In the Rough

During the second days play at Valderrama only four hour’s play was possible at the Volvo Masters. The current leaders Sergio Garcia and Soren Kjeldsen were among a group of ten players who did not even manage to tee off their round before play was stopped due to adverse weather conditions.

The current defending champion of the Volvo Masters England’s Justin Rose was one of the players to complete his round but probably wished he hadn’t after not breaking 80 for the second day in a row. Rose withdrew shortly after his round after been told of the unfortunate death of his Grandfather.

In the race for the order of merit Leader Robert Karlsson was three over after four holes and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington five over after 13 holes. Lee westwood is in a strong position though on one under but has yet to start his second round due to the bad weather.

The tournament could be cut short to 54 or even 36 holes with torrential rain now forecast for the full weekend.

Spanish golfer Sergio Garcia completed a dream weekend on home soil with a final round of four-under 67 to finish on 20 under par and take the Castello Masters by three strokes.

Garcia was greeted on the 18Th Green to standing ovation from the local crowd and a hug from his Father who is the golf professional at the Club de Campo course still. After Garcia held his nerve and sunk the final putt of his weekend he dedicated his win to Seve Ballesteros who has recently had three major operations from a Brain tumour and is seriously ill in a Madrid Hospital.

Behind Sergio was the two swedish golfers of Peter Hedblom ( 17 under) and Alexander Noren ( 15 under). Englands Simon Dyson finished along side Soren Kjeldsen and David Lynn on 14 under par.

Ireland’s Padraig Harrington shares the lead with American Jim Furyk after the first 18 of the 36 hole PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Bermuda.

The Grand Slam of Golf is being competed by Padraig Harrington, Jim Furyk, Retief Goosen and Trevor Immelman. The event is usually competed by the four major winners of the year but with Tiger Woods out injured and Padraig Harrington having won two of the four majors this year Jim Furyk and Retief Goosen have been drafted in.

The event has a £775,000 prize fund and even for last place their is a place of £120,000.

After day one of the DUnhill Links Championship it is Englands Ross Fisher and Denmark’s Soren Hansen with the lead on eight under par. Both golfers shot a brilliant 64 at the Kingsbarns course on day one to claim the lead overnight.

Hansen who was part of the losing European Ryder Cup Team in Valhalla recently looked completly relaxed and was well challenged by Ross Fisher who narrowly missed out in an automatic spot for the European Ryder Cup Team.

The order of merit could also be become a lot closer over the weekend with Padraig Harrington and Lee Westwood battling it out for the top spot at the end of the season. Both playing on the Kingsbarns course in good conditions seemed ideal for the top players with Harrington shoting a 5 under 67 and Westwood staying close with a 4 under 68.

Today sees stars of sport and entertainment combining on the golf courses of St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns in the Dunhill Links Championship.

Stars such as Actor Samuel L Jackson, Former Crickter Ian Botham, Former Tennis Player Tim Henman, Olympic Legend Sir Steve Redgrave, Actor Hugh Grant and billionaire Dermot Desmond are just some of the names playing in the next couple of days.

The golf players competing are some of the biggest names as well with the majority of the European Ryder Cup Team competing at the Alfred Dunhill Championship this week. Only Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter are missing from the European Ryder Cup team which lost in Valhalla two weeks ago.

After a storming start Jarno Sandelin is the leader on five under after 10 holes at Kingsbarn.

Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano won the British Masters at The Belfry yesterday after a play-off win against England’s Lee Westwood.

The pair finished on 12 under for the tournament and needed 4 runs at the 18th to be seperated. With them both parring the first 3 attempts.

Lee Westwood seemed very tired after the weekend and his exploits in the USA for the Ryder Cup Team the weekend before. He is now only £200,000 off Padraig Harrington in the European Order Of Merit with six tournaments to go but Westwood looks like he may take a few weeks off and admitted himself to being tired.

New Zealands Michael Campbell finished third at The Belfry.

The focus this weekend is back on the European Tour after the season’s main event at Valhalla last weekend.

The US success of the 2008 Ryder Cup will surely of made European golfers more determined to be at the event in 2010 in wales as part of the European team as they try to gain the Ryder Cup back.

Only two players from the defeated European will play this weekend at The Belfry. England’s Lee Westwood and Ireland’s Graeme McDowell.

Last weekend Graeme McDowell played particularly well and holed some very important putts under immense pressure. He has started the British Masters at the Belfry at 20/1 and an each way bet might be worthwhile doing unless jetlag kicks in.

THe third round of the USPGA has finally been completed and leaves the USPGA firmly in the balance for the final round.

Oakland Hills has had good weather today and all remaining golfers finished off there rounds after the heavy storms and wash out yesterday.

For the final round the last group will be JB Holmes, Henrik Stenson and Ben Curtis who is one shot in the lead. With Open champion Padraig Harrington, Spains Sergio Garcia and Charlie Wi in the second last group to go out at 19:00 hours GMT.

With the final major title of the year nearly underway its time to look if there is going to be a European golfer stood on the 18th green with the trophy in the air.

Leading up to the USPGA there is a couple of Europeans with a lot to play for in terms of Ryder Cup places for Valhalla in September 2008. Ian Poulter is just on the edge of listings currently and with a good display here could get himself into the guaranteed places for the Ryder Cup, Spain’s Sergio Garcia again is a player where a good performance here could either earn him a spot or persuade Nick Faldo to part with a Wild Card pick.

In terms of this week and which Europeans will be in contention come Sunday I am personally thinking Lee Westwood has a great chance after showing some impressive form over the last few months and a brilliant performance at World Golf Championship last weekend. Englands Ian Poulter can also be worth keeping an eye on but he needs to make sure the pressure of gaining points for the Ryder Cup in Valhalla doesn’t effect his game.

As a couple of outsiders for the weekend Darren Clarke (first major of the year, not playing with much pressure), Colin Montgomerie (could it be his year?), Padraig Harrington (after a brilliant year can he finish in style).

Vijay Singh has won the World Golf Championship Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio by one shot from Englands Lee Westwood.

Going into the final Vijay Singh was tied with Lee Westwood and Phil Mickelson but a final round 68 enabled Vijay to finish on 10 under and take the title. The final round wasn’t the greatest golf with the Fijian putting a little bit erractic, Westwood having a few lapses in concentration and Phil Mickelson bogeying 3 of the final 4 holes.

However when it mattered most Vijay Singh held his nerve and took the World Golf Championship title, which was his first for 6 years. Vijay Singh switched to his belly putter last month and it has paid off with him now winning a title and moving back into the World’s Top Ten.