GolfShot for Golf News

Tiger Woods will be playing in Abu Dhabi at the HSBC Championships in the near future and he will find that competitive golf has changed forever. In recent years he has not been playing as he once did in his peak and he experienced his first major victory for nearly 2 years in Los Angeles last year.

Many people thought that this might be a comeback for the once undefeatable player but there are currently three British players who will now be competing for the throne that was once entirely his. Rory McIlroy is one of the greatest players currently in the golf scene and he achieved a record under par score at the US open last year. Woods was said to congratulate him on it but he is now going to be facing him this year.

Another great player currently on the circuit is Luke Donald who has a consistency that is almost merciless and he is the first man in history to hold both orders of merit in Europe and in America. He is currently the world’s number one player by quite some way.

Tiger Woods generally plays a limited schedule and he prefers to appear at the major tournaments. He is hoping to match Jack Nicklaus by winning 18 times. It is expected though that Mr Donald is going to stand in his way as he is a serious adversary in his move forward. Despite being the world number one he has never won a major title and it is expected that over the next year he is going to be incredibly driven to do this.

Lee Westwood is another British player who is currently performing very well but unfortunately, because of the presence of Donald and McIlroy on the circuit, his brilliance has been somewhat overlooked.

In the US open last year Mr McIlroy demonstrated that he had the explosiveness of Tiger Woods and he rarely plays defensively. Many people expect he was playing so aggressively because he was disappointed after throwing away a significant lead that he had in a Masters tournament earlier in the year. His performances last year mean he has been put in the same bracket as Donald for the next major tournament.

Graeme McDowell has recently said, “Rory is certainly the greatest player I have ever watched and it is unfortunate that he did not have a chance to play against Tiger Woods when Woods was at his best. He is a fantastic golf player and I really think that he has the ability to cement himself as the next superstar after Tiger Woods.”

Donald recently made some rather controversial comments at the world championships by saying that McIlroy had a greater natural ability at golf than Tiger Woods. It seems that there is an immense change taking place in golf and that McIlroy and especially Donald belong at the forefront of this change.

However, because of the players lack of winning a major tournament so far many people are hesitant to say that Donald is the greatest player in the world despite him holding the number one spot and having other significant records to his name. McIlroy has also been described by Ernie Els as the one player on the circuit right now who has the ability to change history and become the worlds greatest golfer.

Lydia Ko, the Kiwi golfer is the youngest person to ever win a professional golf tournament. The record was achieved when she was playing the New South Wales Open where she achieved a 69, which was three under par. She managed to win the tournament by four shots and replaces Ryo Ishikawa is the youngest player to ever win a tournament.

Some would say that Lexi Thomson has an even more impressive record as she managed to win and LPGA event when she was just 16 years old. She later became the youngest winner of the Ladies European Tour. It is possible that she will soon meet Lydia as there is a competition being played by both players next week.

On the men’s tour there was also exciting news as Robert Rock was able to win at the Abu Dhabi event despite being a huge amount of competition from other players. He managed to survive excellent playing by Tiger Woods in the final holes and was able to win the tournament against the odds.

Another young player, Kyle Stanley, took the lead at Torrey Pines. During the event he was at the last hole when he had to make an important decision. He had to decide whether he wanted to take the last hole and three shots or try an attempt two. Unfortunately, he made the wrong decision and he was beaten in the play-off by Brandt Snedeker.

After the game Stanley was interviewed by David Feherty he commented, “I am at a complete loss to describe how I feel but this does not mean that I won’t have great success in the future.” He may well be right as Robert Garrigus once lost a significant gain but came back just a couple of months later to win the Disney Classic.

David Feherty said, “Commentating at the Masters is an important privilege and I have to remember that they don’t enjoy humour in the commentary. This is a problem for me as it is a natural part of how I would speak and I have to be very careful about what I say or I will get banned.”

Branden Grace is one of the latest sensations in the sport of golf but despite his great performance at the start of the year many people have the feeling that the real golf season is actually starting this week. On Sunday, Mr Grace played a fantastic game of golf and was able to beat more established players such as Els and Goosen. His victory meant that he claimed his second title in a week.

There was a time that Els and Goosen were two of the biggest players in golf but in recent years they have shifted away from the centre stage as their game has become less competitive. Many people are feeling that Tiger Woods is making a comeback to the game of golf and after winning a title at the end of 2011 many golfers fear his return.

Despite his record of great performances he is now having to compete with a new generation of golfers such as Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy. Many people are eagerly anticipating the golf tournament taking place in Abu Dhabi as part of the European tour. This is a competition that Tiger Woods is playing in and he is going to be competing against four of the best players currently in the game.

Many people in the UK are going to be particularly interested by this match as three of the top four players are from the UK, namely Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood. The defending champion is Martin Kaymer who has previously won the tournament three times. This suggests, along with the rest of the line-up, that it is going to be a very competitive game of golf.

Many people are looking forward to seeing the return of Tiger Woods and how he’s going to fare against the new players to enter the golf scene since his departure from the game a few years ago. Another player who spectators are going to be looking out for is Sergio Garcia who has had a very impressive career but has still to fulfil many of his career goals. He has recently made a comeback after many people feared that his golf had entered a downward spiral.

Mr Garcia is currently ranked 17th in the world which is significantly higher than Tiger Woods. Of the last four tournaments he has played he won half of them and last year he finished a game 27 under par. Both wins last year showed that he had brought significant improvement to his game, particularly in regard to his putting. Many people are seeing this as the year that he is going to break through and become a champion player.

Mr Garcia is known to suffer from a short temper but in recent games he has been seen to bring this under control and this has helped improve his game. A notable incident occurred in Thailand last year while he was playing a game and he was frustrated and ended up throwing a golf club into the water.

Mr Garcia is hoping to start his 2012 season in excellent form and gain the many world ranking points that are associated with this first tournament. It is going to be very interesting for the spectators to see how he performs against both Tiger Woods as well as the other four leading golfers.

Hank Haney is the former coach of Tiger Woods, and has recently published a book called The Big Miss. The book is going to detail the time that he spent as Tiger Woods coach and the six years that they spent working together before the controversy started  the overwhelmed the famous golfer’s life.

Publishers have said that the book is surprisingly insightful and offers a candid account of the partnership. While being coached by Mr Haney, Tiger Woods achieved victory in six major championships. He also details the worries that Tiger Woods had over his fear of inaccurate golf shots that could ruin an entire game, hence the name of the book.

Mr Haney writes about how he helps correct this error in Tiger Woods’ game by helping him with his swing mechanics. The book is set to publish just before the Masters series takes place in early April this year.

He also writes about the personality of Tiger Woods and how he was very capable of keeping people at arms length in order to avoid social distractions while playing the game. He says that even his close friends and family were unable to become very close to him. He writes about how the focus of Tiger Woods began to blur during the end of their time together, which was something that Mr Haney was openly disappointed with.

Mr Haney was responsible for coaching Tiger Woods from 2004 until 2010. After the various revelations about his personal life, his career veered off course and the pair still worked together for several months before they decided to part ways a month after the 2010 Masters. Mr Haney was very close to Woods and has a unique insight into his personal life during the high point of his career as well as the low points of his social life.

Rory McIlroy has recently said that the world number one, Luke Donald, should be recognised as the best golf player in the world even though he has never won a Major. Mr Donald has recently become the only player to be at the top of the money lists in Europe and America after he finished in third place at the Dubai World Championship.

Many critics have said that despite his skills he is incapable of winning a Major tournament, and this is something that he hopes to correct in the next year. A win in a Major is one of the only things that he seems to be missing in his golf career and it would solidify his position as the worlds best golfer.

McIlroy is the world number two and he has recently commented, “Lucas had a fantastic year and he deserves the recognition he gets as the world number one. Many critics are wondering whether he really should be in the position of being the world number one if he has never won a Major but in the golfing community he is clearly regarded as the best player.

He deserves all of the wins he has achieved and has earned his place at the top of the money lists.” Luke Donald has said, “I feel like I’ve achieved everything but a Major and I am planning to correct that next season.”

In the past five years six major championships have been won by Irish golfers which is two times as many as the number won by people from the United States and three times as many as Tiger Woods.

Luke Donald recently made golfing history by becoming the money list leader in the USA and Europe at the same time and this has made many people consider whether British golf is about to be on the up. For the past 12 years Britain has been unable to win a major tournament and it is hoped that Mr Donald will be able to change this.

Other victories by notable British players including Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood who have further increased people’s hope that Britain might be up to win a major in the near future. The last major title to be won by the country was back in 1999, when Scottish player Paul Lawrie came first at the British Open.

The last English player to win a major was Nick Faldo and this was all the way back in 1996 when he won the US Masters. Currently international golf is being dominated by Ireland and many people have called this the ‘golden generation’ for the country. It seems that even if British players are very good they are simply unable to match the kind of level of play being seen from Ireland. Last Sunday afternoon Rory McIlroy shattered records and his play in recent months has been remarkable.

Problems in Tiger Woods social life have meant that his play has not been the same since 2008 when he last won a major tournament, the US Open. This has left something of a vacuum in the golf world and other people have had the opportunity to take trophies. Winning a major tournament if something that is not easy for any player and even Tiger Woods is challenged by them.

Many people are now regarding the golf world as being something of an open season, for the last 12 major tournaments, 10 of them have been won by players who have never come in first place before. After Tiger Woods left golf 2008 and Harrington took his place at the head of the sport but since then the variety of players winning has been unprecedented.

Without Tiger Woods so present on the golf scene, many people see themselves as having a better chance at winning a tournament. Many young golfers are seeing this as the opportunity to make a breakthrough while the most dominant player the sport has seen is not performing.

Many people are now considering that the reign of Tiger Woods is over and he is unlikely to ever dominate the professional world golf quite like he did before 2008. That said he is still the favourite for winning the US Masters next year but even this achievement would pale in comparison to his previous records. It is expected in the coming few tournaments there are going to be increased challenges to previous major winners.

So many English players are waiting to make a breakthrough in the Masters tournaments but with the amount of competition currently be seen in the golf world, even exceptional players such as Westwood, Poulter and Donald are going to find it challenging to make a breakthrough.

Rory McIlroy has recently said that the world number one, Luke Donald, should be recognised as the best golf player in the world even though he has never won a Major. Mr Donald has recently become the only player to be at the top of the money lists in Europe and America after he finished in third place at the Dubai World Championship.

Many critics have said that despite his skills he is incapable of winning  Major tournament and this is something that he hopes to correct in the next year. A win in a Major is one of the only things that he seems to be missing in his golf career and would solidify his position as the worlds best golfer.

McIlroy is the world number two and he has recently commented, “Lucas had a fantastic year and he deserves the recognition he gets as the world number one. Many critics are wondering whether he really should be in the position of being the world number one if he has never won a Major but in the golfing community is clearly regarded as the best player. He deserves all of the wins he has and has earned his place at the top of the money lists.”

Luke Donald has said, “I feel like I’ve achieved everything but a Major and I am planning to correct that next season.”

If you are a fan of you won't have failed to notice the recent upsurge in form of the young Irishman Rory McIlroy. His step into history came about in June 2011 when he lifted the US open Trophy at Bethesda, Maryland, setting several course records in the process.

His is the name on everyone's lips at the minute and one of the worlds' leading sports brands, Oakley, are giving you the chance to meet the man himself. They have once again blurred the line between reality and fantasy and created a Rory McIlroy challenge as part of their You vs series.

After the success of their challenge against top cyclist Mark Cavendish, the second challenge in the series is this one against McIlroy. The first part of the challenge is a question and answer session, where you get to test your knowledge of course management and also your skill in making decisions.

What club would you use on the 5^th hole at St. Andrews is the type of question you will be asked, your decisions are turned into video form where McIlroy plays the round against the round you have played as per  your answers. The video is shot is a brilliant style that gives a cool point of view over the proceedings, and is an incredibly engaging game, with superb graphics and interaction.

This gives you a real insight into the kind of quick decision making is need to get to the top of the golfing game. If you go onto Oakley’s Facebook page and click on like, the game will also be personalised. The competition gets serious at the 18^th hole, if you have made the best decisions, and beat Rory McIlroy, you could be one of the lucky few to meet the charming Irishman and walk around a course with him, and see him in action close up.

Spread the word about this great contest through your social media accounts, and share the link to the great video, which includes a great showcase of some of the best Oakley sportswear including the Fast Jacket eyewear and their superb golfing apparel.

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Viral video by ebuzzing

Stephen Dodd has seen success as he has one the PGA Championship which was held at Southerndown this past week. He has proved himself to be a fantastic player from Wales. Born in Barry Island, the 45-year-old player has come back after missing the Madrid game of the European tour. Second place went to Matthew Totty of North Wales golf club, and Liam Bond finished third.

Stephen Dodd has previously taken the title in 2007, 2001, and 1995. During the game he seemed to have little trouble despite having to play with a different set of clubs then he is used to because his normal clubs were in transit to Portugal.

Dodd is closing the gap on Sid Mouland who holds the record for having six titles. Currently he is standing alongside Craig DeFoy. About the match he has commented, “The last couple of days have seen tough conditions but I achieved exactly what I wanted to, I’m looking forward to working hard and achieving more titles. My performance mid game meant I had an easier end.

“Many of the people who were on the course that day I had not seen in a long time and it was nice to play against them. It is my hope that I can take some of the performance that I showed to Portugal. Unfortunately I haven’t made many cuts this year so it is nice to play an event, and win it. All that I’ve learned, I will be taking to my next golf tour.” Dodd took away a prize fund of £1,600.

Tottey, who came in second, commented, “my game started well and I’m disappointed that I couldn’t continue this form throughout. Stephen played an excellent game and his putting was spectacular. It was a good battle but unfortunately I came up short. To come second is still a good result and shows that some of the hard work I have been putting in is really paying off.”

Bond, has been fighting to stay in the European Tour and is working to stay out of Qualifying School for the next month. He has however said, “My performance over the two days was still something I was pleased with, it is a good preparation for my upcoming games. I felt my putting let me down, which was rather frustrating. Steven’s performance was so good that he was hard to beat.

“I have three weeks to train before I am playing again in South Africa. I’m going to have to work hard to stay in the European Tour.” The recent tournament helped decide who will be comprising the Welsh team which will be competing next month in the Europe International Team Championships, which are taking place in Portugal.

Not so long ago, Tiger Woods golf balls used to be retrieved from the driving range by Ross Fisher, now he is holding a three shot lead over the number one golfer in the world at the end of the first round in the Dubai Desert Classic. Fisher, an Englishman, is joint leader with Graeme McDowell after carding a seven under par round of 65.

The 26 year old dropped just one shot and hit eight birdies to end the day one stroke ahead of Jyoti Randhawa, Jose Manuel Lara and Ernie Els. 31 year old Woods made a slow start by shooting a bogey on the second before making a birdie on the third, and ended the round four under par on 68.

Fisher said afterwards that the closest he had been to Woods previously was at the World Match Play where he used to work, and he picked up his golf balls, but had never met or spoken to him. He added that this has been back in 1998, just before he turned 18 and he remembered sneaking out to watch his play off with Ian Woosnam. He also said that it felt good to be this close to him now and that Woods was looking pretty impressive.

This is the first tournament in which Fisher has played alongside Woods, and he clearly seems unfazed by his presence here. The man from Ascot admits that he concentrates on his own game rather than taking notice of who is around him. He said that he is just like all the other guys out there, he wanted to do his best and he turned up to win as that was their job and it didn’t matter who the competition was.

Meanwhile, the Northern Irish golfer sharing the top spot with Fisher, Graeme McDowell is also hoping that he continues the fine start and carries it into the other rounds at the luxurious Emirates Golf Club. He has been concentrating on the European tour of late in order to stake his claim for a place in the Ryder Cup team.

McDowell shot 5 birdies and hit an eagle on the par 5 13^th to take his place alongside Fisher, and he was delighted with the way he played the first round. He said afterwards that he was extremely pleased that he was continuing with the progress that he felt he had been making over the past few weeks. He added that the course was effectively a round of two nines, as the front nine doesn’t give a golfer many chances to score under par.