In the Rough

After the start of the European Tour began in Singapore over the weekend the latest World Rankings have been released -

World Number One is still American Tiger Woods, who despite his injury is still comfortably holding on to his number one status from Spain’s Sergio Garcia. Currently third in golf world rankings is American left hander Phil Mickelson.

After two major wins this year Irelands Padraig Harrington is  ranked number four. Making up the top five is  Vijay Singh.

After winning the European Order Of Merit this year Sweden’s Robert Karlsson is sixth in the golf world rankings closely followed by Camilo Villegas who has a brilliant season both sides of the Atlantic. South African Ernie Els is still in the top ten at number eight with Ryder Cup hero Anthony Kim at number nine in the world rankings. Making up the top ten is Englands Lee Westwood.

Golf legend Seve Ballesteros could leave intensive care this week at the La Paz hospital according to a statement realised on 14th November by hospital doctors.

Seve is still being closely monitored but they have said “he continues to improve” and once he is stable and well enough he will leave the intensive care unit.

Seve Ballesteros was admitted to hospital on 6th October after losing consciousness at Madrid Airport. He has since had three brain operations to try and remove a brain tumour.

A family statement realised on his website last week said - “With the help of God, the neurosurgeons and their teams, and those who are keeping watch over his state of health at the intensive care unit, we trust with unquestioning faith Seve will come out successfully from this hardship”

The 51 year old Spanish legend retired from golf last year.

India’s Jeev Milka Singh won the Singapore Open by one shot on Sunday after a very tense final few holes. Singh himself finished on seven under par for the tournament after a closing round of two under. Tied in joint second place was Ireland’s Padraig Harrington and South African Ernie Els.

Going down the final hole Harrington and Els had birdie putts to try and force a play-off but unfortunately they both missed the birdie putts and Singh claimed the Singapore Open.

It all could of been very different for Harrington though as he double bogeyed the 16th hole after putting his second shot in the water. From his tee shot Padraig found the rough and had a difficult second shot, which found the middle of the green but ran straight through into the water.

Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat had the lead going into the final 18 but a horror round of 78 meant he finished way of the pace.

Over half the field at the Sentosa Golf Club haven’t been able to finish their first rounds due to bad light and a lightning storm, which stopped play for nearly two hours.

In the clubhouse though with the outright lead is Lam Chin Bing who on Day One shot a four under par 67. Bing has a one shot lead over Ernie Els, Oliver Wilson and Marcus Booth. A further three shots back in the clubhouse is Markus Brier, Charlie Wi and Zhang Lian-Wei.

The Singapore Open has a prize find of 5 million dollars so it has attracted big names such as Padraig Harrington, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, Darren Clarke and Adam Scott.

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.

You may have noticed the last couple weeks have been very quiet on www.intherough.co.uk, however I am back and I am going to be bringing you all the latest news stories from the world of golf again from new golf courses, golf players and tournament results.

The last 10 days I have been enjoying a holiday in Bulgaria, which yes i did fit a few games of golf in. This was my first visit to Bulgaria and I must admit it is a place that I will be visiting again. The country is certainly under development but is growing in popularity and I feel will become a very popular place for Britain’s moving abroad very soon as well as holidaymakers like myself.

I stayed in Varna, which is on the Black Sea coast for the majority of my stay in Bulgaria. I did though make an overnight trip to Sofia where I managed to fit in two rounds of golf at the St Sofia Golf Club and Spa.

The course itself was in very good condition and to my surprise was quite busy, for future reference booking in advance is recommended. The course itself is your standard 18 hole course where proof of handicap is required to play. The facilities include a Pro Shop, Clubhouse, Putting Green and Driving Range. The course itself is a par 72.

After completing my round I started to talk to a gentleman called Ravno, his English was brilliant and his local knowledge was fantastic, I also decided he was a very good golfer after it emerged he played off 6. Ravno was explaining Bulgaria to me and recommending areas to visit and places of interest.

During our conversation Ravno detailed to me that now was the perfect time to purchase property in Bulgaria and recommended to me plenty of Property For Sale in Bulgaria. Ravno stated that for investment terms I should look at property in Varna and Burgas (these are both resorts of the Black Sea Coast). Personally I would recommend Varna to anybody but maybe you would be best visiting in 12 Month’s time when most of the building work is completed.