TOUR DIGEST:TOP 20 RETURN: Despite Pádraig Harrington's return to the world's top 20 yesterday following his first victory in two years at the Iskandar Johor Open in Malaysia on Sunday, he reckons he has plenty of work to do to get back to where he wants to be and first up is more work on his swing.
“No,” was the reply when asked if he was happy with it.
“But I’m optimistic with my swing. I’m coming very close to it. It’s a question of putting it together. I have everything I want. I do it some days.”
The Dubliner now plans a couple of weeks off before returning to Asia for Shanghai and Singapore where he hopes the region will continue to prove a happy hunting
GRAND SLAM OF GOLF: Martin Kaymer and Graeme McDowell, engaged in a duel at the top of the European Tour Race to Dubai, will lock horns again at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf which starts today at Port Royal in Bermuda, where the winner will collect €430,000.
Germany’s Kaymer leads the way on €3,134,446, ahead of US Open champion McDowell on €2,138,866.
The two Europeans are joined in Bermuda by Ernie Els, who came in for US Masters champion Phil Mickelson.
Kaymer tees-up with the best form credentials, after following his US PGA Championship win with victories in the KLM Open and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
EUROPEAN TOUR: Two-time Major champion Jose Maria Olazabal will make his long-awaited return to competitive golf at the Castelló Masters Costa Azahar, which tees off in Valencia on Thursday.
After a prolonged battle with rheumatism and tendonitis which has severely hampered his recent playing career, the 44-year-old Spaniard has competed just once since the same event last year at Club de Campo del Mediterraneo in Castella when he attempted a comeback in the ALSTOM Open de France in July, missing the cut with rounds of 82 and 70.
The event will also provide the penultimate chance for players to secure their card for next year and for those ranked just outside the top 115, these next two tournaments are crucial.
So for Ireland’s Simon Thornton the opportunity to make the entry list is a bonus this week following his late call last week in Portugal.
There are also six other Irish players set to play this week including Paul McGinley, Shane Lowry, Peter Lawrie, Damien McGrane, Michael Hoey and Gareth Maybin.
As well as Olazabal, the tournament brings another of Colin Montgomerie’s victorious European Ryder Cup vice-captains back into the spotlight, when Sergio Garcia returns to the golf course where he learned the game under the tutelage of his father, Victor.
Garcia, hosting the event for the third year, won the title in 2008 and finished fourth 12 months ago behind Sweden’s Michael Jonzon and the joint runners-up, Martin Kaymer and another Swede, Christian Nilsson.
CHALLENGE TOUR: Another of the victorious European Ryder Cup party, Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, will headline a strong field of European Challenge Tour champions and promising local and regional talent when the Egyptian Open is held in Cairo, beginning tomorrow.
“I’m very excited about the chance of playing in Egypt for the first time,” said McIlroy.
“It’s not a country you would necessarily think of as a home for golf, but I have heard great things about the courses there, the whole history of the Egyptian Open and the developments that are coming about. So I can’t wait to see it all for myself.”
Colm Moriarty of Team Ireland and Gary Murphy are also set to tee off at the JW Marriott Mirage City course.
US TOUR: Rocco Mediate held his nerve while shrugging off five bogeys in 12 holes to win his first PGA Tour title in eight years with a thrilling one-shot victory at the Frys.com Open in San Martin late on Sunday.
Three ahead overnight, Mediate was caught by four other players on the back nine and briefly surrendered the outright lead before sealing the wire-to-wire win with a spectacular finish.
The 47-year-old American sank an 18-foot birdie putt at the 16th and then holed out from the fairway to eagle the 17th on the way to a two-over-par 73 at a wet CordeValle Golf Club.
He finished on a 15-under total of 269, one ahead of compatriots Bo Van Pelt (71) and PGA Tour rookie Alex Prugh (69).
United States Ryder Cup player Rickie Fowler, who birdied three of the last seven holes, was fourth at 13 under after closing with a 69.
Van Pelt rolled in a 38-footer to birdie the last and Prugh sank a 10-footer to put pressure on Mediate but the Tour veteran coolly knocked in a five-foot par putt to clinch his sixth PGA Tour victory.
“This just means everything to me,” a beaming Mediate told reporters after winning his first title on the US circuit since the 2002 Greater Greensboro Classic.
“I was having a tough time with the weather. It was busting me up today and I couldn’t hit it. And then it calmed a little bit and all of a sudden I got a little angry.”
At that point, Mediate promised his caddie he would not miss any more fairways playing the last eight holes.
The final round unfolded on a rainy day at CordeValle and Mediate was briefly handed a four-stroke cushion when his playing partner van Pelt double-bogeyed the fourth.
However, Mediate bogeyed the sixth, after bunkering his approach, and also the par-five ninth, after three-putting from 10 feet and just two strokes clear at the turn, the American dropped another shot at the par-three 11th where he again three-putted to slip to 13 under overall.
Mediate also stumbled at the 12th where he overshot the green with a wedge and bogeyed again, leaving him tied for the lead with Van Pelt and Prugh.
Chris Tidland made it a four-way tie at the top with three consecutive birdies from the 12th before Fowler joined them by sinking a 12-footer to birdie the 14th.
Prugh and Tidland each fell back, with respective bogeys at 14 and 16, before Van Pelt snatched the outright lead by knocking in a four-foot birdie putt at the 15th.
Mediate, who had struggled on the greens, pulled level with Van Pelt when he made an 18-footer for birdie at the par-three 16th.
Fowler also got to 13 under when he drove the green at the par-four 17th and two-putted from 22 feet for birdie.
The brilliant shot-making continued when Prugh very nearly aced the 17th, his ball landing a foot short of the cup . Playing partner Mediate holed out from 116 yards for an eagle.
“I had a perfect number,” Mediate said. “And when I hit it, I went: ‘Oh, that’s got to be good, that would be nice’. And when it went in, I thought: ‘You’ve got to be kidding me’.”
