Adam Scott closes Lytham wound in style

Photograph from Wikipedia Commons

The Masters. Pure sporting theatre as always. In the midst of heartbreak for so many, there was adulation for Adam Scott as he conquered the undulations of Augusta National to end the Australian Green Jacket curse.

Many demons were banished today; Scott's collapse at Royal Lytham and St Annes is now a distant memory and there will finally be a Masters winner down under.

The Masters 2013

Photograph from Wikipedia Commons

Nothing grabs attention quite like the Masters. The green pinnacle of golf that is Augusta National captures the imagination of the world for one week every year thanks to its meticulously prepared fairways and greens, and the majestic pine-straws that bring about the death of so many a round. 

The players are mere midgets in the face of 7,400 metres so daunting, yet so beautiful. In 48 hours time 93 men of all ages and stature will take their turns to attempt to conquer the beast, and what a spectacle it promises to be. 

From the sorry (Kenny Perry 2009) to the sublime (Nicklaus 1986), the Masters never fails to disappoint and this year could excite the pallet more than ever. There are plenty of tales ready to be written. Could 14-year-old Tianlang Guan make the cut despite not being able to reach all the greens in regulation? Will Sergio Garcia win his first major on the 30th anniversary of the late Seve Ballesteros' last Masters win, in the same week that it would have been the great Spaniard's birthday? Only time will tell. 

A Sporting Insight won't be leaving a blade of grass uncovered, with live text commentary and reports. Join us for golf's greatest advertisement, don't miss the Masters. 

Europe Struggling In Medinah As The Americans Increase Their Lead

The US Ryder Cup team increased their lead to 8-4 after a disappointing morning foursomes session for Jose Maria Olazabal's Europe side. Leading 5-3 going into the second day the US were quickest out of the blocks as Keegan Bradley and Phil Mickelson continued their sensational partnership with a comprehensive 7&6 victory over former world number ones Luke Donald and Lee Westwood.

The away team did hit back through the opening pair Ian Poulter and Justin Rose as they saw off 2012 major champions Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson by one hole. Poulter showed great match-play form yet again to improve his already excellent Ryder Cup record, while good friend Rose showed why he is the current world number five. 

Englishman Poulter said of the electric atmosphere at Medinah: "A win is a win. It was a special moment [on the first tee]. It was pretty special of Bubba to pump them up yesterday. It is an amazing amphitheatre and I knew Bubba was going to do it today, so why not join him?" 

Fellow country-man Rose acknowledged that it was a hard-fought, but crucial point: "We won ugly. That was a good point. We didn't have our best out there but we won." 

Yesterday's European hero Nicolas Colsaerts was unable to repeat the trick today alongside Spanish Ryder Cup veteran Sergio Garcia. The solid partnership of Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson were excellent from tee to green and fully deserved their 2&1 win. The point increased the US lead to 7-4 and put them firmly in pole position. 

Garcia and Colsaerts were always behind the 8-ball and they could not find the consistency to match their American counter-parts. Two down with three to play Garcia did conjure up some magic to chip-in for birdie, but that was about as good as it got for the continental pair as they succumbed to defeat on the next hole. 

The Northern-Irish pair of Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell struggled early on against Jim Furyk and Brandt Snedeker but McIlroy conjured up some magic to force the match down the last. Half a point was always going to be vital for Europe as they looked to hold onto the USA's coat-tails going into the four-balls. 

McIlroy hammered his tee shot miles down the 18th fairway and Snedeker clearly felt the pressure as he found a fairway bunker. Furyk did brilliantly well to get his partner out of trouble as he managed to hit a great shot onto the front of the green and leave McDowell needing to stiff it close to give world number one McIlroy a chance. 

McDowell tugged his chip left and over the back of the green effectively ending Europe's chance of getting into the clubhouse at less than four points behind. 

The 8-4 deficit means that Europe will need to replicate, or do something close, to the incredible Saturday fourballs session of two years ago to give themselves a realistic chance of retaining the trophy.

Golf's Show-Piece Event Has No Favourites Ahead Of Friday's Foursomes

For so many years the Ryder Cup was almost seen as a pointless event that was always going to be won by the team from the west of the Atlantic. The last 18 years have seen a huge swing in momentum as Europe have won six out of eight competitions and are unbeaten at home since 1993. This September Jose Maria Olazabal's side travel to Medinah, Illinois to play in one of golf's most hyped up events: The Ryder Cup. This year there are no favourites, as although the defending champions have big names such as world number one Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia and match-play specialist Ian Poulter, the Americans have an in-form Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and the big-hitters, Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson. 

With so many big names gearing up for this afternoon's foursomes it is very hard to pick which players will shine and which players won't. US captain Davis Love III has already made a very bold decision by sending out Cup rookie Brant Snedeker first alongside old hand Jim Furyk. Snedeker has been on great form in a season that culminated with a Tour Championship win while Furyk has shown flashes of his best, most notably in the US Open when he blew a great chance to win his second major. Love defended his decision to throw Snedeker in at the deep end: "We wanted to get Brandt going - Brandt likes to get out there and get after it." 

However they will be facing the Northern Irish juggernaut that is Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell, a combination that features the world's number one and 18 golfers, as well as three major championship wins. McIlroy and 'G-Mac' will go into this one as favourites, although Furyk has done everything there is to do in the sport and Snedeker will be going out with all guns blazing. 

In the next foursomes match is probably the most successful Ryder Cup foursomes team of all-time in the shape of former world number one Donald and Spain's Sergio Garcia. Neither player have ever lost in this format with Donald holding a record of six wins out of six and Garcia unbeaten in eight matches. They are tough opponents for anyone, but if anyone can beat them then it will be the star-studded American pairing of four-time major champion Phil Mickelson and rookie Keegan Bradley, the 2011 USPGA champion. 

The third match looks to be very much in the balance with world number four Lee Westwood and Italian Francesco Molinari taking on Zach Johnson and Jason Dufner, both in the world top 20, and both very much in form. This is the battle of the 'steady eddie's' with all these players very solid from tee to green. Europe skipper Olozabal said of his decision to choose Molinari: "He's straight off the tee, he hits good iron shots. When I look at foursomes, I want to have players who are consistent and are steady from tee to green."

Englishmen Ian Poulter and Justin Rose round off the session for Europe and are up against the two old pros that are Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker. Both have been around for what seems like forever with Woods holding 14 major titles and Stricker being in the world top 20 for the last five years. Both have not scored as well as many would have expected in the Ryder Cup, but both will out to prove their doubters wrong this week-end. Woods said of previous matches: "I didn't earn the points I was put out there for. Hopefully I can do that this week, and hopefully the other guys can do the same and we can get this rolling."

Poulter is a well-renowned match-play player with a magnificent Ryder Cup record and won the WGC match-play title in 2010 as well as the Volvo match-play championship in 2011. Rose has been on good form and has four wins on the PGA Tour in the last three years which has resulted in a rise to a career-high of fifth in the world rankings. The last game, as ever, will be the one to watch, but all the matches have a sense of intrigue and the potential for drama surrounding them.

McIlroy Wins With Consummate Ease at Kiawah Island

On Sunday morning the 94th USPGA Championship was hanging in the balance with Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy and Fiji's Vijay Singh tied for the lead on -6. As Saturday's play was suspended the leaders had to resume mid-way through their third rounds and McIlroy got out the blocks the quickest as he moved into the lead on his own with an impressive 67. Singh slipped back to join 14-time major champion Tiger Woods on -2 while Carl Pettersson went into the final round in second place on four under.

The Northern Irishman found himself with the 54-hole lead for the third time in a major after his collapse at Augusta last year and his demolition job at Congressional in the 2011 US Open. Early on it was Englishman Ian Poulter who made a charge as he birdied his first five holes to get to within one with some magical stroke-play and a series of one-putts. He made it birdie number six on the seventh hole as it started to look as though something special was on the horizon. Something out of the ordinary did happen, but it was not Poulter who produced it as he fell away on the back nine to finish with a 69 on four under par. 

Many turned to Tiger Woods to light up the course and he was on the prowl to start with after two early birdies, only for his challenge to also fail to materialise down the home stretch. McIlroy was playing serene golf and went out in just 33 strokes as he opened up a two shot lead over Poulter. Big Swede Carl Pettersson was in contention as he moved to -6 despite incurring a two-shot penalty on the first hole for moving a leaf (loose impediment) with his club in a hazard. However he also faltered as it became the 'Macca' show. 

The Ulsterman rolled in a ten-footer on the 12th green to move six shots clear and after that it was merely a victory procession. Like Congressional he had that bounding walk as he seemed to find fairways and greens with relative ease. When he did find trouble he also found his short game in excellent order as he got up and down on 16 to move seven shots clear on -12. He finished in magnificent style to boot as he holed a 12-foot putt on the 72nd hole to match his effort at Congressional last summer and win by eight shots. He took only 25 putts in a majestic final round of 66 which was added to rounds of 67, 75 and 67 to leave him on -13 with his nearest competitor, David Lynn, on minus five. 

Understandably McIlroy was delighted after regaining the world number one spot and becoming the youngest ever double major champion at 23: "I don't think I have let it sink in yet, it was a great round of golf. I just wanted to play solid, as I did all the way through the week. I got off to a shaky start but settled into it and my putting was phenomenal. It means an awful lot to look at the names on the trophy and to put my name beside them is something special."

USPGA Championship Has Potential To Emerge From London's Shadow

Last August drama unfolded at Atlanta Athletic Club as PGA Tour rookie Keegan Bradley came back from five shots behind with three holes to play to beat journeyman Jason Dufner in a three hole play-off by one stroke. No one believed that there could be a way back for Bradley after he chipped into the water on route to a triple bogey six at the par 3 15th. Jaws dropped as Dufner then hit his tee shot on the same hole into a similar watery grave as Bradley birdied the 16th. Dufner then bogeyed 16 and 17 while the youngster holed a 50 foot putt for birdie on the penultimate hole prior to winning the play-off. 

This time around the year's last major has slipped so far under the radar that a lot of people seem to be unaware that it is even taking place. The Bridgestone Invitational was played rather unnoticed as the London Olympics got under way but Kiawah Island will be hoping for more attention on this week's golfing show-piece. In four years time The PGA Championship will most likely be moved to a later date to accommodate the Olympic Games' golf tournament. However this year the PGA will have to try and lift the profile of one of the sport's main events as London 2012 takes centre stage. 

This tournament will not come to the fore-front by advertisement or promotion as the Olympics has already moved into the spotlight, and rightly so. The only way for golf to steal a bit of the limelight is for drama to unfold on the Ocean course as a field that includes the world's top 103 players fight it out. In recent years this has been the most open major with a variety of different winners. In the last eight years there have been winners from four different continents and the last three tournaments have been won by players from Asia, Europe and North America. That pattern would suggest that maybe this is the year for an African or Australasian golfer. 

The African players have been in rich form over the last few years with four different winners in the last five years. Ernie Els was the last one to be added to that list when he won The Open Championship last month. Charl Schwartzel and Trevor Immelman have been recent winners of the Masters while Louis Oosthuizen won the Open in 2010. However no African player has come out on top in the US Open or USPGA since Retief Goosen won the last of his majors in the 2004 US Open. 1994 was the last time the continent yielded a champion in the season's final major when Zimbabwean Nick Price won his second title. 

Australasia has not produced a major winner since Geoff Ogilvy came out on top in the 2006 US Open and South America has only ever produced two major victors in the shape of Argentines Angel Cabrera and Roberto de Vicenzo. Traditionally the United States of America have dominated this event and the trophy only left the States three times before 1990. However since then the hosts have failed to win nine times. Last year Bradley ended a run of three foreign winners and the new crop of US golfers will be hoping to continue their winning run this week. 

The big guns will be out in force this week with the likes of Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Dustin Johnson looking for a maiden major. More experienced major winners Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Els will be after adding to their already large tallies while youngsters like Bradley, Webb Simpson, Martin Kaymer and Bubba Watson will be on the hunt for a second title. This tournament has a tendency for a surprise performer and there are many talented golfers in the field that will secretly be thinking that they can win around the longest course in major history. Unheralded players like Dufner, Troy Matteson, Hunter Mahan and Rafael Cabrera-Bello have all had good years and could make charges. 

It may look as though the PGA Championship will slip to a conclusion relatively unnoticed but there is potential that a great story could arise from the 94th edition of this magnificent competition. Whether it is a first major since 2008 for Tiger, a first major for Westwood or Donald or a surprise victory from one of the world's lesser-known golfers, this could be one of golf's great weeks. 

Deflated Adam Scott Can Bounce Back After Open Meltdown

Yesterday evening Australian Adam Scott was poised to take his maiden major title at Royal Lytham and St Annes in the 141st Open Championship. Standing on the 15th tee he was four shots clear of Ernie Els, his nearest rival, and full of confidence after holing an excellent birdie putt on the previous green. What happened next will go down in Open folklore as he bogeyed the last four holes and lost by a stroke thanks to an Els birdie at the last.

Scott denied that his dramatic collapse was down to nerves: "I definitely worked myself up a little bit at times, but once I was out there I felt completely in control and even the last few holes I didn't really feel like it was a case of nerves or anything like that. It was a very sloppy finish and disappointing to finish that way. I played so well all week." Champion Els said that Scott 'would win majors' and offered his condolences.

The runner-up said that he would try and take the positives out of the week to help him progress. Take away the final four holes and this week was a massive improvement on his previous major appearances. For a man once ranked at three in the world he had had a relatively mediocre major record with just four top tens before his tied for second finish at the 2011 Masters. He has taken four top tens in his last seven majors which is a vast improvement on his four in 37 previous efforts. As a result of his Open challenge he has also risen seven places in the world rankings and is now placed at number six.

However it will be very hard for Scott to see all of these positives as he looks back on a championship that he should have won. At the age of 32 he may not have many more chances to break his major duck and this could play on his mind in the months, maybe years to come. His demise at Lytham will rank as one of the game's worst as he allowed the Claret Jug to slip through his fingers. Other players have suffered similar last round stumbles and have come out the other side in better shape.

Last year Rory McIlroy shot a last round 80 at Augusta, blowing a four shot lead to finish outside the top ten. The Ulsterman's putting game deserted him, missing many short attempts, and four-putted on the twelfth green. Like McIlroy, Scott's putting went walkabout and he missed a three-footer on the 16th before failing to hole crucial putts on 17 and 18. The Australian will be hoping to continue to replicate McIlroy at next month's USPGA championship; McIlroy responded to his Masters meltdown by thrashing the field to win the US Open by eight shots at Congressional.

Other players have had unbelievable falls at majors and never really been able to come back. One example of this is Frenchman Jean Van De Velde who will forever be remembered for his catastrophic triple-bogey on the 72nd hole in the 1999 Open at Carnoustie. On that one hole the journeyman European Tour player managed to find the the rough, the sand, the water and the grandstands as he self-imploded. He then lost in a play-off that Scot Paul Lawrie won by three shots. Van De Velde never again challenged at a top tournament with just one more win on the European Tour and no more top 15 major finishes.

Scott's fellow countryman and idol Greg Norman won two Open championships but was also known for his poor conversion rate when in with a chance at a major. He won just those two majors but finished in the top ten on 28 other occasions and the most famous of these near-misses was at Augusta in 1996. Norman went into the final round with a six-shot lead over England's Nick Faldo only to falter with five bogeys and two double bogeys as he shot 78 to Faldo's 67. Norman never finished in the top two at a major again and could only claim two more professional wins.

Unlike Norman, who was 41 in 1996, Scott may still have a few golfing years in him and will be hopeful of claiming that elusive major victory. He will take heart from McIlroy's comeback at Congressional last year and will hope to build on what was on the whole a good Open Championship. He will tee-off at the USPGA in two weeks time as one of the favourites and will relish that tag as he goes on the major hunt again.

Royal Lytham and St Annes To Take No Prisoners At 141st Open Championship

14 years ago tomorrow the late great Seve Ballesteros shot a breath-taking six under par 65 in the final round of The Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes to take the Claret Jug for the third time. His final score of -11 gave him victory by two strokes ahead of Zimbabwean Nick Price. The links course in the North-West of England continued to yield low scores the next two times golf's biggest tournament was held there. In 1996 Tom Lehman shot 13 under par while a number of low scores were shot, including three 65s. Five years on and Colin Montgomerie lit up the course with a magnificent opening day 65 before falling away as American David Duval won by three strokes on ten under. 

If it was a tough course then it has become even harder to negotiate over the last eleven years. Subtle changes have been made as the course has been lengthened by 213 yards and the sixth hole changed from a par five to a par four; meaning that it now plays as a par 70, not 71. Add 206 bunkers over the eighteen holes and this becomes a real test with good or bad weather. The forecast suggests some sun and some rain with a definite breeze but not overly disruptive winds. Sunday could be the day when the rains really come and the wind increases in speed and this could make for carnage on the final day. 

Much has been made of the rough at the course so far this week with many of the top players saying after their practice rounds that it is almost unplayable. Tiger Woods said: "It's just that you can't get out of it. That bottom six inches, in some places is almost unplayable, I've never seen the rough this high or thick and dense." Defending champion Darren Clarke said that there 'could be some lost balls in there'. 

Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the Royal and Ancient has defended the rough on the course saying: "The rough is up but the course is reasonably generous on width and most of the players seem happy with it, at least those I have spoken to, maybe 20 or so." Links courses are always difficult and the players should be prepared for a tough examination of their game. World number two Lee Westwood agreed with Dawson: "I'm sure there are some unplayable places in the rough. It's pretty thick and brutal, but if you don't go in it then you don't have a problem with it." 

Whoever wins this weekend they will have to be hitting the ball very straight and that is what The Open is about; only players with the best ball control can hope to be successful. Westwood was quietly confident about his chances: I played the golf course last night, which was a genius move because it was nice weather and there was hardly anybody out there, it was one of the best Open Championship practices I ever had.

I was going around yesterday trying to figure out where the birdie opportunities are, and I'm still trying to figure that out. Rather than pick out the birdie opportunities, there's going to be holes out there where par is going to be a good score. That's the way to approach it." The Englishman will go into Thursday as one of the favourites and rightly so after eight top ten finishes in his last 12 major appearances. 

Despite there being the usual suspects in the field, the likes of Donald, Westwood, Woods, Mickelson, Harrington and McIlroy, it could be anyone's Claret Jug this year. With the rough high and the course littered with bunkers all the players will struggle if they cannot keep the ball on the fairway. While good putting is always key during an Open championship the accuracy from tee-to-green will be most important this week. This is why Westwood will go in as a hot favourite, as will Woods. Nevertheless any player who can hit form will be in with an excellent chance. Two-time champion Padraig Harrington goes into the tournament in good spirits after top 15 finishes in his last four PGA Tour events and a tie for 16th in the Scottish Open last week and many will tip him for glory.

This year's Open championship is sure to be decided by who can combine precise hitting with solid putting.  The winner could well be a first-time winner, like the previous nine major tournaments, or a person with experience of victory, possibly Woods or Harrington. Anyone who fails to keep their swing in good order will be found out by a Royal Lytham course that will clamp down its jaws on any erratic shots. 

Americans Gunning for Sawgrass Glory

When Phil Mickelson holed the winning putt to win the Players Championship in 2007 no one would have predicted that the next four winners of the historic tournament would be players from outside the US. However since then there have been two European winners (Garcia, Stenson), a South African (Tim Clark) and the first ever Asian winner in KJ Choi. But this year there appear to be many Americans who are ready to buck the trend.

2001 champion and 14-time major winner Tiger Woods is in the field hoping to hunt down a second PGA win of the year. After his much-publicised slump he is appearing to be finding his feet again, winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational earlier this season. His old rival Mickelson will be looking to add to his one title, although has recently slipped to 10 in the world rankings. Despite the fact that these two great players will still be challengers; times have changed.

A new generation of American golfers have broken through. Finally winning major titles, Keegan Bradley's PGA Championship win last August was a first US win in seven attempts and Bubba Watson backed it up with his stunning Masters victory. Bubba has risen to number 4 in the world but is not in the field this week while Bradley has become a force to be reckoned with after his major triumph as a rookie. But he is not the only young American with realistic ambitions of winning the 'fifth major championship'. 

Hunter Mahan has two wins already this season, one of them the prestigious WGC World Match-Play Championship, defeating world number one Rory McIlroy in the process. He has climbed into the top five of the world rankings for the first time and is a serious contender for this week's title. Another American on the rise is Webb Simpson, who was beaten so dramatically to the money-list last year by Luke Donald. Last season he announced himself on the world stage with two PGA wins and defeats in two play-offs; being one of the most consistent players on tour and rising into the world top 10. Last week he led going into the final round at the Wells Fargo Championship but shot a 73 as he missed out on a three-man play-off by one shot. 

The winner of that play-off, Rickie Fowler, will also be on a high after winning his first PGA tournament at the 67th time of asking as a pro. Other players looking to add to their PGA Tour win list like Jason Dufner, Steve Stricker, Matt Kuchar, Ben Crane and Ben Curtis will surely mount a challenge to put recent Sawgrass history  right for US golf.