Related Tournament Navigation

Golf Predictor is glad to announce more convenient navigation between related tournaments. As shown in the screenshot above, every tournament page now has a Related Tournaments section.

This new section makes it much easier to navigate to other tournaments of possible interest. You now can directly click on the same tournament in other years, other tournaments played the same week or in the previous or following weeks.

Seve has Brain Surgery

Well, Seve Ballesteros has had much of his brain tumour removed after a marathon operation in Madrid. Thankfully, there were no complications in the surgery, which lasted 7 hours according to family and 12 hours according to some news reports. Doctors removed as much of the tumour as possible and Seve is said to have regained consciousness and is stable after the procedure. It is still not known whether the growth is malignant or not.

Once again, we here at Golf Predictor wish Seve a speedy recovery.

Celebrity Endorsements

In the final humorous post, we here at Golf Predictor have used the same site again (see seal and marketing poster posts) for these "endorsements"!

Marketing Poster

OK, it's a quiet night here! From the same site we used to produce the seal, we have hijacked the iconic Uncle Sam recruitment poster!

Golf Predictor Seal

On a light-hearted note, we introduce the official Golf Predictor seal! The cod Latin on the top (very) roughly means "In golf we predict" and on the bottom "I am, therefore I golf"!

We usually don't have this much time on our hands!!! Create your own seal here if you're bored of an evening!

2008 - Week 48 Predictions Online

We have published the predictions for week 48, the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (US PGA Tour) and the Portugal Masters (European PGA Tour). The US tournament is quite a mouthful, but it is a charity event hosted by the eponymous famous singer and avid golfer, so we hope it's a big success. Timberlake, a renowned dancer , plays of about a 6 handicap, so he obviously strut his stuff on the fairways too!

Previous winners of the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open before 2003 (Golf Predictor includes results from the previous 5 years) competing this week include Bob Estes (2001), and Davis Love III (1993). The event has been known by a variety of names in the recent past and these guys won it when it was a 5 round event played on 3 different courses. The Portugal Masters is only in its second year and Robert Karlsson is going for 3 successive European PGA tour victories.

Latest on Seve

Our worst fears were confirmed when Seve Ballesteros announced that he has been diagnosed with a brain tumour. Seve extricated himself from many a tricky situation on the golf course during his swashbuckling career. Let's hope he can do the same here in this difficult time for him.

The thoughts of Golf Predictor are with the Ballesteros family.

2008 - Week 47 Winners

South African Charl Schwartzel (ranked 9th by Golf Predictor) won the Madrid Masters in style, shooting a bogey free 66 to clinch the title. It looks like Gonzalo Fdez-Castano spent more time promoting the event than practicing for it, as he missed the cut! Our top pick, Miguel Angel Jimenez, finished in a tie for 29th. We also had Thongchai Jaidee, Ricardo Gonzalez and Damien McGrane in the top twelve.

On the US Tour, former Masters champion and Georgia specialist Zack Johnson (ranked 11th* by Golf Predictor) turned his poor season around by winning the Valero Texas Open. Johnson wrapped up his first victory outside Georgia in style with a weekend finish of 62-64. Our top pick and local favourite, Justin Leonard, failed to add to his 3 titles and ended up in a tie for 11th. We also had Mark Wilson, Rory Sabbatini and Stephen Ames in the top 12.

*Briny Baird (ranked 4th) did not tee it up.

Father and Son

It was with some surprise that we found out that there was a father and son team playing in the Madrid Masters this week. This was particularly surprising as the father is still only 39! This must be the first time that a regular professional golf tournament has had a father and son under 40 competing, although that is just speculation on my part.

Angel Cabrera, the long hitting former Argentinian is joined in the field this week by his 19 year old son Federico. Genes obviously have something to do with golfing ability. This would explain why the Golf Predictor guru is useless at golf, but not why Jack Nicklaus' sons weren't more successful!

Unfortunately, Junior missed the cut after a disastrous first round of 81. He came back strongly with a 68 in the second round, but unfortunately it wasn't enough. Daddy is still in there, fighting for the family honour, although he is not really threatening the lead!

Spanish Armada Springing Leaks

The famed former Ryder Cup team of Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal are both unfortunately suffering in the health department. It turns out that Seve's proclaimation of good health may have been a tad optimistic as test results are expected to reveal a serious illness.

On a brighter note, Jose Maria managed to make the cut in his third comeback from serious rheumatic problems. He was at criminally short odds to win the Madrid Masters with the bookmaker I checked, which was most unfair on punters and the golfer alike.

Let's hope the formidable pair will be back to full health soon.