My take on the OWGR Top 10 of 2019

Posted on by Alexander Rose

What I really like about golf is not only playing the game for myself but also to cheer for one or the other professional player. I try to see some pro tournaments on TV which is not easy with a full business and family life, but I do have some favorite players that I follow, double-tap on Instagram and support in other ways.

Compared to other sports like football I seriously appreciate the fact that rooting for one player not at all means that I hate everybody else in the field—a behavior which unfortunately is so predominant in football.

Anyway, I like playing golf and I like support a handful of golf players. It’s a gentleman’s sport throughout and spectators should be included in the equation. I’m aware that the Ryder Cup or the Solheim Cup might be sort of an exception, where two continents, two teams clash together and the situation is artificially hyped to an extreme. It’s different from the rest, one could say.

Brooks Koepka
Current world’s no. 1: Brooks Koepka | (c) golfweek.com

Coming back to the normal tour schedule, players earn points according to their stats in the weekly events. The better they play, the more they earn, the more points they receive. Easy as that.

Translated in a ranking of points earned globally on any given tour, this adds up to the current standing on the official world golf ranking high-score list. Please find below the 2019 season ending top 10, enriched with my personal view on the person in question:

Continue reading My take on the OWGR Top 10 of 2019

Dustin Johnson wins US Open and causes discussions

Posted on by Alexander Rose

Last night I fell asleep at around 1am and had no idea what happened at Oakmont a little later. I was watching the US Open coverage when I got too tired and went to bed. Dustin Johnson had just begun his round and Shane Lowry slowly but surely fell apart in his round and his plan to stay on top of the leaderboard. But the most interesting thing happened when I was snoozing away, which by the way is nothing too uncommon that things get exciting at the end of a golf tournament, but anyway…

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Photo: blick.ch

Long story short, Dustin won the US Open in the end, his maiden major title, but something else hit the news very quickly when I was waking up today:

On the 5th hole, Dustin’s ball moved a little and both he and his scorer, Lee Westwood, said he neither touched the ball nor caused it to move in any other way. Rules officials had been contacted and consulted and it took them until Dustin played the 12th to tell him there might be a rule violation and that he should expect a stroke penalty.

Come on, guys! Tell him during the round?! How dare you putting Dustin under such mental pressure and uncertainty tell him and all his opponents that there will be an investigation and decision after the round!

Well, in the end it turned out that Dustin won with a 3-shot lead, so the USGA’s decision luckily didn’t harm much, but imagine it had been closer… imagine what this would have meant for Dustin who was runner up in majors so often.

This is what Dustin’s colleagues had to say (i.e. tweet) during the round:

Continue reading Dustin Johnson wins US Open and causes discussions

Jordan Spieth: our new Masters champion

Posted on by Alexander Rose

We have a new Masters champion!

Jordan Spieth, the 21-year old kid from Texas took the lead at the Masters and wouldn’t let go till the very end. In an interesting Sunday battle he played like from another planet and managed to maintain his 5-shot lead till the 18th green.

While Spieth played so many birdies in this week than never before and at some point stood at 19-under which hasn’t been achieved yet it has been the other players who struggled and really failed to close the gap between them and Spieth.

Phil Mickelson had a great Sunday but even his brilliant short game didn’t help him out. Spieth’s was excellent as well. Dustin Jordan at least on Saturday seemed to be in a position to get closer to the top spot, but at some point it was obvious that he wouldn’t manage to stop the kid’s walk of fame. Tiger Woods’ game seemed to be completely out of control. On Sunday the first fairway he managed to hit was the 13th! Seriously: one—three! He was excellent in recovery shots though and he might even got his feeling back to get back into contention at a major. This was interrupted on the 9th when he injured himself hitting some hard ground under a tree (because he missed the fairways…). Justin Rose was very close but lost track on the second half. And Rory, yes Rory wasn’t in the best form either. He played well, had some fantastic shots but didn’t manage to bring down the numbers.

So it was Jordan Spieth who eventually dropped the last putt on the 18, hugged family and friends and was provided with the one and only piece of attire that every golfer is longing for: the green jacket at Augusta National.

Fun fact: watching the price giving ceremony later, you realised that Spieth so far very rarely put on proper jackets apparently. He had some troubles getting into the jacket with his arms all over the place and ended up not very gentleman-like saying “a little sweaty”, and smiled. What can you say… 21 years!

You have to really like this guy though. He played finest golf, tamed the beast Augusta National which seemed to be a bit easier this year but still is a heck of a golf course. And I don’t know why but this year I somehow realised the huge elevation changes on TV for the first time. That absolutely impressed me, it doesn’t even seem easy to walk the course, not talking about placing balls one metre next to the hole.

Really a very interesting Masters tournament this year! I’m ready for the other majors this year and I’m sure Jordan Spieth won’t be a one hit wonder!