Hot streak ... even Clint Eastwood has been impresesd by Snedeker's form. Source: Eric Risberg / AAP
Since 2011 there are only three players that have won four times or more on the PGA Tour.
They are Rory McIlroy (five), Tiger Woods (four) and now Brandt Snedeker joins that list after his win at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on the weekend.
It was a fitting end to the tournament at Pebble and I don’t think anybody would have begrudged Brandt the victory.
The previous two weeks he had been dusted by Hall of Famers Woods and Phil Mickelson.
Snedeker has been incredible this season. In the five events he has played so far he has posted 107 birdies and three eagles and finished at 82 under par. It’s just been a delight to watch. He pulls the trigger quickly and is not frightened to have a go.
Unfortunately for the next few weeks the 32-year-old from Tennessee has had to withdraw, citing soreness in his ribs. The next event we will see him at is the WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral.
The PGA Tour moves to Hollywood this week as the famed Riviera Golf Club hosts the Northern Trust Open. This tournament has always attracted a strong line-up and this year will be no exception with 16 of the top 25 players in the world teeing it up.
There are four of the season's first five winners entered this week - Dustin Johnson, Russell Henley, Brian Gay and two-time winner at Riviera Phil Mickelson.
Lefty has always had an affection with this layout. Since 2007 he has two wins, two runner-up results and is a combined 53 under par for his 24 rounds. I think you should forget last week’s let down at Pebble Beach and put him on top of your picks here.
Some of the international stars that will be getting their seasons underway on the PGA Tour will be world No. 3 Luke Donald, No. 7 Adam Scott, British Open champion Ernie Els, former US Open winner Graeme McDowell and Spaniard Sergio Garcia.
It's also a huge milestone for two-time champion at Riviera Fred Couples. The Champions Tour regular will tee it up for the 31st time, breaking a tie with Gene Littler for most appearances in the tournament.
There are eight Aussies in the field this week, with two of them past champions at Riviera.
It will be Adam Scott’s first event of the season and he has had some success around this course as well. He won around here in the rain-shortened 36-hole event in 2005 and then was runner up the following year. He usually plays well fresh and first up.
Aaron Baddeley also won around here in 2011 and then backed that up with a T11th last year. It's been an up and down campaign so far in 2013 for Badds with just one top 10 in four starts and that came three weeks ago at the Farmers Insurance Open.
This week is a very special one for the Ladies Australian Open as they head to our national capital, which is celebrating 100 years of existence in 2013.
The magnificent Royal Canberra Golf Club will play host to the event for the very first time and what a worthy course it is to host our National Open.
I grew up playing all of my junior golf in the ACT area and without a doubt Royal is one of my top five anywhere in the world. It’s an absolute masterpiece.
This week’s field is packed full of talent and because it is co-sanctioned with the LPGA Tour it is littered with stars. The Americans boast the likes of Stacy Lewis, Michelle Wie, Brittany Lincicome, teenage sensation Lexi Thompson, Cheyenne Woods (Tiger’s niece) and of course the defending champion Jessica Korda.
The internationals are led by world No. 1 Yani Tseng, Norway’s Suzann Petterson, So Yeon Ryu and Ji Yai Shin while our local contingent pits four time Open winner Karrie Webb along with Katherine Hull.
I’d better not forget to mention my favourite to win this week and I don’t think I would have ever considered a 15-year-old a favourite but Lydia Ko bats way above her years.
This kid has all the tools and no doubt one day will be the number one player in the world. In 12 professional starts the amateur has three wins and two runner ups. How impressive is that!
Don’t forget it’s women’s month at Drummond Golf everyone! So make sure you check out all the specials and believe me there are plenty of them.
Great Golfing,
Brett
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét