2011 - Week 15 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the Trophee Hassan II (European PGA Tour) and the Shell Houston Open (US PGA Tour), are now available on Golf Predictor. It's the last chance for the big boys to tune up for the big one, the Masters, next week and four of the top ten in the world are availing of the opportunity. As usual, the Redstone layout will be set up to mimic Augusta as much as possible. Meanwhile, I'm over here in Morocco to see the lesser lights in action (six out of the top one hundred in the world), so I'm looking forward to that!

2011 - Week 14 Winners

Paul Lawrie (ranked 50th by Golf Predictor) won the Open de Andalucia de Golf by Turkish Airlines on the European PGA Tour. The 42 year old Scot ended a nine year (and 232 tournaments!) wait for another title, despite his poor start today. After bogeying the opening two holes, Lawrie found himself three shots behind England's Mark Foster. Luckily for him, Foster's speciality is losing three shot final round leads in Spain, having also done so at last year's Open de Espana. These tournaments with relatively poor fields are notoriously difficult to predict. It doesn't help when practically all of the bigger names of those who did turn up, bombed! Our top ranked player, Alvaro Quiros, finished in tied 51st and we had four of the top eighteen plus ties (4/22).

Martin Laird (ranked 14th by Golf Predictor) completed a great week for Scottish golf by winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational pres. by Mastercard on the US PGA Tour. Despite being +5 for the first ten holes, Laird steadied the ship and closed out the win admirably in the end with a 75 (+3). Our top ranked player, Tiger Woods, looked promising on several occasions during the event, but faded to finish in tied 24th. However, we had twelve of the top twenty four plus ties (12/29).

Golf Predictor on Tour!

Golf Predictor is going on tour! I shall be attending the Trophee Hassan II event in Morocco next week, bedecked in the finest new Golf Predictor livery! Although I'm flying out tomorrow, I'm not expecting any problems running next week's predictions from a different continent!

However, there is always the chance that it will not be possible for some unforeseen reason. If that happens, I shall update the system on my return and add a week to every subscriber's subscription. Barring getting caught up in another uprising, I should be back in plenty of time to run the predictions for the big one, the Masters, the following week.

New A to Z Selector on Golfers Page

Golfer Name A to Z Selection (Showing "X")

The main golfers page ("View Options - Golfers" page in the member section) on Golf Predictor has been further updated to now allow users to display golfers with a surname starting with a particular letter. This was done for ease of navigation, given that there are almost 4000 golfers to wade through! As shown in the screenshot above (for "X"), you now get an A to Z selection list and the count of all matching golfers for that letter. You may select "All" to revert to all golfers and the selected option is shown in black in the A to Z list.

This new functionality allows you to see some interesting (useless!) information, such as the most common letter ("S" with 371) and the least common (unsurprisingly, "X" as shown above, with nine, eight of whom are Chinese!). Just another way to make Golf Predictor, the premium professional golf statistics site, even better!

Golf Predictor Tables Updated.

Due to rendering issues in the new Firefox 4 browser, the look and feel of the data tables on Golf Predictor have been updated. This has been done in order to achieve a more consistent cross browser experience. The tables, which are on almost every page on Golf Predictor, look better now too, even if I do say so myself!

New Golfer Career Comparison Stats & Charts

Golfers with best winning percentages since 2003 (10 events or more)

Golfers Table with new Charts and Columns (Sorted by Wins)

New features to compare the career performance of all golfers active since 2003 (when our records begin) have been added to Golf Predictor. The main golfers page ("View Options - Golfers" page in the member section) has been updated to now display not only the tournaments played, but also the number AND percentages of wins, top tens and missed cuts for each golfer. All these columns are fully sortable, allowing for easy performance comparison. The percentage columns are in dark red for legibility. Eight new related bar charts have also been added to this page:

1. Golfers with the most wins since 2003.
2. Golfers (who have played at least ten events) with the best winning percentage since 2003.
3. Golfers with the most top tens since 2003.
4. Golfers (who have played at least ten events) with the best percentage of top ten finishes since 2003. 
5. Golfers with the least cuts made since 2003.
6. Golfers (who have played at least ten events) with the best cuts made percentage since 2003.
7. Golfers with the most missed since 2003.
8. Golfers (who have played at least ten events) with the worst cuts made percentage since 2003.

This new functionality brings the number of charts on the site crashing through the 250 barrier to 253! The ten tournament criterion was applied to make some charts more meaningful (e.g. there are almost 2000 golfers who only played a small number of events and missed the cut in all of them!). As usual, hovering over a bar on each chart will show additional information. This is shown in the first screenshot above for Tiger Woods in the best winning percentage chart. The second screen shot above shows the new golfers page, sorted by wins descending. These new charts and statistics display some interesting information, including:

1. No surprise who come out best in all the comparisons. Despite his ropey recent form, Tiger is streets ahead of everyone else in almost every respect.
   
2. The only statistic* Tiger isn't the best on is the total number of top tens, with Ernie Els having 9 more. However, Els has played in far more events and thus his top ten percentage is much lower. 
3. Vijay Singh also has the same number of top tens as Tiger, but he also has played far more events in that time.
4. The top three is the same in almost every category: Woods, Mickelson & Els.
5. There are five golfers who have played ten or eleven events and missed the cut in all of them. That's got to hurt!
6. Mark Brooks has the distinction of having missed the most cuts since 2003 (116, out of 197 events). Not a great statistic to have against your name either!
7. Surprisingly enough, a major champion (Todd Hamilton) is third on the most cuts missed list with 112 (more than half of 212 events entered). Reminds me of that article that I read lately on the worst players ever to win a major for some reason!

Everyone can view these new charts and statistics, so sign up today and see this information and much, much more on Golf Predictor, the premium professional golf statistics site.


*Technically, he isn't the best on the least number of cuts missed either, but the four currently better than him have only played a small number of events.

2011 - Week 14 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the Open de Andalucia de Golf by Turkish Airlines (European PGA Tour) and the Arnold Palmer Invitational pres. by Mastercard (US PGA Tour), are now available on Golf Predictor. Tiger Woods belatedly added Bay Hill to his schedule as part of his Masters preparations. It will be interesting to see if he can build on his good finish at the WGC - Cadillac Championship a couple of weeks ago. He won on his last two outings at Arnie's tournament, so he has every chance!

2011 - Week 13 Winners

Raphael Jacquelin (ranked 9th by Golf Predictor) won the weather delayed inaugural Sicilian Open on the European PGA Tour. The 36 year old French man had to come back early Monday morning to hold off Anthony Wall to capture his third tour title. A double bogey by Wall on the seventeenth helped his cause immensely though. Our top ranked player, Stephen Gallacher, finished in tied 26th and we had six of the top twenty plus ties (6/25). This event was always going to be difficult to predict and most of the bigger names not performing didn't help!

Gary Woodland (ranked 53rd by Golf Predictor) won the Transitions Championship on the US PGA Tour. The 26 year old American won his maiden title with a gutsy par putt on the last to win by a single shot. Our top ranked player, Martin Kaymer, finished in tied 20th and we had twelve of the top twenty plus ties (12/27).

Enhancements to 'Golfer Details' Page on Golf Predictor

New Golfer Results Tables (Matteo Manassero)

The 'Golfer Details' page in the member section of Golf Predictor (accessible from many pages in the 'View Options' and 'Stats Analysis' menus) has been enhanced. In addition to seeing all the golfer results since 2003, you can now also see separate tables with the wins, top tens and missed cuts for the golfer in that period. These three new tables have sortable columns and colour coding like the existing table showing all results. Hovering over a tournament name also shows similar extra information. A new "Tour" column has also been added to all tables, so you can sort by that to group results by a particular tour.

These new tables make it easier to view a golfer's historical performance in tournaments. The screenshot above shows the new page for the young Italian golfer, Matteo Manassero. Note that you may to reload/refresh the page in your browser to see these new statistics. Everyone can view these new tables, so sign up today and see this information and much, much more on Golf Predictor, the premium professional golf statistics site.

Prediction Data Page Enhanced - Field Rank

New Field Rank in each Category (Martin Kaymer: WGC-Cadillac Champ)

The 'Prediction Data' page for each golfer participating in a tournament has been enhanced with new field ranking information. This page is available from any of the prediction options on the "Stats Analysis" menu in the member section of Golf Predictor. As shown on the image* above for Martin Kaymer for last week's WGC - Cadillac Championship, there is a new "Field Rank" for each main statistic (season/last five events/course history/tournament history/similar tournament history/similar weather history and world ranking). Each of these new fields show the chosen golfer's ranking for the relevant statistic among the competing golfers in the field. The screenshot above shows that despite Kaymer's good season/last five events ranking, he had a relatively poor ranking for this course/tournament and WGC events in general.

Note that golfers with no relevant history are ignored in these rankings and ties are not indicated. Note also that you may have to refresh the page to see the changes. These new fields make it much easier to see a golfer's merits for a particular tournament. Just another way to make Golf Predictor even better!

*This image only shows a subset of all the statistics available on the page. The rest have been omitted for the sake of clarity (and quicker image download).

2011 - Week 13 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the inaugural Sicilian Open (European PGA Tour) and the Transitions Championship (US PGA Tour), are now available on Golf Predictor. After three weeks without a tournament of their own, the European journeymen must be chomping at the bit to get back into action! However, looking at the weather forecast of rain, strong winds and cool temperatures, maybe not!

A lot of the big guns on both sides of the pond are taking a break this week before the run up to the Masters and after the exertions of the the two WGC events in the last few weeks. However, Fim Furyk has a few big names to vanquish if he is to defend his title in Florida. These include world number one, Martin Kaymer, and the resurgent Nick Watney, fresh off his impressive victory yesterday.

2011 - Week 12 Winners

Nick Watney (ranked 20th by Golf Predictor) won the WGC - Cadillac Championship on the European/US PGA Tour. The American won his third title in style, sealing it with a birdie on the seventy second hole. Tiger Woods finished strongly to sneak into the top ten. Hopefully that will spur him on to greater things, even if a poor finish by McIlroy was responsible for his first decent finish since the US Open last year. Our top ranked player, Martin Kaymer, finished in tied 24th after a poor weekend. However, we had twelve of the top eighteen plus ties (12/21*).

Michael Bradley (ranked 88th by Golf Predictor) won the Puerto Rico Open pres. by seepuertorico.com on the US PGA Tour. The American put his poor recent form behind him to edge his compatriot Troy Matteson the first play-off hole. That officially makes Puerto Rico his favourite place as it is his second victory there! Our top ranked player, Stewert Cink, finished in tied 28th and we had nine of the top eighteen plus ties (9/21**).


*Tim Clark didn't play, thus promoting Francesco Molinari into the top 21.
**Due to several withdrawals, Brandt Jobe made it into the top 21 of the rankings.

2011 - Week 12 Predictions/Statistics Updated

The predictions for the WGC - Cadillac Championship (European/US PGA Tour) had to be re-run on Golf Predictor.While I'm loathe to re-running predictions after the start of a tournament, it had to be done due to a missing golfer. It was brought to my attention by a GP user that Aaron Baddeley wasn't in the system for this event. He was not in the US PGA Tour field list on Monday when the prediction engine was initially run. Seeing as the Australian shot up into contention to tied eighth yesterday after a fine 66 in round two, this oversight had to be corrected.

I have just re-run the engine with the latest field, so he is now available (ranked 48th). Aside from removing any non-playing alternates, this is the only change to the rankings. Apologies for any inconvenience caused, but this can happen from time to time due to field volatility or, what appears to be in this case, an error at source.

Previous Winners Added to Tournament Page

Past winners of the WGC - Cadillac Championship

The list of previous winners is now visible on tournament pages on Golf Predictor. These pages are accessible from many pages on the site, including the prediction pages ('Stats Analysis' menu) and the tournament pages ('View Options' menu).

As shown in the screenshot above, this snippet of the tournament page for this week's WGC event at Doral shows the details for each winner of the event since 2003 (when Golf Predictor records commence). Hovering over a player's name shows his total score, the tournament name (at the time) and the course on which the event was played. This is shown above for Tiger's 2003 victory, when the event was held in Georgia and it was known as the American Express Championship. This particular tournament has had three different names and has been held on five different courses in three countries some six thousand miles apart on two continents since 2003, so knowing the course and tournament name can be useful!

Everyone can view this new list of previous winners, so sign up today and see this information and much, much more on Golf Predictor, the premium professional golf statistics site.

2011 - Week 12 Predictions/Statistics Updated

Due to the many changes to the field for the Puerto Rico Open pres. by seepuertorico.com (US PGA Tour) since yesterday, the predictions had to be re-run on Golf Predictor. In future, the predictions for events such as this with volatile fields may have to be delayed until the Tuesday, when more accurate field information is available.

2011 - Week 12 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions/statistics for this week, the WGC - Cadillac Championship (European/US PGA Tour) and the Puerto Rico Open pres. by seepuertorico.com (US PGA Tour), are now available on Golf Predictor. It's the third week in a row that the European PGA Tour doesn't have its own tournament. However, like two weeks ago, the US PGA Tour are picking up the slack by hosting a separate event, coincidently also with a longish title! While all the big names (including the entire top fifty in the world rankings!) will be teeing it up at Doral, it's a second string line up for the Puerto Rican tournament. I bet The Donald is delighted!

2011 - Week 11 Winners

Rory Sabbatini (ranked tied 33rd by Golf Predictor) won the Honda Classic on the US PGA Tour. The 34 year old South African won his sixth tour title with a great putting display in windy conditions on Friday and Saturday. Carrying a five shot lead into the final round, Sabbatini won by a single shot after a strong finish from Y.E. Yang. Our top ranked player, Lee Westwood, finished in tied 29th, but we had eight of the top twenty one plus ties (8/23*) in a tournament dominated by high winds.


*Oosthuizen withdrew, so Levin gets promoted to 23rd in the prediction rankings.