Golf Predictor Public Facing Pages go Secure!

I am pleased to announce that the public facing pages of Golf Predictor have been upgraded to use secure pages (SSL). This means all URLs for public facing pages on the site will now start with https:// rather than http:// and offer greater security to site users. This upgrade was done to make Golf Predictor part of the growing Google Secure Web initiative and benefit from the small boost in Google Rankings as a result of going secure. Hopefully, it will not mess up the search rankings for the site!

Please edit any bookmarks you may have to point to the new URL (just add an "s" after http). Note that you will be automatically redirected to the secure URL if you continue to use the non-secure version. However, the home page should now be accessed via https://www.golfpredictor.com for a prettier URL! Using the old URL will result in you being directed to https://www.golfpredictor.com/default.aspx. The login and register pages already used SSL to secure the information entered on them, but the latter page has been slightly updated to use a more streamlined approach to redirect to the secure version.

One disadvantage of using SSL could be a slight reduction in site speed. It can also cause other configuration issues, so I will monitor the site for a few weeks. If this upgrade to the public facing pages goes well, I will look to upgrade the member section of the site to also use secure pages. Just another way to make Golf Predictor better!

2017 - Week 49 Winner

Shubhankar Sharma (ranked 40th by Golf Predictor) won the Joburg Open on the European PGA Tour. The 21 year old Indian won his first tour title with an impressive display in Johannesburg. Despite having to sit on a final round lead for two nights, sue to severe storms necessitating a Monday finish, Sharma showed great maturity to hold off a charging Erik van Rooyen for the win. In a profitable first visit to South Africa, Sharma also made me very happy as I had backed/tipped him at 100/1! Our top ranked player, Dylan Frittelli, finished in tied 42nd and we had nine of the top nineteen plus ties (9/26) in this event with a large, poor field and difficult weather conditions!

There was no event on the US PGA Tour this week.

2017 - Week 49 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the Joburg Open (European PGA Tour) are now available on Golf Predictor. The European PGA Tour returns to South Africa for the second running of the tournament in 2017. In addition to a new slot on the calendar on the 2018 European Tour season, the tournament also moves to two new courses, while its usual home gets renovated. Coupled with the usual large weak field, this makes it a bit of a lottery once again. This year, the field seems even weaker than normal, with only two members of the world's top one hundred teeing it up in Johannesburg. On the bright side, one of those is former major champion Louis Oosthuizen, who is the overwhelming favourite for the second week running.

2017 - Week 48 Winners

Dylan Frittelli (ranked 2nd by Golf Predictor) won the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open on the European PGA Tour. The 27 year old South African won his second tour title in a play-off in windy Mauritius. Frittelli prevailed over Arjun Atwal with a birdie at the first extra hole after the pair had finished tied on -16 after 72 holes. Our top ranked player, Louis Oosthuizen, had a costly treble bogey on the 70th hole, but still finished tied 12th. Overall, we had six of the top sixteen plus ties (6/19) in the weak fielded event in difficult conditions. 

Cameron Smith (ranked 4th by Golf Predictor) won the Australian PGA Championship on the European PGA Tour. The 24 year old Australian made it a great weekend for Cameron Smiths by winning his maiden European tour title in a final day battle down with long time leader Jordan Zunic. After his namesake lade the Aussies to victory in the rugby league world cup final, Smith overcame a three shot overnight deficit to prevail on the second extra hole over third round leader Zunic. Our top ranked golfer, Sergio Garcia, finished poorly for tied 24th and despite the weather and limited history in the system, we had eight of the top twenty plus ties (8/23) in total. 

There was no official event on the US PGA Tour this week. Golf Predictor doesn't cover the (very) restricted field junket that is the Hero Challenge, even if Tiger had a promising return to action!