GOLF:A LITTLE bit of movement but not much at the top of the leaderboard shows just one place change in the top three with Blading Saddles 2 shooting into second place and Bis a Bis 5 falling into fifth place in the Order of Merit.
Top slot is held by the mighty Quiros. Team Quiros and Darragh Halpin hold on to their slender advantage and although they has trousered enough points this week to allow them retain the position, his team is not snaking away with the championship just yet with 18,078 points to 17,620 points from Blading Saddles 2, Alan Dillon’s combination.
Dustin Johnson just about saved the winner this week. The American, playing on the European Tour rather than in Canada, came in the top 10 in Sweden and earned the Quiros team 510 points. That was just as well because the only other golfer who came in for him was Loooook Donald with 65 points from Group One.
That left eight professionals with a great big zero beside their names. Take a bow Retief Goosen, Matteo Mannero, Nick Watney, Justin Rose, Jason Day, Anders Hanson, Darren Clarke and YE Yang. Yes it probably does help to check to see how your nominated players are actually performing on the week.
Clarke, judging by a lot of the press coverage, is still coming out of a Guinness-fuelled week of British Open celebrations up in the wee North, while Jason Day, according to PGA stats, took the week away from competition.
Blading Saddles 2 finds themselves in second place largely through the good works of two Swedes and two Americans over on the turf at Bro Hoff Slott Golf Club in Stockholm.
Dustin Johnson from Group Two and Bubba Watson in Group Five along with Group 10’s Alexander Noren and his Scandinavian colleague Robert Karlsson in Group Three added a combined 1,245 points to the week’s total and along with Donald’s 65 points for his tied 17th place in the Canadian Open, earned a weekly sum of 1,310 points.
Since the European tour events began back in December of last year in the Alfred Dunhill Cup in Leopard Creek, South Africa, just three players have won more than once.
Donald has won titles at the WGC Accenture Matchplay Championship and at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in May, two big earners for the English number one. He also picked up the Barclays Scottish Open a week before Sandwich.
Clarke was successful in Spain at the Iberdrola Open in early May before picking up the recent British Open, while South African Charl Schwartzel won at home in the Joburg Open in January and of course the Masters in April.
What does all of that mean?
In 32 European Tour events just two players have won more than once with Donald the only player on tour to have won three times.
What chance of Clarke winning his third next week, or McIlroy winning his second after the US Open, or McDowell coming good for a whole round, or Pádraig Harrington finding the form that we know a three-times Major winner has in his locker?
* To access the competition on our website (irishtimes.com/fantasygolf) you need to enter a pin code – this week’s code is ‘niblick’.
