Golf Central

I heard about Bernhard Langer's son shooting scores of 98 and 91, what happened up at the other end of the leaderboard?
Nothing as funny as that unfortunately but there was some controversy. Ross Fisher, who won the tournament, had to sweat it out after he was accused of moving a bramble to his advantage. After it was decreed that the movement didn't improve his position, his one stroke win over Joost Luiten was allowed to stand.

Ross Fisher, not heard much about him before...
Fisher's win was the sixteenth maiden victory on the tour this year, it's his second year on the European Tour, he's English and is attached to the Wentworth Club.

Very informative, and who's this Luiten geezer?
This 'Luiten geezer' is a young Dutchman, who plays on the Challenge Tour and put in a great performance here to only narrowly miss out on a first win by one stroke.

Slightly less informative. Anyway, who else did well?
Thomas Levet, Alex Noren and Alastair Forsyth shared third place with Langer senior who is 50 today. David Carter who led the tournament after day three dropped back to 23rd after a round of 75.

Oh well, he still beat Langer junior
I think that even I could manage that.

Right, so what happened then?
Steve Stricker finished at 16 under, two shots ahead of KJ Choi after a final round of 69 in which he birdied four of the last five holes.
Stricker? Won?
Yep, that's right, his first win on the Tour since 2001. It not only takes him to fifth in the world rankings but also to the top of the FedEx standings.

Nice. Who else did well?
KJ Choi, as I already mentioned, finished just behind Stricker and also jumps up the FedEx leaderboard into second place. Gobby Sabbatini was third and Calcavecchia, Els and Ogilvy were joint fourth.

No surprises then. Except Stricker obviously.
Yeah, in addition to not winning on Tour since 2001, the last time he played at Westchester, in 1996, he vowed never to come back after a terrible 60th place finish.

Never say never I suppose, this morning I said i'd never drink again but come twelve o clock this afternoon, I was sat outside The Jolly Sailor with a pint.
Classy. Stricker could quite easily have been driven to drink after Choi holed a 45 yard putt to grab a share of the lead on the 12th and then a 50 yard putt to take the lead on the 15th. Having gone close to winning four times this year, but blowing it, Stricker could have been forgiven for thinking it was another one of those days.

And now he's top of the FedEx rankings you say?
Mmm hmm, after Tiger's absence, Mr Stricker has taken the lead, Choi is second, Sabbatini is third and Woods drops to fourth.

Fourth? He's not gonna like that is he?
I don't think the word 'fourth' is even in Woods' vocabulary. It definitely sets up an interesting next few weeks.

 

If you were born eighteen years ago today then you would be making your entry into this world just as David Frost triumphed at the NEC World Series with a memorable two-hole playoff over Ben Crenshaw.  Not so memorable for you obviously, as you were still having mucus wiped off your eyeballs. 

 

South African Frost has ten PGA wins to his name since turning pro in 1981.  Previous to that he was a cigarette salesman and he now owns a wine company that produces tipples named after golfing legends like Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and... David Frost.

 

Also today, in 1896, the shortest war in history, the anglo-Zanzibar war, took place between 09.00 and 09.45.

 

Vaguely more interesting to sports fans, in 1990, the BBC launched its Radio Five Live service, offering a selection of news and sports programming to white van men and people without Sky.

 

Meanwhile, on this day, in 2007, August 27th was named as the least eventful day in history.

 

And it's Vai Sikahema! as they say in Tonga, to steriod-chinned wrestler Sgt Slaughter (59), Italian stereotype-themed Japanese wrestler 'Milano Collection Akihito Terui' (31) and efficient German stereotype-themed golfer Bernhard Langer (50).  And it would have been 99 not out today for Sir Don Bradman, one of the greatest cricketers of all time, had he not been stumped by old age on 92.

Woo! Child labour rocks!

 

Steve 'I'm back I am' Stricker is back, so he is. Chasing his first PGA victory in six years, Stricker's continued return to form has taken him to the top of the leaderboard heading into the final day. After an opening bogey he shot a 65, the second lowest score of the day to put him in pole position not only for the Barclays but for the FedEx Cup too.

 

Similarly, KJ Choi, who Stricker tees off with in the final round, is in second in both standings after a third day, one over par score of 70. Stricker lies at minus 13 for the tournament, IGWT pick Choi is at minus 12 while Hunter Mahan, who shot a course-record equalling 62 is one stroke further back on 12 under with Rich Beem.

 

Ross Fisher - Making Waves

 

David 'Get' Carter remains at the top of the leaderboard but is joined by compatriot Ross 'Carrie' Fisher and New Zealander, Steve 'Difficult to nickname' Alker. Carter carded a plus one round of 71 which included five bogeys and allowed the pair to catch up with him.

In an extremely open...Open, 21 players find themselves within four shots of the lead going in to the final day. In the closest chasing pack; Welshman Phillip Price finds himself alongside Ireland's David Higgins, France's Thomas Levet and home-crowd hero Joost Luiten of Bleiswijk.

IGWT tip Nick Dougherty remains in the hunt after a one below par round took him to minus five, Steve Webster has a lot to do at minus two and would need snookers to actually win the tournament.