2018 - Week 31 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the WGC - Bridgestone Invitational (European/US PGA Tour), the Fiji International pres. by Fiji Airways (European PGA Tour) and the Barracuda Championship (US PGA Tour), are now available on Golf Predictor. While there aren't many big golfing names teeing it up in either minor event (especially in Fiji!) this week, the WGC makes up for it with a full compliment of the world's top fifty golfers!

2018 - Week 30 Winners

Richard McEvoy (ranked 32nd by Golf Predictor) won the Porsche European Open on the European PGA Tour. The 39 year old Englishman finally won his maiden tour title at the 285th time of asking on a topsy turvy day in Germany. After letting a two shot lead slip early on the back nine on Sunday, McEvoy laid up on the last, but still holed his birdie putt to take the title by a single shot. Our top ranked player, Patrick Reed, finished poorly for tied 9th and we had eight of the top nineteen plus ties (8/21).

Dustin Johnson (ranked 1st by Golf Predictor) won the RBC Canadian Open on the US PGA Tour. The 34 year old American won his third tour title of the season in Canada. After several close calls in what is now almost his adopted homeland, Johnson delighted the home crowd with an imperious display of driving at Glen Abbey. The world number overpowered the course on the weekend to surge clear and win by three shots in the end. Including the winner, in a weather affected event where many of the bigger names failed to perform, we had only five of the top seventeen plus ties (5/21). 

2018 - Week 30 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the RBC Canadian Open (US PGA Tour) and the Porsche European Open (European PGA Tour), are now available on Golf Predictor. World number one Dustin Johnson and Open Championship runner-up Matt Kuchar are among those who have jetted over from Scotland to tee it up in Canada at their sponor's event. A few big names are also teeing it up at the European Open, where Masters champion Patrick Reed are among those who have been somehow enticed to stay in Europe for another week after the trials of Carnoustie!

2018 - Week 29 Winners

Francesco Molinari (ranked 3rd by Golf Predictor) won The Open Championship on the European/US PGA Tour. The 35 year old Molinari won his first major with a blemish free weekend on the fiendishly difficult Carnoustie links. Despite trailing three players by three shots overnight, Molinari opened with a Faldoesque thirteen straight pars while everyone around him made multiple mistakes. He didn't flinch either when his more famous playing partner Tiger Woods hid the front around the turn. Molinari closed with two birdies in the last five holes, including one at the difficult finishing hole, to win by two strokes in the end. Our top ranked player, Dustin Johnson, surprisingly missed the cut and we had nine of the top seventeen plus ties (9/23) on the testing layout. 

Troy Merritt (ranked 16th by Golf Predictor) won the Barbasol Championship on the US PGA Tour. The 32 year old American won his second tour title by a single shot in a shoot out in Kentucky. Although he opened up with 62 (-10), Merritt had to keep his pedal to the metal to edge out Billy Horschel, Tom Lovelady and Richy Werenski at the rain delayed event. Our top ranked player, Chris Kirk, finished in tied 40th and we had eight of the top fifteen plus ties (8/19) in total in this second tier event.

2018 - Week 29 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, The Open Championship (European/US PGA Tour) and the Barbasol Championship (US PGA Tour) are now available on Golf Predictor. The excitement is mounting this side of the pond for the most venerable major of them all, which returns to Carnoustie for the first time since 2007. World number one Dustin Johnson leads the strong field and he will be among those trying to master the very hard and dry links challenge this year! Meanwhile, a second string field is once again lining up for the US PGA Tour event in Kentucky.

2018 - Week 28 Winners

Brandon Stone (ranked 122nd by Golf Predictor) won the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open on the European PGA Tour. The 25 year old South African overcame recent poor form and won his third tour title with a brilliant final day performance. Trailing by three shots overnight, he closed with a course record 60 (-10) to win by four shots. Indeed, Stone missed an eight foot birdie putt on the last for the first ever 59 on the European Tour. Our top ranked player, Justin Rose, finished tied 9th and in an event where many top players failed to perform in the benign conditions, we only had seven of the top nineteen plus ties (7/22*).   

Michael Kim (ranked 94th by Golf Predictor) won the John Deere Classic on the US PGA Tour. The 25 year (and one day!) old American won his first PGA Tour  title with a record breaking performance at TPC Deere Run. Kim also overcame poor recent form to pull away from the field over the first three days. After a good start Sunday, the American was able coast to an eight shot victory on a tournament record low score of twenty seven under par. Our top ranked player, Francesco Molinari finished tied 2nd and in a tournament for the underdog, we had only four of the top sixteen plus ties (4/22).


* Oosthuizen didn't play, promoting Fitzpatrick to the top 22 of the GP rankings.

2018 - Week 28 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the ASI Scottish Open (European PGA Tour) and the John Deere Classic (US PGA Tour), are now available on Golf Predictor. It's the final week before The Open Championship and it's the last chance for a competitive tune up. There is a strong field playing in Scotland this year, with five of the top twenty in the world rankings hoping to get some competitive links practice before heading to Carnoustie. However, there aren't many big names in Illinois, where recent winner Francesco Molinari and defending champion Bryson DeChambeau are headlining the field.

2018 - Week 27 Winners

Russell Knox (ranked 9th by Golf Predictor) won the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Hosted by the Rory Foundation on the European PGA Tour. The 33 year old Scot built on recent good form to come from behind and claim his second tour title. Trailing by six shots overnight, Knox finished strongly with a thirty five foot birdie on the last that was good enough for a play-off after Ryan Fox missed a short birdie putt on the same hole. Then, unbelievably in the play-off, history repeated itself as Knox holed for another birdie from almost the same spot and Fox missed again from a similar distance to before! Our top ranked player, defending champion Jon Rahm, finished in tied 4th after a bad start and a great finish on Sunday. Overall, we had ten of the top nineteen plus ties (10/23) in the latest Rolex Series event. 

Kevin Na (ranked 13th by Golf Predictor) won the A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier on the US PGA Tour. The 34 year old American finally won his second tour title after almost seven years of waiting with a great final round at Old White TPC. Na won in style with a great display of putting on Sunday to pull away and win by five shots in the end. Our top ranked player, Bubba Watson, finished poorly on Sunday for tied 13th and in an event where a lot of the bigger names failed to shine, we had eight of the top twenty one plus ties (8/25) in total.

New Field Comparison Charts Added to Golf Predictor

New field comparison chart of season vs course history for 2018 A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier

Similar to the field strokes gained chart added to the site some time ago, I am pleased to announce 56 new field comparison charts to Golf Predictor. These new charts allow you to see at a glance which golfers have the best values in two historical metrics of your choosing. Each of the first seven pages in the Form menu (Same Course, Same Tournament, Season, Last 5 Events, Similar Tournaments, Same Region and Similar Field Strength) have a new "Compare Field" chart link which displays a chart similar to the screenshot above. The Season form page contains a link to the chart shown above, where season average is on the horizontal (X) axis and you can chose from eight metrics to compare from the drop down list box above the chart. Your selected metric appears on the vertical (Y) axis, as shown above.

The complete list of new charts is as follows:

1. Season average vs course average for the field.
2. Season average vs tournament average for the field.
3. Season average vs last five average for the field.
4. Season average vs similar length course average for the field.
5. Season average vs last twelve similar events average for the field.
6. Season average vs same region average for the field.
7. Season average vs similar weather average for the field.
8. Season average vs similar field strength average for the field.
9. Course average vs season average for the field.
10. Course average vs tournament average for the field.
11. Course average vs last five average for the field.
12. Course average vs similar length course average for the field.
13. Course average vs last twelve similar events average for the field.
14. Course average vs same region average for the field.
15. Course average vs similar weather average for the field. 
16. Course average vs similar field strength average for the field. 
17. Tournament average vs season average for the field.
18. Tournament average vs course average for the field,
19. Tournament average vs last five average for the field.
20. Tournament average vs similar length course average for the field.
21. Tournament average vs last twelve similar events average for the field.
22. Tournament average vs same region average for the field.
23. Tournament average vs similar weather average for the field.
24. Tournament average vs similar field strength average for the field.
25. Last five average vs season average for the field.
26. Last five average vs course average for the field.
27. Last five average vs tournament average for the field.
28. Last five average vs similar length course average for the field.
29. Last five average vs last twelve similar events average for the field.
30. Last five average vs same region average for the field.
31. Last five average vs similar weather average for the field.
32. Last five average vs similar field strength average for the field.
33. Last twelve similar events average vs season average for the field.
34. Last twelve similar events average vs course average for the field.
35. Last twelve similar events average vs tournament average for the field.
36. Last twelve similar events average vs similar length course average for the field.
37. Last twelve similar events average vs last five events average for the field.
38. Last twelve similar events average vs same region average for the field.
39. Last twelve similar events average vs similar weather average for the field.
40. Last twelve similar events average vs similar field strength average for the field.
41. Same region average vs season average for the field.
42. Same region average vs course average for the field.
43. Same region average vs tournament average for the field.
44. Same region average vs similar length course average for the field.
45. Same region average vs last five events average for the field.
46. Same region average vs last twelve similar events average for the field.
47. Same region average vs similar weather average for the field.
48. Same region average vs similar field strength average for the field.
49. Similar field strength average vs season average for the field.
50. Similar field strength average vs course average for the field.
51. Similar field strength average vs tournament average for the field.
52. Similar field strength average vs similar length course average for the field.
53. Similar field strength average vs last five events average for the field.
54. Similar field strength average vs last twelve similar events average for the field.
55. Similar field strength average vs similar weather average for the field.
56. Similar field strength average vs same region average for the field.

This brings the total number of charts on Golf Predictor up to 566 and these are the first charts on the site where you can change the chart data based on a drop down list box. Some notes on these new charts:

1.  Hovering over a point on the chart will show the golfer's name, his values in both metrics and some extra statistics, as shown above for Jason Gore.
2. The horizontal yellow line in the middle of the chart is the field average for the vertical (Y) axis. The vertical blue line is the field average for the horizontal (X) axis. These lines make it easy to identify the golfers with the best and worst values in each metric at a glance. Below the yellow line is better than average for the vertical axis and left of the blue line is better than average for the horizontal axis.
3. These average values for both metrics are shown above the chart, as can be seen in the screenshots above. You can also hover over the lines to examine the values in the hover text. On each line, one co-ordinate (the average) will remain constant as you move along the line in question.
4. Like the strokes gained chart referenced above, these new charts are also zoomable.
5. Unlike the strokes gained chart referenced above,  the best combination of the compared statistics is the bottom left quadrant (it has the lowest averages for both metrics).
6. Conversely, the worst combination of the compared statistics is the top right quadrant (it has the highest averages for both metrics).
7. The points along the bottom of the chart above are those golfers with no course history in the previous five seasons.
8. The points along the extreme left of the chart above are those golfers with no season history.
9. Golfers with no value for either metric are excluded from the chart and are listed underneath instead. 
10. Sometimes, all points for some of these new chart will form a straight line. If it is a diagonal line, it means both metrics are equal, e.g. course and tournament average for a tournament that has been held on the same course for the previous five years. If the line is vertical or horizontal, it means one of the metrics is the same (unlikely to be anything other than zero!) for the entire field. There is a note above each relevant chart outlining this.
11. Similar to above, some charts may approach a straight line, but will not be exactly so. For example, this can happen if the last five events and season history are similar for the entire field. There is a note above each relevant chart outlining this.

I trust you will find these 56 new charts useful for quickly spotting good picks for upcoming tournaments. Just another way to make Golf Predictor even better!

2018 - Week 27 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Hosted by the Rory Foundation (European PGA Tour) and A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier (US PGA Tour) are now available on Golf Predictor. There are not many big names teeing it up in either event this week, with just two members of the top twenty in the world teeing it up in either event. Bubba Watson and Phil Mickelson are headlining the field in West Virginia, while here in Ireland, we have host Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, who is defending the title he won last year at Portstewart. No doubt the latter duo will be hoping to get their links game in shape for the big one in two weeks time!

2018 - Week 26 Winners

Alex Noren (ranked 5th by Golf Predictor) won the HNA Open de France on the European PGA Tour. The 35 year old Swede won his tenth tour title with an impressive weekend performance in Paris. Noren closed with 65-67 on the tough 2018 Ryder Cup venue and came through the field and win from seven shots back. Of course, it helped his cause that all the contenders fell away at the end, most expensively Julian Suri, who doubled the last to lose by one. Our top ranked player, Justin Thomas, finished in tied eighth on his Ryder Cup reconnaissance  and we had fourteen of the top twenty one plus ties (14/26) on the testing layout.

Francesco Molinari (ranked 2nd by Golf Predictor) won the Quicken Loans National on the US PGA Tour. The 35 year old became the first Italian born player to win on tour in over 70 years with an incredible display of ball striking. Tied for the lead overnight, Molinari turned on the afterburners just after the turn and blew away the field with an golfing exhibition to win by eight shots in the end. Our top ranked player, Rickie Fowler, finished in 12th and we had eight of the top seventeen plus ties (8/22) in total.