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.

Great golf all week and fair play to him. But really, did we need all the tears afterwards? It seems to be the done thing lately, first sign of Tim Barter with a microphone in hand appears to get the tears flowing!

BlueCoverman wrote:Great golf all week and fair play to him. But really, did we need all the tears afterwards? It seems to be the done thing lately, first sign of Tim Barter with a microphone in hand appears to get the tears flowing!

Yeah, not a fan of blubbing either but I suppose until you’re in that position you just don’t know how you’d react. I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t but hey, I remember crossing the finish line in the London Marathon and blubbing uncontrollably (it was my 4th out of 5 I’ve done and not even half a tear with the other 4).

Anyway back to Smith, I really do think that if the putting changes bed in permanently he could well be the story of next year. Really good bag man as well, yes they're mates but Sam has a good golfing brain as well, he was our club champ 3 times, then turned Pro, had 2 or 3 attempts at Q school but never quite managed to get his card. It would be nice to see Jordan place high in Dubai and give himself a chance of getting to the Masters.

Anyone else, like me, thoroughly enjoying the golf at Leopard Creek? The golf’s good but the scenery, as usual, is spectacular and thanks are due to the addition of Tony Johnstone’s expert comments. The banter between the commentators adds to the enjoyment when snow and ice have combined to close our local courses. Good to see the players allowed to wear shorts, too, in the high heat.

Yes I’m recuperating from knee replacement surgery so I have watched all of the coverage. I think one of the favourite venues that the DP World Tour visits, both for players and TV viewers alike. Special interest for me this week as my old pal and team club mate, Dale Whitnell, was going so well. Until today that is!

So pleased for Dale though, finding a bit of success at a relatively mature age after struggling for 10 years to get his card. He has won just over a million quid since the restart after Covid in July 2020. 4 years ago he was working behind the bar at our local boozer, just to pay the bills.

Just booked a holiday break. I am going to watch the Omega European Masters at Crans sur Sierre. Found a reasonably priced apartment in the centre and went from there. Apart from the golf the scenery should be good as well. In theory Rory could play there as Omega is one of his sponsors, but that would mean a number of weeks of tournament golf on the trot. I'm not expecting him to be playing.

One of the most scenic courses on any tour.

super_realist wrote:One of the most scenic courses on any tour.

One of the reasons I'm going Super, photography is a hobby of mine. Don't know if I will be able to take my main camera onto the course, but I shouldl be able to use my phone or a GoPro.

I'm never wrong wrote:

super_realist wrote:One of the most scenic courses on any tour.

 One of the reasons I'm going Super, photography is a hobby of mine. Don't know if I will be able to take my main camera onto the course, but I shouldl be able to use my phone or a GoPro.

Switzerland and Austria are simply stunning, winter or summer.

Might be scenic but it is architecturally mediocre.

McLaren wrote:Might be scenic but it is architecturally mediocre.

Bit like The Old Course then....

ralphjohn69 wrote:

McLaren wrote:Might be scenic but it is architecturally mediocre.

Bit like The Old Course then....  

That isn't even scenic either

Deja vu for McIlroy, dunking it again on 18 on sunday. Why can't he just lay up with a 4 stroke lead?!?!

EDIT: I didnt know this was the 3rd round. Final day is tomorrow.

It was an awful shot by his standards, especially after playing the first 17 holes 8 under! Although will be very surprised if he surrenders his 3 shot lead and doesn’t go on to win it tomorrow.

BlueCoverman wrote:It was an awful shot by his standards, especially after playing the first 17 holes 8 under! Although will be very surprised if he surrenders his 3 shot lead and doesn’t go on to win it tomorrow.

Surely the risk of finding water with a 250 yard 2nd shot with a fairway wood into that green is much greater than the risk if he hit driver off the tee? McIlroy is a great Thursday and moving day player, I wouldnt be that confident about him winning tomorrow.

I was a bit puzzled by that decision as well but looking forward to seeing how it all pans out tomorrow. Very impressed by Dan Bradbury's performance again.

Anyone but that fat cheating fu*k Reed please

Three Round Rory looking like he's going to blow it again.

Just going back to Reed for a minute. I guess most of us saw what happened on the 17th yesterday? Why is he even out there playing today, surely he should have been disqualified after review of the video evidence?

I didn't see it, can you summarise?

The 17th is a short par 4, most were going at it with Driver. There are 3 palm trees to the right and short of the green. Reeds drive lands on the full in the top of the first palm tree and stays there. Next thing we see is Reed with a rules official both looking through binoculars at the top of the tree in front of the one Reed’s ball clearly landed in. We can see there are a number of balls lodged at the top of this tree and Reed identifies a ball up there as his with his number and markings. The rules official accepts Reeds identification and Reed takes a drop from the wrong tree and nearer to the pin. He may have been directed to the wrong tree, it is possible although unlikely that there was a ball up there with his number and exact markings, but on the evidence of the video all highly unsatisfactory.

He's a dodgy character. On fire today though.

Rory needs to stop worrying about LIV and focus on his own career. It's eating him up and looks like Reed will pip him here.

Final hole decisions for McIlroy again. Will lightning strike twice?

Sensible lay up from McIlroy on the 18th and good up and down to win it. Justice done in the end, fantastic golf from Reed today but just confirming his dubious nature again this week.

BlueCoverman wrote:Sensible lay up from McIlroy on the 18th and good up and down to win it. Justice done in the end, fantastic golf from Reed today but just confirming his dubious nature again this week.

Yep. He's an exceptional player, but unfortunately seems to also be an exceptional ️ end.

He just can't help himself can he. It's like getting drawn in the roll-up swindle with that really nice bloke, who you just know is going to cheat somewhere on the way round.

Good for Rory ... he and Rahm clearly top 2 in the game and I look forward to some head-to-head battles.

super_realist wrote:He's a dodgy character. On fire today though.

Rory needs to stop worrying about LIV and focus on his own career. It's eating him up and looks like Reed will pip him here.

The Super predictometer at its magnificent best :-p

JAS wrote:

super_realist wrote:He's a dodgy character. On fire today though.

Rory needs to stop worrying about LIV and focus on his own career. It's eating him up and looks like Reed will pip him here.

The Super predictometer at its magnificent best :-p

Close though Jas. Not sure why he's so obsessed with LIV. Time to move on.

super_realist wrote:

JAS wrote:

super_realist wrote:He's a dodgy character. On fire today though.

Rory needs to stop worrying about LIV and focus on his own career. It's eating him up and looks like Reed will pip him here.

The Super predictometer at its magnificent best :-p

Close though Jas. Not sure why he's so obsessed with LIV. Time to move on.

Yeah I don't know either, who knows. It may be a bit of feeling as one of the top players that he needs to speak up? He'd probably prefer the rest of the top guys to be around in the same tournaments? Maybe he doesn't want to look back at the end of his career and people saying "Yeah he might have been World Num 1 for 5 - 10 years but a lot of the top guys weren't there" But...in saying that, the ship has already sailed, get on with it.

I see the LIV golf schedule for 2023 is out, including one event back at the Centurion Club again in July. I went with a couple of mates last year but as I was struggling with knee problems at the time which limited my walking, I decided to splash out on a ticket giving access to a marquee overlooking the 15th green and 16th tee. It cost a tidy £246 but included unlimited food and drink all day. I should have known better. It was full of people, presumably on corporate hospitality freebies, who had absolutely zero interest in the golf and whose sole purpose was to get as pissed as possible. The worst offenders seemed to be young groups of South African blokes and as the day wore on and the more alcohol they consumed the worse it was. Extremely loud, crudely boorish, rude, arrogant...I could go on but you get the gist. Suffice to say I won't be rushing back this year, certainly not with a similar ticket.

BlueCoverman wrote:Just going back to Reed for a minute. I guess most of us saw what happened on the 17th yesterday? Why is he even out there playing today, surely he should have been disqualified after review of the video evidence?

I thought it was the referee. Even if he makes a wrong decision he is right. Or put it another way, the player will not be penalised. If later on, the committee can correct it, they can do so. But I guess it was impractical to change it in this case.

Yes you’re right, once the referee has made the decision then Reed was in the clear. I don’t think there is any doubt though, that the ball Reed identified as 100% his was not the one that he had just hit off the tee.

Like all of Reed's incidents they are blatant and the sort of thing that would get you shunned at most clubs, yet tour officials don't have the courage to call him out.


Great win for Rory. He must of felt like he was playing for more than just winning that tournament. I can't imagine how soul destroying it would have felt to lose to Reed in those circumstances.

I think that is Rory's first Rolex Series Win. Whenever he now plays on the DP World Tour, Harry Diamond will be wearing a gold caddies bib notifying people of Rory's achievement. Bet that pleases his sponsor, Omega Watches.

Great win by Rory, fair play to him. That last putt was special.

I'm never wrong wrote:I think that is Rory's first Rolex Series Win. Whenever he now plays on the DP World Tour, Harry Diamond will be wearing a gold caddies bib notifying people of Rory's achievement. Bet that pleases his sponsor, Omega Watches.

I've never really understood those "dress" type watches. Rolex in particular are especially hideous.

BlueCoverman wrote:Yes you’re right, once the referee has made the decision then Reed was in the clear. I don’t think there is any doubt though, that the ball Reed identified as 100% his was not the one that he had just hit off the tee.

Yep. Sounds like Reed simply looked in the tree, saw a suitable ball, and then told the referee that his ball had been marked that way. You'd think the referee might have asked for his ball's markings before allowing him to 'identify' it in any tree....

super_realist wrote:

I'm never wrong wrote:I think that is Rory's first Rolex Series Win. Whenever he now plays on the DP World Tour, Harry Diamond will be wearing a gold caddies bib notifying people of Rory's achievement. Bet that pleases his sponsor, Omega Watches.

I've never really understood those "dress" type watches. Rolex in particular are especially hideous.

Me neither. Rolex do make some reasonable watches though, and their movement is pretty good. I'd always take an Omega in preference though, but each to their own, I guess...

navyblueshorts wrote:

super_realist wrote:

I'm never wrong wrote:I think that is Rory's first Rolex Series Win. Whenever he now plays on the DP World Tour, Harry Diamond will be wearing a gold caddies bib notifying people of Rory's achievement. Bet that pleases his sponsor, Omega Watches.

I've never really understood those "dress" type watches. Rolex in particular are especially hideous.

Me neither. Rolex do make some reasonable watches though, and their movement is pretty good. I'd always take an Omega in preference though, but each to their own, I guess...

Doesn't help they use gold so much. Just screams Del Boy or vulgar footballer. Awful colour.

What's wrong with a basic Casio? Does the job.

McLaren wrote:What's wrong with a basic Casio? Does the job.

Or a phone

Reed ... not sure how anyone can defend this bozo.

Watches ... I have an Omega Seamaster, but really want a Grand Seiko Quartz. That said, a Casio really does everything a watch needs to do! (imo, of course)

navyblueshorts wrote:

BlueCoverman wrote:Yes you’re right, once the referee has made the decision then Reed was in the clear. I don’t think there is any doubt though, that the ball Reed identified as 100% his was not the one that he had just hit off the tee.

Yep. Sounds like Reed simply looked in the tree, saw a suitable ball, and then told the referee that his ball had been marked that way. You'd think the referee might have asked for his ball's markings before allowing him to 'identify' it in any tree....

Weird how this sort of stuff seems to just "follow" Patrick around isn't it...glad we won't have to put up with his nonsense in the Ryder Cup at least anymore

As much as I've loved the RC over the years, will it be denuded with the Liv players not being there.
Great that golfs second biggest arse hole won't be there, but still. Is it worse as a result of LIV?

super_realist wrote:As much as I've loved the RC over the years, will it be denuded with the Liv players not being there.
Great that golfs second biggest arse hole won't be there, but still. Is it worse as a result of LIV?

I'd say it will be only very slightly worse without any of the LIV players.

For the US it's fairly obvious that DJ & Reed would probably be in their top 12, anyone else, including Koepka & BDC, would be borderline at best so wouldn't really be missed.

For Europe a changing of the guard was required anyway and I don't think current form Westy, Sergio, Casey, Poulter, Weisberger, Stenson, etc would get in a current team.

So yes, slightly worse, but not really that much, and once it starts those not there will quickly be forgotten about.

That said though I think, at least on the European side, the LIV guys should be eligible to play if they qualify or are deemed to be worthy of a pick. From the European Tour's perspective there is no difference with Rory, Rahm, Hovland, etc playing predominantly on the PGA Tour to these guys playing on LIV.

super_realist wrote:As much as I've loved the RC over the years, will it be denuded with the Liv players not being there.
Great that golfs second biggest arse hole won't be there, but still. Is it worse as a result of LIV?

I'd say slightly worse - it's a shame some stalwarts like DJ and Sergio won't get one final hurrah, and while I don't like them particularly Koepka/DeChambeau/Reed really do bring some good theatre to it all with their various personality defects (it's good to have someone to root against!).

In terms of the quality of golf though, as Ralph pointed out the Euro's probably needed to go through a transition away from Westwood/Poulter etc anyways, so not sure they'll be missed. And there is plenty of young US golfers ready to step in like Zalatoris/Young.

ralphjohn69 wrote:That said though I think, at least on the European side, the LIV guys should be eligible to play if they qualify or are deemed to be worthy of a pick.  From the European Tour's perspective there is no difference with Rory, Rahm, Hovland, etc playing predominantly on the PGA Tour to these guys playing on LIV.

It's not the same because the ET don't have a strategic partnership with the Saudi's. But I think you know it's not the same.

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

PS- The Hoojgards are incredible!

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.