Rory McIlroy Wins 2021 CJ Cup

Rory McIlroy wins the 2021 CJ Cup; his 20th PGA Tour win (image: Getty Images)

 

 

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - Things were heating up this weekend in the desert at The Summit Club, particularly for one Irishman.

Rory McIlroy has won the 2021 CJ Cup with a final score of 25-under par and a one shot lead over Collin Morikawa. This is McIlroy's 20th win on the PGA Tour and second this year after the Wells Fargo Championship in May. 

 

The Northern Ireland native is in his 14th year on tour; his win this week ensures he will receive lifetime membership on the PGA Tour, which will begin at the end of his 15th season.

A WEEKEND OF CHANGING STORYLINES

Heading into the weekend of the 2021 CJ Cup, the storylines were completely different.

As we wrote about in our Weekend Update article, Keith Mitchell held a dominant lead over the rest of the field and showed no signs of letting up. But this all changed on Saturday, when Mitchell carded a 1-over 73, on a day that saw scores as low as 62, shot by none other than McIlroy, and a 63 shot by Rickie Fowler.

McIlroy and Folwer were the main headlines heading into the final round, each with their own devoted fanbases and story; fan favorites of the PGA Tour and some of the nicest players on it.

 

Fowler, who entered the tournament on one of five available sponsor's exemptions, was looking for a resurgence in his career and a return to the elite level of golf he was known for. McIlroy, who was performing well this year, was struggling with inconsistencies in his game as of late. 

 

It was McIlroy who would make the most out of their final round however. He shot a 66 that included four birdies on the front nine and a birdie and eagle of the back nine. His eagle came on the par 5 14th hole, where he sank an incredible 34-foot putt after driving the green.

Fowler, on the other hand, was in the mix until a double bogey on the 6th hole. Another bogey on the 10th hole negated the three prior birdies he carded. Folwer would finish his round with a score of 71. Fowler's efforts did not go unrewarded. His T3 finish launched him from 128th to 82nd in the World Golf Rankings and is further confirmation that his game is in a good place. It will be exciting to watch Fowler this year and his ensuing comeback.

In the group ahead of McIlroy and Fowler, Morikawa was on fire, carding a 29 on his front nine. An eagle on the par 5 18th hole, concluded his 10-under round of 62, the low round of the day, and put the pressure on McIlroy and Fowler.

Keith Mitchell was not completely out of the mix. He made a back nine resurgence after four birdies to rally back to a T3 finish.

HOW DID OUR PICKS FINISH?

 

1) Dustin Johnson: T45 at 14-under

2) Marc Leishman: T38 at 15-under

3) Justin Thomas: T18 at 18-under

Not bad finishes at all. The top of the leaderboard was crammed coming down the stretch, with 13 players at or lower than 20-under.

***

That concludes our coverage of the 2021 CJ Cup hosted by The Summit Club. Next week, we stay with the PGA Tour as it travels to Narashino, Japan for the 2021 Zozo Championship. This is another invitational event and again will boast an elite field. 

 

 

Stay tuned for our picks later this week,

-Nick

Toronto Golf Reviews

Jordan Spieth Wins Tour Championship and FedEx Cup

He was on fire when he started the season and that's exactly the way he ended it. That's right, Jordan Spieth has won the 2015 Tour Championship, finishing with a score 9-under and a four shot lead over Danny Lee, at East Lake Golf Club. The win also makes him the winner of the FedEx Cup and most certainly the PGA Tour Player of the Year.

This caps off a truly stellar season from one of golf's elite, yet still emerging talents. Let's go through the year Spieth has had. In December of 2014, he won the World Challenge and went on to finish T10 or better in his next 7 of 8 tournaments, winning one of them (Valspar Championship). Three of these were in the three weeks before the Masters, and already, the golfing community was united in saying that, over the past few months, Jordan Spieth was playing the best golf in the world. Then came his Masters win, one of the youngest winners to date, putting his name up their with golfing legends.

He continued to play great golf after Augusta and had a few more close wins, including a T2 at Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament. At this point, it seemed that Spieth was lingering around the top of the leaderboard in every tournament he played in. Next, was his US Open victory. Although he did not win in the same illustrious fashion as he did at Augusta (Dustin Johnson's collapse almost out-shined his win), he was now 2/2 in majors, something only seen, again, by the golfing greats. He followed up his win with another at the John Deere Classic.

All eyes were on Spieth again at the British Open, where he played excellent golf and needed to hole his final putt to make it to the playoff (let's also not forget his chip that almost holed out and would have most definitely rewritten history). His quest for the career Grand Slam was over, but Spieth was not ready to thrown in the towel yet...

At the last major of the year, the PGA Championship, Spieth rallied against a tough Whistling Straits to finish solo second, capping off an excellent season, even as of then. He finished 1st, 1st, T2, 2nd in majors this year; finishes many players could only dream of. After this, Spieth cooled off a bit, missing the cut at both The Barclays and the Deutsche Bank Championship, before surging again to win today. At the end of it all, he won five times in twenty-five events on the PGA Tour this year, bringing in over $10.5 million plus an additional $10 million for winning the FedEx Cup.

Spieth has shown the world this season that he is the world's best golfer (he also reclaims the title with today's win). He's shown us that he can go toe to toe with golf's elite and break the records they set. He's shown us that he can do all this, while still remaining a humble and down to earth person. Could we be seeing the next Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus? Many think so and that may just be the case.

And there's no better way to finish off a season than to give off a message like that...

In other news, our picks finished off well. Jason Day fell short this week, finishing T10. Dustin Johnson made it to T5 by shooting a low round 6-under today. Rickie Fowler shot a 4-over on his way out of contention.

On that note, that's the end of the 2014-2015 PGA Tour season. Don't worry though, next season is set to start October 12 with the Frys.com Open, just after the President's Cup. Unfortunately we won't be covering the Presidents Cup.

On the European side of things, be sure to check out our picks for this week's Alfed Dunhill Links Championship (one of my favourite tournaments) as well as our European Tour Playoff coverage at the end of October.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Jordan Spieth: 2015 FedEx Cup Champion

Stenson in a Familiar Place at the 2015 Tour Championship

With just two more rounds of play left, a familiar face has appeared atop the Tour Championship leaderboard. It's that of Henrik Stenson, winner of the 2013 FedEx Cup. He leads with a score of 9-under (63/68) with a three shot lead over Jordan Spieth. All though there is no cut this week, the score halfway down the leaderboard is about even par.

Stenson started off hot during his opening round, carding a total of six birdies, an eagle, and only a single bogey, by the end of it. He's been in great form all throughout the playoffs, finishing solo second at both The Barclays and the Deutsche Bank Championship. He's in a good position to win his second FedEx Cup, his first since 2013 (a year where he made golfing history by winning both the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour and the Race to Dubai on the European Tour).

East Lake has been playing pretty well over the first couple of rounds and good scores (as well as bad ones) were found all around. However, as in years before, the courses that the PGA Tour Playoffs are played on have received a bit of criticism by a few, who say that they're playing too easy and should be challenging the players more. I'm not to sure if I agree with that. I think that we see players golfing in tough conditions so many times during the season that a change is nice once and awhile. In easier conditions, players can really take advantage of the course and it will always be exciting to see who does this the best.

There's also been criticisms that the Tour Championship awards too many FedEx Cup points and that the winner of the tournament is usually the winner of the FedEx Cup due to this. This is the case of Stenson, who will win both with a win this week, but also has a good chance at winning with a second place finish.

Finally, here's how our picks are doing:

1) Jason Day: T9 at even par
2) Dustin Johnson: T12 at 1-over
3) Rickie Fowler: 8 at 1-under

Pretty good scores, but remember that the field's only thirty full this week. It's going to take some good work over the weekend for Day to end up winning the FedEx Cup. Hopefully he'll be able to do it!

Today's round will kick off in several hours. Be sure to check out our site Sunday evening to see who's won it all.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Can Stenson hold off a tough field for the win this week?

2015 Tour Championship Predictions

Well it's finally here, the last tournament of the playoffs and the PGA Tour season, the 2015 Tour Championship by Coca-Cola, being played at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia. Only the top 30 players of the FedEx Cup Rankings are playing in the tournament this week and up for grabs is not only the standard purse of $8.25 million, but an extra $10 million of a $35 million purse for the winner of the FedEx Cup. This makes it one of the most elite and most competitive tournaments of the year.

The Tour Championship has been played since 2007 as a playoff event, but was first played in 1987 in the month of November. During that period it was still only played by the Top 30 money leaders on Tour. The tournament switched to it's current format and date in 2007. It's also been played at a variety of courses over the years, such as Pinehurst No. 2, Pebble Beach, The Olympic Club, etc. and at East Lake since 2004.

East Lake Golf Club was built in 1906 and was slowly added to and redesigned over the years, before eventually being returned to it's original design. It was also the longtime home course of Bobby Jones and a tribute was made for him inside the clubhouse in the 90's. This week, the course will play as a par 72 at 7,374 yards. There will also be no cut this week.

Since this is the final tournament of the season, I'll be making two sets of picks this week: three for the tournament winner and one for the FedEx Cup winner. Despite the small field this week, these players are the best of the best (statistically speaking) so the picks were hard to make:

Tour Championship Picks:
1) Jason Day
2) Dustin Johnson
3) Rickie Fowler

FedEx Cup Pick:
1) Jason Day

Jason Day is without doubt the best golfer in the world at the moment and really has a great chance of winning it all, giving all the momentum he'll have going into his opening round. He doesn't even need to win this week to win the FedEx Cup, a top 5 finish will gives him a good chance. Of course if Rickie wins the tournament, he'll win it all. Dustin needs a win and for Jason Day to finish T3 or worse. There are a few other scenarios of other players and it really does come down to who finishes where. A full list of the scenarios can be found HERE.

Play kicks off tomorrow just before noon and it should be a good one. Be sure to check out our Weekend Update post on Friday evening, so see who's leading.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Jason Day is our top pick this week

Zach Johnson Wins the 2015 Open Championship

After delays on top of delays and a four hole playoff in what has been the longest Open Championship in history, we finally have a winner of the 144th Open Championship at the Old Course at St. Andrews. That's right, Zach Johnson defeated Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in a four hole playoff to win the second major of his career, his first being the 2007 Masters. This is also the Iowa native's 12th PGA Tour victory and first win since last year's Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

Things got a bit hectic towards the end of today's final round. Zach Johnson and Marc Leishman set the playoff bar high, both shooting 66 today to get to 15-under. Johnson birdied the 18th hole to set that score and had a feeling it would be just enough if a playoff was to happen. He was right as shortly after Marc Leishman posted the same score. Johnson played an excellent round today that consisted of eight birdies and two bogeys. He definitely deserved this win.

Chasing them (a few groups back) were Jordan Spieth, who was looking for his third straight major win, Jason Day, who was looking for his first major win, and 2010 Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen, who was looking for a repeat win at the Old Course. Spieth needed a birdie on the par 4 18th to get into the playoff, but hit his second shot short and off the green. He missed the putt and the playoff chance to make history. Day hit his second shot to the middle of the green and had a long putt to make the playoff. His putt was just a couple of feet short and he too failed to get into the playoff. Day and Spieth were in the second to last group, ahead of Oosthuizen. So it all came down to Louis, who was in the same scenario as Spieth, except he hit an excellent second shot wedge to a couple of feet. He made the birdie putt and off to the playoff he went.

The playoff was a four hole aggregate, where Louis, Marc, and Zach played the 1st, 2nd, 17th and 18th. Whoever had the best combined score after the four holes won. Oosthuizen and Johnson birdied the first while Leishman bogeyed. Johnson took the lead after another birdie on the second while Oosthuizen and Leishman parred. But on the third hole, Johnson's chances of winning became slim, after hitting his second shot on the 17th way left of the green, just behind a deep greenside bunker. Oosthuizen and Leishman both were short of the green and Johnson bogeyed, as did Leishman. Oosthuizen putted for birdie but came up short, and unfortunately missed his par putt. On the final 18th hole, Oosthuizen needed a birdie to force a sudden death playoff, but missed his putt by inches. Johnson won the playoff and the Open Championship by a single shot.


As I mentioned before, this was the longest Open Championship in it's entire history, taking 5 days to complete. Regulation play ended at about 7pm local time and the playoff finished about an hour and a half later. Of course this felt even longer due to the weather delays. Today's round did have a bit of rain as predicted and it fell pretty hard on a few holes, while others remained dry. We still saw a few low scores but the scoring average was probably around 69 or 70.

The low amateur of the tournament was not Paul Dunne, who led the tournament as of yesterday. Instead, American Jordan Niebrugge (T6) was. Despite great play all weak, Dunne unfortunately shot a 78 today and finished the tournament T30.

Finally, here's how our picks finished up:

1) Dustin Johnson: T49 at 4-under
2) Rickie Fowler: T30 at 6-under

Dustin shot another 75 today and quickly fell out of contention yet again in a major. Fowler shot a 73 today and finished okay.

And just like that, this season's third major has come and gone. This concludes our coverage in Europe for now as this week we'll be covering our national open, the Canadian Open. Stay tuned for our picks on Wednesday.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Zach Johnson: The 2015 Open Champion

Day 4 of the 2015 Open Championship

You may be wondering what happened to our Day 3 coverage of the Open Championship and to be honest there wasn't much happening at the Old Course yesterday. Early in the morning, players finished off their second rounds and just barely. Shortly after, third round play was called off due to bad weather and it was decided that the Open would finish on Monday, with the third round being played today.

As it stands now, the leading score is 12-under and is held by 2010 Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen, Jason Day, and amateur Paul Dunne. They hold a one shot lead over Jordan Spieth, who will be looking to make modern history tomorrow by winning three straight majors.

Today's weather conditions were perfect for low scores, seeing as there was barely any wind and only a small amount of rain. We saw players taking advantage of this and going really low with their scores, such as Marc Leishman and Padraig Harrington who shot a 64 and 65 respectively. Due to this, there was a huge log jam of players at the top of the leaderboard. At one point, players like Padraig Harrington, Danny Willett, Jordan Spieth, and many more either co-led or were within a shot of it.

The biggest story of the day was that of amateur Paul Dunne. The Irishman, who plays college golf for UAB (like Graeme McDowell), made history today, becoming the first amateur since Bobby Jones in 1927 to lead the Open Championship after 54 holes. His accolades are well deserved; he shot a respectable 66 today and over his three rounds has made almost 90% of the GIRS and hit over 80% of fairways. He's also only dropped two shots (two bogeys) over the tournament. If he wins tomorrow, he's be making even more history. Best of luck to him.

Almost as big a story was Dustin Johnson, who shocked us all with relatively poor play today. He shot a 75 today and carded four bogeys and just a single birdie. As he said in his post-round interview, his putter was cold all day and he couldn't capitalize on many birdie opportunities. This again marks another major where we've seen Dustin fall back after leading. He said he'll need a really low round tomorrow to be in contention and win (he's T18 as of now).


Finally, here's how our picks are doing:

1) Dustin Johnson: T18 at 7-under
2) Rickie Fowler: T18 at 7-under

Rickie played well today, shooting a 66. He carded seven birdies and a bogey and like Dustin, will have to put in a bit of work to be in contention tomorrow.

Tomorrow's weather will be more prominent than what we saw today, but not nearly as bad as the first two rounds. A small wind with a chance of rain mid afternoon is what's being forecasted. We'll have to wait and see how it will affect the leaderboard.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

 Can Louis Oosthuizen win back to back Open Championships at St. Andrews?

Day 2 of the Open Championship

We're halfway through the 144th Open Championship at the Old Course at St. Andrews, but not all players have finished their rounds. In an interesting decision by tournament coordinators, due to the darkness the remaining players were given the option to finish their round in the dark or pick up tomorrow morning. As it stands right now though, the leader is still Dustin Johnson with a score of 10-under par and a one shot lead over Danny Willett. The cut also looks to be set at even par.

The initial delay today was due to the fact that the Old Course received heavy rain early this morning. It lasted just over three hours thanks to the work of the great groundspeople at St. Andrews, who worked hard to remove casual water that had collected on the many low parts of the course. That meant that the early tee times had to be moved back, as did everyone else throughout the day. Players who didn't want to finish today's round will have to wake up early tomorrow to complete it (at about 2AM EST). However it's forecasted to rain again tomorrow.

Wind was the prominent weather condition today. Like yesterday, a stiff wind was still present all day, but some players like Adam Scott (67) and Russell Henley (66) found low scores and again the front nine played easier than the back nine. However during the later rounds, the wind picked up significantly. At one point even the camera towers were shaking. We even saw leader Dustin Johnson back off from a par putt twice on the 11th due to strong gusts. He eventually missed it and bogeyed; his only one of the round. He too will finish off his second round tomorrow morning.

One player who elected to finish his round today was multiple Open Champion and golfing legend Tom Watson. Today was Tom Watson's last professional round at the Open Championship (as he unfortunately missed the cut). Despite the darkness, he received a warm welcome from fans and players as he stood on Swilcan Bridge on the 18th, for the last time as a pro. Watson won the British Open five times over his long successful career.

Finally, here's how our picks are doing:

1) Tommy Fleetwood: CUT
2) Dustin Johnson: 1st at 7-under
3) Rickie Fowler: T49 at 1-under

Fleetwood unfortunately shot a 76 today, which was probably his first +70 round at the Old Course in a long time. Dustin continues to take advantage of an easy front nine and is looking great for the weekend. Fowler, on the other hand, will need to put in a bit of work to be into contention.

Weekends at the Open Championship are always a special thing. Stay tuned for our recap coverage on Saturday and check us out on Sunday to see who's won.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

 Can Dustin Johnson hold on for his first major win?

2015 Open Championship Preview

Well it's finally here, the tournament we've been waiting for all season, the oldest of the majors, the one, the only, the Open Championship AKA the British Open. This year marks the 144th edition of the British Open and it will be taking place at the home of golf, the Old Course at St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland.

The British Open is by far the most "truest" and oldest of the majors, in that it brings golfers back to the roots of the game. It was first played back in 1860 (for us Canadians out there, that's seven years before Canada was even established as a country) and the field consisted of just eight professionals at the time. They played three rounds in a single day at Prestwick Golf Club (a 12-hole club at the time). The winner would receive not a trophy, but the Challenge Belt, worn around the waist of the champion. By 1873, the famous Claret Jug was presented to the winner instead and it's been that way ever since. The tradition of playing the British Open on a traditional links course has also remained and today several courses make up the yearly rotation.

The Old Course at St. Andrews is the birthplace of golf; it's the place where the first round was ever played back in the early 1400's. To say it's greatly influenced golf as we know it today is an understatement. For example, the current 18-hole layout of golf courses was first seen here. This year will mark the 29th time that the Old Course has hosted the British Open and as of now sits on a 5-year rotation. Golfers will be playing golf in its rawest form this week, just like in 1860. Be sure to look out for the typical links features that all have their roots at the Old Course this week, like deep bunkers, rolling fairways, gorse, etc.

The field this week is one of the most diverse in golf. We have older players who may not necessarily contend this week but will reminisce of their times playing St. Andrews and in the British Open. We have amateurs who will be looking to make a name for themselves. And of course we have the regular Tour players. This is also a special tournament for Tom Watson. The 5-time British Open champion will be making his last British Open appearance this week, at age 65, 32 years after his last British Open win. Just like for the US Open, my picks this week were hard to make, but here they are:

1) Tommy Fleetwood
2) Dustin Johnson
3) Rickie Fowler

Let's start with Tommy. He's a guru when it comes to the Old Course, despite his young age. Between his last eight rounds at St. Andrews (for the Alfred Dunhil Links Championship) he's 37-under par. In his last round there he shot a course record 62. He really knows how to play this course and that's an asset this week. For Dustin, his play at Chambers Bay shows his game is accurate enough to succeed on links course. His length will also give him an advantage this week. Finally, Rickie's coming off a win last week at the Scottish Open. Here's hoping he can pull off a Phil Mickelson and with the British Open as well.

Play kicks off early Thursday morning on this side of the Atlantic. Since it's a major, we'll be having daily coverage of the British Open. Be sure to check it out.

Also, comment below with your picks this week...


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

 Tommy Fleetwood is our top pick this week at St. Andrews

Rickie Fowler Wins the 2015 Scottish Open

After four rounds of tough links golf, the winner of this year's Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Gullane Golf Club is one of our picks this week, Rickie Fowler, who finished with a score of 12-under and a one shot lead over Matt Kuchar and Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin. This is the young American's 2nd win this year (his first was the Players Championship) and first European Tour win.

Rickie's play towards the end of his round was exceptional, simple as that. The start of his round was uneventful until his last four holes, where his run for the lead began. He birdied three of the last four holes and on the 18th, hit an excellent drive then a wedge to a couple of feet for an easy birdie and a one shot lead over Matt Kuchar, who was in the clubhouse already at 11-under. Once again, he's shown us why he's such a good links golfer. On a more interesting note, it seems that Fowler always wins when the golfing world doubts him the most. Shortly after being ranked as one of the most overrated golfers, he won the Players Championship. After a disastrous US Open, many predicted a downward spiral for him, but he silenced all his critics with his well-deserved win this week.

Raphael Jacquelin, who was in the group behind Fowler, needed a 2nd shot eagle hole-out from the 18th fairway to force a playoff with Fowler. And he nearly pulled it off, hitting a wedge shot just past the hole and spinning it back to about a foot. Despite not forcing a playoff, with his good finish the 41-year old Frenchman now qualifies for the Open Championship next week. He will be playing his first major since the 2012 Open Championship.

Today's final round saw a big change in weather conditions as the round progressed and as a result Gullane played tougher and tougher. Winds picked up throughout the day and morning players, like Scotsman Marc Warren (64 today), were at a clear advantage. With these conditions though, we saw a variety of shots from players, typical in links style, and much movement in the leaderboard. One thing's for sure; this round was great preparation for St. Andrews next week.

Finally, here's how our picks finished for the week:


1) Padraig Harrington: T62 at 2-under
2) Justin Rose: 74th even par
3) Rickie Fowler: WINNER

That's another pick win for us! Padraig Harrington couldn't capitalize on two good opening rounds and Justin Rose had a very bad weekend, shooting 72/76 without a single birdie today. Better luck to both of them next week.

And that's a wrap for our coverage of the Scottish Open. Congratulations once again to Rickie Fowler! Our coverage stays in Europe this week and in Scotland for that matter, for the third major of the year. That's right, join us next week for the 144th Open Championship (British Open) from the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland next week.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Rickie Fowler Wins the 2015 Scottish Open

2015 Scottish Open Weekend Update

With just two rounds left to play at Gullane Golf Club, the leader going into the weekend of this year's Scottish Open is Englishman Daniel Brooks. He holds a three shot lead over a number of players including the likes of TGR favourite Graeme McDowell and defending champion/our pick Justin Rose. The cut has also been set at 1-under.

Brooks shot an excellent 64/65 and has only made a single bogey over both his two rounds. He's also carded 10 birdies and an eagle, which give him some great momentum moving into the weekend.

Despite the challenge that is links golf, many players were able to take advantage of Gullane Golf Club over the first two rounds. Scores in the mid 60's were common all around and the low round so far was a 63, shot by Thorbjorn Olesen. From the weather forecast though, it looks like the winds will pick up over the weekend and some rain will fall tonight and tomorrow. Maybe this will make Gullane more vicious?

Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell seems to be showing signs of recovery this week, shooting a pair of 66's so far. After three straight missed cuts, the 52nd World Ranked players has had a rough season so far and risks falling out of WGC contention if his trend continues. A win or a good finish for the 2008 champion this week would be hugely beneficial.

Finally, here's how our picks are doing:

1) Padraig Harrington: T34 at 4-under
2) Justin Rose: T2 at 8-under
3) Rickie Fowler: T13 at 6-under

It's good to see Harrington doing well again; he's certainly still in contention given the upcoming weather. Rose has an excellent chance to defend his win and can probably pull it off seeing how he's been playing. It's also good to see Fowler playing well on links courses again.

With just two more rounds to go and upcoming weather conditions, we might see some movement in the leaderboard over the last two rounds. Stay tuned for our Results post Sunday to see who ended up winning.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Can Daniel Berger hold onto his lead for the win this week?

2015 Scottish Open Picks

For many golf fans, the next two weeks are some of the most exciting out of the entire golf season. It starts with the Scottish Open, this year being played at Gullane Golf Club in Gullane near Edinburgh, Scotland. It ends off with the Open Championship AKA British Open. Both events are played on links golf courses and offer many challenges to players.

The Scottish Open (now formally the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open) was first contested in 1972, but was then removed from the European Tour's event list from 1974 to 1985. It returned in 1986 and has been played at Loch Lomond Golf Club for the majority of it's current run. Just recently, it began rotating courses year to year. It's one of the larger and more popular events on the European Tour for a few reasons. Firstly, it has one of the largest purses on Tour at £3.25 million. Secondly, being a links course and taking place a week before the British Open, it's a tournament that's used by players to practice for the British Open, i.e. hone in their links golf skills and work on a variety of shots. Players such as Phil Mickelson took full advantage of this, as he won both the Scottish and British Opens in 2013.

This is the first time Gullane Golf Club has hosted the Scottish Open, but the town of Gullane is no stranger to professional golf. Situated on the coast of Scotland, it's also home to Muirfield Golf Club, which hosted the British Open in 2013 and lies just 1.5km from Gullane Golf Club. The town is ideal for golf holidays as it's also home to several other top quality links courses and itself is just a two hour drive from the Old Course at St. Andrews (which will host the British Open next week). For the Scottish Open, Gullane will play as a par 70 at 7,133 yards.

Like I've said many times before, it's always hard to make my picks in a tournament that precedes a major, simply because of the variety of players in the field. One thing's for sure though, the winner this week will definitely need to have great links golf skills, so that's what I've based my picks on this week:

1) Padraig Harrington
2) Justin Rose
3) Rickie Fowler

Padraig showed us earlier this year that he's capable of winning again. He's also won two British Opens back to back so he knows links golf. Justin Rose won this event last year and seems to be playing great golf at the moment. Like I say, he's always a safe pick week in week out. Lastly, Rickie Fowler hasn't had the best of weeks after his Players win, but he's done well in the past on links courses. Maybe this will be the comeback he needs?

Play kicks off very early (or very late) at roughly 2:30AM EST tomorrow. Stay tuned for our weekend update post Friday to see who's in the lead at the halfway point.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

The scenic coast of Scotland is host to Gullane Golf Club

Spieth and Reed Lead at Chambers Bay

With just two rounds to go, things have started to get a bit more interesting at the 115th US Open. Chambers Bay responded to those early scores in Thursday's round and gave the golfers more difficult conditions for Friday. As it stands now, the leading score still remains at 5-under, but it is now held by 2015 Masters Champion Jordan Spieth and the notorious Patrick Reed, closely followed by opening round co-leader Dustin Johnson and Branden Grace at 4-under. The cut has also been set at 5-over.

Spieth held his ground during his round and struggled with his driver; he's hit only 9 of 28 fairways thus far at Chambers Bay. Reed on the other hand has been driving the ball excellently, and said in an interview that he feels that he could hit the ball as hard as he wants and it'll find the fairway. This confidence is great and a must-have when playing Chambers Bay and it's what makes Reed such a fierce competitor.


TGR favourite Graeme McDowell wasn't really in the running this week, but did show us why he is a world class player on the par 3 207 yards 3rd hole. GMac landed his tee shot short and watched it roll up the right side of the green, nearly falling in the bunker, before rolling down the hill towards the pin stopping about a few inches from the hole for an easy birdie.

Apart from the golf, one of the biggest headlines yesterday was Jason Day's (physical) collapse on the 18 hole (which was a par 4). Day was walking on the sloped 18th fairway when he suddenly fell to the ground in a state of dizziness. Vertigo was to blame and it has been an issue for Day for the past few months now. After staying down for a few minutes, Day got back up, walked with some assistance to the greenside bunker where his ball lay, and went on to hit the best bunker shot I've seen, given the circumstances of his. To give you an idea of the state he was in, there was a loose stone behind his ball in the bunker and Day needed the rules official to remove it for him, as his hands were too shakey. He missed the par putt and finished off his round with a bogey, whereafter he was immediately taken to his onsite trailer. Despite this, Day sits at 2-under and is by all means still in contention scoring-wise. We hope Jason will be able to recover so he can continue playing, but his health is of course the most important.

Yet again Tiger Woods had a new milestone, this time it was his highest score in the US Open to date, a 16-over. His game was all over the place yet again and he was subsequently cut from the tournament. Also, amateur Brian Campbell is also in the mix at 1-under T12. He's currently the low amateur in the field and was close to leading at one point during his opening round.

Finally, here's how are picks are doing:

1) Phil Mickelson: T35 at 3-over
2) Rickie Fowler: CUT
3) Justin Rose: T28 at 2-over

Phil battled through his second round and it's resulted in him still being in the mix of things. So did Justin Rose. Fowler on the other hand was cut due to his surprising play, which was still a shock to us all.

Today is "Moving Day" and with the uncertainty that Chambers Bay brings every round, there's bound to be some movement on the leaderboard. Stay tuned for our recap post tomorrow morning,


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Jordan Spieth aims to go 2/2 in majors this year

Johnson and Stenson Lead After Opening Round of 2015 US Open

The opening round of the 114th US Open at Chambers Bay was filled with a variety of excellent golf, along with a variety of scores, as the day progressed. As of this morning, Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson, who both had earlier tee times yesterday, are the current co-leaders at 5-under with a one shot lead over Patrick Reed. They were just one of 25 players to break ever par yesterday.

Johnson showed us yesterday how, despite being a links course, length pays off. He made a total of seven birdies and a single bogey for a score of 64. In his post round interview, he commented on how his game was solid during his round, especially with the driver, and praised the way Chambers Bay was set up. His score yesterday tied his lowest score in a major. Stenson was a little more aggressive with his round, managing seven birdies and two bogeys. Both are playing solid golf at the moment.

With the absence of wind and rain, you may think that Chambers Bay would play slightly easier (in fact, the morning rounds played slightly better than the afternoon rounds). However, it's sloping fairways, high risk/reward holes, and especially its tricky greens, did not make that the case. Around the greens, we saw a variety of shots from players trying to get close to the flag, everything from de-lofted hybrids to flop shots, some paying off more than others. The greens, which appeared patchy and discolored, did receive some criticism from players such as Rory McIlroy, Colin Montgomerie, and more vocally Sergio Garcia. But as Phil Mickelson said, the course as a whole was a good challenge. You definitely had to think hard about the risks and rewards of every shot you hit. That being said though, it was "easy" relative to other US Open venues. Yesterday's rounds were the lowest since the 2003 US Open at Olympia Fields

Things just seem to be getting worse and worse for Tiger Woods, who's been having a few "firsts" recently; and not the good ones. The three-time US Open champion carded a 10-over 80, which was his worst score in a US Open round to date. Woods managed only one birdie and most of his scores were bogeys with a triple on #14. From an outsider perspective, he seems to lack confidence, summed up by his topped 2nd shot on #18, which ended up in a deep fairway bunker known as "Chambers Basement". He also hit only six fairways and nine greens.

In other news, Gary Woodland appeared to be suffering from severe dehydration and needed to go to the hospital yesterday, where it was determined he had a virus. He sits at 4-over T98 and hopes to play in today's round.

To round off the post, here's how are picks are doing:

1) Phil Mickelson: T14 at 1-under
2) Rickie Fowler: 155 at 11-over
3) Justin Rose: T52 at 2-over

Phil was part of that lower morning wave of players and was leading the tournament at one point before making a couple of bogeys here and there. In his interview, Phil said Chambers Bay played difficult, but what he expected and that the biggest challenge (for him at least) was the differences in putting green speeds from hole to hole. A good round today could mean great things for Mickelson going into the weekend. On the other hand, they say you can't win a major on a Thursday, but you can definitely lose it, and that looks like the case for Rickie Fowler. He's currently in second last place and struggled yesterday especially on the back nine where he was 8-over. This was a very unexpected round for Rickie, who usually plays solid links golf. To finish off, Justin Rose had a good round which just so happened to contain a few more bogeys than birdies. He was in good spirits though and is definitely still in the mix.

Chambers Bay looks like it'll play a bit different today. It's forecasted to be overcast and slightly windy today; the amount of wind today could wreak havoc on scores. Stay tuned for our recap of today's action, tomorrow morning.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Dustin Johnson leads along with Henrik Stenson at the 114th US Open

2015 US Open Preview

It may seem like the golfing season has just begun, but it's already the week of this year's second major, the 115th US Open, one of golf's oldest and most coveted tournaments. Throughout it's illustrious history, the US Open has been a US-dominated event and rightly so. It's the tournament that's at the top of the list for every American golfer to win. However in recent years, there's been a surge of non-US winners with only three out of the last eleven champions being from the US. The tournament also brings a family setting to it as it takes place the week of Father's Day.

The scene for this year's US Open is Chambers Bay, on Puget Sound in the state of Washington. Just as TPC Sawgrass was built to host The Players, Chambers Bay was built in 2007 to host the US Open and has already hosted the 2010 US Amateur. The course was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. to be a modern British-links course. Set on the majestic Washington coastline, the site of Chambers Bay was once home to a mine and the course itself makes use of the elevation changes and land features created by the mine. The results of this are sloping fairways with abrupt, mountain-like mounds of earth and gorse separating each hole. This along with the numerous bunkers (the deepest at 10 feet) and lengthy holes ensures that good scores will not be handed out, but earned.

This is the first time the US Open will be played in the Pacific Northwest. For it, Chambers Bay will play as a par 70 with a length varying from 7,607 yards to 7,874 yards. An interesting feature this year is that Holes #1 and #18 alternate parrage; if one plays as a par 5, the other plays as a par 4 and vise versa. Their lengths will also change as a result of this. The greens also don't have any fringes; all that exists is a seamless blend between fairway and green, which has already received some complaints. In fact, to distinguish fairway from green, a line of white dots will be marked around the green; one side fairway, the other green.

Majors, especially the British and US Open, always have a unique playing field. You pretty much have every level of competitive golf amongst it. Aside from your regular Tour players and world-class elite golfers, you also have amateurs and qualified players. Qualified players are professionals and/or amateurs who have gone through a qualifying process via a series of rounds. All that's required of these players is to be a PGA professional or have a minimum handicap of 1.4 for amateurs. This is one of the reason's why I love country Opens, if you can play well you have a chance to play in it. Given this depth of field though, I found making my picks this week easier this week, since I see some clear favourites in the field. My picks for the US Open are:

1) Phil Mickelson: We could write an entire post on why Phil is always a favourite in the US Open. To start, he's finished runner up at the US Open six times and it's the only major preventing him from achieving the Grand Slam. He's also shown us that he's a really great links golfer, winning both the Scottish Open and Open Championship. And to top it off, he's in great form coming into the week, having finished T3 at last week's FedEx St Jude Classic and T2 at the Masters this year. With the way Chambers Bay is set up, the title just might be his this week.

2) Rickie Fowler: Rickie is also a great links golfer and understands what's required to do well on a links course. He seems to love the majors too as he hasn't finished under T20 in one since the 2013 Open Championship and finished T5 or higher in all majors last year. He's had several good finishes this year including the win at The Players. Hopefully Rickie can ride that wave of momentum this week.

3) Justin Rose: I'd go and say that Rose is probably playing the best and most consistent golf in the world right now. He's finished T2 or higher in his last three of five starts including a win at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He's played a few practice rounds at Chambers Bay too; one in which his playing partner was the course architect. This, along with the fact that he's won the tournament before in 2012, makes him our final pick this week.

Play starts tomorrow at 10AM Eastern time and is bound to be full of exciting golf. Since this is a major, we'll be having daily coverage of it with posts recapping the day's action. The posts will usually be posted the morning after the round, due to the time zone difference at Chambers Bay. Be sure to check them out!


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

The majestic Chambers Bay set on the coast of Washington

Rickie Fowler Wins the 2015 Players Championship

Things came down to the wire once again on the PGA Tour. On a day that saw many players making a move for the lead, three players finished tied for 1st place at the end of the final round, each with their own unique story: Sergio Garcia, who's always played excellently at The Players over the years (he finished T5 or better 5 times). Kevin Kisner, the rookie who's never won on Tour and the real underdog. And Rickie Fowler, the player who was voted as one of the most overrated golfer on Tour, having won only once on Tour but finishing runner up in several big tournaments, including finishing T5 or better in all majors in 2014. In the end, it was Fowler who emerged as the victor, for his 2nd and by far his biggest, PGA Tour win.

The trio finished with a final score of 12-under at TPC Sawgrass, but got there in different ways. Rickie posted a score of 67 for his final round, having gone birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie in his last four holes, after a relatively quiet front nine. He posted his number early and had to watch the remainder of the field chase it. Sergio found himself in the playoff after holing an almost "better than most" 44 foot putt on the 17th Island Green. Kevin birdied the last two of three holes also.

In 2014, a new playoff format was introduced at The Players. It was an aggregate format which, in the event of a playoff, players would play holes 16, 17, and 18 again, and the player with the lowest combined score over these three holes would win. In the event of a tie, players would play a sudden death hole.

However, given that the venue was TPC Sawgrass, you couldn't help but get the feeling that if things ended in a tie, the 17th Island Green had to be the place where the winner would be decided, as it was years before. And that's just what happened. At the end of the 3rd hole of the aggregate playoff, Fowler and Kisner were tied at 1-under, while Garcia remained at even par after failing to birdie the 17th Island Green as Kisner and Fowler had. Off to the 17th they went for sudden death, which must've been good news for Fowler, who birdied the Island Green 5 out of 6 times this week (a remarkable stat in its own right).

Both tee shots were excellent, Kisner hit his too about 12 feet, which gave him an excellent chance as he'd been putting exceptionally all week. Fowler, however, stiffed his shot to within four feet. Kisner missed the putt and Fowler tapped in for the win, one which was long overdue and one which silenced his doubters. When asked about his thoughts on being one of the more overrated golfers on Tour after his win, Rickie responded hoping that this win was big enough.

The win is no doubt big for Fowler. While he may have the major exemptions all ready, the World Golf Rankings points as well as the FedEx Cup points are some of the highest given out for a golf tournament and invaluable. His name is also etched in Tour history as the most recent winner of golf's "5th major". And of course his prize of $1.8 million is nice. 

Finally, our remaining pick Dustin Johnson finished off the tournament at 3-over (T69) and Canadian David Hearn finished at 2-under (T42) after a disasterous final round of 78, which included a first nine score of 43.

Next week's stop on Tour is a Quail Hollow Golf Club, for the Wells Fargo Championship. Be sure to check out our picks for it next week.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Rickie Fowler Wins the 2015 Players Championship, in dramatic fashion

Rory McIlroy Wins the 2015 WGC-Cadillac Match Play

San Francisco was treated to an excellent and world class display of golf this week at the World Golf Championships Cadillac Match Play at TPC Harding Park. With the new match play format (implemented just this year) we saw more matches being played than any year before, as well as more rounds of golf than any other golf tournament, which brought out a different side of some golfers. But after 7 matches, 3 of witch concluded today, World Number One Rory McIlroy emerged as the winner, defeating Gary Woodland with a 4&2 score. This is Rory's first PGA Tour win this year and his last PGA Tour win since the PGA Championship last year. Ironically, Rory has won 2 of the last 4 WGC events, his last being the 2014 WGC Cadillac Championship, which was also his last non-major PGA Tour win.

Rory remained undefeated all week, but his journey to the final round was not easy. He defeated the likes of Japan superstar Hideki Matsuyama, Paul Casey (a match which concluded early this morning due to darkness yesterday), and Jim Furyk (who finished 4th). In his match against Furyk, Rory was 1 down going into the 16th hole. It wasn't looking good for him, but Rory went on to win the next three holes and beat Furyk, going birdie, birdie, eagle. He drove the green on the 18th and made a huge (albeit unexpected for both him and Furyk) eagle putt to win.

In the final match, Rory took an early lead against Gary Woodland, going 4 up through 7. Both players were playing well, although Gary Woodland battled against errant drives most of the round. But Woodland made a charge on the back nine, taking two points away from Rory on the 11th and 12th. But things turned for the worst for Woodland on the par 3 13th hole, where he was left with a short four foot putt to win the hole after Rory had duffed a chip. Woodland missed and they halved the hole, but from there on, Woodland wasn't the same. He would concede the 16th hole and watch after a poor bunker shot.

The 3rd place match was played between Jim Furyk (surprise, surprise) and young Englishmen and European Tour player Danny Willett. This was a back and fourth match, with Furyk leading going into the back nine, but Willett dominating much of the back nine. By no means did Furyk lose the match, rather, Willett won it. Despite being for 3rd place, Willett probably comes out as the biggest winner this week, as his 3rd place finish was enough to earn him temporary PGA Tour status for the rest of the season.

TPC Harding Park was not forgiving this week, especially the deep (US Open style) rough. On the back nine, many of the par 4s required a tee shot in the fairway, as a second shot from the rough would often result in balls not having enough spin to stay on the green when they landed. We saw this a lot in Woodland's final round, where he was penalized a few times for missing the fairway.

Finally, our lone pick who made it to the knockout rounds, Rickie Fowler, lost in his first match to Louis Oosthuizen, who dominated most of the match.

There you have it, the 2nd WGC event of the season. As I promised, it was filled with excitement and world class golf. Next week is the biggest event of the PGA Tour, the "5th major", the Players Championship from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Stay tuned for our picks for it.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Rory McIlroy Wins the 2015 WGC-Cadillac Match Play

Jimenez vs Bradley: A Closer Look at What Happened Today

They say match play brings out the competitive side in a golfer and all the emotions that follow suit. Pride, the desire to win and beat a single person is often a double-edged sword. Sometimes we get a glimpse at the negative sides of these emotions at events like the Ryder Cup, perhaps the most famous being the Paul Azinger and Seve Ballesteros dispute. It's safe to say though that disputes and confrontations are something not seen too often in the world of golf.

Today's round at the WGC Cadillac Match Play saw a dispute between Miguel Angel Jimenez and Keegen Bradley, both very likable, calm, and some of the nicer players on tour. This was the third match for both players, but both had lost their previous two matches, meaning that neither of them had a chance of reaching the round of 16.

It started on the 13th hole, where Jimemez apparently questioned a cart path drop Bradley had made. Whether the questioning was out of curiosity, disapproval, etc. isn't not clear at the moment. Ok, no big deal, Miguel is 1 UP at this point and wants to make sure things are being done right. He does want to win after all.

Things turned for the worse on the 18th. After a wayward tee shot, Bradley was forced to make another drop. Jimenez had again made his way over to where Bradley was and discussions again ensued, with Jimenez voicing his opinion about the drop. Things became heated when Bradley's caddie (Steve AKA Pepsi) interrupted Jimenez, who was having a conversation with the rules official on scene. Pepsi said to Jimenez "do you want to delay us some more?" prompting Jimenez to tell Pepsi to "shut up". An angered Bradley then stepped in, getting up close and personal with Jimenez, telling him not to tell his caddie to shut up and to go back to his ball.

It's tough in this situation to point the finger at who is to blame or at fault for this. Many people are saying different things, some say Jimenez was out of line for being there and saying shut up, some say Pepsi was rude for interrupting, some say the rules official should have done something about it. Here's my opinion, for what it's worth.

This post should be titled "Jimenez vs Pepsi" because that's really where the heated dispute is, and started. You can't blame Jimenez for walking over to Bradley's ball and taking interest. It does, after all, affect him as it could affect Keegen's score on that hole and thus affect the match. Any match player golfer would have probably done the same thing, but probably not as insistent as Jimenez was. You can't blame Bradley for defending his caddie. Players and caddies are really close and most of the times are close friends. He's trying to defend his caddie after all.

So who's to blame?

Both Jimenez and Pepsi. Pepsi probably should not have interrupted Miguel and the rules official. That seems to me like the catalyst in the heated dispute. Likewise Miguel probably should not have told Pepsi to shut up and probably should not have been so accusatory in his opinion about the drop. Now whether Jimenez meant to tell Pepsi to shut up or meant to be so accusatory is a different story. There is after all a slight language barrier with Jimenez.

After the match (which Jimenez ended up winning), the two had apparently calmed down at least in their interviews, citing that they were in the heat of the moment and that what's done is done. But people inside the locker room afterwards are saying that the two and Pepsi had more words for each other and apparently nothing was resolved.

Some people (cough Johnny Miller, cough some Golf Channel experts) are blaming the rules official for not stepping in and "breaking up the confrontation". What I found interesting about this was what Chief Referee Mark Russell has to say about this. Russell defended the rules official saying that issue was between the players and that the rules official acted justly. He added that if things got any worse, the rules official would certainly have stepped in. It's also worth pointing out that although the rules official is a referee of sorts, he/she can't be compared to referees of other sports, where confrontations occur more often. These things just don't happen that often in golf so you wouldn't expect a rules official to step in like we see in other sports.

This is a very interesting story that's sure to develop some more in the next few days. I just hope that this isn't the latest golf rivalry to emerge. Both are great and respected players and hopefully they can resolve these issues.

In other news, the round of 16 has been decided. You can find out who's playing who by clicking here. The only one of our picks to make it to the round of 16 was Rickie Fowler, who will be facing Louis Oosthuizen tomorrow.

What's your opinion on the Jimenez/Bradley issue? Leave us a comment and let us know,


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

 Jimenez vs Bradley: What's your opinion on it?

WGC Cadillac Match Play Picks

This week's PGA Tour event is the World Golf Championships Cadillac Match Play (formerly the WGC-Accenture Match Play), being played this year at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, California. Being a World Golf Championship (WGC) event, it is exclusive to the top 64 players in the World Golf Rankings. It also boasts one of the largest purses on Tour at $9.25 million.

As I mentioned in my last post, this is one of my favourite events on tour, for two reasons. Firstly, like I said it is a WGC event, so we get to see a unique field filled with the world's best players, which by it's nature bring world-class golf. Secondly, it's a match play event. Briefly, match play is a format of golf in which two players face each other at a time, rather than the entire field. Each hole is allocated one point and the player with the lowest score (compared to their fellow player) on each hole wins the hole and receives/takes away one point from their competitor, depending on if they are winning or losing overall. Whoever finishes ahead at the end wins. In a tournament format, match play differs from traditional stroke play in that the event is structured in a round-robin-like style, with each player having to win to advance to the next stage. The matches are far more exciting as well, since greater risks can be taken shot-wise as your score on one hole doesn't affect your overall score.

This is the first year that TPC Harding Park is hosting the WGC Match Play, but it has hosted a WGC event in the past (Cadillac Championship in 2005). It has also hosted a Presidents Cup (2009) and several Charles Schwab Cup Championships for the Champions Tour. Today, it measures at just under 7200 yards at a par 72.

My picks this week focused around one main factor; experience in match play, naturally. Since the match play format isn't seen too often on Tour, I chose picks who had contested in past match play events (and had done well) such as the Ryder Cup, etc. Here they are:

1) Graeme McDowell
2) Martin Kaymer
3) Rickie Fowler

GMac is a natural choice when it comes to match play. He's made it to the quarter finals in the past two years of this event and played excellently in past Ryder Cups, having holed the winning putt for Europe in 2010 and contributing points in 2014. He also won the Volvo World Match Play Championship in 2013 on the European Tour. Similarly Kaymer has also had excellent finishes in this event, his best being a 2nd place in 2011 (where he was the best player in the world at the time and rocked a snood that had everyone golf fashion expert talking). He also holed the winning putt for Europe in the 2012 Ryder Cup AKA the Miracle of Medinah. Lastly, Rickie Fowler is young, confident and has Ryder Cup experience, all of which combined make him excellent at match play.

Being a match play event, there is no cut as players are eliminated after each round. We'll still be posting on Friday to let you know what's going on at the halfway point of the tournament. Stay tuned for that and enjoy some great golf this week!


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

GMac has done well in past match play events

Jason Day Wins the 2015 Farmers Insurance Open

It really came down to the wire with this one, but Jason Day has won the 2015 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Jason won a four man play off between J.B. Holmes, Harris English, and 2014 winner Scott Stallings. The playoff took two holes to decide a winner, the first was a replay of the 18th, where Day and Holmes advance with par. The 16th hole decided the winner, the iconic par 3, that's arguable one of the best par 3's in golf. Holmes stumbled with a bogey and Day won with a par.

This is only Day's third win on the PGA Tour, his last on being the WGC-Accenture Match Play last year. This may come as a shock to some since he's currently ranked 8th on the World Golf Rankings. We've said this before, but Jason Day has a habit of finishing in the top-10 or top-5 quite often, especially in majors. He's flown under the radar so many times that now, I'm not even surprised to see him in a top-10 spot. Nevertheless, it's good to see him win a tournament!

Day also becomes the first non-American winner of the Farmers Insurance since 2002 and only the second in over 50 years.


Even right up until the end, there were at least 15 players within a three shot lead. And with the changing weather conditions that we saw this week, the tournament really could have gone any way.
For J.B. Holmes, this is also a good finish. He's battled injury and surgeries over the past few years but seems to be in good form this year. On another note, the Farmers Insurance in particular holds a special place for him. After undergoing bran surgery in September of 2011, the 2012 Farmers Insurance Open marked the return of him to the PGA Tour post-surgery. His good finish this week just might put him into the top-50 of the World Golf Rankings.

Also, new PGA Tour member and Canadian golfer Adam Hadwin was on track to having a good week, but like to many other players this week, faltered during the last two rounds. Nevertheless, it's good a new Canadian golfer out on the PGA Tour!

Finally our remaining pick, Rickie Fowler, finished the tournament not too well at T61. He shot a 79 earlier today that included six straight birdies. Better luck to him in the future.

Next week, stay tuned for coverage of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am from Pebble Beach Golf Links in California,


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Jason Day Wins the 2015 Farmers Insurance Open

2015 Farmers Insurance Open - Weekend Update

After a few fog delays and delayed tee times, the first two rounds of the 2015 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course are now finished. The leader going into the weekend is Harris English at 10-under, who fired off a 68 66 and a final round which included six birdies.

He leads ahead of Nick Watney, who shot a 7-under on the day. Watney has had a relatively quiet past few years, his last win coming at the Barclays in 2012. In 2014 he had only two top-ten finishes and 10 missed cuts out of 26 events played. He's currently ranked 134th on the World Golf Rankings, having been ranked 35th just one year ago. A good finish for him this week could put him back on track for the start of this season.

As we said before, Dustin Johnson is back on tour, but apparently was a bit rusty, having shot a 70 74. During his first round though, he did hole out for eagle on the 4th hole at Torrey Pines South Course. Hopefully he'll get back on track soon.

However, the biggest story of the week was Tiger Woods. Tiger withdrew during the 1st round after just 12 holes, due to a lingering back injury. In an interview afterwards, he told the media that all the fog delays tightened up his back, which he had surgery to fix just last year. Woods' injuries have been the source of many of his golfing woes over the past year. At this point, it's uncertain what his golfing future holds.

Finally, here are how our picks are doing so far:

1) Rickie Fowler: T33 at 3-under (-3)
2) Luke Donald: CUT
3) Justin Rose: CUT

Fowler had an up and down second round after going bogey, birdie, double bogey to finish with a 72, but is still in the running. Donald and Rose on the other hand didn't fare as well. Our other notables, Mike Weir and Phil Mickelson, were also cut.

It's also worth pointing out that just over 15 players are within 4 shots of the lead, so it's still anyone's tournament for the winning. So stay tuned for our Results post Sunday evening.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Can Harris English hold onto his two shot lead through the weekend?