The Players Championships from Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

TPC Sawgrass holds this week’s PGA Tour event in what is more commonly known as ‘The un-official 5th Major, The Players Championship’. This year Sawgrass celebrates its 32nd year of competition and it will still take some winning like it did in its inception. The fact that only 4 players have got their name on the trophy twice in the previous 31 years shows us that it’s up for grabs for any golfer who can get their game together for the 4 days. No English golfer has ever won this event, Sandy Lye did win it back in 87, though that was the Atlantic Club and for the last time there before moving to Sawgrass the following year. The fact that the Yanks built up a good reputation of winning here has been tempered by the fact last year’s winner Matt Kuchar was the first yank to take the title since Big Phil Mickelson back in 2007. KJ Choi, Tim Clark, Henrick Stenson and Sergio Garcia have been the winning players in the time between…

This tournament, like the Masters, is one that is played at the same track year after year, and you would think that some players would favour this more than others. But to be truthful not many players seem to handle this particular Pete Dye designed course very well. Of the past 5 years Tiger Woods has only featured once in the top 10. Of players who do seem to play well here only 16 players have featured twice in the top 10 in the last 5 years, with JB Holmes and David Toms achieving 3 top 10’s. Returning players do fair better but the trend is that you need to be making at least 7 visits back to Sawgrass as 7 of the last 8 Champions required a minimum of seven visits prior to their victories. This includes Matt Kuchar, who won the title last year when making his eighth trip to the venue…

We all know that this is the course with probably one of the most recognisable holes in world golf, the 17th, which is surrounded by water onto a sloping green at barely a 9 iron to some of the players. Sitting, as it dos, at only 137 yards at its maximum yardage for the week it shouldn’t pose problems for any of these top golfers, but the stats don’t lie. The players all say that it’s that 5 minute walk from the 16th green to the 17th tee box where the tension starts to build up in the shoulders and arms. The fact that most of the spectators go there just to see the carnage of a player hitting the water all adds to the pressure of hitting your tee shot from this short little hole. Added extra to this is that you could lose all momentum going onto the last hole, and maybe lose the tournament if you do cock it up. Yes the 17th hole has claimed some very good players in its time and will continue to do so this year as well…


Most ball in the water at the 17th since 2003…
Balls in water Player(s)
9 - Bob Tway
8 - Heath Slocum, Bob Estes, Aaron Baddeley
7 - Phil Mickelson, Shigeki Maruyama
6 - Sean O'Hair, Charles Howell III, Woody Austin, Jim Furyk
5 - Bubba Watson, Billy Mayfair, Kent Jones, Lucas Glover

4 - Davis Love III, Brian Davis, Corey Pavin, Angel Cabrera, Daniel Chopra, Mark Wilson, Mike Weir, Ernie Els, Matt Kuchar, Geoff Ogilvy, Paul Casey, Ted Purdy, Scott McCarron, Ben Curtis, Sergio Garcia, Joey Sindelar, Chad Campbell, Jose Coceres, Tim Clark

3 - Frank Lickliter II, Paul Goydos, D.J. Trahan, Graeme McDowell, Rory Sabbatini, Greg Owen, Steve Elkington, Hank Kuehne, Pat Perez, Tiger Woods, Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman, Dudley Hart, J.J. Henry, Fred Couples, Bo Van Pelt, Fred Funk, Brandt Snedeker, Ben Crane, Charley Hoffman, David Toms, Charlie Wi, Adam Scott, Justin Rose, Robert Gamez, Chris Couch, Ryan Moore, Kirk Triplett, Camilo Villegas, Lee Westwood, Shaun Micheel, Chris DiMarco, Stephen Leaney, Luke Donald, Steve Lowery, Mark O'Meara, Carl Pettersson, Brett Quigley, Harrison Frazar, J.B. Holmes, Zach Johnson

As you can see from this list not many can get away from not going in the water at the 17th…!!! The one that stands out for me is that Big Phil Mickelson has done this 7 times in the past 9 years. Isnt he supposed to be one of the greatest short iron players ever…!!!




So who can keep the damage to a minimum and score good enough to win this year’s Players title…? With all the rain that the course has received recently you will need long and accurate driving but also good approach shots to what will be receptive greens. So Total Driving, Approach Shots and long iron players are what im looking for…

Nick Watney held the 54 hole lead with Big Phil last week at Quail Hollow before shooting a disappointing +1 par last round to drop out of contention. His stats for the week though were very good and if he can carry that form here to Sawgrass he might get another 54 hole lead. 27th in Total Driving, 11th in GIR, 12th in Ball Striking and GIR from 150-175 + 175-200 yards is 6th and 8th respectively…

Bo Van Pelt has let me down this year after I decided to stick with him for the year. So after dropping him for his last 4 events I am more than happy to pick him for this. He got his first top 10 of the season last week in Wells Fargo, he finished T6th, where he ranked 13th in Total Driving, T14 in GIR and 12th in Strokes Gained Putting. His 3 cuts made in eight appearances at Sawgrass are all top 10s, including T7 last year…

Henrick Stenson could be the first double winner of this event since 2003, after he won the 2009 event here. Currently leads the Tour in Total Driving and GIR, 3rd in Driving Accuracy. Of the 9 GIR stats available Henrick is ranked in the top 20 for all of them. He ranks 19th for GIR +200 yards, and is either 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 6th for all other GIR stats. That is very impressive, but it will be his putter that determines where he finishes up and if that part of his game clicks he will feature at the top come Sunday...

Ryan Palmer may not have a great record here at Sawgrass but he has had a decent start to the year and could spring a surprise if he gets the chance. Sits 12th for Driving and 17th for Total Driving in the rankings coupled with stats of 21st in GIR, 31st in All Round Play. For his GIR from over 200 yards he is 11th and 12th from 175-200 yards. If he has a hot weekend on the putter than he will give himself a fighting chance of a top 10 finish…

Nick Watney @ 40/1...
Bo Van Pelt @ 50/1...
Nick Watney @ 60/1...
Ryan Palmer @ 175/1...


It is one of the hardest tournament to pick a winner but last year i hit 3 of the top 5, plus called the winner with Matt Kuchar. I dont expect to beat last years attempts but we shall give it a go...

All done in the usual £2.5 e/w... PadPow pays 1/4 top 6... Good luck to all...

 

Goodluck Red

Usually use Bet365 for golf bets but i decided, whilst putting a footy bet on tonight in store, that i would use Ladbrokes. Their offer that if Tiger wins this week, they will refund all losing outright bets seemed enough to leave my hard earned with them this week.

Geoff Ogilvy - 150/1 - Again i back this former major winner. I put Geoff on every week he plays, and its more a hobby than a financial interest these days haha! However he did come 2nd at 175/1 only couple months ago, so fingers crossed he can have a good week. Played solid, if not spectacular, last week.

Bubba Watson - 66/1 - A big Bubba fan, i think he will shoot well this week.

Keegan Bradley - 50/1 - Keegan, in my eyes, has been disappointing this season in general. I expected him to have done better so this season, but i will go with him as i think his price is way too big for such a player

Louis Oosthuizen - 50/1 - Louis is a great player, played very well early on in the season on the European Tour, and i think he is clicking into gear again and i expect a big showing


good luck to all who plays

 

Brandt Snedeker 33/1
Thorbjorn Olesen 80/1

Goodluck men, still stuck without a computer so just short and sweet from the phone.

 

Smokin its ok to have a player, horse or team that you stick with through thin and thinner and Geoff Ogilvy is a good player. Makes you enjoy the wins a bit more...

Bubba has a chance this week as the rain will soften the fairways and so the big hitters will be at an advantage in terms of yardage gained after the first pitch...

Keegan was one i was going to stick with this yar but ive gone off him, lets hope you can get my hoodoo off him and get him back in the top 6...

STH, its the same for you with Snedeker, as i also looked at him for one of my picks but just went against him because of his injury lay-off...


Anyway its out of our hands now and all we can do is watch and enjoy and hope one of these players wins... Good luck to you lads...

 

Just looking at the early scores and Roberto Castro, 400/1 just before the off, is currently -8 under after just 13 holes...!!!

I dont think the conditions are effecting Roberto then...


Rory is -5 under after 9... Plus some of the lads picks are currently sat at -3 in T8th place...

 

Just looking at the early scores and Roberto Castro, 400/1 just before the off, is currently -8 under after just 13 holes...!!!

I dont think the conditions are effecting Roberto then...


Rory is -5 under after 9... Plus some of the lads picks are currently sat at -3 in T8th place...

 

PadPow have him at 28/1...

 

Leaderboard after the 1st round...

Roberto Castro @ -9...

T4 - Ryan Palmer.............. -5
T10 - Henrik Stenson......... -4
T17 - Louis Oosthuizen....... -3
T17 - Bo Van Pelt .............. -3
T34 - Keegan Bradley......... -2
T54 - Brandt Snedeker........ -1
T86 - Bubba Watson........... +1
T86 - Thorbjorn Olesen........ +1
T113 - Geoff Ogilvy............. +3
T123 - Nick Watney............. +4

Well played Roberto Castro who equaled the course record 63, -9 for the day, in the opening round of The Players championships. Currently ranked 267th in the World rankings and 113th in the FedEx he shot to the top of the leaderboard when conditions were at there best, and boy did he take advantage. The early birds did get the best of the days weather and you have to tip your hat to the players who came out in the 2nd groups later on. So we will be waiting to see what Tiger, Simpson and Palmer do if the conditions replicates yesterdays feel...

Of the 17th hole yesterday 15 balls made the water, with 3 players going for a double dip...!!! A total of 22 birdies were made and Roberto Castro got nearest the pin with his effort only 1 foot 7 inches from gaining an ace.

You would think that Castro will fall back to the pack rather than run away from them so its not impossible for those who are at -2 to think that they are still in with a chance. But a lot of those questions will be answered after the 2nd round and the cut mark.

Matt Kuchar won last years title shooting -13 as did KJ Choi the previous year. The conditions have slowed the greens down considerably and i wouldnt be surprised if the total score gets closer to -16, -17 under par. Its still an amazing golf course and it will offer up some resistance on some of the holes but i think we will see more of the low scores bombing in again later today...

 

Leaderboard after the 2nd round...

Leader - Sergio Garcia @ -11

T3 - Henrik Stenson............ -9
T6 - Ryan Palmer................ -8
T24 - Brandt Snedeker......... -4
T51 - Bubba Watson............ -1
T51 - Bo Van Pelt................ -1
T63 - Louis Oosthuizen......... E
CUT - Keegan Bradley
CUT - Geoff Ogilvy
CUT - Nick Watney
CUT - Thorbjorn Olesen

So its Sergio Garcia who leads the pack after the completion of the 2nd round, and what a round he had, shooting a -7 under par score to take him to -11 for the tournament. But there is a whole host of top quality players behind him just waiting to pounce should he slip back down the leaderboard. Woods, Westwood, Stenson, Kuchar, Mahan and Zach Johnson are all big Tour winners and are only 4 shots back...

This could end up going to the very last hole the way its shaping, lets hope for a few twists n turns yet...

 

Leaderboard after the 3rd round...

Leader - David Lingmerth @ -12

T2 - Henrik Stenson.......... -10, through 16 holes
T5 - Ryan Palmer.............. -9, through 16 holes
T18 - Louis Oosthuizen...... -5
T18 - Brandt Snedeker...... -5
T38 - Bubba Watson......... -3
77 - Bo Van Pelt.............. +6

With the lightening, bad weather and a late finish yesterday it means that the last 8 groups still have a few holes left to play in order for the 3rd round to be fully completed. This will be of no concern to our new leader going into the 4th day, David Lingmerth, who has positioned himself very nicely at -12 and a 2 shot lead. The usual names are just behind him and for me i have a double chance with Henrik Stenson and Ryan Palmer very much in the hunt for this years prize...

It could still go to any of the top 10 players as the course hasnt given the players a minuets peace all week... Lets hope for a bit of fun and maybe a few twists n turns come later on tonight...

 

The 3rd round has now been completed and any of the top 10 have a chance...

T1 - David Lingmerth............ -11
T1 - Sergio Garcia............... -11
T1 - Tiger Woods................ -11
T4 - Casey Wittenberg......... -10
T4 - Henrik Stenson............. -10
T4 - Ryan Palmer................. -10
7 - Jeff Maggert................... -9
T8 - David Lynn................... -8
T8 - Hunter Mahan............... -8
T10 - Greg Chalmers............. -7
T10 - Marc Leishman............. -7
T10 - Lee Westwood............. -7

Im looking forward to tonights action... Fingers crossed i can get one into the top 6...

 

Sergio you twat

 

Just what i was thinking last night...

 

Final Leaderboard...

Winner - Tiger Woods @ -13

T5 - Henrik Stenson........... -10
T5 - Ryan Palmer............... -10
T8 - Brandt Snedeker......... -7
T19 - Louis Oosthuizen....... -5
T37 - Bubba Watson.......... -2
T62 - Bo Van Pelt.............. +2

Tiger Woods did it, and did it with a degree of control, but it could have been so different had Sergio Garcia not have a cataclysmic brain malfunction on the 17th hole. With 2 holes to play and, both he and Tiger were on -13, he made the choice of attacking the pin, which wasnt in the most friendly of places... Our survey said... De Durrrr... Into the water we went. Not only did he fail there, he failed again by putting his reload ball back into the water... Failure... To make things even worse he just picked his 3rd ball up and smacked it right into the heart of the green. Err Hello...!!!


Anyway Tiger had given the chasing pack something to believe in when he had his break down by taking a 6 on the 14th when he to found the water. But no one else had enough fight in them to catch him after most of the players near the top had a failure of some sort or t'other...

Got to be happy with my two placed players, Stenson and Palmer, and i made a tasty little £101.25 towards the account last night...

Now onto the next event and hopefully no more melt downs...!!!