McIlroy Marches On

Rory McIlroy continued his impressive American debut in the WGC - Accenture Match Play Championship yesterday. McIlroy easily defeated Tim Clark, who seemed to have shot his bolt against Tiger Woods in the previous round. McIlroy now faces Australian Geoff Ogilvy in the quarter finals, the highest ranked player left in the field.

Ernie Els, something of a match play specialist, also progressed in what has been a disappointing season for him to date. Phil Mickelson bit the dust though, falling to Stewart Cink in what seemed to be a battle between two players who didn't want to win at one point!

Paul Casey looked very impressive in his win against Swede Peter Hanson as did his compatriot Ross Fisher in his victory over Jim Furyk. As the only Europeans left in the event, we here at the ever partisan Golf Predictor hope one of the English men or McIlroy wins on Sunday!

The Fairytale Is Over!

Tim Clark played bogey free golf to end the fairy tale return of Tiger Woods. Clark closed out the match on the 16th to not only deny Woods a triumphant return, but also break NBC's heart. Now the TV network will have a job to interest the American public in the weekend action! Brief highlights of the match are available here:



Tiger discusses his defeat here:



Elsewhere, it was a great day for the English golfers in the field, with five out of six progressing to the third round. The only causality, Lee Westwood, didn't go out without a fight. He lost to Stewart Cink in the longest match of the week thus far, finishing on the 23rd hole. We here at Golf Predictor hope they keep the flag flying for Europe!

Normal Service Resumed for Tiger!

It's like he never was away! Tiger Woods got a fantastic reception on the first tee and duly delivered for his legions of adoring fans. Despite a slight wobble midway through his round, Woods defeated Australian Brendan Jones 3&2 in the first round of the WGC - Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona yesterday. You can see a brief summary here:



Tiger's reaction to his comeback is here:



Elsewhere, Padraig Harrington's erratic and disappointing season continued as he bombed out, defeated by Pat Perez. His best mate(!) Sergio Garcia was another big European casualty, losing to Charl Schwartzel. It was a good day overall for the Americans with 13 out of 17 progressing, including Phil Mickelson who squeezed through against Angel Cabrera on the 19th. We here at Golf Predictor are looking forward to the rest of the week.

Compare Page Enhanced

We have significantly enhanced the 'Compare Golfers' page on the "Stats Analysis" menu in the member section of Golf Predictor. As shown on the screenshot above, the individual drop down boxes for each golfer are gone and the golfers are now selected from a single multi-select list box. This makes the page quicker to load and allows more golfers to be compared without a significant performance hit.

As a result, you can now compare the statistics for up to 10 golfers simultaneously (up from 3). As before, the golfer names are not displayed in the table due to space constraints. However, now you can hover over the golfer ID in the table (similar to the hover feature on our charts) and get the golfer name and other relevant data not in the table. This is shown for Aaron Baddeley in the image above. Clicking on the golfer name in the pop up hover text is equivalent to clicking on the ID in the table.

We hope that you find these enhancements useful. The timing is perfect as this page can be used to great effect for the WGC - Accenture Match Play Championship this week.

Tiger Vs Phil

Hear the guys at ESPN have a ding-dong over Tiger vs Phil:



Golf Predictor still gives Tiger the clear edge, despite his long absence. Mickleson has played poorly this season, despite winning last week (and he did his best to throw that away too). It's all down to how Tiger's knee holds up and how quickly he shakes off the competitive rustiness.

2009 - Week 13 Predictions Online

We have published the predictions for week 13 of the 2009 season. This week 13 is not lucky for Golf Predictor as there are three tournaments to cover! They are the Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open ('European' PGA Tour), the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun (US PGA Tour) and the WGC -Accenture Match Play Championship (US/European PGA Tours). Of course, all eyes will be on the Accenture Match Play where all the top players will be competing. And, oh, some guy called Tiger Woods is teeing up there for the first time in a while! While Golf Predictor is designed for stroke play events, we put this event (the first match play event since we went live last spring) through our wringer to see what came out. It certainly has an impressive field strength chart!

The list of pre-2004 champions in the WGC -Accenture Match Play Championship (Golf Predictor uses the results from the previous 5 years) includes Tiger Woods (2003), Kevin Sutherland (2002) and Steve Stricker (2001). The other two events this week are relatively new and have no pre-2004 champions.

Phil's Winning Tools!

If you want to know what Phil Mickelson won with yesterday at the Northern Trust Open, check out this US PGA Tour video:



Interestingly, he keeps a few accoutrements in his bag to help with his putting and alignment. And I thought it was just hapless hackers like the Golf Predictor Guru who used such gizmos!

2009 - Week 12 Betting Performance

We had a couple of little punts here at Golf Predictor last week. We went for a top ten finish for Anthony Wall in the Johnnie Walker Classic. He had seven top tens in his last twelve similar events, but he let us down on this occasion. However, we had the same bet on former champion Rory Sabbatini in the Northern Trust Open and he came in at 4/1. He may not be the most likeable chap on tour, but we like him now!

2009 - Week 12 Winners

At the Johnnie Walker Classic in Australia, US Amateur champion Danny Lee (ranked 111th by Golf Predictor) became the youngest ever winner on the European PGA Tour. The 18 year old sealed his historic win with an impressive birdie at the last for a closing 67 and a one shot victory. The South Korean born New Zealander is only the second amateur winner on the European Tour, joining Pablo Martin who won the 2007 Estoril Open de Portugal. Unfortunately, Lee couldn't claim any of the €235,892 prize money for first place, but I'm sure he's happy with just the prestige of winning! There's no need to feel sorry for him, however. He's bound to win loads of cash when he turns pro after the Masters (especially if he lives up to his own high expectations!). Our top pick, Camilo Villegas, tanked and missed the cut but we had Lee Westwood and Paul Casey in the top ten.

On the US Tour, Phil Mickleson (ranked 2nd by Golf Predictor) put his terrible start to the season behind him to retain his Northern Trust Open title. He can thank the first hole at the Riviera Country Club for his roller coaster victory (63, 72, 62, 72), as he played it in seven under par over the week. Despite his third straight opening eagle, Mickleson threw away his then five shot lead and needed 2 birdies and a great up and down in the last 3 holes to leapfrog Steve Stricker (ranked 31st). Young Japanese sensation Ishikawa-san unfortunately missed the cut, but no doubt the experience will stand to him. Two veteran former champions, Fred Couples and Mark Calcavecchia, had great weeks, both finishing in the top ten. Our top pick, Kenny Perry, finished tied 17th and we also had Luke Donald and K.J. Choi in the top eleven.

Now that Mickleson has turned his season around, will other big guns Harrington, Els or Singh be able to do likewise? In fairness, Vijay was injured, but all three won't find it any easier with a certain Tiger Woods back on the prowl!

The Saviour Returns, Part Deux!

This time, Golf Predictor brings you (the link to) the story from the horse's mouth:

The Saviour Returns!

Further to our speculation a couple of days ago, it has been announced that Tiger Woods will return to action at the WGC -Accenture Match Play next week. No surprise really, as Accenture have been filling his coffers for years! Also, it's a prudent move to come back for a match play event. He only has to beat one man at a time and can have a few blowouts without throwing the tournament away. It could backfire on him though, if he goes all the way in the event and has to do 36 holes in the one day. However, if he's back to his imperious best (as those in the know insist he is), I doubt any match would go the distance!

Andy North is of a similar opinion about Tiger's return:



Not only is Golf Predictor delighted to have Tiger back, it's manna from heaven for the US TV networks and everyone associated with the US PGA Tour. With the viability of 40% of tournaments rumoured to be in doubt due to the economic crisis and plunging viewing figures for the networks, Woods couldn't have come back soon enough. Even the other players are delighted to have him back competing, even if he does thrash them most weeks. He is their cash cow after all!

Major Enhancement - Completed Season Statistics

Another ramification of having all the US and European PGA Tour tournament data since 2003 on our system is that we are now able to generate statistics for entire completed seasons. To that end, we are pleased to announce new "Season Statistics" functionality for Golf Predictor. This major new functionality is analogous to the prediction data already available for tournaments. However, there are some important differences to the existing prediction information:

1. The existing predictions only go back to spring 2008, the birth of Golf Predictor! The new season statistics are available for the 2003 season on.
2. The prediction data only covers those golfers entered in a given week. The new season statistics covers all golfers who played at least five tournaments in a given season. This condition was enforced to make the resulting statistics meaningful. It also helped to reduce the amount of records down to a more manageable 500-600 per season.
3. These statistics were not quite available from the system hitherto now. With the prediction data, the most complete season statistics you can get on a player is up to the start of their final tournament (not after it). The new season statistics address this for the 2008 season (the only previous season with predictions).

The new season statistics are available from the new 'Season Stats' and 'Season Stats (R)' pages, both available from the "Stats Analysis" menu in the member section. It is no surprise that a certain individual dominates past season statistics (bar 2005 perhaps)! Both pages rank the players by their average finishing position but as usual, you can sort by multiple columns if you so wish. The 'Season Stats' page is similar to the existing 'Season History' page while the 'Season Stats (R)' is similar to the existing 'Round Scores' page. Both these new pages feature similar charts to the aforementioned existing pages, but they cover all golfers who played at least five times in total and once on the selected tour that year. In total, there are an incredible 39 new charts, the following 13 for each PGA tour (European/US) and both tours combined:

1. The players with the best average finishing position in the selected season.
2. The players with the best scoring average in the selected season.
3. The players with the most number of wins in the selected season.
4. The players with the biggest winning percentage in the selected season.
5. The players with the most number of top tens in the selected season.
6. The players with the biggest top ten finishes percentage in the selected season.
7. The players with the least number of cuts missed in the selected season.
8. The players with the smallest cuts missed percentage in the selected season.
9. The players with the best average first round in the selected season.
10. The players with the best average second round in the selected season.
11. The players with the best average third round in the selected season.
12. The players with the best average final round in the selected season.
13. The players with the best overall average round (stroke average) in the selected season.

As usual, you can hover over a bar to display more information. As before, the percentage charts may be more accurate than the absolute ones as the number of events played by the golfer is taken into consideration. In addition, there are 6 more new charts on the 'Season Data' page for each golfer. You can access this page (analogous to the 'Prediction Data' page) by clicking on any golfer name on the new season statistics pages. These charts show the same information as the multi-year charts on prediction data pages, so we won't count them again! The 'Season Data' page shows the complete season statistics for the selected golfer in the selected season on the selected tour. This includes their complete results, average finish, rank among their peers, season stroke average, season scoring average, season round performance, rounds played and worst/best finish.

This new functionality brings the total number of available charts in Golf Predictor to a staggering 127! As with most of the existing ones, only subscribers can view most of these new charts. However, the scoring average and second round charts are available to non-subscribers. So, sign up today and reap the full benefits of Golf Predictor, the premium professional golf statistics site.

Northern Trust Open - Memorable Moments

Just to whet your appetite for this week's Northern Trust Open (covered by Golf Predictor), here are some memorable moments from previous years. These moments include the appearance of a very young Tiger Woods, a super three wood from Robert Allenby and, as you can see, Rich Beem trying to shag* a car!!!





*Not too rude slang meaning "to copulate with"!

Return of the Maestro Imminent?

Tiger watching has hit fever pitch as various knowledgeable insiders have predicted an imminent return to competitive action for the great man. First, it was his recent playing partner John Cook describing how Tiger was bursting the ball around their local Isleworth course in Orlando. Then it was good buddy, Mark O'Meara stoking up the acolytes with speculation on an impending return for Tiger:



Finally, Steve "The Mouth" Williams has being doing what he does second best- talking! In the latest broadcast from New Zealand, Williams gave some interesting insights into the state of his boss's game. He also is of the opinion that Tiger will soon be rampaging around the world's fairways again. We here at Golf Predictor hope that he's right.

So, it's definitely the final countdown to a return to action for Tiger Woods. There will be heightened interest in the finalised entry list every Friday for the next month or so. In the meantime, you can listen to a short ESPN discussion on how many majors Tiger will win this year:

Minor Enhancement to Performance Charts

We have added some more information to the hover text on certain performance charts. These charts are all available from the 'Prediction Data' page for each golfer in a tournament. From now on, charts which show finishing positions in previous tournaments will also show whether the golfer made the cut or not when you hover over a data point. This is also added to the scoring average charts, as is the finishing position of the golfer in that event.

Just another little thing to make Golf Predictor even better!

2009 - Week 12 Predictions Online

We have published the predictions for week 12, the Johnnie Walker Classic (European PGA Tour) and the Northern Trust Open (US PGA Tour). The Johnnie Walker Classic is returning to The Vines Resort & Country Club in Perth, Australia for the first time since 2006 and boasts an impressive international field. Meanwhile in America, Japanese prodigy Ryo Ishikawa will make his much anticipated US PGA Tour debut. Phil Mickleson must be hoping that it will take the spotlight off his wretched start to the season as he defends his title at the Riviera Country Club.

The list of pre-2004 champions in the Northern Trust Open (Golf Predictor uses the results from the previous 5 years) stretches back 20 years and includes Mike Weir (2003 ), Robert Allenby (2001), Kirk Triplett (2000), Ernie Els (1999), Billy Mayfair (1998), Corey Pavin (1995 & 1994), Fred Couples (1992 & 1990) and Mark Calcavecchia (1989). The only corresponding Johnnie Walker Classic former champion in the field is Greg Norman (1994).

2009 - Week 11 Winners

Asian Tour member Anthong Kang (ranked 80th by Golf Predictor) won a closely fought Maybank Malaysian Open. The 36 year old American won his first European PGA Tour title by a single shot thanks to a comfortable two putt birdie on the par five 72nd hole. Our top pick, Louis Oosthuizen, closed strongly with a 65 for another top ten finish (tied 7th) and we also had Prayad Marksaeng in the top 10. After a poor start, highly fancied American Anthony Kim (ranked 2) rallied somewhat with a final day 67 for a share of 33rd place.

On the US Tour, Dustin Johnson (ranked 28th by Golf Predictor) won the weather affected AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. The 24 year old American picked up his second US PGA Tour title without hitting a shot in the final round as the event was shortened to 54 holes. The big guns didn't acquit them very well this week either and it's fairly meaningless to compare performance without the pressure cooker of a final found.

AT&T Pebble Beach Delayed

The final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am has been put off until today (Monday), due to inclement weather. High winds and heavy rain caused play to be postponed several times before it came clear that no Sunday play would be possible.

While today's forecast for the Monterey Peninsula isn't much better, the US PGA Tour are trying their hardest to get the final round played. Play will start at 7.30AM local time from two tees and the players will go off in threes. The celebrities have been sent packing, leaving just the 68 pros to brave the elements. Should play not be possible today, the event will be reduced to 54 holes and leader Dustin Johnson will be declared the winner.

We will of course enter the results into Golf Predictor as soon as they are available. This will also delay the publishing of our predictions for this week as the new world rankings will not be available at the usual time. We will endeavour to produce the predictions as soon as possible under the circumstances.

Yet Another Teenage Golfing Sensation

We here at Golf Predictor are starting to believe that pregnant mothers are playing golf tapes to their stomachs! How else do you explain the outstanding achievements in the professional game of increasingly younger sensations? Already this season, we've had Rory McIlroy and Ryo Ishikawa and now we have Noh Seung-yul. The 17-year-old South Korean shot the lights out in the first round of the Malaysian Open on the European PGA Tour, carding an incredible ten under par 62. Of course, he's won already (in last year's China Classic) and also had three second place finishes, so he shouldn't be too fazed.

The situation is even more extreme in the woman's game with a pair of 12 year olds acquitting themselves quite well in the Australian Open this week. Of course, they are of Korean extraction. The almost depressing thing is even they aren't the youngest to ever have played professionally. That honour goes to (then) 11 year old Ariya Jutanukarn in 2007. It's almost enough to make you give up the game!

Samson McIlroy!

Apparently Rory McIlroy is not too worried about his unruly mop despite a US PGA Tour official recently talking of grooming "guidelines". McIlroy, who is about to debut on the US PGA Tour following his meteoric rise up the rankings, will never win 'best in show' having admitted to not getting a trim since "last July or August"!

Indeed, the teenager joked of losing his power if he shaved his locks, as superstition threatens to take hold. Personally, I (the Golf Predictor Guru) would grow my hair past my arse (if I could!!), if it would allow me to play decent golf!

New Stat and Chart for Round Page

We have made a change to the 'Round Scores' (member section, 'Stats Analysis' menu) page in Golf Predictor. We have replaced the last column in the table (previously held the GP Score for each golfer under the "Overall" title) with the overall round average score.

This allows you to see what each golfer's actual stroke average (as opposed to scoring average, which is relative to the field) is for the season leading up to each event. This column is sortable of course and we have added a new "Overall" chart to the page which shows the golfers with the best stoke averages graphically.

This brings the number of distinct charts in Golf Predictor up to 88.

Tiger Cub Born

Young golfers and their parents everywhere are praying that golfing ability isn't genetic as Tiger Woods announced the safe arrival of child number two, Charlie Axel. The young man arrived on Sunday and Golf Predictor send our congratulations to the Woods family. In addition, we wish Mrs and Mrs Woods well in their quest for a good night's sleep in the foreseeable future!

Speculation has begun over the name choice. "Charlie" is reckoned to be a nod to Charlie Sifford, the first African American PGA Tour member. As for "Axel", our initial thought was that the Woods' are Guns N' Roses fans! However, Mrs Woods is Swedish and Axel is a name from her native land meaning "father of peace".

The arrival of Woods Junior paves the way for the much anticipated return of his father to competitive play in the near future. While he is back playing golf without restriction, Tiger admits that his stamina is not up to scratch yet. Another few weeks of basking in fatherhood and building up endurance should ready the great man for action again. We speculate that Tiger will return the week he is likely to lose the world number one spot, at the latest.

2009 - Week 11 Predictions Online

We have published the predictions for week 11, the Maybank Malaysian Open (European PGA Tour) and the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (US PGA Tour). This week in the US, the celebrities mingle with the PGA Tour stars and the cut comes after the third round. The Malaysian Open field isn't quite as strong, but I'm sure Anthony Kim will do his best to liven up proceedings!

The list of pre-2004 champions in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (Golf Predictor uses the results from the previous 5 years) includes Davis Love III (2003 & 2001) and Phil Mickelson (1998). The only corresponding Maybank Malaysian Open former champion in the field is Alastair Forsyth (2002).

2009 - Week 10 Winner

Nick Watney (ranked 22nd by Golf Predictor) proved timing is everything by winning the Buick Invitational on the US PGA Tour. Trailing John Rollins (ranked 59th) by three shots with five to play, Watney grabbed the lead for the first time with his three foot birdie putt on the final hole. Rollins must be rueing his mini-collapse, but Watney showed admirable mettle by birdieing two of the final three holes to snatch the title with a closing 68.

Similar to last week, the big guns didn't perform too well. Our top pick, Phil Mickelson, managed to make the cut this week, but a disappointing final round of 75 left him languishing in joint 42nd place. Padraig Harrington (ranked 2nd) finished strongly with a 68 to move up 24 places to tied 24th, but we had Camilo Villegas and Luke Donald in the top seven plus ties.

There was no European PGA Tour event this week.

Vertical/Horizontal Charts - Now a User Preference

Further to our previous post on vertical/horizontal charts, we are happy to announce that we have made the orientation of most Golf Predictor charts customisable by the member. This is set on the member profile page (Member section, "My Golf Predictor - Edit/View Profile" menu option) using the new 'Chart Orientation' radio button.

If not set, the charts will default to the original bar chart type (vertical bars). If you prefer horizontal bar charts with the easier to read labels, set the radio button on your profile page accordingly and save your profile. You may have to refresh/reload the chart page if you already had it open in another window/tab.

This new setting applies to all charts with golfer, course or tournament names listed on an axis. You will be alerted on the relevant chart pages with a link to your profile page. This new functionality arises from member feedback. We think this solution will keep everybody happy, and we like our members to be happy at Golf Predictor!!

Your Opinion Needed - Player Charts

We have got some useful member feedback suggesting that the names on golfer graphs are difficult to read. This is because the names have to be rotated to make them fit on the page in a legible manner (see the top image above).

Since we here at Golf Predictor value the opinions of our users, we set about investigating ways of improving this. We came up with flipping the axes (see second image above), so that the all labels are horizontal. Before replacing all such charts, we thought it prudent to solicit more feedback from our users. To that end, we have added a link to most such chart pages so that you can access/evaluate the horizontal version.

Your choices are threefold:

1. Leave the charts as they were.
2. Change to the new horizontal ones.
3. Leave it as it is now on the evaluation pages, with an option to view either.

Do let us know what you think via comments to this post. We would appreciate any and all feedback. We will leave it open for a week or so, depending on the response. Thanks.

The 5 Most Emotional Moments in Golf

This is a another subjective post on what we here at Golf Predictor consider to be the five most emotional moments in professional golf:

1. Darren Clarke, 2006 Ryder Cup. Just a few short weeks after the tragic death of his wife, Clarke gave an heroic display on home soil to win three points from three matches at the K Club in Ireland. Playing at the behest of his late wife and with unprecedented support from the home crowd and fellow competitors, Clarke broke down in floods of tears after completing his final victory, a 3&2 victory over Zach Johnson. Many joined him while watching the emotional scenes.
   
   
2. Ben Crenshaw, 1995 Masters. Crenshaw won his second Masters a few days after the death of his mentor Harvey Penick. Despite being out of form and devastated from the loss, the genial Texan was inspired by Penick to win his second green jacket. Crenshaw collapsed in floods of tears after his victory, believing he had been guided to victory from above.
   
   
3. Tiger Woods, 2006 British Open. After sealing his first major victory following the passing of his father and mentor, Earl, the normally impassive Woods wept openly on the shoulder of his caddy, Steve Williams. As the emotion overcame the ultimate golfing machine, many realised that Tiger was indeed human and loved him all the more for it.
   
   
4. Jack Nicklaus, 2005 British Open. The Golden Bear had a few goodbyes to make at the end of a glittering career, but his final farewell topped the lot. Pausing at the Swilcan Bridge on the 18th hole at St. Andrews, Jack got the reception he truly deserved. When he eventually got to the green, he proceeded to make a birdie. A class act to the finish.
   
   
5. Greg Norman, 1996 Masters. The second Masters in a row to produce an emotional finish, although this one was tough to watch. Norman started the day with high hopes of breaking his Masters hoodoo but ended it a broken man. Leading his playing partner, Nick Faldo, by six shots at the start of the final round, Norman embarrassingly went into meltdown. He shot 78 and eventually lost to Faldo by five strokes. Even Faldo, never a people person, was moved to hug Norman on the 18th green.
   

This list is inevitably shaped by what we have seen ourselves but if we think of other worthy entries, we will update the list. If you're Irish like us, Padraig Harrington's first major would make the list. However, we couldn't justify putting it in the overall list, even if he was the first Irish major winner in 60 years (and the first ever from the Republic)!

Number of Golfers Playing on the US & European PGA Tours 2003-2008

Now that all the US and European PGA Tour tournament data since 2003 is in Golf Predictor, the statistics mining can go into overdrive! The chart above shows the number of distinct competitors on each tour (and on both tours combined) for the 2003-2008 seasons*. The discrepancy between the overall numbers and the individual tour numbers arises from the fact that many golfers play events on both tours or events sanctioned by both.

Looking at the chart, there are some interesting trends. The number of golfers on the US PGA Tour remained more or less constant from 2003-2006, but has fallen somewhat in the last 2 years. The European PGA Tour has had far more golfers competing on it than the US PGA Tour (about 60-100% more) since 2003. Similar to the US PGA Tour, the numbers on the European Tour were relatively constant from 2003-2006. However, in this case, the number has been increasing in the past 2 seasons.

In the 6 seasons form 2003-2008, a total of 2538 different golfers competed on the European PGA Tour, 1603 on the US PGA Tour, and 3211 golfers overall. What this means, we're not sure, but it might be useful to know sometime!

*Note that due to different names/spellings for the same golfer, there may be a tiny amount of duplication in the database. We have, of course, taken steps to minimise this and correct it when it is detected.

All Tournament Details Since 2003 in Golf Predictor

We are pleased to announce that all the US and European PGA Tour events since 2003 have now been entered into Golf Predictor. This includes the results for each tournament and marks the end of a huge date entry effort. While we completed entering all tournaments relevant to this season's events some time ago, we have now also entered the details for the outstanding tournaments. These are events that have since been discontinued on both tours.

The complete lists of tournaments, courses, players and results are now available from the 'View Options' menu in the Golf Predictor Member section.

2009 - Week 9 Betting Performance

We're getting hooked on our little punts here at Golf Predictor now! We went for the normally reliable Peter Hanson for a top ten finish in Dubai. Unfortunately, he only shot level par 72s over the weekend and let us down. We also had the same bet on Kenny Perry in the FBR Open at 10/3. If only we had had more faith in Kenny and backed him to win, we would have won at odds of 35/1.

Ah well, we'll have to be content with just over doubling our stake money this week!

2009 - Week 10 Prediction Online

We have published the prediction for week ten of the 2009 season, the Buick Invitational (US PGA Tour). The European PGA Tour is on a hiatus this week after its Middle Eastern sojourn. With Tiger still out of commission, John Daly suspended and Jose Maria Olazabal not competing, all the champions since 2002 are absent from Torrey Pines this week. Woods' absence in particular might give someone else to win there for a change!

The list of pre-2004 champions in the field (Golf Predictor uses the results from the previous 5 years) includes Phil Mickleson (2001, 2000 and 1993) and Davis Love III (1996).

2009 - Week 9 Winners

Northern Irish teenager Rory McIlroy (ranked 16th by Golf Predictor) has delivered on his massive early promise by winning his first professional title at the Dubai Desert Classic. The nineteen year old McIlroy, loser of two previous play-offs on the European PGA Tour, had a comfortable lead of six shots over a strong field with six holes left to play. However, a run of nervy bogeys meant he prevailed by just a single shot from a resurgent Justin Rose (ranked 57th). McIlroy becomes the seventh youngest ever winner on the European Tour and moves up to an impressive 16th in the world rankings. Our top pick, Sergio Garcia, finished in a tie for 11th and we had six of the top twelve. Ernie Els' unbelievable record in the event (finished in the top three in each of the previous five years, with one win) bit the dust as he missed the cut.

On the US Tour, Kenny Perry (ranked 2nd by Golf Predictor) won the FBR Open after a sloppy play-off with Charley Hoffman (ranked 90th). Perry bogeyed the 72nd hole to let Hoffman back in but finally prevailed on the 3rd extra hole for his 13th career victory. Our top pick, Phil Mickelson, didn't exactly cover himself in glory in his first US PGA Tour event of the season. Leftie missed the cut after playing badly by his own admission. He wasn't alone as a host of big names failed to make it to the weekend. That left the spoils for a lot of the lesser lights, but we also had David Toms in the top ten.