2018 - Week 38 Winners

Tom Lewis (ranked 34th by Golf Predictor) won the Portugal Masters on the European PGA Tour. The 27 year old Englishman won his second tour title and second time in this event in Vilamoura. After a modest opening round of 72 (+1), Lewis came through the field helped by a 61 on Saturday to build on his recent Challenge Tour victory and take the title. That 61 by Lewis was two shots higher than the best score of the week - an historic 59 by Oliver Fisher on Friday! The leaders got jittery down the stretch, but a hero par after finding water on seventeen by Lewis and a closing double by nearest challenger Lucas Herbert meant the Englishman won by three shots. Our top ranked player, Sergio Garcia, finished in tied 7th, showing some welcome good form ahead of the Ryder Cup. Overall, we had eleven of the top twenty plus ties (11/26) in the Algarve.

Tiger Woods (ranked 18th by Golf Predictor) won the Tour Championship on the US PGA Tour. The 42 year old American superstar capped a tremendous comeback by taking the prestigious title at East Lake. Leading by three overnight, his nearest challengers Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose made it easy on Woods to land his eightieth title. Both played incredibly poorly on Sunday, which allowed Tiger to coast to the win. Rose had the consolation of pipping Tiger for the $10 million FedEx Cup jackpot with a birdie on the final hole. Our top ranked player, Dustin Johnson, finished strongly for 3rd place and we had fifteen of the top nineteen in the restricted field event. 


 

2018 - Week 38 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions for this week, the Tour Championship (US PGA Tour) and the Portugal Masters (European PGA Tour) are now available on Golf Predictor. Only the top thirty in the FedEx Cup rankings are playing in the US season finale this week and it's the usual cream of the crop, with some exceptions e.g. Jordan Spieth. However, the Texan's unexpected absence is balanced by the reappearance of Tiger Woods at East Lake. The field in Portugal is more modest, but the out of form Sergio Garcia will hope playing in the Algarve will revive his fortunes ahead of the Ryder Cup.

2018 - Week 37 Winners

Ashun Wu (ranked 58th by Golf Predictor) won the KLM Open on the European PGA Tour. The 33 year old Chinese golfer won his third tour title in a final day battle with Chris Wood. After leading for the opening two days, Wu surrendered the lead after the third round to the Englishman. Despite regaining the upper hand briefly early on Sunday, Wu found himself chasing most of the day and was let back into it when Wood double bogeyed the twelfth. Wu hung in with some gutsy par saves and a tremendous approach on the last which set up what was to be the winning birdie. Despite finding the final green in two, Wood couldn't match him and fell short by a single shot. That made both Wu and me very happy, as I had backed/tipped him at 100/1! Our top ranked player, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, disappointingly missed the cut, but we had fourteen of the top twenty four plus ties (14/27).

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

2018 - Week 36 Winners

Matthew Fitzpatrick (ranked 7th by Golf Predictor) won the Omega European Masters on the European PGA Tour. The 24 year old Englishman defended his title and won his fifth tour title by defeating Lucas Bjerregaard in a play-off. Despite not playing his best on Sunday, Fitzpatrick hung in and needed a birdie in his last few holes to catch the Dane. Fitzpatrick played the final hole perfectly to tie Bjerregaard and repeated the feat to take the title in the scenic Swiss mountains. Fitzpatrick was our top ranked player and in an event where many bigger names failed to perform, we had only six of the top sixteen plus ties (6/22). 
 
Keegan Bradley (ranked 39th by Golf Predictor) won the third event of the FedEx Cup play-offs, the BMW Championship. The 32 year old American won his fourth tour title with an play-off victory over Justin Rose. Despite playing the last hole poorly in regulation, Bradley was saved by the grandstand and then Rose lipping out for par on the same hole after him. Rose then failed to get down in two on the first extra hole to hand the title to Bradley. At least Rose could console himself with becoming world number one for the first time. Our top ranked player, Dustin Johnson, finished in tied 24th and we had fourteen of the top nineteen plus ties (14/23).

2018 - Week 37 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions/stats for this week, the KLM Open (European PGA Tour) are now available on Golf Predictor. There are a few European players in the top fifty in the world rankings teeing it up in the Netherlands this week. There is no event on the US PGA Tour this week as it is the rest week in the FedEx Cup play-offs.

Field Comparison Spider Charts Added to Golf Predictor

Field Comparison for the Dell Technologies Championship with Season Average Selected and Dustin Johnson hovered over.

Similar to the field comparison charts added to the site some time ago, I am pleased to announce nine new field comparison spider/radar/star charts to Golf Predictor. These new charts allow you to see at a glance which golfers have the best values in the historical metric of your choosing. In comparison to the existing field comparison charts referred to above, these new charts are star/radar charts and compare the entire field for one metric.

The complete list of new charts is as follows:

1. Spider chart of season average for the field.
2. Spider chart of course average for the field.
3. Spider chart of tournament average for the field.
4. Spider chart of Tournament average for the field.
5. Spider chart of last five average for the field.
6. Spider chart of  last twelve similar events average for the field.
7. Spider chart of  same region average for the field.
8. Spider chart of similar field strength average for the field.
9. Spider chart of similar weather average for the field.

Most of these charts are available in two locations: all nine together on the Rankings page (Predictions menu) and individually on 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). The chart available on the main Rankings page (Predictions menu) has a drop down box allowing you to pick a different metric. However, when the same individual chart is available from a page in the Form menu, this drop down box is not necessary. All these pages have a new "Compare Field (Spider)" chart link which displays a chart similar to the screenshot above. The Rankings page contains a link to the chart shown above, which shows the average finish in the current GP Season (calendar year) for the field ahead of the 2018 Dell Technologies Championship.

This brings the total number of charts on Golf Predictor up to 575. Some notes on these new charts:

1. The nearer the points are to the centre of the chart, the better (the lower the average value is).
2. Hovering over a point on the chart will show the golfer's name, his value in the metric, the number of events played and his GP Rank, as shown above for Dustin Johnson.
3. The chart is ordered by GP Rank, with the top ranked golfer (DJ in the chart above) in the twelve o'clock position. As can be seen above, this means the values will tend to be lower in the upper right quadrant (higher ranked golfers) and higher in the upper left quadrant (lower ranked golfers).
4. Due to the large number of golfers typically shown on these new charts is large, it is not possible to show the labels for each golfer in the field for legibility reasons. Therefore, the labels are shown for every n golfers, where n depends on the number of golfers displayed. This value varied from every golfer to every sixth golfer. For example, the chart above with 98 golfers shows the label for every fourth golfer.
5. Also for legibility purposes, golfer names are truncated if their surname is too long. This is shown above for B(ryson) DeChambeau.
6. Golfers with no value for the metric are excluded from the chart and are listed underneath instead. These zero values are also excluded from the average field value shown.
7. You may have to reload a page (press F5 on Windows) to see the new chart links.

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

2018 - Week 36 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions/stats for this week, the BMW Championship (US PGA Tour) and the Omega European Masters (European PGA Tour) are now available on Golf Predictor. It's the third leg of the FedEx Cup play-offs in the US this week and the pressure will be on to qualify for the lucrative Tour Championship in two weeks time. As usual, the bigger names are still in FedEx Cup contention in America, but there still are a couple of players in the top fifty in the world rankings teeing it up on the popular track in the Swiss Alps this week.

2018 - Week 35 Winners

Matt Wallace (ranked 7th by Golf Predictor) won the Made in Denmark on the European PGA Tour. The 28 year old Englishman won his fourth tour title in an all English four man play-off against Lee Westwood, Jonathan Thomson & Steven Brown. Wallace finished very strongly with five birdies in his last six holes to post -19. This was equalled by the other trio, with Lee Westwood having let a two shot lead around the turn slip. Wallace then proceeded to leave his approach on both extra holes about five feet away to vanquish his three opponents with birdies and take the title. Our top ranked player, Thorbjorn Olesen, finished in tied 20th and was delighted to sow up the last qualifying spot on the Ryder Cup team. Overall, we had fourteen of the top twenty plus ties (14/26). 

Bryson DeChambeau (ranked 16th by Golf Predictor) won the Dell Technologies Championship on the US PGA Tour. The 24 year old American won his third title of the season with an impressive two shot win over Justin Rose. DeChambeau broke out of a crowded leaderboard early on Sunday and was never really threatened on the back nine. That allowed him to win his second FedEx Cup event in a row reasonably comfortably in the end and cement his place on the US Ryder Cup team. Our top ranked player, Dustin Johnson, finished strongly in tied 7th and we had eight of the top twelve plus ties (8/19).