In the Rough

Young Spanish golfer Pablo Larrazabal held is nerve to finish on a 15 under a total which was enough to take his maiden European golf title.

Scotlands Colin Montgomerie finished well but was 4 of the young spaniard on 11 under, the second place for Colin has significantly pushed him up the ryder cup pecking order and he is now just outside the top ten. With a few good performances he could get a guaranteed spot in Nick Faldos European ryder cup team.

Soren Hansen, Lee Westwood, Paul Mcginley and Oliver Fisher all finished in the top ten to help with there ryder cup places.

After the first round of the French Open the young Spanish golfer Pablo Larrazabal has the lead on six under. Larrazabal shot a 65 on the first day to take the lead from Englands young golfer Oliver Wilson and past master Paul Lawrie who both shot 66 for a five under total.

Wilson and Lawrie both took very different approaches to their 5 under totals. Oliver Wilson took the route of 5 birdies and Paul Lawrie started with a double bogey six but 10 birdies on his way round helped him still be very much in contention one of the pace and on course for a Spanish Open / French Open double in the same calendar year.

French Open Round One Leaderboard

World Number 1 golfer Tiger Woods has confirmed that he had the knee operation just two days after his USPGA Open win.

First signs are showing from the operation that it was successful knee reconstruction and Tiger Woods will be back better than ever. This is the second time Woods has had knee surgery this year but this time around Tiger will be fully resting and ensuring he comes back better than ever. If Tiger comes back anywhere near his best I am sure he will claim the elusive 5 majors and more which will put him ahead of current Major Title Holder Jack Nicklaus on 18.

Woods Stated “It was important to have the surgery as soon as possible” and continued to say “I look forward to working hard at my rehabilitation over the coming months and returning to the PGA Tour healthy next year”.

During Tiger Woods rehabilitation he will be spending time with his wife and daughter.

The World Match Play golf tournament is to take a break this season and then from 2009 it is to change its sponsorship from current company HSBC to car manufacturers Volvo and be played at the Finca Cortesin course in Andalucia, Spain.

The move from Wenthworth Golf Course, Surrey will be a massive blow to English Golf fans who have swarmed in there thousands to the World Match Play Event since its start in 1964.

The event will also slightly differ with the winner who comes through from the new 16 player round-robin contest at the beggining and normal golf tournament to claim a top prize of around £590,000. This is a significant drop in the £1 million that Ernie Els earnt at the World Match Play at Wentworth from 2007.

Under new sponsors of Volvo the World Match Play event at the Finca Cortesin will have a total prize fund of £2.5 million.

The question is will the World Match Play event still hold it rich history with the move to Spain. Past winners of the World Match Play include Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Ryder Cup captain for 2008 NickFaldo, Seve Ballesteros, Greg Norman, Sandy Lyle, Bernard Langer, Ian Woosnam and Ernie Els.

Englands 23 year old golfer Luke Donald has today annouced he will not be playing at this weeks French Open due to the persistent wrist injury which forced him to retire from the recent USPGA Open.

The wrist injury which forced Luke to retire half-way down the 14th at Torrey Pines looks to make it into a nervous wait for Donald over his Ryder Cup place for the 2008 Ryder Cup.

Luke Donald still isn’t secure of a place at this years Ryder Cup and unless his wrist injury heels and he can get some points he could have to rely on a wild card entry from Ryder Cup captain Nick Faldo.

The world number 18 Donald would surely be safe in the knowledge that if he was fully fit then he would receive a wild card pick from the ryder cup captain. But the wrist injury will surely make it a nervous couple of months.

England golfer Ian Poulter who also retired hurt from the USPGA Open is still down to play at the French Open.

Ryder Cup’s Vice Captain Olazabal has also retired from the French Open. The 42 Year Old Spaniard who has been suffering from low energy levels and fatigue after battling rheumatism.

German Martin Kaymer becomes the first person to appear on www.intherough.co.uk as a winner after a dramatic last day of the BMW International Open in his homeland of Germany.

Kaymer made it tough for himself with a last round 75 which included a triple bogey on the 11th hole.

Going into the final round 6 shots ahead of his nearest rival Martin Kaymer seemed a sure fire bet for his second win of the season on the European Order of Merit, but he showed a few lapses in concentration which to be fair on a young up and coming talent is to be expected.

During the disaster 11th hole Martin put his approach shot into the water infront of the green when he should really of layed up out of the rough, with the water shot still fresh in his head Martin dropped in the drop-zone and then chose to play a short chip in to the green, which again ended up in the drink due to slope of the green.

After the nightmare 11th many expected Kaymer to slide away but showing a true champion spirit Martin Kaymer dug deep and with a couple of good approach shots managed to tie with Anders Hansen after the four rounds. Including a hold-your-nerve putt on the 18th green.

Into the Play-off and back to the 18th tee. Kaymer showed huge bottle and produced a monster drive that took on the huge lake and to his fortune made it across. Anders Hansen drive was well hit but shorter than Kaymer’s and with an unfortunate roll ended up in the fairway bunker. For his second shot Hansen took the bold step of hitting a hybrid out of the bunker and made a clean connection only to find it fly 200 yards into the greenside bunker. Kaymer with only a 5 iron into the Par 5 18th green produced a brilliant shot to within 10 feet.

Hansen at this point looked buried and literally was being in the bunker. A short chip out and 3 wayward putts enabled Martin Kaymer to have the luxury of 3 putts from less than 10 feet for the International open.

Needing only 2 putts Martin held his nerve and took the BMW International Open infront of his home crowd.

With some work on his short game and a little more maturing, Martin Kaymer is to be a star to look out for and can hopefully produce for the European’s in this years Ryder Cup.

With Golf fast becoming one of the biggest sports in the World it is time to have a place for the golf world to post there thoughts.

The success of the recent golf in the U.S has further emphasised Golf as a massive sport.

Personally I am a 22 handicapper golfer so nothing spectacular but once you pick up a club you have the golf bug. My best round playing golf was a 88 and worst I simply can’t remember but I know it was high.

Look forward to hearing your golfing stories, favourite players, recommendations on clubs, courses, holidays and anything golf related.