Golf Year in Review from Golf Lessons Online
Greetings from your home for golf lessons online.
Well the 2011 Golf Season has come and gone and I just wanted to give you my take on the season that was. So here are my favorite and notable memories of the 2011 Golf Season around the world.
The Majors are always my favorite tournaments and this year they had a little something for everyone. The Masters looked like it was going to be a runaway victory for Rory McIlroy until he collapsed on the back nine at Augusta to let all kinds of other contenders back in. A brilliant round by Charl Schwartzel including birdies on the final 4 holes gave him a victory that likely didn’t get the credit it deserved for how fantastic he finished. Proving that there really is no point in getting down on yourself for losing Rory McIlroy went on to win the US Open in convincing fashion and foreshadowing to the world that he may be the next great one to take over from Tiger Woods. The Open Championship (which we over here refer to as The British Open) gave us a stunning and heartfelt victory for Darren Clarke. He played brilliantly, especially in the last round under typical Open conditions of rain and wind to win by 3 strokes over Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson. Anyone who knows a little about Darren Clarke’s life can’t help but cheer for this victory for self-proclaimed ordinary “fat” golfer from Ireland. And finally the PGA Championship had a great story of it’s own with Jason Dufner coming so close to his biggest win ever before falling in a three hole playoff to Keegan Bradley who won his first major and was busy proving this year that he is a significant player in the world of golf.
Among other notable events of 2011:
Luke Donald became the first player in history to win both the US PGA money title and the European Order Of Merit in the same year. Really a tremendous acomplishment showing extreme consistency every time he tees it up and secured him the Number One spot in the World Golf Rankings going into 2012. The question now will be can he win a major!
Adam Scott had a big year, highlighted by his biggest career victory to date at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational. Unfortunately for him the win was overshadowed by a petty and vindictive display by his new caddie, Steve Williams, who seemed intent on making that day more about him than about his player.
In the President’s Cup matches the US handily defeated the International Squad at Royal Melbourne. The big news was Tiger seemingly finding some game again and streadily getting better as the week went on. The Internationals couldn’t match the quality of golf that the US brought and notably had a couple of hometown Australian players having disappointing performances.
Speaking of Tiger Woods he actually got back in the winners circle in 2011 at his own Chevron World Challenge. While it is a significant accomplishment and may signal a return to form it has to be noted that Animal Kingdom beat more horses in the Kentucky Derby than players Tiger beat at this “silly season” pre-holiday tournament.
Sergio Garcia also had some very good results in 2011; most notably back to back wins in tournaments in his native Spain in the fall. Here’s hoping that he has put his game back together and has found something in his putting to be a consistent challenger again in the majors.
In contrast to the unexciting President’s Cup finish, the Ladies Solheim Cup matches were absolutely phenomenal. The US and European ladies gave us a terrifically exciting event and a finish that hung in the balance right until the end with the European Ladies coming up big down the stretch and winning huge points in a series of matches that weren’t decided until the final hole or two. Congratulations to the golfers on both sides for terrific and classy play that again points out how women professional golfers don’t get near enough credit or viewers for their high caliber of play.
Bill Haas generated some great drama as well for us during the Fedex Cup finale. Just when it seemed that he was out of contention during a playoff against Hunter Mahan in the Tour Championship by hitting into the water on a par 3 he pulled off the most dramatic shot of the year. With the ball in the hazard adjacent to the green and just barely poking above the water he was able to get enough club on the ball to splash it up not only onto the green but to within 3 feet for his par to extend the playoff. He then won the playoff on the very next hole to win not only The Tour Championship but also The Fedex Cup and it’s massive 10 Million dollar payout!




