Golf News

Since this picture emerged of Jason Dufner looking like a big sad teddy bear, it hasn’t taken long for Bubba, Rickie, Luke and Rors to take the mickey!  So who’s the best at Dufnering?  Here’s our compilation. (Make sure to click read more to open all the pics) Jason Dufner The Original Keegan, Dustin & Brandt Bubba Luke David Lynn Dufners The Courtesy Car Rory Rickie Technorati Tags: Bubba Watson funny pic , rickie fowler funny pic , jason dufner funny pic , dufnering

Top Stat: Strokes Gained Putting This is where Woods blitzed the field at Bay Hill. Thorbjorn Olesen’s putting performance of 1.825 strokes gained on the green was good enough for second place in the stat and seventh place in the tournament, but Woods score 2.798 was almost a full shot higher. That’s incredible considering his proximity to the hole average distance of 38 feet. Worst Stat: Driving Accuracy For the second tournament in succession Woods hit approx 53% of the fairways.  His exact clip at Bay Hill on shotlink was 53.57% putting him in the bottom half of the field.  It will be possible for Woods to win at Augusta with a similar driving performance, but there’s no way the Claret Jug and US Open Trophy will we won with anything but ramrod straight driving.  Those betting on a Tiger slam will be crossing their fingers for some more fairways.   Meaningless Stat: Driving Distance Bay Hill is not a place to be judging driving distance as course manag...

With the US Masters just around the corner the good folk in Kartel would like your input as to what pieces in the GMac By Kartel collection Graeme should wear at this years US Masters. So which four of the following nine fantastic ensembles would you like to see GMac winning with at Augusta?  I’ll pass on all your suggestions to Graeme and the guys in Kartel. Option 1: McButton-Gracehill-McPlainT Option 2: McButton-McRetro-Plain Option 3: Mgwool-Portrush-McCheckT Option 4: McPlaid-McButton-Portrush Option 5: McZip-Gracehill-McPlainT Option 6: McButton-Portrush-McCheckT Option 7:  McButton-Portrush-McMicro Option 8: MgWool-McRetro-WhitePants Option 9: McZipV-Portrush-McMicroT Technorati Tags: GMac By Kartel , 2013 US Masters Outfits , Kartel , Karl Swan , Graeme McDowell

Winner Alright: Last week we tipped Tiger Woods and Keegan Bradley on the PGA Tour and Kiradech Aphibarnrat to win on the European Tour Keegan Bradley 14/1   Tied third at the Arnold Palmer Invitational after struggling to get his distances zeroed in with the irons. That makes it three top sevens in a row for Bradley following good showings at the Honda and WGC Cadillac. Suffered a power lip out in the final round at Bay Hill too; with greens measuring 13 on the Stimp at Redstone, Brad going to have to hit them a tad easier. My tip of the week.   Henrik Stenson 50/1 This is Henrik’s third trip to Redstone. He tied third in 2009 when Paul Casey won and tied 18 th last year on his return. Stenson played well in Europe at the tail end of last season, winning in South Africa and scoring a top 10 at the DP World Championship but is only now finding that form again in the US. The straightest driver on shotlink last week and second in GIR, Stenson is only one good putting week ...

Trophée Hassan II, Golf du Palais Royal, Morocco also check out my Shell Houston Open Tips here and my 2013 US Masters Betting Preview Shortlist here Edoardo Molinari 25/1 Great to see Edoardo play so well in the hot and sticky Malaysian conditions last week. A fine final round of 67 saw him grab second and send him to Morocco full of confidence. Funny enough a final round of 67 here at the Gold du Palais Royal this time last year also vaulted him into a tie for sixth. Now working with Sean Foley, there’s definitely now light at the end of the tunnel for Edoardo. My tip of the week.   David Horsey 33/1 David hit a sweet seven iron in the Sky Golf shot centre with his slippy shoes on last week and I think he’s ready to win again. Was very impressed with him last time out at the Avantha Masters where he followed an average day one with three solid rounds in the 60’s to tie sixth. Horsey won in a playoff here in 2011 and he’s a great each way bet to contend again this w...

2013 US Masters Betting Preview, Power Rankings and Tips We have had a great run of winners this season and with the US Masters only two weeks away, it’s time to compile a shortlist. Here are my Power Rankings for the 2013 staging. I’ll post a more detailed tips piece closer to the event, but for now, this should give you something to chew on.  Odds quoted from betfair. 1. Tiger Woods 4.5/1 What can you say about Woods? On paper he seems to be back to his best, winning regularly again on the PGA Tour and with a happy personal life. The last of his four Masters wins may have come in 2005, but he has been in the top four five times since. Those following the stats will point the weakness in Woods driving accuracy, but even that points to Augusta being the most likely track for the next Woods Major win. Sure to give you a run for your money with that intimidation factor back to spf 50! 2. Phil Mickelson 15/1 Do not ignore Phil Mickelson in The Masters until he’s the honorary...

What is MOI or Moment of Inertia? Simply put it’s the tendency of a clubhead to stay square at impact, something you really need in a putter. Hot on the success of the chunky Ghost Spider putter series, TM have now introduced the Daddy Long Legs which represents yet another technological advancement for the flatstick.  Its a stripped back streamlined version of a TM Spider putter.  Gone are the extra alignment bits (like the ‘basketball court’ graphics which were a good idea at the time) and retained is the surlyn face insert which gets the ball rolling end over end quicker than other inserts which cause the ball to skid off the face. Here’s the science bit. The Daddy Long Legs has the company’s highest MOI putter ever at 8500, the Ghost Spider was approx 2000 MOI units lower. So how have they done it?  The Daddy Long Legs contains a counter balance which makes the head weigh a whopping 395 grams, helping increase the moment of inertia, or twistiness on off c...

by Ron for golfcentraldaily.com Rory McIlory’s Belfast based dentist Mark Conroy revealed today that he thinks the world number one golfer might be avoiding him out of fear. “Like all dentists we have really annoying ways of reminding people to come in for a check-up, like a text message to their mobile number which they thought we didn’t have,” said Mr Conroy.  I’ve sent about 20 of those to Mr McIlroy informing him that his two monthly check for cavities and scraping was due.  I only charge £200, so that’s a paltry £1200 a year plus any work that needs doing. I think he might be avoiding me but I can’t for the life of me think why.” Mr Conroy went on to reveal why he’s the most popular dentist in Belfast.  “I want to dispel the myth that dentists are evil pain inflicting bastards that get paid huge sums to do so.  I tell all my patients that brushing once a week is fine, should take no more than 10 seconds and that flossing is for pussies....

It’s official! Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn both have crocked knees. And oh yeah, they are dating.  Here’s how they announced it on facebook and posted four deliriously happy photos to prove it! This season has been great so far and I'm happy with my wins at Torrey and Doral. Something nice that's happened off the course was meeting Lindsey Vonn. Lindsey and I have been friends for some time, but over the last few months we have become very close and are now dating. We thank you for your support and for respecting our privacy. We want to continue our relationship, privately, as an ordinary couple and continue to compete as athletes. Technorati Tags: tiger woods video , lindsey vonn , facebook photos

Barely a week into his Papacy, Pope Francis has today put pen to paper on a club deal with Nike reportedly worth $25 million over five years.  Posing for photos with Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn from the window of his apartment overlooking St. Peter’s Square the new Bishop Of Rome said he was “chuffed to bits” with the deal.  The Pontiff is to use Nike woods, irons, and the method putter with an option of retaining his special edition Scotty Cameron Vatican 2. “Who’d have thunk a Pope would be using clubs from The Oven, being that hot places are usually the reserve of Satan and his ministers of evil but hey, I really love them”, Pope Francis joked to reporters outside St. Peter’s Basilica. Following mass with world leaders during which he was seen using an older model Nike driver, the Holy Sea released an encyclical letter clarifying the matter and decreeing that he intends using the Nike Victory Red driver rather than the new Nike Covert. It read “I have re...

Maybank Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur G&CC, Malaysia also check out my Arnold Palmer Invitational Tips here . Charl Schwartzel 6/1 Charl will definitely be on my Masters shortlist again this season. He’s finished in the top 20 in his last eight events with close shaves for a win coming at the Joburg and Northern Trust Opens on both Tours. His sixth place here last year included following a stunning first round 64 with an awful 75. Rested since the WGC Cadillac, Charl will be looking to strike a blow on the Masters run in. Rafa Cabrera Bello 25/1 Since the event moved to Kuala Lumpur in 2011, Rafa has done well here with two podium finishes. Tied fourth in 2011 and bettered it with a tied third last year. Showed good form in his first four weeks this season on the European Tour finishing all in the top 25 but then endured horror trips to Pebble Beach and Doral where he ended a combined 19 over for the two events. Let’s hope Rafa can put that behind him back on familiar ground...

World number one Stacy Lewis explained to Geoff Shackelford how she the got the jump on the rest of the field in the putting stats using Aimpoint. Yep.  Well, it's Aimpoint and everybody can go take a class and learn it, so I guess it's not too much of a secret.  But I learned it, gosh it's been almost three years, two and a half, three years.  It's really based on gravity and how water flows off of a green.  So every time I walk up to a whole, I'm trying to find a straight putt, and once you find a straight putt, it's how much slope there â€'â€' what affects the read is how much slope is there and then how far away you are from the straight putt.  So the further you get from the straight putt, the more it's going to break.  So it's a combination of that and you have a little chart that gives you the exact read for every single putt.  So it's really, it's almost like cheating.  I can walk around and have down to the inch how far every ...

Keegan Bradley 25/1 He is just too consistent not to win soon. It’s hard to believe that this is only his 65 th career start and already he has three wins including a major. Keegan followed a tied fourth at The Honda Classic with a seventh at the WGC-Cadillac. Americans have won the first 12 events of the PGA Tour season; if it’s to be 13, it could be Keegan.   Tiger Woods 4/1 Should you back Tiger Woods this week? Well he has won the event seven times, is the defending champion and is coming off a victory at the WGC Cadillac. He’s in a good place personally too. There is only one caveat. Even in winning, Woods driving is still suspect and long straight batting is a must for winners at Bay Hill. If he hits the fairways, he wins. (Pic: deadspin photoshop!) Graeme McDowell 25/1 Top 10’s in his last two events with a ninth at the Honda Classic and a tied third at The WGC Cadillac. GMac is ramrod straight with that Cleveland driver and displayed a fantastic touch with the...

Here’s what’s in the mixed bag of the 2013 Accenture World Matchplay winner Matt Kuchar.  I’ll add a graphic tomorrow, DRIVER: Bridgestone J40 430, 9.5°, with Accra M4+ 55 Tour proto shaft FAIRWAY WOOD: Ping Anser, 14.5°, with Graphite Design Tour AD DJ-7X shaft HYBRID: Ping Anser, 20°, with Graphite Design Tour AD DI-95x Hybrid IRONS: Fourteen Golf prototype (4-iron) with Aerotech SteelFiber i95 Constant Weight S-flex shaft Bridgestone J40 Cavity Back Custom Black Oxide Finish (5-PW) with Aerotech SteelFiber i95 Constant Weight S-flex shafts WEDGES: Bridgestone J40 Black Oxide (52, 56°) with True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 Tour Issue (U.S.A. Ryder Cup Shaft Label) Titleist Vokey SM4 Spin Milled (Stamped 62 Degrees bent to 63 Degrees) (7 Degrees Bounce) with True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 Tour Issue shaft PUTTER: Bettinardi Matt Kuchar Proto (Signature 1 unmarked head) withDASS FitFace with SuperStroke Belly 21 Inch grip. BALL: Bridgestone Tour B330-S   T...

I wholeheartedly endorse the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue as wholeheartedly endorsed by Golf.com!  Here’s European Solheim Cup winner Sandra Gal doing a passable George Formby impression, then looking a bit like an extra from LOST. Having debated the issue for over half an hour, we’re still not quite sure if she actually forgot her bikini on the day of the shoot and had to make do in her undies. Here’s the link to golf.com’s full piece and pics were taken by Robert Beck. Technorati Tags: Sandral Gal Pics , Swimsuit Issue , Solheim Cup