2016 - Week 4 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters (European PGA Tour) and the Farmers Insurance Open (US PGA Tour) are now available on Golf Predictor. The European Tour stays in the Arabian Gulf this week, where the action as usual starts on Wednesday in Qatar. The weather is promised very windy, so that in combination with the relatively weak field, should make it a bit of a lottery. Meanwhile, there is a much better field in California, where five of the top ten in the world are teeing it up at Torrey Pines.

2016 - Week 3 Winners

Rickie Fowler (ranked 3rd by Golf Predictor) won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on the European PGA Tour. The 27 year old American won his second tour title with an impressive display against a quality field in Abu Dhabi. Fowler overcame a potentially fatal double bogey on the seventh on Sunday by holing out from a bunker for eagle on the next. After that, Fowler steadied the ship and despite a noble effort by Thomas Pieters, closed out a one shot win with a par on the last. Our top ranked golfer, Jordan Spieth, didn't fire on all cylinders in his first regular event start on the European tour, but still finished in tied fifth. Overall, in an event where all the big guns finished high up the leaderboard, we had nine of the top sixteen plus ties (9/21) in total.

Jason Dufner (ranked 23rd by Golf Predictor) won the CareerBuilder Challenge in pship with Clinton Foundation on the US PGA Tour. The 38 year old American won his fourth tour title in a play-off with David Lingmerth. Despite leading and looking good for most of the weekend, Dufner was caught by Lingmerth who finished strongly to force a play-off. Indeed the American looked dead and buried after finishing in the rocks off the island seventeenth green in regulation. However, he produced a miracle shot to almost hole out for birdie and easily save par. Two pars on the last meant a play-off and after Dufner holed a clutch par putt at the first extra hole, he won at the next after the Swede found water with his approach. Our top ranked golfer, Patrick Reed, finished in tied 56th and we had ten of the top seventeen plus ties (10/23) in total.

Updates to Compare Predictions Page

Compare Predictions page for 2016 Hyundai Tournament of Champions with new Region column & two new chart links (region & similar length courses)

Further to the recent addition of same region analysis (and here) to Golf Predictor, I am happy to announce that the Compare Predictions page has been updated with this new metric. A new "HR" column has been added to the "Overview" stats table for your chosen golfers and a corresponding new "Same Region" chart link has been added above the table. This link shows a new pop-up chart with a graphical representation of the comparison.

The "Overview" stats table on this page has also been updated with a new "Similar Length Courses" chart link. Clicking this link also shows a new pop-up chart and fixes an oversight when that functionality was introduced! These updates are shown in the screenshot above for the 2016 Hyundai Tournament of Champions (shown with Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Bubba Watson selected).

Some notes on these updates:

1. To make room for the new HR column, the world ranking column has been removed from the "Overview" stats table. The WR column is still available from the "Stats to Compare" dropdown box, via the renamed "DFS/PL(%)/Streaks/WR" option.
2. As with the existing charts, the two new comparison charts are not available unless there are at least two golfers selected.

These two new charts brings the total number of charts on the site to 459. As a result of these changes, you can now compare the main "Same Region" stat for your selected golfers and also see a visual representation of this and the "Similar Length Courses" stat. Just another way to make Golf Predictor even better.

2016 - Week 3 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship (European PGA Tour) and the CareerBuilder Challenge in pship with Clinton Foundation (US PGA Tour) are now available on Golf Predictor. All eyes will be on the battle between Rory McIlroy and the world number one, Jordan Spieth, in Abu Dhabi this week. The former is making his 2016 debút, while the latter makes his tournament debút! It's the usual strong field in the gulf state, with four of the top six in the world teeing it up.  Meanwhile, the US PGA Tour makes its season début on the mainland at La Quinta. All eyes at the annual birdie fest will probably be on Phil Mickelson, who is making his 2016 début in the Californian desert.

2016 - Week 2 Winners

Hadyn Porteous (ranked 79th by Golf Predictor) won the Joburg Open on the European PGA Tour. The 21 year old South African secured his first tour win in only his 23rd start with a two shot victory over the field. Porteous held off his contemporary, Zander Lombard, with a solid final day performance to delight the home crowd. As an added bonus, Porteous (along with Lombard and Anthony Wall) qualified for The Open Championship at Royal Troon in July. In a disappointing week, our top ranked player, Jaco van Zyl, missed the cut and we had only four of the top thirteen plus ties (4/20) in this large field event with a relatively poor field.

In the first full field event of the year on the US PGA Tour, Fabian Gomez (ranked 43rd by Golf Predictor) won the Sony Open in Hawaii. The 37 year old Argentinian came from four shots back with a closing 62 (-8) to win his second tour title. Gomez was helped by an impressive streak of seven straight birdies from the sixth hole on Sunday, which got him into a play-off with Brandt Snedeker. After the American missed a twelve foot birdie putt on the first extra hole, Gomez took his chance on the next to secure the title. Our top ranked player, Zach Johnson, finished in tied ninth and we had eleven of the top thirteen plus ties (11/27) in total.

2016 - Week 2 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the Joburg Open (European PGA Tour) and the Sony Open in Hawaii (US PGA Tour) are now available on Golf Predictor. The European PGA Tour doesn't move far in South Africa, where the Joburg Open field is much weaker than recent years, making the large field event a bit of a lottery. Of course, the fact that Darren Clarke is having a dry run for the Ryder Cup in Malaysia this week doesn't help this event. Meanwhile, the second leg of the Hawaiian swing is the first full field event on the US PGA Tour in 2016 and doesn't have a particularly strong field either. However, Jimmy Walker won't mind as he is going for a hat-trick of titles!

The EurAsia Cup is not covered by Golf Predictor, as the system is not designed for team match play events.

2016 - Week 1 Winners

In the opening golfing week of 2016, Brandon Stone (ranked 27th by Golf Predictor) won The BMW South African Open Championship on the European PGA Tour. The 22 year old South African won his maiden title at his home open in only his 26th European Tour event. Stone made it hard on himself, losing a five shot lead early in the round before showing great character to bounce back and win by two. The young man was understandably emotional afterwards, as was his family who had to endure the roller-coaster of a final day with him! Our top ranked player, Branden Grace, finished in tied fourth and we had six of the top eighteen plus ties (6/20) in total.

Jordan Spieth (ranked 1st by Golf Predictor) won the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. The 22 year old American ran away with the title to tie Tiger Woods' modern record of seven wins before the age of 23. Spieth played some imperious golf to reach -30 and win by eight shots over the defending champion Patrick Reed. I'm sure his fellow pros noticed his continuing great form and are suitably worried for the year ahead! Including the winner, we had nine of the top fifteen plus ties (9/17) in this restricted field event.

 

2016 - Week 1 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the Hyundai Tournament of Champions (US PGA Tour) and The BMW South African Open Championship* (European PGA Tour) are now available on Golf Predictor. It's the first week of the new GP season (the 2016 calendar year) and it's time for everyone to look forward to another full year of golf! I would like to wish all readers/users a Happy New Year and a prosperous 2016 using Golf Predictor!


*The full name of this event is The BMW South African Open Championship Hosted by City of Ekurhuleni, which is a little too verbose for Golf Predictor!