2008 - Week 46 Predictions Online

We have published the predictions for week 46, the Turning Stone Resort Championship (US PGA Tour) and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship (European PGA Tour). The Alfred Dunhill Links is played on 3 different courses, but the old course at St. Andrews is the main one as it hosts the all important final round. Let's hope all the celebrities get good weather for this pro-am event!

Previous winners of the Alfred Dunhill Links before 2003 (Golf Predictor includes results from the previous 5 years) competing this week include Padraig Harrington (2002) and Paul Lawrie (2001).The corresponding list for the Turning Stone Resort Championship (formerly known as the BC Open) is Brad Faxon (1999 & 2000) and Joey Sindelar (1987 & 1985).

2008 - Week 45 Winners

Well, it was back to normal action after the excitement of the Ryder Cup last weekend. Only 2 European Ryder Cup team members teed it up at another famous Ryder Cup venue, The Belfry, for the Quinn Insurance British Masters. A third member, Oliver Wilson (ranked 6th by Golf Predictor), was a late withdrawal so we won't include him in the analysis. In the end, after a close battle with defending champion Lee Westwood (ranked 1), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ranked 34), eventually won in a play off after playing the 18th four times. Fernandez-Castano played a sparkling final round of 67 with some unbelievable recovery shots, not least on the 18th in regulation. Michael Campbell continued his welcome recent return to form with a solid 3rd place finish.

Meanwhile, over in the US another European Ryder Cup team member, Sergio Garcia (ranked 2), also just came up short in a play off in the prestigious Tour Championship. Camilo Villegas (ranked 10) made up 5 shots in the final round to continue his great recent form and claim victory in probably the most lucrative ever play off (when the Fedex Cup money is taken into account). Garcia is becoming a serial loser and will want to correct that soon before the tag sticks. Our top choice, Vijay Singh coasted into his fat cheque but we had 7 out of the top 10 in the high quality field.

Site Database Problem - Solved

We are pleased to announce that the database problem has righted itself. We suspect that it was a one off problem associated with a web host system upgrade.

Site Database Problem

It appears that the Golf Predictor database is suddenly inaccessible for some unknown reason. We are working to resolve this urgent problem which is an issue with the web site host.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

New Form Golfers Page and Charts

We are pleased to announce that we have added a new "Form Golfers" page to Golf Predictor. This page is available from the "Stats Analysis" menu in the member section and shows how well each golfer in the field has played in his last 5 events compared to how he has played all season. This will be most useful for spotting form golfers and may help in picking a long shot for a placing in a tournament. Of course you can also see who to avoid also by sorting the "+/-" column. This column shows the difference in the average finishing positions for the 2 previous columns (last 5 events and season), with a negative number meaning the player has been playing better recently.

We have also added 2 new charts to this page, one showing the 15 most in form golfers in the field and the other showing the 15 most out of form ones. The screenshot above shows the most out of form golfers ahead of the recent Viking Classic. Jeff Quinney 'leads' the way with a major recent slump. As usual, hovering over a bar gives more information. The chart for in form golfers ahead of the Quinn Insurance Masters reveals Michael Campbell of New Zealand to be in a rich vein of form. That's a free tip from Golf Predictor!

That brings the total number of charts on the site up to 62! As with most of the existing charts, only subscribers can view them. So, sign up today and reap the full benefits of Golf Predictor, the premium professional golf statistics site.

2008 - Week 45 Predictions Online

We have published the predictions for week 45, The Tour Championship pres. by Coca Cola (US) and the Quinn Insurance British Masters (Europe). The reduced field Tour Championship will be something of a victory march for Vijay Singh in the Fedex Cup. I'm sure he needs the $10 million!

Previous winners of the The Tour Championship before 2003 (Golf Predictor includes results from the previous 5 years) competing this week include Vijay Singh (2002), Mike Weir (2001) and Phil Mickelson (2000). The corresponding list for the British Masters is Gary Orr (2000), Colin Montgomerie (1998) and Peter Baker (1993).

2008 - Week 44 Winner

While the Ryder Cup was going on in Kentucky, Will MacKenzie (ranked 109th by Golf Predictor) was winning the Viking Classic in Missouri. Overcoming a triple bogey on 18 on Saturday, MacKenzie triumphed at the second extra play off hole against the unlucky Marc Turnesa (ranked 96), who led for most of the week. The third member of the play off who departed at the first extra hole was Brian Gay (ranked 8).

Our top pick, Rory Sabbertini, finished in a tie for 14th place and we also had Woody Austin in the top ten.

Ryder Cup - Day 3 Review

Well, one of highest ever quality Ryder Cups is over and the US have deservedly won it with their biggest margin of victory since Walton Heath in 1981. The contest was much closer than the final scoreline suggests with the margin of victory at least partly due to Faldo's stupid gamble with the playing order. The reservations with this turned out to be well founded as his bottom loaded playing order backfired on him. The match was over by the time most of his top performers were coming down the stretch. Why he didn't move at least one of them further up the order to bolster the middle section I'll never know. They said the crowd was the US team's 13th man, but I'm not sure if it wasn't Faldo!

Still, take nothing away from the Americans who played superbly. Kim, Perry and Weekley were brilliant yesterday and the rest of the team weren't too shabby either! On the European side, Ian Poulter more than justified his wildcard pick, claiming four out of five points in a super performance to silence the critics. Graeme McDowell also played brilliantly and Robert Karlsson brought his fine form to the event. Unfortunately, two of Europe's biggest guns, Harrington and Garcia failed to sparkle and Westwood seemed to spend most of the week whinging about one thing or another. Despite his travails with the crowd, the match appeared to be played in the right spirit and featured a feast of fine golf.

Let's hope that under a less inept captain we can claim back the cup in two year's time in Wales.

Ryder Cup - Day 3

Nick Faldo must be expecting a tight finish to this year's Ryder Cup at Valhalla. There has been some surprise at the European captain's bottom loading of the singles order with most of his big guns and form golfers. Let's hope that they still have something to play for by the time they head down the stretch.

In contrast, US captain Paul Azinger has front loaded his order with his form players. That to me looks like a recipe for disaster for Europe. This obvious American ploy should have been anticipated by Faldo, whose team find themselves two points in arrears going into the day's play. However, his guys haven't let him down on the course, so let's hope for another exciting day of golf action today. The single pairings are (US names first):

• Anthony Kim v Sergio Garcia
• Hunter Mahan v Paul Casey
• Justin Leonard v Robert Karlsson
• Phil Mickelson v Justin Rose
• Kenny Perry v Henrik Stenson
• Boo Weekley v Oliver Wilson
• JB Holmes v Soren Hansen
• Jim Furyk v Miguel Angel Jimenez
• Stewart Cink v Graeme McDowell
• Steve Stricker v Ian Poulter
• Ben Curtis v Lee Westwood
• Chad Campbell v Padraig Harrington

Ryder Cup - Day 2 Review

In an exhilarating day of team golf, Europe managed to close the gap to two points after day 2 of the 2008 Ryder Cup in Kentucky. Much beleaguered European captain, Nick Faldo, has reason to feel vindicated after much derided selections such as Oliver Wilson, Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter all came good for team Europe. Wildcard Poulter played brilliantly it has to be said, as did the plucky McDowell, while Padraig Harrington's meagre return in recent Ryder Cup matches continues.

In an exciting day's play where both side's players repeatedly peppered the flagsticks and putted brilliantly, Robert Karlsson had to come home in 29 strokes just to secure a half in the afternoon fourballs! With a day of singles remaining, it promises to be a great feast of golf.

Has Faldo Lost the Plot?

There are worrying signs in the Ryder Cup that the iceman meltedth! Between blubbering over Mohammad Ali, inadvertently giving away his pairings and subsequently blabbering at length about sandwiches, delivering cringe worthy speeches and giving rambling incoherent interviews, it appears that the European captain, Nick Faldo, has lost the run of himself!

His pairings for the second day's foursomes have added further fuel to this fire and I can foresee a nervous breakdown by tomorrow evening when his shambolic leadership will have led us to a mauling at the hands of the Americans, resurgent under an immaculate Azinger. It looks like Zinger will finally get one over on his former ABC colleague, whom he affectionately labelled a "pr*ck" in an interview earlier this year!!

Ryder Cup - Day 2

European Ryder Cup captain and former multiple "Mr Popular on Tour" winner, Nick Faldo, has decided to give everyone a stick to beat him with. Despite chasing a 3 point deficit from day one, Faldo left out 2 stalwarts (Garcia and Westwood) and opted for inexperience in the morning's foursomes. The pairings are:

• Cink/Campbell (USA) vs Poulter/Rose (Eur)
• Leonard/Mahan (USA) vs Jimenez/McDowell (Eur)
• Mickelson/Kim (USA) vs Stenson/Wilson (Eur)
• Furyk/Perry (USA) vs Harrington/Karlsson (Eur)
  

It's no wonder Azinger was smiling when he read that list! In fairness to Faldo, Garcia asked for the break after feeling tired and not being in full health. Westwood, who has just overcome a nasty dose of tonsillitis, was apparently keen to play, but was made to sit out the session due to blisters caused by new footwear.

That being said, it's asking a lot of the guys he has sent out to produce the goods in the alternate shot format. I only hope that the US aren't out of sight by the end of the morning for all our sakes and not just Faldo's.

Ryder Cup - Day 1 Review

The first day of the Ryder Cup produced some great golf as the USA powered into a 3 point lead. Heading into today's matches with a 5.5 to 2.5 advantage in their quest to regain the cup, the Americans are now favourites to regain their golfing pride.

After some ropey play in the morning foursomes, the Europeans got their act together somewhat in the afternoon fourballs. Unfortunately for them, they still couldn't hang on to a lead and the Americans played tremendously to win both sessions. In particular, the Harrington/McDowell vs Mickelson/Kim fourball match was fantastic, with 18 birdies and only 1 bogey between them. The Americans prevailed on the 18th green in a top quality encounter.

Hopefully the Europeans will be able to cut the deficit today to set up an exciting day of singles competition tomorrow.

Ryder Cup - Let the Battle Commence!

Today marks the beginning of the 37th Ryder Cup match between the USA and Europe*. The most celebrated team event in golf had the worst kept secret in golf revealed to be true when Nick Faldo announced his pairings for the opening battles. Europe's best performers this season are leading the charge, with Padraig Harrington and Robert Karlsson teeing off in the opening foursomes against the formidable pairing of Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim. The other pairings are:

Leonard & Mahan v Stenson & Casey

Cink & Campbell v Rose & Poulter

Perry & Furyk v Westwood & Garcia

Let's hope it's a great weekend of golf and played in the proper spirit of the game. Let's hope also that Faldo can keep his cards a little closer to his chest for the rest of the battle!


*It was Britain and Ireland until 1979, but we were getting whupped too much!

New Tournament Winners Page and Charts

We are pleased to announce that we have added a new "Tourn. Winners" page to Golf Predictor. This page is available from the "View Options" menu in the member section and shows the list of winners for the selected tour and season.

We have also added 2 new charts, one each for the European PGA tour and US PGA Tours (although only one link shown at any given time, depending on the tour selected in the dropdown list) to this page which shows the most successful country on each tour! Maybe these new charts will inspire each nation's golfers to perform a little better! Unsurprisingly, the USA is streets ahead on the US tour with 23 out of 40 victories (57.5%) this year. Vijay Singh is keeping the flag flying for golfing powerhouse, Fiji, in joint second place with 3 wins!

On the European tour (shown above in the screenshot), wins are more evenly distributed. England are marginally ahead of a bevy of countries on 4. However, if you combine the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (which would be the best/worst thing ever, depending on your allegiance!!!), "we" would have 8 wins and be well out in front! Not bad for a small island! Then again, if you combined all the home countries in Great Britain.......!

These 2 new charts are available to all Golf Predictor members, whether you are subscribed or not. As usual, hovering over a bar gives more information. That brings the total number of charts on the site up to a sensational 60!

2008 - Week 44 Prediction Online

We have published the prediction for week 44, the Viking Classic (US). The European PGA Tour has no tournament this week, but there is the small matter of the US Ryder Cup! Golf Predictor is designed for individual stroke play events, so there is no point running predictions for a match play team event.

Previous winners of the Viking Classic (also known by other names) before 2003 (Golf Predictor includes results from the previous 5 years) competing this week include Cameron Beckman (2001), Steve Lowery (2000), Fred Funk (1999), Willie Wood (1996) and Greg Kraft (1993).

2008 - Week 43 Winners

European's Ryder Cup team got a timely boost for next week's battle when Mr Ultra Consistent, Robert Karlsson (ranked 2 by Golf Predictor), finally got into the winners enclosure. Having got into the Ryder Cup team with his 9 top ten finishes this season, Karlsson finally came good in the Mercedes Benz Championship in Germany today. Maybe now he'll finally break into the world top 20!

Our top pick, Miguel Angel Jimenez, finished strongly with a fine 66 to tie for third. We also had another consistent player, Soren Hanson, in the top ten and 9 out of the top 20 in total.

New Details Added to Tournament Map

We never rest here at on Golf Predictor! We have enhanced the information available on the Tournament Location page ("Tourn. Locations" option on the "View Options" menu in the member section).

As shown in the screenshot above for the British Open this year, the winner, his nationality and his score is now also displayed when you hover over a completed tournament on the map. Note that the score is not shown for match play events, nor is nationality in the odd case where it is not known.

12 New Wins/Top 10/Cuts Missed Charts

Following on from the new top ten tracking and other existing statistics, we are delighted to announce an amazing 12 new charts on Golf Predictor. These new charts all relate to the selected tournament and show:

1. The players with the most number of wins this season.
2. The players with the biggest winning percentage this season.
3. The players with the most number of wins in their last 12 similar events.
   
4. The players with the biggest winning percentage in their last 12 similar events.
5. The players with the most number of top tens this season.
6. The players with the biggest top ten finishes percentage this season.
7. The players with the most number of top tens in their last 12 similar events.
   
8. The players with the biggest top ten finishes percentage in their last 12 similar events.
9. The players with the least number of cuts missed this season.
10. The players with the smallest cuts missed percentage this season.
11. The players with the least number of cuts missed in their last 12 similar events.
    
12. The players with the smallest cuts missed percentage in their last 12 similar events.

The odd numbered charts above give absolute numbers with the even numbered ones may be more accurate as the number of events played by the golfer is taken into consideration. The screenshot above shows the chart for the top 10 finishes percentage, which shows my old mate Robert Karlsson on top with an incredible top ten finish in 45% of the tournaments he has played this season. He also has the least cuts missed (1/20), a testament to the great golf he has been playing this year. As usual, you can hover over a bar to display the text box shown in the image.

These new graphs are available from the new 'Season History' page and the existing 'Sim. Tourn.' page, both available from the "Stats Analysis" menu in the member section of the site. This new functionality brings the total number of available charts in Golf Predictor to a very impressive 58!

We hope you agree that these new charts really help to spot the form golfers. As with most of the existing ones, only subscribers can view these new charts. So, sign up today and reap the full benefits of Golf Predictor, the premium professional golf statistics site.

New Season and Last Five Events Performance Pages

We are glad to announce that we have added new season history and last 5 event history pages to the "Stats Analysis" section of the Golf Predictor member area. These pages are analogous to the Course, Tournament and Similar Tournaments history pages and contains statistics and charts covering the season/last 5 events before the selected tournament.

We trust you will find these new pages useful. They can be accessed by clicking on the new "Season History" and "Last 5 History" options on the "Stats Analysis" menu.

Golf Predictor in the News!

Golf Predictor was mentioned today in Ireland's most respectable broadsheet newspaper, The Irish Times, on the lower right corner of page 27!

I'm not sure that I can reproduce the text for copyright reasons, but in an article announcing the winners of the fantasy golf competition, a visit to Golf Predictor in advance of next year's competition was suggested to the readers.

A welcome mention, even if the true identity of the Golf Predictor Guru was unmasked to the nation! And before you start scouring the on-line version of the paper, it doesn't appear to be there!

European Ryder Cup Team Reshuffle?

With news of Lee Westwood struggling to overcome a bout of tonsillitis, it looks like Darren Clarke may actually get a call up to the team after all! Having suffered from that ailment also many times in the past*, I can tell you that the last place you'd want to be while having elephantiasis of the neck is a golf course!

Let's hope Lee recovers in time as he has been a real stalwart of the team in recent Ryder Cups.


*regular readers will note that I seem to have had a lot of ailments!

Top Tens Now Tracked by Golf Predictor

Golf Predictor is pleased to announce that we now also track top 10 finishes for each golfer in a tournament field. From this week on (week 43, 2008 - the European Mercedes Benz Championship), you can see at a glance the number of top 10 finishes that each golfer has had that season, in his last 5 events, on that course, in that tournament and in the last 12 similar events.

This data should prove most useful in accessing golfer performance and is available on a new row in the "Other Statistics" section of the golfer prediction page (see screenshot above for Miguel Angel Jimenez's statistics). A new sortable column with the relevant top 10 data has also been added to the Course, Tournament and Similar Tournaments history pages.

2008 - Week 43 Prediction Online

We have finally published the prediction for week 43, the Mercedes Benz Championship (Europe). The US PGA Tour has no tournament this week. Perhaps that will leave the US Ryder Cup team fresh for the challenge next week. God knows they need every edge they can get! We apologise for the delay which was out of our control. However, we have taken steps to minimise its impact in the future.

Previous winners of the Mercedes Benz Championship before 2003 (Golf Predictor includes results from the previous 5 years) competing this week include Bernhard Langer (1989, 1991, 1997 & 2001), Michael Campbell (2000), Darren Clarke (1996) and Barry Lane (1992). Note that results prior to 1998 were on different courses.

2008 - Week 43 Prediction Delay

Golf Predictor would like to apologise for the delay with this week's prediction, which is beyond our control. We are awaiting the availability of the latest statistics which are late this week for some reason. It may well be due to the fact that there is no tournament in the US this week.

As soon as these statistics become available, we will run the prediction engine. This may be tomorrow (Tuesday) by the looks of things.

2008 - Week 42 Winners

Rory McIlroy disappointingly failed to add to Ireland's spectacular golfing year when he practically threw away the Omega European Masters in Switzerland. McIlroy squandered his overnight 4 shot lead early on and then missed a short putt on 18 to seal victory. He missed a further chance on the first extra hole before missing a tiddler on the next to hand a maiden European tour victory to Jean-François Lucquin (ranked 40th by Golf Predictor). That victory gave France its second successive tour victory and prompted the reappearance of the famous French celebrations! Our top pick, Miguel Angel Jimenez (who also missed a slew of short putts), finished tied for 3rd, as did Christian Cevaer whom we also had in the top 10.

Padraig Harrington's disappointing Fedex Cup came to an end at the BMW Championship, but at least he made the cut this time!* Camilo Villegas (ranked 15th) built on his recent good form to finally clinch his maiden PGA Tour victory. The "most ripped man in golf" moved to a distant second in the Fedex Cup race behind Vijay Singh with his wire to wire victory. The big guns didn't perform all that well, but we had Steve Stricker, K.J. Choi and Jim Furyk in the top 10. Our top pick and currently top ranked competing golfer in the world, Phil Mickelson, continued his unspectacular streak with a tie for 17th place.

*There was no cut!

Google Chrome and Apple Safari Browser Compatibility

We here at Golf Predictor downloaded the beta release of the new Google Chrome browser to see how our site looked in it. To our surprise, our menus didn't display correctly, thereby rendering Golf Predictor practically unusable to such browser users. As Chrome is based on the same open source project as the Apple Safari browser, we then downloaded that only to find the same problem. As Google are shamelessly plugging this new high speed, bloat free browser on many of its web sites, we figured we better fix this problem pronto!

Oh, the joy of multiple browser compatibility! The reason why the menus didn't render correctly is a known issue and not a programming error as such (perish the thought!). In any event, the workaround was surprisingly complex, but we persevered. Now, the menus in Safari and Chrome work in a similar manner to those in the other supported browsers. We apologise to any users of Safari who had problems accessing our site in the past.

2008 - Top 5 Shortest Courses on the European PGA Tour

Based on the course information in Golf Predictor, these were the shortest courses used on the European PGA Tour in the 2008 season:

1. Kennemar G & CC (KLM Open) - 6626 yards
2. Hong Kong GC (UBS Hong Kong Open) - 6703 yards
3. Santo de Serra (Madeira Islands Open) - 6826 yards
4. Arlandastad GC (SAS Masters) - 6835 yards,
5. Crans-sur-Sierre GC (Omega European Masters) - 6857 yards
   

Interestingly, the short courses also seemed to be longer in the US than 'Europe'*! You can get more detailed information by looking at the 'Shortest Courses' chart on the 'View Options/Tourn. Stats' page (Euro Tour, 2008 season) in the member section of Golf Predictor. Click on the "Lists" category opposite to see more such lists.

The 2009 list is also available.


*The European Tour actually hosts tournaments on 4 continents.

2008 - Top 5 Shortest Courses on the US PGA Tour

Based on the course information in Golf Predictor, these were the shortest courses used on the US PGA Tour in the 2008 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

Interestingly, the short courses also seemed to be longer in the US than 'Europe'* in the 2008 season! You can get more detailed information by looking at the 'Shortest Courses' chart on the 'View Options/Tourn. Stats' page (US Tour, 2008 Season) in the member section of Golf Predictor. Click on the "Lists" category opposite to see more such lists.

The 2009 list is also available.


*The European Tour actually hosts tournaments on 4 continents.

2008 - Top 5 Longest Courses on the European PGA Tour

Based on the course information in Golf Predictor, these were the longest courses used on the European PGA Tour in the 2008 season:

1. Royal Johannesburg and Kensington GC (Joburg Open) - 7589 yards
2. Torrey Pines, South Course (US Open) - 7569 yards
3. Abu Dhabi GC (Abu Dhabi Golf Championship) - 7500 yards
4. Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort (Irish Open) - 7453 yards
5. Augusta National GC (The Masters) - 7445 yards

Interestingly, the long courses seemed to be longer in the US than 'Europe'*! Indeed 2 of the courses above are major venues in the US. You can get more detailed information by looking at the 'Longest Courses' chart on the 'View Options/Tourn. Stats' page (Euro Tour, 2008 Season) in the member section of Golf Predictor. Click on the "Lists" category opposite to see more such lists.

The 2009 list is also available.


*The European Tour actually hosts tournaments on 4 continents.

2008 - Top 5 Longest Courses on the US PGA Tour

Based on the course information in Golf Predictor, these were the longest courses used on the US PGA Tour:

1. Ginn Hammock Beach Resort, Conservatory Course (Ginn sur Mer Classic) - 7663 yards
2. Torrey Pines, South Course (US Open/Buick Invitational) - 7569 yards
3. Trump International Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico Open) - 7569 yards
4. Walt Disney Word Resort, Magnolia GC (Children's Miracle Network Classic) - 7516 yards
5. Atunyote GC at Turning Stone Resort (Turning Stone Resort Championship) - 7482 yards

Interestingly, the long courses seemed to be longer in the US than 'Europe'*! You can get more detailed information by looking at the 'Longest Courses' chart on the 'View Options/Tourn. Stats' page (US Tour, 2008 Season) in the member section of Golf Predictor. Click on the "Lists" category opposite to see more such lists.

The 2009 list is also available.


*The European Tour actually hosts tournaments on 4 continents.

2008 - Week 42 Predictions Online

We have finally published the predictions for week 42, the BMW Championship (US) and the Omega European Open (Europe). Apologies for the delay, but we had to wait for the statistics to become available after the Monday finish on week 41.

Previous winners of the BMW Championship before 2003 (Golf Predictor includes results from the previous 5 years) competing this week include Jerry Kelly (2002), Robert Allenby (2000), Steve Stricker (1996) and Billy Mayfair (1995). The corresponding list for the Omega European Open is Ricardo Gonzales (2001), Eduardo Romero (1994, 2000) Sven Struver (1998) and Barry Lane (1993).

US Ryder Cup Wildcards

US Ryder Captain, Paul Azinger, announced the 4 wildcard picks for his team earlier today. Unlike his European counterpart, Azinger didn't have to put up with much hoopla prior to his selections. However, he had his own concerns, mainly that the US golfers in the running for a spot haven't been up to much lately. Things were so bad that he delayed his selection for 3 weeks in the forlorn hope that someone started to play well,

Azinger said he had help gathering the statistics and crunching the numbers for all the guys in the running for his pretty inexperienced team, but this had ended up confusing him. Paul, Paul, if only you had used Golf Predictor - we had all that done for you and presented in easy to digest graphs and tables!

In the end he went for Chad Campbell, Steve Stricker, Hunter Mahan and JB Holmes. Only Campbell having previous (losing) Ryder Cup experience and only the big hitting Holmes has won this year on tour. The biggest surprise among his 3 rookies, perhaps, was Hunter "Kunta Kinte" Mahon, given his 'slave' outburst a few weeks ago. Let's hope he throws his shackles off and has a great week in Kentucky!!

2008 - Week 41 Winners

Gregory Havrey (ranked 33 by Golf Predictor) didn't let all the Ryder Cup shenanigans distract him as he impressively held off the field to win the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles. Our top pick, Lee Westwood, finished 10th despite slating the greens at the Centenary course. We also had nine others in the top nineteen and ties.

Meanwhile, at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston, Vijay Singh (ranked 2) increased his stranglehold on the Fedex Cup by winning his second play-off event in a row. Featuring an unbelievable putting display (featuring just 23 putts), the "dodgy" putter blew away the field with a fantastic closing 63 in difficult conditions on Monday. Apparently, convincing yourself that you are a great putter is the key! Our top pick, Phil Mickelson, failed to make the 3rd round cut, but we also had Sergio Garcia and Jim Furyk in the top 7.

2008 - Week 42 Predictions Delay

The second Fedex Cup play-off tournament, the Deutsche Bank Championship, is finishing today (Monday) which is Labor Day in the US. As a result, there will be a delay in publishing the predictions for the coming week's events, the BMW Championship (US) and the Omega European Masters.

As soon as the results and the latest statistics become available, we will run the prediction engine. However, it is unlikely to happen before tomorrow (Tuesday). The entry list for the next leg of the Fedex Cup play-offs (BMW Championship) is dependent on the outcome of the Deutsche Bank Championship and we expect a delay until that is finalised. Golf Predictor apologises for the delay which is beyond our control.