For the second time in his career, England’s Ian Poulter has won a World Golf Championship event.
On Sunday from Dongguan, China, Poulter shot a final round 65 to beat Americans Scott Piercy, Phil Mickelson and Jason Dufner along with British Open champion Ernie Els of South Africa by two strokes to win the WGC HSBC Champions event.
Poulter finished up at -21 on a course that seemed to play very easy. In the third round, England’s Lee Westwood shot a 61 and American Brandt Snedeker shot even better as he went an amazing twelve under par in the third round alone by shooting a 60.
After a bit of a summer break, we’re back with another episode of 15 Minutes of Fame – this week on the show we’re talking Shea Weber, Rick Nash & the NHL, along with our expectations for the London Olympics.
In the GABBYs: Oscar Pistorius, the McLaren Racing Team, Ernie Els, the Brazilian soccer team, Dillon Donnelly & Chad Ochocino. The Punchline this week is the Olympic organizers!
In a remarkable comeback, South Africa’s Ernie Els has won his second British Open. On Sunday, Els shot a -2 in the fourth round, and recorded a very impressive four birdies on the back nine to win his fourth major championship.
Els previously won the 1994 and 1997 United States Open Championships and 2002 British Open. His outstanding birdie putt on the 18th hole at Lytham St. Annes in Lancashire, England today could be considered as the most clutch shot he has ever made in his golf career.
At the time Els made the birdie putt, he pulled himself within one shot of the lead, at -7, and then witnessed a Van de Veldian like collapse by Adam Scott of Australia, who bogeyed the seventeenth and eighteenth holes to lose the lead. Scott’s approach shot on the 17th went into the thick rough, and then his tee shot on the 18th went into a bunker.
For the second consecutive day American Jim Furyk has the lead at the United States Open. This time however he is sharing the lead with only one golfer instead of two.
Furyk, the 2003 United States Open champion, shot an even par seventy on Saturday to match his round one score on Thursday. He is tied for the lead with Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, the 2010 United States Open champion, who shot a 2-under par 68.
The third round was definitely moving day. Household names in the golf world such as Ernie Els and Lee Westwood moved up, while round two co-leaders Tiger Woods and David Toms moved down. Westwood shot a 67 and Els shot a 68 to move into contention for the lead. They are tied for fourth place at +2 and are three strokes back of Furyk and McDowell. Woods meanwhile moved down from first to fourteenth after a +5 on Saturday, while Toms dropped to eighteenth after shooting a 76.
Sunday will be a very interesting round of golf for Weyburn, Saskatchewan’s Graham DeLaet.
The 30 year-old golfer out of Boise State shot a 66 on Saturday and is only two shots back of leader Jason Dufner of the United States at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans, Louisiana, this week’s stop on the PGA Tour.
DeLaet is currently tied with American Ken Duke at -15, and is in the final pairing today with Dufner at -17.
With the disappointing results by Canadian golfers the last few years, DeLaet’s performance this weekend is a breath of fresh air.
DeLaet has put together three consecutive rounds in the 60s, shooting a 68, 67, and 66. Elite players in contention this week and cannot be couted out are Ernie Els at -14, Steve Stricker at -13 and Luke Donald at -12 who are lurking in the top ten.
One of the interesting events of the year is the World Matchplay Championships that is going on currently in Tucson, Arizona.
The event is extremely unique because of all of the head-to-head battles on the golf course. You simply don’t see this type of format at any other time in professional golf except for the first two days of the Ryder Cup and President’s Cup.
One could argue the event has been unique so far because of the upsets– Ernie Els over number one seed Luke Donald, Kyle Stanley over fourth seed K.J. Choi, Y.E. Yang over third seed Graeme McDowell, Miguel Angel Jimenez over Sergio Garcia, Sang-Moon Bae over previous champion Ian Poulter, Ryo Ishikawa over number three seed Bill Haas and Italian teenager Matteo Manassero over second seeded American Webb Simpson.
But one could argue, like me, that there haven’t been any significant upsets at all, because unlike tennis, there are no dominant golfers in the game today. Tiger Woods is not even close to being the golfer he once was, Phil Mickelson is not even here because he is on a family vacation and no other golfer is dominating the game consistently enough to be considered a clear favourite–even at the World Matchplay Championships. Also, Els is more experienced than Donald (and has three majors), Yang is a major winner as well and Ishikawa is a rising star in the game today.
The Edmonton Eskimos are only one win away from the 99th Grey Cup in Vancouver, British Columbia next weekend.
On Sunday, they will have to find a way to beat the Lions without star running back Jerome Messam. As I mentioned earlier in the week, I find the possibility of the Eskimos’ running game getting going is still there because the Lions’ defensive line and ability to stop the run has sometimes been a weakness, even with Solomon Elimimian and Brent Johnson leading the way.
But the Eskimos will need to find a way themselves to do a better job in stopping quarterback Travis Lulay, the Western Division nominee for the Canadian Football League’s most outstanding player award. In the Lions’ 29-20 win over Edmonton on October 29, Lulay had three touchdown passes for 322 yards.
It hasn’t been a great year in Canadian golf. Mike Weir and Stephen Ames haven’t had a great golf season by any means.
But if there was ever a time for someone to step up, it could be this week. Why? Well, the top golfers in the world that are participating, such as Luke Donald, Ernie Els, Rickie Fowler, Jim Furyk, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, all played at the British Open in Sandwich, England last week.
That’s eight time zones away from the Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver. Can you spell jet lag?
With all the top talent in the world competing at Royal St. George’s, the Canadians stayed home.
True, none of them qualified, but whatever extra practice any of them received while in Vancouver could be a benefit starting today.
Among the Canadians that will be competing this week include Ames and Dustin Risdon of Calgary and Mitch Evanecz of Red Deer.
In one of the most interesting final days of the Masters, South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel was in the winner’s circle.
Schwartzel birdied the final four holes at Augusta to become the third South African to win the first Major tournament of the golf season. He joins Gary Player and Trevor Immelman.
Schwartzel defeated Australians Jason Day and Adam Scott by two strokes after shooting -14.
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