Golf Central

The European Tour stopped off in Melbourne for the Mastercard Masters, the second event on the 2008 International Schedule. Unfortunately, my selections failed to perform to my expectations…

Robert Allenby @ 14/1: Allenby started brilliantly and was leading after two rounds before falling out of contention with successive rounds of 73. He eventually finished in a tie for 10th place on seven under par.
John Senden @ 14/1: Senden had an uphill struggle after an opening round of 73 but he battled back to finish in a respectable tie for 15th place on six under par.
Rory McIlroy @ 45/1: McIlroy also finished tied for 15th place on six under par. The 18 year old was well positioned before a final round of 73 saw him fall down the leaderboard.

I should have told you to get on:

Aaron Baddeley @ 10/1: Pre-tournament favourite Baddeley delighted his home crowd by winning the Australian Masters title after edging out Daniel Chopra at the fourth extra play-off hole. Baddeley finished on 13 under par to claim his second European Tour title win.
Daniel Chopra @ 22/1: The big Swede pushed Baddeley all the way and could have won outright but for a bogey on the 17th when leading.
Stuart Aplleby @ 16/1: Another who had his chance to win. He finished in third place after double bogeying the 18th to end with a score of 11 under par.
Peter O’Malley @ 40/1: O’Malley closed with successive rounds of 67 to take fourth place on 10 under par.

Players representing 28 nations assembled at the Mission Hills Golf Club in China to contest the Omega Mission Hills World Cup. I incorrectly advised you to back…

England @ 3/1: I thought that Justin Rose and Ian Poulter were nailed on to win the World Cup for England and strongly encouraged you to back them. They were the two highest ranked players in the field, had both been in great form and are good friends off the course so their pre-tournament status as short priced favourites was justified. Sadly they could only finish in fourth place, two shots off the lead with a 23 under par total of 265. Two bogeys on the front nine of their final round left them with too much to do.

I should have told you to get on:

Scotland @ 25/1: Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren did Scotland proud to win the World Cup for the first time in the events 53-year history. The Scots edged a thrilling play-off on the third extra hole to clinch the title against the American team of Boo Weekly and Heath Slocum (18/1). Montgomerie and Warren made amends for their play-off defeat to Germany in last year’s World Cup, finishing with a 25 under par total of 263. France (25/1) finished third on 24 under par.

American property tycoon Donald Trump has moved a step closer to gaining permission to build a $1 billion golf complex on one of Scotland’s most picturesque coastlines. In the first round campaign the local planning committee voted 7-4 in favour of Trump to the dismay of fellow corporate big guns, the RSPB and Scottish National Heritage.

Trump says he plans to build "the greatest golf course on earth," a proposed complex which will include two championship courses, almost 1000 holiday homes, 500 private houses and an eight-storey hotel. It will flatten 60 acres of beautiful Aberdeenshire seaside that is home to an array of wildlife and a unique sand-dune system. The dunes are constantly shifted by winds of a similar power used to create Trump's improbable hairstyle.

For more on Trump's grand ideas, here's what our friends at the Scotsman have to say ...

On the flip side of one of Trump’s limitless coins is news of a Scottish golfing venture that is costing a pittance without infuriating the nature boys. Askernish GC, a course built by Old Tom Morris in 1891 but left to expire after the Second World War, is being restored to it’s former glory by volunteers keen to save one of the lost wonders of the sporting world.

For the trivial sum of £10 (paid into an honesty box) golfers take a step back in time to confront the largely un-tamed and astonishingly beautiful terrain of the Outer Hebrides. Pinehurst this is not, as players contend with the hardly flawless fairways and greens of South Uist, but as honorary life president, Kenny Dalglish, says, “it is the golfing equivalent of drinking the elixir of life”.

And for more of the glory of golf in Uist, here's what our friends at the Telegraph have to say ...

They don't make golf champions anymore like they used to. On this day, in 1874, Fred Herd was born in St Andrews, Scotland, and when he was 24 years old, in 1898, he won the fourth edition of the US Open. He was lucky enough to get there, and he almost didn't get to keep the prize.

Fred and his brother Sandy were part of a pioneering generation of British golf professionals, including the legendary Harry Vardon, James Braid and Ted Ray, who took the game to America for whatever cash was on offer.

They all came calling at the 1898 US Open, held at the great Myopia Hunt Club in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, the first of America's great major championships to be played over a full 72 holes ... however, there was a hitch to the story. At the time, Myopia was a nine-hole layout, requiring the field to go round eight times to complete the competition.

Now, Fred Herd had a wee bit of a reputation for liking a wee dram or two ...

Camilo Villegas!
Hooray! That's right Natalie, it's not just the Spiderman routine that the Colombian heartthrob goes through as his pre-shot routine while reading the greens, or his habit of losing the grip on his driver in full swing. Apparently, Camilo is just a little bit, well ... weird. His brother Manny explains that Camilo numbers his socks from 1 to 10, and packs as many as a dozen different coloured belts for each road trip ... And he is said to always shake people's right hands with his left hand.
Way to go Camilo! ... I don't care if he's a little bit weird. I dig him, he's hot!
Yes, the impeccably colour-coordinated Villegas marches to his own drumbeat, and we think it's going to add up to a bunch of golf titles. His biceps of steel and 4.5-percent body fat index have all the girls swooning, and People Magazine have named the 25-year-old from Medellin one of the world's most eligible bachelors. Camilo's acceptance speech was to the point: "Growing up in Colombia, I did some crazy things." You don't say ...

2007 Rusty Award Winners so far:
Worst Putter: Davis Love III
Best Clutch Shot: Boo Weekley
Silliest Name in Golf: Ben Bunny
Best Career Change: Rick Rhoden
Most Pretentious Broadcaster: Gary Lineker
Best Sand Player: Tim Clark
Coolest Shoes: Hunter Mahan
Marlboro Man Award: Angel Cabrera
Coolest Headwear: Jesper Parnevik
Best Second-Best: Ernie Els
Most Daft Quote: Woody Austin
Worst Dresser (Male): Sergio Garcia
Best Golfing Oddball: Camilo Villegas

* We would invite all of our winners to our gala Awards Dinner in December, but we fear they might trip on the red carpet or a loose paving stone, or something ...  Our yearly awards are called the "Rusty Awards", instead of "Trusty Awards", because Natalie Gulbis thinks the name of our website is "In Golf Wet Rust". Gulbis is good at golf and glamour, but not so good at grammar.