2009 - Week 26 Winners

Outsider Christian Cevaer (ranked 119th by Golf Predictor) has won The European Open on the European PGA Tour. In a tournament where the lead changed an astonishing 45 times over the weekend, the 39 year old French man, ranked 449th in the world, beat all the big names in the windy conditions. Many of the big names didn't perform, but our top ranked player, Sergio Garcia, finished strongly to move up to a tie for 13th place in the end. In all, we had six of the top sixteen plus ties (6/17).

On the US PGA Tour, Steve Stricker (ranked 10th by Golf Predictor) won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial after Tim Clark (ranked 9th) let slip a two shot lead with five to play. Having missed three shortish putts in a row, Stricker had a great chip-in on 17 to make the play-off with Clark and Steve Marino (ranked 21st). After Clark missed yet another opportunity on the first extra hole, Stricker sealed the win by hitting it to to three feet on the next. Our top ranked player Paul Casey, finished fifth and we had seven of the top nine plus ties (7/12).

Year One Chart Evolution of Golf Predictor

Since the one year anniversary of Golf Predictor was last week, we thought it might be interesting to plot the development of the site in that time. One crude way to do this is to plot the number of charts that have been available on the site. While this basic metric excludes the many other updates (new pages, statistics and other features), it gives a good idea of how Golf Predictor has been constantly improving since its launch.

That launch happened on the 25th May 2008, when we were proud of the whopping 13 or so available charts! Since then, we've come a long way and at the moment we feature 216 charts on the site. Thanks to this blog, we were able to plot the number of charts on Golf Predictor since the very beginning. This chart evolution is shown in the graphic above.

We don't expect this rate of chart addition to be sustained for the simple reason that we will run out of things to chart!! We will, of course, always strive to improve Golf Predictor, the premier professional golf statistics analyser on the web today.

More New Tournament Round Statistics Charts

We are pleased to announce the addition of ten extra charts to the "Tournament Statistics (R)" page on Golf Predictor. These new charts allow you to see the distribution of round scores for any season since 2003. There are five new charts for each tour (European/US PGA Tour):

1. The distribution of round one scores in the selected season on the selected tour.
2. The distribution of round two scores in the selected season on the selected tour.
3. The distribution of round three scores in the selected season on the selected tour.
4. The distribution of round four scores in the selected season on the selected tour.
5. The distribution of scores (all rounds) in the selected season on the selected tour.

Note that for chart 5 (US PGA Tour) the five round Bob Hope tournament is included in the statistics. As usual, hovering over a bar shows additional information. The screenshot above shows the overall chart (covering all 19,166 rounds!) for the 2005 US PGA season. Statisticians will note the famous bell curve of the normal distribution on all the charts!

This new functionality raises the total number of charts on Golf Predictor to 216. As with most existing ones, only subscribers can view all these new charts. Non-subscribers are limited to the round two charts only. So, sign up today and reap the full benefits of Golf Predictor, the premium professional golf statistics site.

Change in Policy for Handling Rounds for Non-finishing Players

Until this year's 3 Irish Open, it was Golf Predictor policy not to record (or include in statistics) the round scores for players who had withdrew or been disqualified from a tournament. This policy was originally adopted mainly because of the difficulty of ascertaining the correct scores in certain such cases.

However, since Graeme McDowell shot the lowest round of the day/week in the Irish Open and subsequently withdrew, it meant the tournament statistics were incorrect. Therefore, we decided to change our policy to record these scores and also include them in the statistics. This has meant updating all (yes, all!) tournament results since 2003 with all such rounds and then updating the tournament statistics accordingly. This time consuming task has made our statistics slightly more accurate. Our new policy is to also include completed rounds after which a player has been disqualified.

Season Round Averages Added to Tournament Stats (R) Page

We have enhanced the 'Tournament Stats (R)' page in the member section of Golf Predictor (available from the 'View Options' menu ). As shown in the screenshot above (a portion of the page showing the round statistics for the 2009 European PGA Tour), the season averages for rounds 1-4 and overall averages are displayed in a new table under the main table. This data is now available for both major tours (the European and US PGA Tours) for every season from 2003 on.

This will allow you to see round performance for a season at a glance. Interestingly, as shown above, round 4 is the only round with an average under par so far this season on the European PGA Tour. We hope you find this new enhancements useful. Golf Predictor keeps adding new features!

Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial - Memorable Moments

Here are the memorable moments for this week's historic Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial (covered by Golf Predictor). These moments include Ian Baker-Finch doing a "Henrik Stenson", a first victory for Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson's miracle birdie from last year. That plaid jacket would almost make me want to lose the tournament though!

Default Tour - Now a User Preference

We received some very useful member feedback suggesting that it should be possible to choose a default tour for all the pages in Golf Predictor. For example, if one is interested in the US PGA Tour only, one should not have to keep changing dropdown boxes on every single page to "US". The default used to be "Both" (if present) or "Euro".

We have implemented this excellent suggestion in the same way that we implemented the chart orientation preference. On the member profile page (Member section, "My Golf Predictor - Edit/View Profile" menu option), there are two new 'Default Tour' radio buttons. The first radio button is for setting the default tour on pages with just two options (US/Euro), while the second radio button is for the default tour on pages with three options (US/Euro/Both). If not set, the tour will default to the original setting.

We hope this makes Golf Predictor even better to use!! Note that you may have to wait a few moments and re-open the page in order for the new default option to take effect.

2009 - Week 26 Predictions

We have published the predictions for week 26, The European Open (European PGA Tour) and the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial (US PGA Tour). Unfortunately, defending Colonial champion Phil Mickelson will not be playing due to his wife's illness. In Europe, Shane Lowry will make his first start as a professional this week. Here's hoping it goes as well as his first start as an amateur!!

The list of pre-2004 champions in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial (Golf Predictor uses the results from the previous 5 years) goes back 20 years and includes Kenny Perry (2003), Corey Pavin (1996), Tom Lehman (1995), Fulton Allem (1993) and Ian Baker-Finch (1989). The corresponding list for the The European Open is Phillip Price (2003), Michael Campbell (2002), Darren Clarke (2001), Lee Westwood (2000, 1999), Per-Ulrik Johansson (1997. 1996) and David Gilford (1994).

Golf Predictor Birthday Competition

Yes, Happy Birthday to us! It's hard to believe that it has been a year already since we launched, but it's true! On the 25th May 2008, Golf Predictor was launched with a whopping dozen or so charts. Now, one year later, there are 206 (and counting) charts on Golf Predictor and many more statistics than were available on that momentous day!

We would like to thank all our users (and especially all our subscribers) for your support in the past year. To celebrate, we are giving away 3 one month subscriptions (non-subscribed) or top ups (subscribers) to those who send us the nicest birthday wishes!

It's that simple. You have until midnight, Friday May 29th to email our support line, so what are you waiting for?!

2009 - Week 25 Winners

Paul Casey (ranked 1st by Golf Predictor) has won the flagship BMW PGA Championship on the European PGA Tour. Leading by three overnight, Casey eventually had to get up and down from a bunker at the last to defeat the hard charging local Ross Fisher (ranked 21st), who finished with a sparkling 64. An honourable mention must go to Graeme McDowell, who put in an heroic effort to finish T13th despite the painful shin splints. Including predicting the winner, we had five of the top fifteen.

On the US PGA Tour, Rory Sabbatini won the HP Byron Nelson Championship by two shots with a six under par final round of 64. While several of the big names failed to perform, we had seven of the top sixteen plus ties (7/22).

2009 - Week 25 Prediction Update (Byron Nelson)

We have had to update all the predictions for the HP Byron Nelson Championship on Golf Predictor as our top ranked player, Phil Mickelson, has withdrawn from the event. He pulled out due to the sad news that his wife, Amy, has been diagnosed with breast cancer. We here at Golf Predictor send our good wishes to the Mickelson family at this difficult time.

Since Mickelson was also the top world ranked player in the field, his absence has affected the GP Score (probability of winning) for all the remaining players in the field. We have rerun the prediction engine with the very latest entry list for the event. Note that you may have to reload/refresh the page to see the new rankings.

HP Byron Nelson Championship - Memorable Moments

Here are the memorable moments for this week's HP Byron Nelson Championship (covered by Golf Predictor). These moments include Fred Couples' "four inches from disaster" lucky break, an emotional victory by Scott Verplank and Adam Scott's putt from "downtown" to win last year. The video also showcases the respect the players have for the great man himself, which is nice to see.

New Tournament Round Statistics Page and Charts

We are pleased to announce the addition of a new statistics page to Golf Predictor. This new "Tournament Statistics (R)" page allows you to see all the completed tournaments with course par, average round (1-4) score and difference between the average round score and par for the course, all as sortable columns. The difference between the average round score and par is colour coded (red for under par averages, blue for over par averages & black for par averages) and you can list the tournament rounds on a given tour in a given year by difficulty. There are 32 (yes 32!) related charts on this page, 16 for each tour (European/US PGA Tour). These new charts are:

1. Tournaments with the lowest average first, second, third & fourth round scores.
2. Tournaments with the highest average first, second, third & fourth round scores.
3. Tournaments with the lowest average first, second, third & fourth round scores. relative to par.
4. Tournaments with the highest average first, second, third & fourth round scores. relative to par.

The eight charts outlined in 3 & 4 above are the most accurate yardsticks for round difficulty as the course par is taken into consideration. The screenshot above shows the 'Second Round vs Par' chart for the 2009 US Tour (so far). Unsurprisingly the Bob Hope has had the easiest second round so far this season on the US tour. As usual, hovering over a bar shows additional information.

This new functionality allows the total number of charts on Golf Predictor to smash through the 200 barrier, with an incredible 206! As with most existing ones, only subscribers can view all these new charts. Non-subscribers are limited to the lowest round two average chart only.

So, sign up today and reap the full benefits of Golf Predictor, the premium professional golf statistics site.

2009 - Week 25 Predictions

We have published the predictions for week 25, the BMW PGA Championship (European PGA Tour) and the HP Byron Nelson Championship (US PGA Tour). The BMW PGA Championship is Europe's flagship event and has a correspondingly high quality field.

The list of pre-2004 champions in the the HP Byron Nelson Championship (Golf Predictor uses the results from the previous 5 years) goes back over 20 years and includes Vijay Singh (2003), Shigeki Maruyama (2002), Jesper Parnevik (2000), Phil Mickelson (1996) and Fred Couples (1987). The corresponding list for the BMW PGA Championship is Ignacio Garrido (2003), Anders Hansen (2002), Andrew Oldcorn (2001), Colin Montgomerie (2000, 1999 & 1998) and Jose Maria Olazabal (1994).

2009 - Week 24 Winners

Irish amateur Shane Lowry (ranked 201st by Golf Predictor) claimed an historic maiden European PGA title at his very first attempt. The rank outsider showed admirable composure in the difficult conditions over the four days to win the Irish Open in front of an ecstatic home crowd. Having missed a few great chances, Lowry eventually claimed the title at the third extra hole in his titanic tussle with Robert Rock (ranked 37th). However, the English man eventually had to settle for his second consecutive runner-up finish. Lowry joins an illustrious group of Irish Open winners and will have a two year European Tour exemption when he turns pro. Our top pick Padraig Harrington missed the cut, having been one of those with a bad draw. We had five of the top twenty plus ties (5/24)* in an event where the weather played havoc.

There was also a play-off on the US PGA Tour, where our top pick Zach Johnson successfully defended the Valera Texas Open title he won just seven months ago. Despite not playing tremendously well, Johnson saw off the charging James Driscoll (ranked 117th) with a birdie on the first extra hole. In total, we had four of the top nine plus ties (4/10).


*Graeme McDowell withdrew and Francesco Molinari got disqualified, so we ignore those two in the performance analysis.

British Masters Cancelled

More bad news for the European PGA Tour as the British Masters becomes the latest event to be dropped from the schedule. Unfortunately, the organisers could not procure a new sponsor in these difficult economic times. It's a real shame that one of the oldest events on tour has bitten the dust, having been on the calendar since 1946. It is the third event to be cancelled, following the Indian Masters and the 'postponement' of the English Open already this season.

The Austrian Open is moving to take over British Masters slot from 17-20th September. Golf Predictor has been updated to reflect the new situation.

The Valero Texas Open - 'Memorable' Moments

Here are the 'memorable' moments for this week's Valero Texas Open (covered by Golf Predictor). Despite being a long standing event and having an illustrious set of winners, the moments aren't very memorable this week to be honest!

Charts added to 'Results by Player' Page

We have added six charts to the 'Results by Player' page in the member section of Golf Predictor ('View Options' menu). These six charts are:

1. Performance (finishing positions)
   
2. Scoring average
3. Round 1 scores
4. Round 2 scores
5. Round 3 scores
6. Final round scores

These charts are similar to the charts available on the 'Season Statistics' page for each golfer. However, there are two differences:

1. These new charts are available for all golfers who played in the selected season. The 'Season Statistics' charts are only available for golfers who played at least five events in the selected season.
2. There are no links to the plots for other years on the chart page. You can change the year on the 'Results by Year' page instead.
   

Since they are close variants of existing charts, we won't count them as new charts. These six charts are available to all members, regardless of subscription status. Just another way to make Golf Predictor even better!

2009 - Week 24 Prediction Update (Texas Open)

We have run the Golf Predictor prediction engine for the Valero Texas Open again due to several significant late withdrawals. The up to date predictions are now available on the site. We may have to consider changing the day the prediction engine is run from Mondays to Tuesdays in order to generate more accurate lists.

Results Colour Coding Added to Golf Predictor

We are pleased to announce colour coding for Golf Predictor. This colour coding is available on any page that displays results (e.g. the tournament page for each completed event) and is based on the standard leaderboard convention. Under par scores are displayed in red, over par scores in blue and par scores in yellow. Individual round scores and the scoring average are also colour coded, with lighter shades of the same colours. This is shown in the screenshot above, which shows a portion of the tournament page for the 2009 Madeira Islands Open BPI.

We have also added the course par to the tournament page. It is now visible in the top left corner of the 'Round Scores' table, as shown above. In addition, we have added the colour coded round scores to the 'Results by Player' page and fixed an issue with tournaments played on a course whose par was different to its current par.

As well as adding more colour to the site, this new visual enhancement helps in the ascertaining of performance at a glance. Just another way to make Golf Predictor even better!

2009 - Week 24 Predictions Online

We have published the predictions for week 24, the 3 Irish Open (European PGA Tour) and the Valero Texas Open (US PGA Tour). The Valero Texas Open has been moved up in the roster this year. It's field strength hasn't improved though, judging by the field strength charts for the past two years. Compared to last year's event, there are fewer of the top hundred world ranked players competing this year. The 3 Irish Open is Golf Predictor's home event and I hope to attend, weather and circumstances permitting!

The list of pre-2004 champions in the the Valero Texas Open (Golf Predictor uses the results from the previous 5 years) goes back over 20 years and includes Justin Leonard (2001, 2000), Tim Herron (1997), Bob Estes (1994) and Corey Pavin (1988). The corresponding list for the 3 Irish Open is Michael Campbell (2003), Soren Hansen (2002), Colin Montgomerie (2001, 1997 & 1996), Patrik Sjoland (2000), David Carter (1998) and Jose Maria Olazabal (1990).

2009 - Week 23 Winners

Daniel Vancsik (ranked 83rd by Golf Predictor) claimed his second European PGA title at the BMW Italian Open in some style. The Argentine hit the joint lowest round of the day (65) to win the title by 6 shots from three players, including a resurgent John Daly. The Molinari brothers put up spirited displays in front of their home fans, with both finishing in the top twenty. Francesco also finished impressively with a 65 to finish in tied 6th, some eleven places ahead of older brother Edoardo. Our top pick Alvaro Quiros (Garcia) finished in a tie for 34th place and we had three of the top eight plus ties (3/13).

On the US PGA Tour, Henrik Stenson (ranked 8th) took advantage of the dramatic early collapse of third round leader Alex Cejka to win the prestigious Players Championship. Stenson won in some style, with his fine 66 the only bogey free round on the treacherous greens. Our top pick Tiger Woods finished in 8th place after another "band aid" round. While a lot of the bigger names didn't perform, we had seven of the top fourteen plus ties (7/21).

2009 Players Championship - First Round Highlights

Here are brief highlights of the first round of this week's Players Championship (covered by Golf Predictor):

The Players Championship - Memorable Moments

Here are the memorable moments for this week's Players Championship (covered by Golf Predictor). These moments include great finishes from Fred Couples and Craig Perks. The video also features Jerry Pate winning in 1982 with an orange ball!

New 'Best Tournament Rounds' Charts Added to Golf Predictor

We have added five new round charts to Golf Predictor. These charts allows you to see who had the best first, second, third, fourth and fifth rounds* in any tournament on the European or US PGA Tour since 2003. These charts are available on the "Results By Year" page on the "View Options" menu and on the tournament page for each completed event (member section).

The screenshot above shows the best fourth rounds in the 2009 US Masters. As usual, hovering over a bar displaying more information (finishing position and score in this case), as shown above for John Merrick. Note that in order to guarantee legibility, some ties at the lower end may be omitted from the chart.

These new charts bring the total number of charts on the site up to 174. The round two chart is available to all members, but the other round charts are only available to subscribers. So, sign up today to get the most out of Golf Predictor, the premier US & European PGA Tour statistics site.


*Where applicable. Four rounds events will have four charts, five round events five charts and so on. Match play and stableford events do not have any round charts.

2009 - Week 23 Predictions Online

We have published the predictions for week 23, the BMW Italian Open (European PGA Tour) and The Players Championship (US PGA Tour). The Players Championship, known in some circles as the unofficial fifth major, boasts one of the strongest fields in world golf, with 53 PGA Tour winners and 21 major champions. Consequently, the field strength chart on Golf Predictor for the tournament is pretty impressive!

The list of pre-2004 champions in the The Players Championship (Golf Predictor uses the results from the previous 5 years) goes back 25 years and includes Davis Love III (2003, 1992), Tiger Woods (2001), Justin Leonard (1998), Steve Elkington (1997, 1991) and Fred Couples (1996, 1984). The corresponding list for the BMW Italian Open is Mathias Gronberg (2003), Gregory Havret (2001) and Patrik Sjoland (1998).

'Happy' Harrington's Running Swing!

In the name of science, Padraig Harrington tried out the 'Happy Gilmore' swing (notable for its run up to the ball)! Unbelievably, as shown below, it works and Padraig hit it an extra 30 yards. Even more unbelievably, his swing was almost identical to his conventional tee shot. While we don't know how many takes he needed to hit it flush, we here at Golf Predictor are planning on incorporating a sprint from the back of the tee box into our pre-shot routine from now on!!

2009 - Week 22 Winners

Thomas Levet (ranked 28th by Golf Predictor) overcame an early scare to claim his fifth European PGA title at the Open de Espana. Levet, who dedicated his victory in Spain to Seve, held off the charging Fabrizio Zanotti to win by two shots. Defending champion Paul Lawrie put up a spirited defence of his title and finished tied third. Our top pick Miguel Angel Jimenez finished in a tie for 31st and we had five of the top eleven plus ties (5/14).

On the US PGA Tour, Sean O'Hair (ranked 22nd) tried his best not to win another tournament at the Quail Hollow Championship. Despite bogeying the final two holes, he held on for a one stroke win over Lucas Glover (ranked 36th) and the big hitting Bubba Watson (ranked 82nd). Our top pick Tiger Woods finished in 4th place after a lacklustre even par final round of 72 which included ten closing pars. We had five of the top eleven plus ties here also (5/17).

Quail Hollow Championship - Memorable Moments

Better late than never! Here are the memorable moments for this week's Quail Hollow Championship (covered by Golf Predictor). These moments include Anthony Kim's first tour victory and great bunker shots/chip ins from Vijay Singh and Stewart Cink.

New Round Statistics & Leaderboard Enhancements to Tournament Page

We are delighted to announce the enhancement of the 'Tournament' page in the member section of Golf Predictor (available from the 'View Options\Tournaments' menu option, among other places). As shown in the screenshot above ( a portion of the 2009 Masters page), the following changes have been made:

1. In addition to the average round (and overall) scores, we now display the best and worst rounds also.
   
2. We have added leaderboards for each previous round in the new 'Round Leaders' section. This nifty feature allows you to see the top ten (and ties) after each round by simply hovering over the appropriate leaderboard text. A table will pop up with the relevant information, including the golfer's eventual finishing score and position.
   

As shown above, interestingly seven of the eventual top ten plus ties in the 2009 Masters were also in the top ten after round one. There is no pop-up leaderboard for the final round of a tournament, as the results table underneath already serves this purpose. We hope you find these new enhancements useful. Golf Predictor keeps getting better and better!