European Tour 2016 - Dubai

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Selected RD 1 Tee Times
1 07:40 Felipe AGUILAR Raphaël JACQUELIN
1 07:50 Renato PARATORE Mikko ILONEN
1 08:00 Romain WATTEL Jaco VAN ZYL
1 08:10 Matthew SOUTHGATE Kiradech APHIBARNRAT
1 08:20 Ricardo GOUVEIA Padraig HARRINGTON
1 08:30 George COETZEE Pablo LARRAZÁBAL
1 08:40 Marcus FRASER Brandon STONE
1 08:50 Victor DUBUISSON David LIPSKY
1 09:00 Jorge CAMPILLO Julien QUESNE
1 09:10 Tommy FLEETWOOD Nacho ELVIRA
1 09:25 Joakim LAGERGREN Soomin LEE
1 09:35 Nicolas COLSAERTS Alejandro CAÑIZARES
1 09:45 Richard STERNE Byeong Hun AN
1 09:55 Charl SCHWARTZEL Grégory BOURDY
1 10:05 Rikard KARLBERG Alexander LEVY
1 10:15 Shane LOWRY David HORSEY
1 10:25 Bradley DREDGE Matthew FITZPATRICK
1 10:35 Richard BLAND Scott HEND
1 10:45 Francesco MOLINARI Andrew JOHNSTON
1 10:55 Thomas PIETERS Søren KJELDSEN
1 11:10 Sergio GARCIA Haotong LI
1 11:20 Thongchai JAIDEE Ross FISHER
1 11:30 Joost LUITEN Jeunghun WANG
1 11:40 Martin KAYMER Andy SULLIVAN
1 11:50 Lee WESTWOOD Bernd WIESBERGER
1 12:00 Thorbjørn OLESEN Chris WOOD
1 12:10 Louis OOSTHUIZEN Rafa CABRERA BELLO
1 12:20 Branden GRACE Tyrrell HATTON
1 12:30 Rory MCILROY Alex NOREN
1 12:40 Danny WILLETT Henrik STENSON

As a more casual observer it seems to me that Murray waits on weaker opponents to throw in errors rather than playing attacking shots that quickly win rallies. Murray does not have a killer shot that would worry the likes of Djokovic or Federer.

Murray can start to work some angles and play clever shots but often you wish that he could just fire a massive forehand or something that novak has no chance of getting to.

Mac, by your own admission you know nothing about it. Murray and Djokovic are the best returners in the game and have been for at least 5 years, Murray is also a fantastic volleyer and tremendous at cross court running forehands, not to mention sliced backhands.
He most certainly does have the goods to damage every player on tour, but unfortunately for him Djokovic is about 2 or 3 % better in general.

As I said, he did produce more winners and net points than Djokovic by a big margin, so can damage players.

Murray's big weakness which costs him a lot of matches against these guys comes down to two things. Too many unforced errors, and a 2nd serve which is a bit on the weak side.
When Murray has 1st serves in, above about 65-70% he's incredibly hard to beat, when it dips below 60% the likes of Djokovic will usually prevail.

It's a freakish generation of tennis talent.

Murray isn't in the same league regarding returning with Djokovic, not even close. Djokovic's return is arguably the best ever in the history of the game with Andre Agassi, make no mistake Murray does have an incredible return but nowhere near as good as Novak.

Murray's forehand is also a huge weakness apart from the time he worked with Ivan Lendl. He produced so many unforced errors against Djokovic because he was forced to attack and he knows if he tries to outlast and out rally Djokovic that it won't happen.

Murray is an amazing player but he is miles behind being bracketed alongside Federer, Nadal, Djokovic.


And at the moment he is miles away from beating Djokovic or Federer in a grand slam.

Murray at present is certainly a better player than Federer and Nadal, and not just according to the rankings, of course he's behind Djokovic, I never claimed he was his equal. Having unforced errors doesn't mean you had them because you thought you had to attack.

I think the dictionary needs an update.

As a more casual observer = you know nothing about it

At least some of the words above are going to have to have their entries altered.

He isn't a better player than Federer currently, he is barely ahead of him in the rankings. Federer also beat Murray in the two matches they played last season, Fed also beat Djokovic twice last year!

Very impressive to see a(nother) amateur playing so well.

Any Jimmy Allan fans on here? Blue??

Happy to see Noren continue his latest comeback.

No I don't know much about Jimmy Allan kwini, other than that he is a Chelmsford boy

I didn't even know that, and I'm one!

Has Ernie been hitting it really close or can he now hole putts over 18 inches?

Good to see Mateo M, have a decent round.

+3 front nine for Rory. Not a pretty sight.

Would have been a long odds double, Ernie leading, Matteo playing the weekend. Pleased for both.

Rory one of the most frustrating players to watch at times; I get the fuss regards his talent but his course management leaves a lot to be desired at times; far to aggressive when there is no need to be!

Rory is about to have the weekend off if things don't pick up on the back nine.

A lot on the course this afternoon seem to be struggling, has the wind picked up?

21 career wins for Rory tells me his course management is absolutely fine.

I've only got into golf the last couple of years properly Beninho so I'm sure others know more than me; but from what I've seen he could have a few more victories in his bag by now if he knew when to be aggressive and when to hold off a little, one thing which put Spieth into the winners circle so much last year. It's great having natural power but you have to know when to use it and when to hold off, a balance Rory seems to be struggling with at the moment.

Benhino

21 wins is good but I guess we don't know if he should have 30. He has a better swing than tiger has ever had, so something is stopping him winning at a tiger like rate.

That being said he of course is fantastic player and often finds himself in winning positions, I'm just saying perhaps he could not just be in them but leading them if he chose when to attack and when to hold off a little better.

McLaren wrote:Benhino

21 wins is good but I guess we don't know if he should have 30.  He has a better swing than tiger has ever had, so something is stopping him winning at a tiger like rate.

Pubehead, is suffering from the same thing when people try and compare 9C to Gutlord Nicklaus, I think the depth of field is better in Pubehead's age then it was in 9C's pomp.

Rory would have won more if he could putt

Super/Monty

I agree with both of you. Better putting/short game would see Rory win a few more events but comparing him to Tiger is obviously a little unfair.

Could we ask that Rory just manages to match Spieths winning rate from now on?

I do wonder sometimes if there isn't a problem with his caddy, JP. How many times do you see Rory either come up short on an approach shot or overshoot the green. Is it a case of JP giving him too much club, or not enough? Or does Rory overrule him (as a top-class golfer is quite entitled to do)? I'm quite sure that he would have won more, even with his streaky putting, if he had been able to get his approach shots to the green much closer to the pin and given himself a better chance of holing putts for birdie. Bombing it 300+ yards is all very well but it won't win you anything if the next shot lets you down.

I think Spieth needs to match Rorys career not the other way round. Spieth has 8 career wins, so 14 less than Rory and 4 years younger. he needs 3/4 a year from now to match where Rory is in his career. Thats not going to be easy.

Rory is an exceptional player, but he has got to where he is by playing the way he does. He could have 30 wins if he played different he could also have 10. As none of us have the ability to see what would have happened, its a pointless question. All we can say is that he has the potential to be one of the greatest players ever though not quite there yet.

Ladyputt

I have always thought JP was a bit of a second rate caddie.

PS great comeback and he is still in with a chance of winning.

Great back 9 for Rory to put him back in the mix; however given the way he has struggled to tame the course completely thus far I'll go out on a limb and say he won't be in contention come Sunday (that means he will...hopefully for my fantasy league picks).

Can't think who mentioned it, but the point regards him either being too short or far on his approach was a good one. More so the latter, which seemed to be the case the last two rounds, overshooting the hole. Interesting that I remember the same at the masters last year which can play similar according to some.

I have that problem - short and / or long. Also I add left and right to add a bit of variety!

What is it that the pro's always say?..."If I'm short or long its the caddies fault, if I'm left or right its the coach's fault"!

owen10ozzy wrote:I've only got into golf the last couple of years properly Beninho so I'm sure others know more than me; but from what I've seen he could have a few more victories in his bag by now if he knew when to be aggressive and when to hold off a little, one thing which put Spieth into the winners circle so much last year. It's great having natural power but you have to know when to use it and when to hold off, a balance Rory seems to be struggling with at the moment.

This argument looks like clutching at straws to me.

Not much wrong with mcilroys course management if you ask me. Tee to green he is consistently the best, he just doesn't hole enough putts. Bombing it long and trying to knock it close plays to his strengths.

Not really relevant to compare to Speiths fairways and greens game either. He's the best putter in the world so plays to his strengths too.

Westwood misses the cut.  The schedule on his website says he is playing Honda and WGC-Cadillac.

He isn't qualified for Cadillac, and he will probably need a top 5 finish at Honda to be qualified.  I don't think anyone thinks that is happening.

GPB - great player, great career - you are absolutely right to draw attention to him. Sure you do it with the best possible intentions - well done.

kwinigolfer wrote:Changing of the guard in British golf - Majors are next for Willett, Sullivan, Fitz, Wood . . . .
('Course, maybe Lowry will beat them to it.)

Trouble is, Donald, McDool, Poulter and Westwood will all have their work cut out just to play in most of the Majors, or WGC's.

I wrote a post about how there was a missing generation of English golf last April

Mac wrote:If you look at the ages of the english players in the top 200, I think only rose is in the 30-35 age group, which is usually a golfers prime years.  It is true that Westwood and Donald are not really performing at the moment, but is there undue attention on them as the next generation is missing a top 10 talent?  Unless someone like Willet turns out to be a major contender (no sign that he will be) there could be a long stretch (possibly ten years) with no English contention in the majors.

You pretty much agreed with me

Kwini wrote:Several English youngsters in the owgr Top 100, but agree none remotely close to World class, although Willett has had rotten luck with injuries and still seems to be improving.

Has anything really changed? Willet and Sullie are having a decent run but I doubt either of them will reach the worlds top 5 (or number 1) like Donald, Westwood, Casey and Rose all have.

There is a decent but not world class set of English golfers at the moment and you are correct to say there is a changing of the guard in that great players are being replaced with just very good players.

Great players being replaced with very promising players is how I would put it . . . . . . . .

Crucially, the current crop only have to bag one major to match the previous generation which I claimed was world class.

If their Ryder Cup records are as good, I won't be complaining.
May not be World Class but so long as they're better once every two years than the Americans, that'll be good enough for me.

kwinigolfer wrote:If their Ryder Cup records are as good, I won't be complaining.
May not be World Class but so long as they're better once every two years than the Americans, that'll be good enough for me.

You would settle for the Consolation prize?  

One of those "consolation" prizes was won at Valderama, and good to see Sergio's Foundation is hosting the Open de Espana at Valders in April - week after The Masters. Hope this is a long-term arrangement.

Great to see Valderama back on the schedule, doubt it will be a great field considering it's the week after the Masters and with the packed summer schedule too!

Again we see a Saffer tourney dominated by 2nd and 3rd drawer local players.

In the field there's only two non-Saffer among the 11 highest ranked on the OWGR (Zanotti and Horsey at #133 and 168) and no non-Saffers among the 9 highest ranked in the R2D.

Talking about being offended... in fact, I feel insulted. These tourneys do not belong on the ET. 2 or 3 tournaments in S. Africa should be more than enough.

Checked Eddie Pepperell's blog since he was one of five players called out as one of Pelley's slowpokes.

He has not made an update since late October.

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/pelley-pace-play-policy-has-had-immediate-effect/

GPB wrote:Checked Eddie Pepperell's blog since he was one of five players called out as one of Pelley's slowpokes.

He has not made an update since late October.

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/pelley-pace-play-policy-has-had-immediate-effect/

He's waiting for his caddie to read the line..

Walk in the Tshwane park for Schwartzel, time for him to win outside South Africa again. Like Augusta?

Has anyone ever seen a bunch of so-called professional golfers make such a Horlicks of playing the game? It was dreadful to watch - and Schwartzel wasn't much better.

LadyPutt wrote:...and Schwartzel wasn't much better.

Didn't see it, but I'd class 63 versus a field average of 70.8 as a lot better

Some of these tournaments are farcial. Challenge Tour material at most.

Quite. Lots of events where Michael Mouse can expect to top the leader board. "European" Tour schedule this year:

8 events in Africa
12 in Asia
19 in Europe

February to May has traditionally been a very poor segment of the European tour season. I do wonder why the European tour feels the need to run almost every week of the year.

Bob_the_Job wrote:

LadyPutt wrote:...and Schwartzel wasn't much better.

Didn't see it, but I'd class 63 versus a field average of 70.8 as a lot better

He was still spraying it all over the place. It was just his putting that saved him thanks to his putting coach and, apparently, and "eye" coach

I was going to go the eye candy route, but post-google, maybe not..

Remember, that the Top Ten in the R2D moneylist qualify for the WGC-Cadillac - Nathan Holman, currently 10th on that list, and leading in Malaysia is already qualified, but Tom Pieters isn't, and his 9th position is in jeopardy as he misses the cut.