Sunday, November 15, 2009
TIGER CLAIMS GOLF JACKET ...
BUT WILL HE DEFEND?By Brendan James Live @ The Australian Masters Tiger Woods has won the Australian Masters, becoming just the third American to don the Gold Jacket in the tournament's 30-year history. The World No.1 fired a final round four-under-par 68 to finish at 14 under, two strokes clear of former Australian Open champion Greg Chalmers. Successive birdies at the 5th and 6th holes created a buffer from the field that was never closed, despite a cheap bogey at the short par-4 13th. Woods follows Gene Littler (1980) and Mark O'Meara (1986) in winning the title. Now will he follow in their footsteps and not defend his Masters title? Victorian Premier John Brumby would not be drawn on whether an offer was on the table to have Woods return to the event in 2010 when it is played at Victoria Golf Club. And the 14-time major winner would only say, "I'd love to come back". "I'll sit down with Stevie (Steve Williams, his caddy) after my tournament and we'll look at the schedule for next year," Woods said. "I'd love to come back." That is short of saying he will be back but you can be assured the event owners and Tiger's management, IMG, will be keen to do business with the Victorian Government again. Watch this space!
Friday, November 13, 2009
BIDDING WAR BREWING OVER TIGER WOODSEXCLUSIVE By Brendan James Golf Australia Editor Live @ The Australian Masters As the second round of the 2009 Australian Masters gets underway, speculation is growing that the Victorian and NSW Governments may be drawn into a bidding war to get Tiger Woods back to Australia in 2010. The overwhelming success of Woods appearance at Kingston Heath has ignited interest in getting the World No.1 to play here again next summer. Of course, he is due to lead the Americans in the Presidents Cup in 2011 at Royal Melbourne. The highly publicised US$3 million appearance fee paid by the Victorian Government has been covered by record gate takings, increased sponsorship and lucrative TV deals. Victorian Premier John Brumby noted earlier this week that 35 percent of visitors to the Masters were from interstate and overseas and represented a cash injection of at least $35 million into the Victorian economy - marking a substantial return on their investment. Figures like that have not gone unnoticed north of the border in NSW. NSW Special Events made the first move in trying to secure Woods for this year's Australian Open and, through its chief John O'Neill, flagged the possibility of Tiger playing in Sydney. It is understood the NSW government then baulked at the multi-million dollar appearance fee and dropped out of negotiations. Victoria's major events people stepped in and got Woods to sign on the dotted line. When asked yesterday whether NSW had dropped the ball and should feel embarrassed by its blunder in not signing Woods, Victorian Tourism and Major Events Minister Tim Holding said: "I think Sydney made a mistake." "I will say one thing, Sydney made the mistake of declaring the events they would secure in advance," Holding said. "Melbourne is not in the business of showing our hand. We prefer to work quietly, professionally behind the scenes, and then when we secure an event we shout it from the rooftops." Holding said Sydney is not in the same league as Melbourne when it comes to bidding for major events. "Frankly our competition is not cities like Sydney anymore," he said. "Our competition is great international cities that are also in the marketplace to compete for those events." When asked by Golf Australia whether the Victorian Government would be bidding for Tiger to return to Melbourne next year, Holding was coy in his reply. "Obviously we're very cautious about saying what else we might be bidding for," Holding said. "We saw Sydney made a concerted effort to get Tiger to participate in the Australian Open there but we're not in the business of bidding up the price of these sorts of things by declaring our hand in advance. "But it's as plain as the nose on your face how successful this event is for Melbourne. "It has been successful through a lot of different factors, but the key element of its has been the participation of Tiger Woods ... he is always welcome to come and play in Melbourne." While Victoria would certainly be the front runner of any negotiation with Woods' management, the International Management Group (which owns the Australian Masters), it is believed that a significant offer is brewing from NSW to lure Woods to Sydney for next year's Australian Open to be played at The Lakes. The Open already has a commitment from Greg Norman that he will play (if he's fit) but Woods has proven this week that he is the only player in the game that can guarantee a sell out and deliver a handsome profit for organisers. It might be a hard sell given that Woods has said he's not here for the money but was attracted by the prospect of playing in the Melbourne sand-belt. The question now remains: If Tiger wins the Gold Jacket on Sunday, will he defend his title? Melburnians have every right to be quietly confident.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
WHO CAN CONQUER THE HEATH?By Brendan James Golf Australia Editor Live @ The Masters Play is underway in the 2009 Australian Masters with bookie and crowd favourite Tiger Woods already hovering near the top of the leaderboard. With a crowd of more than 15,000 trying to follow his progress, the World No.1 carded three birdies in his first ten holes to be at three under, one stroke behind veteran Queenslander Terry Price. Can Tiger stay in contention through to Sunday afternoon? Here is my form guide of players to watch at the Masters and some betting tips you may want to follow. TIGER WOODS - The world's best player will only get better with each round as he becomes more familiar with the nuances of the Kingston heath layout. However, winds predicted for the weekend may bring him back to the field and give the locals a better chance. Will be interesting to seen if he is in contention come Sunday whether he can seal the deal given he has struggled when contending in four of his past five events. Betting: $2.50. Too short to back with a few dollars. GEOFF OGILVY - Australia's highest ranked player seemed a little out of sorts during the pro-am but he still feels his game is nearing a peak. The Melbourne sand-belt bred Ogilvy believes if he plays "the way I should play", which he showed during the final two rounds of the HSBC Champions last week, he will be in contention. Betting: $10. Good value that will keep you interested right through to the dying stages of the tournament. ADAM SCOTT - Has had a year to forget but looks good this week. His ball striking in practice has been sharp and there appears to be a growing confidence in the putter. The Queenslander looked quietly confident after the pro-am. Betting: $17. At this price he's worth a dabble. MICHAEL SIM - Australia's best player overseas during 2009 had his chances in this event last year. Has learned plenty about his game and matured a lot in just 12 months and cannot be ruled out as a chance. Capable of shooting very low numbers in trying conditions. Betting: $17. Get on! AARON BADDELEY - Another Aussie who has has a less than memorable 2009 abroad. You can expect, however, that Badds will lift his game on a course where he won the 2000 Australian Open in fine style. Knows this course better than his own backyard. Betting: $20. A good chance but needs to improve tee to green to grab the Gold Jacket again. GREG CHALMERS - The former Australian Open champion possesses all the right stuff needed to win this week. He's a great ball striker, canny strategist and his short game is A+. If he doesn't win he will be thereabouts. Betting: $34. Jump on for a top-three finish at good odds. OTHERS TO WATCHSteve Bowditch - Coming off a win in Queensland, all Bowditch's best performances seem to come in a bunch. Betting: $6.50 for a top-10 finish is a good bet. Marc Leishman - The boy from Warrnambool has established himself as one of the rising stars of the US PGA Tour and cannot be discounted. Betting: Good odds for a top-3 finish. Cameron Percy - The PGA Tour bound Victorian grew up a short drive from Kingston Heath and knows better than most how this course works. Betting: Juicy odds for an each way bet. I hope this helps you decide who to back this week and you win a quid following these tips.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
TIGER THE TOAST OF MELBOURNEBy Brendan James Golf Australia Editor Live @ The Australian Masters Melbourne has never seen anything like it. Tiger Woods' much anticipated return to our shores and the Australian Masters began under the constant buzz of news helicopters and amid record crowds today. The World No.1 had been expected to arrive at Kingston Heath shortly after dawn and there were plenty of fans waiting at each of the course gates as the sun broke across the sand-belt layout. But Woods chose instead to hit warm up balls in solitude at the neighbouring and very exclusive Capital Golf Club. Word quickly got around that Woods would hit off with former Australian Masters champion Craig Parry at 8am. As the throng of fans gathered around the 1st tee and began lining the par-5, Woods, Parry and their entourage, including five security men, scooted across to the 10th tee. By the time the pairing hit their tee shots word had got out and there were hundreds of golf fans flocking to get a glimpse. By the time Woods and Co. reached the 18th green, an estimated 7,500 people were clinging to the gallery ropes. This all begs the question. Have we all gone Tiger mad? In his post-practice press conference, Woods was asked: "Is it like this all the time?" "Certainly not ... not like this," Tiger laughed. Yes, Tiger is the word on everyone's lips in Melbourne and the man smiling all the way to the bank is Victorian Premier John Brumby. Not only did he snatch the world's best golfer from under the nose of the NSW Government, who originally wanted Woods to be top billing of the Australian Open, he is now boasting a Tiger-led economic stimulus to the Victorian economy in excess of $35 million. That's not a bad return on their US$3 million outlay of public money to get him here. No wonder he's the toast of Melbourne. Tomorrow: Check out Golf Australia's exclusive Australian Masters form guide including our selections.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
NORMAN, CLARK TO MISS AUSTRALIAN OPEN By Brendan James Editor Golf Australia Greg Norman's announcement that he will not play this year's Australian Open at NSW GC due to a shoulder injury is a disappointment but is arguably better than him turning up, playing at 50 percent and missing the cut. Norman, who underwent surgery on the shoulder just days before the Presidents Cup in October, has not recovered as quickly as his surgeon had hoped and he will not play golf again this year. But even at best he was only going to start practising for an assault on the championship ten days out from the opening round. Hardly the sort of preparation required to win such a tough championship. I have no doubt the Shark, who has always said he is not a ceremonial golfer and is committed to winning every event he plays, probably realised he was not going to be competitive and pulled the pin at the first opportunity. "Having made the decision to have surgery in September in order to facilitate my playing the Australian Open and The Shark Shootout, I am disappointed," Norman said in a press release. "At the same time, I understand it would not be prudent to rush my return to competitive golf. "I was very much looking forward to playing this year's Australian Open at the New South Wales Golf Club. I look forward to playing in 2010 and expect that I will make one visit to Sydney in support of The Australian Open in the middle part of 2010." Meanwhile, the man whom Norman described as his "little bulldog" at the Presidents Cup, Tim Clark, has also pulled out after accepting a last-minute invitation to play the lucrative Nedbank Challenge in his home country, South Africa. Interestingly, there was no official announcement from Golf Australia of the reigning Open champion not coming back to defend his title. However, the championship organiser has said: "Golf Australia intends to pursue opportunities to make other world-class additions to the field." Norman's shoes will be hard to fill. Clark's, not so hard.
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