More Statistics for Non-finishing Players

Further to the recent post on the change in policy for handling scores for non-finishers, we have updated the rounds played and scoring average statistics for such golfers. Originally Golf Predictor did not include the round scores for players who had withdrew or been disqualified from a tournament. However, since we started including such scores, it became apparent that the rounds played and scoring average needed to be calculated for these golfers also.

In addition, these newly recorded rounds meant that the scoring averages for all players in tournaments with non-finishers (who played at least one round) were slightly inaccurate. Therefore, we have updated all tournament results since 2003 again to correct these slight issues.

Travelers Championship - Memorable Moments

Here are the memorable moments for this week's Travelers Championship (covered by Golf Predictor). These moments include another sudden death defeat for Greg Norman (plus a bounce back the following year), a victory by local boy J.J. Henry, repeat wins for Phil and a maiden triumph for Hunter Mahan after a tremendous approach in the play-off.

2009 - Week 30 Prediction Update (BMW International Open)

After his exploits in the US Open, Ross Fisher has withdrawn from the BMW International Open. Fisher was ranked third but we have now removed him from the predictions for this tournament on Golf Predictor and re-ranked the field. There has been no other change to the rankings.

The up to date predictions are now available on the site. Note that you may have to refresh/reload the page to see the change.

2009 - Week 30 Predictions

We have published the predictions for week 30, the Travelers Championship (US PGA Tour) and the BMW International Open (European PGA Tour). For the European event, some players have had to leg it across the Atlantic to Germany after the late finish to the US Open, so that might have to be factored in to your decisions. In the US, the players just had the short trip from Long Island, New York to Cromwell, Connecticut to contend with.

The list of pre-2004 champions in the Travelers Championship (Golf Predictor uses the results from the previous 5 years) includes Notah Begay III (2000), Brent Geiberger (1999), Olin Browne (1998) and Stewart Cink (1997). The corresponding list for the BMW International Open comprises of Colin Montgomerie (1999) and Marc Farry (1996).

2009 - Week 29 Winners

Lucas Glover (ranked 57th by Golf Predictor) took advantage of a meltdown by Ricky Barnes to win the protracted 109th US Open at Bethpage Black in New York. Co-leading with Barnes at the start of play today, a 73 was good enough for Glover to grab his first major as Barnes leaked shot after shot. In an exciting final day's play, both Phil Mickelson and David Duval had great chances to make fairytale endings. However, both finished poorly to leave Glover under no real pressure to secure the title on the eighteenth. Our top pick, Tiger Woods, never really recovered from a sloppy finish to his opening round but still managed to finish tied sixth. In a tournament heavily disrupted by the weather, we had four of the top ten plus ties (4/15).

On the European PGA Tour, Christian Nilsson (ranked 15th by Golf Predictor) comfortably closed out the lottery that is the weak fielded Saint Omer Open presented by Neuflize OBC with a blemish free 69 for a two shot victory. Our top ranked player, Robert Coles, finished poorly with an 80 to tie for 75th place and we had four of the top fifteen plus ties (4/22).

US Open Delayed

The final round of the US Open will not be completed until today (Monday), due to the heavy rain in New York which has played havoc with the scheduling.

We will of course enter the results into Golf Predictor as soon as they are available. This will also delay the publishing of our predictions for this week as the new world rankings will not be available at the usual time. The Monday finish will probably also result in some withdrawals from this week's tournaments, particularly the BMW International Open in Germany, which is a bit of a hike from New York! We will endeavour to produce the predictions as soon as possible.

2009 - Week 29 Prediction Update 2 (Saint Omer Open)

We have run the Golf Predictor prediction engine for the Saint Omer Open presented by Neuflize OBC (European PGA Tour) yet again due to the very late addition of who we thought might be a serious contender. As it turns out, Carlos Del Moral ends up ranked only at number 18, so there is no major change from the previous run.

The up to date predictions are now available on the site. Note that you may have to refresh/reload the page to see the new rankings.

2009 - Week 29 Prediction Update (Saint Omer Open)

We have run the Golf Predictor prediction engine for the Saint Omer Open presented by Neuflize OBC (European PGA Tour) again due to the late withdrawal of our top ranked golfer David Drysdale. This withdrawal means that there is no golfer from the world's top 200 competing in France this week.

The up to date predictions are now available on the site. Note that you may have to refresh/reload the page to see the new rankings.

2009 - Week 29 Predictions

We have published the predictions for week 29, the US Open (US/European PGA Tour) and the Saint Omer Open presented by Neuflize OBC (European PGA Tour). All eyes will be on the brutal Bethpage Black, where Tiger Woods will try to do on two legs what he achieved last year on one - win! All the big names in golf will be trying to stop him though, which leaves a pretty weak field for the Saint Omer Open in France (highest ranked player there is 196th in the world).

The list of pre-2004 champions in the US Open (Golf Predictor uses the results from the previous 5 years) includes Jim Furyk (2003), Tiger Woods (2002 & 2000), Retief Goosen (2001) and Ernie Els (1997 & 1994). The corresponding list for the Saint Omer Open comprises only of Sébastien Delagrange (2001).

2009 - Week 28 Winner

Brian Gay (ranked 14th by Golf Predictor) won his second US PGA Tour title of the season at the St. Jude Classic in Memphis. Despite averaging only 265.8 yards off the tee (76th), Gay comfortably completed his wire to wire victory with the help of some good putting (first in putts per GIR, 1.510). There's the old "drive for show and putt for dough" again! It was always going to be difficult for our top ranked player, Phil Mickelson, on his emotional comeback to the tour. He slipped down the leaderboard with a 75 (+5) on Sunday to finish in tied 59th. Other big names such as Harrington, Garcia, Stenson, Leonard and Ames all failed to perform and missed the cut. Harrington and Garcia in particular hopefully said a few prayers to St. Jude, the patron saint of hopeless causes, while at the tournament!! Overall, we had six of the top fourteen plus ties (6/18).

There was no tournament on the European PGA Tour last week.