The Long Reef Fantasy Golfer

Beauty

2010-08-11T22:51:00.000+10:00

Guys, when you look at this Youtube video re the PGA at Whistling Straits this year, try and imagine what the course looks like without the stands and marquis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYGGcrhrzCk

To me, this course is far more beautiful than Augusta National. It's America's answer to Ballybunion and our very own Barnbougle. Pete Dye is a magnificent genius that will be talked about and copied for centuries..

The Poor Man's Major

2010-08-11T20:41:00.000+10:00

At least that what it used to be known as.

In almost every single poll taken over the last 50 years, when asked which is the best major, respondents have almost equally over the years names either the Masters, The US Open or The British Open. In every case, the PGA Championship comes in last.

I guess it's not surprising. The Masters is played at an extremely beautiful layout at the same place every year. The US Open throws up the toughest challenge that they can handle and verges on the line of playable and unplayable. And the British Open has the charm of being our oldest championship, played at the most regal and sacred of courses.

And so the PGA Championship always rates as number 4 - a fact which gets right up the nose of the people that organise it. The PGA Championship is not run by the PGA Tour, as many people think. It is run by the PGA, the organisation for club & teaching pro's, who bitterly split with their touring brethren back in the early 60's.

The funny thing is, at least for my mind, is that it has without doubt been the best run major the last 11 years. The Masters got a little silly by trying to "Tiger Proof" the course after his debut 1997 win. The result was that they changed Augusta beyond all recognition and certainly changed the character of the course that Bobby Jones & Dr Alistair MacKenzie intended. The US Open has at times gone over the line in terms of playability - think Shinnecock Hills when they had to water the greens halfway through the final round and the "Massacre at Winged Foot". At Oakmont, the greens were so fast that even the ball markers were sliding off the greens.

An our beautiful old Open? Despite the course superintendent getting out of control at Carnoustie a couple of times, those old fellows do a great job. But alas, they can't control the weather and sometimes the skies and wind conspire to make things a bit unfair for either the early or late groups at times.

But the PGA has simply got the balance just about perfect between being very hard, but fair. They turn out a great course, with sensible pins, and you will hear the players say "tough but fair" - something they don't utter much at the US Open :-)

Whistling Straits is a fantastic course - it debuted at the PGA in 2004 where Vijay Singh was victorious on the 3rd playoff hole. The course is probably Pete Dye's masterpiece, it looks like an Irish Atlantic Coast course, but in fact the entire place has been manufactured. It was a flat airfield, and all the bunkers, mounding and elevation changes were all done by bulldozer.

This course will play like a British Open - the wind won't get extreme but it will be a factor and the course has some serious length with a few 500 yard par 4's. The par 5's cannot be reached in 2 by anyone but the really longest, so the bombers don't have that much of an advantage. The rough is seriously penal, and there are so many bunkers, no-one has actually finished counting them yet.

That says 2 things to me fellow Long Reefers. Someone who is a fantastic ball striker, with at least average or better length, and a sharp and strategic mind will win this week. The greens are likely to run at no more than 11 on the stimpmeter - e.g. closer to a British than either a US Open or Masters (the reason being is that the greens get hit by wind). This pretty much means that just about any good ball striker with a hot putter is in teh mix this weekend.

I can't wait !

Good Luck All.

The LRFG!

A comeback!

2010-08-03T21:41:00.000+10:00

OK Motherfuckers, I know I've been slack. But like a certain Victorian pro golfer, I've decided to make a comeback.

How could I not. An Aussie shoots a 59 on the final day to win the Greenbrier Classic. Stuart Appleby made a comeback to life after he lost his first wife Renay, in a tragic parking accident on the streets of London. He showed immense love, compassion and bravery in losing his wife, who was also a scratch golfer and who gave up the game to be his caddie. He vowed he would give up the game, but he came back.

After winning the season opening Mercedes three years in a row, to be crowned the King of Kapalua, Stuart lost his swing and his card. One of Australia's best golfers was staring at the Nationwide Tour. He had to use his one time exemption of Top25 all time money earners (he can't use it again), to get a game on the tour this year. Stuart had been playing quite poorly, but was showing glimpses of good play recently - at least he was making cuts.

And then the King of Kapalua makes a FIFTY FUCKIN' NINE on the final day to take the title. If you include the Saturday, he was 16 under for the two final rounds - now that is good golf you Long Reefers ! It goes to show how good these guys actually are. The courses and the setups they play are so damn hard, that the slightest problem with their swings, sees the best golfers in the world miss cut after cut. Get something right all of a sudden however, and look what can happen. One of our best golfers CAME BACK ! Go you little Victorian, go !

Since my last post, Tony the Cunt Face took out another skin on Carl Petersson and I'll work out the numbers next week. Fuck you Collingwood Poofter Boy !

Next week we have a great field as it is one of the four World Golf Championships of the year, the Bridgestone Invitational. This week you will see a longer A List and a shorter C List than you are used to, but it still makes it a hard week to pick your players.

Firestone is one hell of a course, and a certain Nike Sponsored player, who has a hard time reversing when fire hydrants are near by, has owned this event since it's inception. He is out of form (by his standards), but we know he is going to "find it" soon, and make a comeback of his own.

Will it be this week? Who knows. But I can tell you this. When it comes to winning at Firestone, short and straight hitters need not apply. The winner will be one of the longer drivers, who also manages to keep it on the fairway for most of the week. He'll need to putt well too, as the greens will be fast, and so birdies as well as scrambling will be key.

For my mind, that means we need to come back to the class acts - e.g. Tiger, Philly Mick, the Big Easy - you get the picture

Good Luck all!

The LRFG !

Coming up Roses II

2010-07-07T13:54:00.000+10:00

Well it seems that little pep talk I gave Justin Rose had the desired effect. After catching Jason Day on day 2, Justin was never headed again and comfortably took home the bacon, thereby atoning for his shitty last day at Hartford, Connecticut.

Both the Craic Meister and I had Rose and so the Skinny moves to $24, the overall to &168, we all owe $135, Rooster Rooter has $24 and the Weather Woose has $276.

This week we move inland to Illinois for the John Deere Classic, played at the TPC Deere Run, a course purpose built for this tournament. It started life as the Quad City Classic in 1971 but has never had a very strong field. The main reason for that it that it is played the week before the British Open, and so the John Deere Classic tends to be won by relative unknowns. Not that they are not that good players - just unknowns. Players to get their 1st PGA Tour Victory here include Vijay Singh, Payne Stewart, David Toms and Sean O'Hair.

Hard to give advice here. This is one of the easiest courses all year on the PGA Tour. Length or lack of it is not a real issue and the greenside misses aren't too challenging either. The greens however, are tiered into sections, which means that the player who is stiffing his irons during the week, and then making those 6 footers for birdie, will win with a 20+ under score. That description sounds alot like Steve Stricker, who also happens to be the defending champion. His form since coming back from his shoulder injury has not been all that hot though.

For some of the lower ranked pro's, this is a good week to take it out, as the winner goes to the British Open if not already qualified. One of those weeks when just about anybody could win, if their iron play gets hot.

Good Luck All!

The LRFG !

Golf Porn

2010-06-29T20:19:00.003+10:00

This article has me signing up for that Nasal Delivery Technology, as I am having premature ejaculations.

http://www.golf.com/golf/equipment/article/0,28136,1972121,00.html?cid=feed-equipment--1972121

When a Rose smells like shit

2010-06-29T20:09:00.000+10:00

Justin, Justin, Justin.

After your breakthrough win at the Memorial, you were supposed to, you know, BREAKTHROUGH. So you most certainly did not have permission from this blogger to choke on Sunday. I know I gave Dustin Johnson a freebie for his Sunday effort at Pebble last week. But this was most definitely not a US Open setup. In fact this was one of the easiest courses of the year, and you plain choked. This is what happens to people who are proud to be English. You fuckwit!

Yes, thanks to you Justin, that Victorian shit eating grin bastard has won another bunch of skins, and the Rooster, the Craic Meister and I are getting a little fed up. Rather than Rick using his measly $24 on the 1st round of drinks, it's now going to the waiter as a tip for pissing in Tony's mash potato.

Yes congrats to Tony, who now has amassed $276. Rick has $24, the Skinny resets to $12, the overall moves to $160 and we all owe $130. Tony's strategy of ignoring the obvious picks, and going for hunches is clearly paying dividends. It might blow him out of the overall, but I'm guessing he's not giving much of a fuck about that, as things stand today.

Next week is Tiger's tournament, the AT&T National. This is Tiger's way of thanking all the Troops that are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, whilst he makes his way through all of their wives. Only joking. This is a fine tournament, normally played on fine courses and this year is no exception.

This year thanks to ongoing future "US Open hopeful renovations", we move from Congressional Country Club to Aronimink Golf Club. Now check this out you Long Reef fuckers! Aronimink was formed by the merger of 4 different Cricket clubs. That's right, CRICKET CLUBS. Back in the 1850's in North East USA, their were many "refined" Americans that believed in drinking afternoon tea and all the other trappings of the British Empire. However, under pressure from more progressive Americans (especially the Independence Patriots), they had to drop the pro English shit, and so cricket was finished in the USA for a long time. Golf was thought acceptable because it was deemed a Scottish pastime, and since the Scottish hated the Poms, then golf was OK. This club in fact may have been the impetus for America becoming the golf loving nation it is.

Aronimink Golf Club is named after the local Indian Tribe, that the previously mentioned cricketers wiped out from the area, in time to develop the back nine. Today, it is a Donald Ross design and is a fine test of your golfing ability. Not surprising really. Tiger does tend to chose really really good golf courses as his favourites, mostly because he is the best equipped to handle them. Donald Ross when redesigning Aronimink in 1948, said that he intended it to be his masterpiece. Only after it was finished and being played, did he admit that it was better than he ever imagined it could be. The defending champion is "He who must not be named", and I for one am really looking forward to seeing this course test the best players in the world.

There'll be a good field this week. Rooster Fucker has been close to the money lately, and if history is any guide, he'll pick the winner this week and pocket $12.

Good luck all!

The LRFG!

Luck of the Irish!

2010-06-21T18:28:00.000+10:00

What a weekend ! I'll tell you what, the US Open is a golf tournament like no other.

A big congratulations to Graeme McDowell, who showed some true grit. Irish golfers have made a habit of this lately, especially in Major championships. For all the talk about Australia punching above their wait on the US Tour, we seem to go missing in the big ones, only pulling off a victory about once every 10 years. McDowell, who has always been quite a nuggety player, stayed composed despite some serious big guns trying to chase him down.

Did Dustin Johnson choke? In any other tournament you would have to say probably yes. However, I'm not so sure about this one. At Majors like Augusta and British Opens at St Andrews in particular, the fairways are big wide open targets, and it's mostly the approach shots that hold all the fear. Consequently, if your tee shots are just a little off, you can mostly get by with a solid iron game and a hot putter. Not so at the the US Opens, where fairways are about effectively 20 yards wide (even though Pebbles fairways are wider than usual US Open setups, remember that they are heavily cambered, much like Long Reef's 16th, meaning that they play much narrower than they look). This means that if your swing just goes slightly out of whack, you are going to miss the fairway. And you can't win US Opens trying to make pars out of that rough all day long. There is no Major tougher on a golfer than the US Open, save maybe for Carnoustie every so often in the British. So here, I'm going to give Dustin Johnson a get out of jail free card. I hope it doesn't hurt him too much as he is a fine player, and seems to be the perfect gentleman.

And how about Tiger Woods. His game is up the shit (by his standards), he's coachless, his wife and family gone, and he still makes the top 5 in both Majors this year. He has never driven the ball well ever since he was with Hank Haney. Period. That's a fact Jack. But he has still managed to win tournaments despite this. When he works out how to hit the driver again, and he will, he is going to be just about unbeatable again. Will he sort things out in time for St Andrews. I say yes. Not that it matters because most of St Andrews is wider than Mamma Cass's arse.

It was also great to see not only Phil Mickelson adding interest, but also Ernie Els back to contending in Majors. And congrats to the USGA. Pebble is proof that major setups don't need to be 7500+ yards long. If the hazards are in the right spots then the Bomb & Gouge brigade are fucked, and shotmaking and intelligence come back into the frame.

Congrats also to Rooster Fucker, who won the Spring Leg. You win a Leg of Lamb for that, you Boy George fuckin', Brian Gay lovin' Gay Lord Poofter Boy! Just joking mate. Actually, I'm not joking. You suck !!

Nobody had Graeme McDowell (shame on you Gordy), so the skinny moves to $72, the overall to $152 and we all owe $125.

After the excitement of Major number 2, we move to Cromwell Connecticut for the Travelers Championship, previously known as the Greater Hartford Open. As you can expect, the field this year is not strong, mostly due to now being played directly after the US Open, where most of the pampered pro's need weeks to mentally get over the Open course setups.

The Greater Hartford Open or Travelers Championship is a grand old tournament, dating back to 1952. It was once associated with Sammy Davis Jr, but this ceased following his death after 1988. It is played at TPC River Highlands, which is only a very short 6820 yards long. As a result, Big Hitters such as Arnold Palmer, Greg Norman, Kenny Perry, Phil Mickelson and Hunter Mahan have had much success here, taking advantage of very reachable par 5's and drive & pitch par 4s.

Any way fellow Long Reefers, good luck !

The LRFG !

Pebble !

2010-06-16T17:09:00.000+10:00

Lee Westwood finally wins in America and not before time. He is a good player, with a very simple and efficient swing, who hits a ton of fairways and sticks a lot of approaches close to the pin. It's Lee's putter that lets him down, but when he's rolling the pill well, lookout.

Any way, three of you guys had Westwood so the skinny moves to $60, the overall to $144 and we all owe $120. Rick holds $24 and Tony $204 (I think).

Well, it's another Major week and we finally get to what some call the most beautiful course in the world - not necessarily the best, but it's certainly beautiful. I love the US Open. As Jack says, they set up the course right on the edge of being playable & unplayable, sometimes going over that edge, like the final day at Shinnecock Hills in 2004.

While the US Open has the longest rough, the narrowest fairways, the fastest greens and the nastiest pin positions of all the Majors, it's the way it fucks with the player's mind that is what a US Open champion must overcome. Geoff Ogilvy gave us a window into that mindset, by saying that the US Open is the easiest major to win, because 75% of the field doesn't believe they can win it.

I think a large part of the attraction of US Opens for people like me is the way the Pro's ball finishes in the shit, just like mine does. In other words, we enjoy seeing the Pro go through the same mental anguish that we go through every Saturday or Wednesday at Long Reef.

There's not much I can tell you about the course or the history of this event. More often than not, true champions win the US Open rather than the one hit wonders.

I love it, I love it, I love it !

Good luck all!

The LRFG !

Watch out everybody!

2010-06-11T16:28:00.002+10:00

That's right my fellow Long Reefers. We have a delay due to inclement weather.

What does this mean? It means that Yahoo is extremely busy fucking things up, those useless knuckleheads.

So don't get cute with your tip timing - just make sure of things :-)

Justin comes up Roses !

2010-06-07T13:32:00.000+10:00

Well Englishman Justin Rose finally bags one on the big tour, and in this blogger's opinion, about bloody time. But then again, I may be guilty of being a bit hard on the poor bloke. It seems like Justin has been out here for ever. But back in 1998, when he nearly won the British Open as an amateur, we forget he was only 17 years old. Since then, much expectation has been placed on his shoulders, and at times it has proven too heavy.

In that respect, you could say that Justin Rose is the English equivalent of Australia's Adam Scott. Except here's the big secret. The Pommy Bastards out there claim Justin Rose as one of theirs, except he was born in South Africa, moving to England when he was five years old. So again, the Poms are found wanting when it comes to sportsmen! Just like Kevin Pietersen, Tony Greig and Bruce Grobbelaar, the great British Goal Keeper. Yep, those Poms really really suck at sport. I want a DNA Test done on Nick Faldo and Ian Botham because no doubt about it, they can't really be Poms, can they?

Anyway, a big congrats to Justin. The guy is a big talent and by all reports, a really genuine nice guy. I hope he wins some more. No body had Rose, so the Skinny jumps to $48, the overall climbs to $136 and we all owe $115. Still waiting for that restaurant date you two fucks.

This week, we move in to the Country Music state of Tennessee for the St Jude Classic. Rick will be particularly excited about this week. Why?

Because the defending champion is.....

.

So no doubt, Rick already has his Boy George tracks loaded, the ISP speed has been upgraded for the Gay Porn and Newport chemist has sold out of all brands of lube. Go you good thing, go!

Originally, this tournament was the Memphis Open. But in 1969, the actor Danny Thomas got involved and since then, it has been run for the benefit of the local St Jude Hospital. It is played at the TPC Southwind, which is a fairly standard Tour Track. Whilst some notables such as Greg Norman, Nick Price and Fred Couples, lately it tends to go to "lesser" pros such as Rick's favourite.

The main reason for that the upcoming US Open. After either the Colonial or Jack's Memorial Tournament, most of the top pro's disappear until the next Major of the year. When you go to do your picks, you will see a lack of the big time players. So I can't give you any guidance here, except to say the last few winners of this event had the hottest putter on the weekend. And that it hard to predict.

Anyway good luck all !

And Rick - go for broke son. Go for broke!

The LRFG !

Last of the "Respect" weeks

2010-06-02T21:05:00.000+10:00

Short post this week due to work, and sorry I'm late. But it doesn't change the fact that Rick is gay. Oh Well....

Anyway, none of us had Zach Johnson, so the skinny goes to $36, the overall goes to $128 and we all owe $110. I was giving Zach some serious thought last week, but his form had been patchy and so I chased other opportunities. But a week with a hot putter can do a lot at this talent level, and Johnson made the most of it.

And did anyone see KJ Choi's meltdown on the 18th in the 3rd round. I was counting my points until he took the snowman (8) on the Par 4 last.

This week, we go to the Memorial for Jack's tournament and this is the last of the "Respect" weeks for the year. This Monday just gone is the USA's Memorial Weekend (kind of like our Anzac Day for Veterans), and the tournament used to coincide with that, but somehow things got fucked up, and we are playing a week later.

The Memorial plays as one of the toughest courses of the year, outside of the Majors. This is because Jack's design rewards Length AND Accuracy. And also because he uses funny rakes in the bunkers, which gives the players dodgy lies. The Pampered Pros really hate the bunkers here, but this blogger thinks it is a good thing. Bunkers are supposed to be hazards - e.g. you are not supposed to be in them. Up until 1960, when the Americans started going over to the British Open, there were NO rakes at St Andrews. The Americans complained and the R&A relinquished. Later this year at Whistling Straits for the PGA Championship, and the year's last Major, you will see un-raked pots - some tournaments have it right - and I love it. FUCK THE PAMPERED PRO!

Anyway, the Defending Champion is "He Who Must Not Be Named" - and it will take a brave punter to pick against him this week.

Good Luck All !

The LRFG !

Day's Day (and Rick's still gay)

2010-05-24T09:35:00.000+10:00

Texas, just like the Melbourne Sand Belt, with Accents and Hats

Good on you Jason Day, pulling off the win in a real blower in the Lone Star State. Another Aussie win in Texas and 3 for the year on the PGA Tour. Brian Gay put a big charge on for the final round, to scream into a tie for 2nd. His biggest fan must have had things absolutely smoking, with that Gay porn on his computer and Boy George singing in his headphones, but alas it is Jason Day's day.

We've known Jason has had a real game for a while now, and many said a few years ago that this guy would win a lot on the Tour. The guy smashes driver, hits crisp irons and has one of the Tour's best short games. We know that, so why does he miss so many cuts? It must come down to a lot of poor decisions and too much aggression. Whilst Jason seems to have been out here for a while, sometimes we forget that he is only 22 years old. So the aggression should be natural at that age, but why haven't his minders put an older, wiser head on his bag. I'm only analyzing from afar, but I would put money on it to improve his week in, week out results.

Anyway, two weeks and two Aussie wins for players we know should be doing a lot better than they have been. We stay in Texas this week for the next tournament, so can another talented (but yet to break through) Aussie like Michael Sim or Matt Jones, stare down the game's best and bring home the bacon?

No one was on Jason this week, so the skinnie jackpots to $24, the overall to $120 and we all owe $105. Tony is up lots, Rick has $24 for the 1st bottle of wine so let's book that restaurant for a mid season shin dig at Tony's expense.

This week we move down the road for the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. Initially known as the Colonial National Invitational, this tournament is unofficially associated with Ben Hogan, who based himself here and won the event 5 times. There is a bit of history here this week, as this tournament has been played at this course since it's inception in 1946. This is the PGA Tour's longest running event to be held at the same site, except for the Masters of course.

The tournament honors the history of golf by using an official Scottish Plaid Tartan jackets for it's champions. Another tradition feeding Colonial history is the beautiful Wall of Champions on the first tee. Engraved with the name and score of each champion dating back to the 1941 U.S. Open, the marble display casts a reverence over the start of any player's round. In 2003, Annika Sörenstam played in the tournament and became the first woman to play in a PGA Tour event since Babe Zaharias. However, Sörenstam missed the cut after rounds of 71 and 74.

Colonial has a unique PGA Tour tradition known as the Champion's Choice invitation. Each year, former Colonial champions select two deserving young players, who otherwise would be ineligible, to compete in the tournament.

Pros who made their first appearance at Colonial as a Champion's Choice include Tom Weiskopf, Craig Stadler, Curtis Strange, Mark O'Meara, Paul Azinger and Davis Love III. All these guys went on to win at least 1 Major Championship. Five Champion's Choices have eventually won the Colonial but Dave Stockton (the great putting coach of late) is the only Champion's Choice to win the tournament in the year selected (1967).

The last Australian to win here at Colonial was the Dark Shark (Ian Baker Finch) way back in 1989. You have to go back to 1966 when Bruce Devlin was victorious. The year prior, 1965 Bruce Crampton took the title and that completes the roster of Aussies at Fort Worth. Phil Mickelson is a multiple winner here and would have to be the favorite heading into the week. He is sponsored by Crowne Plaza and like the course, so you'll need to give him some consideration.

Recent winners aside from Mickelson include Steve Stricker (defending champion), Kenny Perry and Sergio Garcia. The honour roll includes all the old great names like Nicklaus, Trevino and Tom Watson, and remember that Ben Hogan won this event 5 times. So clearly, Colonial is not a course to be fucked with. As such it tends to pick a player on the top of his game as it's winner.

The event does tend to attract a strong field, I guess thanks to the associated traditions and history, and many top flight pros then disappear until the US Open. So picking this week might be hard work.

Rick, if you keep it lubed up, the downloads happening and the iPod charged, you might get Brian Gay up on the winners podium yet. Go son, go.

In the meantime, good luck all!

The LRFG !

What mates do.

2010-05-23T09:40:00.001+10:00

Hi Guys

check out the video following Adam Scott's win at the Texas Open. Whilst most of the Americans, get the shit out of Dodge straight away, the Good Ol' Boys from the Rugby & Cricket playing nations do things a little differently.

And the next time one of you fuckers takes the skins or wine off me, I am also going to do this to you inside the Long Reef clubhouse!

And at the Byron Nelson today (3rd round), the wind got up and decided to fuck with a bunch of players. Australian Mark Hensby went low, and Jason Day managed a 3 under, despite hitting it all over the park off the tee. I'm going to go and practice my short game after watching that effort.

Rick - you need to;

a) stop moonlighting at Ken's Sauna in Kensington
b) get Boy George off your iPod

Good luck to all in the final round of the Byron Nelson!

The LRFG !

Boy George, The Rickster and Gay Porn

2010-05-21T20:55:00.000+10:00

Much was made today, of the NSW Labor Minister, who was caught visiting a Gay Sauna club. Personally, I think that Channel 7 has sunk to a new low. Whilst they "exposed" a Minister, for no good reason and no public interest, I was really taken aback by the way they treated the "victim".

Absolutely no thought or consideration has been given to the "Catcher in the Rye". Our poor old Rooster Boy was innocently listening to Boy George albums, playing with his NRL Collector Cards, whilst taking it the backdoor for an Avocado ($50), thinking all was right with the world.

Next thing you know, the Rooster Boys' leather clad "Master", has lost his company car and our little Rooster mate, also known as "Troth Boy", has to listen to Boy George and George Michael, and masturbate to gay porn all by himself.

The injustice of it all makes me cringe. But what can you do?

The LRFG!

The Pooter, she canna tack it noo more, Captain !

2010-05-18T19:27:00.000+10:00

"The Pooter, she canna tack it noo more!", said Scotty to the Captain.

But was it Captain Kirk, or Presidents Cup Captain Greg Norman? It doesn't really matter. Two weeks after starting work with Dave Stockton (yes the same Dave Stockton that fixed up Phil Mickelson's putting late last year), Adam Scott comes out on the 36 hole Sunday, and makes just about everything on the greens (except the last - see this post's title). Can this be the beginning of one of the biggest comeback stories in Australian Golf, since, since, since, since Humpy went to work on Monday and came back to Long Reef the following Saturday?

Well I don't know. We've been here before with Adam Scott, so I am a bit loathe to go out on a limb like I did with Rory McIlroy. Adam can really "show up" some weeks, and them settles back into mediocrity for a while. It really is all about the flat stick for Scott. The question is, is Adam Scott still a streaky putter, or has the Dave Stockton work fundamentally changed things? I hope the latter. If so, he can be a real force with his long game. Anyway, congratulations to Scotty for taking the Texas Open and Australia's 2nd win on the Tour this year. What did I tell you guys about Aussies and Tour stops in Texas?

Whilst I am congratulating, it would be amiss of me not to single out the Big T for being the only guy to have Adam Scott on the final day and taking another set of skins. When the fuck are you booking the Hong Kong Tony? Anyway, he wins another $72 and the skinny resets to $12 this week, the overall goes to $112 and we all owe $100.

A few of us had Adam Scott in our stable, but Tony was the only one to put him into play in the final round. My final round players were a deliberate decision, but I still think the Yahoo guys are a pack of fuckwits. Every time we have a weather problem, their systems go to shit in terms of change deadlines etc. I really hope the PGA Tour changes to Google or some outfit that actually has an interest in Golf.

Anyway, this week we stay in the Lone Star State for the Byron Nelson Classic. This is another one of those "Respect Weeks", and whilst Byron Nelson is playing the Great 18 in the Sky these days, his dear old wife Peggie is still a very active figure in this tournament, taking charge of the Charity operations. You may be interested to know that this tournament raises the most amount of money for charity, year after year after year. Whilst Arnie may be the King, the Nelsons are also a permanent part of golfing royalty.

Of course, Byron Nelson is best remembered as the guy that won 11 straight PGA Tour Events back in 1945. That's right Long Reefers, ELEVEN STRAIGHT EVENTS and even He Who Must Not Be Named, has not managed to break that record (yet)! Now let's just understand this achievement. His opponents of note were none other than Ben Hogan & Sam Snead, so obviously this guy could play. Byron's other record that stood for over 50 years, was that of consecutive cuts made at 113 weeks. That record has since been broken by You Know Who. But a little known fact was that every single one of those 113 weeks, Byron Nelson was in the Top 20.

Following that winning and cut streak, Byron and Peggie were able to buy their dream Ranch in Texas outright, with no mortgage or debt. As soon as he completely owned his Ranch, Byron simply stopped playing Professional Golf,as he could no longer bare the time away from his beloved wife.

He didn't stop his involvement in golf however. As an extremely proud Texan, he has been involved in Junior Development for ever, until his death in 2006. His most famous protege is Tom Watson, who incidentally happened to be from Kansas, but he managed to convince Byron that he had lost his sparkly red golf shoes and just couldn't think of home, no matter how hard he tried. The Nelsons have also been instrumental in several other Texan careers such as Justin Leonard and Scott Verplank, providing benefactor money through their junior years.

The thing about Byron Nelson, at least in his prime, was his uncanny ability to hit the fairway and the green, no matter the pressure of the situation. So much so that when the USGA developed a Robot hitting machine, to test for conforming golf ball distance, they called it "Iron Byron". This may all be too much information, but like I said, it's another "Respect Week", and you know how I am about things like this.

Anyway, the HP Byron Nelson Classic is played at the TPC Las Colinas in Dallas, also known as the Four Seasons Resort & Club. The defending champion is Rory Sabbatini, and interestingly the year before that it was Adam Scott.

Past champions of the event include Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Peter Thomson, Nick Price, Ernie Els and Tiger Woods. These guys have all won British Opens, so it will probably pay to remember what I said about Texas and wind and guys that can hit a low long iron.

Good Luck All !

The LRFG !

Finally!

2010-05-10T18:32:00.000+10:00

Tim Clark, who in recent years has knocked on the door more than any other golfer I know, has finally broken through for his 1st PGA Tour Win. And in doing so, he beat the other guy who has been knocking on the door all season, Robert Allenby. But for the grace of God, a couple of Allenby's putts were in, and he would be holding the most coveted trophy outside the Majors.

You've got to like Tim Clark. In terms of his guts & persistence, he is South Africa's answer to Jim Furyk. Whilst Els & Goosen have a nice game to watch, and plenty of power to boot, Tim Clark finds the fairways & greens more consistently. This win has been long overdue and we Long Reef Fantasy Golfers congratulate the Yarpie!

I really love the drama of The Players and I think Pete Dye created a masterpiece. The course was purpose built for this tournament and Dye, the genius, gradually builds the pressure throughout the round, culminating with the knee knocking 17th island Par 3, and the beast of a Par 4 to finish. You will often hear the players talk about starting to think of the 17th on about the 6th hole. And the 18th is just a Bogey or worse waiting to happen. When they let the greens get quick, as they did on the weekend, this course becomes a real monster. Like the Masters, this tournament is played at the same place every year, and I think that players and fans start to develop a relationship with the place, in the back of our minds. It really is the 5th Major - just look at the Honour Roll of past Champions.

Anyway, a quick phone call from me to Lee Westwood last night, made sure that Rick got fucked over. As a result, the Skinny jackpots to $72, the overall to $104 and we all owe $95. Rick & Tony, get your shit together and book that restaurant (or we can wait to the end of the year, all winners put back in, and have a night out somewhere special??? - use the comment link at the bottom of this post to give me your feedback).

This week, we move on to the Valero Texas Open. I have to say, I much prefer it when the Tournament Sponsors keep the name of he tournament in the title. Some of these old events like the Los Angeles Open, have so much history, they deserve to keep their name in the title.

You will remember from a previous post that I spoke about Texas courses being a lot like Australia's best layouts - e.g. hard, fast & windy. Well the TPC in San Antonio is no exception - recent winners have all been regarded as good wind players, such as Texas native & British Open champ Justin Leonard, who has won this event 3 times. Zach Johnson is the two time defending champion having won in 2008 and 2009. So clearly familiarity is a bonus here.

Recently, this tournament was part of the "Fall Series" and big names were absent. With the demise of the Atlanta tour stop, the vacant slot has been given to this tournament and it becomes one of the Fedex Cup main events. As such, we can probably expect to see some good players turn up, but the really big guns will most likely be taking the week off after The Players.

This week may be harder than you think......

Good Luck All

The LRFG !!!

The Story is Rory!

2010-05-03T18:07:00.000+10:00

Woods misses the cut. Ryo Ishikawa shoots 58 in Japan. Rory McIlroy storms Quail Hollow with a final day 62 and a 16 under weekend to take his 1st PGA Tour Title.

Is it it out with the old and in with the new? I'm not prepared to go that far yet. But here is what I do know. Quail Hollow is one of the best courses you can play, anywhere in the world. It tests every part of your game, and every green is a potential 3 putt for us amateurs, unless you are both within 15ft AND under the hole.

Rory took on this gem of a course, with a field absolutely loaded to the hilt with former Major winners, and brought home the bacon. Good on you Rory !

Padraig Harrington hung around for 2 hours after he finished to cheer Rory home. And Lee Westwood, the Pom who thinks he is an Irishman (according to Darren Clarke) waited for him too. I thought this was an Australian trait, but then again, the Irish are a fairly big contributor to the Aussie DNA Gene pool. This is mostly due to their thieving ways - but that's another story.....

Anyway, I told you this event would be won by a player who can flush a long iron, and I wasn't wrong. None of us were on the new bona fide superstar and so the skinny jackpots to $60, the overall to $96, Tony & Rick to do their thing at Newport and we all owe $90.

This week, we are off to The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. I don't know about you, but I love this tournament just as much as The Majors. You gotta love a 17th hole that is an easy 8 iron with a green nearly as big as a , um a , um a , a, really big green, that gives the players fits.

Apart from Alistair MacKenzie, who designed places like Augusta National, Royal Melbourne, La Hinch and Cypress Point, Pete Dye stands out for me as the greatest course designer of our time. TPC Sawgrass is probably his masterpiece. It certainly is the course for which he is most famous - thanks mostly to that 17th hole.

Anyway, classy players win this event. But they need to be in form as well. This course simply demands ball striking excellence, a keen up & down game, and confidence with the putter.

They don't call it The 5th Major for nothing.

Good luck all

The LRFG !

Return of the Big Guns

2010-04-28T22:05:00.000+10:00

Hi Guys

Many apologies - I can't do a detailed post this week.

I'm way too involved in conspiring to murder my boss - things should be back to normal next week.

I don't think I need to tell you, that a couple of big names are returning this week at Quail Hollow - you're all big boys - you can work it out.

A hint though - Quail Hollow suits people who hit a really really good long iron - maybe that's the reason that the big guns are here :-)

Good Luck all

the LRFG

The Greatest Game shows Man Kind the way. Again.

2010-04-19T19:03:00.000+10:00

Just when you think you have seen it all my friends, our great game finds a way to show you things you didn't know about humanity, honour and ethics. And our great game does it again and again and again.

Congratulations to Jim Furyk on another gutsy win. The guy knows fear, he knows the pain of trying & failing. But he does not know the word quit. You might not like his swing much, but you have to admire his courage. He made a clutch putt on 18th to ensure the playoff after an unexpected birdie, from his fellow competitor. Yes I have a great deal of admiration for Jim Furyk.

But today as I write this fellow Long Reefers, I have infinitely more admiration for the unheralded Englishman, Brian Davis. The guy does his own gutsy stuff on 18 to force a playoff with Furyk, and then sticks it in the greenside water hazard on the first playoff hole. Luckily the tide is out and he has a shot, but it is an ugly lie. Furyk putts to about 5 feet leaving another tester for par. Davis decides to play it as it lies and does pretty well considering the circumstances (the lie) to get within 35 feet of the pin. And then he calls a penalty on himself for barely touching a bit of reed in his backswing. Nobody saw it and the HD Slow Mo TV had to replay it several times to pick it up. But Brian Davis knew he touched that god damn reed and he called it immediately.

I love this game. I love the people that play this game. It represents all that is right, in a world where so much is wrong. Go Brian Davis - you are a legend and a role model ! And your OK for a Pom.

Three of us had Furyk and so the skinny inches it's way to $36, the overall is $128 and we all owe $80, with Tony & Rick to do their thing at the Newport Hong Kong.

This week we move on down to Louisiana for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, originally known as the New Orleans Open. As with most open championships of a City, this tournament has rich history - in this case dating back to 1922. The defending champ is all round American nice guy, Jerry Kelly.

A lot of names you know have won this championship in the past. Guys like Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros, Ben Crenshaw, Davis Love III, Lee Westwood, KJ Choi and Vijay Singh. However, most of the guys won this event, not at the peak of their powers, but as they were either just beginning their careers, or they were winding it down.

My theory on this is the timing of the event. It is very close to the Masters, and so when players were at their career peak, they were focused on the Masters and therefore weren't playing here in New Orleans. So you if you have a look back at the history of the event, you'll see a lot of names like Jerry Kelly, Nick Watney, Tim Petrovic etc. Good golfers all, but certainly not top echelon - at least not yet in the case of Watney.

So if you want to take the skin this week, you are going to have to be pretty cagey and lump some quality in with some darkhorses, that you might have had your eye on recently.

As for the course suiting a certain style of player, well I let you know that it is another Pete Dye course - always popular with the shotmakers amongst the elite, but can also punish a long bomber if he is slightly off his game.

Look for other fairways and greens players like Furyk or Brian Davis (he's OK for a Pom) to dominate again this week.

Good Luck All

The LRFG

Nothing Left with Lefty

2010-04-14T08:57:00.000+10:00

Sorry I am late this week - I've been extremely busy - mostly due to the fact that I played on Monday and had a shit load of catching up to do :-)

Congratulations to Phil Mickelson on his 4th Major and 3rd Masters win. He hadn't been playing very well (possibly due to home reasons), but the guy is a such a talent, you know that sooner or later he is going to fire. His issue is obviously the driver and when he can somehow keep it under some sort of control, his iron and wedge play is going to bring him into contention. Well done lefty !

A little surprisingly, nobody was game enough to take Phil at the Masters, and so the Skinny is $24, the overall is $120 and we all owe $75. Tony needs to put $132 down at the Hong Kong and Rick needs to put $24 over the bar :-) Gordon got in my ear about the format and that there should be some sort of reward for winning a leg - so we all need to pitch in and buy him a Leg of Lamb. However, his arguments did have merit and we will tweak the system for next year. Possibly we can discuss it at the Hong Kong in Newport, as soon as Tony sets a date.

This week we move onto Hilton HeadIsland, Harbour Town in South Carolina for the Verizon Heritage. Being the week after the Masters, it doesn't get a great field but it gets a reasonably good one. I guess all those pros that missed out on an Augusta invite this year start looking for a Win to ensure they get in next year. The Pete Dye course is also a very big favourite with the players. It is not a bombers course at all. In fact, I think it is the shortest course of the year (although I could be wrong), but it is extremely tight and requires the player to work the ball both ways off the tee, and also for their 2nd shots.

The defending champion is Rick's favourite player - Brian Gay. He like to watch him while he listens to Boy George and George Michael songs, with some gay porn loaded on his iPhone as a backup.

Good luck all !

The LRFG

Go the Grandpas

2010-04-09T08:32:00.000+10:00

A little while ago, I predicted that Freddy Couples could be a factor at the Masters. What I completely missed, was the other "Over 50". In fact this guy is so Over 50 that he is in fact Over 60.

Go Tommy Go !

Masters Week :-)

2010-04-06T17:09:00.000+10:00

Anthony Kim was strong enough down the stretch to give Rick his first skin and $24. I guess Rooster Boy can buy the first round of drinks (if we go for the local beers and not the imported stuff), down at the Newport Hong Kong, when Tony throws his $132 down on the Lazy Susan. The New Skin is $12, the overall is up to $112 and we all owe $70. I could talk a bit about the Houston Open and what it means, but I won't. Mainly because Rick won, and we don't want to go on about that, do we?

Thursday night is Golfer's New Years Eve because Friday morning Aussie time is MASTERS WEEK!!!!!!

What can you say about this course, this tournament, this field? What can you say about the history, the past champions, the ecstasy of the winner, the heartbreak of the vanquished. What can you say about Greg Norman and Augusta?

Not fucking much that hasn't already been said by so many, for so long, so I'm not going to try. Most weeks, I try to research the history of the event, the past champions and what it might mean to helping you pick your Fantasy Teams. I do this, as only the most ardent golf fans, would have a clue for the week to week form and suitability for tracks of today's pampered pro's.

Not so this weekend my friends. You no doubt all have a good idea of who plays well here and so I'll leave it completely alone this week. Except for this....

In the same way that the Houston Open is considered a great warm up for the Masters because both courses play hard, fast & windy, why have the Australians such a good record in Houston, but still on a duck for Augusta. I know Norman played great here many years and had his chances, but why have no other Australians played all that well here on a consistent basis. On the face of it, this Major should be the one that the Aussies find the easiest to win, but it obviously it hasn't turned out that way.

Could this be the year? My fingers are crossed.

Good Luck All !

The LRFG

Thanks Vijay

2010-04-02T10:13:00.001+11:00

Thanks Vijay.

That's the 3rd time you have done that to me this year. And thanks to you too Paul Casey.

Arsholes !

Go Big Easy, Go !

2010-03-30T19:54:00.000+11:00

Well done Gordon on winning the Winter Leg of the Fantasy Golf. The only thing you get for this is bragging rights. Well may be we'll get you a Leg of Lamb :-)

But no one took out the skin, as I was the only one not to have Els on the team. And this also turned out to be the 50-60 points of difference between me & you guys this week. Oh well, we all seem to have a shocker every now & then. This week the skinny moves to $24, the overall to $104 and we all owe $65 (plus Tony of course needs to put $132 down at Lucky & Peps).

Now I am not even going to ask if the Big Easy has his mojo back as he is the only multiple winner on tour this year. I am just so happy to see the big fella winning again - he's one of my favourites. He respects the game & he respects the King. Yes indeed. The Big Easy is certainly a role model for youngsters. Ernie has won the last two events he has entered - the Doral & The Bay Hill. The thing here is that they are both very difficult courses and that is a very good sign. It's only 2 weeks to the Masters and people are starting to ask if Ernie can pull that off. And you have to say he seems to have a red hot chance based on these recent confidence boosters.

But there is another sweet swinging old timer who could also figure and get in the Big Easy's way. Freddy "Boom Boom" Couples is playing very well at the moment, taking another title off the good ol' boys over on the Seniors Tour. I know that isn't quite the same level, but Boom Boom knows his way around Augusta extremely well and always seems to rise for this tournament, regardless of how he is playing at the time. How good would it be to see these two old war horses duking it out on the back 9 in Atlanta come Sunday? (note - these guys were Lynx club stablemates back in the day - remember them?)

This week we move over to Texas for the Shell Houston Open, a grand old event that dates back to 1922. Hats off to the sponsor Shell, for keeping the original name of the tournament in the title, rather than completely taking it over.

This week may take some research on your behalf to put the right Fantasy Team together. But seeing as I am such a generous soul, I'll put you on the right track. In the last 10 years, this event has been won by Vijay Singh 3 times, Stuart Appleby twice, Robert Allenby & Adam Scott once each, Paul Casey last year and Johnson Wagner the year before that.

What does all that tell you? Texas differs from the rest of the USA in quite a few ways and their golf courses are no exception. Whilst most Tour courses are lush, green, heavily watered layouts, that reward the high plop & stop fade, Texas plays a little like something closer to home.

Texas is windy & dry and so it courses play very much like our best tracks in Australia - e.g. hard & fast. Youngsters in Texas grow up with a strong grip, a draw as their stock shot and a low ball flight. Sound familiar? Vijay cut his teeth on the Australasian Tour, Paul Casey learnt his craft on the Scottish Links and Johnson Wagner comes from Texas. Over the years, Australians have won this event 10 times and include Graham Marsh, Bruce Crampton and Bruce Devlin as past champions, so it's no surprise that we have figured heavily in the winners circle lately. In fact Joe Kirkwood, the Australian Open specialist, won this event back to back in it's 2nd & 3rd year.

So apart from the Aussie names already mentioned, look for Geoff Ogilvy and some other younger Aussies as well as the local Texans, as well as any Europeans who have a low ball flight and have proved themselves at the old courses in Scotland.

We swing into the new Spring leg this week and it's only 10 sleeps to The Masters - ooh I just had a premature :-(

Good Luck All!

The LRFG!

The Wrong Man.

2010-03-22T19:43:00.000+11:00

Yes indeed. The wrong man won the skin. Oh well, Tony makes off with $132. This week the skin is $12, the overall is looking decidedly fat at $96 and we all owe $60. We just need Tony to come up with date so that he can throw that $132 down on the table at the Hong Kong or Lucky & Peps, or where-ever the hell he thinks it's a good idea.

Well done Tony and good luck to Jim Furyk. Jim had been on a drought for a while now and just like the Big Easy, it was his putter that was the problem. You've gotta admire Furyk. He's won a US Open and a dozen PGA Tour events with a swing like that. Johnny Miller recently called him the most professional of all the professionals playing the game today, "Because nobody plays within himself more than Jim Furyk."

Fellow punters, I knew we were in trouble yesterday, hence the post. I knew that at least one of that trio would make a run at him and KJ Choi obliged. However, it was always going to have to be one hell of a round, because Furyk just doesn't make silly mistakes. He is way too experienced for juvenile silly buggers.

My old master and I talked a bit about Jim's swing. Brad Wall thinks that it looks alot worse than it actually is. Brad contrasted it with Ray Floyd's swing - almost the exact opposite of Furyk's. Furyk goes out & up whilst Floyd goes behind & then up. The important thing is they both manage to get into "the slot" as they start down. And that, according to my old Jedi Master, is the key.

Check out the following and you will see what I mean. However, they both have another thing in common. They are both the grittiest of competitors, who would rather die, than actually SAY die.

This week we move on to Golf's closest thing to Royalty and a weekend that the Pro's celebrate as a homage and paying of respects to one man. That's right Long Reefers - The King. This is the week of the Bay Hill Invitational, or now known as the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

This tournament originally started in 1966 and was known as the Florida Citrus Open Invitational. How a tournament can be both an "Open" and an "Invitational" at the same time is beyond me, but what the fuck would I know? However, in 1979 the King took the event over and moved it to the winter retreat home he built for himself, the Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida.

What did Arnold Palmer do with the profits he made from this big time event? The result is the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children - free top flight medical care for children whose parents can't afford it, in a country with no Medicare or safety net !

Now did I, or did I not tell you, that this guy is The Fucking King ?

On to the Tournament. The course was toughened up to cater for the modern pro back in 2006. Since then, the average winning score has been about 7 Under, so you can see that this is not a birdie fest. Recent form on this track is hard to pick, as "he who shalt not be named" has won 6 of the last 10 here at Bay Hill.

The only other players to have won this tournament twice are Jerry Heard, Gary Koch and Loren Roberts. I don't know much about Heard but Koch was very handy with the putter, Loren Roberts wasn't called the "Boss of the Moss" for nothing, and the Dark Lord has been known to make a few on the short stuff. That should tell you that anyone who is not currently happy with their putting stroke, should not be in your team this weekend. Up & downs are THE key to victory at Bay Hill, and if you want to hoist that trophy come Sunday, you are going to have to make some serious testers for par.

Past winners of this event include a Who's who of golf. Guys like Mickelson, Vijay, Kenny Perry and Ernie Els of the current crew. Old timers were Ben Crenshaw, Tom Kite, Payne Stewart, Fred Couples, Fuzzy Zoeller, Hale Irwin and Lee Trevino - all multiple Major Winners.

Yes Long Reefers, the past tells us that you will need some serious quality to rack up the points this week. The main reason is the Esteem in which this event is held. Because it is the King, all the top pro's turn up out of respect (and just for the damn fun of it as well, according to reports) and therefore, we get one of the strongest fields of the year.

Again well done Tony and well done Jim Furyk! Looking forward to that meal in Newport!

Good luck this week all!

the LRFG

AND LONG LIVE THE KING !!!