Golf Central

Steve Elkington finished at a 16-under-par score of 200 to win The Buick Southern Open by five strokes over Steve Rintoul on this day in 1994. Wagga Wagga’s principal golfing talent has won 10 PGA Tour events and defeated Colin Montgomerie to win the 1995 PGA Championship – the sole Major title to his name.

 

    On this day in 1968 a woman gave birth to the first recorded sextuplets in Britain. At odds of three thousand million to one, it would have given bookmakers a right headache had Barry and Sheila Thorns not undergone fertility treatment, the tinkers.

 

    Meanwhile, it’s Maogmang Pagkamundag as they say in The Philippines to celebrity portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz (58), cool ex-teacher turned pompous rock prat Gordon Sumner (better known as Sting, 56) and the infinitely nicer Phil Oakey out of The Human League (52). Should heaven exist beyond the imaginations of the devout, there will be a very odd birthday party tonight to celebrate the lives of Richard III (1452-1485), of Groucho Marx (1890-1977) and Graham Greene (1904-1991).

The PGA tour returns to singles competition this week following the USA’s success in The Presidents Cup. There aren’t many tournaments with a longer lineage than the Valero Texas Open and The Resort Course at La Cantera is a haven for low scoring. There is a lack of big names in the field but here are the players that we think you should back in this event.

STEVE FLESCH @ 16/1 WITH CORAL: Flesch is a man in form following his victory in September’s Turning Stone Resort Championship. He is a two-time winner on this years tour and should do better than his 12th place finish at La Cantera last year.

JUSTIN LEONARD @ 33/1 WITH CORAL: The two-time Texas Open winner is always a candidate for a high finish in this event. He has finished in the top-ten in five of nine attempts.

STEPHEN AMES @ 35/1 WITH CORAL: At number 42 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Ames is the highest ranked player in the field. His starting price of 35/1 represents good value.

To back our selections go to www.coral.co.uk

It always promises so much, usually rains and occasionally turns up a surprise winner. The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is played on three venues - St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns – and is one of the richest tournaments on the European tour. Here are three players who we think have got the best chance of passing on a bit of that wealth into your wallet.

LEE WESTWOOD @ 12/1 WITH CORAL: Westwood is in terrific form following victory in the Quinn Direct British Masters at the end of last month (as tipped by us!). All facets of his game are in fine fettle and he is available at a fair price. He has a great record in this event, winning in 2003 and registering three top-ten finishes in the last three tournaments. We think he has a good chance of becoming a two-time winner.

PADRAIG HARRINGTON @ 14/1 WITH CORAL: Harrington is a two-time winner, having won last year and in 2002, and is likely to challenge for a third success. He won the British Open at Carnoustie this summer and will be refreshed after missing The Seve Trophy. His price offers good value for a player with a proven track record on links courses.

BRADLEY DREDGE @ 33/1 WITH CORAL: Another player near the top of his game at present, he was the top overall points scorer at The Seve Trophy last weekend. Dredge was the leader after three rounds last year and he will be very aware that a good performance this time around will boost his attempt to make the next Ryder Cup team.

 

To back our selections go to www.coral.co.uk

The good news is we correctly tipped you the winners of both of the weekend’s team competitions. We selected Great Britain and Ireland to win The Seve Trophy (4/7 with Coral) and the U.S to win The Presidents Cup (8/11 with Coral).

 

Both teams duly obliged and that meant our bet of the week came in. We advised you to back them in a double, it was an obvious money maker and offered good value as it returned £27.04 for a £10 stake. Happy days.

 

'One more picture lads and then we can go home'

 

The bad news is that none of our six selections for top individual points scorer were correct.

 

In The Seve Trophy we told you to back:

Colin Montgomerie to be top GB&I points scorer @ 9/2.

Thomas Bjorn to be top Continental Europe points scorer @ 6/1.

Or

Justin Rose to be top overall points scorer @ 7/1.

 

We should have told you to get on:

Bradley Dredge to be top GB&I points scorer @7/1.

The Top Continental Europe points scorer was shared between five players, none of which was our selection. They were Robert Karlson @ 11/2,  Peter Hanson @ 13/2, Raphael Jacquelin @ 13/2, Gregory Harvet @ 12/1, Markus Brier @ 12/1.

Or

Bradley Dredge to be top overall points scorer @ 12/1.

 

In the Presidents Cup we told you to back:

Steve Stricker to be top USA points scorer @ 10/1.

Rory Sabbatini to be top International points scorer @ 10/1.

Or

Tiger Woods to be top overall points scorer @ 11/2.

 

We should have told you to get on:

David Toms to be top USA points scorer @ 14/1.

Mike Weir to be top International points scorer @ 9/1.

Or

David Toms to be top overall points scorer @ 20/1.

So there wasn’t much high drama in Montreal then?: Golf-wise, not enough to ripple the flags.

Did Woody Austin take another plunge in a pond?: Nope. But Aquaman showed that Americans can have a sense of humour by donning swimming goggles on 14th hole to the fans’ delight.

How do you rate the galleries this weekend then?: Superb. Top marks, especially the pack of local lads who roamed the course for four days dressed as Mike Weir’s caddies.

And which players stood out?: Weir for the Internationals, for sure. He took a lot of stick for being included by captain Gary Player to appease the Canadians, but the lefty from Ontario backed it up with a great performance, including beating Tiger in the marquee match. And Scott Verplank played so well that Jack Nicklaus called him “his rock”.

Thanks for the disturbing visual. This all sounds more ‘rom-com’ than ‘EastEnders’. No villainy at all? …: Well, not unless you count mouthy South African Rory Sabbatini, everyone’s favourite whipping-boy. “Mr Beatable” played like it, getting smacked around by the Yanks to the tune of 0-3-1.

Sounds like the Americans came to play. Should we be scared about the U-S-A in the Ryder Cup then?: Well, where’s there’s a Woody, there’s a way …

Now I’m really scared. I need a pint….: I’ll join you.

Final President’s Cup results: U.S. 19½, Internationals 14½

Sunday singles matches

Scott Verplank (US) def. Rory Sabbatini (Int), 2 & 1

Ernie Els (Int) def. Lucas Glover (US), 2-up

Phil Mickelson (US) def. Vijay Singh (Int), 5 & 4

Mike Weir (Int) def. Tiger Woods (US), 1-up

Angel Cabrera (Int) def. Woody Austin (US), 2 & 1

Adam Scott (Int) def. Zach Johnson (US), 2 & 1

David Toms (US) def. Trevor Immelman (Int), 2-up

Stewart Cink (US) def. Nick O'Hern (Int), 6 & 4

Geoff Ogilvy (Int) def. Steve Stricker (US), 1-up

K.J. Choi (Int) def. Hunter Mahan (US), 3 & 2

Charles Howell III (US) def. Stuart Appleby (Int), 2 & 1

Retief Goosen (Int) def. Jim Furyk (US), 2 & 1