In the Rough

England’s Ian Poulter has pulled out of this weekends Singapore Open after his Golf Driver was stolen during the HSBC Championship event in Shanghai last week.

Poulter was hoping to still compete at the tournament but his driver has still not arrived the day before the event so he has decided to pull out. The Singapore Open has a prize fund of £3.2 Million but Ian Poulter has still chosen to drop out as a bad week without the driver could affect his World Ranking points and ultimately his World Ranking Positioning.

The HSBC Championship tournament organisers announced India’s Anirban Lahiri as Ian Poulter’s replacement. The Championship has big names like Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els.

Golf legend Seve Bellesteros is said to be stable in intensive care in the Madrid hospital, which performed the three brain operations over the last week.

Bellesteros needed a third operation last Friday to reduce swelling and also to remove the remaining of his brain tumour. The legend is said to be responding well to the third operation and in a stable condition. The news of the third operation being a success is only good news for the golfing world as Seve is not only a legend in the game but also one of the much loved guys on the tour.

Fellow spaniard Sergio Garcia dedicated his win at last weeks Castello Masters in Valencia to Seve Bellesteros and wished him all the health for the future, views shared by the golfing world.

During his illustrous career Seve Bellesteros has won 87 titles including The Open in 79,84 and 88. Seve has also won The Masters in 1980 and 1983. Bellesteros retired last year with arthritic back and knee problems.

One of the funniest but strangest stories I have been reading about golf this week is about an up and coming star by the the name of Nala Kconrahc.

He has been hovering around the edge of the proffessional scene for 4 or 5 years now with guest appearances in various tournaments with unexpected high results and even a hole in one in a local event in Scotland, United Kingdom.

The 30 year old is never likely to make it to full professional but is a perfect example of how you can turn your talent into cash as he has taken over £500,000 in winnings and sponsorship deals over the last 10 years.

Now that doesn’t sound much but £50k a year for doing something you love is a prime example of how you don’t have to be a Pro, to make a life in golf.

After his win on home soil over the weekend Spaniard Sergio Garcia has moved up to a career high of Number 3 in the current World Rankings. Garcia won by 3 shots at the Castello Masters in Valencia.

Sergio’s first win on the European Tour since 2005 was enough to push him above Vijay Singh. Garcia himself helped to host the event over the weekend as it was his home town course Club De Campo Mediterraneo where he grew up playing and his dad is still the club professional.

The 28 year old had previously finished 2nd on 7 separate occasions until he broke his three year duck at the Castello Masters.

Spain’s top golfer Sergio Garcia has said he will give 120% at this week’s Castello Masters in Costa Azahar as he tries to win his home town tournament.

The Spaniard currently ranked 5th in the World has been involved heavily in the planning of the Castello Masters. Garcia has aided with the lengthening of a couple of holes, more bunkers on the 10th (these are now within perfect driving distance) and also the addition of two lakes on the course.

Although this weekend Lee Westwood, Padraig Harrington and Robert Karlsson have dropped out of the Castello Masters to concentrate on the year ending Volvo Masters event next week there is still a strong field with Justin Rose, Paul Casey, Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia all competing.

Jose Maria Olazabal also has decided to play at Castello Masters in Valencia and is looking to maintain his course record of 61.

American golfer John Daly is considering playing on the European Tour more regularly next year after admitting he his hungry for more tournament golf.

The big hitting American who won the USPGA in 1991 and The British Open in 1995 has plummeted down the world rankings and now sits in a very lowly 737 in the world. Daly has struggled with gambling addictions, alcohol addictions and several failed marriages over the last few years which on top of a serious yet bizarre Rib Injury have seen the downfall of a legend.

The rib injury picked up by John Daly forced him into a swing change and he is now seeing guys who five years ago were 50 + Yards behind him hitting the ball exactly the same distance.

Daly who won the USPGA after not even completing a practise round in 1991 due to being a late replacement for Nick Price is looking to increase his ranking over the next year and become a major player in tournaments at the age of 42.

World Number three Vijay Singh has said he will be taking a couple months off golf to recover from tendinitis in his left forearm. The 45 Year Old Fijian  will be missing the  Iskandar  Johor  Open in Malaysia and the Champions Tournament in Singapore.

Vijay Singh has already won 3 tour titles on the PGA tour this year and would of been hoping to add to it in the next few months but the tendinitis injury looks set to rule him out.

Vijay’s not appearance at the events will be a big blow to organisers as he was one of the big names attending and was due to be the highest rank player at the events due to world number one Tiger Woods been out injured and Phil Mickelson currently ranked number two in the world not attending.

World Number one Tiger Woods has said his injured knee will not be fully recovered until 2010 as it is going to be an 18 month recovery session.

Woods has said he will be able to start swinging a golf club in January and then after six months his knee will be at about 85% strength.

The world number one was in brilliant form until his injury after winning 9 of 12 events in 2009 including his last win at Torrey Pines in the US Open. Woods is hoping to come back in the same form so he can start closing the gap between himself on 65 PGA Tour Victories and Jack Nicklaus on 73 and Sam Snead on 82.

Northern Ireland golfer Darren Clarke won the KLM Open in Holland by four shots to put himself in a very strong position for one of Nick Faldos wild card picks for the Ryder Cup.

Darren Clarke produced some of his best golf for a number of years to see off Paul Mcginley and Henrik Stenson who finished four shots behind.

40 Year old Darren Clarke has now almost certainly guaranteed himself a wild card pick with the other probably now a straight fight between Colin Montgomerie and Paul Casey. Ian Poulter has withdrawn from the Johnnie Walker Classic next week to play in America which may have ended his chances of a wild card pick.

Northern Ireland Golfer Darren Clarke has admitted he will need to play some of his best ever golf over the next two weeks if he is going to get a wild card pick of European Ryder Cup Captain Nick Faldo.

Darren Clarke who can no longer qualify automatically for the Ryder Cup Team faces a massive challenge to be in the team come September at Valhalla.

Clarke will be competing for two wildcards with Colin Montgomerie, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and Carl Pettersson when Nick Faldo makes his picks on the 31st August.

in 2006 at the K Club Darren Clarke was an inspiration and ehlped to inspire the team to victory.