Ho, Ho, Ho - Happy Christmas Everyone!

Well, it's almost Christmas, so we here at Golf Predictor would like to wish all our readers and members a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We thank you for your support in our busy first year and we look forward to it continuing in 2009. It is the season for giving, so as a little Christmas present, we are giving away 3 one month memberships to Golf Predictor.

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is email our support line with your user name before next year. We'll pick 3 winners out of a hat in early January. This subscription will start from the first week with a tournament in January if new, otherwise it will be added to your existing subscription.

Like the golf tours, we're going to take a little hiatus for the holidays, but we'll be back in plenty of time to cover a new season of exciting golf on both the US and European* PGA Tours.

Happy Christmas everyone!


*We know - the 2009 season has already started on the European Tour!

Harrington Wins Yet Another Award!

Unsurprisingly, Padraig Harrington won the Irish Sportsperson of the Year award again last night. Having won two majors for a country not exactly at the pinnacle of many sports, Harrington was a shoe in for the most prestigious award in Irish sport.

It's the third time Harrington has won the award. We here at Golf Predictor hope he wins it again next year!!

Vijay Wins Chevron World Challenge

Vijay Singh took his season earning over the tidy $18 million mark with victory at Tiger's Chevron World Challenge yesterday. Despite taking an unprecedented 3 months off to allow injuries to heal, Singh showed no signs of rustiness with his twin 67s on the weekend. I suppose it's easy to take 3 months off just after you've won a couple of tournaments and the $10 million Fedex Cup!

A notoriously assiduous practicer, Singh is not easing up now that he's back. He plans to hit balls on Christmas Day when it's quiet on the golf course! We look forward to tracking him in the New Year here on Golf Predictor.

2009 - Week 5 Winner

Richard Sterne (ranked 6th by Golf Predictor) continued his winning streak at home, capturing the prestigious South African Open for his second consecutive victory on the European Tour. Sterne becomes the eight home winner in a row of the world's second oldest Open, mainly thanks to a missed 8 foot putt from Northern Ireland's Gareth Maybin (ranked 67th) on the 72th hole. That unfortunate horseshoed effort cost Maybin his maiden victory as Sterne birdied the first extra hole to seal another victory.

Ernie Els (ranked 3) put in a storming finish, coming home in 64 on Sunday. Unfortunately he missed a tiddler at the last which would have got him into the play-off. However, he probably rues his 77 on Saturday more as it gave him just too much to do. England's Lee Westwood (ranked 2) faded on the final day, surrendering his two shot overnight lead fairly meekly and finishing in a tie for third. In a good week for Northern Irish golfers, Rory McIlroy overcame a very poor start to also finish tied third and secure his place in the world's top 50. That gets him into the US Masters next year; not bad going for a teenager!

Our top ranked player, the usually reliable Henrik Stenson, finished in a tie for 34th but overall we had 5 golfers in the top 10 this week.

Scripts Used in Golf Predictor

You must have JavaScript enabled on your browser for Golf Predictor to work properly. For those of you worried about web security and/or using script blockers, this is a list of what JavaScript is used for on the site:

1. AJAX for partial page updating and a more responsive website.
2. Trapping AJAX request time outs and reloading the page if they occur.
3. The Twitter Bootstrap dropdown menus (across the top of every page), pop- up chart windows and collapsible panels.
4. Highlighting the currently selected page in the appropriate menu.
5. Displaying all the radial dials, charts and Google Maps on the site.
6. Displaying the Golf Predictor Twitter feed widget. 
7. Google Analytics, for tracking web site usage statistics.
8. To protect email addresses on the Contact Us page from spammer harvesting.
9. To prevent more than 10 golfers being selected on the 'Compare' pages.
10. To prevent more than 3 golfers being selected on the 'Field Rankings (Summary)' page.
11. A third party site runs a script on the "Golfer Odds" page to display the odds for the selected tournament. 
12. To show the sliders on pages such as the 'Custom Predictions', 'Filtered Predictions' and 'DFS Lineup Builder (DraftKings)' pages and to provide validation for them and the associated text boxes.
13. To create a DFS lineup and export it to a CSV on the 'DFS Lineup Builder (DraftKings)' page.

This is the complete list to the best of my recollection. I will update it if I add or remember more. As you can see, not much script is used on the site and a significant portion of the script is used is for third party functionality. Note that the site does not (and never will) run any malicious code in your browser. So, if you are using a script blocker, please allow Golf Predictor. You will get a message on screen if JavaScript is not enabled on your browser for any reason.

New Golf Predictor Golf Blog Widgets

We have added new blog widgets to Golf Predictor. These widgets will allow you to see the latest posts on the Golf Predictor Blog. Should you wish to read the post, you can click on the widget to open the blog or a post title to open that particular post.

There are 2 slightly different versions of the widget. A wider one with the post title plus a preview of the post is on the member home page, while a narrower version with just the post titles is on the 2 Golf Predictor pages (member section and public section) that link to the blog.

US Tour Commissioner Calls For Shoulders to the Wheel

US PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem has reportedly send a video to every player begging, err, I mean urging them to play in more tournaments and participate more while they're at them with the sponsor who's stumping up their big fat pay cheques.

This will no doubt appear like a video nasty to a lot of the pampered pros, who are very used to doing their own thing. However, I'm sure they realise that it's necessary if they want to keep the large trough that their snouts have been wedged into in these tough economic times.

We here at Golf Predictor presume that Finchem included the story about the goose who laid the golden eggs in his video package!!

Nicklaus and Sorenstam Recruited to Olympic Drive

Talk about getting the big guns out! The International Golf Federation has named Jack Nicklaus and Annika Sorenstam as Global Ambassadors in support of the bid to get golf into the 2016 Olympics.

No finer man than Nicklaus to have in your corner; a legendary player on the course and a legendary gentleman and ambassador for the game off it. Sorenstam's not too shabby either and she does have some time on her hands now that she has just retired from her illustrious career!

This should really help the cause to be one of the two new sports introduced at the 2016 games. The winners will be announced in Copenhagen in October, 2009 and we here at Golf Predictor are rooting for Jack and Annika to succeed (they usually do!).

Tiger as a Caddie

Ever wonder what it would be like to have Tiger Woods as your caddie? This nice gentleman found out thanks to a Buick competition. And Tiger didn't disparage a fellow player even once!! We here at Golf Predictor urge you not to laugh at the putting - he was under some pressure and not used to such quick greens!

Golf Predictor Technology Makeover

We are very excited to announce the addition of AJAX technology to Golf Predictor. This will make the site more responsive for all users. AJAX allows the partial updating of a web page and you can continue to interact with the page while the data is loaded in the background.

In Golf Predictor, this means that when you select a new season, tour or tournament from a drop down box, instead of a full page reload (as was the case up until now), just the part of the page with the information (e.g. data table or map) will be updated. This should make Golf Predictor even better to use. If it isn't instantaneous, an updating message and graphic will appear on the page during the partial update.

You must have JavaScript enabled on your browser for AJAX to work. You already need this for Golf Predictor (for the menu and charts), so that is not an issue. Occasionally a partial page update request may time out. If such a time out occurs, you will be alerted and the page automatically reloaded. Often this is due to a transient network problem and you can simply try again.

We hope this major enhancement will add to your browsing experience. Please contact us immediately if you experience any problems on the site.

Latest on Tiger's Knee - From the Horse's Mouth!

This video has the man himself giving an update on his knee at the Chevron World Challenge, which he is hosting. The announcer also mentions "Caddiegate" at the end!

Boo Weekley to Write a Book

Colourful Boo Weekley has announced that he's trying to get a book published about his life, his path into golf and the various scrapes he has managed to get himself into (including boxing an orang-utan!).

Now while it's unlikely to challenge for a Nobel Prize for Literature, Golf Predictor is sure it would be an interesting read, especially for hunting and fishing enthusiasts!

Putting for Dough Proved Once Again!

More proof, if proof was needed, of the old adage about putting for dough is revealed in more interesting statistics from the US PGA Tour. Joe Durant led the PGA Tour in greens hit in regulation, Olin Browne led the Tour in driving accuracy and Robert Garrigus was the second longest hitter on tour. Yet all three had to go back to Q-School where Garrigus was the only one to win back his card.

A closer look at the stats tables reveal that while Durant was the best at getting to the green, he was also the worst on it (197th out of 197 with 30.86 putts per round). Browne may have been the most accurate off the tee, but he was also one of the shortest (194th - 272.1 yard average drive) and also a poor putter when he eventually got there (176th with 29.99 putts per round). Meanwhile, Garrigus may be long, but he's also all over the shop (176th in driving accuracy - 56.23% of fairways hit) and a poor putter (154th with 29.74 putts per round).

We here at Golf Predictor reckon that more work on the practice green would really have been the order of the day for these guys!

Butch Wades into Caddiegate!

Butch Harmon has added to the storm in the teacup that is Steve Williams' appraisal of Phil Mickelson. Butch was indeed right to call the affair deplorable and so on. Even if he wasn't working with "Nice Guy Phil" these days, it would have been the right thing to say!

All caddies, get your CVs (resumes) in order - there could be a vacancy opening up for a big paying part time job with some heavy lifting and high fiving required! We here at Golf Predictor are dusting ours off and hitting the gym!

Everybody Loves Padraig!

2008 just keeps on getting better and better for Ireland's Padraig Harrington, who has just won 2 more major awards. First of all, it was announced that he had become only the third player to win the Golf Writers' Trophy two years in a row. Then, more pleasing for him perhaps, he became the first European winner of the US PGA Tour Player of the Year. Voted by his peers, he probably pipped Tiger Woods to the award.

It was an interesting match up. Harrington won 2 majors, but in truth did little else all year. Woods, on the other hand, only played 6 events before injury ruled him out for the season. He did win 4 of those tournaments (including the one legged major of course!) and finished no lower than fifth, but it would probably have made a slight mockery of the award had he received it for so few events played. Still, Padraig is a worthy winner as he was magisterial in those two major victories and two majors in one year is a fantastic accomplishment. It must be pleasing to know that everyone - fans, players (bar Sergio Garcia!) and journalists like you! Perhaps he could give Phil Mickelson and Rory Sabbatini a few tips!!

As far as we know here at Golf Predictor, the only accolades that Harrington hasn't won this year are the BBC Overseas Personality of the Year and a Nobel prize. While the Olympics and Mr Bolt robbed him of the former, we think that the latter will remain slightly out of his reach! He is very determined though, so if he takes up a new hobby (perhaps economics, given his financial background!) in 2009, you'd never know!

Most Impressive List in Golf

We can't decide here at Golf Predictor which of the following lists is the most impressive:

1. Golfers who have won a career grand slam
2. Golfers with the most major victories
3. Golfers with most US PGA Tour wins
4. Golfers with most European PGA Tour wins

So, why not have your say. Let us know which one you think is the most impressive! We're veering towards number two above, but it's mighty close!

Golfers With the Most European PGA Wins

In terms of European PGA Tour victories, the most successful golfers of all time are:

1. Seve Ballesteros, 50 (1976-1995)
2. Bernhard Langer, 42 (1980-2002)
3. Tiger Woods, 37 (1997-2009)
   
4. Colin Montgomerie, 31 (1989-2007)
5. Ian Woosnam, 29 (1982-1997)
6. Nick Faldo 30 (1977-1996)
7. Ernie Els, 24 (1994-2007)
8. José María Olazábal, 23 (1986-2005)
9. Sam Torrance, 21 (1976-1998)
10. Mark James, 18 (1978-1997)
11. Lee Westwood, 18 (1996-2007)
12. Sandy Lyle, 18 (1979-1992)
    

This list might not have the legends of golf that other lists have, but since the European Tour is only in existence since 1972, it could hardly compete with the much older US PGA Tour (founded in the 1930s).

Regardless, it sure does have a lot of the big names in golf (and European Ryder Cup Captains/Vice-Captains) from the last thirty years or so. Although they have a combined nineteen major victories between them, it's a shame than Monty hasn't contributed to that total (yet!). It's great to see Seve, a stalwart of the European Tour, on the top of the list. Four of the top ten still compete (six if you include the occasional Faldo/Langer appearance), so we'll be tracking them on Golf Predictor as they try to move up this list!

Golfers With the Most US PGA Wins

In terms of US PGA Tour victories, the most successful golfers of all time are:

1. Sam Snead, 82 (1936–1965)
2. Jack Nicklaus, 73 (1962–1986)
3. Tiger Woods, 70 (1996–2009)
4. Ben Hogan, 64 (1938–1959)
5. Arnold Palmer, 62 1955–1973
6. Byron Nelson, 52 (1935–1951)
7. Billy Casper, 51 (1956–1975)
8. Walter Hagen, 44 (1916–1936)
9. Cary Middlecoff, 40 (1945–1961)
10. Gene Sarazen, 39 (1922–1941) and Tom Watson, 39 (1974–1998)

Another mightily impressive list. Byron Nelson won half his total in about 2 years during the 1940s! Again Tiger has almost caught Jack in about half the time and is well on track to beat Slammin' Sammy's record. Luckily for Snead fans, Woods hasn't played in many events in recent seasons. We'll be tracking Tiger on Golf Predictor as he guns for yet another record!

It's worth noting that if Ben Hogan had not been so seriously injured in a car crash in 1949, he would surelty have won far more tournaments. The fact that he recovered to play golf again at all is miraculous, never mind to almost win the grand slam in 1953.

Golfers With the Most Major Victories

In terms of major tournament victories, the most successful golfers of all time are:

• Jack Nicklaus, 18 (1962-86)
• Tiger Woods, 14 (1997– )
• Walter Hagen, 11 (1914–1929)
• Gary Player, 9 (1961–1978)
• Ben Hogan, 9 (1946–1953)
• Tom Watson, 8 (1975–1983)
• Arnold Palmer, 7 (1958–1964 )
• Sam Snead, 7 (1942–1954)
• Gene Sarazen, 7 (1922–1935)
• Bobby Jones, 7 (1923–1930)
• Harry Vardon, 7 (1896–1914)

Who said cream doesn't rise to the top?! Some impressive names there, none more so than the part-time amateur Bobby Jones. He makes the list despite having a short career span and not being eligible for the US PGA Championship, which wasn't a major at the time. His other amateur majors aren't included in this list either.

Tiger has amassed 14 majors in less than half the time Jack took to win 18, so as long as his knee holds out, it seems to be a question of when, not if, he takes the most coveted of records from the Golden Bear. We'll be tracking him on Golf Predictor as he aims for another record!

Golfers who have won Career Grand Slams

Many great golfers have won multiple majors down through the years, but very few have the complete set. The only golfers to win the career grand slam as we now know it are:

• Tiger Woods
• Jack Nicklaus
• Gary Player
• Ben Hogan
• Gene Sarazen

Tiger and Jack have three career slams, an unbelievable achievement. Of course, no one has managed to win the four in the same season yet, although Ben Hogan was robbed of a great chance by stupid scheduling in 1953. The British Open and US PGA were too close together and tragically Hogan couldn't get back from Britain in time for a crack at his fourth major of the season. Tiger Woods managed to have the most impressive mantelpiece in golf history when he held all four majors simultaneously in 2002. Unfortunately for him, it spanned two seasons of brilliance, but it was still a remarkable achievement.

The only player ever to win a bona fide grand slam is the most famous and brilliant amateur golfer of all time, the great Bobby Jones. However, when he achieved the impossible under the greatest of pressure in 1930, the grand slam was somewhat different, consisting of the the US and British Amateur and professional Opens. Jones would go on to found Augusta National and The Masters tournament, which was first held in 1934.

What Jones achieved was fantastic and has never been equalled. However, what odds on a rehabilitated Tiger Woods cementing his standing as a golfing immortal by achieving the modern equivalent? We'll be tracking him on Golf Predictor as he tries his hardest!

Tiger's Caddie Telling It Like It Is!

Tiger Woods' caddie, Steve Williams, didn't exactly enhance the already frosty relationship between his boss and the world number 3, Phil Mickelson, with comments printed in a New Zealand newspaper.

While speaking your mind can sometimes be an admirable quality, there are times when a bit of tact is called for. This was one of those times. Confirming what everyone knows and fanning the flames of animosity by throwing in his own tuppence worth was plain dumb and causes unnecessary complications. At the very least, he should learn what speaking off the record means*!

Woods was quick to distance himself from the remarks, no matter how true they may have been. Mickelson was quick to stick the boot in himself, saying how fortunate he was to have a class act on his bag! It should be very interesting to see what happens when Williams and Mickelson cross paths again. Unfortunately, Golf Predictor doesn't track fights on the first tee!


*Update - apparently he thought he was speaking off the record. He'll make sure in future!

Great White Shark Still Lurking

We were surprised here at Golf Predictor to notice that Greg Norman is still ranked in the top 200 in the world. Now while this is obviously mainly due to his outstanding performance in this year's British Open, it's still impressive going for a man who spends most of his time these days playing tennis and making wads of cash as a business titan!

2009 - Week 5 Prediction Online

We have published the predictions for the fifth week of the 2009 golfing season, the South African Open Championship (European PGA Tour). It is also the last event in the 2008 calendar year for Golf Predictor, so we're looking forward to our well earned Christmas break!

As with last week, there are a lot of lesser known South Africans in the field. However, there are more big names competing this week, with the big name South Africans out in force for their national open.

There are 4 past champions from pre-2004 in the field (we use the results from the previous 5 years). They are Trevor Immelman (2003), Tim Clark (2002), David Frost (1999) and Ernie Els (1998), who all won on a different course to the Pearl Valley layout now used.Tim Clark also just won the Australian Open yesterday, so his confidence will be high.

Cosmopolitan World Top 10

Gone are the days of US dominance at the top of the world rankings (hurrah!). While they still hold 2 of the top 3 spots in the list (Woods & Mickleson), that's all they have in the top 10 at the moment. In fact, Sweden has as many golfers in the upper echelon, thanks to the wonderfully consistent play of Karlsson and Stenson in 2008.

In all, there are golfers from 8 different countries and 4 different continents in the current top 10. A fifth continent is represented by 11th spot and the complete set is achieved in the top 18. That goes to show the current global strength of golf. Long may it continue, especially the part with the Irish man in the top 4!!

2009 - Week 4 Winner

As feared yesterday, Thomas Aiken buckled under the pressure to hand Richard Sterne (ranked 7th by Golf Predictor) the Alfred Dunhill Championship. American Len Mattiace also buckled in the last round, recording two treble bogies to plummet down the leaderboard. If only he was as accurate under pressure as the guy who threw his shoes at his president yesterday, Mattiace might have won the tournament! Sterne wasn't complaining though as he became the first home winner in 3 years, securing the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit title to boot.

It wasn't a great week for the top players in the field. Our top ranked player, Lee Westwood finished in a tie for 16th and we also had David Lynn in the top 10.

Aiken Breaks Course Record in Alfred Dunhill Championship

Little known South African, Thomas Aiken, lowered the Leopard Creek course record by 2 shots with a sparkling 61. Having had 9 birdies and no blemishes after 17 holes, he chipped in for eagle on the par 5 18th for good measure!

That superb 11 under par effort beat the previous mark set by compatriot Trevor Immelman and catapulted Aiken to the top of the leaderboard. We here at Golf Predictor will be interested to see if the 25 year old can keep up the good work under the pressure of the final round.

Mount Juliet Baulks at Holding the Irish Open

The scramble is on to find a host course for the 2009 Irish Open, Ireland's only European PGA Tour event. Previous reports had suggested that Mount Juliet would stage the event, but yesterday the estate management reluctantly had to refuse the hosting invitation from the European Tour.

The reasons given were prior commitments on the estate at that time, but the premature leaking of the venue as a fait accompli certainly didn't help matters. It is now believed that the search for a new host course is centred on the East coast, as everyone knows that's where the best courses in Ireland are!!!!!!!!!!

Golfer Results Page Enhanced

We have improved the look of the golfer results page. This page is available whenever you click on a golfer name on any of the Golf Predictor pages that lists tournament results. We have now brought it more into line with the other such pages in the Member section of Golf Predictor.

We have also taken the opportunity to add the golfer's total to the page i.e. the number of strokes the golfer took in the tournament.

Daly in Doo-Doo Down Under

Even more controversy for poor John Daly on his 3 tournament sojourn in Australia. In this case, I feel he was justified to be upset when someone stuck a camera in his face as he prepared to take a shot on his final hole at the first round of the Australian Open. The ensuing flash at close quarters having "burnt" his eyes, Daly took it upon himself to test the camera's durability by hurling it into a tree. Assuming it was Japanese, the camera should still be in perfect working order!

It hasn't been a great return for promoters as Daly, who has received an appearance fee for the three events in Oz, has missed the cut twice so far and struggled to a 78 yesterday. We can look forward to seeing more fireworks from Big John next year on the European Tour, where he plans to play regularly. Golf Predictor doesn't recommend that you bring your camera to record it for posterity though!

Corey Pavin to Captain US Ryder Cup Team

Corey Pavin has been announced as the successor to Paul Azinger and captain for the 2010 Ryder Cup in Wales. He'll have a tough act to follow as Zinger did a great job, although he was probably helped by the fact that Tiger Woods was unavailable!

Pavin now steps up to the mark after his predecessor couldn't be persuaded to stay on for another battle. Way to quit while you're ahead! We here at Golf Predictor wonder what odds now on the official US team outfits for 2010 being combat gear of some description?!

US Tour - Cowboys Don't Like Golf!

While looking at the 'Tournament Locations' page (Member section, View Options menu) on Golf Predictor, it struck us that the US Tour doesn't in fact cover that much of the US! This is especially true if you take the huge state of Alaska into account!

It seems to have been this way for years, with huge swathes of the North West and Rocky Mountain states being without a single tournament. It may well be that all the golf fans are grouped in the flag (and population) dense areas shown on the map above. Maybe the US PGA should try to boost golf's popularity among cowboys!!!

Golf is Natural Resource in Ireland!

While the apparent saving of the Irish Open on the European Tour calendar is great news for Irish golf fans, the knight in shining armour had a pretty interesting comment to make. The hero in question is the much maligned (and seemingly unsackable!) Martin Cullen, currently Minister for Sport in the Irish government.

Having done copious amounts of good work behind the scenes, it now seems that the 2009 event will be held in Mount Juliet under the sponsorship of 3, the mobile telecommunications company. It's quite a coup for the minister to get new (and increased) sponsorship in this economic climate and he was adamant that it was vital to do so.

Asserting that golf was one of Ireland's few "natural resources", Mr Cullen felt it was imperative to preserve the status of the event. We are not sure however, if he has plans to dig up the Old Course in Ballybunion and export it to a foreign buyer!

Harrington is European Golfer of the Year Again

To round off a memorable year, Padraig Harrington has been crowned as European Golfer of the Year. Not content with the two majors, two Shot of the Month awards and the Shot of the Year, Harrington also managed to "successfully defend" the Golfer of the Year award!

And is he happy? Of course not. He plans a rigorous program in the gym and changes to his swing in advance of the Masters in April. We wish him well in his quest for the "Paddy Slam"!

Our favourite Swede here at Golf Predictor, Robert Karlsson, was Harrington's closest competitor for the Golfer of the Year award. After a tremendous season where the ultra-consistent Karlsson won the Order of Merit and the team World Cup, he was unfortunate that another European bagged two majors.

Frazar Succeeds at Q-School

After hitting the stupendous 59 on Saturday, Harrison Frazer kept his focus admirably and coasted to the Q-School medal. Despite a double bogey finish, Frazar still had 8 shots to spare over his nearest challengers. Other familiar names making a welcome return to the full tour (and thus tracking by Golf Predictor!) include John Huston, Notay Begay III and former Ryder Cup player Chris Riley.

Seve Watch: Good News

It has been reported that Seve Ballesteros has been released from hospital after over 2 months and 4 brain operations. While everyone at Golf Predictor is delighted at this fantastic news, Seve himself says that this is only a temporary release on his website. Still, it can only be good that he is let out at all, especially only a week after his last operation.

As an aside, I never realised Seve had a tattoo before now! He appears to have one (possibly of a golfer) on his arm in the picture on his home page! That rebel spirit seems to be aiding in his recovery!

Stats Delay

Unfortunately, due to recent regular delays in the availability of certain key statistics, it may be necessary to change the time Golf Predictor pledges to produce our weekly predictions by. We are hoping that the delay in recent weeks is because of the US PGA Tour off-season.

We will monitor the situation and make changes in the New Year, if necessary. We apologise for any inconvenience caused, but this situation is beyond our control.

2009 - Week 4 Prediction Update

As per our announcement last week, we have re-run the prediction engine for the Alfred Dunhill Championship, the 4th event on the 2009 European Tour schedule. As expected, there isn't much variation in the Golf Predictor rankings for the tournament, using the most up-to-date data.

Frazar Shoots Magical 59 at Q-School

American Harrison Frazar shot a spectacular 59 in the fourth round of the US PGA Tour qualifying tournament yesterday to grab a four shot lead with two rounds remaining. Frazar went out in 30 and just narrowly failed to finish with 8 consecutive birdies on the Nicklaus Tournament course at PGA West in California. Unfortunately, he had to settle for a mere 59!

Let's hope he does better in the qualifying cauldron than David Gossett, the last player to shoot 59 at Q-School, who nevertheless subsequently failed to secure his card.

2009 EMAAR-MGF Indian Masters Cancelled

The European PGA Tour have announced the cancellation of the 2009 EMAAR-MGF Indian Masters due to financial and security concerns. The event, scheduled for the 5th-8th of February, was considered a success in its inaugural running last season and hopes to return in the 2010 campaign.

Unfortunately, recent tragic events on the sub-continent and the on-going global financial malaise have taken their toll. The European Tour joins both major women's tours in cancelling events due to the worsening economic climate. Let's just hope that this is not the thin end of the wedge, even if it reduces our work load here at Golf Predictor! Regrettably, we have removed the tournament from the system.

2009 - Top 5 Longest Courses on the European PGA Tour

Based on the course information in Golf Predictor, these are the longest courses on the European PGA Tour in the 2009 season:

1. The Ritz-Carlton GC at Dove Mountain (WGC - Accenture Match Play Championship) - 7833 yards
2. Earth Course, Jumeirah Golf Estates (Dubai World Championship) - 7758 yards
3. Hazeltine National GC (US PGA Championship) - 7674 yards
4. Barseback G & CC (SAS Masters) - 7655 yards
5. Royal Johannesburg and Kensington GC (Joburg Open) - 7589 yards

There are several new entries this year from the 2008 list. However, some yardages may change as the official tournament length of some courses becomes available. I will update this post when necessary.

You can get more detailed information by looking at the 'Longest Courses' chart on the 'View Options/Tourn. Stats' page (Euro Tour, 2009 Season) in the member section of Golf Predictor. Click on the "Lists" category opposite to see more such lists.

2009 - Top 5 Longest Courses on the US PGA Tour

Based on the course information in Golf Predictor, these are the longest courses on the US PGA Tour in the 2009 season:

1. The Ritz-Carlton GC at Dove Mountain (WGC - Accenture Match Play Championship), 7833 yards
2. Hazeltine National GC (US PGA Championship) - 7674 yards
3. Torrey Pines, South Course (Buick Invitational) - 7569 yards
4. Trump International Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico Open) - 7569 yards
5. Walt Disney Word Resort, Magnolia GC (Children's Miracle Network Classic) - 7516 yards

You can get more detailed information by looking at the 'Longest Courses' chart on the 'View Options/Tourn. Stats' page (US Tour, 2009 Season) in the member section of Golf Predictor. Click on the "Lists" category opposite to see more such lists.

2009 - Top 5 Shortest Courses on the US PGA Tour

Based on the course information in Golf Predictor, these are the shortest courses on the US PGA Tour in the 2009 season:

1. Brown Deer Park GC (US Bank Championship in Milwaukee) - 6759 yards
2. Pebble Beach Golf Links (AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am) - 6816 yards
3. TPC River Highlands (Travelers Championship) - 6820 yards
4. Le Cantera (Valero Texas Open) - 6896 yards
5. El Camaleon GC (Mayakoba Golf Classic) - 6923 yards

This is the same as the 2008 list. You can get more detailed information by looking at the 'Shortest Courses' chart on the 'View Options/Tourn. Stats' page (US Tour, 2009 Season) in the member section of Golf Predictor. Click on the "Lists" category opposite to see more such lists.

2009 - Top 5 Shortest Courses on the European PGA Tour

Based on the course information in Golf Predictor, these are the shortest courses on the European PGA Tour in the 2009 season:

1. Kennemar G & CC (KLM Open) - 6626 yards
2. Hong Kong GC (UBS Hong Kong Open) - 6703 yards
3. New Kuta GC (Indonesia Open) - 6812 yards
4. Crans-sur-Sierre GC (Omega European Masters) - 6822 yards
5. Saint Omer GC (Saint Omer Open pres. by Neuflize OBC) - 6884 yards

There are a few changes from the 2008 list. However, some yardages may change as the official tournament length of some courses becomes available. I will update this post when necessary.

You can get more detailed information by looking at the 'Shortest Courses' chart on the 'View Options/Tourn. Stats' page (Euro Tour, 2009 Season) in the member section of Golf Predictor. Click on the "Lists" category opposite to see more such lists.

2009 - Week 4 Prediction Issue

We have just remembered that the South African leg of the European Tour doesn't start until next week. Therefore, we will run the prediction engine again then when the slightly different world rankings become available.

We do not expect much variation in the rankings as there is no European or US Tour event this week. However, there are several events on the lesser tours, so some golfers might have a good week there. Golf Predictor apologises for any confusion caused.

Irish Hot Shots

In addition to winning 8 tournaments (including 2 majors of course!) on the European Tour in 2008, Irish golfers won 4 Shot of the Month awards and the top 3 Shots of the Year!

Harrington's majestic five wood to 3 feet in the wind at the 17th in the final round of the British Open deservedly won the Shot of the Year (and Shot of the Month in July). As if it was needed, Harrington again provided proof that he had the mettle of a true champion at the penultimate hole of the US PGA Championship. He won the August award and 3rd place in the Shot of the Year for his approach to 8 feet at the tricky par 3.

Graeme McDowell's seven iron in the Ballantine's Championship play-off in March completed the Irish clean sweep of the podium. Darren Clarke was the other Irish monthly winner in April. Talk about a great year! It will he hard to top that in 2009 and Rory McIlroy unfortunately just failed to get the ball rolling this season in Hong Kong.

Sorting More Convenient on Tournaments Page

In an effort to maximise convenience for you, our loyal users, we have made a slight alteration to the 'Tournaments' page in the Golf Predictor member section (View Options menu).

For approximately the first half of the season, the events will now be sorted by week in ascending order by default. When we move into the second half of a season, they will be sorted by week in descending order by default. Of course, you can still click on the week column header to change the sorting direction, if desired.

This change means that you should be able to find the current week's tournaments (and recent ones) with less clicks of the mouse and less loading of pages. Just another way to make Golf Predictor even easier to use!

Seve Watch: Bad News

Unfortunately, more bad news for the legions of anxious Seve Ballesteros fans worldwide as the golf legend is reportedly back in intensive care after a fourth brain operation. While we all hoped that he was well on the road to recovery, a valve had to be implanted in his brain to drain more fluid and a bone defect caused by an earlier operation had to be fixed.

His condition is reported as stable, but it doesn't look good as some sources report the hospital as refusing to even confirm the surgery. Once again, here's hoping that Seve recovers fully.

2009 - Week 4 Prediction Online

We have published the predictions for the fourth week of the 2009 golfing season, the Alfred Dunhill Championship (European PGA Tour). Not to be confused with the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship played in the Autumn in cold, blustery Scotland, this event is held in sunny South Africa during their summer. Similar to last week, it's another relatively weak field due the location and time of year. Unsurprisingly, a lot of lesser known South Africans make up the numbers but there are a few big(gish) names competing all the same.

There are 2 past champions not accounted for in our statistics analysis (Golf Predictor uses the results from the previous 5 years). They are Mark Foster (2003) and Sven Struver (1996), who won on a different course to the Leopard Creak layout now used.

Sweden Win the World Cup

Sweden finished with a blistering foursomes round of 63 to claim the Omega Mission Hills World Cup. Golf Predictor's favourite Swede, Robert Karlsson capped off a great year by partnering Henrik Stenson to victory in China.

Spain (Jimenez & Larrazábal) finished in second place and the organisers managed to find 2 Aussies not playing in the Australian Masters, only for them to finish disappointingly and drop into a tie for third with Japan.

2009 - Week 3 Winner

Robert Allenby (ranked 1st by Golf Predictor) will rue the fact that he got only 1 albatross all week as he came up 3 shots short in the Sportsbet Australian Masters! In the end, he finished in third place as the third event of the 2009 European Tour season was won by compatriot Rod Pampling (ranked 4th). Pampling took the title after a play-off with yet another Aussie, Marcus Fraser (ranked 15th).

We also had Alexander Noren and Tim Clark highly ranked as 4 out of the Golf Predictor top 6 finished in the top 4 and ties.

Fedex Cup Tweaked (Again)

As part of ongoing attempts to make the Fedex Cup even remotely interesting, the US PGA Tour have announced more changes to the rules. After the first year when Tiger Woods won so often, he could choose to miss an event (or two) and still stroll home victorious, they changed the rules. Last season (2008), the second year of the Fedex Cup, also ended with a whimper when Vijay Singh won the first 2 play-off events and only had to turn up at East Lake to win the big prize in the Tour Championship. Obviously, something else needed to be done.

That something is to reset the points at the beginning of the Tour Championship, not at the beginning of the play-offs. This is a good idea as all 30 competitors should at least have a mathematical chance of winning. It also will mean that double major winners also make the tour flagship event, unlike last season when Harrington missed out due to poor performances in the first two play-off events.

If this latest tinkering doesn't work and the Race to Dubai takes off straight away this season (2009) on the European Tour, it could make things rather interesting for the US PGA Tour.

2009 Tournaments in System

After a mammoth updating task, we are happy to announce that all the finalised 2009 US and European PGA Tour events have been entered into Golf Predictor. In addition to browsing the new tournaments using the 3 options in the 'Tournaments' page, you can now view the new tournament locations using Google Maps on the 'Tournament Locations' page. You can also see the new course information and charts on the 'Tournament Stats' and 'Courses' pages. All these pages are available from the 'View Options' menu in the Golf Predictor Member section.

The Fall Series on the US PGA Tour has yet to be finalised. On the European PGA Tour, 10 tournaments have to be finalised, either in terms of the host course or the tournament itself. When this data becomes available, we will of course update our system.

2009 - Week 3 Prediction Online

We have published the predictions for the third week of the 2009 golfing season, the Sportsbet Australian Masters (European PGA Tour). Given the location and time of year, it's not surprising that it's not the strongest field, with a full third of the field not in the top 1000 in the world rankings. However, Adam Scott aside, at least the Aussies are out in force!

This is only the third year that this event has been part of the European tour, so all past champions are accounted for in our statistics analysis (Golf Predictor uses the results from the previous 5 years).

2009 - Week 2 Winner

After a one week break, the new 2009 European Tour season resumed with the UBS Hong Kong Open. Victory went to Lin Wen-Tang (ranked 14th by Golf Predictor) after a brilliant three way play-off with Rory McIlroy (ranked 17th) and Francesco Molinari (ranked 9th). Lin birdied the 18th twice (including once with a miracle shot from the trees) in the play-off to deny McIlroy after Molinari had succumbed at the first extra hole. It's McIlroy's second play off defeat in recent months but surely it's only a matter of time until his maiden victory.

Performance of the week has to go to Jason Hak, who at 14 years old became the youngest person ever to make the cut at a European tour event. Any guy who can keep up with the big boys at that tender age and erase Sergio Garcia from the record books is well worth keeping an eye on. Both Monty and Jon Daly showed a welcome return to form, with Daly finishing in a highly respectable tie for 17th after a sparkling final round of 62. Our top pick, defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez, also finished strongly with a 62. However, he had left himself too much to do and he finished in a tie for 24th place. We also had Oliver Wilson, Jeev Milkha Singh and Graeme McDowell in the top 12.

Seve Getting Better, Daly Down Under

Great news as Seve appears to be on the long road to recovery. He was removed from the intensive care ward at his Spanish hospital, which is a good start.

John Daly is ending his tumultuous season down in Australia, another place where he has courted controversy in the past (surprise, surprise!). Leaving aside him throwing his ball and putter in a lake and not signing his card when playing a week after the death of his mother in 2002, Golf Predictor's favourite Daly down under moment was in the 1997 Heineken Classic. He fired an 83 in the third round and then blazed through the fourth round in an amazing 2 hours and 10 minutes! The organisers were not best pleased as for some reason they didn't think they got value for money for their large appearance fee!

2009 Week 2 Prediction Online

We have published the prediction for the second week of the 2009 golfing season, the UBS Hong Kong Open (European PGA Tour). While the field isn't quite as strong as that for the season opener (or even the Barclays Singapore Open last week), it's not a bad line up either, featuring Miguel Angel Jimenez back defending his title.

Jose Maria Olazabal (2002) is the only past champion competing not included in our statistics analysis (Golf Predictor uses the results from the previous 5 years).

Golf Course Charts Updated

As part of the Tournament Stats page amendments, we have also broken down the 3 charts previously available on the "View Options/Courses" page in the member section of Golf Predictor by tour. You can now choose to see the same 3 chart types for the European or US tour separately.

This effectively adds 3 new charts to Golf Predictor, bringing the total in the system up to 82. Interestingly, these new charts show that there are a lot more par 72 courses and far less par 70 courses on the European tour than the US tour.

Tournament Stats Page Now Sortable by Tour

In order to enforce consistency through out the member section of Golf Predictor, we have amended the Tournament Stats page (View Options Menu) to enable tour selection. Using the new dropdown list, you can now choose to see European or US tournament statistics.

The 9 different chart types available on this page have also been updated to show data for the selected tour. This effectively adds 18 new charts to Golf Predictor (there are now 9 for the US tour and 9 for the European tour), bringing the total in the system up to 79.

2008 US PGA Tour Stats

There are lots of interesting stats in the 2008 round up on the US PGA Tour web site. This includes the longest putt, the longest drive and the most strokes taken on a par 3/4/5 during the season.

My favourite statistics come from the list of the oddest 10 stats:

1. The shortest hitter on tour (Corey Pavin) has a lower scoring average than the longest (Bubba Watson), despite giving up an average of 53.7 yards per drive. When he finally gets to the green, Pavin has the lowest number of putts per round while Watson is 182nd. If that's not proof of "driving for show and putting for dough", I don't know what is!
2. Further proof comes with the fact that of the 36 different 2008 winners, 15 had their best putting week when they won, 11 had their best greens in regulation performance while just 6 had their top driving distance week.
3. Hale Irwin has walked over 25,000 miles on the PGA and Champions' Tours since 1968 - more than enough to circumnavigate the globe at the equator!
4. Bob Tway finished first on tour in putting in regulation, third in birdie average, fourth in the all-around category and 32nd in scoring but still managed to finish 132nd on the money list.

Live at the Singapore Open 2008!

It's not covered by Golf Predictor, but the Asian Tour is holding the Singapore Open this week and the Golf Predictor Guru is in town! It was good to see some great golfers at close quarters. The course looked great (see first picture) and the event seemed very well organised, but unfortunately the weather was awful with persistent rain and wind. Amongst others, I managed to see Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott and Padraig Harrington in action (see second picture). Golf looks so easy when you see them do it!

I followed Harrington around his back 9 (the actual front 9), resplendent as I was in my Irish baseball cap and Golf Predictor t-shirt!! I had planned to follow him until he finished and double back to watch Darren Clarke, Ernie Els and Rory McIlroy, but unfortunately play was suspended due to thunder and lightning. Cue monsoon, so after a long wait, I reluctantly decided to call it quits. At the time, Harrington was even with three holes to play having been 2 under at the turn. He eventually finished with a one over 71.

Despite the weather, it was still a most enjoyable day, although it's obvious I won't be winning any prizes for photography!!

New Tournaments View

We have added a slightly new view to the Tournaments page (available from the "View Options" menu in the Golf Predictor member section). Above the table of tournaments, there is now a new "List with Host Course" link in the "Switch to" list that invokes this new page.

This new page shows the tournaments for each season with their host course listed instead of the type of tournament. The course column is sortable for extra convenience. You can alternate between the 3 tournament pages (with type, with course and calendar view) using the "Switch to" links.

2009 US PGA Tour Schedule Announced

The US PGA Tour have announced the 2009 schedule, up until the final Fedex play-off event. The date for the Tour Championship and the following Fall Series are to be finalised later. Unlike the European Tour, there is very little change next year with the only significant alteration being the promotion of the Valero Texas Open to a Fedex Cup event. This means it moves forward in the schedule to take the place of the discontinued AT&T Classic.

We'll get round to the exciting task of inputting this information into Golf Predictor in the near future!

Performance Charts Now Multi-Year

We are happy to announce that from now on, the following charts on each golfer Prediction Data page (available from the "Stats Analysis" menu options in the Golf Predictor member section) will be multi-year:

1. Average Season Position
2. Scoring Average (Season)
3. World Ranking
4. Season Round 1 Score
5. Season Round 2 Score
6. Season Round 3 Score
7. Season Final Round Score

You can click on the newly provided year links (years from 2003 on that the golfer played) to see the data for the selected golfer in the selected year*. Note that at the moment, not all the historical data before 2008 is in the database. We hope that you find this useful.


*World ranking data is part of a prediction, not a result, so that information is only available for tournaments that a golfer played in since Golf Predictor started operating in May 2008.

Week Break!

As the US PGA Tour is finished until January and there is no event on the European Tour this week, Golf Predictor is taking a well earned break this week! We will be back next week to cover the UBS Hong Kong Open.

In the meantime, we hope to have an actual live report from the Barclays Singapore Open, an Asian Tour event on this week with a high quality field, including Darren Clarke, Adam Scott, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington and Rory McIlroy.

2009 - Week 1 Winner

They might have switched continents and seasons, but there were weather problems on the European Tour for the second week running as the 2009 season kicked off in Shanghai, China. In the end, Sergio Garcia (ranked 3rd by Golf Predictor) continued his magnificent recent form to take the HSBC Champions title and move into second place in the world rankings. In the Monday finish, Garcio edged out Oliver Wilson on the second hole of the play-off to triumph over the high quality field.

It was a great start to the 2009 season for Golf Predictor. Our top pick, Phil Mickleson, finished in tied eighth and we had 10 of the top fifteen in total.

2008 - Week 51 Winner

Davis Love III (ranked 24th by Golf Predictor) battled back from injury to re-enter the winner's circle and claim his 20th career US PGA Tour victory in the Children's Miracle Network Classic. In the final event of the 2008 season, Love finished with a bogey free 64 to secure a lifetime exemption on the US PGA Tour. However, he had to scramble up the last couple of holes to win by a single shot over Tommy Gainey who had the week of his season. Jeff Overton continued his brave performances in the past 2 weeks by securing his card just 3 weeks after an appendix operation. Martin Laird holed an 8 footer on 18 to secure 125th place on the money list and hence his playing privileges for next year. Now there's a pressure putt!

Not a great end to the season for Golf Predictor as events with low quality fields tend to be harder to predict. Our top pick, Stewart Cink, finished in 43th and we only had Scott Verplank in the top ten as the bigger names all underperformed. Maybe next year, we'll have to factor in a player's desire to keep his card in the final events of the season!

Season Transition

Golf Predictor is starting to predict the 2009 season this week. As this is the first tournament of the new season, the players form towards the end of last season will be an important factor in the calculations. We feel that this is the best approach given that there are only 4 days between the end of the 2008 season and the beginning of the 2009 one.

In the next few weeks, as the European 2009 season progresses, will will add more weight to 2009 results and less to 2008 ones. When the new US tour season starts in January, we will take a similar approach.

As this is our first season transition here at Golf Predictor, there were a few niggly problems with the system. These were primarily caused by the 2009 European season being so out of whack with the more logical 2009 US season and the fact that there is no season history for the very first event. We hope that we have now sorted all these issues out now and we thank you for your patience during this time. Please let us know if you spot a problem.

2009 - Week 1 Prediction Online

Due to the strange organisation of the European PGA Tour, this week is also the first week of the 2009 golfing season (as far as Golf Predictor is concerned). The HSBC Champions event kicks things off for the new season barely 4 days after the end of the 2008 season! The event features a very strong field, including defending champion Phil Mickleson, double 2008 major champion Padraig Harrington, 2008 Order of Merit winner Robert Karlsson and the inform Sergio Garcia.

The HSBC Champions is only in its third year, so all past champions are accounted for in our statistics analysis (Golf Predictor uses the results from the previous 5 years).

2008 - Week 51 Prediction Online

We have published the predictions for week 51, the Children's Miracle Network Classic (US PGA Tour). This marks the end of the 2008 US PGA Tour season (and the golf season for Golf Predictor!) and thus the last chance that some players have of retaining their playing rights for next season. A special good luck wish to Erik Compton, a man on his third heart who is competing this week!

Previous winners before 2003 (Golf Predictor includes results from the previous 5 years) competing this week include John Huston (1992, 1998) and Jeff Maggert (1993).

2008 - Week 50 Winners

The weather played havoc on both sides of the Atlantic, particularly on the European side where the season ending event, the Volvo Masters, was in danger of ending in farce. The European Tour's idiotic scheduling means that the 2009 season starts this Thursday in Shanghai. This meant a large portion of the field could not play today (Monday) in the event of a weather delay, which almost came to pass. This looked like reducing the flagship tournament to 54 (or even 36 holes) at one stage. Shoddy treatment for Volvo, one of the Tour's biggest supporters for many years. Why they could not have delayed the Chinese event for a week or two, we don't know. There's even a 2 week gap in the schedule after the event this week. Roll on 2010, when common sense finally comes to the European season.

In the end, they managed to fit all four rounds in and Soren Kjeldsen (ranked 13th by Golf Predictor) led from start to finish to claim an impressive victory. We had a small punt on Jimenez and Stenson to finish in the top 10, but the weather turned the event into a lottery. Jimenez was particularly unlucky, having been caught in the very worst of it and bled seven shots in four holes. Had he not lost those seven shots, he would have made it! The race for the Order of Merit petered out somewhat in the final round, but we are delighted that "our man", Robert Karlsson, triumphed in the end. Karlsson has had a brilliant season and thoroughly deserved to win.

In America, Ryan Palmer (ranked 13th by Golf Predictor) birdied the last to break out a large group and take his virst tour victory for 4 years in the Ginn sur Mer Classic. It was a triumph for sportsmanship too, as Palmer had called a penalty on himself on the 10th green when his ball moved as he addressed it. Performance of the week must go to Jeff Overton, who finished 18th just 2 weeks after an appendix operation. Now that's what we call determination to keep your card!

The Fall Series (or should that be "Desperado Series"?!) of US events with weak fields trying to maintain playing rights ends this week at the Disney Resort.

Rules - You Gotta Love 'em!

Golf is famous for its extensive rules book(s) and possibly for the fact that most golfers don't know them all that well! Golf bureaucracy also extends into making regulations for professional tours and players. Any system of rules inevitably throws up a few howlers (e.g. search the net for stupid laws worldwide!) and golf is no different.

Last year Steve Stricker became the first player in US PGA Tour (or any other sport) history to be voted comeback player of the year in consecutive seasons. That took some doing, but we here at Golf Predictor reckon he should have given the first award back as he obviously hadn't come back far enough! What odds on Tiger Woods winning it next season?!

Even more bizarrely, at the AT&T Championship last week John Cook became the first Champions Tour rookie ever to successfully defend a title. Think about that one for a second! Apparently, you have to play 6 tournaments in a season for it to be considered a rookie season and Cook only played 2 last year, including his first AT&T Championship victory.

It's a funny old game!

New Tour Filters - Update and Expansion

Further to our new tour filters post, we have modified the 'Results by Year' page in the member section of Golf Predictor to use a tour dropdown list instead of links. This was done for consistency reasons. We also took the opportunity to improve the display of long course details.

In addition, we have rolled out this functionality to all the pages in the 'Stats Analysis' menu. This means you can now filter the tournaments on all the prediction pages by tour (European/US/Both).

2008 - Week 50 Predictions Online

We have published the predictions for week 50, the Ginn sur Mer Classic (USPGA Tour) and the Volvo Masters (European PGA Tour). The good news for us here at Golf Predictor is that this is the last week of the European PGA Tour season. The bad news for us is that the next European season starts next week, so we can't put our feet up quite yet! Those cats in the European PGA sure don't like to waste time!

While Robert Karlsson is in prime position to win the European Order of Merit, Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood and even Miguel Angel Jimenez can overtake him if they take the Volvo Masters title. Interestingly, all three have won the title before at Valderrama (see below), so Karlsson can't afford to relax.

Previous winners of the season ending Volvo Masters before 2003 (Golf Predictor includes results from the previous 5 years) competing this week include Padraig Harrington (2001), Miguel Angel Jimenez (1999), Darren Clarke (1998), Lee Westwood (1997) and Colin Montgomerie (1993). The Ginn sur Mer Classic is only in its second year.

2008 - Week 49 Betting Performance

As mentioned in our week 49 round up, we here at Golf Predictor decided to put our money where our stats were and have a little wager. We had actually never done this before, but when we saw our 4th ranked player in the Frys.com Open (Kevin Sutherland) way down at 66/1 with a bookie, we couldn't help but have a punt.

This is exactly what Golf Predictor excels at - spotting value (or lack there of) in bookie odds. We took a small each way gamble on Sutherland and were sitting very pretty until the last few holes. We obviously were gutted when he caved in on the second play off hole, but we still won 1/4 of the odds for his top 5 finish (16.5/1) for a healthy profit!

While we were at it, we had a look at the odds for the European tournament (Castallo Masters) and noticed that Peter Hanson and Francesco Molinari (ranked 8th and 9th by us, respectively) were both at very generous odds to win (55/1 for Hanson, 60/1 for Molinari). We decided to put a small bet on one of them to achieve a top ten finish (roughly 1/10 the odds), but tragically, in our greed, we picked the wrong golfer! Our man, Molinari, threatened but ultimately ended up in joint 29th, while Hanson sailed into the top 10! Why we didn't back both men, we'll never know!

Oh the pain of that, coupled with the play-off loss! Still, it does show how Golf Predictor can help you make money. After only 1 week, we have 250% of our starting capital. Perhaps we should quit while we're ahead, but we're on the slippery slope now!

2008 - Week 49 Winners

It was almost a fantastic week for us here at Golf Predictor! Not alone did our top choice for the European tournament win and our top choice for the Frys.com Open (US) come 4th, but our first ever flutter almost came home at 66/1!

Sergio Garcia (ranked 1st by Golf Predictor) used his extensive local knowledge to take the Castelló Masters Costa Azahar (Europe) title. Unusually, the ultra reliable Henrik Stenson missed the cut but we also had Peter Hanson and Paul Casey in the top ten.

On the US Tour, Cameron Beckman (ranked 84th by Golf Predictor) overcame a year of misery and injury to win the Frys.com Open in a play-off with Kevin Sutherland (ranked 4th by Golf Predictor). Beckman shot an impressive back nine in his closing 63 to catch Sutherland, who was 4 strokes ahead at the turn. Under severe pressure, Beckman played superbly in the play-off to deny Sutherland (and us of our big pay day!). Our top pick, Mike Weir, finished in a tie for 4th and we also had Pat Perez in the top 10. Two of our top 10 (Ryuji Imada and Briny Baird) did not play this week, but that does not affect our performance.

Thrid time lucky for Seve?

Seve Ballesteros had a third brain operation in Madrid yesterday. Thankfully, there were no complications in the 6.5 hour surgery to remove the remains of the brain tumour and to reduce swelling.

Once again, we here at Golf Predictor wish Seve all the best in his toughest lie yet.

World Ranking Chart Improved

We have made a small improvement to the golfer world ranking chart. This chart, which shows the golfer's world ranking over a season up to the selected tournament, is available on the 'Prediction Data' page for each golfer. The 'Prediction Data' page is accessible from any option in the 'Stats Analysis' menu in the Golf Predictor member section.

Now, when hovering over a point on the chart, the golfer's average world ranking points for that week will also be displayed. The tournament name, start/finish dates and world ranking is also shown, as before.

Correct Number of Charts in Golf Predictor

While tabulating the current features and charts in Golf Predictor, it became apparent that we had not counted all the charts on our site! While our home page claimed 62, there were actually 70 charts. We had so much functionality that we forgot to boast about 8 charts!

That oversight has been corrected and the Golf Predictor home page has been updated.

Golf Predictor Charts - Complete List

This post lists the 605 charts currently available in Golf Predictor, which are mentioned on the site home page and alluded to in the post on web site features. The charts are the:

1. Top performing golfers in the season up to a tournament (the golfers with lowest average finishing position).
2. Top performing golfers in their last 5 events up to a tournament (the form golfers).
3. Top ranked golfers in the world before a tournament (the best golfers).
4. Golfers with the lowest season scoring average up to a tournament.
5. Golfers with the best overall stats in the tournament. (highest GP Rank).
6.  Golfers deemed most likely to play well the tournament by Golf Predictor (highest Performance Likelihood).
7. Strength of the tournament field (the world ranking distribution).
8. Nationalities in the field for the predicted tournament.
   
9. World ranking during the season up to the selected tournament (and all previous seasons since Golf Predictor started) for the selected golfer.
10. Field ranking for the selected golfer in seven important metrics (bar chart). 
11. Field ranking for the selected golfer in seven important metrics (spider chart).  
12. Historical performance for the selected golfer in eight important metrics (spider chart). 
13. GP Ranking (predicted finishing position) during the season up to the selected tournament (and all previous seasons since Golf Predictor started) for the selected golfer.
14. Comparison of the GP Ranking (predicted finishing position) and actual finishing position during the season up to the selected tournament (and all previous seasons since Golf Predictor started) for the selected golfer.
15. Scoring average during the season up to the selected tournament (and all previous seasons since since Golf Predictor started) for the selected golfer.
16. Longest cut streaks of the competitors in the field.
17. Longest winless streaks of the competitors in the field.
18. Shortest winless streaks of the competitors (previous winners only) in the field. 
19. Shortest rest streaks of the competitors in the field.
20. Longest rest streaks of the competitors in the field.
21. Shortest tournament streaks of the competitors in the field
22. Longest tournament streaks of the competitors in the field
23. Best record in similar weather conditions in the previous 5 years of the competitors in the field.
24. Best record on similar length courses in the previous 5 years of the competitors in the field.
25. Spider chart of season average for the field.
26. Spider chart of course average for the field.
27. Spider chart of tournament average for the field.
28. Spider chart of Tournament average for the field.
29. Spider chart of last five average for the field.
30. Spider chart of  last twelve similar events average for the field.
31. Spider chart of  same region average for the field.
32. Spider chart of similar field strength average for the field.
33. Spider chart of similar weather average for the field.
34. Spider chart of world rankings for the field.
35. Spider chart of DraftKings salary for the field.
36. Spider chart of DraftKings average points/game for the field.
37. Spider chart of PlayON salary for the field.
38. Spider chart of PlayON average points/game for the field.
39. Spider chart of performance likelihood for the field.
40. Spider chart of cut streak for the field.
41. Spider chart of winless streak for the field.
42. Spider chart of wins in current season for the field.
43. Spider chart of wins in last twelve similar events for the field.
44. Spider chart of top tens in current seasons for the field. 
45. Spider chart of top tens in last twelve similar events for the field. 
46. Highest DraftKings Salaries of the competitors in the field.
47. Lowest DraftKings Salaries of the competitors in the field.
48. Highest DraftKings Average Points per Game of the competitors in the field.
49. Lowest DraftKings Average Points per Game of the competitors in the field.
50. Best DraftKings Dollars per Point of the competitors in the field.
51. Worst DraftKings Dollars per Point of the competitors in the field.
52. Field DraftKings Dollars per Point of the competitors in the field.
53. DraftKings Salary for a golfer over the current GP season.
54. DraftKings Rank for a golfer over the current GP season.
55. DraftKings Average Points per Game for a golfer over the current GP season.
56. DraftKings Dollars per Point for a golfer over the current GP season.
57. Highest PlayON Salaries of the competitors in the field.
58. Lowest PlayON Salaries of the competitors in the field.
59. Highest PlayON Average Points per Game of the competitors in the field.
60. Lowest PlayON Average Points per Game of the competitors in the field.
61. Best PlayON Dollars per Point of the competitors in the field.
62. Worst PlayON Dollars per Point of the competitors in the field.
63. Field PlayON Dollars per Point of the competitors in the field.
64. PlayON Salary for a golfer over the current GP season.
65. PlayON Rank for a golfer over the current GP season.
66. PlayON Average Points per Game for a golfer over the current GP season.
67. PlayON Dollars per Point for a golfer over the current GP season.
68. Total Strokes Gained (Rank) for a golfer over the current GP season.
69. Total Strokes Gained for a golfer over the current GP season.
70. Strokes Gained Tee to Green for a golfer over the current GP season.
71. Strokes Gained Putting for a golfer over the current GP season.
72. Highest Total Strokes Gained (Rank) in a tournament field.
73. Lowest Total Strokes Gained (Rank) in a tournament field.
74. Highest Total Strokes Gained in a tournament field.
75. Lowest Total Strokes Gained in a tournament field.
76. Highest Strokes Gained Tee to Green in a tournament field.
77. Lowest Strokes Gained Tee to Green in a tournament field.
78. Highest Strokes Gained Putting in a tournament field.
79. Lowest Strokes Gained Putting in a tournament field. 
80. Field Strokes Gained (Tee to green vs Putting) for the competitors in the field.
81. Scoring average on this course in the previous 5 years for the selected golfer.
82. Scoring average in the same tournament in the previous 5 years for the selected golfer.
83. Scoring average in the last 12 similar events for the selected golfer.
84. Finishing position during the season up to the selected tournament (and all previous seasons since Golf Predictor started) for the selected golfer.
85. Finishing position on this course in the previous 5 years for the selected golfer.
86. Finishing position in the same tournament in the previous 5 years for the selected golfer.
87. Finishing position in the last 12 similar events for the selected golfer.
88. Finishing position in similar weather conditions in the previous 5 years for the selected golfer.
89. Finishing position on similar length courses in the previous 5 years for the selected golfer.
90. Finishing position on courses with similar grass (greens) in the previous 5 years for the selected golfer.
91. Round 1 score during the season up to the selected tournament (and all previous seasons since Golf Predictor started) for the selected golfer (line chart).
92. Round 2 score during the season up to the selected tournament (and all previous seasons since Golf Predictor started) for the selected golfer (line chart).
93. Round 3 score during the season up to the selected tournament (and all previous seasons since Golf Predictor started) for the selected golfer (line chart).
94. Final round score during the season up to the selected tournament (and all previous seasons since Golf Predictor started) for the selected golfer (line chart).
95. Round 1 score during the season up to the selected tournament (and all previous seasons since Golf Predictor started) for the selected golfer (bar chart).
96. Round 2 score during the season up to the selected tournament (and all previous seasons since Golf Predictor started) for the selected golfer (bar chart).
97. Round 3 score during the season up to the selected tournament (and all previous seasons since Golf Predictor started) for the selected golfer (bar chart).
98. Final round score during the season up to the selected tournament (and all previous seasons since Golf Predictor started) for the selected golfer (bar chart).
99. Overall round average score (stroke average) for the season up to the selected tournament (and all previous seasons since Golf Predictor started) for the selected golfer.
100. Round 1 score on this course in the previous 5 years for the selected golfer (line chart).
101. Round 1 score in the same tournament in the previous 5 years for the selected golfer (line chart).
102. Round 1 score in the last 12 similar events for the selected golfer (line chart).
103. Round 1 score on this course in the previous 5 years for the selected golfer (bar chart).
104. Round 1 score in the same tournament in the previous 5 years for the selected golfer (bar chart).
105. Round 1 score in the last 12 similar events for the selected golfer (bar chart).
106. Performance breakdown in current season so far for the selected golfer.
107. Performance breakdown in his last 5 tournaments for the selected golfer.
108. Performance breakdown for tournaments on the same course for the previous 5 years for the selected golfer.
109. Performance breakdown in the same tournament for the previous 5 years for the selected golfer.
110. Performance breakdown in the last 12 similar tournaments (over the previous 5 years) for the selected golfer.
111. Performance breakdown in career since 2003 for the selected golfer.
112. Most in-form golfers in a tournament field (whose last 5 events form is better than their season form).
113. Most out of form golfers in a tournament field (whose last 5 events form is worse than their season form).
114. Top performers on the same course in previous events in the previous 5 years.
115. Most consistent performers on the same course in previous events in the previous 5 years.
116. Least consistent performers on the same course in previous events in the previous 5 years.
117. Top performers in the same tournament in previous 5 years.
118. Most consistent performers in the same tournament in the previous 5 years.
119. Least consistent performers in the same tournament in the previous 5 years.
120. Top performers in their previous 5 events.
121. Most consistent performers in their previous 5 events.
122. Least consistent performers in their previous 5 events.
123. Most consistent performers this season.
124. Least consistent performers this season.
125. Most tournaments played this season.
126. Most rounds played this season.
127. Players with the most number of wins this season.
128. Players with the biggest winning percentage this season.
129. Most consistent performers in their last 12 similar events.
130. Least consistent performers in their last 12 similar events.
131. Players with the most number of wins in their last 12 similar events.
132. Players with the biggest winning percentage in their last 12 similar events.
133. Players with the most number of top tens this season.
134. Players with the biggest top ten finishes percentage this season.
135. Players with the most number of top tens in their last 12 similar events.
136. Players with the biggest top ten finishes percentage in their last 12 similar events.
137. Players with the least number of cuts missed this season.
138. Players with the smallest cuts missed percentage this season.
139. Players with the least number of cuts missed in their last 12 similar events.
140. Players with the smallest cuts missed percentage in their last 12 similar events.
141. Players in the field with the best average finishing position (rank) in the early season segment (for early season events).
142. Players in the field with the most wins in the early season segment (for early season events).
143. Players in the field with the most top tens in the early season segment (for early season events).
144. Players in the field with the least missed cuts in the early season segment (for early season events).
145. Players in the field with the best average finishing position (rank) in the mid season segment (for mid season events).
146. Players in the field with the most wins in the mid season segment (for mid season events).
147. Players in the field with the most top tens in the mid season segment (for mid season events).
148. Players in the field with the least missed cuts in the mid season segment (for mid season events).
149. Players in the field with the best average finishing position (rank) in the late season segment (for late season events).
150. Players in the field with the most wins in the late season segment (for late season events).
151. Players in the field with the most top tens in the late season segment (for late season events).
152. Players in the field with the least missed cuts in the late season segment (for late season events). 
153. Season average vs course average for the field.
154. Season average vs tournament average for the field.
155. Season average vs last five average for the field.
156. Season average vs similar length course average for the field.
157. Season average vs last twelve similar events average for the field.
158. Season average vs same region average for the field.
159. Season average vs similar weather average for the field.
160. Season average vs similar field strength average for the field.
161. Course average vs season average for the field.
162. Course average vs tournament average for the field.
163. Course average vs last five average for the field.
164. Course average vs similar length course average for the field.
165. Course average vs last twelve similar events average for the field.
166. Course average vs same region average for the field.
167. Course average vs similar weather average for the field. 
168. Course average vs similar field strength average for the field. 
169. Tournament average vs season average for the field.
170. Tournament average vs course average for the field,
171. Tournament average vs last five average for the field.
172. Tournament average vs similar length course average for the field.
173. Tournament average vs last twelve similar events average for the field.
174. Tournament average vs same region average for the field.
175. Tournament average vs similar weather average for the field.
176. Tournament average vs similar field strength average for the field.
177. Last five average vs season average for the field.
178. Last five average vs course average for the field.
179. Last five average vs tournament average for the field.
180. Last five average vs similar length course average for the field.
181. Last five average vs last twelve similar events average for the field.
182. Last five average vs same region average for the field.
183. Last five average vs similar weather average for the field.
184. Last five average vs similar field strength average for the field.
185. Last twelve similar events average vs season average for the field.
186. Last twelve similar events average vs course average for the field.
187. Last twelve similar events average vs tournament average for the field.
188. Last twelve similar events average vs similar length course average for the field.
189. Last twelve similar events average vs last five events average for the field.
190. Last twelve similar events average vs same region average for the field.
191. Last twelve similar events average vs similar weather average for the field.
192. Last twelve similar events average vs similar field strength average for the field.
193. Same region average vs season average for the field.
194. Same region average vs course average for the field.
195. Same region average vs tournament average for the field.
196. Same region average vs similar length course average for the field.
197. Same region average vs last five events average for the field.
198. Same region average vs last twelve similar events average for the field.
199. Same region average vs similar weather average for the field.
200. Same region average vs similar field strength average for the field.
201. Similar field strength average vs season average for the field.
202. Similar field strength average vs course average for the field.
203. Similar field strength average vs tournament average for the field.
204. Similar field strength average vs similar length course average for the field.
205. Similar field strength average vs last five events average for the field.
206. Similar field strength average vs last twelve similar events average for the field.
207. Similar field strength average vs similar weather average for the field.
208. Similar field strength average vs same region average for the field.
209. Top performers in the early GP season.
210. Top performers in the mid GP season.
211. Top performers in the late GP season.
212. Top performers in all of the GP season.
213. Performance breakdown (wins/top tens/missed cuts/finishes/non-finishes) for a golfer in the early GP season.
214. Performance breakdown (wins/top tens/missed cuts/finishes/non-finishes) for a golfer in the mid GP season.
215. Performance breakdown (wins/top tens/missed cuts/finishes/non-finishes) for a golfer in the late GP season.
216. Performance breakdown (wins/top tens/missed cuts/finishes/non-finishes) for a golfer in all of the GP season.
217. Performance breakdown (wins/top tens/missed cuts/finishes/non-finishes) for a golfer in early/mid/late/overall GP season (stacked chart).
218. Performance breakdown (average finish) for a golfer in early/mid/late/overall GP season (spider chart).
219. Players with the most wins in the early GP season.
220. Players with the most wins in the mid GP season.
221. Players with the most wins in the late GP season.
222. Players with the most wins overall.
223. Players with the most top tens in the early GP season.
224. Players with the most top tens in the mid GP season.
225. Players with the most top tens in the late GP season.
226. Players with the most top tens overall.
227. Players with the least missed cuts in the early GP season.
228. Players with the least missed cuts in the mid GP season.
229. Players with the least missed cuts in the late GP season.
230. Players with the least missed cuts overall.
231. Top performers in round 1 in a season up to a tournament.
232. Top performers in the same region in the previous 5 years.
233. Most consistent performers in the same region in the previous 5 years.
234. Least consistent performers in the same region in the previous 5 years.
235. Players with the most number of wins in the same region in the previous 5 years.
236. Players with the biggest winning percentage in the same region in the previous 5 years.
237. Players with the most number of top tens in the same region in the previous 5 years.
238. Players with the biggest top ten finishes percentage in the same region in the previous 5 years.
239. Players with the least number of cuts missed in the same region in the previous 5 years.
240. Players with the smallest cuts missed percentage in the same region in the previous 5 years.
241. Performance breakdown (wins/top tens/missed cuts/finishes/non-finishes) for a golfer in the same region in the previous 5 years.
242. Results in similar field strength events in the previous 5 years for the selected golfer (line chart). 
243. Top performers in similar field strength events in the previous 5 years.
244. Most consistent performers in similar field strength events in the previous 5 years.
245. Least consistent performers in similar field strength events in the previous 5 years.
246. Players with the most number of wins in similar field strength events in the previous 5 years.
247. Players with the biggest winning percentage in similar field strength events in the previous 5 years.
248. Players with the most number of top tens in similar field strength events in the previous 5 years.
249. Players with the biggest top ten finishes percentage in similar field strength events in the previous 5 years.
250. Players with the least number of cuts missed in similar field strength events in the previous 5 years.
251. Players with the smallest cuts missed percentage in similar field strength events in the previous 5 years.
252. Performance breakdown (wins/top tens/missed cuts/finishes/non-finishes) for a golfer in similar field strength events in the previous 5 years.
253. Results in similar field strength events in the previous 5 years for the selected golfer (line chart).
254. Top performers in round 2 in a season up to a tournament.
255. Top performers in round 3 in a season up to a tournament.
256. Top performers in the final round in a season up to a tournament.
257. Top performers in round 1 on this course in previous events in the previous 5 years.
258. Top performers in round 1 in this tournament in previous 5 years.
259. Top performers in round 1 in the season up to the selected tournament.
260. Top performers in round 1 in the previous 12 similar events to the selected tournament.
261. Most consistent performers (who played at least 5 events) in the selected season on both tours.
262. Most consistent performers (who played at least 5 events) in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
263. Most consistent performers (who played at least 5 events) in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
264. Least consistent performers (who played at least 5 events) in the selected season on both tours.
265. Least consistent performers (who played at least 5 events) in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
266. Least consistent performers (who played at least 5 events) in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
267. Most tournaments played in the selected season on both tours.
268. Most tournaments played in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
269. Most tournaments played in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
270. Most rounds played in the selected season on both tours.
271. Most rounds played in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
272. Most rounds played in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
273. The players (who failed to finish at least 3 events) with the most non-finishes in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
274. The players (who failed to finish at least 3 events) with the most non-finishes in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
275. The players (who failed to finish at least 3 events) with the most non-finishes in the selected season on both tours.
276. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the best average finishing position in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
277. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the best average finishing position in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
278. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the best average finishing position in the selected season on both tours.
279. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the best scoring average in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
280. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the best scoring average in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
281. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the best scoring average in the selected season on both tours.
282. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the most number of wins in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
283. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the most number of wins in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
284. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the most number of wins in the selected season on both tours.
285. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the biggest winning percentage in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
286. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the biggest winning percentage in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
287. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the biggest winning percentage in the selected season on both tours.
288. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the most number of top tens in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
289. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the most number of top tens in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
290. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the most number of top tens in the selected season on both tours.
291. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the biggest top ten finishes percentage in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
292. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the biggest top ten finishes percentage in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
293. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the biggest top ten finishes percentage in the selected season on both tours.
294. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the least number of cuts missed in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
295. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the least number of cuts missed in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
296. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the least number of cuts missed in the selected season on both tours.
297. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the smallest cuts missed percentage in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
298. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the smallest cuts missed percentage in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
299. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the smallest cuts missed percentage in the selected season on both tours.
300. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the best average first round in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
301. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the best average first round in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
302. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the best average first round in the selected season on both tours.
303. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the best average second round in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
304. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the best average second round in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
305. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the best average second round in the selected season on both tours.
306. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the best average third round in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
307. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the best average third round in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
308. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the best average third round in the selected season on both tours.
309. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the best average final round in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
310. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the best average final round in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
311. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the best average final round in the selected season on both tours.
312. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the best overall average round (stroke average) in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
313. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the best overall average round (stroke average) in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
314. The players (who played at least 5 events) with the best overall average round (stroke average) in the selected season on both tours.
315. Spider performance (average finish) comparison chart for all selected golfers in eight historical metrics ('Compare Golfers' page).
316. GP Rank comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
     
317. Season average finishing position comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
318. Season last 5 events finishing position comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
319. World ranking comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
320. Season scoring average comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
321. Weather average finishing position comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
322. Course average finishing position comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
323. Tournament average finishing position comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
324. Similar tournament average finishing position comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
325. Season round 1 average comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
326. Season round 2 average comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
327. Season round 3 average comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
328. Season final round average comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
329. Season tournaments played comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
330. Season top tens comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
331. Season wins comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
332. Season missed cuts comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
333. Season standard deviation (of average finishing position) comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
334. Season rounds played comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
335. Season voids (non-finishes) comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
336. Course standard deviation (of average finishing position) comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
337. Course rounds played comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
338. Course scoring average comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
339. Course tournaments played comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
340. Course top tens comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
341. Course wins comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
342. Course missed cuts comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
343. Course voids (non-finishes) comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
344. Tournament standard deviation (of average finishing position) comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
345. Tournament rounds played comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
346. Tournament scoring average comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
347. Tournament tournaments played comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
348. Tournament top tens comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
349. Tournament wins comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
350. Tournament missed cuts comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
351. Tournament voids (non-finishes) comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page). 
352. Similar tournament standard deviation (of average finishing position) comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
353. Similar tournament rounds played comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
354. Similar tournament scoring average comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
355. Similar tournament tournaments played comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
356. Similar tournament top tens comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
357. Similar tournament wins comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
358. Similar tournament missed cuts comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
359. Similar tournament voids (non-finishes) comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page). 
360. Season last 5 events standard deviation (of average finishing position) comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
361. Season last 5 events tournaments played comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
362. Season last 5 events top tens comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
363. Season last 5 events wins comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
364. Season last 5 events missed cuts comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
365. Season last 5 events voids (non-finishes) comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page). 
366. Performance Likelihood comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page). 
367. Cut Streak comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page). 
368. Winless Streak comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page). 
369. DFS (DraftKings) rank comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).  
370. DFS (DraftKings) salary comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page). 
371. DFS (DraftKings) average points/game comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).   
372. DFS (DraftKings) dollars/point comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).  
373. Similar length course average finishing position comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
374. Same region average finishing position comparison chart for all selected golfers ('Compare Golfers' page).
375. Last ten results (line chart: all tournaments) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
376. Last ten results (line chart: historical - course/tournament) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
377. Last ten results (line chart: similar tournaments - Reg./Major/WGC/FedEx) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page). 
378. Last ten round 1 scores (line chart: all tournaments) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
379. Last ten round 1 scores (line chart: historical - course/tournament) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
380. Last ten round 1 scores (line chart: similar tournaments - Reg./Major/WGC/FedEx) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
381. Last ten round 2 scores (line chart: all tournaments) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
382. Last ten round 2 scores (line chart: historical - course/tournament) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
383. Last ten round 2 scores (line chart: similar tournaments - Reg./Major/WGC/FedEx) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page). 
384. Last ten round 3 scores (line chart: all tournaments) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
385. Last ten round 3 scores (line chart: historical - course/tournament) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
386. Last ten round 3 scores (line chart: similar tournaments - Reg./Major/WGC/FedEx) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page). 
387. Last ten final round scores (line chart: all tournaments) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
388. Last ten final round scores (line chart: historical - course/tournament) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
389. Last ten final round scores (line chart: similar tournaments - Reg./Major/WGC/FedEx) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page). 
390. Last ten finishing scores (line chart: all tournaments) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
391. Last ten finishing scores (line chart: historical - course/tournament) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
392. Last ten finishing scores (line chart: similar tournaments - Reg./Major/WGC/FedEx) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page). 
393. Last ten results (stacked chart: all tournaments) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
394. Last ten results (stacked chart: historical - course/tournament) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
395. Last ten results (stacked chart: similar tournaments - Reg./Major/WGC/FedEx) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page). 
396. Last ten round 1 scores (stacked chart: all tournaments) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
397. Last ten round 1 scores (stacked chart: historical - course/tournament) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
398. Last ten round 1 scores (stacked chart: similar tournaments - Reg./Major/WGC/FedEx) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
399. Last ten round 2 scores (stacked chart: all tournaments) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
400. Last ten round 2 scores (stacked chart: historical - course/tournament) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
401. Last ten round 2 scores (stacked chart: similar tournaments - Reg./Major/WGC/FedEx) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page). 
402. Last ten round 3 scores (stacked chart: all tournaments) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
403. Last ten round 3 scores (stacked chart: historical - course/tournament) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
404. Last ten round 3 scores (stacked chart: similar tournaments - Reg./Major/WGC/FedEx) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page). 
405. Last ten final round scores (stacked chart: all tournaments) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
406. Last ten final round scores (stacked chart: historical - course/tournament) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
407. Last ten final round scores (stacked chart: similar tournaments - Reg./Major/WGC/FedEx) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page). 
408. Last ten cut performances (stacked chart: all tournaments) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
409. Last ten cut performances (stacked chart: historical - course/tournament) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
410. Last ten cut performances (stacked chart: similar tournaments - Reg./Major/WGC/FedEx) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
411. Last ten finishing scores (stacked chart: all tournaments) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
412. Last ten finishing scores (stacked chart: historical - course/tournament) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).
413. Last ten finishing scores (stacked chart: similar tournaments - Reg./Major/WGC/FedEx) for all selected golfers ('Compare Form' page).  
414. Field rankings in eight crucial statistics (stacked chart) for all selected golfers ('Compare Field Ranking' page). 
415. Spider field ranking comparison chart for all selected golfers in fifteen historical metrics ('Compare Field Ranking' page). 
416. Longest courses used on the US PGA Tour in a given season.
417. Longest courses used on the European PGA Tour in a given season.
418. Shortest courses used on the US PGA Tour in a given season.
419. Shortest courses used on the European PGA Tour in a given season.
420. Longest courses used on the US PGA Tour since 2003.
421. Longest courses used on the European PGA Tour since 2003.
422. Shortest courses used on the US PGA Tour since 2003.
423. Shortest courses used on the European PGA Tour since 2003.
424. Length distribution of courses used on the European PGA Tour in a given season.
425. Length distribution of courses used on the US PGA Tour in a given season.
426. Length distribution of courses used on the European PGA Tour since 2003.
427. Length distribution of courses used on the US PGA Tour since 2003.
428. Breakdown of par scores on US PGA Tour courses used since 2003.
429. Breakdown of par scores on European PGA Tour course used since 2003.
430. Course location (Google Maps)
431. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the largest fields.
432. European PGA Tour events in a given season with the largest fields.
433. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the smallest fields.
434. European PGA Tour events in a given season with the smallest fields.
435. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the best (strongest) fields.
436. European PGA Tour events in a given season with the best (strongest) fields.
437. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the worst (weakest) fields.
438. European Tour events in a given season with the worst (weakest) fields.
439. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the lowest average world ranking of the entrants.
440. European PGA Tour events in a given season with the lowest average world ranking of the entrants.
441. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the highest average world ranking of the entrants.
442. European Tour events in a given season with the highest average world ranking of the entrants.
443. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the lowest average round score.
444. European PGA Tour events in a given season with the lowest average round score.
445. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the highest average round score.
446. European PGA Tour events in a given season with the highest average round score.
447. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the lowest overall average round score relative to par.
448. European PGA Tour events in a given season with the lowest overall average round score relative to par.
449. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the highest overall average round score relative to par.
450. European PGA Tour events in a given season with the highest overall average round score relative to par.
451. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the lowest average first round score.
452. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the lowest average second round score.
453. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the lowest average third round score.
454. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the lowest average fourth round score.
455. European PGA Tour events in a given season with the lowest average first round score.
456. European PGA Tour events in a given season with the lowest average second round score.
457. European PGA Tour events in a given season with the lowest average third round score.
458. European PGA Tour events in a given season with the lowest average fourth round score.
459. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the highest average first round score.
460. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the highest average second round score.
461. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the highest average third round score.
462. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the highest average fourth round score.
463. European PGA Tour events in a given season with the highest average first round score.
464. European PGA Tour events in a given season with the highest average second round score.
465. European PGA Tour events in a given season with the highest average third round score.
466. European PGA Tour events in a given season with the highest average fourth round score.
467. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the lowest average first round score relative to par.
468. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the lowest average second round score relative to par.
469. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the lowest average third round score relative to par.
470. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the lowest average fourth round score relative to par.
471. PGA Tour events in a given season with the lowest average first round score relative to par.
472. European PGA Tour events in a given season with the lowest average second round score relative to par.
473. European PGA Tour events in a given season with the lowest average third round score relative to par.
474. European PGA Tour events in a given season with the lowest average fourth round score relative to par.
475. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the highest average first round score relative to par.
476. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the highest average second round score relative to par.
477. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the highest average third round score relative to par.
478. US PGA Tour events in a given season with the highest average fourth round score relative to par.
479. PGA Tour events in a given season with the highest average first round score relative to par.
480. European PGA Tour events in a given season with the highest average second round score relative to par.
481. European PGA Tour events in a given season with the highest average third round score relative to par.
482. European PGA Tour events in a given season with the highest average fourth round score relative to par.
483. The distribution of round one scores in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
484. The distribution of round two scores in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
485. The distribution of round three scores in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
486. The distribution of round four scores in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
487. The distribution of scores (all rounds) in the selected season on the European PGA Tour.
488. The distribution of round one scores in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
489. The distribution of round two scores in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
490. The distribution of round three scores in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
491. The distribution of round four scores in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
492. The distribution of scores (all rounds) in the selected season on the US PGA Tour.
493. Breakdown of the number missing the cut, making the cut and disqualifications/withdrawals/non-starts for each tournament.
494. Round 1 scoring distribution for each tournament.
495. Round 2 scoring distribution for each tournament.
496. Round 3 scoring distribution for each tournament.
497. Final round scoring distribution for each tournament.
498. Overall scoring distribution for each tournament.
499. Breakdown of courses used on the US PGA Tour in a given season by par score.
500. Breakdown of courses used on the European PGA Tour in a given season by par score.
501. Most wins in a given season by nationality (US PGA Tour).
502. Most wins in a given season by nationality (European PGA Tour).
503. Most wins in a given season by golfer (US PGA Tour).
504. Most wins in a given season by golfer (European PGA Tour).
505. Performance breakdown (wins/top tens/missed cuts/finishes/non-finishes) for any golfer in all tournaments/regular events/majors/WGCs/FedEx Cup since 2003 (stacked chart).
506. Performance breakdown (wins/top tens/missed cuts/finishes/non-finishes) for any golfer in all tournaments since 2003 (pie chart).
507. Performance breakdown (wins/top tens/missed cuts/finishes/non-finishes) for any golfer in regular tournaments since 2003 (pie chart).
508. Performance breakdown (wins/top tens/missed cuts/finishes/non-finishes) for any golfer in major tournaments since 2003 (pie chart).
509. Performance breakdown (wins/top tens/missed cuts/finishes/non-finishes) for any golfer in WGC tournaments since 2003 (pie chart).
510. Performance breakdown (wins/top tens/missed cuts/finishes/non-finishes) for any golfer in FedEx Cup tournaments since 2003 (pie chart). 
511. Performance breakdown (average finish) for any golfer in all tournaments/regular events/majors/WGCs/FedEx Cup since 2003 (spider chart).  
512. Performance breakdown (average finish) for any golfer in all regions around the world (spider chart). 
513. Winners with the highest world ranking for the US PGA Tour in a given season since 2009.
514. Winners with the highest world ranking for the European PGA Tour in a given season since 2009.
515. Winners with the lowest world ranking for the US PGA Tour in a given season since 2009.
516. Winners with the lowest world ranking for the European PGA Tour in a given season since 2009.
517. World ranking distribution of winners on the US PGA Tour in a given season since 2009.
518. World ranking distribution of winners on the European PGA Tour in a given season since 2009.
519. Winners with the highest prediction ranking (GP rank) for the US PGA Tour in a given season since 2009.
520. Winners with the highest prediction ranking (GP rank) for the European PGA Tour in a given season since 2009.
521. Winners with the lowest prediction ranking (GP rank) for the US PGA Tour in a given season since 2009.
522. Winners with the lowest prediction ranking (GP rank) for the European PGA Tour in a given season since 2009.
523. Prediction ranking (GP rank) distribution of winners on the US PGA Tour in a given season since 2009.
524. Prediction ranking (GP rank) distribution of winners on the European PGA Tour in a given season since 2009.
525. Percentage of winners who were leaders/in the top 5/in the top 10/outside the top 10 after round 1 for the US PGA Tour in a given season.
526. Percentage of winners who were leaders/in the top 5/in the top 10/outside the top 10 after round 1 for the European PGA Tour in a given season.
527. Percentage of winners who were leaders/in the top 5/in the top 10/outside the top 10 after round 2 for the US PGA Tour in a given season.
528. Percentage of winners who were leaders/in the top 5/in the top 10/outside the top 10 after round 2 for the European PGA Tour in a given season.
529. Percentage of winners who were leaders/in the top 5/in the top 10/outside the top 10 after round 3 for the US PGA Tour in a given season.
530. Percentage of winners who were leaders/in the top 5/in the top 10/outside the top 10 after round 3 for the European PGA Tour in a given season.
531. Most common nationality of professional golfers who have played at least one event since 2003.
532. Golfers who have played the most tournaments since 2003.
533. Golfers with the most wins since 2003.
534. Golfers (who have played at least ten events) with the best winning percentage since 2003.
     
535. Golfers with the most top tens since 2003.
536. Golfers (who have played at least ten events) with the best percentage of top ten finishes since 2003. 
537. Golfers with the least cuts made since 2003.
538. Golfers (who have played at least ten events) with the best cuts made percentage since 2003.
539. Golfers with the most missed since 2003.
540. Golfers (who have played at least ten events) with the worst cuts made percentage since 2003.
541. Nationalities in the field for all European and US PGA Tour events since 2003.
542. Most finishes in a given position in a given season by golfer (US PGA Tour).
543. Golfers with the best first round in any US/European Tour event since 2003.
544. Golfers with the best second round in any US/European Tour event since 2003.
545. Golfers with the best third round in any US/European Tour event since 2003.
546. Golfers with the best fourth round in any US/European Tour event since 2003.
547. Golfers with the best fifth round in any five round US/European Tour event since 2003.
548. Most finishes in a given position in a given season by golfer (European PGA Tour).
549. Most finishes in a given position in a given season by golfer (Both Tours).
550. Location of tournaments for a given season and tour from 2003 on (Google Maps).
551. Location of tournaments played by a given player in a given season (Google Maps).
552. Golfers in field with best average finishing position when leading after round 1.
553. Golfers in field with best average finishing position when leading after round 2.
554. Golfers in field with best average finishing position when leading after round 3.
555. Golfers in field with best average finishing position when in positions 2-5 after round 1.
556. Golfers in field with best average finishing position when in positions 2-5 after round 2.
557. Golfers in field with best average finishing position when in positions 2-5 after round 3.
558. Golfers in field with best average finishing position when in positions 6-10 after round 1.
559. Golfers in field with best average finishing position when in positions 6-10 after round 2.
560. Golfers in field with best average finishing position when in positions 6-10 after round 3.
561. Golfers in field with best average finishing position when in positions 11-20 after round 1.
562. Golfers in field with best average finishing position when in positions 11-20 after round 2.
563. Golfers in field with best average finishing position when in positions 11-20 after round 3.
564. Golfers in field with best average finishing position when in positions 21-40 after round 1.
565. Golfers in field with best average finishing position when in positions 21-40 after round 2.
566. Golfers in field with best average finishing position when in positions 21-40 after round 3.
567. Golfers in field with best average finishing position when outside the top 40 after round 1.
568. Golfers in field with best average finishing position when outside the top 40 after round 2.
569. Golfers in field with best average finishing position when outside the top 40 after round 3.
570. Box plot of all the results for a golfer in any GP Season since 2003.
571. Box plot of all the results for a golfer since 2003.
572. Box plot of all the regular event results for a golfer since 2003.
573. Box plot of all the major results for a golfer since 2003.
574. Box plot of all the WGC results for a golfer since 2003.
575. Box plot of all the FedEx Cup results for a golfer since 2003.
576. Box plot of all the results for a golfer in the current GP season.
577. Box plot of all the results for a golfer in his last 5 events in the current GP season.
578. Box plot of all the results for a golfer on the same course for the previous 5 years.
579. Box plot of all the results for a golfer in the same tournament for the previous 5 years.
580. Box plot of all the results for a golfer in the last 12 similar tournaments (over the previous 5 years).
581. Box plot of all the results for a golfer in the similar weather over the previous 5 years.
582. Box plot of all the results for a golfer on similar length courses for the previous 5 years. 
583. Box plot of all the results for a golfer in the same region for the previous 5 years. 
584. Box plot of all the results for a golfer in similar field strength events for the previous 5 years. 
585. Box plot of all the results for a golfer in the early season segment for the previous 5 years. 
586. Box plot of all the results for a golfer in the mid season segment for the previous 5 years.
587. Box plot of all the results for a golfer in the late season segment for the previous 5 years.
588. Box plot of all the results for a golfer in all season segments for the previous 5 years.  
589. Bullet chart of the golfer field rank in the current GP season.
590. Bullet chart of the golfer field rank in the last 5 events in the current GP season.
591. Bullet chart of the golfer field rank on the same course for the previous 5 years.
592. Bullet chart of the golfer field rank in the same tournament for the previous 5 years.
593. Bullet chart of the golfer field rank for the last 12 similar tournaments (over the previous 5 years).
594. Bullet chart of the golfer field rank in similar weather over the previous 5 years.
595. Bullet chart of the golfer field rank on similar length courses for the previous 5 years. 
596. Bullet chart of the golfer field rank in the same region for the previous 5 years. 
597. Bullet chart of the golfer field rank in similar field strength events for the previous 5 years. 
598. Bullet chart of the golfer field rank in terms of DraftKings salary. 
599. Bullet chart of the golfer field rank in terms of PlayOn salary. 
600. Bullet chart of the golfer field rank in terms of total strokes gained. 
601. Bullet chart of the golfer overall rank in the early season segment for the previous 5 years. 
602. Bullet chart of the golfer overall rank in the mid season segment for the previous 5 years.
603. Bullet chart of the golfer overall rank in the late season segment for the previous 5 years.
604. Bullet chart of the golfer overall rank in all season segments for the previous 5 years.
605. Bullet chart of the golfer overall rank for a particular GP Season.  

This list will be amended as new charts are added.