Golf | News page 2 | Aussie Punter

It’s not easy to generalise about the St Jude Classic. Held at the TPC at Southwind in Memphis Tennessee, it has been won by a mix of golfers over the years – favourites and outsiders included. Lee Westwood is the defending champion. The winners list is otherwise dominated by Americans, and Greg Norman is the only Aussie golfer to have won it To try and figure out what makes a winner in this event, it might be worth having a closer look at David Toms ($14). Toms has a phenomenal record in...

Held since 1976, this tournament is the baby of Jack Niklaus, and the very strong field demonstrates that it is highly regarded by players on the tour. No rookie has ever won, and the honour roll of winners would line up well against any of the majors.  In other words, if you’re looking to pick a winner here, you are most likely to succeed by picking a big name. The course is long which provides an advantage to the big-hitters, and would explain why Tiger Woods (who is still out injured) has...

The Saab Wales Open, previously the Celtic Manor Wales Open, has been played since 2000 and has thrown up its share of long shot winners over the years. One of them was Aussie Scott Strange who blew the lights out in 2008 to finish 22 under. Since 2008, the event has been played on the Ryder Cup Twenty-Ten course in the city of Newport, South Wales. Miguel Angel Jiménez, Ross Fisher and Peter Hanson will return to the place where they won the Ryder Cup for the European Team last October, though...

This is another Texas tournament with a long history, although it is hard to get a feeling for the type of golfer who wins, since it moved courses a few years ago. The good news is that the Aussies have done well in recent years, with Adam Scott winning in 2008 and Jason Day having his inaugural victory in 2010. The even better news is that while none of them has won for a while, the Aussies are in great form, with six finishing in the top 31 at the Colonial. John Senden  had his best result...

If you like betting on top tournaments, you’ll love the European PGA Championship, which will boast no fewer than 12 Major Champions, all current major tournament holders, and six of the top seven golfers in the world. Strangely, it will feature only one American, John Daly, which just goes to show the strength of the European tour at the moment, but also tends to undermine claims that this is the “fifth major”. There is no denying it is a very classy field all the same. Going back to...

As you would expect, a strong field is playing the Volvo World Matchplay Championships at Finca Cortesin Golf Club in Spain with six of the world's top nine players teeing up. This year, the field has been increased from 16 to 24. The players have been split into eight groups of three to play on Thursday and Friday. The top 16 who will go on to play over the weekend. The World Matchplay was first played in 1964, and was hosted by Wentworth Golf Club every year until 2007. This event is very...

The Crowne Plaza Invitational at Forth Worth, Texas, is the longest running event on the US golf tour still being held at the original site. The history of the event is dominated by Americans, although a smattering of Aussies have won, the last being Ian Baker-Finch in 1989. It’s a tournament with many very good golfers’ names on the trophy. A funny thing about this tournament is that over the years young players have rarely won. It tends to favour the wily shot shapers and the players...

Considered the fifth major, the Players Championship is an exciting event, bringing the world’s best golfers together at the TPC Sawgrass in Florida to fight it out for the biggest pile of money offered in the game. This is the course with the famous par 3 on an island that will be remembered fondly by all you X-Box golf champions. There are two things of special interest about this event: the return of Tiger, and the inclusion of 12 Aussies, most of whom have a genuine shot at winning. Aussies...

If the array of talent at the Players Championship is a bit daunting for you, a sly punt on the Iberdrola Open could be just the ticket – in fact, I think I have a couple of good tips here. This tournament was previously known as the Mallorca Classic but has a new sponsor this year. This course has narrow fairways and fast greens, so driving accuracy will be important, but the best putters are likely to win. Looking down the list of top European PGA putters who are in this tournament, I can...

The Wells Fargo Championship is one of those tournaments that very good golfers win. It’s hard to say why exactly, but maybe it has something to do with its length, or the difficult last three holes which tend to sort out the good players. It has attracted a top field again this year, many of them looking to tune up for the so-called fifth major, the Players Championship. Situated in beautiful North Carolina, it’s a big course that should favour the long hitters and pressure players. Tiger...