2014 European Ryder Cup Team Confirmed

At 7:30AM EST this morning, the twelve players of the 2014 European Ryder Cup Team were confirmed by European Captain Paul McGinley. The 2014 Ryder Cup this year is being played at Gleneagles, Scotland (the second time the Ryder Cup has been played in Scotland)

Here is the full team as it stands:

2014 European Ryder Cup Team
Captain:
Paul McGinley

Vice-Captains:
Sam Torrance, Des Smyth, Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Jose Maria Olazabal

Team (qualified):
Rory McIlroy (NIR)
Henrik Stenson (SWE)
Sergio Garcia (ESP)
Justin Rose (ENG)
Martin Kaymer (GER)
Victor Dubuisson (FRA)
Thomas Bjørn (DEN)
Jamie Donaldson (WAL)
Graeme McDowell (NIR)

Captain Picks:
Ian Poulter (ENG)
Stephen Gallacher (SCO)
Lee Westwood (ENG)

Wow, this is a very good team with lots of depth and character from it. You have Rory McIlroy, who's just white-hot on fire as of now with his two major wins and WGC win, making his third Ryder Cup appearance (2010, 2012). Henrik Stenson also had an amazing season last year, with both the PGA and European tour money lists, as well as having good major finishes his year. This is Stenson's third Ryder Cup appearance (2006, 2008). Then there's Sergio Garcia, who seems to always be a shot behind Rory and is a Ryder Cup star in his own right. This is Garcia's seventh Ryder Cup appearance (1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012).

Justin Rose also played a major part in the 2012 European Ryder Cup team's comeback two years ago and is a top-level golfer as well as Martin Kaymer, who has won twice this year, including the US Open. Victor Dubuisson will be making his first appearance, but played will in the WGC match-play this year. Jamie Donaldson is also making his first appearance this year, well deserved without doubt. Thomas Bjørn also brings much experience to the team. Finally, Graeme McDowell is also a Ryder Cup hero and sealed the European team's with back in 2010, with a key putt.

As for the three Captain Picks, it was expected that Ian Poulter and Stephen Gallacher would be picked, Poulter simply because he is the embodiment of the Ryder Cup and brings so much energy to it, and Gallacher who literally played his way on the team with impressive golf this year, and especially last week at the Italian Open (this will be his 1st appearance and 1st on home soil). The name Gallacher is also famous in Ryder Cup history. Stephen's uncle Bernard Gallacher was a Ryder Cup non-playing captain back in 1991, 1993, and 1995, and played in eight Ryder Cups before. It was really between Lee Westwood and Luke Donald, who are both great Ryder Cup players. Captain McGinly said in his press conference that it ultimately came down to the form of the two players. This is Lee's ninth Ryder Cup appearance.

Within the next 48 hours, the last two vice-captains will also be picked by Paul McGinley. Stay tuned for that and for the American Ryder Cup team Captain Picks, later on this evening.

This should make for a very exciting Ryder Cup this year, come the end of September,

-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

UPDATE (09/03/14): Captain McGinly announces his last three assistant captains: Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jimenez, and 2012 captain Jose Maria Olazabal.

2014 Deutsche Bank Championship Picks - Results

The final round of the 2014 Deutsche Bank Championship at the Tournament Players Club of Boston in Norton, Massachusetts has just finished and the winner this year is Chris Kirk, who won the tournament by two shots over Geoff Ogilvy, Russel Henley, and Billy Horschel. His final two rounds consisted of a 64 and a 66, which were good enough to make him win the tournament at 15-under (-15). This is Kirk's third PGA tour win and his first since 2013 (The McGladrey Classic).

With this playoff win, Kirk now leads the FedEx Cup Rankings (ousting Hunter Mahan from the top spot), having started ranked 17th earlier this week. Geoff Ogilvy and Billy Horschel have also played themselves into the BMW Championship next week, which features the top-70 in the FedEx Cup rankings as of the end of this tournament. Ogilvy moved from 100th (just making it into this week's event) to 24th, and Horschel from 82nd to 20th.

I think the FedEx Cup playoffs is a true test of a golfers skill and ability to work under pressure and its cases like those of Geoff Ogilvy and Billy Horschel that prove it. Both of these players had to have a good week in order to make it to the next level of the playoffs and the way they played this week showed that they were able to handle this pressure. These situations also and excitement and sometimes nervousness to spectators of the sport, given the fact that just a few extra shots here and there could determine so much. The stakes are very high during the playoffs.

Finally here is how our picks finished this week:

1) Rickie Fowler: T23 at 7-under (-7)
2) Keegen Bradley: T16 at 8-under (-8)
3) Phil Mickelson: T45 at 2-under (-2)

Good play from all the picks this week. All of them will also be playing in next weeks BMW Championship too,

Stay tuned for our coverage of the BMW Championship later on this week,

-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Chris Kirk Wins the 2014 Deutsche Bank Championship (Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

Nobleton Lakes Golf Club Renovates Green on Woods #1

Here's a little local golf course news that's currently in the works. Nobleton Lakes, a golf course that we reviewed last year (and one I personally play often) is renovating the green on one of it's holes.

The hole is the 1st on their "Woods" nine, a 519-459 yard par 5 downhill slight dogleg right (see satellite image below). The renovation primarily includes resurfacing the entire green and fixing the greenside bunkers, among other things.

The green is expected to be completed for the start of the 2015 season, but the hole is still playable. A temporary green has been set up about 100 yards closer and is cut into the fairway. I last played the Woods nine just a few days ago and from what I saw, the new green so far looks very nice and looks like it might make for a nice challenge (as are most Nobleton Lakes greens) come next year.

We will definitely be playing the new green next year, so stay tuned for a review or update on it. We'll also be posting about any updates about the renovation too.

-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

**UPDATES** 

09/20/14: The green is pretty much finished as of now, but will not be playable until the start of the 2015 season, according to a marshal during my last outing there. It's also rumoured that the staff are really happy with the way the green turned out and that more greens might be renovates in the upcoming years.

06/22/15: For some reason, the green is still not playable. Work still appears to be going on in and around the bunkers. The hole still uses the temporary green set up on the fairway.

08/26/15: There is no more construction on the hole and it is playable.

08/13/20: The hole has been completed for a few years now. Recently had the chance to play it and was very impressed. Although there was a lack of fringe on the green, not sure if this is intentional or not.

Ariel View of Nobleton Lakes Golf Club - Woods #1 (photo via Bing Maps)

Also, be sure to check out our review of Nobleton Lakes Golf Club too by clicking HERE

2014 Deutsche Bank Championship Picks - Weekend Update

The first two rounds of the 2014 Deutsche Bank Championship have just concluded at the Tournament Players Club of Boston in Norton, Massachusetts and the co-leaders going into the final two rounds are Ryan Palmer and Jason Day. They share a score of 8-under and a one shot lead over Matt Kuchar and Billy Horschel. Palmer shot an impressive 63 on Friday but followed it with a 71 today, whereas Jason Day shot a 66/68 to get to 8-under.

The cut this week has also been set at 3-over but only consisted of less than 15 players.

I was actually thinking of picking Jason Day as a pick this week, and it looks like it would have been a good choice. He's probably the most consistent pro golfer in the world right now.

Here is how our picks are doing after two rounds of play:

1) Rickie Fowler: T17 at 3-under (-3)
2) Keegen Bradley: T5 at 6-under (-6)
3) Phil Mickelson: T50 at 1-over (+1)

Not too bad, and no surprise from Fowler of course.

Stay tuned Monday evening for our final results post,

-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

The 2014 Deutsche Bank Championship Picks

The first round of the 2014 Deutsche Bank Championship is just a day away. This is the second of four FedEx Cup Playoff Events and is played at the Tournament Players Club of Boston (par7/7,124 yards) in Norton, Massachusetts. This tournament is unique in the sense that it starts on a Friday and ends on Labour Day Monday, and is played over the Labour Day long weekend. It's also connected to the Tiger Woods Foundation.

This being the second stage of the FedEx Playoffs, the Deutsche Bank Championship hosts the top-100 golfers in the FedEx Cup Rankings and has an 8 million dollar purse, with 1.44 million going to the winner. Notable winners of the tournament are Henrik Stenson (2013), Rory McIlroy (2012), and Webb Simpson (2011).

Since this tournament contains the top-100 ranked FedEx Cup players, the field typically has depth and diversity to it, more than regular PGA tournaments I find. Given this, here are our picks for the winner this year:

1) Rickie Fowler: His time is coming very soon I think
2) Keegen Bradley: a "dark horse" pick
3) Phil Mickelson: he also won this tournament back in 2007

Stay tuned for our weekend coverage of the tournament, which will be posted on Saturday evening. Also, leave a comment and tell us who your picks are,

-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews