WGC Cadillac Match Play Picks

This week's PGA Tour event is the World Golf Championships Cadillac Match Play (formerly the WGC-Accenture Match Play), being played this year at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, California. Being a World Golf Championship (WGC) event, it is exclusive to the top 64 players in the World Golf Rankings. It also boasts one of the largest purses on Tour at $9.25 million.

As I mentioned in my last post, this is one of my favourite events on tour, for two reasons. Firstly, like I said it is a WGC event, so we get to see a unique field filled with the world's best players, which by it's nature bring world-class golf. Secondly, it's a match play event. Briefly, match play is a format of golf in which two players face each other at a time, rather than the entire field. Each hole is allocated one point and the player with the lowest score (compared to their fellow player) on each hole wins the hole and receives/takes away one point from their competitor, depending on if they are winning or losing overall. Whoever finishes ahead at the end wins. In a tournament format, match play differs from traditional stroke play in that the event is structured in a round-robin-like style, with each player having to win to advance to the next stage. The matches are far more exciting as well, since greater risks can be taken shot-wise as your score on one hole doesn't affect your overall score.

This is the first year that TPC Harding Park is hosting the WGC Match Play, but it has hosted a WGC event in the past (Cadillac Championship in 2005). It has also hosted a Presidents Cup (2009) and several Charles Schwab Cup Championships for the Champions Tour. Today, it measures at just under 7200 yards at a par 72.

My picks this week focused around one main factor; experience in match play, naturally. Since the match play format isn't seen too often on Tour, I chose picks who had contested in past match play events (and had done well) such as the Ryder Cup, etc. Here they are:

1) Graeme McDowell
2) Martin Kaymer
3) Rickie Fowler

GMac is a natural choice when it comes to match play. He's made it to the quarter finals in the past two years of this event and played excellently in past Ryder Cups, having holed the winning putt for Europe in 2010 and contributing points in 2014. He also won the Volvo World Match Play Championship in 2013 on the European Tour. Similarly Kaymer has also had excellent finishes in this event, his best being a 2nd place in 2011 (where he was the best player in the world at the time and rocked a snood that had everyone golf fashion expert talking). He also holed the winning putt for Europe in the 2012 Ryder Cup AKA the Miracle of Medinah. Lastly, Rickie Fowler is young, confident and has Ryder Cup experience, all of which combined make him excellent at match play.

Being a match play event, there is no cut as players are eliminated after each round. We'll still be posting on Friday to let you know what's going on at the halfway point of the tournament. Stay tuned for that and enjoy some great golf this week!


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

GMac has done well in past match play events

Justin Rose Wins the 2015 Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Well it looks like Justin Rose brought some of his momentum from The Masters to New Orleans this week...

It was another action packed Sunday on the PGA Tour, this week at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana. After many weather delays and re-arranged tee times, Justin Rose emerged as the winner this week, with a final score of 22-under par and a one shot lead over Cameron Tringale.

Rose was one of our picks this week. Ironically the last time one of our picks won was Justin Rose at the 2014 Quicken Loans National, which was also his last victory on the PGA Tour. Rose was in a good position going into the weekend and shot a 65-66 on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. He wasn't leading the tournament today nor was he in the final group, but two final birdies on the 17th and 18th holes were enough to give Rose the win. This win, along with his T2 Masters finish, surely makes up for the year Justin's been having. It also puts Rose in the Top 15 of the FedEx Cup Points Rankings.

TPC Louisiana played very well on the weekend, with low scores being shot around. By the looks of it, the average score on the weekend was in the high 60's with the low round a 64, shot by PGA Tour Rookie and former Web.com player Blayne Barber. In fact, Cameron Trinagle, Boo Weekley, and Jim Herman (who finished behind Rose respectively) all shot 7-under 65s in their final rounds. When scores like this are being shot all around, it's hard for a tournament not to be exciting or not have a dramatic finish.

Canadian David Hearn also had a good finish this week, with a T6 (18-under). This was the Brampton native's best finish this year (which has not been too successful so far). Hopefully he can continue this trend into his next tournament. Best of luck to David!

Finally, here is how our picks finished off:

1) Justin Rose: WINNER at 22-under
2) Brenden de Jonge: T22 at 15-under
3) Jamie Donaldson: CUT

I really though De Jonge would win it this week. He didn't play bad golf on the weekend; it's just that other players were playing better. This just extends De Jonge's streak of not winning, but with weeks like this, you have to think his time is coming sooner than later.

Next week is one of my favourite tournaments in golf. It's the week of the WGC-Cadillac Match Play (formerly the WGC-Accenture Match Play). Remember last year this was the site of the epic Jason Day/Victor Dubuisson playoff which left everyone (including Jason Day) stunned, particularly at how cool Dubuisson acted under pressure and in bad situations. It also features the top players in the world and it's match play! What more is there to love? Stay tuned for our picks later on this week!


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Justin Rose wins the 2015 Zurich Classic of New Orleans in some style

2015 Zurich Classic of New Orleans Weekend Update

It's Saturday morning, but the second round of this year's edition of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana has still not concluded...

Towards the later part of the day yesterday, large storms started to linger and eventually forced play to be stopped at 5:30 PM, with players and spectators alike ordered to leave the course for their safety. About half of the field didn't finish their round and will be doing so this morning, with the rounds resuming at 9 AM eastern time.

As of now though, the leaders are rookie Hudson Swafford and Boo Weekley at 11-under par, although Boo still hasn't finished his second round yet. They hold a one shot lead over a log jam of players, including Brenden De Jonge (one of our picks this week) and Jason Day. The cut as of now is at 4-under, although it could change after all of the second rounds have concluded.

So far, here's how our picks are doing:

1) Justin Rose: T21 at 7-under (2nd round not complete)
2) Brenden de Jonge: T3 at 10-under
3) Jamie Donaldson: T100 at 2-under (2nd round not complete)

De Jonge would have been a co-leader if it weren't for a few missed putts during his early round yesterday. Rose is still in the thick of things, as is possibly Jamie Donaldson, who still has half of his second round to finish.

In other news, Tiger Woods has announced that he will be playing at the Players Championship this year in two weeks.

Stay tuned for our Results post Sunday evening to see who ended up winning this week,


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

All around great guy and golfer Boo Weekley is in a great spot going into the weekend

2015 Zurich Classic of New Orleans Picks

This week, the PGA Tour stops in the city of New Orleans for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, being played at TPC of Louisiana. One of the older tournaments on tour (dating back to 1938), the Zurich Classic of New Orleans has always been played in the New Orleans area, which is something that's not seen a lot on tour.

The tournament has been played at the TPC of Louisiana since 2005. It's a Pete Dye design and measures at just under 7,400 yards. Pete Dye has also designed several other PGA Tour played courses, some of his more famous being TPC Sawgrass and Harbour Tour Golf Links, which hosted the RBC Heritage last week.

The field this week consists of a variety of players from rookies to veterans. Given this though, we narrowed down the field to three players who we think have the best chances of winning. They are:

1) Justin Rose
2) Brenden de Jonge
3) Jamie Donaldson

Justin is coming off a T2 at the Masters, so hopefully he'll still have the momentum from that week. We mentioned before that de Jonge is one of the best players on Tour who hasn't won yet, but he is also coming off good finishes at the Shell Houston Open and RBC Heritage. Donaldson is our dark horse pick this week.

Action is set to start tomorrow morning, with the first groups teeing off at 7AM. Be sure to check out our Weekend Update Post this Friday to see who's leading going into the weekend.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

He hasn't had the best start to 2015, but Justin Rose might win it this week

JB Holmes Wins the 2015 Shell Houston Open

It came down to another playoff finish this week at the 2015 Shell Houston Open. This time, it consisted of JB Holmes, Johnson Wagner, and Jordan Spieth, all who finished the tournament at 16-under, with a two shot lead over Russell Henley. The playoff consisted of two extra holes, where the par 4 18th was played twice. The first time, Holmes and Wagner settled for par whereas Spieth bogeyed. The second time, Wagner bogeyed and Holmes parred, for the win. This is JB's first win of the year and his first since the 2014 Wells Fargo Championship.

Holmes started his final round today six shots off the lead. Despite this, he fired off a spectacular round of 64, which consisted of 9 birdies and a bogey and a course record 29 on the front nine. He posted that good number early and watched the rest of the field chase him. Today was the second time JB's been in a playoff at the Shell Houston Open, his first was in 2009, where he lost to Paul Casey. This is also his second playoff of 2015. Earlier this year JB lost to Jason Day at the Farmers Insurance Open. He also stunned us all at the WGC Cadillac Championship by shooting a 10-under 62 on a day where a low 70's round was good. This time around, he sealed the deal, showing us again that he's found a new high-point in his career.

The Golf Club of Houston played a bit tougher on the weekend, where the scoring averages were slightly higher. This shook up the leaderboard throughout each of the rounds.  For example, top Canadian in the field Graham DeLaet was tied for 4th going into the weekend but finished T42 after a 75 and 73. Victor Dubuisson, one of our picks this week, shot a 78 on Saturday, but rallied back today with a 66. Even Scott Piercy, who shot a 63 in the opening round, dabbled in and out of the the top of the leaderboard each round.

As for our picks, here is how they finished:

1) Victor Dubuisson: T17 at 9-under (-9)
2) Patrick Reed: T17 at 9-under (-9)

I mentioned in the Weekend Update that Dubuisson had the best chance of winning out of my picks but not to count Reed out yet. In the end, they finished tied for 17th, partially due to Dubuisson's bad Saturday round (78), then excellent Sunday round (66), and due to Reed's good Saturday round (67) and okay Sunday round (73). It just goes to show you how funny this game of golf can be sometimes.

Next week is of course The Masters, but unfortunately we will not be able to cover it. We may be tweeting some news though so be sure to check our Twitter page (@TOGolfReviews) constantly next week.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

JB Holmes's excellent golf finally pays off this week

(Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports)

2015 Shell Houston Open Weekend Update

With today's round now complete, we're halfway through the 2015 Shell Houston Open. Our weekday leader is Andrew Putnam at 12-under with a one shot lead over Austin Cook (who qualified for the tournament on Monday) and 2011 winner Phil Mickelson. The cut has also been set this week at 4-under.

Putnam fired off a stellar round of 65 today, which consisted of 7 birdies including four in a row on the front nine. Ironically, the PGA Tour rookie made his tour debut last year at the Shell Houston Open. I wonder if Putnam ever thought last year, he'd be leading going into the weekend in just a year's time? Andrew's older brother, Michael, is also a PGA Tour player and is also in the field this week; he's tied for 12th at 8-under.

The Golf Club of Houston was playing very well on Thursday and Friday. Low scores were shot all around and the low round so far was a 63, shot by Scott Piercy. Piercy carded a 5-hole birdie streak as well as a 32-foot birdie putt on the last hole, all which contributed to that low score. Unfortunately, he followed that score with a 74 today. Thursday's round also saw several players holing out from the fairway for eagles, some on par 4's and some on par 5's.

In a headline that's a little closer to home, Canadian Graham DeLaet is currently tied for 4th place at 10-under. Graham shot a pair of 67's, including 6 birdies and a bogey on today's round. At the moment, Graham is Canada's highest ranked golfer on the World Golf Rankings at 69th as well as one of the best Canadian golfers at the moment. The Saskatchewan native has yet to win on tour, but that could change this week.

And here's how our picks are doing so far:

1) Victor Dubuisson: T6 at 9-under (-9)
2) Martin Kaymer: CUT
3) Patrick Reed: T41 at 5-under (-5)

Excellent play from Dubuisson, who has the best chances of winning out of my picks. Patrick Reed could still be in the mix of things, depending on how he plays as well at the other players. Better luck next week for Kaymer also.

Lastly, in other news, it's been confirmed that Tiger Woods will be playing in The Masters this year. Now whether he's looking to compete or just play for the sake of things is another question. 

Stay tuned for our Results post Sunday night to see who's won the Shell Houston Open,


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Andrew Putnam, a former Web.com player, will have a huge field chasing him this weekend 

(Stan Badz/PGA TOUR)

2015 Shell Houston Open Picks

With just one week until the Masters, the PGA Tour travels to Houston, for the 2015 Shell Houston Open, being played at the Golf Club of Houston. The course itself is one of the longer ones on tour, playing at just under 7,500 yards, including an almost 240-yard par 3 9th hole. The purse this week is also set at $6.6 million, with $1.188 million going to the winner.

Being the tournament before the Masters, a variety of players often compete at the Shell Houston Open. Some this week will be playing in order to get their golf game up to par for Augusta next week. Some this week will be playing in order to get into the Masters next week, as a good finish or a win allows for this in some cases. There's also quite a few more European Tour members this week, as I mentioned last week as well. Given this, the Shell Houston Open has always been a tournament where excellent golf is played, I think due to what's on the line for some players.

It was tough choosing my picks this week. There's just so much depth in the field this year that I could have easily picked 10 players and given them all equal chances to win. But I did manage to narrow it down to three:

1) Victor Dubuisson
2) Martin Kaymer
3) Patrick Reed

Dubuisson is my dark horse pick, but has shown that he reacts well under pressure, as we've seen in the WGC Match Play and Ryder Cup last year. I have a feeling he'll do really well this week. Martin Kaymer has always been a player who flies under the radar and could sneak up and win it this week. Reed is another young player who is playing great golf at the moment as well.

Those are my picks. Let us know what your picks are by commenting below,


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Victor Dubuisson knows how to handle pressure and still play great golf