THIS
WEEK'S
NEWS
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NOTES
FBR & Dubai Notes
As for John Rollins, who finished 2nd he had the low final round, a bogey-free 63. You have to also wonder what would of happened to Rollins if he wasn't so unlucky on the final hole. If his second shot wouldn't of hit the flagstick like it did and bounce off the green, chances are he would have had a very close putt on the final green for a birdie and a potential tie.
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John Rollins, who finished T2 in Phoenix, recorded his second runner-up finish of the season and his fourth of his career. Two weeks ago he lost in a playoff to Charley Hoffman at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Rollins moves from sixth to first on the FedExCup standings.
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One nice thing after a tough last year battling cancer, a painful divorce and his mother having a stroke it was nice to see Billy Mayfair finish fifth.
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Vijay Singh finished seventh to collect his fifth top-10 at the TPC Scottsdale, including two victories (1995, 2003) thanks to a closing 8-under 64 on Sunday. He receives $201,000 and moves from third to second on the FBR Open tournament career money list, just $17,030 short of tournament money-leader Phil Mickelson ($1,807,813).
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Phil Mickelson shot rounds of 72-69 to miss the cut, only the second time he has done it at the FBR since turning pro. Missing the cut also will bring on some questions of Mickelson when he plays this week in the AT&T. That is because he has finished T45th, T51st and a missed cut in his first three events of the year and continues his poor record since his debacle at Winged Foot last June. Another thing that will be brought up is the fact that since 1991 in only five years has Mickelson never won on the West Coast. With 14 of his 29 wins coming on the west coast swing it will bring some to wonder if his game will not be in great shape for the year. One thing working in Phil's favor was the fact that he didn't win last year on the west coast swing and still won twice, including a victory in he Masters.
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Amateur Rory McIlroy was having a great week in Dubai, until a bee attacked him on Sunday on the 17th green. After getting stung, the 17-year-old amateur four-putted the green from 20 feet. McIlroy was able to finish up with a par and finished up in a T31st with the likes of Paul McGinley, Stuart Appleby and Nick Dougherty.
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England's Ross Fisher shot a final round 71 and finished fifth at 16 under, 1 back of Woods and three back of Stenson after leading the first two days. Before this week the closet Fisher ever got to Tiger Woods was when he fetched practice range balls for Woods at the World Match Play Championship in London in 1998 and was awed to be paired with him. "For 15 holes I was toe-to-toe with him," Fisher said. "I almost had to pinch myself to believe I was about six or so shots ahead of the world No. 1, which was totally unbelievable." For all of his work Fisher earned $101,760 - not bad at all for a youngster who once earned just 5 pounds an hour as a ball-boy.
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So what did Tiger Woods think of his final round player partner? "I thought Ross played well. He handled himself great," said Woods. "He hit a lot of wonderful shots until the last 16 and 17 got him. But he was right there in contention with a chance to win. He looks very promising."
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It was a day of the champions on Sunday at the Dubai Desert Classic with three of the biggest sporting icons in the world converging at the final day's play of the Dubai Desert Classic. Watching Woods in the final round were his close friend and world number one tennis player Roger Federer and former world Formula One champion Michael Schumacher. Federer is in Dubai to attend the Gillett champions' show at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, where he will be joined by Schumacher who presented new Desert Classic champion Henrik Stenson with the trophy.
FEATURES
FROM
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Sal Johnson
Baddeley and Stenson win in opposite manners
FBR Open & Dubai Desert Classic tournament recap
January 29, 2007
By SAL JOHNSON
Publisher, GOLFOBSERVER
Photo: © David Cannon & Stephen Dunn/Getty Images | | Henrik Stenson wins in Dubai while Aaron Baddeley wins the FBR Open. |
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For both Aaron Baddeley and Henrik Stenson, they have a lot in common with each other. Both of their wins came in the desert, Baddeley in Phoenix while Stenson's was 8,500 miles away in Dubai. Both just happened to win in their adopted homes, Baddeley living in Scottsdale while Stenson is living in Dubai. Both players are in there 20s and could be the future of golf on there respected tours as both of them have had to struggle a lot to get their games to the level that it's at now. Both Baddeley and Stenson have multiple wins in the last year but after that everything couldn't be any further from being the same.
Aaron Baddeley
He is one of those rare birds on the PGA Tour, he wins thanks to his putter, which this week was very hot. Off the tee he is probably one of the worst players on the tour, distance is very average with his accuracy being below average that brings his total driving stats way down. As an example last year he was T154th in the total driving stat, in 2005 he was T185th and in 2004 Baddeley ranked 184th.
That isn't the extent of his problems, Baddeley's greens hit isn't very good either. Last year he ranked 193rd, in 2005 he was 191st and in 2004 Bradeley was 195th. If you look at the 36 different winners last year, Baddeley had the worst greens hit rank of any of them.
So with stats like that, how does he win? Good putting.
Last year he was T11th in putting average while in 2005 he was T7th. This stat is his saving grace, to show you why just look at the 123 PGA Tour starts that he has made on the PGA Tour. Baddeley has made the cut in 68 of them with 12 top-ten finishes. In ten of those 12 finishes he has been in the top-six in total number of putts stats and in five of those finishes he has finished first, including leading that stat in his two victories at last year's Verizon Heritage and this week's FBR Open.
Henrik Stenson
He has worked very hard on all parts of his game from tee to green, as an example on the European Tour in 2005 he ranked 4th in driving accuracy and 2nd in greens hit. Last year was a bit of a struggle in those stats but he improved his putting, ranking 9th in putts per greens hit last year. So it was no big surprise that Stenson, who made a successful debut on the Ryder Cup team last year has steadily risen up the world rankings. At the end of 2004 he was 145th, at the end of 2005, 32nd and now 10th after his Dubai victory.
For Stenson the last month has been a fast moving train. On December 30th he got married but instead of going off on his honeymoon he flew around the world to Thailand to play in the Royal Trophy event, then came back to the middle east where he finished 8th in Abu Dhabi, T7th in Qatar and now the win in Dubai. So now it's off on a short honeymoon with his wife Emma to the islands of Maldives which is southwest of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean. After that he will be coming to the United States and play in the Accenture World Match Play Championship.
Keys to victory for Baddeley in FBR
Photo: © Stephen Dunn/Getty Images |
| Aaron Baddeley celebrates after making the final putt of the final round to win the FBR Open. |
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There is no two ways about it, when Baddeley gets hot with the putter he usually finishes high and that's happened this week. Give you an example of that on Thursday he started the tournament with nine straight one-putts, then added on another five more with a chip-in to take only 20 putts shooting 65 which included a double bogey.
Here are some other keys for his victory:
- The killer blow for him was making birdies on 15, 16 and then 17. None of these were easy tasks, matter of fact his whole day of putting was pretty good when you consider that he made a 25 footer for birdie at 6, 11 footer for birdie at 10, 9 footer for birdie at 13, 7 footer for birdie at 15, 23 footer for birdie at 16 and then a 10 footer for birdie at 17.
- The weekend was very key for Baddeley, he was 14 under and his 128 total was only three off the PGA Tour record of 125 for best final two round score in a four round event held by Ron Streck in the 1978 Texas Open. Looking at the PGA Tour going back to 1970 only 15 players have bettered his 128 mark, the low last year was David Toms with a 126 total at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
- Over the weekend he took only 54 putts and was 28 out of 30 on putts from 10 feet in.
- Made nine putts over 20 feet this week including his longest one a 48 footer at the 12th hole for a birdie on Saturday.
- Baddeley lives only five minutes from the TPC Scottsdale course and is so comfortable with the course that he compares it to Kingston Heath, a course in Melbourne that he won the 2000 Australian Open on.
Baddeley's stats (with rank in parentheses):
Fairways hit: 34 of 56 ..... (T53rd)
Driving average: 296.6 ..... (15th)
Greens hit: 52 of 72 ....... (T34th)
Putts: 104 (26.00 a rd) .... (1st)
Putting breakdown:
0-putt greens: 2
1-putt greens: 37
2-putt greens: 32
3-putt greens: 1
Play on par 3s: -4
Play on par 4s: -8
Play on par 5s: -9
Eagles: 1
Birdies: 25 ................ (2nd)
Scrambling: 16 of 20 (80.0%) (T5th)
Scrambling measures how many times a player gets up and down for par or better on the holes where he missed the green in regulation.
What This Win Means for Baddeley
- With the win Baddeley moved up 46 places on the World Rankings to 44th spot. The timing couldn't be any better because next week is the last week for entry into the Accenture World Match Play championship so he is assured a spot in the field
- Win comes in his fifth start at the FBR Open. He missed the cut in 2003, 2005 and 2006. His best finish here was a T49 in 2004.
- Becomes the third former Nationwide Tour player to win this event (Tom Lehman, 2000; Chris DiMarco, 2002). Victory marks the 199th PGA Tour win by a former Nationwide Tour player since 1990.
- Has now won twice in his last 21 starts dating back to the 2006 Verizon Heritage.
Jeff Quinney - Why he lost
Photo: © Stan Badz/Wire Image | | Jeff Quinney durning Sunday's final round. |
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Quinney who led after the second and third rounds shot 136 over the weekend, eight worst than Baddeley. After taking 26 putts on Thursday and 25 Friday and Saturday, Quinney took 30 on Saturday
Here are some other keys for him losing:
- His biggest blow of course was his tee shot on the 17th hole. It was a terrible shot and one that had to be pressure related. But I just wonder if a shot two holes previous wasn't the killer blow.
- Quinney made birdies at 13 and 14 and when he just hit a bit over the par 5, 15th in two he was two up on Rollins and three up on Baddeley. From just off the green if he would of gotten it up and down for a birdie, he would of just about eliminated Baddeley and given Rollins very little chance at the win. Yes before he putted Baddeley made his birdie but if he could of made his eight footer I think it would of given him the win. He missed and it spelled the start of the decline.
- After hitting his drive into the water at 17, he hit a great wedge that got him within five feet of the hole to save par. At the time he was tied with Baddeley, who made his birdie putt. But Quinney didn't come close and this was the putt that put him behind and probably burst his ballon.
- He played the par 4s in 11 under and the par 3s in four under but could only play the par 5s in four under par
Quinney's stats (with rank in parentheses):
Fairways hit: 39 of 56 ..... (T22nd)
Driving average: 293.6 ..... (22nd)
Greens hit: 53 of 72 ....... (T25th)
Putts: 106 (26.50 a rd) .... (T4th)
Putting breakdown:
0-putt greens: 1
1-putt greens: 35
2-putt greens: 36
3-putt green: 0
Play on par 3s: -4
Play on par 4s: -11
Play on par 5s: -4
Eagles: 0
Birdies: 26 ................ (1st)
Scrambling: 12 of 19 (63.16%) (T44th)
Scrambling measures how many times a player gets up and down for par or better on the holes where he missed the green in regulation.
What this means for Quinney:
- Hopefully Quinney takes with him the lessons learned on Sunday. He played the back nine in one over par and if he didn't hit such a poor drive on 17 into the water he could have been the champion. But again after years of struggle since turning professional in 2001 he has been stellar in 2007 finishing 71st at the Sony, T4th in the Hope, T7th at the Buick and 3rd at the FBR. With earnings of $806,100 this year, he is assured his tour card for next year.
Keys to victory for Henrik Stenson in the Dubai Desert Classic
Photo: © Action Images/WireImage |
| Henrik Stenson celebrates after making the final putt of the final round to win the Dubai Desert Classic. |
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Stenson was close to perfect in hitting greens, on Thursday he didn't miss a single green, on Friday he hit 17 of 18, on Saturday 16 of 18 and on Sunday in the sand storm hit 14 of 18. More importantly playing with Ernie Els he stayed up with Els and when the South African started making birdies on the back side he also made birdies. His biggest one had to be on the 14th hole after Els chipped in for birdie, Stenson made his 15-footer on top of him for a birdie.
Here are some other keys for his victory:
- Made some great putts in his final round including a ten footer on the final hole for birdie. At the time he had a one shot lead and with Els just three feet away a miss would of meant a playoff.
- Played the back nine in 15 under par
- Took only 29 putts in the final round including no three putts
- Played the par 5s in ten under par
- Stenson lives right near the course and is a member of it which gave him home field advantage.
Stenson's stats (with rank in parentheses):
Fairways hit: 36 of 56 ..... (T16th)
Driving average: 302.9 ..... (4th)
Greens hit: 66 of 72 ....... (1st)
Putts: 122 (30.50 a rd) .... (T44th)
Putting breakdown:
0-putt greens: 0
1-putt greens: 25
2-putt greens: 44
3-putt greens: 3
Play on par 3s: -1
Play on par 4s: -8
Play on par 5s: -10
Eagles: 0
Birdies: 24
Scrambling: 4 of 6 (66.6%)
Scrambling measures how many times a player gets up and down for par or better on the holes where he missed the green in regulation.
What This Win Means for Stenson
- Many don't know this Swede, who now lives in Dubai and they should get to know him. This was his third win on the European Tour in the last year, he won at Qatar and the BMW International last year and with his win in Dubai moved up to tenth in the world rankings. Last year Stenson finished T3rd at the Players Championship, with that and a couple of other good finishes he finished 104th on the unofficial PGA Tour money list. He does have a PGA Tour card but is planning on just playing in the majors and World Golf events. His first start in America is at the Accenture Match Play Championship
Ernie Els - Why he lost
Photo: © Action Images/WireImage | | Ernie Els after missing a short putt in Sunday's final round. |
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Last month Ernie Els announced to the golfing world that he had a three year plan in which he wants to catch and pass Tiger Woods and become the world number one. He looked good in his victory last month in the South African Airways Open. Last week he finished 3rd in Qatar but this was the week he really wanted to prove his point, he can catch Tiger. One key thing did happen, he did beat Tiger but he didn't do it in the manner that he wanted to and that was to win. In a way he has to be kicking himself because he took six three putts for the week, four over the weekend and two on Sunday which proved the reasons for him being one back of Henrk Stenson.
Here are some other keys for Els losing:
- Els got off to a poor start on Sunday playing his first six holes in three over par, this proved to be his downfall. In comparison Stenson played the first six holes in one under and when he shot four under on the back nine it was too much for Els or anyone else to come back from.
- For the week played the first 11 holes in 4 under but the last seven holes in 14 under.
- Only hit 4 of 14 fairways on Sunday. He also took 32 putts as he only had six one putts. This and the fact that he hit only 27 of 56 fairways for the week caused him to hit a lot of greens leaving himself very long putts which was the cause of all his three putts for the week.
- He played the par 4s in 11 under and the par 3s in four under but could only play the par 5s in four under par
Els's stats (with rank in parentheses):
Fairways hit: 27 of 56 ..... (T48th)
Driving average: 297.3 ..... (8th)
Greens hit: 61 of 72 ....... (T4th)
Putts: 118 (29.50 a rd) .... (T31st)
Putting breakdown:
0-putt greens: 1
1-putt greens: 30
2-putt greens: 35
3-putt green: 6
Play on par 3s: Even
Play on par 4s: -7
Play on par 5s: -11
Eagles: 2
Birdies: 21
Scrambling: 10 of 11 (90.90%)
Scrambling measures how many times a player gets up and down for par or better on the holes where he missed the green in regulation.
What this means for Els:
- Now it's time for Els to regroup and get ready for the Nissan Open and hopefully the Accenture Match Play Championship. He hasn't played that well in that event since finishing 4th in 2001, the year it was played in Australia. With a change of venue away from La Costa, a course he didn't like, he should be a favorite. As he said in his website "in, but flying home on Sunday night and reflecting on the last couple of weeks I can take a lot of positives from the tournaments in Qatar and Dubai. It would have been great to win one of those events, but 3rd and 2nd is not so bad. And the key thing is, I feel like I'm back to something like my old self again. Last year was a real struggle getting over my knee injury, but finally I can put that behind me. I've got clear goals and I can move forward towards achieving those goals; it's a great feeling. I tell you, I feel really good about this coming season."
Tiger Woods - Why he lost
Photo: © Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images | | Tiger Woods after missing a shot on the 10th hole in Sunday's final round. |
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In Dubai we saw something that we hadn't seen in a while, the first time since July at the Western Open in which in a stroke play event Tiger Woods didn't finish first or 2nd.
Here are some other keys for Woods losing:
- No two ways about it Woods just didn't have the putting touch he has been used too and he didn't scramble very well. For the week Tiger took 114 putts but he missed a lot of putts within ten feet which hurt him. He only had one three putt but that came at a crucial time, on Sunday on the tenth hole. He had 18 feet for birdie, makes that and he would have been in the lead. Instead of making it he three putt then on 11th hole he flubbed a chip shot leading to his second bogey in a row which put him too far back.
- For the week he only got up and down 11 of 16 times.
- Woods made three bogies in the final round the same amount as he made in the first three rounds.
Woods's stats (with rank in parentheses):
Fairways hit: 27 of 56 ..... (T48th)
Driving average: 305.4 ..... (3rd)
Greens hit: 56 of 72 ....... (T12th)
Putts: 114 (28.50 a rd) .... (T12th)
Putting breakdown:
0-putt greens: 2
1-putt greens: 27
2-putt greens: 42
3-putt green: 1
Play on par 3s: -4
Play on par 4s: -3
Play on par 5s: -10
Eagles: 0
Birdies: 23
Scrambling: 11 of 16 (68.75%)
Scrambling measures how many times a player gets up and down for par or better on the holes where he missed the green in regulation.
What this means for Woods:
- It was a tough two weeks for Woods traveling to San Diego, then Dubai and then back home to Florida clocking over 20,000 miles on the G-5. Now the big question will be if he plans on playing in L.A. next week for the Nissan Open. In a way he has given us hints that he isn't sure of it, this in the past usually means get ready for bad news, I'm not coming. Who knows maybe he will have a change of heart before Friday's deadline.
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