2012 - Week 31 Predictions/Statistics Updated (Reno-Tahoe Open)

The predictions and statistics for the Reno-Tahoe Open (US PGA Tour) have been re-run on Golf Predictor. As is common with events with weaker fields, there has been considerable volatility in the entry list since Monday. This meant a significant number of late withdrawals and late additions to the starting line up since the original predictions were generated. Therefore it was decided to generate the predictions using the latest field list to have the most accurate statistics possible on Golf Predictor.

2012 - Week 31 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the WGC - Bridgestone Invitational (European/US PGA Tour) and the Reno-Tahoe Open (US PGA Tour), are now available on Golf Predictor. It's the first of two weeks of big tournaments in the US this week with the WGC event serving as usual  as a final tune-up for the final major of the season, the US PGA Championship next week. The second string event this week in Reno unusually has Padraig Harrington in the field, who has to do his tuning up there because of his fall down the rankings.

2012 - Week 30 Winners

Bernd Wiesberger (ranked 4th by Golf Predictor) won the Lyoness Open powered by Greenfinity on the European PGA Tour. The 26 year old local favourite delighted the home fans by winning his second tour title with a great final day charge. Wiesberger closed with a seven under par 65 to sweep to a three shot victory. Our top ranked player, Pablo Larrazabal, finished in tied 10th and we had eleven of the top eighteen plus ties (11/25) in total*. 

Scott Piercy (ranked 19th by Golf Predictor) won the RBC Canadian Open on the US PGA Tour. The 33 year old American won his second tour title after his two nearest challengers, William McGirt and Robert Garrigus, both missed putts on the final green to force a play-off. Our top ranked player, Matt Kuchar, finished in tied 34th and we had twelve of the top nineteen plus ties (12/27)**. 


*Non-finishes promote Aguilar into the top 25 of the rankings.
**Non-finishes promote Cameron Tringale into the top 27 of the rankings.

Thorbjorn Olesen's Prediction Records Fixed on Golf Predictor

Similar to the problem with Bernd Wiesberger, there was an issue with Thorbjorn Olesen's* world rankings on Golf Predictor. I noticed that long time leader in Austria had an infeasibly low ranking for the event. Upon investigation, it turns out that he is also known as Jacob Olesen (apparently interchangeably) on my world ranking data source, This meant his correct world ranking was not getting picked up when he was in the world ranking data as "Jacob", which included this week's event. The 41 tournaments that he played in that were affected by this naming issue have now all been updated. This means that in addition to all his statistics being updated for those tournaments, the GP rankings for all these events have been retrospectively updated with him in his correct position. Unfortunately with many thousands of golfers, many of whom known by one or more variants of their name, this happens occasionally.

For this week's event, this promotes him to second place (from somewhere in the 70s as I recall!), which was his true rank. Apologies for the late adjustment for this week's tournament. I would have noticed earlier, had I been able to tip this event. However, the unexpected Wednesday start and travel early in the week caused me to miss out this week.

Chart Icon Change

Snippet of Prediction page showing new pie and line chart icons

Snippet of Tournament page showing new bar chat icon

Snippet of Compare Form page showing new stacked bar chat icon

The chart icon used on Golf Predictor data pages has been changed. While before a single line chart icon was used for every type of chart, now there are separate icons for line, pie, bar and stacked bar charts. The screenshots above show these new icons on the various data pages. This improves things slightly by indicating the chart type you can expect by clicking on a particular icon. It will also make it much easier in the future to have chart icons side by side where the chart types are different. Just another way to make Golf Predictor a little better!

Sung-Hoon Kang Prediction Records Fixed on Golf Predictor

Similar to the problem with Bernd Wiesberger, there was an issue with Korean golfer Sung-Hoon Kang's* world rankings on Golf Predictor. The seven tournaments that he played in that were affected by this naming issue have all been updated. This means that in addition to all his statistics being updated for those tournaments, the GP rankings for all these events have been retrospectively updated with Kang in his correct position.

*Also known as Sung Kang these days on the US PGA Tour!

2012 - Week 30 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, the Lyoness Open powered by Greenfinity (European PGA Tour) and the RBC Canadian Open (US PGA Tour), are now available on Golf Predictor. Not many big names in action in Austria this week after The Open Championship. However, there is a pretty strong line up in Ontario, where newly crowned Champion Golfer of the Year, Ernie Els, is due to tee it up, assuming the celebrations have not got out of control!

2012 - Week 29 Winners

Ernie Els (ranked 30th by Golf Predictor) won The Open Championship on the European/US PGA Tour. The 42 year old South African crowned his recent return to form with a fourth major title after long time leader Adam Scott faltered badly on the back nine. In contrast, Els finished in style, covering the difficult closing nine holes in 32 shots, including a birdie at the last. Our top ranked player, Lee Westwood, suffered yet more major disappointment, finishing in tied 45th place. Overall, we had seven of the top nine plus ties (7/18). 

Scott Stallings (ranked 26th by Golf Predictor) won the True South Classic on the US PGA Tour. The 27 year old American won his second tour title by two shots, turning around his poor recent form to set a tournament scoring record of 264 (-24). Our top ranked player, Brendon de Jonge, finished in tied 31st and in an event with a lot of late withdrawals, we had six of the top eighteen plus ties (6/20)*. 

*When non-starters are excluded from the rankings. 

2012 - Week 29 Predictions/Statistics Online

The predictions and statistics for this week, The Open Championship (European/US PGA Tour) and the True South Classic (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 Royal Lytham St. Annes this year. Meanwhile, as usual a second string line up will be battling it out for the True South Classic in Mississippi. The weather is promised wet for both tournaments, but those in Lancashire are promised to have cold and windy conditions to contend with as well!

2012 - Week 28 Winners

Jeev Milkha Singh (ranked 34th by Golf Predictor) won the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open on the European PGA Tour. The 40 year old Indian finished early and waited while several players did their best not to surpass him. Eventually, Francesco Molinari holed a clutch par putt on the final hole to force a play-off after both ended on -17. However, Singh was not to be denied and he won with a birdie on the first extra hole to win his fourth tour title. Our top ranked player, defending champion, Luke Donald, finished in tied 16th place and in an event where a lot of the bigger names didn't perform, we had six of the top sixteen plus ties (6/23).  

Zach Johnson (ranked 2nd by Golf Predictor) won the John Deere Classic on the US PGA Tour. The 36 year old American also needed a play-off, beating Troy Matteson on the second extra hole. Local favourite Johnson won with a brilliant approach from a fairway bunker to less than a foot to pip the long time leader. Our top ranked player, defending champion, Steve Stricker, just came up short in his effort to win the event four times in a row, finishing in tied 5th and we had eleven of the top nineteen plus ties (11/24)*. 

*Due to withdrawals, Rory Sabbatini make the top 24 in our rankings.