Mav's European & Challenge Tour Weekly Edition - Singapore Open & Challenge tour Round up

Firstly to the week passed and there’s much to discuss what with the culmination of a years golf on the Challenge Tour in San Domenico.

Then there was Martin Kaymers back 9 on Sunday that took apart Sheshan and saw him crowned WGC HSBC Champions winner, on the back of a none to stellar year by his standards. So I’ll start as usual with the ET and work my way through a winding road from there.

Much is being made on the ET website of the RTD being a closer run thing now between Luke and Rory. Yet they’ve clearly overlooked the fact that Kaymer is now ahead of Rory in the RTD standings, Meaning #1Luke, #Kaymer and #3 Rory. So seems they need to look at their own money list and clear things up for the fans.

Despite his blistering back nine, I can’t help think the HSBC what somewhat of an anti-climax, what with Freddie Jac doing the hard work the first 3 days he simply stood still on Sunday and allowed Kaymer to breeze past. No-one else really challenged either, meaning it became somewhat a procession for MK.

Only 1 US player in amongst it (of sorts) Mahan with a decent week, but for me the story of the day was Casey showing a return to form with some sublime pitching and showing what those large forearms can do to dig the ball out of the cabbage. Now his divorce is finalised lets hope we see a return to the top 10 OGWR and a Ryder appearance.

So to this weeks offering:-

The Barclays Singapore Open:

1.Much being made of by the ET that GMac is the man to watch out for now he’s returned to form. Does one good event mean he has returned to form and should be favourite? Not in my mind…

2.This will be the 3rd consecutive year that this is officially a co-sanctioned event between the ET and Asian Tour

3.It’s also the 2nd consecutive year that a field of 204 players will compete on both The Serapong and The Tanjong courses. Play will be on both courses for the first two days and once the cut is made after 36 holes they will compete solely on The Serapong at the weekend.

4.Notables in the field this week that we don’t usually see this side of the US are: Gmac,Els, Rose, Karlsson, Lee, Villegas, Goosen, Kim, Overton and YE Yang

5.So whilst we don’t have a single top 10 OGWR player in the field this week it promises to be a good event. So set your alarms clocks early.

Onto the Challenge Tour then:

This week saw the Culmination of a year’s long hard work for many pro’s who were looking to qualify for the ET proper without having to revisit Q School.

Tommy Fleetwood securing his position at the top of the CT money list with a fine 2nd place finish in the final event of the season.

Andrea Pavan doing the same thing as Matt Haines did last term, winning in San Domenico to claim 2nd place on the money list and gain full playing rights, he’s yet another Italian showing promise and could be around for a long time.

Ricardo Santos couldn’t keep up early season form and saw his place at the top of the list finish in a respectable 4th at the end of the season. With Sam Little and Benjamin Hebert making up the final top 5 places at #3 & #5 respectively. Though this is good on their CV’s it makes little difference to the two men who both had already gained full ET playing rights by virtue of having 3 CT wins apiece this year.

The other notables making a late charge for ET full cards for next year were Andrew Johnston moving up from outside the top 20 into a final placing of #15 and Pelle Edberg remember him, squeezing in late at #18 only a top 5 finish at San Domenico would have been good enough to get inside the final top 20 so he went out and finished 5th doing just enough.

So the final standings of who made it and who to watch out for:

1. Tommy FLEETWOOD
2. Andrea PAVAN
3. Sam LITTLE
4. Ricardo SANTOS
5. Benjamin Hebert
6. Daniel Denison
7. Federico Colombo
8. Jamie Moul
9. Jorge Campillo
10. Mathew Baldwin
11. Edouard Dubois
12. Simon Thornton
13. Julien Quesne
14. Craig Lee
15. Andrew Johnston
16. Sam Walker
17. Charles-Edouard Russo
18. Pelle Edberg
19. Chris Gane
20. Alessandro Tadini

So who to watch out for, well there really are only a handful of standouts on the list for me this year, I’d expect Fleetwood and Pavan to make the most impact, and finish somewhere in the top 75 RTD in their first seasons. Other than those Sam Little, Hebert and Pelle Edberg are for me the most likely to retain their cards. Little has the game and will look to carry on this year’s end of season form. Hebert and Edberg have both been on the tour before and narrowly missed out on retaining playing rights for varying reasons. Other than those there maybe a surprise package but I think the rest will return to Q-School or the CT.

I know this has been a long thread to get through, but it’s been the most active week on the ET/CT Schedule for quite sometime and didn’t want to miss anything out, so thanks for propping the old eyes open with matchsticks and reading through to this point.

All attentions now turn to Q-School and the RTD. So one last special mention from me on here, watch out for a young Man by the name of Jordan Gibb, successfully through stage 1 Q-School, a young man I’ve played a lot of golf with and has been playing the Alps tour this year for experience and had good college career in the states (if not spectacular). Should do well and hopefully he’ll make the tour proper this year, also very good friends with someone I champion of here my friend Matt Haines. The one big note about Jordan and his family though is he has a golfing Sister, Danielle herself currently a collegiate player in the states and gearing up for a career on the LPGA/LET tours.

Ian Pyman anyone remember him. Just squeezed through Q-School stage one.

One to watch for Dodge Kemmer, reported on him earlier this year becoming the first US winner of a EuroPro event when he won this year, going along nicely.

Other notables to make it through stage 1:

Stiggy Hodgson - Walker Cupper 2009 & 2011

Jack Senior - Good young english amateur who had a crack at US Am

Zane Scotland - Need I say more we all wish Zane the best

Francis McGuirk - Someone Ned asked me about recently, fine player and great prospect especially in tough conditions

Roderick Bar Steward - I know nothing about this guy just though you'd appreciate the name (if it gets through the swear filter

Rikard Karlberg - Former ET Player looking to reclaim his place

*Note Roderick B'stard didn't get through the swear filter but yes thats his name lets hope he makes the ET Proper and tops leaderboards just to poopies and giggles

Interesting read Mav - cheers.

I too will be watching out for Zane Scotland. I think he is still recovering from a broken bone in his foot, after getting thrown into the pool after an event towards the end of the season.

Keeping my fingers crossed for Martin Sell, Wiltshire based lad who is through to Stage 2.

Zane Scotty is a member here - he just hasn't been on for a while

GMac 3rd place shouldn't make him favourite, but I hope this restarts his career.

My point exactly Davie, 1 decent week doesn't constitute a return to form, he needs to work hard to get back to where he was

That was Dave, not Davie

Accept no substitutes!

I think GMac is better than a lot of people give him credit for. I think he has another major in him. Last week was hopefully the start of seeing Gmac 2010 again.

I am watching Harrington with great interest this week, his last 2 ET events saw him hit -15 and -16. If Cowan has gotten him out of his own head and his short game tuned in, there are more majors in him. He needs to start winning again first though.

Oosthuizen and MacDowell are playing very well just now, rightly among the favourites with the bookies.

Maverick wrote:*Note Roderick B'stard didn't get through the swear filter but yes thats his name lets hope he makes the ET Proper and tops leaderboards just to poopies and giggles

He played this year on the Euro pro tour.. Seen his name on the list of scores in a competition when I was in Spain last month. Quality name, lets hope he makes the ET tour. Although judging by his scores on that list cant see it.

Lots of good stuff, Mav.

Hadn't realised Poulter's missing from the Singapore field. Is he injured?

European Tour spread thin next week, but see Richard Sterne is plaing in South Africa's Dunhill event. Would be nice to see him make a comeback on the World stage.

good read.
Re. the ET website I think they generally are quite pro-British. Sometimes they seem to over-emphasize mediocre merits of in particular British golfers.

Cheers Kwini & Pedro:OK:

Was suprised also that Poulter is not playing this year, being as he tends to do well out in this part of the world. Certainly not injured, he's taking time out to try and Beef up to add a few yards or in his words "try to add some meat to his sparrows legs"

Very thin spread, not much happening this week for the bigger boys, all eyes are turning towards the RTD and many guys looking for the bigger payday events only Nedbank, CHevron funnily enough the ones that are shoe in for high OGWR without really having to play that great.

The ET website is always hit and miss, sometimes great articles just depends on what events they are reporting the non biggies they tend to use a bit to much filler instead of reporting the way they do on the flagship events.

I would like to see GMac get back to his best, but the strange action in his downswing holding off a closed clubface never fills me with confidence when I want his play.

My gut feeling is he over acheived in 2010 and will struggle to reach those heights again for a whole season.

Poults has 2 weeks off before WC with good friend Rose. Then Hong Kong, Dubai and Aussie Masters. Straight from the twitterers beak.

With a schedule like that you can see why he's having a break inbetween.

odds on betfair

gmac is favourite at 17.5 pts.

i have personally gone for rose at 23.

i think outshoosen is around 25

phil mcilson is 18.5(criminaly low!!)

kim at 25- bad value and dyson,vilegas and f molinari at 30 not great value either

very high favourite odds for this event, noone standing out(obvioulsy no westy,mcilroy,donald,scott,woods,kaymer,etc)

oosty wouldn't be a bad bet, coming into a bit form recently so each may money maybe

Dyson's not a bad e/w punt either

yep i agree ousty is the one i am worried about . i knew he wasnt going to be a one hit wonder, very surprised he hasnt done much since the open and the rest of 2010(i think he also won valderama as well), but he is starting to look the part again

Maverick wrote:oosty wouldn't be a bad bet, coming into a bit form recently so each may money maybe

He let me down big time on Sunday, had him e/w at 80/1 for the WGC last week. Anything under par would have got me a place but his putter went stone cold on the final round

nice bet dude. abit unlucky.

mystiroakey wrote:nice bet dude. abit unlucky.

2nd near miss in a couple of weeks, had Stenson at 125/1 for the Disney and he bombed out during the last round too. Oosty has got me two decent places in the last month though, so I can't be too hard on him. I have bet him to win this week (just in case) and got Stenson and Harrington e/w too.

good work


i had donald at disney and backed him last round after 8 holes at 30's(5 behind )

my long shot this week is slattery but most of my money is on rose.

i won last week backing casey(laid him off during final round) and put some of that back on to kaymer and scott(kaymer came off!!)

i dont go each way- i back and lay constantly-seems to work well- but have to watch live. which i normally do.

mystiroakey wrote:good work


i had donald at disney and backed him last round after 8 holes at 30's(5 behind )

my long shot this week is slattery but most of my money is on rose.

i won last week backing casey(laid him off during final round) and put some of that back on to kaymer and scott(kaymer came off!!)

i dont go each way- i back and lay constantly-seems to work well- but have to watch live. which i normally do.

That is very good work, I'd have been tempted by Donald myself if I was thinking I would collect from Stenson.

I've never got into using the exchanges, I can see how it can be put to good use though. Laying favourites that have no chance etc (like when the going changes or Kaymer at the Masters haha).

Goldwolf was quite fond of spreadbetting on the golf, only did it once and got a return from Thomas Aiken (who was a big price this week I noticed).

Anders Hansen came close last year (2nd) and is in decent-ish form. He seems to do well on the same courses over again. Could be a dark horse.

i think anders is relatively low odds .

wow just did a check at the odds and the golf its running he is 24 at present- one good thing about waking up at this stupid early time i can stick sky sports on

These tournaments in the Far East are a godsend for insomniacs!

yeah - its weird i just wake up early, can sleep no dramas- never get enough mind

Anders is doing well(3 under throuigh 6)- YE yang and molinari lead 7 under!!

young Tom is also up there at 5 under

wow just checked is e molinari- about time he got his form back- 8 under and out in front!

Ok very intersting- the field is split up and playing two different courses- one is playing alot harder than the other. I take it they will switch tommorow- the leaderboard is confussing.

rose and mcdowell are both 3 under though 11 but playing the tougher course!

both favouties with ye yang (8 under easier course)

Good round by Rose, Oosty and A Hansen on the apparant tougher course. I'm sure we will see all 3 of these guys contend on Sunday.

Judging by todays scores on the tougher course there is a good chance for YE Yang to top the leaderboard today. Apparently he's been self teaching for a year and half using clips on youtube to help him!

Anyone watching this?
Are they going to finish tonight??
Good rounds also from The Mechanic and the Big Easy to get back into the tournament. Plus Anthony Kim playing well again.

Log Jam

48 players on -2 and -3 with the cut projected at -2.

Must be a few sweaty hands out there.

kwinigolfer wrote:Anyone watching this?

What's the point... Podge is doomed! Just kidding...
I think a Monday finish is a distinct possibility the way weather behaves over there these days.
The Japanese Tour tournament has been affected today as well, hardly played anything there in Rd2...

Going the wrong way for my Fantasy Team, picked the wrong Molinari and the wrong Irish guys, dropped Gonzo, etc... My hopes are left in the hands of Hansen, Rosey, Oosty and a few others....

"Good
round by Rose, Oosty and A Hansen on the apparant tougher course. I'm
sure we will see all 3 of these guys contend on Sunday"

rosey ,hansen and ousty played the tougher course first day- thats why they climbed the leaderboard 2nd round.

the shorter easier course is getting torn apart

Double bogey on the par 5 18th to spoil a super Round 2 for Phil Mickelson.

F'Dez en fuego, Paul Cutler going strong.

But big blow up for Padraig. 'Ere Pete, Is t'at you? I'm over analysing my over analysis. Help!

Rain, rain and more rain!

Must be the Barclays jinx! What a horrid year they've had!
Another 54-holes finish looks on the cards now...

Super round from Gonzo!! I've more confidence saying "he's back" about him than about Tiger at the moment...

Superb from Cutler to make his first professional cut......................

Confirmed now that Singapore will be a 54-hole event. Great chance for Gonzo tomorrow to get a win...

PD,

Worrying event for Harri......looks like he will be missing all the WGC's next year unless he starts getting some top 5 finishes and fast.....................and he doesn't have the events like the Chevron or the Ned Bank to pick up some freebie points......................

John,
Harri won't have Dubai either at this rate, he's 14 places adrift before this week's results are finalised.
Cutler really had it going, -8 over 14 holes, +1 over his final four.
McGrane's hold on his playing card beginning to look a little tenuous?

JC, next week's Iskandar Open in Malaysia couldn't come soon enough for him. He needs baddly to get a win there like he did last year... Problem is that this year that tournament is quite a bit stronger (Oosty, Hanson, Fisher are playing), whereas last year there's been noone of that stature...
He booked himself into the HK Open as well and between these two he'll need some miracles to make it into Dubai, and try to build up from there some sort of recovery for next year. To top it up he could also go and play in some of those South African tournaments that will take place in the next period. But to be honest I've lost almost all the hope at this stage...

Dubai looks very doubtful for Harri all right. 500k should get you to Dubai this year so Harri needs another 125k. i cant see him getting it........Shane Lowry will be there though, fair play to him. McGrane has made a lot of cuts this year but hasn't played well over weekend, another 15k and he will be fine.............

The Curse of Barclays strikes again!

Not only has the event been reduced to a 54hole event (3rd time this has happened to a Barclays event in 2011) but the playoff was stopped after the tee shots for storm delay, they come back out and then after playing the 2nd shots it is stopped again.

So we have a Monday finish confirmed for the event and 2guys that have to sit it out knowing there in the middle of a playoff to return and close it out tomorrow.

GONZO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great win from Gonzo, incredible run he's had recently. Missed all of 6 months to injury, and since he's come back he's gone MC-T23-T18-MC-T21-T6-MC-2-T12-1. Should be well inside the Dubai qualifiers now from ten tournament's worth...

It's only early, but Harrington has a share of the lead in Malaysia. When was the last time that happened? Nice to see.