Golf Shot

Ross Fisher’s 4th European Tour win has put him in an automatic selection position for October’s Ryder Cup. But the English golfer just wants to be the best he can.

We’ve got a video in which Fisher talks about how it felt to edge out local hero Padraig Harrington in last week’s Irish Open and reveals some of his secrets to being a world class player. He also talks about giving back to the community through golf with his involvement in the Putts4Chairty initiative, which raises funds for good causes around the world.

Gamers will select a team and square off to try and bring home The Ryder Cup for their squad in Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 11 on all console platforms.

The Ryder Cup is one of the last great sporting events to be founded in prestige rather than prize money. Choose from the U.S. or European squad and participate in the various competition formats – foursomes where players hit alternate shots, fourballs and singles which traditionally bring the biennial event to a close with players going head to head.

When playing The Ryder Cup mode offline, gamers will have the option to swap matches, thus giving you the ultimate control over the outcomes of other matches.

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Alvaro Quiros, may be the longest driver on the European Tour, however he is clearly no actor as you will see from the outtakes from his involvment with Callaway’s Demon Drive Challenge.

Callaway’s new online game, the Demon Drive Challenge (www.demon-drive.com), gives a whole new meaning to the words ‘brute force’, with players competing against each other to achieve the longest drive – and win a new Diablo Edge, or Diablo Tour Driver.

A five under par total finish at the LET 2009 Qualifying School at La Manga in December won Hannah Ralph from Sussex, 11th position, top English lady and a Ladies European Tour card for 2010.

Aged 21, Hannah is a niece of Glenn Ralph, the successful Teaching Pro and PGA Senior Tour player.

In a strong field of 118 professional re-qualifiers and amateurs Hannah played three pre-qualifying rounds on the South and North courses over December 15, 16 and 17 at the Spanish club where her +1 combined final score gave her 9th position, comfortably under the +11 cut.

A total of 84 players went on to play in Stage 2 on the South course. After another three rounds Hannah had carded 216, -3 on the scoreboard and 10th position overall. Again well within the cut which was set at +6.

In the final round on 21st December Hannah birdied the 18th to finish two under par 71 and 12th on the day. Scores over the last four rounds are combined to determine final positions and she shot 287 (70 75 71 71) to finish five under par and in 11th place.

A top 30 finish was required to win her a full Ladies European Tour card. Closest UK lady to Hannah was Kym Larratt of Leicestershire who was 25th.

This was Hannah’s second attempt at Q School. At La Manga in January 2009 she failed to qualify for Stage 2. “I learnt so much from the four rounds played and knew what I had to focus on and that with practice I could qualify at the next time of trying,” she said. Over the past year Hannah has worked very hard on her short game and mental approach with Coach Katie Dawkins, the teaching professional at Cowdray Park Golf Club. Hannah’s success this year is a testimony to her efforts. She has won three amateur events, was runner up in the 2009 English Open Mid Amateur and finished in the top five on six occasions.

Conditions at La Manga were interesting to say the least. Players wrestled with strong winds, heavy rain, freezing temperatures and even a sprinkling of snow, interspersed with warm sunshine, clouds and clear blue skies.

Hannah is now looking forward to next year on Tour. The first tournament is in February in New Zealand, closely followed by two events in Australia. Entry to these events largely depends on sponsorship which she is actively seeking at the moment.

Commenting on her momentous year Hannah said: “I have great support from my family, friends, members at Cowdray Park and Katie, without whom I couldn’t have done so well. I am also grateful to my uncle Glenn who taught me for a few years before going on the Seniors Tour. He has helped get me where I am today in my golfing life and is always there for support and advice.”

Just like her uncle, Hannah started playing at Cowdray Park Golf Club when she was eight years old and got her first Handicap in February 1998 aged 10. Her father Graham Ralph has been a member at Cowdray for 35 years.

With possibly golf’s greatest ever player and the biggest global sports star of his generation out of the game for an ‘indefinite’ period of time there is of course huge interest as to when he will next play competitive golf.

After much interest in when he will return to professional golf, online sports betting company extrabet care taking bets on which Major Tiger Woods will next play.

Current odds for next Major Tournament event in 2010 are:

• US Masters 1/2
• US Open 4/1
• The Open 9/1
• USPGA 16/1
• Not to play a Major in 2010 7/2

The big price move has been that Tiger Woods will not to play a Major in 2010 which has gone from 5/1 to 7/2 in 1 week. Elsewhere he was 5/6 to play in the 2010 Masters and is now 1/2.

extrabet’s Chris Shillington explains further. “For what we would deem a ‘fun’ bet there has been huge interest in this market. It just reconfirms Tiger Woods as the biggest star in world sport’

Tiger Woods has been a real golf legend over recent years, set to be the greatest golfer ever.

• He has won 14 Majors. Jack Nicklaus has won the most golf Majors ever with 18
• Tiger Woods has won 97 professional tournaments worldwide
• Tiger Woods held all 4 Majors after winning the Open Championship in 2000
• He first swung a golf club aged 11 months

Unrivalled Christmas marketing extravaganza is set to further expand the reach of Imagine Golf Club – the first online golf community that unites people and places.

Social Networking has been the most successful Internet phenomenon of the decade. Finally Driving Ranges can benefit from this new marketing platform courtesy of Imagine Sports’ golf social networking website. Already proclaimed as a “breath of fresh air” by industry leaders, ImagineGolfClub.com is leading the way with its innovative marketing opportunities that are designed to grow the golf industry.

As the name suggests, ImagineGolfClub.com, is an online golf club that offers golfers all the information and news that they need in one location. Members can create their own profile, communicate simply and effectively with all of their golfing friends, as well as getting all the latest golf news, views, advice, tips and drills – ALL FOR FREE.

The great news for Driving Ranges is that ImagineGolfClub.com is not just a great place for golfers to keep up to date with friends. It also offers search functions that allow members to locate thousands of driving ranges, Professionals, clubs and other golfing destinations all around the world.

Imagine Golf Club offers Driving Ranges their own free micro-sites to promote their services to a worldwide golf community. As well as having this online profile, they can send automated newsletters and earn additional income from online advertising shown on their pages. 3,000 Driving Ranges have already signed up to this service and it is increasing their business because the number of golfers subscribed to the site is very impressive.

Thanks to its social and business networking capability the Imagine Golf Club community already unites over 128,000 golf people and places across the world:

• 90,000 Imagine Golf Club Members
• 3,000 Driving Ranges
• 15,000 Golf Professionals
• 18,000 Golf Clubs
• 1,200 Golf Resorts
• 1,000 Golf Societies

The company’s seasonal marketing campaign includes a competition extravaganza, with prizes worth in excess of £400,000. Visit www.imaginegolfclub.com/competition/xmas.htm to enter. Its Three Wise Men Bearing (Golf) Gifts email promotion also offers members some exclusive prizes and promotions from a range of leading brands including Direct Golf UK, Nike, TrendyGolf.com, Spherical Blade, Asbri Golf and Kevin Murray Golf Photography.

To say that golf is a popular sport is an understatement, with golf fans from all over the world obsessively following it and admiring its players, and it is easy to see why. It is a game that produces some incredible athletes and some true champions.

Of course there is Tiger Woods, who has been dubbed one of the greatest golfers in history by more than one golfing commentator and official ranking. Though his form has not been the greatest in 2009, having lost every major tournament. Hot at the moment is South Korea’s YE Yang, who became the first Asian winner of a major when he beat Tiger Woods to take the USPGA this year.

Henrik Stenson

But perhaps one of the most talked about players in golf at the moment is Henrik Stenson, Sweden’s best golfer, who has spent a considerable amount of time in the World Top Ten. Having been introduced to the sport of golf as a teenager by a friend of the family, he was already a scratch handicap at 18 years of age and was representing Sweden as an amateur. Henrik Stenson then turned professional in 1998 and, after a quiet couple of years, managed to finish top of the Challenge Tour rankings in 2000. He then went on to win the Benson and hedges International Open in the following year, and has been selected for the last two Ryder Cup sides.

The Ryder Cup is a golfing meet in which teams of twelve from Europe and the US compete. Some matches in the Ryder Cup consist of players from the same team taking alternate shots throughout the match at the same ball and each hole is won by the team that gets it in with the least amount of shots. Others consist of smaller teams where each player plays their own ball throughout, the winning team being the one with the golfer that has the lowest score. Henrik Stenson made a confident Ryder Cup debut in 2006 where he potted the winning put as he beat Vaughan Taylor in the singles and put forth an impressive performance in the foursomes, ensuring a European victory. From this time he has gone from strength to strength and is considered one of the most consistent performers not only in European, but world golf in recent seasons.

Though Henrik Stenson has not won a US Open, many believe that he has the potential to do so in the future, though he plays golf in the US decidedly less than many of his European counterparts. Traditionally, it has been near impossible for a non-American to win the US Open for various reasons. Though this seems to have changed with the turn of the century, meaning that Henrik Stenson may just have a chance if he continues with his top form. The US Open is the second of the year’s four majors, having just been played in June of this year.

Henrik Stenson made golf history in 2009 when he stripped to his boxer shorts to play a shot out of a muddy bog during the first round of the WGC-CA Championships, proving that he has the personality to make him a truly loveable golf champion.

He is ranked fourth in the world, and it is unsurprising as to why as Henrik Stenson continues to impress with consistently unfaltering form.