Slight enhancement to 'Form Golfers' Page

The Average difference (+/-) column on the 'Form Golfers' page on Golf Predictor has been colour coded. This page is accessed from the 'Stats Analysis' menu. Golfers who have a better average finishing position in their last five events than their season average are now highlighted in red while those with a worse average are highlighted in blue. This makes it easier to spot form/out of form golfers at a glance and brings the page into line with other pages on the site with similar columns. Just another way to make Golf Predictor slightly better!

2011 - Week 19 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the Ballantine's Championship (European PGA Tour) and the Zurich Classic of New Orleans (US PGA Tour), are now available on Golf Predictor. It's the final leg of the mini Asian swing on the European PGA Tour in South Korea this week and its most impressive field in its short history has been assembled. Headlined by the Lee Westwood, who just regained the world number one spot after his victory yesterday in Indonesia, the Ballantine's Championship also features notables such as Ernie Els, Y..E. Yang, Dustin Johnson and Ian Poulter. Not to be outdone, there are three of the top ten in the world teeing off in New Orleans this week.

2011 - Week 18 Winners

Nicolas Colsaerts (ranked 33rd by Golf Predictor) won the Volvo China Open on the European PGA Tour. The 28 year old Belgian finally captured his maiden title ten years after joining the tour as a teenager. Colsaerts finished with a six under par 66 to win by four shots over the field. Our top ranked player, Y.E. Yang, missed the cut, but he wasn't the only high ranked player to perform poorly. However, we had nine of the top twenty seven plus ties (9/30).

Brandt Snedeker (ranked 24th by Golf Predictor) won The Heritage on the US PGA Tour. The 30 year old American secured his second US PGA Tour title by defeating Luke Donald in a play-off. Snedeker's win denied Donald (our top ranked golfer) the world number one spot. Overall, we had fourteen of the top twenty one plus ties (14/29) in total.

2011 - Week 18 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the Volvo China Open (European PGA Tour) and The Heritage (US PGA Tour), are now available on Golf Predictor.The European PGA Tour stays in the Far East for the second of a three week stint in that part of the world.

Sorry for the late posting again - the blogging software seems to be acting up lately!

2011 - Week 17 Winners

Matteo Manassero (ranked 16th by Golf Predictor) won the Maybank Malaysian Open on the European PGA Tour. The young Italian became the first and second youngest winner on tour by capturing his second title two days shy of his eighteenth birthday. The winner's cheque of €288,465 is a nice early birthday present to himself! Rory McIlroy squandered a lead for the second week in a row, this time a three shot advantage held during the third round. Our top ranked player, Martin Kaymer, finished in tied 9th and we had seven of the top thirteen plus ties (7/16).

Brendan Steele (ranked 64th by Golf Predictor) won the Valero Texas Open on the US PGA Tour. The 28 year old rookie showed nerves befitting his name, securing his maiden title with a clutch putt on the last to win by one shot. Our top ranked player, Martin Laird finished in tied 9th and we had eleven of the top twenty three plus ties (11/29) in total.

Balls of a Trip!

Shane Lowry's Ball (left) and Paul McGinley's (right)

Shane Lowry's Patriotic Ball (other side)

Pictured above is the unexpected booty from my recent Golf Predictor trip to the Trophee Hassan II tournament in Morocco. I caught up with former Ryder Cup winner Paul McGinley's group on the first tee (his tenth hole) and immediately enjoyed some good natured banter with his Scottish caddie, thanks to my fine thick Irish accent! McGinley was playing with fellow former European PGA Tour winner Pablo Martin from Spain and two amateur players. I became their gallery and was soon called into action. After his ball was inadvertently picked up by a spectator near the first green, McGinley asked me would I mind going back to the clubhouse and getting a rules official to confirm what he should do next. While I was surprised that a pro with hundreds of tour events under is belt (and his playing partner) did not know such a basic rule, I was only to glad to help my compatriot out. One sweaty uphill run in the blistering heat with a bag on my back later, it was mission accomplished and the group could proceed! After holing out on the ninth (his final hole), McGinley sought me out and threw his golf ball across the green in my general direction with some force. I'd like to think that he was thanking me for services rendered and not trying to kill me for being an annoying git! His TaylorMade ball is shown on the right of the top picture above, with a fairly unimaginative black line on it for identification purposes.

After a rest in the shade on the practice range watching Darren Clarke working out the (non-existent to me!) kinks in his swing, I resumed my stalking of Irish golfers when former Irish Open champion Shane Lowry passed by on the way to the tenth tee. We were practically mates at this stage, having passed by him earlier on a parallel hole and exchanging pleasantries in our finest Irish brogues!. As the gallery for this group also, I was soon called into action again as unfortunately, Lowry's drive ended up in the cabbage! Having located the ball with the Irish national flower on it (top picture, left hand side), I asked the stupidest question I've asked in a long time. "Does it have a shamrock on it?", I enquired of the Irish man playing with two Dutch guys and a Moroccan! Having taken a drop for an unplayable lie, Lowry proceeded to make one of many bogeys that he made that day. On his way to the next tee, Lowry gave me the aforementioned ball, as I had found it for him. That's the sort of nice chap that he is and I duly added it to my collection! On examining the ball, I noticed the other side of the ball also had patriotic markings, with the colours of the Irish flag (second picture above) also acting as identification for the proud Irish man. I followed this group until the 16th, which featured some fine play from Robert-Jan Derksen (although he didn't score too well in a comfortable 70, -1) and unfortunately some not so fine from Lowry (he went around in 81, +10). At this stage, a severe dehydration headache and a waiting taxi driver meant the end of a highly enjoyable day where I got to interact with several pros much more than I would ever have thought possible. I can hardly next for the next trip!


p.s.: I thought it apt to photograph the golf balls on the exotic cushion cover I bought (read "paid over the odds for"!) in Morocco!

2011 - Week 17 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the Maybank Malaysian Open (European PGA Tour) and the Valero Texas Open (US PGA Tour), are now available on Golf Predictor. Newly crowned Masters champion Charl Schwartzel takes part in his first tournament since claiming his green jacket, having being among those who have flown half way around the world to Malaysia from Augusta. The jet lag alone would floor most people, nevermind the Malaysian heat/humidity and the post-victory celebrations!! Somewhat unusually, there are no Americans in the top three of the rankings for either tournament this week.

2011 - Week 16 Winner

Charl Schwartzel (ranked 24th by Golf Predictor) won the first major of the year, The Masters (European/US PGA Tour). In the most exciting Masters for years, the 26 year old South African broke free of a large group of contenders, finishing with four birdies in a row to win his first major in style. After starting with a chip in for birdie on the first hole and a hole out eagle on the third, it looked early on that it could be Schwartzel's day. Several hours later, it duly came to pass and he joined the illustrious list of South African major winners. 

Overnight leader Rory McIlroy suffered an embarrassing collapse on the back nine to record a disastrous closing 80 to finish in a share of fifteenth place. While disappointed, the young Northern Irish man bravely faced the press afterwards and the general consensus is that his time will come. Another intriguing feature of the tournament was the resurgence of one Tiger Woods, who burnt up the front nine in 31 strokes (-5) to surge into contention. However, Woods couldn't build on that excellent start, coming home in only level par to tie for fourth.

Our top ranked player, defending champion Phil Mickelson, finished in tied 27th and we had ten of the top twenty four plus ties (10/26).

Shortest Winless Streak Chart added to Golf Predictor

Further to the previous post on winless streaks, a "Shortest Winless Streaks" chart has also been added to the "Tourn Predictions" page ("Stats Analysis" menu, member section) on Golf Predictor. To make this chart more meaningful (e.g. exclude people playing their first or second event), this chart only displays golfers who have actually won before. Unsurprisingly, last week's winner, Phil Mickelson, is the best on this chart, but he is joined at the pinnacle by Martin Laird, who also won last time out.

The new chart brings the total number of charts on the site to 255. This new chart is only available to subscribers so sign up today to get the most out of Golf Predictor, the premier US and European PGA Tour statistics site.

Winless Streak Stats/Chart added to Golf Predictor

New Winless Streak column (WS) and Chart Link

I am happy to announce that winless streak statistics have been to Golf Predictor. This enables you to see how many events each participating golfer in a tournament has played since his last win (or since he started playing)*. A new sortable "WS" column has been added to the "Tourn Predictions" page on the "Stats Analysis" menu (Member section). A "Longest Winless Streaks" chart has been added to the same page to show the golfers with the longest run of tournaments without a win. The winless streak statistic has also been added to the "Prediction Data" page for each golfer, along with details of his last win, if any.

The new WS column and chart link is shown in the screenshot above for this week's US Masters. As it's the live tournament, only the top row is shown to the world! Clicking on the new chart link would tell you  that Alex Cejka had the longest winless streak of all the competitors at 251 (His actual streak is probably longer, unless he won his last event in 2002!). I bet that's a statistic he'd like to change! This winless streak information and chart on the "Tourn Predictions" page is available for all tournaments from the 2011 Masters on. However, clicking on the "Prediction Data" page for any golfer for any previous tournament will display the length of his winless streak.

The new chart brings the total number of charts on the site to 254. This new chart is only available to subscribers so sign up today to get the most out of Golf Predictor, the premier US and European PGA Tour statistics site.


*Golf Predictor statistics go back to the start of the 2003 season.

2011 - Week 16 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, The Masters (European/US PGA Tour), are now available on Golf Predictor. Only one tournament this week, but it's a doozie! Excitement is mounting among golf fans ahead of the first major of the season on the hallowed turf of Augusta. Before defending champion Phil Mickelson's impressive win yesterday in Houston, this was probably one of the most open Masters in recent memory. However, Lefty's impressive display over the weekend will see a lot of money backing him for a successful title defence. Let battle commence!


*Apologies - this post didn't get published on Monday for some reason!

2011 - Week 15 Winners

David Horsey (ranked 10th by Golf Predictor) won the Trophee Hassan II on the European PGA Tour. He got his second victory the hard way (despite acing the second!), double bogeying the last from the fairway to fall into a three man play-off. However, the 25 year old Englishman prevailed over defending champion Rhys Davies and Jaco Van Zyl with a birdie at the second extra hole. Our top ranked player, Thomas Bjorn, finished very strongly with a 62 (-10) for tied 15th and we had six of the top fifteen plus ties (6/18).

Phil Mickelson (ranked 4th by Golf Predictor) won the Shell Houston Open on the US PGA Tour. The former world number two showed a timely return to form with a superb weekend display (63-65, -16) to win by three. With this win, he moves back up to third in the world, finally overtaking Tiger Woods at the umpteenth time of asking! Our top ranked player, Lee Westwood finished in tied 30th and we had thirteen of the top twenty four plus ties (13/29) in total.