What, if anything, have we
learned from last week’s golf?
Firstly the Solheim Cup, the biennial, Ryder-Cup-but-without-the-press-coverage battle between the US and Europe. In short, Europe ended a sequence of successive defeats dating back to 2003 and took the cup in dramatic style, eventually winning 15-13 having threatened to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory earlier in the day.
Neither side really came out on top over the
weather, which wasn’t great. To dreadfully paraphrase Messrs Higson &
Whitehouse, it was more ‘soggio’ than ‘scorchio’ but then it was played in
Ireland.
In September.
Hearing Rosie Jones, the US captain, make a reference to
the ‘crummy weather’ was unnecessary and it threatened to take away from the
fact that the Europeans simply handled the conditions better. Is there anything
to take away from this year’s event? Given the time of year this event is
played and the UK locations used (Scotland twice, Wales & Ireland), no-one
(least of all the Americans) should be surprised if it gets a little moist.
Next to the Tour Championship/FedEx Cup shootout. Following his excellent wire-to-wire win at the BMW last week, Justin Rose was hotly tipped to be involved in a duel with current world #1 Luke Donald. Webb Simpson was leading the FedEx standings and on form, so a battle royale was anticipated. As it transpired, only Luuuuke was in the mix come Sunday, eventually trailing the occasionally wayward tournament winner, and new FedEx champ, Bill Haas by one shot. #1 played 18 FedEx events in 2011 and scored 2,567 points which is an average of 142.6. Bill Haas, timing his run to perfection, scored 2,760 points (2,500 coming in this event) and averaged 106.1 over the season.
Next to the Tour Championship/FedEx Cup shootout. Following his excellent wire-to-wire win at the BMW last week, Justin Rose was hotly tipped to be involved in a duel with current world #1 Luke Donald. Webb Simpson was leading the FedEx standings and on form, so a battle royale was anticipated. As it transpired, only Luuuuke was in the mix come Sunday, eventually trailing the occasionally wayward tournament winner, and new FedEx champ, Bill Haas by one shot. #1 played 18 FedEx events in 2011 and scored 2,567 points which is an average of 142.6. Bill Haas, timing his run to perfection, scored 2,760 points (2,500 coming in this event) and averaged 106.1 over the season.
Haas showed fantastic grit and determination
to prevail over Hunter Mahan in the playoff, producing some moments of recovery
of which, frankly, even Seve in his pomp would have been proud. He also proved
that the FedEx Cup format provides us with no shortage of drama – Haas was
ranked 25th in the standings before the Tour Championship and proof
that, regardless of your starting position, as long as you are in the final
event you have a chance to come out on top. Hats off to Tim Finchem et al – the
format has its critics but, for me, it’s a winner.
More words have been written
about the merits of LD being #1, when he is yet to pop his major championship
cherry, than I care to remember. Looking at
his performances during 2011, perhaps it is finally time to consign this debate
to the scrapheap. The world ranking is an indicator of consistency over the
preceding two years and, as many a one-week-wonder is proof, it is eminently
possible to arrive at a major from relative obscurity, everything clicks
and you walk away with a W whilst maintaining a resolutely mediocre ranking
position (Todd Hamilton? Rich Beem?).
LD has been a beacon of consistency since
taking over at the top from Lee Westwood and richly deserves his status as the
best in the world. He has the game to win a major, of that there is no doubt
but, like Colin Montgomerie before him and Lee
Westwood now, there is a chance it won’t happen for him. That said, LD
now has the Race to Dubai to concentrate on – he’s more than a million euro
ahead of Rory McIlroy in 2nd place but, as Bill Haas can testify, a
lot can happen in the closing stages. Good luck to all involved.
By way of a postscript,
congratulations are due to Kenneth Ferrie for winning the Austrian Open via a
playoff and making a jump of nearly 150 places in the world rankings. This win
brought to a close his run of 144 events since his last win, the 2005 European
Open. Much has been written about scheduling of tournaments and the impact that
can have on the field and the associated press coverage (such as the Seve Trophy
last week alongside the BMW Championship) and, whilst it is a shame that the
field wasn’t of a higher standard, let nothing take away from Ferrie’s win. Not
everyone has the ability or temperament to close it out, regardless of the
situation. Fine work sir.
The Part-Time Golfer
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