Golf Talk

[kompressaur]

again i'm just ripping anything from The Racing Post and putting it together. Feel free to start your own thread on anything golf related or add to this-

Wagner may be next off the production line to earn stripes
by Steve Palmer

NICK WATNEY and Ken Duke, two players who not long ago were making a living on the Nationwide Tour, battled it out for the Zurich Classic crown on Sunday night, and players who have graduated from America's feeder tour are really starting to make an impact among the big boys.

The Nationwide Tour has been in existence for 18 years and NT alums have now won 201 US Tour titles, including 11 Major championships.

Zach Johnson, the 2003 NT Player of the Year, became a Major champion at Augusta three weeks ago and the NT has clearly become a breeding ground for potential superstars.

Watney, winner of the 2004 Nationwide Tour Championship, bagged his first US Tour title in New Orleans on Sunday, beating Duke, the 2006 NT Player of the Year, by three shots.

The week before, Boo Weekley, who was one of 22 players who earned a US Tour card from their 2006 NT money list position, won The Heritage.

And at the end of January, Charley Hoffman, who has 86 NT starts to his name, claimed the Bob Hope Classic crown.

So, which of the NT's class of 2006is going to step up to the plate next and reward punters at a fancy price? Weekley went in at 100-1.

Here we examine some of the likely candidates from the 2006 pool of NT graduates.

Johnson Wagner
Strapping 6ft 3in 27-year-old who finished second on the 2006 NT money list behind Duke.

An NT member since 2003, Wagner won twice last year, most impressively when blowing away the field with a 64-63 weekend in August's Cox Classic.

This season, an eight-under-par 64 in round three of the Houston Open, which set the Redstone Tournament Course record, helped him finish ninth.

He is strong from tee-to-green and can be fancied to improve on that career-high finish on a course where finding the greens in regulation is the toughest aspect.

Jeff Quinney
Sixth on last year's NT money list, he should have already lost his US Tour maiden tag, but bogeyed the final two holes of the FBR Open in Phoenix to lose out to Aaron Baddeley.

Has already made the each-way places twice this season. Was fourth in the Bob Hope, where he aced the 17th in the final round, and third in the FBR, where he shot a round-two 63.

Quinney is only 28 but already has a fine pedigree having won the 2000 US Amateur title and represented the States in the 2001 Walker Cup.

He won twice on the Canadian Tour in 2002, once on the NT in 2004, and will probably get himself back in contention for a first US Tour victory before the year is out. Putting is his great strength so follow him on easy tracks.

Brandt Snedeker
This shaggy-haired Nashville boy is only 26 and has only been a pro for three years, but the early signs are promising.

He tied the Torrey Pines North Course record with an 11-under-par 61 in the first round of the Buick Invitational (carded an incredible 27 for his opening nine holes) and led for much of the tournament before succumbing to Tiger Woods and finishing third.

He holes-out with aplomb and if he is to make a breakthrough this season it is likely to come in a glorified putting contest like the Reno-Tahoe Open.

Won twice on the NT last year, finishing ninth on the money list.

Michael Putnam
This 23-year-old turned pro in 2005 and graduated to the US Tour after finishing 17th on the NT money list last year.

A big-hitter, he has adjusted to life on the 2007 US Tour like a duck to water, making the cut in all eight tournaments he has played.

Putnam is a consistent sort. He posted ten top-25 finishes on the NT last year including two seconds and two thirds.

After a glittering amateur career, in which he played in the 2005 Walker Cup, Putnam was given a Sponsor Exemption for the Buick Championship so he could make his first start as a professional.

He shot a final-round 63, finished fourth, and has been in every serious punters' notebook ever since.

[kompressaur]

Week Ahead
by Steve Palmer

BRETT WETTERICH defends his Byron Nelson Championship title in Texas this week and the big-hitting brute gets an early 40-1 quote from Totesport.

Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson are the market leaders, while European Ryder Cup stars Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia are sure to have plenty of backers, too.

Sunday's Zurich Classic champ Nick Watney is a 66-1 chance with Totesport for back-to-back wins, while Ken Duke is 80-1.

The European Tour is back on the mainland for the Spanish Open, but although the tee-times will make for more comfortable viewing, the field is weaker than the one which was show in China last week and hardly sets the pulse racing.

Defending champion Niclas Fasth is Totesport's 14-1 market leader, while English duo Simon Dyson and Nick Dougherty are among the market leaders.

Darren Clarke is an interesting 33-1 chance.

[kompressaur]

Byron Nelson Championship.

Donald looks the likely winner on courses he loves
by Jeremy Chapman

PHIL MICKELSON has brought the media circus to Dallas after Monday's announcement that he is teaming up with Tiger Woods's old coach Butch Harmon, but it is the quietly-quietly approach of England's Luke Donald which could win the day in the Byron Nelson Championship.

Played for the final time over two courses, Las Colinas and Cottonwood Valley, this will be the first Nelson without the iconic title-bearer to greet the winner because the great man, whose 18 victories in 1945 will never be beaten, died last autumn, aged 94.

From next year an upgraded Las Colinas will go it alone for the whole 72 holes but for the moment we have the two tricky par-70s, Cottonwood Valley rated one shot easier, which reward players of vision and accuracy.

As the winning score has ranged from ten to 18 under over the past 20 years, only sub-70 shooters need apply for a tournament that began as the Dallas Open back in 1944 with Nelson himself as the first winner.

Donald, the only golfer to have played the last two years and scored all eight rounds in the 60s, loves the place and although his wins-to-runs ratio leaves much to be desired – only one US victory in the last four years – he has the right combination of course form and current well-being to rate a serious each-way bet at 18-1. You get six places with Jennings and all he needs to do is to get the putter working.

That top-ten at Augusta was his fourth of a year that should have already produced one victory, at Waialae, and it is his consistency and sharp iron play that is so attractive on two courses where lack of fire-power will not hamper his chances.

With winds up to 15mph forecast for tomorrow, a good test can be expected and the cream may well come to the top, at least until the weather hots up at the weekend.

Donald's Nelson run of 6-18-14-19 indicates a player guaranteed to give supporters a big run and, after a seemingly unending stream of long-priced shocks on both sides of the Atlantic, a safe haven for our money is all we can hope for.

All types have won this title in recent years, from Woods, Mickelson, Vijay Singh and Sergio Garcia on one side to surprises such as Robert Damron, Ted Purdy and, last year, Brett Wetterich on the other.

One layer, at least, wants to lay Garcia as the lad can't putt for toffee. He has also missed three of his last four cuts there, while both Singh and Lefty also have very mixed records despite being past champions.

So it really is wide open and after Donald, the man I want to be on is young Sean O'Hair, who has ticks in most of the same boxes as Luke – good course record (runner-up to Purdy in 2005, 19th last year) and 14-14-7-15 on his four latest starts, a huge improvement on a desperate start to the year and a player clearly going the right way.
Anthony Kim's fast-finishing third place in New Orleans was his second frame effort in three starts and at only 21 he is clearly the best of the new kids on the block, but I just wonder whether there are not better opportunities elsewhere for this huge hitter. A player who was equally hailed as the new Tiger when he turned pro, Ryan Moore, also caught the eye in Louisiana, is at twice the odds and could be better value at 80-1.

That weekend 11th from 26-year-old Moore, who in 2004 did something Tiger failed to do as an amateur when he won all four of the ones that mattered, followed on from another top-20 at Tampa Bay and the problems of last year when he could make only 22 starts because of hand surgery appear to be past.

He comes to the Nelson with a clean sheet, never having played the event before, but the price is hard to resist.

Wetterich, runner-up to Tiger at Doral, is an underrated champion but defending is always hard while it will also be difficult for Nick Watney to win two weeks in a row. Another of the growing band of 20-somethings with an obvious future, Nick barely put a foot wrong on Sunday but when your nearest challengers are Ken Duke and Scott Gutschewski that is a good deal easier than being last out with two big names.

Although there is a sense of a changing of the guard once you get past Woods and Mickelson, there's plenty of life left in Robert Allenby and Jerry Kelly. Expect to see that pair in the mix.

Allenby has been playing some great stuff with three top-fives and six top-tens from eight strokeplay starts, while Kelly has just posted three consecutive top-tens (including the Masters) and is happy with his switch to a new putter.

Both have some good pieces of Nelson form – Allenby third in 2003 and eighth in 2002, Kelly 11th in 2004 and ninth in 2003 – while there are possibilities about Shaun Micheel, a very steady driver who was top-20 at the weekend and 13th at Las Colinas last year. Chad Campbell, fifth last year, is playing on home territory and could also be a threat.

Recommendations
Luke Donald, 2pts each-way 18-1
Sean O'Hair, 1pt each-way 28-1
Robert Allenby, 1pt each-way 33-1
Ryan Moore, 0.5pt each-way 80-1
Jerry Kelly, 0.5pt each-way 50-1

[kompressaur]

Corona Championship

Prammanasudh could be making headlines
by Jeremy Chapman

EVERYTHING points to new world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa retaining her Corona Championship at Tres Marias, the Mexican course where she dotted up by five shots last September.

If she loses, it will be one of the shortest reigns on record as the tournament has been brought forward to April, so she has been champion for only seven months. With home-country advantage, defeat for the 25-year-old charmer from Guadalajara is not envisaged, as bookmaker quotes not exceeding 13-8 would suggest.

Few fiver or tenner punters will hardly be interested in that in a field of 110, especially if they saw her throw away the Safeway International to Brittany Lincicome on her latest outing.

She is still not quite in the unstoppable Sorenstam mould as 2007 form figures of 4-45-6-1-10-2 imply, but she did win six timeslast year, is the course record-holder for 18 and 72 holes – not that difficult as the LPGA have only had this tournament for the last two years – and she did virtually lap the field last year with the outstanding Paraguayan prospect Julieta Granada her closest, but still remote, pursuer.

Diminutive Granada finished runner-up on her opening start of the year at Turtle Bay, Hawaii, but has struggled since and this 5ft 2in talent is hard to recommend on current form even though she is one who will not be worried by the heat – it's supposed to be in the nineties tomorrow.
The opposition to Ochoa is not out of the top drawer, hence the tight price, with Sorenstam, Karrie Webb, Paula Creamer, Juli Inkster and new Major champion Morgan Pressel staying north of the border and that should make 14-1 second favourite Stacy Prammanasudh a solid each-way alternative.

The girl from Tulsa is a winner this year in the Fields Open in Hawaii, has posted three other top-eight finishes, including a third in the Mastercard Classic and fifth in the Kraft Nabisco, and her form in the two runnings of this tournament – tenth and 11th – is encouraging.

Prammanasudh has come on a bundle in the last 12 months, her close third to Sorenstam and Pat Hurst in last summer's US Open convincing her that she belonged in the top tier of the women's game and she has not looked back since.

Sweden's Carin Koch, winner in Morelia two years ago in tough conditions, Japan's mighty atom Ai Miyazato, Meaghan Francella, surprise conqueror of Sorenstam last month, and Nicole Castrale, a long-legged looker from California who is on the up, are the other ladies who catch my eye as place prospects.

Recommendation
Stacy Prammanasudh, 1pt e-w 14-1

[kompressaur]

Henrico County Open

33-1 Claxton is the value shout
by Steve Palmer

SETANTA have decided to dip their toes into the Nationwide Tour again for this week's Henrico County Open and last year's runner-up is a decent price to go one place better.

The Dominion course should provide a stiff challenge as it was the fourth toughest venue on the NT last season, playing to an average of 73.43.

There are four former US Amateur champions in the field – David Gossett, Bubba Dickerson, Ricky Barnes and Nick Flanagan – but PAUL CLAXTON could leave them all trailing.

The 33-1 chance was beaten by Matt Kuchar in a play-off for this title last year and he goes back to The Dominion in fine fettle, having been second in last month's Louisiana Open and placed sixth and 14th on the NT the last two weeks.

GREG CHALMERS, who has had four top-20 finishes in his last five NT starts, is a straight driver and ace putter who should enjoy this layout and could be a dangerman.

And pick of the long-shots may be BRAD ELDER. He was a very well-thought-of youngster on the US Tour a few years back (runner-up in 2000 Pennsylvania Classic) and he played nicely for ninth place in the Livermore Valley Championship at the start of this month.

Recommendations
Paul Claxton 1.5pts e-w 33-1
Greg Chalmers 1pt e-w 50-1
Brad Elder 0.5pt e-w 150-1

[kompressaur]

Explosive start from gas engineer

JIMMY McMICHAN is toasting Zach Johnson's surprise Masters triumph more than most becauseit's earned him a trip to next year's Cheltenham festival.

That's certainly how Jimmy intends to spend the £1,000 he picked up for winning the Masters leg of the Racing Post's 2007 Golf Genius competition.

“Me and a few mates had planned to go but we'd had to put the idea on the backburner,” said the 39-year-old gas engineer from Hawick.

“We'd got the accommodation sorted but didn't have the funds – now it shouldn't be a problem. I've never been to the Festival and I can't wait to do it in 2008.”

All six of Jimmy's runners – Johnson, Tiger Woods, Retief Goosen, Jerry Kelly, Vaughn Taylor and Paul Casey – scored points and Johnson, Kelly and Taylor followed up in last weekend's Heritage.

Longshot Will McKenzie also chipped in with four points for making the cut at Harbour Town. England's Ross Fisher completes his eight-man team.

Remarkably, Jimmy insisted he hadn't done as much homework on his selections as he would have liked – though he'll be concentrating more now.
“Using the substitutions is going to be key,” said the father-of-three and weekend hacker at Hawick GC.

“I picked a team for Augusta with Woods and Goosen and I'll do the same for the Players Championship at Sawgrass.

“I actually don't think Tiger's playing that well but you couldn't leave him out at the Masters. The US Open and our Open could throw up some big surprises, though. Carnoustie is an unknown quantity to many and could be incredibly tough.”

Jimmy has been a punter for many years – “with three kids it's less so now” – and came within a few points once upon a time of landing a monthly prize in the Ten To Follow competition.

Now, though, he has his sights set on the overall winner's cheque for £10,000 but with echoes of Jerry Kelly at Harbour Town on Monday, doesn't expect to stay at the top of the leaderboard.

“The pace-setters usually fade, don't they,” he said. “But I'll give it a right good shot.”