Singapore Open and previous

I know, I know! I have been gently reminded that my attempts to keep this up to date have fallen woefully short. Thanks Rabbi. The wine is on you.

Way back to the Fedex Cup and does anyone care. Are you out there Mum and Dad? Tiger again – could be boring but it never is when it comes to watching the maestro strut his stuff. In the words of the clowns in the gallery “You da Man Tiger!” In the end, I thought the whole Fedex Cup experiment panned out quite well. A tweak here and there and it will only get better. The word is that European Tour are going to go for a similar end of season thing next year, probably in Dubai. They are also thinking about a name change to “The World Tour”. I’m sure the US Tour will be thrilled to bits about that! Stay tuned, it could get bitchy.

Now to the real end of the season where palms start to sweat and heart rates go up or down depending on where you are on the money list. The top 125 keep their playing rights for next year, the rest get to go to Qualifying School. Now that’s pressure. My old friend Daniel Chopra, was 123rd going into the last four events and struggling mightily with his game. Low and behold, he wins in Texas, jumps to 48th on the money list, is now exempt for two years and into all the Majors next year. A cool 1.7 millions U.S. for the year means he may now be able to pay the phone bill he racked up when he last stayed with me here in Singapore. Well done Daniel. All your mates here are very proud of you! Next time you’re back here, we’ll go play Ria and amuse the locals at the ferry terminal by hitting balls off the beach as we did five years ago.

The Singapore Open has been played again at the fabulous Sentosa Golf Course. It was won of course by Angel Carbrera, with VJ finishing fast and just falling short by one shot. The changes to the course were the major talking points, with opinions varying. I think we may find the bunker on the par 5 fourth hole being relocated – possibly to Keppel? None of the players enjoyed that hole a lot, so expect another redesign next year. The greens, as Ian Baker Finch told us several hundred times, will be better with another year on them and expect the rough to be back to its penal worst. I hope they don’t go silly and try for an even par winning score – we weekend warriors see enough of own bogeys and worse – watching pros doing the same is not all that much of a spectacle. The Asian Tour is hunting Tiger for next year. Good luck Kyla and fingers crossed!

Just read in the Sunday Times a very derogatory article about the pros during the Open and their complaints about lack of etiquette amongst the spectators. The article says that golf pros are “spoilt show ponies” and shouldn’t be complaining about people talking, moving and generally making a noise whilst someone is trying to hit a golf ball. Perhaps the author should have talked to someone in the know before committing himself to print and making a goose out of himself. Constant noise is not a problem, it’s the idiot who walks ten feet in front or behind you at the top of your backswing, (as well as cameras and hand phones going off) that causes the problem and ill informed editorials in national newspapers don’t help the education of the people who go to watch golf tournaments. Now I feel much better.

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you all.

Lee