With the ongoing weather problems at The Players Championship and the winner not likely until possibly Tuesday a summary of the tournament would be rather premature. However one of the obvious things to come out of this tournament is the effect that penal rough has on scoring. At The Players Championship the situation is fairly straight forward - hit the fairway or struggle. It is no surprise to see the leaders all good 'fairway and greens' guys. Of course, and we have said this a lot this year, the exception seems to be Phil Mickelson. Why? Well because this week he is missing his usual amount of fairways however has holed more twenty foot plus puts for par than anyone else. In fact he has (up to close of play on Sunday) held seven par putts of fifteen feet or longer. It seems the short game is in great shape and with Augusta only two weeks away this is a good sign indeed for Phil.
On the European tour the Indonesian Open was won by Thaworn Wiratchant from Thailand. Now if you have never seen this gentleman hit a golf ball then I suggest that you look for him in up coming tournaments. I believe that I have never seen such an 'agricultural' swing as his. His is obviously self-taught and the body movement is similar to an axe man chopping wood and the finish is never balanced. However he was able to shoot twenty-five under par so it must be effective. Colin Montgomerie left his run to late this week and had to settle for a tie for fourth. However he did shoot sixty in the final round, which included nine birdies in a row, a new European Tour record!
Finally a mention must be made to Annika Sorenstam who won her fifth tournament in a row on the LPGA, the Kraft Nabisco. This tournament is one of the LPGA's majors and who would now bet against her winning the Grand Slam? Not me that's for sure.
And so to this week.
The BellSouth Classic played over the TPC course at Sugerloaf in Georgia provides the familiar tournament before The Masters. At just under 7300 yards this course allows the golfers to hit driver a lot with generous fairways on most holes. With adequate bunkering around the course the real defence from low scores are the large undulating greens. These are some of the biggest greens played on the PGA tour and if the wind starts to blow putting on them can be very hazardous indeed.
Selections:
We need to assume that players registered for this tournament will in fact play once The Players tournament is finished. Based on that assumption I predict the following players will contend.
Zach Johnson: last year's winner and playing well at the moment. A long hitter who can hit a lot of greens in regulation this graduate from the nationwide tour is starting to establish himself as a real star of the tour. Defending champions have a great record in this event and if he is fresh enough this week then he can defend his title.
Phil Mickelson: cannot leave him out of any tournament right now, especially one that allows a lot of room for errant drives. With the flat stick performing like a magic wand I see no reason why lefty will not be in contention this week.
Miguel Angel Jimenez: perhaps the hottest regular European tour player of 2004 this stylish player from Spain has the game now to win any where in the world. This will be his fourth tournament of the year so his game should be coming to form nicely. If it is then this popular golfer could easily contend this week.
Others to mention: Ben Crane, Jose Maria Olazabal, Stewart Cink and Robert Allenby.
The European tour now moves to the continent for the first time this year with the playing of the Portugal Open. This tournament is played over the Le Meridien Penina Resort course and provides the players with a very severe test. With trees, bunkers and even water on most holes this course demands accuracy from the tee and good iron play into large, thin greens. If the sea breezes affect the tournament in the afternoons then any score under par will be in contention come Sunday.
Selections:
Gregory Havret: this stylish French player has been in consistent form already in 2005 and will be looking to break through this week. He leads this field in scoring average and has played well before around this course. This could be his week.
Barry Lane: the veteran professional has found a new lease on life over the past two seasons and his form already in 2005 could be good enough this week. A fantastic iron player and sound putter Barry will be in the mix come Sunday.
Alastair Forsyth: this talented Scotsman has been playing well, if not spectacularly. His ability to find fairways will provide him with an advantage this week and if he can just get the putter working than he must contend.
Others to mention: Miles Tunnicliff, Terry Price, Simon Dyson and Marcel Siem.
Until next week - May The Golfinggods Be With You!
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