2016 - Week 8 Winners

Louis Oosthuizen (ranked 1st by Golf Predictor) won the ISPS HANDA Perth International on the European PGA Tour. The 33 year old South African won his eighth tour title with a mostly comfortable win in Australia. Oosthuizen was in little danger all day, despite being briefly caught early on and a nervy three putt from distance at the last. However, he had a sufficient cushion and secured his first win in two years by a single shot. Oosthuizen was our top ranked player and we had nine of the top fifteen plus ties (9/21) overall. 

Adam Scott (ranked 6th by Golf Predictor) won the Honda Classic on the US PGA Tour. The 35 year old Australian also won his first US title in two years with a weekend battle with his friend, Sergio Garcia. After spending Saturday exchanging blows, the duo were four shots clear going into Sunday. However, the expected final round fireworks never happened and Scott was able to out grind Garcia to take the title. Our top ranked player, Rory McIlroy, missed the cut for the second year in a row and in a good week for the bookies, we only had four of the top fourteen plus ties (4/20*) in the tough conditions on the testing PGA National layout. 


*Due to withdrawals, Steele is promoted to the top 20 of the GP rankings.

2016 - Week 8 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the ISPS HANDA Perth International (European PGA Tour) and The Honda Classic (US PGA Tour), are now available on Golf Predictor. There is a strong field with eleven out of the top twenty in the world rankings teeing it up in Florida ahead of the WGC next week. That doesn't leave many of the top players for Perth, who have to make do with world number 21 Louis Oosthuizen! The South African is one of several who have journeyed on from Malaysia to join the large local contingent of unknowns in the large field! 

2016 - Week 7 Winners

Marcus Fraser (ranked 40th by Golf Predictor) won the inaugural Maybank Championship Malaysia on the European PGA Tour. The 37 year old Australian won his first tour title in six years with a two shot victory over Soo-min Lee and Miguel Tabuena. Fraser hit the front for the first time at exactly the right time, overtaking long time leader Lee with his final putt. Lee, who had opened the door with a costly double on the sixteenth, was clearly rattled and duly missed his short putt to record a costly closing double bogey. Our top ranked player, Danny Willett, was ill and finished in tied 45th and in an event where many of the bigger names did not perform, we had only six of the top fifteen plus ties (6/23*) in this new tournament.


Bubba Watson (ranked 3rd by Golf Predictor) won the Northern Trust Open title on the US PGA Tour. The 37 year old American won the title for the second time in three years with a one shot victory over Adam Scott and Jason Kokrak. The tournament was wide open for most of the final day until Watson and Kokrak pulled away down the stretch. However, Scott had a great finish to post -14, but Watson birdied the penultimate hole and parred the last to secure the win after Kokrak missed his birdie effort. Our top ranked player, Jordan Spieth, had an horrendous opening day and missed the cut. Overall, we had seven of the top sixteen plus ties (7/19).




*Due to withdrawals, Nathan Holman is promoted to the top 23 in the GP rankings.

Member Section Page Code Getting Updated on Golf Predictor

I have begun the process of updating the HTML mark up used in the Member section of  Golf Predictor. I have been avoiding this large task for quite some time, but have finally started to bite the bullet! The pages should look the same as before, but the code used to achieve this is being updated.

The mark up used to lay out these pages has been in place since 2007 and even then using tables for this purpose was frowned upon! At long last, I have begun the process of replacing the tables used for page layout with divs. I am also replacing most of the line break tags originally used to space things out with padding to modernise the page mark up.

These updates will make the modification of the page mark up easier in the future. It will also help if I make the Member section responsive, like the public facing section of the site. I am planning to update the pages in tranches over the next few weeks. I am testing the pages as they are replaced, but it is possible that there are issues in certain circumstances e.g. changing to a different GP Season with no matching records. Please contact me immediately if you experience any layout problems on the site.

2016 - Week 7 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the inaugural Maybank Championship Malaysia (European PGA Tour) and the Northern Trust Open (US PGA Tour) are now available on Golf Predictor. It's the last week of the California swing this week on the US PGA Tour and there's a quality field at Riviera. Five of the top ten in the world are teeing it up, including Rory McIlroy, who is making his début at this event. Meanwhile, the European PGA Tour returns to Malaysia for a new tournament (even if it looks like a re-branding of the Malaysian Open!). They have managed to entice a few of the bigger names on tour, including recent winner Danny Willett and major champion Martin Kaymer. No prizes for guessing how they managed that!

2016 - Week 6 Winners

Charl Schwartzel (ranked 1st by Golf Predictor) won the Tshwane Open on the European PGA Tour. The 31 year old South African won his eleventh tour title and his eighth on home soil with a runaway victory in Pretoria. Schwartzel wasn't put under any pressure on Sunday and he romped home to win by eight shots in the end. Including the winner, we had eight of the top fourteen plus ties (8/20).

Vaughn Taylor (ranked 70th by Golf Predictor) won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the US PGA Tour. The 39 year old American came in from the golfing wilderness with his first win in eleven years. Taylor won with an impressive final day performance, which included four straight birdies on the back nine. That allowed him to shoot a closing 65 and post -17. When Phil Mickelson failed to birdie the par five eighteenth, a relieved Taylor took the title by a single shot. Our top ranked player, Jordan Spieth, didn't fire on all cylinders until Sunday and finished in tied 21st. Overall, we had nine of the top seventeen plus ties (9/20).

2016 - Week 6 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the Tshwane Open (European PGA Tour) and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (US PGA Tour) are now available on Golf Predictor. The European PGA Tour returns to South Africa, where there is a strong local contingent in the relatively weak field. That is not the case on the US Tour, where six of the top ten in the world rankings, including world number one Jordan Spieth, are teeing it up in the annual pro-am with the stars at scenic Pebble Beach and two other nearby courses.
 

2016 - Week 5 Winners

Danny Willett (ranked 4th by Golf Predictor) won the Omega Dubai Desert Classic on the European PGA Tour. The 28 year old Englishman won his fourth tour title with a birdie putt on the last. Despite leading for most of the final day, Willett was caught by Andy Sullivan and his playing partner Rafael Cabrera Bello, both of whom finished with a birdie. However, Willett held his nerve and did likewise from about 15 feet to win the title. Our top ranked player, Rory McIlroy, finished in tied 6th, despite not firing on all cylinders. Overall, we had eleven of the top eighteen (11/23) in total.

Hideki Matsuyama (ranked 6th by Golf Predictor) won the Waste Management Phoenix Open on the US PGA Tour. The 23 year old Japanese player won in an exciting play-off with Rickie Fowler. Matsuyama trailed by two shots with two to play, but after Fowler found water on the drivable par four 17th, Matsuyama birdied the same hole to wipe out his two shot deficit. After matching each other on the first three extra holes, Matsuyama took advantage of another poor drive into the water on the seventeenth by Fowler to claim his second tour title. Our top ranked player, Bubba Watson, finished tied 14th, despite not liking the course changes! Overall, we had ten of the top seventeen plus ties (10/23).

2016 - 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 as usual, Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson are headlining the field in Dubai. Meanwhile, the US PGA Tour has made the short hop from California to Arizona, where the raucous fans can cheer on Bubba and Rickie, the two golfers in the top ten in the world teeing it up there!

2016 - Week 4 Winners

Branden Grace (ranked 1st by Golf Predictor) won the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters on the European PGA Tour. The 27 year old South African became the first ever back-to-back winner in Qatar with a two shot victory over Thorbjorn Olesen and Rafael Cabrera Bello. In the battle of former champions, Grace managed the difficult conditions much better than Paul Lawrie, who fell away on the final day. Indeed, Grace only bogeyed one hole in his last 51, which was an incredible performance. Including the winner, we had nine of the top thirteen (9/19), despite the windy conditions.

Brandt Snedeker (ranked 11th by Golf Predictor) won the Farmers Insurance Open on the US PGA Tour. The 35 year old American won his eighth tour title with an incredible final round at Torrey Pines. After barely making the cut, Snedeker shot an amazing closing round of 69 in atrocious conditions. That was nine shots better than the field average and after an anxious overnight wait, it was enough for a one shot win over K.J. Choi. Torrey Pines took quite a battering and several large trees were uprooted ahead of the finish on Monday. Our top ranked player, Jason Day, suffered from a virus and was one of the several big names to miss the cut. Overall, we had only seven of the top eighteen (7/24) in the brutal conditions, which took its toll on the field over the final two days.