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

Tiger did it again!

Posted on by Alexander Rose

One of the biggest comebacks in sports or just in golf? Whatever you go for, Tiger’s 2019 Masters win will end up in sports history books as the triumphant comeback of a man who suffered so much pain, lost so much, changed so much and was pretty much absent from the game for so long.

He now came back with a great major tournament, The Masters supposedly one of his favorites, great touch, good drives and the luck of the Irish.

D4I_3_JWsAMYJnK.jpg-large
Photo: foxsports.com

I take my hat and salute a great man, who went from idol and role model to pretty much the opposite—and back. Fingers crossed he’s feeling home again on the tournament circle and will spark some enthusiasm again, win again and will continue to write history and lead a new generation of golfers to take care of this beautiful sport and its future.

A big ask, I know… But the 2 million dollars he went home with may be a kind of compensation – not that he would need it…

Tiger got his smile back

Posted on by Alexander Rose

Not only are all his teeth where they used to be, Tiger seems to be pain-free, back in shape and willing to make a statement at the Masters this year.

Over the last years Tiger here and there dropped out of tournaments for various reasons; knee problems, back problems and sometimes most likely swing problems as well. For some people out there Tiger’s explanations afterwards sounded like nothing but excuses.

Undoubtedly he was in pain sometimes and wasn’t in the form he used to be and although we all wish him luck and a good game, it’s Tiger himself who most likely will hate the fact the most that he’s not good enough anymore currently to be in contention to win a tournament, a “normal” PGA Tour tournament that is.

Just recently Tiger fell out of the top 100 world ranking list and we all may believe that he’d like to have that changed again. This man is pure golf passion, he basically lived for nothing but this sport. He will give everything necessary to be part of the big guys club again. We will see in the following days whether that plan plays out or not.

One interesting quote from today’s the press conference: “My biggest motivation? Winning!… I like it!” with that huge smile on his face.

This week’s gonna be so interesting!

Career Slam in sight! Can Rory make it happen?

Posted on by Alexander Rose

Rory McIlroy is a golf phenomenon, no doubt about it. Just like Tiger Woods, Rory is a young gun and already dominates golf and rightly is one of the hot picks for a Masters win this year. There have been years when he struggled, sometimes he even struggled very much but currently he seems in shape, and that’s not only referring to his fitness but more to his recent ball striking.

If Rory could turn that around and win the Masters he would achieve what commonly is referred to as a “Career Slam”, winning all four majors during the golfing career. Winning all in one year would be the “Grand Slam” and I’m pretty sure he will go out and try exactly that this year. 15 years ago Tiger Woods managed to win four consecutive majors, not in one calendar year though: three tournaments in 2000 and the Masters in 2001. This achievement was later called “Tiger Slam”.

Rory McIlroy won the US Open in 2011, the PGA Championship in 2012 and in 2014 he won both the Open and the PGA Championship. So he’s only short the Masters win to write another chapter in golf history.

We keep our fingers crossed, young man!

Tiger Woods is back in the game

Posted on by Alexander Rose

He’s back! After back surgery and a lengthy recovery process he today turned to the media at his first tournament since early March.

Watch the whole media session via Golf Channel here and see what Tiger went through over the last weeks and months. No doubt this was a tough time for him but undoubtedly he’s back in winning mode, yearning for some further wins down the line.

He said he’s there for winning, not just for practicing. So his mindset is clear: play some tournaments, be in contention as often as possible, play the next majors, progress well and then do as if nothing ever happened.

Future will tell if Tiger can adapt to the new breed in golf and whether he’s still one of the greatest players out there. I have no doubt that he will make it to the top of some leaderboards much quicker than he/we/his contestants thought he would.

Continue reading Tiger Woods is back in the game

tiger was close, but couldn’t save the lead

Posted on by Alexander Rose

…next time, pal! tiger woods is a golf hero, no doubt about it. but he had tough times recently, everbody noticed publically. to come back to the tour for playing and winning like he did in the past was not very likely because there are some other damn good guys out there. so everybody stayed calm and hoped for tiger’s recovery, mentally and golf-wise technically, since he hasn’t had the chance for a huge win on tour this year – while he was close though.

last week’s chevron world classic could have made the change happen… but he lost the playoff against an amzingly playing graeme mcdowell on the second extra hole in the sherwood country club, thousand oaks, calif.

the season reaches its end in the us but the guys are playing like crazy. that’s what i love about the game of golf. you play around the world on totally different courses and you can do that throughout the whole year. there’s next to no winter break. watch this short film with the most important shots this sunday:

stuff to read: