Sports Then and Now

Hale Irwin

The June Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month if one of only six men in history to win at least three United States Golf Open Championships, with his third victory being an improbable victory in 1990 at the age of 45.

In fact, when Hale Irwin claimed his third U.S. Open title following an improbable 45-foot birdie on the 72nd hole and then a playoff victory over Mike Donald, it had been more than five years since he had last won a PGA tournament. Read the rest of this entry →

Jose Maria Olazabal - The last European to win the "Green Jacket" in 1999.

Despite the fact that the US Masters is still a couple of months away, the start of the new season in Golf means that players will be looking to fine tune their games ahead of the first “major” of the year, the US Masters, and with European players occupying the top four places in the World rankings currently, the question is whether a European can finally win the “Green Jacket”, some 13 years after the last!

It seems an eternity since Jose Maria Olazabal last won what is arguably the sport’s most prestigious tournament. His win in 1999 added to his first win at Augusta in 1994 and came after Sir Nick Faldo’s third triumph in the event in 1996. Other European winners of the Masters in a golden era for players from across the Atlantic included the late, Seve Ballesteros, who won it twice in 1980 & 1983. German, Bernard Langer, also won two “Green Jacket’s” in 1985 and then eight years later in 1993. Sandy Lyle became the first ever British winner in 1987 and while Faldo followed him with back to back wins in 1989 & 1990, it was Welshman, Ian Woosnam who took the title in 1991. However, despite recent European winners of the other three “Majors”, the Masters has seemingly become elusive for Europe’s top players.

Of course, Rory McIlroy had the 2011 Masters when he took a four shot lead into the final round but the young Ulsterman imploded early on the Sunday and his chance was very quickly gone. As we know, he made some amends a few weeks later when winning the US Open but losing the “Green Jacket” will still sit heavy on his shoulders and McIlroy will be out to avenge that final round performance in April and he is arguably Europe’s best chance of ending the 13 year wait. Read the rest of this entry →

The biggest lesson to be learned from golf in 2011 was quite simply that the standard of the game and the levels of competition just gets higher and higher, not just in the standards set by the players but also with the tournament organization and TV coverage.

The re-vamped European Tour now known as the Race to Dubai has added a new dimension to European Golf. Although it possibly has some way to go before it begins to attract some of those star names from the US PGA Tour, it is constantly discovering new talent and it should be noted that it is four European players who sit in the top four places in the world rankings.

Top of that list is Luke Donald, who became the first man in golf history to win the money lists on both the US tour and Race to Dubai Tours. Four wins during the year and whole host of top five and top ten finishes, confirmed him not only as the best in the world right now but also by far and away the most consistent.

The young Ulsterman, who sits one place behind Donald in the rankings, Rory McIlroy also enjoyed an unforgettable year. The 22 year old won a first Major at the US Open, where he broke just about every record that is to be broken in that most prestigious tournament. That win came on the back of a hugely unfortunate final round at the US Masters in April where after three rounds McIlroy had decimated the field and the daunting Augusta course. We all know what happened to him in that final round, but the courage he showed from that disaster to win the US Open in such style was actually almost beyond belief. The lesson learned by all golf fans and players is that Rory McIlroy is going to be around at the very top for a very long time. Read the rest of this entry →

Keegan Bradley has been amongst the hottest golfers in the world since winning the PGA Championship in August.

Keegan Bradley enhanced his growing reputation even further this week with victory at the PGA Grand Slam, holding on to the lead despite a late surge from the in-form Charl Schwartzel.

While Bradley shot an even 71 in the tournament’s final round to go 4-under in total, Schwartzel was in sublime form, equaling the course record of 65 with a run of five consecutive birdies in the front nine.

The South African will be pleased with his efforts of course, but also frustrated that he left it too late to win the tournament. He went into the final round at 3-over, so a 65 wasn’t even enough for him to overtake Bradley to take the title.

He admitted as much afterwards, saying: “I obviously still had a chance going into the back nine. I just didn’t do enough when I needed to.”

As for Bradley, the American youngster did feel the pressure during the final round with dropped shots at 1, 5 and 6. He recovered well though with a birdie at the 7th and he didn’t look back from there.

Speaking about a dramatic days golf, Bradley said: “It was a lot more intense that I thought it was going to be. I was nervous, this felt like a tournament on the PGA Tour. I was very nervous. I had been thinking it was going to a playoff considering how my year has been going.” Read the rest of this entry →

Thomas Bjorn claimed the Omega European Masters in a playoff.

Thomas Bjorn has had impressive two weeks, securing two titles and enhancing his reputation in the process.

The vastly-experienced Dane won a five-man play-off at Gleneagles to win the Johnny Walker Championship and followed it up with securing the Omega European Masters in Switzerland.

The 40-year-old showed his coolness under pressure in Scotland a fortnight ago, with five great playoff holes and sent a message down to the other players vying for a Ryder Cup place.

The qualifying for next year’s event started this week and a nine-under-par 62 not only saw him shoot the lowest round of his European Tour career, but also ensured he made strides for the race for the major tournament.

His feat in Switzerland was all the more impressive as US Open champions Rory McIlroy and former number-one ranked players Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer, who he beat by four shots, were both in contention heading into the final day before Bjorn blew them away with some influential strokeplay and immaculate putting. Read the rest of this entry →

After winning the 2010 PGA, Martin Kaymer struggled in 2011.

A year that started so well for Martin Kaymer did more than just fizzle out. The 2010 PGA champion and joint European player of 2010 confirmed his ascendency by claiming top spot in the rankings soon after a stunning eight-shot victory at the Abu Dhabi Championships. He certainly made himself popular in the Golf betting.

The German seemed sure to be the leading player in the vacuum at the top of the sport by the varying degrees of loss in form experienced by Tiger Woods and other Americans. Instead Kaymer has regressed, slipping to fourth in the rankings and failing to win another event.

An opening round 78 at the Masters, consigning him to his fourth straight missed cut at Augusta, revealed that his seemingly rock-solid all-round game could collapse. Kaymer has struggled to regain his composure since, although he did show glimpses of his best by starting the Open well and finishing joint 12th.

Jose Maria Olazabal might not be too concerned at Kaymer’s loss of form. The German’s best golf since Abu Dhabi have come in Match Play – he was runner-up to Luke Donald in the WGC-Accenture Match Play and was beaten by the same man in the semi finals of the Volvo Match Play Championship.
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