In the Rough

American World Number four Phil Mickelson added to his poor round on day one of the FBR Open with a disastrous round on day two, which ended with him missing the cut and going home early.

Mickelson shot a “disgusting” round of 76 on day one and then a round of 73 on day two finish seven over par after two days and miss the cut. The American who recently has looked a little out of sorts needs to find some form soon with majors on the way in the coming months.

The projected cut for the FBR open was level par so Mickelson was off the pace by quite a way.

In his 18 year career Phil Mickelson has never missed the cut in the opening event of season until this weekend.

Mickelson has however seen success on this course with wins in previous year both in 1996 and 2005.

Leading the FBR Open is Watney closely followed by Charley Hoffman, James Nitties and Matt Kuchar.

Watney is looking for his second PGA Tour Title this weekend with his only previous PGA win being at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans back in 2007.

At the halfway stage of the Dubai Desert Classic it is Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy who leads the way after a brilliant eagle on the final hole of the day.

The youngster is just 19 years old and is searching for his maiden European tour victory after a few close finishes in 2008 saw him come very close to his first win. McIlroy sunk a 25 foot putt on the par five 18th hole to take a one shot lead into the third day of the Dubai Desert Classic.

Also in a strong position half way through the tournament are South African Louis Oosthuizen who had a hole in one on the 11th and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson who are both sitting one shot off the lead on 11 under.

Richard Green and Justin Rose of England are both a couple off the lead at 10 under.

In his pursuit for the world number one spot whilst Tiger Woods is still gaining fitness Sergio Garcia is eight under and a good final two days could strengthen his push for the world number one spot. Continuing a busy week Colin Montgomerie the new Ryder Cup Captain is four under for the tournament.

After missing out on the captaincy role for the Ryder Cup in 2010, Jose Maria Olazabal is set to become the number two for Colin Montgomerie.

After been confirmed as the captain for the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor in Wales Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie confirmed that Olazabal would be part of his backroom staff at Celtic Manor.

However speaking in Dubai Jose clearly stated that “The only words we have spoken was when I got to the clubhouse and I congratulated Colin and he said, “we need to talk” that was all.”

It would seem then that Olazabal was giving Montgomerie a gentle hint regarding the fact he is yet to be confirmed as number two when the European team try to reclaim the Ryder Cup in 2010.

One interesting statement to come from Montgomerie though was the hint that he is looking to increase his captain picks for the ryder cup “We now get down to thinking about the qualification and if there are any changes to be done we’ll have a chat in May in Ireland and I want to put it to my leading players and see what they feel about it.”

OMG one of the best bargains I have found recently is the callaway x-18 it has made my game a million times better and even better than that they normally retail for around £399 and I picked my up from a professional golfer I met on the course who sold it to me for £50 as he had just upgraded to a graphite version which cost and retails at £700.

I’m over the moon with it and it not only happy with the distance I can hit and the smooth strike it makes but the noise it makes it out of this world and I’m enjoying the driving range so much at the minute as its worth hitting 300 balls to hear the repeated sound it makes.

Is this title we will be reading in all of Thursday’s papers?

Wednesday 28th January will see the European Committee headed by Danish golfer Thomas Bjorn announce the Ryder Cup Captain for the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor in Wales.

It had emerged after a meeting in Dubai a few weeks ago that the two front runners for the captaincy role were Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal.

Both players are still playing on the tour, are young and have never been captain before, which is believed to be the main reasons why they have come out as favourites for 2010. The other players considering the role were Ian Woosnam who would of been captain in his native Wales and Sandy Lyle the only remaining great European golfer of the 80’s and 90’s to never be European Ryder Cup Captain after Nick Faldo taking the role in 2008.

My personal opinion is Colin Montgomerie will get the Ryder Cup Captaincy in 2010 at the Celtic Manor and Jose Maria Olazabal will get the Ryder Cup Captaincy in 2012 when it goes back over the Atlantic.

This would make sense from a European point of view as Colin Montgomerie isn’t the most popular European player in America and has been on the receiving end of heckling over the years for his strong views and winding up of the American crowds both in the press and during his rounds of golf.

Where as Jose Maria Olazabal having been a previous winner of the Masters is a popular character on the American shores and maybe could even bring some Americans on board for supporting the European Ryder Cup team.

American Pat Perez claimed his maiden PGA Tour Title over the weekend by three clear strokes from nearest rival John Merrick.

32 Year old Perez shot a 3 under 69 in his fifth and final round to finish on a massive overall total of 33 under par at the Bob Hope Classic.

Starting the fifth day Perez was three shots behind leader Steve Stricker but a mixture of steady play by Perez and a disaster round of five over par 77 helped Pat Perez to claim his maiden tour title.

Steve Stricker still walked away after 90 holes pleased even though he had blown a very good chance of victory. Stricker said “It was tough to judge the wind and to pick a correct club. But overall, if you would have told me I would have played like I did this week coming into the tournament, I still take a lot of positives away.”

After showing such a steady nerve this surely won’t be Pat Perez last PGA Tour Title.

Young Japanese prodigy Ryo Ishikawa is set to make history at this years Augusta Masters after being given an invite from the Augusta National Golf Club.

Ishikawa will be the youngest ever professional to play at Augusta when he tee’s off on April 9th at this years first major of 2009. When on the first tee he will be 17 years, six months and 23 days.

This will only make Ryo Ishikawa the second youngest player in Augusta history though as the record is held by amateur Tommy Jacobs. The American played in the 1952 Augusta Championship at the age of 17 years, 1 month and 21 days.

With Jacobs only been an Amateur in 1952 it means Ryo Ishikawa will be the youngest ever professional at Augusta in history.

Augusta National Golf Club Chairman Billy Payne said “we see this opportunity to expose an emerging talent on world stage”

it has also been rumoured that Ryo Ishikawa will be playing at the Bay Hill Tournament in March after an invite from golf Legend Arnold Palmer. This event should also see the return of Tiger Woods.

Chris Woods has received a sponsors invite for next week Dubai Desert Classic.

Woods who only last year was a 21 year old amateur who finished fifth in the British Open.

After going through the Qualifying school in November Woods Turned professional and is reliant on a lot of sponsors invite for the European Tour in 2009 to be in the major competitions, however a few good performances could get him into the tournaments without sponsors deals.

Woods as a professional has already finished 10th in the Portugal Masters and sixth in the recent South African Open.

American golfer John Daly who is currently banned from the USPGA tour has been invited to the Dubai Desert Classic as has former British Open champion Mark O’Meara.

Englands Paul Casey ended his two year drought with winning a tournament by claiming the Abu Dhabi Championship by one stroke.

Casey made hard work of it though and going into the last six holes had a massive six shot lead but a mixture of some bogeys for Casey and a brilliant final round of 64 Louis Oosthuizen meant Casey needed to par the final four holes just to win by a stroke.

The final score of 21 under also set’s a new tournament record for the Abu Dhabi Championship.

Casey’s last win was also at the same time so it show’s he really is a sunshine golfer

Former Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance has backed the Welshman Ian Woosnam to be named Ryder Cup Captain for 2010 at Celtic Manor.

Woosnam himself has captained the European Ryder Cup Team to victory in the past at the K Club in Ireland 2006.

The European Tour Committee is due to discuss the matter in Abu Dhabi this week but a formal announcement is not due until May 2009.

The two favourites for the Captaincy are Jose Maria Olazabal and Sandy Lyle, with rumours being that Olazabal is the favourite. However Olazabal is still playing on the tour himself and could even play at the event should he have a good couple of years. Olazabal’s more realistic chance of captaincy and maybe the more sensible choice should be in America in 2012.

Olazabal himself captained a losing European team in the Royal Trophy in Bangkok over the weekend.