Golf Central

Perhaps more famous for Oktoberfest, baked pretzels and well, German people, you may or may not know that Munich's got a lot of bleedin' good golf tracks, including Golfclub Munchen, venue for this week's stop on the European Tour. Let us enlighten you golf fans...

1. Gentlemen, start your engines
German car manufacturing giants BMW celebrated their 20th anniverasary by letting a host of the European Tour's finest drive some of thier greatest convertibles through the streets of Munich (when we say racing, we actually mean cruising). Among the drivers were Henrik Stenson, Miguel-Angel Jimenez, Bernhard Langer and Alex Cejka, whilst Rory Mcilroy acted as a navigator, sorting out the route planning. Bet you Jimenez and Stenson put their foot down a bit...
2. Let's hope for another play-off
The BMW International Open has been decided by play-off on four occasions since its inception in 1989, the most thrilling of which came in 1992, when five players battled it out; the only time that many players have been involved in a playoff at a PGA European Tour event. In the end it was Paul Azinger (this year's 2008 USA Ryder Cup captain, who ain't got a hope in hell with that Tiger bloke not playing) who held his nerves and won the title. Glen Day, Anders Forsbrand, Mark James and Bernhard Langer were forced to share second place.
3. Jimenez will fight on despite jetlag
Our hot pick for this week, Miguel-Angel Jimenez will be teeing it up this week in Munich despite being jetlagged after last week US Open at Torrey Pines. "I'm so jet-lagged that when the alarm went off this morning it was like being in my tomb," he told reporters on Wednesday. What we want to know is, why on earth did our Bet Detective pick him if he's knackered and, how does he know what sleeping in a tomb is like?
4. This is the place for an ace
The first player to recieve keys to a BMW for acing a hole was Jay Townsend, who recieved a BMW 325i Cabrio for his hole-in-one on the 12th in 1991. France's Raphaël Jacquelin followed Townsend's footsteps in 2001, where he won a BMW Z8 for sinking a hole-in-one on the 17th hole.
5. Munich: home to good food and great beer
If we're not on the golf course, you'll find us saying hello to our good friends at the Max Planck Society for scientific research, losing ourselves at the Muhich English gardens,having a ganders at the Munich Glockenspiel,going to watch FC Bayern Munich play football,scoffing away on local specialities such as Weißwürste, backed pretzels and leberkäs, or sipping on one Weizenbier in one of the region's 20 major beer gardens.Vi sees senere!

                                      * If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a photo from Rob Harborne is worth a billion.

Well, it took him 19 holes, but Tiger finally sealed the deal: What else did you expect? Rocco's a fighter and it was a major after all...
Hadn't people basically writen off Rocco's chances before the playoff had even begun?: You're not wrong there, pal. He was a 3/1 dog at the start of proceedings, but it has to be be said that Rocco looked like winning the thing on a few occasions...
Let's not jump the gun, cowboy. Take it from the start...: Well, Tiger drew first blood on the very first hole when he "finally" managed to find the fairway off the tee. He missed his 20-foot birdie opportunity, and when Mediate ended up making bogey, you kind of got the impression that it was just going to be one of those days.
And was it?: Well, at one point it seemed that way. There was only one stroke seperating Woods and Mediate as they stepped onto the ninth tee, but after Rocco three-putted for bogey, Tiger's par was good enough to give him a two stroke lead going into the back nine...
What were the scores by this point?: Tiger was one over at this point whilst Mediate found himself three over.
Ok, sorry about that. I just had to double check: That's no problem. Shall I continue?
Please do: Things got much worse for Rocco on the par-four 10th when he duffed a chip from the fringe to make what would be his second consecutive birdie, giving Tiger a comfortable three-stroke lead...
So Rocco just shut up shop and accepted defeat?: No way, Jose! If we've learned one thing about Rocco - and golf's old guard for that matter- this week, is that you can never keep a good dog down...
That's a bit off the point, however...: Where were we?
At the par-three 11th?: An unexpected bogey for Tiger, who hadn't made worse than a par on this hole in the five previous days.
Still, that's only one hole. There's no way on earth Tiger would have lost two on the bounce: Shows how much you know....
Really? What happened?: Tiger only went and lost the 12th and 14th holes to send the game into a gridlock, with both players on one over par.
Talk about a swing in momentum: Tell me about it. And what's more, Rocco pulled a massive, swinging putt out of the bag at the par-four 15th for his third birdie on the trot and, more importantly, a one stroke lead...
He must have been able to taste victory, surely?: Not sure about that, but he must have felt pretty good about things. The whole situation, however, seemed a tad surreal at times...
How do you mean?: It was a case of, "Can this bloke really beat Tiger Woods at his own game. In what has become Tiger's own backyard?"
So what happened?: Well, Tiger couldn't pull things back to even, and when the two brave warriors stepped onto the 18th hole, Mediate found himself at even par, one stroke ahead of the world's number one golfer. But, just like at the 18th yesterday, Tiger came up with the goods when he most needed to...
What are we talking? An eagle?: No, a birdie. A birdie that forced Rocco to make his putt to force sudden death...
Did he make it?: You know very well that he did.
Alright, no need to have a go...: Anyway, it was back to the par-four 7th for the first sudden death playoff hole, where, Tiger's drive ends up on the right edge of the fairway.
And Rocco?: Well, it was a different story for Mediate, who fired his tee shot into a left fairway bunker. Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, his effort from the bunker ends up on the far side of a cart path near a stand...
Talk about having an absolute 'mare: Yep.
So it was all pretty much over?: Pretty much. On what turned out to be the 91st  and final hole, Tiger managed to get his par, and Rocco found himself with a tricky 20-footer to force another sudden death playoff hole. His effort never really looked like going in, and as the ball slid past the hole, Tiger could finally celebrate with his caddie Steve Williams.
Fairytale ending, really: If you're Tiger Woods, that is...
Yeah. So any final thoughts?: Final thoughts? I'm not Jerry Springer for crying out loud...
No need to be like that, is there?: You're right. Final thoughts? Well, I think it's fair to say that this year's US Open has surpassed everybody's expectations... and then some. Torrey Pines was an absolutely incredible venue, proving to be the ultimate balance of risk and reward. USGA take note; MUNIS ARE THE WAY FORWARD. It wasn't vintage Tiger Woods (even though he describe it as "probably the greatest tournamnet I've ever had") by any stretch of the imagination, but the grit and determination  to play through the pain and never give up showed us yet again why he's the best player in the world.... by a country mile.
Any highlights?: That 66-foot eagle he made at the 13th on Saturday will forever be etched in the memory. In an ideal world, Lee Westwood would have been given the chance to tag along on today's playoff, but massive props have to go to Rocco Mediate for playing an extremely solid week of golf and posing a genuine threat to Tiger in the playoff. It won't go down as the greatest of his three US Open victories, but it's another major to tick off the list as he draws ever closer to Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major championship victories. 14 down, four to go for Tiger now. And do you know what the best thing about it is?
Go on...: That I've been lucky enough to witness them all, the 2008 US Open included.

So, when everybody else apart from Tiger and Rocco packed their bags and headed home, how did our boys from Titleist and Cobra get on at Torrey Pines?



Lee Westwood (3rd)
It was a matter of so close, yet so far for our man from Worksop, who, despite missing out on a play-off with Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate, used Titleist's Pro V1x to devestating effect throughout the week. If we've learned one thing about Westy this week, it's that you can't put him in the same category as the other heavily-touted British hopefuls such as Paul Casey and Justin Rose, because, Lee's more than proved himself to be capable of winning a major in the near future.
Robert Karlsson (Tied 4th)
Everyone's favourite 6-foot-5 Swede had a corking US Open, which will not only boost his confidence for the rest of the season (in particular next month's British Open at Royal Birkdale) , but have a certain Nick Faldo licking his lips at the prospect of having such a great player in his team ahead of this year's Ryder Cup. Karlsson finished tied for 4th, and if it wasn't for that pesky third round 75, who knows what would have happened? Surely it's only a matter of time before he grabs a major?
Adam Scott (Tied 26th)
It was a bit of a mixed week for the world's number three golfer, who finished tied 26th on seven over par. Whether things would have been any different for the Aussie had he not broken his pinky finger is something we'll never know, but, with the enviable talent that he possesses, make no mistake about it, Adam will be back at the top contending for a major soon.


Geoff Ogilvy (Tied 9th)
After an awesome first round 69, Ogilivy will probably be a little dissapointed with his final round of 74, but nevertheless, it was a good tournament for the 2006 US Open champ. We've learned that, apart from having one of the nicest ball flights on tour today, on his day, Ogilvy can mix it with the best of them and in that respects, it's almost impossible not to take your eye of him in any tournament.
Camilo Villegas (Tied 9th)
It's difficult to say at the moment whether this young Colombian superstar has got a major in him. All we can say is that we hope he has, because as is always the case with 'Hombre Araña,' Vilegas was an absolute joy to watch at Torrey Pines, not only for his dapper style, but also his blistering golf. Camilo finished with a large group of players tied for ninth on four over par, a result everybody here at IGWT hopes he can improve on in the next few majors. Think how good he'd look in a green jacket? He'd probably want to dye it pink or white, but that's fine with us...
Ian Poulter (Withdrew)
Unfortunately for Poults, a wrist problem forced him to pull out during his second round, so it's a hearty get well soon from IGWT and we look forward to seeing what trousers you have in store for us at Royal Birkdale next month.