Five things learned from this week's golf on Sky Sports
Monday 27 April 2015 13:52, UK
After another busy weekend of golf on Sky Sports 4, we look back at some of the main talking points from this week's PGA Tour, European Tour, Asian Tour and LPGA Tour action.
Rose on the rise
Justin Rose continued his return to form by following up a runners-up finish at Augusta with a first PGA Tour title of the year at the Zurich Classic, moving the Englishman back to sixth in the world rankings.
Rose had dropped out of the world’s top 10 after a slow start to 2015 that saw him miss the cut three times in four tournaments, but is now back to where he started the PGA Tour season following his first victory since July’s Scottish Open.
A one-shot win over Cameron Tringale means Rose has now won an event in each of the last six years, with the former US Open champion believing the win “is great to build on” heading in to a busy few weeks of high profile events.
West best in the East
Is there an Englishman who loves the Asian Tour more than Lee Westwood? Having already claimed victories in Thailand and Malaysia last year, Westwood secured the Indonesian Masters title for a third time on Sunday with a dramatic play-off win over Chapchai Nirat.
Westwood’s win takes his tally of Asian Tour titles to nine, although looked as though he’d squandered his chance of victory after letting a five-shot third round lead crumble during the final day.
“A tough day” was Westwood’s assessment of a fourth round 73 which left the tournament in the balance after 72 holes, but the 42-year-old recovered to birdie the first extra hole and claim a first win of the year.
History in Shanghai
We could have been discussing an English hat-trick this weekend had David Howell holed an eight-foot putt at the last during the European Tour’s Volvo China Open, with that miss giving home favourite Wu Ashun the title.
Howell had been holding a share of the lead heading into the final round and would’ve taken the event into a play-off if he’d sunk that par-save on the 18th, but had to settle for a share of second after only making bogey.
“Simple golf” was the method Ashun said he used to guide him to victory, with the 29-year-old becoming the first Chinese player to win a European Tour event on home soil – much to the delight of the crowd at Shanghai Pudong GC.
Ko still queen
Lydia Ko had another birthday to remember, extending her advantage as world No 1 and moving to the top of the LPGA Tour money list with victory at the brilliantly named Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.
It’s not the first time the New Zealander has won at Lake Merced, having claimed her first LPGA Tour title as a professional there 12 months earlier, but had needed a second extra play-off hole to snatch victory this time around from Morgan Pressel.
Having seen the American miss a 15-foot putt for victory at the 18th and then a 10-foot title chance at the first additional hole, Ko, who turned 18 on Friday, rolled in a birdie putt to secure what she described as a “great birthday week again”.
A Lefty-free Match Play
After openly praising the decision to switch the venue of this week’s WGC-Cadillac Match Play to TPC Harding, “personal reasons” have forced five-time major Phil Mickelson to withdraw from the star-studded event.
With Tim Clark and Luke Donald having already pulled out of the tournament, Mickelson confirmed late on Sunday that he would reluctantly miss the event for the fourth year running.
Finland’s Mikko Ilonen will feature in Mickelson’s place, looking to repeat his victory at the European Tour’s equivalent event in October. With a new venue, new format and 64 of the world’s best players in action, it’s all set to be an exciting five days.
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