DP World Tour chat

First topic message reminder :

As Pedro says, there isn’t a thread for this so I thought I’d start one (sticky, please?).

A great British Masters tournament and fantastic to see Thunderbear put all his past woes behind him and win again, thanks to two monster putts on 17 and 18, having done pretty much the same on Saturday.

On to Belgium this week.

I'm never wrong wrote:

incontinentia wrote:You'd think the euro tour would boycott Saudi Arabia this week, what with all the LIV rivalry?

PS- The Hoojgards are incredible!

The DP World Tour is in the United Arab Emirates, not Saudi Arabia. The Asian Tour (on which many LIV golfers are playing) is in Saudi Arabia.

Apologies, perhaps some cognitive bias on my part.

Top performance by Olesen in Thailand. If he keeps this up he'll be on the Ryder cup team.

Depends what airline the team use.

McLaren wrote:Depends what airline the team use.

Air Titaly?

 Olesen will never live that down will he!

Poulter Westwood and Garcia have resigned from the DP World Tour after being fined. No future playing or captaincies for them.
....and HERE is a link for you Mac

I'm never wrong wrote:Poulter Westwood and Garcia have resigned from the DP World Tour after being fined. No future playing or captaincies for them.
....and HERE is a link for you Mac

Guess they can console themselves with their (significantly more than) 30 pieces of silver.

Makes Donald's life a bit easier re. Captain's picks I guess...

navyblueshorts wrote:Makes Donald's life a bit easier re. Captain's picks I guess...

....and the Ryder Cup committee about choosing future captains.....

I'm never wrong wrote:Poulter Westwood and Garcia have resigned from the DP World Tour after being fined. No future playing or captaincies for them.
....and HERE is a link for you Mac

Interesting that all the DP World Tour players who were fined £100k have paid up with the exception of Garcia who won £2m last week. He'll be facing another day in court for non-payment. What is the matter with the man?

LadyPutt wrote:

I'm never wrong wrote:Poulter Westwood and Garcia have resigned from the DP World Tour after being fined. No future playing or captaincies for them.
....and HERE is a link for you Mac

Interesting that all the DP World Tour players who were fined £100k have paid up with the exception of Garcia who won £2m last week. He'll be facing another day in court for non-payment. What is the matter with the man?

Much as I hate to give Mac any credit, I think it might be the case that Garcia is, in fact, a pea brain.

PGA Tour, Liv Golf & DP World Tour to merge.

Possibly good news for golf fans? Great news for those who took the LIV coin in the first place; a spit in the face to anyone who took the so-called moral high road and avoided the LIV coin.

Feels like one of the most underhanded moves I've possibly seen in sports by the PGA Tour execs - looks like nobody (on either side) was aware of this, and basically Monahan and co have sold out for the PIF money.

A lot of players who rejected that LIV money, took a lot of cr@p for the PGA Tour, for like two years, must be absolutely raging right now

LadyPutt wrote:

I'm never wrong wrote:Poulter Westwood and Garcia have resigned from the DP World Tour after being fined. No future playing or captaincies for them.
....and HERE is a link for you Mac

Interesting that all the DP World Tour players who were fined £100k have paid up with the exception of Garcia who won £2m last week. He'll be facing another day in court for non-payment. What is the matter with the man?

Don't think he has to pay it up as he resigned from the tour.

super_realist wrote:Don't think he has to pay it up as he resigned from the tour.

If he comes back to either Tour - take it out of any winnings......big "If" though

Presume Mac has committed suicide after the PGA went to bed with LIV

So does Stenson get the Captaincy back now??

JAS wrote:So does Stenson get the Captaincy back now??  

What about Ryder Cup too? Are all those players now eligible again?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/65836419

If you believe McIlroy then they won’t be playing.

Jeff Navarro wrote:https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/65836419

If you believe McIlroy then they won’t be playing.  

In reality, Garcia, Westwood, Poulter etc are past it in terms of Ryder Cup so it's a bit of a moot question I asked.

super_realist wrote:

Jeff Navarro wrote:https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/65836419

If you believe McIlroy then they won’t be playing.  

In reality, Garcia, Westwood, Poulter etc are past it in terms of Ryder Cup so it's a bit of a moot question I asked.

While I kind of agree with you I still think Rahm & Garcia as a partnership for the 2 foursomes games only is a better partnership than Rahm & AN Other. Pieters would also be in this year's team for me, probably not going to happen though.

super_realist wrote:

JAS wrote:So does Stenson get the Captaincy back now??  

What about Ryder Cup too? Are all those players now eligible again?

As far as I have picked up, they still aren't currently if they resigned their membership...but think a lot of that stuff is still to be worked out in the coming weeks and months.

super_realist wrote:

Jeff Navarro wrote:https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/65836419

If you believe McIlroy then they won’t be playing.  

In reality, Garcia, Westwood, Poulter etc are past it in terms of Ryder Cup so it's a bit of a moot question I asked.

Past it in playing terms almost certainly although Ralph's point has some validity.

Does it change the landscape though in Captaincy in the future or certainly vice captaincies?

In reality my first question was a bit rhetorical, there's no way you'd change the Captaincy back at this stage. Having said that Stenson was essentially thrown under the bus for what the tour have effectively now done themselves.

Poulter deserves a Captaincy in America.

Would be interesting re. RC captaincy in the future, but think they should be forever cast out to ensure decent team atmosphere. I wouldn't play for them if I was good enough to qualify as of right.

Dale Whitnell first DP World Tour win tomorrow? 

Congratulations Blue!
Hope he can kick on from that. Great to see.
Cheers!

kwinigolfer wrote:Congratulations Blue!
Hope he can kick on from that. Great to see.
Cheers!

It's Kwini

kwinigolfer wrote:Congratulations Blue!
Hope he can kick on from that. Great to see.
Cheers!

Congratulations kwini!
Wonderful to see you back.

Nothing's changed Kwini, I'm still a pr1ck.

kwinigolfer wrote:Congratulations Blue!
Hope he can kick on from that. Great to see.
Cheers!

Thanks Kwini, great to hear from you!

I'm so pleased for my old Essex Thornton Cup teammate, from days back when he was a teenager. I saw Dale on Tuesday afternoon at the golf club with Craig Lockwood his coach and they were both rightly very happy. I knew Craig was going to fly out to Sweden because he said on Saturday if Dale still held a 3 shot lead after round 3 he was going to be there at the finish. I had a good chat with them both, I've known Dale since he was a kid, they were both talking very confidently of more success in the not too distant future.

Good to see you back on here Kwini, hope it is not a one-off visit and that we will hear from you more regularly going forward. Cheers to you too!

kwinigolfer wrote:Congratulations Blue!
Hope he can kick on from that. Great to see.
Cheers!

Hi Kwini, hope things are going ok for you. Really missed you on here.

Would love to get some of your takes on the mad world that is pro golf these days.

Spent the past two days at The Belfry for the British Masters - two very different weather days, Thursday calm and hot, Friday overcast, chilly and wind/rain at times!
Decent course to watch at and spectate - lots of nice little quiet spots to view groups coming through. Didn't follow anyone specifically (cos there isn't exactly a wealth of big names in this field...)

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Spent the past two days at The Belfry for the British Masters - two very different weather days, Thursday calm and hot, Friday overcast, chilly and wind/rain at times!
Decent course to watch at and spectate - lots of nice little quiet spots to view groups coming through. Didn't follow anyone specifically (cos there isn't exactly a wealth of big names in this field...)

Sad to see so few top British players, apart from Justin Rose, supporting what used to be a big event in the ET calendar. Glad you had a good time though. Been avidly watching it on TV.

Sad choke from Robert MacIntyre. Scottish people just don't have a winning mentality.

McLaren wrote:Sad choke from Robert MacIntyre. Scottish people just don't have a winning mentality.

Sad that you continue to use the Poopie term, 'choke'....

Only one person can win and nerves (if that's what played into MacIntyre) are part of the game. The idea that when someone's nerves compromise their performance, that should be slagged off in the way it typically is (normally by those who never were, are not, and never will be), is pretty poor.

Exactly. Tackling your nerves is part of it. He didn't. And therefore choked.

McLaren wrote:Sad choke from Robert MacIntyre. Scottish people just don't have a winning mentality.

Sure a whole host of Jocks from Stephen Hendry to Sir Chris Hoy would disagree

McLaren wrote:Exactly. Tackling your nerves is part of it. He didn't. And therefore choked.

Pathetic. Knew you'd stick to that pejorative. To make your position even more ridiculous, you don't even know that was the reason, but that never stops you even if you do allegedly follow "the scientific method"....

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2011-09721-001

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1469029211001038

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1469029212000957

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejsp.2420160405

Just to get you started.

DP World Tour schedule for 2024 released. CLICK HERE. Seems to me to be better organised, with "blocks" of tournaments in one geographical area. (US Majors excepted).

Looks ok, but as always seems like the Aussies get shafted by top end pro golf. Doubt many players will go for the Aus, SA, Aus 3 week schedule. Meaning only one or none of the Aussie events will attract a decent amount of better players.

McLaren wrote:Looks ok, but as always seems like the Aussies get shafted by top end pro golf. Doubt many players will go for the Aus, SA, Aus 3 week schedule. Meaning only one or none of the Aussie events will attract a decent amount of better players.

Pity really. Used to, and presume they still do, have some excellent courses, well worthy of being on any schedule. Still, for the average top player these days, guess it's too far to fly for the money available. Probably not worth getting out of bed for.

Months ago I decided I needed a mini break. I decided to go to Switzerland to watch the Omega European Masters at Crans Montana. So I'm off there on Wednesday, and coming back the Monday after the event. Found a (relatively) cheap apartment, and bought the tickets for the tournament early so got them at a small discount. Flight/train/funicular will get me all the way there. Might be eating baked beans on toast or a Pot Noodle for meals as Crans restaurants seem a bit expensive. £6 for 33cl bottle of Coke.....but I sort of knew that.

But watching the tournament will be interesting as Matt Fitzpatrick has a chance to claim the last automatic Ryder Cup place, and others are trying to impress Luke. I'll report when I get back.

One of the most scenic places in golf. Enjoy.

Took my laptop with me so able to write this LONG story about my trip. Prepare yourselves.

super_realist wrote:One of the most scenic places in golf. Enjoy.

I don’t know about scenic Super; I thought the course was spectacular. Set in the Rhone Valley but at an altitude of 1500 metres it is an undulating pine tree lined course with views of the Alps all around. Each day I would catch a free bus to the course and do what most spectators do at a championship: follow a group and/or park up and watch the players go by. Followed David Howell’s group the first day, which included a Swiss player Cedric Gugler. Got talking to some other spectators who were also following this group only to find out they were his family. Interesting chat with them and how they coped! He managed to make the cut on the number by birdieing his 36th hole. Groups I also followed included Matt Fitzpatrick / Matt Wallace / Nicolai Hojgaard, also Pepperell / Paratore and Jiminez / Harrington. Jiminez very popular with the locals.
I know the course is at altitude, but the distances these professionals hit the ball is amazing to me. So accurate as well. (There are occasions when they are mortal like me – watched Tom McKibbin play down an adjacent fairway after hooking a ball left. He had no shot to the green because of the trees lining the fairway.) Although all the players here are good, you can still see the differences between them – not by looking at them, a lot of them are physical clones of each other – tall slim and athletic. But just in the way they get things done. Top players getting to 6 feet of the pin, others just hitting the green. Top players getting up and down out of bunkers, others not. It does sound obvious, but to see it live brings it home.
Event looks a massive undertaking, logistically. Spectators and players are the obvious things that need taking care of. Then there’s how the TV presentation works. Loads of cables everywhere, mobile and fixed cameras all over the place etc. Got friendly with one of the volunteers. He worked an “all clear” flag on the 15th hole. (An uphill, unsighted par five, so he showed when it was clear to play to the green). He was given an outfit to wear from one of the sponsors valued at £900, and £400 for the week. Sounds a lot, but Crans is expensive even for Switzerland. A sausage roll from one of the catering outlets on the course cost £14.
On the Saturday, the Swiss Golf organisation had what I consider a brilliant way to get juniors involved and keep them involved in golf. The top 20 or so in their junior order of merit would try and “beat the pro”. On the par 3 175-yard 8th hole, one junior would tee off with the two professionals and try and get nearer the pin. The junior obviously got to meet two pros, and walk the hole with them, and receive some memorabilia, all the time whilst being recorded. You could see that each one of them was firstly in awe, but secondly enjoying it to the max. One junior actually managed to do it.
Early starters on the weekend maybe get a scoreboard holder and a walking marshal, later players get the above but a spotter for the cameras, a referee, honorary observers who are able to walk inside the ropes, one or two camera crews, sound recordist and maybe a commentator. (Saw the Sky crew of Ken Brown, Iona Stephens, Inci Mehmet and Tim Barter)
Sunday was just a wander around following various groups until mid afternoon when I took my place in the grandstand behind the 18th green to watch the final groups come in. One player managed to cause a bit of drama when he hit his ball from an awkward position, halfway up into the stand. Didn’t hurt anyone, and the woman who threw the ball to the player when he came to the green, got it as a present when he finished the hole. Because I was at the 18th I didn’t see Fitzpatricks’ two bogeys on the 15th and 16th. So that let Aberg in for the win. A marshal I spoke to earlier in the week said he was a special player, and so it proved.
All in all, a very enjoyable 4 days at a fantastic location. Local population friendly and helpful. Even when I tried my schoolboy French I got the same reply – “You can speak English if you want”. Most of them speak at least three languages, possibly four.
Thoroughly recommend you going to watch the Omega European Masters if you can, and even more recommend you trying to play the course, it’s a beauty. Prices at the moment are around £170 a round, but I would add either a buggy or a caddy to that to save your legs.

Great write up I'm Never Wrong - sounds like you had a great week, and a great place to watch golf!

Aberg was spectacular - surely secured his spot in Rome with that performance. I know it was at altitude, but he hit his iron 300 yards off the tee on the final hole! Mad

What are your views on European Ryder Cup team?
Seems front loaded to me. Surprised to see an out of form and non Matchplay specialist like Fat Lowry in there. Has barely done a thing in 9 months. Would have preferred Meronk, especially as he's won at that course.

super_realist wrote:What are your views on European Ryder Cup team?
Seems front loaded to me. Surprised to see an out of form and non Matchplay specialist like Fat Lowry in there. Has barely done a thing in 9 months. Would have preferred Meronk, especially as he's won at that course.

I agree with you Super, I would have swapped Lowry for Meronk. I did wonder if Luke would make a "brave" call - as commentators like to say - with Aberg, but if, as everyone is saying he is THAT good, then he should go. I wonder if the "confirmed" players (McIlroy?) wanted Lowry?