Archive for the European Tour Category


China’s Mission Hills Lands 12-Year World Cup Deal

The world’s largest golfing complex will be the home for one of the largest team tournaments for the next 12 years. China’s Mission Hills Golf Club, which has a world record 216 holes in its sprawling compound in Shenzhen, will stage an expanded World Cup for a dozen more years, according to organisers, the European […]

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Lefty Leaves Tiger Behind

When Phil Mickelson eventually retires from professional golf, he will probably look back at the first week of September, 2007 as one of his most memorable. For that was the week he beat Tiger Woods in a head-to-head battle. It was Lefty versus Tiger in the same flight, trading blows (birdies, actually) and hoping the […]

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Keeping Up With The FedEx Play-Offs

The PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup play-offs are upon us and many are wondering how significant that is. Indeed, many question whether it has meaningful attraction for golf fans or if it is one big yawn. World number one Tiger Woods was not involved in the first tournament, citing exhaustion. That, in itself, is a major […]

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Missing Out On Vijay’s Former Training Partner

The Johor Open ended on Sunday with Filipino-Japanese Artemio Murakami claiming a maiden Asian Tour title with a one-stroke victory over compatriot Tony Lascuna and Scotland’s Simon Yates. However, despite being there as a stringer for Reuters, I didn’t write a line about the tournament. My aim was to interview Kyi Hla Han, executive chairman […]

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Twiddling My Thumbs At The Johor Open

The Asian Tour has come to my neck of the woods this week. Well, sort of. It’s a four-hour drive from my home just outside Kuala Lumpur to Johor Bahru for the Iskandar Johor Open. I thought I’d make the journey so I could cover the tournament for Reuters, for whom I am on a […]

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Tour Triumphs for Snedeker and Ilonen

Rookie Brandt Snedeker took advantage of a quiet week on the PGA Tour before the PGA Play-offs to add to the list of first-time winners this season. The 26-year-old from Tennessee shot a nine-under-par 63 to win the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina and take home his highest-ever pay-cheque of $900,000. Snedeker finished on […]

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Aussie Hend Looks Beyond Asian Tour

Scott Hend is among a host of Australians who are using the Asian Tour as a stepping stone for greater things. Hend is currently in third place in the Asian Tour’s UBS Order of Merit as he tried to chase down leader Liang Wen-chong, of China, with half of the season still remaining. Hend has […]

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Mickelson Ready to Make HSBC Debut

As Phil Mickelson wonders whether or not his wrist is 100 per cent at the US PGA Championship, Asian golf fans will certainly hope that he is full fit by November. Lefty scored 73 in the first round, eight strokes adrift of leader Graeme Storm. Though his wrist felt good, a series of poor shots […]

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Asians Among Euro Contingent For PGA Championship

A recent article on the European Tour website highlighted the “record number of European Tour members” competing at this year’s US PGA Championship, the final Major of the year at Tulsa, Oklahoma. It claims to have 48 golfers due to take part at Southern Hills Country Club from August 9-12 but some of those names […]

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Watson Turns Back Muirfield Clock

The names were big enough for a Major tournament. Tom Watson, Mark O’Meara and Nick Faldo were among the star elements who took on Muirfield in the Senior Open Championship. Faldo, at 50, was making his debut and was the co-leader after the first round. In the end, it was American links ace Watson who […]

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I For One Will Miss Seve Ballesteros

This week, for the first time since I’ve been watching golf, the British Open teed off without Seve Ballesteros (My all-time favorite player). By now, most golf fans are aware that earlier this week Seve announced his retirement – an announcement that officially ends one of the most exciting careers in the history of golf. […]

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So Long Seve, Thanks for Everything

The end, when it eventually came, was anti-climatic, messy, an affront to the irresistible force of the career that came before. Seve had finally held his hands up and acknowledged that nobody, not even him, could fight off the ticking of the clock. In reality we knew it had been over for some time. Out […]

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Havret Wins at Loch Lomond as Super Seve Calls It a Day

Frenchman Gregory Havret emerged triumphant at Loch Lomond, the final tune-up before the British Open, by defeating Phil Mickelson in a sudden-death play-off and winning the Scottish Open. With Ernie Els and Luke Donald finishing strongly but unable to challenge, world number three Mickelson and Havret took up the mantle. Havret eventually drained the par […]

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Jeev Hoping for Hard Time at Carnoustie

India’s Jeev Milkha Singh leads the Asian assault on the British Open, with the 35-year-old hoping the Carnoustie course will play at its hardest. Talking to the Asian Tour website, Jeev said difficult courses bring out the best of his golf, using his 36th place at the treacherous US Open at Oakmont as proof. He […]

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Unlikely Broadcasting Partnership for European Tour

Imagine Liverpool and Everton, two of the fiercest rivals in English soccer, agreeing to share a player during a Merseyside derby. One team has him for the first half before he changes shirts at the break and joins the other side. If you can comprehend the absurdity of such a situation, you may be able […]

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