Golf Central

The Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, South Africa played host to the Nedbank Golf Challenge where twelve of the games top stars competed for a first competed for a first prize $1.2 million. Unfortunately my tips to do the business didn’t quite manage it…

Ernie Els @ 10/3: Els played solid golf and had been in contention but 72 in the final round wasn’t low enough to sustain his challenge. He finished in third place on 11 under par, five shots off the lead.
Retief Goosen @ 10/1: I thought that Goosen might find a bit of form and his starting price of 10/1 represented a bit of value. It didn’t, and Goosen finished in last place on 10 over par.

I should have advised you to back:

Trevor Immelman @ 12/1: Immelman was only included in the field after Sergio Garcia pulled out a few days before tee-off and he made the most of his opportunity. He started the final day in a tie for the lead with Justin Rose and survived a nervous finish of three successive bogeys to close on 16 under par and win by one stroke from an equally jittery Rose.

The Michael Hill New Zealand Open, the country’s richest sporting event with a prize fund of $1,500.000, reached its conclusion at the weekend. Sadly, my selections finished nowhere near the big money. I incorrectly advised you to back…

Daniel Chopra @ 7/1: Chopra has been in good form of late and was playing steadily until a poor final round of 78 put him out of contention. He eventually finished in a share for 51st place on one over par.
Peter O’Malley @ 14/1: O’Malley left his low scoring in Australia and missed the cut after posting a six over par total for the first two rounds.
Michael Campbell @ 16/1: Kiwi Campbell’s poor recent form continued and he also failed to make the cut, shooting five over.

I should have advised you to get on:

Richard Finch @ 50/1: Finch finished on 14 under par to claim his first professional title with a three-stroke victory. He followed a second round of 65 with a third round of 64 to seize the initiative and saw of his challengers with par on the final day.
Steven Bowditch @ 100/1: opened with rounds of 69 and 65 and started the final day in second place before five bogeys dented his hopes. He finished tied for second on eleven under par and would have made a massive profit for any each-way backers.
Paul Sheehan @ 40/1: Sheehan was in contention for the title before a third round of 73 dented his hopes. He recovered with five birdies in his final round to earn a share for second place with an eleven under par total of 277.
Three Australians, Steven Jeffress (80/1), Matthew Millar (100/1) and Craig Parry (40/1) shared fourth place with Swede Alexander Soren (33/1). All four players would have returned healthy profits if backed each-way.

So on to today's award with the help of our lovely assistant, Natalie Gulbis. So ... all you girls are always checking out the stylishly dressed fellows on the tours, and dissing the dumpy ones. Now it's time to turn the tables. Who was the best dressed of all the female golfers out there in 2007? ... (drumroll) ... envelope, please, Natalie ...
Paula Creamer!
Hooray! That's right Natalie, your sista Paula has style ... We like the fact that she not only looks good in Gary Player-style all-black, but even better in her signature all-pink. She walks onto the tee looking like an advert for Hello Kitty, pink ribbons, pink grips, pink sunglasses, pink golf balls, then she tees it up and melts a 280-yard drive. Paula Creamer has made pink her colour in the way Tiger Woods uses red on Sundays.
Way to go Paula!
You're not jealous at all Natalie? ... After all, she's a serious rival. She's won four LPGA tournaments before the age of 21 and even Juli Inkster says that Paula is not interested in anything except "beating someone's brains out." Isn't that intimidating?
She's nothing in a bikini.
Fair enough, Natalie ... Paula's acceptance speech was strangely competitive for someone dressed like a sexy schoolgirl : "Well, I have a lot of pink things. Are you saying my glitter is not mature?" ...

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
Best YouTube Moment: Woody Austin
Best Dresser (Female): Paula Creamer

* 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.

So the sun doesn't always shine on Roses in winter, as our English rose Justin found out at the Nedbank Golf Challenge - the star-studded affair at the glittering Sun City complex in South Africa.

Rose made a charge at the Gary Player Country Club course but finished shy by a stroke to South Africa's own Trevor Immelman, who ended up on 16-under in what turned out to be almost a match-play duel between the two young stars. Immelman cashes the $1.2 million first-prize cheque.

The leaderboard of the invitational, predicatably, turned out to be a who's who of the World Golf Rankings, with Immelman and Rose followed by Ernie Els (-11), Henrik Stenson (-7), Rory Sabbatini (-6), Luke Donald (-5), Geoff Ogilvy (-5), Adam Scott (-2) and Niclas Fasth (even).

"It's an event every South African golfer dreams of winning," Immelman said. "After the majors, it's the best tournament in the world for us."

Asian Tour: Deadhead Bryan Saltus went 5-under 67 to rock the leaderboard at the Cambodian Open in Siem Reap, Cambodia, taking his first Asian Tour title.

He might not believe the names he overcame when he comes down from his trip, because they include the aptly named Adam "Shroom" Groom of Australia, and Thailanders Prom Meesawat (70) and Thaworn Wiratchant (70) ... please feel free to submit your own trippy nicknames, please.

Said Saltus, who cashed a check for $47,550: "This is awesome," Saltus said. "I would like to dedicate this win to the Grateful Dead as they have inspired me all the way."

Dude! The rumours that Cambodian authorities may want to detain Saltus as a permanent member of the Asian Tour are completely unfounded, of course.

European Tour: As reported in this space, Englishman Richard Finch, who was just shy of losing his European Tour card a few weeks ago, came through big amidst the beauty of The Hills Golf Club in Queenstown, New Zealand, win his first-ever professional victory.

Just four events into a new Euro Tour campaign (albeit miles from home), Finch got his 2008 campaign off to a firing start with a three-shot win over the Aussie duo of Steven Bowditch and Paul Sheehan.

Exhibition - Del Webb Father-Son Challenge: Larry Nelson took the cake for the second time, with a different son this time, teaming with 29-year-old Josh for a minus-24 finish and a two-shot victory over Bob and Kevin Tway in Orlando, Florida as the Silly Season winds to a close in the States.

Mark and Shaun O'Meara were four shots back at 20-under in the scramble format. As Silly Season events go, this one was refreshing, as it gave us a rare chance to see Jack Nicklaus in action with son Gary (-16), Arnold Palmer with grandson Sam Saunders (-18), Vijay Singh with son Qass (-18), and David Duval with his stepson, Deano Karavites (-17).

European Challenge Tour: Everyone is telling you to watch out for Argentina's Andres Romero as the next big thing in golf (well, not everyone, just me) ... but don't tell that to his countryman Miguel Rodriguez.

Rodriguez fired a 69 for a 9-under 271 to beat up-and-coming star Romero by a shot on the opening event of the 2008 European Challenge Tour season, the 73° Abierto del Litoral Personal at Rosario Golf Club in Argentina.