European Tour 2015 - DP World Tour Championship

I thought with no place to discuss European Tour events, and with important upcoming event. I felt it would be a good idea to set up a thread to I am going to try and keep this updated every week with selected tee times.

Scoring all over the shop this morning, but big names all around even or a stroke either side.
Poor run of form from Karlsson continues - is he officially past it?

kwinigolfer wrote:
Poor run of form from Karlsson continues - is he officially past it?

Same score as Y E Yang .. whatever happened to him!

On the Challenge Tour up in Aviemore, Goldwolf's buddy Gary Boyd opens up with a 64.
Another good week for him could keep him on course for a return to the main Tour.

Bradley Neil is +3 through 15 on his pro debut.

Good work Sir B

How do you think Quiros will do this week?

Karlsson (or to use Davie nomenclature "Rory McIlroy without the swing, majors, #1 status, fan base or short stature") is definitely "past it". He should be hanging out with tiger on the clubhouse porch sipping gatorades until they can both tee it up on the senior tour, if he would even want to play on that.

incontinentia wrote:Good work Sir B

How do you think Quiros will do this week?

It's looking like a missed cut isn't it :p

Fine bounce back by Stenson; a triple bogey in his round of 67.

Thomas Pieters with a 10 on his card today

Retief Goosen 1 shot off the lead!!


EDIT: Make that a tie for the lead!

Does anyone want to win this thing?

Great to see Peter Hanson back in the reckoning!

Looks like a very popular win for Pablito - doesn't look like it will be enough to get him to St.Andrews, which seems more than faintly ridiculous when you consider that the fourth best non-exempt golfer in Hartford will become qualified. Can't see that at all.

Yup, good for Hanson and Goosen; but they are poster childs for how difficult it is for top golfers to retrieve high ranking status after injuries. Plenty of similar examples on the PGA Tour also.

Looking at the teams for the 2009 Walker Cup at Merion, I see that Hartford leader Brian Harman was on the US Team, while Chris Paisley represented GB&I.
Only Tommy Fleetwood of GB&I has really thrived in the Pro game; perhaps Paisley might be the second? Town names and all that.

Harman's teammates included Morgan Hoffmann, Tringale, Bud Cauley, Uihlein and Rickie Fowler.

kwinigolfer wrote:Looks like a very popular win for Pablito - doesn't look like it will be enough to get him to St.Andrews, which seems more than faintly ridiculous when you consider that the fourth best non-exempt golfer in Hartford will become qualified. Can't see that at all.

I don't think it will, Kwini. The places go to the position in the R2D list, rather than the tournament itself. Larrazabal only moves up to the mid 20's with a win and probably not into the top 5 of unqualified members.

Yup, That's what it looks like. All I'm saying is "Why is it more meritorious to come, say, 12th at The Travelers than win in Germany?".

The Open Championship falls over itself to kowtow to the PGA Tour. Bl00dy stupid and certainly not reciprocated. It's great to incent PGA Tourists to compete in The Open, but there has to be a balance.

Having had a look at the list of European Tour members who are already qualified, exemption might go right down to 20th place. So it is closer than I thought.

Oh, I think it will! I worked it out for GPB's thread and I think Noren and Aphibarnrat will take that exemption and possibly no-one else.

The upside is that Pablo will be one of the leading "alternates" behind Molinari and Donald and perhaps two or three others. All will become clearer in the next few hours!

Pablo has qualified at the end of 2014 for this year's open.....Finished in the top 30 in the Road to Dubai last year...

Good point sirb; Thanks!
I guess my point remains the same; just not how it would apply to Pablo.

Chris Paisley most of the way towards keeping his card.

kwinigolfer wrote:Oh, I think it will! I worked it out for GPB's thread and I think Noren and Aphibarnrat will take that exemption and possibly no-one else.

E Molinari is in already. The one other possible on the R2D list not otherwise exempt is Kjeldson?

Edit - cancel that - Kjeldson is in with his win at the Irish Open, so you are correct Kwini. I'll shut up. Making too many mistakes.

Eddie's in, Frannie's not!!
Yup, too many moving parts, but all should be come clearer as R2D and FedEx exemptions become ratified after today's action.
I wonder how much influence Rory brought to bear to earn Open exemptions that Martin Kaymer etc were unable to do?

is the french open on the ryder cup course again?

Yes - "The next venue to host a Ryder Cup on European soil will take centre stage this week, as seven of the stars from the last biennial contest compete in the Alstom Open de France at Le Golf National."

it always seems like a very tough test. id imagine a few players will have their confidence shattered going into next week

Tough finishing stretch with 3 of the last 4 holes having a lot of water in play IIRC. I think it'll make for a good RC venue.

Next week - the Scottish Open?

Bob_the_Job wrote:Next week - the Scottish Open?

Yes, over 16 holes of Gullane No1 and 2 holes of Gullane No2.
Flyover link

Selected tee-times from the French Open are in the thread....Francesco Molinari may not start as he has documented on twitter has been able to make it to France due to travel problems

Looks like a BA flight from London this morning will mean that Frankie will make it in time...might be a bit tight for the Pro-am though!

Play suspended early for thunderstorms

Didn't realise the fat accountant was on a hat-trick here.

super_realist wrote:Didn't realise the fat accountant was on a hat-trick here.

If he's fat then I'm a total bloater. Well upholstered or chubby at worst. He won it in style two years ago and was a little bit gifted it by Smallrus in awful conditions last year.

Bob_the_Job wrote:

super_realist wrote:Didn't realise the fat accountant was on a hat-trick here.

If he's fat then I'm a total bloater.  Well upholstered or chubby at worst.  He won it in style two years ago and was a little bit gifted it by Smallrus in awful conditions last year.

To be fair, he's trimmed down a bit. I actually quite like the guy, form seems to be in the bin. A few years ago in his cardigan and portly belly stage he looked more like an accountant than a golfer.

Jin Jeong's scoring average is 81.6...I bet he will be glad once his tour exemption has expired so he can sort his game out!

sirbenson wrote:Jin Jeong's scoring average is 81.6...I bet he will be glad once his tour exemption has expired so he can sort his game out!

Is that any worse than Tigers this season?

yes

McDowell set for another missed cut....worrying times for GMac!

sirbenson wrote:McDowell set for another missed cut....worrying times for GMac!

Don't write him off - he only needs to eagle 4 of his last 5 to make the cut [/sarcasm]

Westwood following McDowell down the river - terrible run of form/effort from both.

Continued good golf from Frankie Molinari, hope he doesn't run out of gas as he's tended to the past couple of weeks. He must be knackered.

kwinigolfer wrote:Westwood following McDowell down the river - terrible run of form/effort from both.

See also Olesen, Manassero and Levy - all in the dumps at the moment, although some have been there longer than others.

Renato Paratore in with 18 x 4's = 72.
Don't think I've ever seen that before. Too bad about his 6 and 7 yesterday . . . . . . . .

kwinigolfer wrote:Renato Paratore in with 18 x 4's = 72.
Don't think I've ever seen that before. Too bad about his 6 and 7 yesterday . . . . . . . .

All 4 bogies on the 4 par 3s.

What's with all the early birdies en France?
Looks like it's changed from Chambers Bay to Hartford overnight.

Great stuff from Wiesberger! Fantastic win!

Agree with that sirb,
Terrific win, and terrific coverage from Warren Humphries, Ken Brown and the boys.
Thrilled for Rafa that he claimed the Open Championship place that he seemed to let slip at RCD.

Wiesberger should be in the owgr Top 30 now, and Kaymer hopefully back in the Top 20 - both must have a great chance at St.Andrews. James Morrison could just squeak in to the Top 100.

Strong field for European Masters at Crans:
Wiesberger
Garcia
Reed
Westwood
Noren
Willett
Donaldson
Fleetwood
Dubuisson
Warren
Thongchai
Lahiri
Sullivan
etc.
Should be another 40+ pts for the winner.

Paris National great course, me thinks. Could hold a major with no reservations or complaints.

Is Gullane a popular links course?

I believe so. I played there many years ago, in suitably windy conditions. I particularly remember one hole, the 5th I think, which has an elevated tee overlooking the firth. Playing into the wind as it was it seemed that the best shot to hit was the flat top!

I read that they're playing 16 holes of one course (No 1?) and two of another (No 2?). First hole dispensed with and first tournament hole will be #2.

Not sure how accurate that is.

Weather?

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/forecast/gcvyz9n7w#?fcTime=1436400000