik Nystrom, who got badly screwed over by it; not sure it'll apply to any Q-school grads this year (perhaps Roope Kakko?) but a similar thing will happen to Ray Russell, who came through the CT and then got injured.

Think these are more or less the right answers... but if Mav's inside contacts suggest different I'll happily back down!

Ned: no need back down from what I've been told or should I say woke upto this morning, you have it pretty much spot on. As I thought the 7 invites and category 7 card are correct and work alongside what you have said to, in as much that if someone who has failed to maintain tour card in previous seasons accepts a place as alternate in a field and gets to play in that event due to a drop out, this counts as them using 1 of the 7 invites they are entitled too. This is so they don't get more than their fair allocation.

It is as you say however more likely that they would take the alloted place on the CT and compete in as many of those events as they can in order to regain the ET card proper, rather than rely on making it in as alternates (as not a guaranteed spot) or as an invitee, because not many guys except the top talents make enough in 7 starts to make the top 115 on the RTD. Prime example is young frenchman Benjamin Hebert, just outside the top 115 in 2010, took his category 7 card on the CT for 2011 and won 3 events which meant automatic promotion back to the ET proper and gave valuable experience in closing out tournaments.

Regarding medical exemptions I'm in full agreement I think this is a grey area the ET need to address. Where the PGA gives a certain amount of playing rights dependant on each case the ET has a standard policy as you set out above which really in the long term does more to hinder than help the players in need of such an exemption. After all injuries are unwanted and prevent them the chance at making the required euros so they should get a fair assesment on a case by case basis.

Who woke the South Africans up?
Els last week, King Louis doing well in Georgia, and now in Portugal it's Kingston and Horne, with Otto steaming up the outside and even Coetzee making his move.
Hoping that Immelman gets the message and joins Oosthuizen on the McGladrey leaderboard.

Otto is on a roll, coming after a victory last week on the Sunshine Tour, and obviously he can't stop... We can place him on a 59 watch at this pace...

Terrible week for my FT so far

...even Harri's on a mini roll out there today

The Pontypridd in me is glad to see Rhys Davies and, especially, Philip Price, are ahead of Havret and Rafa . . . . .

NedB-H wrote:Congratulations Mav & family! Hope all are doing well!



Back to the golf... good to see the am Figueiredo going well, nice 65 today, he seemed to fall off the face of the Earth for a while. It must be a good few years since he was being hyped hugely in amateur circles, he had a good run at the Amateur Championship (semis perhaps?) and I remember someone on the old 606 declaring that they'd never seen a better links golfer for his age. Think he's been at college somewhere on the West Coast since then, but not heard a thing of him for a long time.
As for Hibbz's questions... to the best of my (limited) knowledge, it works like this:
- 116 to 150 get what the PGA Tour calls "conditional" status, which basically means they're first reserves when all the Q-school guys are already in the field. They'll get in the weak events like St Omer and Madeira, and a decent number of the lower-key events too, Austria, Czech Republic, even Italy.Hard to say for certain how many they'll play in, for three reasons: 1) Some will get invites to various events anyway, which distorts things, 2) they're still ranked, so no. 116 will get more starts than 150, and 3) Not all of them will take up the chances anyway, cos it's often more sensible to commit yourself to the Challenge Tour for the year. But to give you some idea of the potential: Hutsby and Edberg are the first two names in the category this season, and have played 9 and 10 respectively; but Marc Warren and Jamie Elson are also using the same exemption, and have 21 and 19 appearances. So the opportunities can be there....

- Q-school grads who get injured will, as I understand it, get a medical exemption for the following year, but their status is below every other CT and Q-school grad, so they don't get into many tournaments. The last guy I can remember it happening to was Henrik Nystrom, who got badly screwed over by it; not sure it'll apply to any Q-school grads this year (perhaps Roope Kakko?) but a similar thing will happen to Ray Russell, who came through the CT and then got injured.

Think these are more or less the right answers... but if Mav's inside contacts suggest different I'll happily back down!

Cheers Ned and Mav. I guess it's a tough choice to make whether to go for selected invites/exemptions or stick to the Challenge Tour where the prize money is significantly less. One guy I follow, Daniel Gaunt, could end up in this boat having qualified from the Challenge Tour last year (despite starting the season on the EuroPro). Even with limited success this year he's made significantly more money than he would be likely to make on the Challenge Tour but not enough to regain his card as it stands.

Another guy I've followed, Adam Gee, made his way through Q-School last year but has suffered an injury requiring an operation this year and therefore not played. A real shame. Do you think he would have the option of trying again at Q-School so as not to be disadvantaged compared to this years grads or would that nullify his exemption?

All a bit of a minefield isn't it? I sometimes find it far more interesting to follow the results of guys who are battling to make a living as opposed to those who are battling to win the big events.

Gagli leading, Molinari 45th.
A bit too early for a change of Italian guard (though perhaps Berlusconi could do the decent thing), but great to see a fourth leg to their table.

Hibbz totally agree its more compelling watching the lower end of the money list, man I follow as he's someone I've played a lot with and came 2nd on CT money list last term is Matt Haines a good showing at Dunhill but needs a couple of massive weeks.

Gaunt is a good player and has featured on early round leaderboards but hasn't been able see it through, hope he comes back stronger for it

Bjorn's game is close to perfection these days... 17 birdies and only one bogey in the first 3 rounds! Magnificent!

kwinigolfer wrote:Gagli leading, Molinari 45th. A bit too early for a change of Italian guard ...

I see another relatively new Italian name (for me at least) leading the CT event in Rome... Molteni. They just keep popping up from somewhere...

At the begining of the week I went to a convention in UK and met there a few Italians and I asked them over lunch if they know about Molinari's and Manassero. They never heard of them! I was saying last winter that I've been getting the same innocent ignorance with regards to their top golfers from many others I met when I went skiing in Italy... But then it took only a couple of minutes until the whole discussion predictably drifted into politics, Berlusconi and so on...

Nobody cares about golf in Italy. It would take a Major win to change that.

Looks like Monty is worried they'll've cleared away the lunch before he finishes . . . . .

...in what it is a fairly rare sighting these days, they spotted Monty on tv yesterday practicing on the range , so all that rather unusual exercise seems to be paying off this morning. He just got another birdie (-6 after 8 holes) and Colsaerts is following suite with a 4-birdie in a row start!

Talking about golfers who don't "do" practice, perhaps Monty was inspired by Fred Couples' twelve birdies yesterday, in San Antonio? One double ruined a spectacular round, as much as anything can ruin a ten-under 62. Could easily have been lower!

Smells like another Thomas Bjorn victory...

Harri, Harri, how could you miss that?! He should write a book called "50 ways to screw up a par 5"

He should get some advice from Coetzee who's 15-under over the 16 par 5s this week!!!

BAAANG!! What a show from young Tom Lewis on the back 9!
Brilliant display, what a win would this be...

pd,
He looks the only one to want it - never seen so many tentative putts . . . .

Suddenly he's 3 shots ahead! Amazing...

Tom Lewis. Was he on anyone's radar to win this early in his career?

Great work from Colin Byrne as well, they seem to work really well together...

Very surprising and refreshing win. One more of the youth brigade to suddenly seriously consider as a threat.

Fabulous win! ...and all the goodies that come with it!
Another big opportunity missed by Hanson here...

He'll be off to the HSBC and Dubai.

Lots of very poor final rounds though, sounds like Gagli was sick, but not sure that some of the others had such an excuse. Another Englishman in to the top 200 I imagine, and somewhere the W's are wondering why they don't have a "W", Willett, Wilson and Wood.

Hats off to the young man, very very well done. You just get the feeling it wasn't a flash in the pan either. Just hope the media don't go overboard on him and let him find his feet and his own way to the top.

Gagli was clearly sick, could see that quite clearly during his interview yesterday. Hats off to him for completing his rounds, hope Casey had at least as good an excuse to w/d yesterday. Agree, many poor rounds today out there...

Well done Tom Lewis played like a seasoned pro down the stretch and did everything a good champion needs to do. That's a 2 years exemption in the bag and a trip to the HSBC to boot. You do get the feeling from the way he has done since turning pro this is no one hit wonder but someone that can climb the higher echelons of the game, could he emulate that other well knwon englishman from his neck of the woods in Welwyn Garden City?

As pointed out though there were some very iffy final round from experienced players but credit where its due. Tom Lewis we salute you

I'm sure there are more, but Ken Brown is from Hatfield isn't he, Poulter from Hitchin / Stevenage . . .

Many congratulations to you and Mrs Mav and ... welcome to the twilight zone!

Blimey, does young Tom have a pulse at all? What a wonderful temperament he seems to have for the game. This led me to thinking about his performance at this year's Open when he won the amateur medal and wondering if he could achieve the double by, some day, winning The Open itself.

Indeed, aside from Bobby Jones, has anyone else done this particular double although I should add, I've no idea if there was such a thing as a 'best amateur' medal back then?

Woods won the silver medal and won a pro tournament (Las Vegas), sure there must have been others. Sergio, Seve, Jose Maria, Matteo perhaps????

gaelgowfer wrote:Indeed, aside from Bobby Jones, has anyone else done this particular double although I should add, I've no idea if there was such a thing as a 'best amateur' medal back then?

I hope I'm not wrong here, but as far as I remember Tiger in 1996 I think he was recording the best ever score by an amateur at the Open, just before he turned pro a month or so later...?

Woods definitely won the silver medal, I think it was '96 but I remember they thought it was going to be a close run thing between Woods and Gordon Sherry, in the end, it wasn't. They had quite a rivalry if I remember right, I think Sherry beat him in the Walker Cup and had placed higher than Woods in a previous Open. 15 years or so on and most people will be saying..."Gordon who?".

Good win Young Tom.
Yes, Gagli was sick. Threw up all night.
Bjorn's putter also had a cold.

kwinigolfer wrote:I'm sure there are more, but Ken Brown is from Hatfield isn't he, Poulter from Hitchin / Stevenage . . .

Indeed same area Kwini, but they didn't achieve what the other well known Welwyn Garden City boy did, 3 Masters and 3 Opens that's the one I'd like to see Tom Lewis emulate but with better charisma than Sir Nick.