2014 - Week 5 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the Omega Dubai Desert Classic (European PGA Tour) and the Waste Management Phoenix Open (US PGA Tour) are now available on Golf Predictor. It's the last week of the Desert Swing on the European PGA Tour and Tiger Woods has made the long journey from California for the appearance money tournament! At least he had an extra day to acclimatise after he missed the third round cut at Torrey Pines! Meanwhile, the US PGA Tour has made the short hop from California to Arizona, where Phil Mickelson is headlining the event (back injury permitting!).

2014 - Week 4 Winners

Sergio Garcia (ranked 2nd by Golf Predictor) won the Commercialbank Qatar Masters on the European PGA Tour. The 34 year old Spaniard won his 11th tour title in the third extra hole of a play-off with Mikko Ilonen. Our top ranked player, Henrik Stenson, continued his slow start to the year and finished tied 28th. However, we had nine of the top sixteen (9/21) in total.

Scott Stallings (ranked 72nd by Golf Predictor) won the Farmers Insurance Open on the US PGA Tour. The 28 year old American broke free of a packed leaderboard with a closing birdie to win his third tour title by a single shot. Our top ranked player, Tiger Woods, disappointed in his first 2014 start and missed the secondary cut after the third round. If he plays like that on one of his favourite stomping grounds, it doesn't bode well for the rest of his season! However, Woods wasn't the only big name to not play well and we had  twelve of the top twenty three (12/27) in total.

Related Tournaments Handling Updated on Golf Predictor

I am pleased to announce an under the hood performance enhancement on Golf Predictor. This enhancement pertains to how related tournaments (i.e. the same tournament in previous years with a different name*) are found by the system. This has several important uses on Golf Predictor, including:

1. Creating the prediction stats for the same tournament history for each golfer. As a tournament might not necessarily be always held on the same course, the course can not be used to find all matching events.
2. Displaying the golfer tournament history charts.
3. Finding the same tournament in another GP season if you select a different season using the season dropdown box on one of the many prediction/results pages on Golf Predictor.
4. Generating the same tournament history stats on the relevant compare pages on Golf Predictor.

The way this is done has now been streamlined, which should make all the above tasks run a little quicker in future. This will be especially true for tournaments that tend to have many different names, e.g. The Nordea Masters on the European PGA Tour. The one slight disadvantage to this new method is that you can no longer get all instances returned of a renamed tournament when using the search page. However, I suspect usage of this feature was very low, so this shouldn't affect many users.

This was quite a large undertaking and I have tested all the affected pages. However, please contact me immediately if you experience any problems on the site. Note that you may have to reload a page for these changes to take effect. Just another way to make Golf Predictor a little better!


*In the case of the WGC - HSBC Champions event, it can also mean a different tour! When it began, it wasn't a WGC event and it was on the European PGA Tour only. However,  it is now also on  US PGA Tour and this also has ramifications for finding it as a related tournament.

2014 - Week 4 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the Commercialbank Qatar Masters (European PGA Tour) and the Farmers Insurance Open (US PGA Tour) are now available on Golf Predictor. All eyes will be on Tiger Woods, who is making his 2014 début this week and no doubt will be eager to win yet again at Torrey Pines! The European Tour stays in the Arabian Gulf this week, where the action starts on Wednesday in Qatar.

2014 - Week 3 Winners

Pablo Larrazabal (ranked 34th by Golf Predictor) won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on the European PGA Tour. The 30 year old Spaniard held  his nerve to birdie the par five last to hold off the big guns, Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy, by a single shot. Both runners up had reason to rue their performance this week. Rory suffered a "stupid" (his word!) two shot penalty at the end of his third round for not taking full relief and Phil had a calamitous treble bogey seven on Sunday after attempting a right handed shot on the thirteenth hole. Still, I'm sure they still did alright financially by just turning up! Our top ranked player, Henrik Stenson, saw his recent streak of unbelievable consistency come to an end when he missed the cut. Overall, we had seven of the top ten plus ties  (7/18) in total.

Patrick Reed (ranked 24th by Golf Predictor) won the Humana Challenge in pship with the Clinton Foundation on the US PGA Tour. The 23 year old American won his second tour title by holding on to his built up lead on the final day. After opening with three successive 63s to set a tour scoring record in relation to par, things didn't go as smoothly for Reed on the final day. However, he managed to steady the ship down the stretch and wound up winning by two shots with a score of -28. Our top ranked player, Zach Johnson, finished very strongly with a 62 (-10) for tied 3rd and we had eight of the top eighteen plus ties (8/22) in total.

Golf Cake Complete with Edible Cart!

Bespoke Golf Cake 2

Like the last similar post, this doesn't have anything to do with Golf Predictor, but I thought I'd share it anyway! It's another golf themed cake by my super talented sister-in-law. This time, it's a birthday cake for a 60 year old man, complete with a golf cart and a golfer teeing off on the top!

If you live in the London area, she can make a personalised cake for you! Check out her Facebook page here with all her amazing creations!

2013 - Top 5 Longest Courses on the European PGA Tour

Based on the course information in Golf Predictor, these were the longest courses on the European PGA Tour in the 2013 GP Season (calendar year):

1. The Ritz-Carlton GC at Dove Mountain (WGC - Accenture Match Play Championship) - 7833 yards
2. Gary Player CC (Nedbank Challenge)- 7831 yards
3. Copperleaf  G & C Estate (Tshwane Open) - 7791 yards
4. Earth Course, Jumeirah Golf Estates (DP World Tour Championship, Dubai) - 7758 yards
5. Lake Malaren GC (BMW Masters pres. by SRE Group) - 7681 yards

You can get more detailed information by looking at the 'Longest Courses' chart on the 'Other Stats/Tourn. Stats' page (Euro Tour, 2011 Season) in the member section of Golf Predictor. Click on the "Lists" category opposite to see more such lists.

2013 - Top 5 Shortest Courses on the US PGA Tour

Based on the course information in Golf Predictor, these were the shortest courses on the US PGA Tour in the 2013 GP Season (calendar year):

1. Conway Farms GC (BMW Championship) - 6733 yards
2. Pebble Beach Golf Links (AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am/US Open) - 6816 yards
3. TPC River Highlands (Travelers Championship) - 6820 yards
4. El Camaleon GC (OHL Classic at Mayakoba) - 6923 yards
5. Kuala Lumper G & CC (CIMB Classic) - 6938 yards

You can get more detailed information by looking at the 'Shortest Courses' chart on the 'Other Stats/Tourn. Stats' page (US Tour, 2013 Season) in the member section of Golf Predictor. Click on the "Lists" category opposite to see more such lists.

2013 - Top 5 Longest Courses on the US PGA Tour

Based on the course information in Golf Predictor, these were the longest courses on the US PGA Tour in the 2013 GP Season (calendar year):

1. The Ritz-Carlton GC at Dove Mountain (WGC - Accenture Match Play Championship), 7833 yards
2. Torrey Pines, South Course (Farmers Insurance Open) - 7569 yards
3. Trump International Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico Open pres. by seepuertorico.com) - 7569 yards
4. TPC San Antonio (Valero Texas Open) - 7522 yards  
5. Montreux G & CC (Reno-Tahoe Open) - 7472 yards 

You can get more detailed information by looking at the 'Longest Courses' chart on the 'Other Stats/Tourn. Stats' page (US Tour, 2013 Season) in the member section of Golf Predictor. Click on the "Lists" category opposite to see more such lists.

2013 - Top 5 Shortest Courses on the European PGA Tour

Based on the course information in Golf Predictor, these were the shortest courses on the European PGA Tour in the 2013 GP Season (calendar year):

1. Kennemer GC (KLM Open) - 6626 yards
2. Hong Kong GC (UBS Hong Kong Open) - 6700 yards 
3. Royal Durban GC (Volvo Golf Champions) - 6736 yards
4. East London GC (Africa Open) - 6770 yards
5. Santo da Serra (Madeira Island Open - Portugal - BPI) - 6826 yards.

You can get more detailed information by looking at the 'Shortest Courses' chart on the 'Other Stats/Tourn. Stats' page (Euro Tour, 2013 Season) in the member section of Golf Predictor. Click on the "Lists" category opposite to see more such lists.

2014 - Week 3 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship (European PGA Tour) and the Humana Challenge in pship with the Clinton Foundation (US PGA Tour) are now available on Golf Predictor. All eyes will be on Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson who make their 2014 débuts in the Middle East. Although there is no Tiger Woods this year, there is still a strong field with four of the top ten in the world teeing it up in the gulf state. Meanwhile, the US PGA Tour makes its season début on the mainland at La Quinta. The annual birdie fest is headlined by the in-form Zach Johnson and fellow major champions, including Keegan Bradley and Web Simpson.

2014 - Week 2 Winners

Louis Oosthuizen (ranked 4th by Golf Predictor) won the Volvo Golf Champions on the European PGA Tour. The home favourite left it late to defend his title, birdieing his final two holes to pip his compatriot Branden Grace by a single shot! Our top ranked player, Charl Schwartzel, finished tied 15th and we had ten of the top fifteen plus ties (10/17) in the restricted field event.

In the first full field event of the year, Jimmy Walker (ranked 9th by Golf Predictor) won the Sony Open in Hawaii. The 34 year old American gave himself an early birthday present by securing his second trophy in six starts with a late surge. Walker finished with three birdies in his last four holes to pip Chris Kirk by a single shot. Our top ranked player, Adam Scott, faded on the back nine after a strong start on Sunday and finished tied eighth. Overall, we had eight of the top eight plus ties (8/19).

2014 - Week 2 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the Volvo Golf Champions (European PGA Tour) and the Sony Open in Hawaii (US PGA Tour) are now available on Golf Predictor. It's the first event of the New Year and the 2014 GP Season (but not of course the 2014 European season!) on the European Tour and another South African one! Like last year, the Volvo Golf Champions event has a restricted field, similar to last week's season opener on the US Tour. Meanwhile, the second leg of the Hawaiian swing is the first full field event on the US PGA Tour in 2014 and Zach Johnson will be looking to complete the double in the Aloha state.

2014 - Week 1 Winner

In the opening event of 2014, Zach Johnson (ranked 3rd by Golf Predictor) won the Hyundai Tournament of Champions (who bothered to show up!). The 37 year old American won his eleventh tour title with an impressive performance with his wedges on the final day. Our top ranked player, Adam Scott, finished in tied sixth and we had twelve of the top thirteen plus ties (12/15) in this restricted field event.

2014 - Week 2 Predictions Delayed

Due to the late Monday night finish (Irish time) of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, the predictions for this week (Sony Open and the Volvo Golf Champions) will be later than normal. Of course, the results will be inputted into Golf Predictor as soon as possible. However, the predictions for next week can not be generated until this happens and the latest world rankings arising out of them become available.

I will endeavour to produce the predictions as soon as possible, but given the time difference, it is looking like Tuesday evening (Irish time) at the moment before they will be available. I will update this post should the situation change in the meantime and I thank you for your patience.