I Disqualified Myself!!!!

Hi Guys,

Well not a great golfing weekend for me but definately a golfing lesson learned.

This past weekend I was playing in the Armada Deutsche Bank Pro Am here in Poland and had managed to make the cut for the final round.

I was one of the early starters on Day 2 and was teeing off on the tenth. After bogeying my first hole I then pulled my tee shot on my second hole into rough.

My ball was sitting down and I could only see that it was a Titleist 1, so I turned my ball to identify that it had a green R marked on it.

I then took my second shot which I could only move forward about thirty yards and again in thick rough.

My playing partner found the ball and yes it was a Titleist 1, but this time I did not check and played my next shot up onto the green about ten feet from the cup.

When I got up onto the green I marked my ball and put it in my pocket, my playing partner holed out and I reset my ball back on the green using the Titleist logo to line up.

From there I holed the putt and put the ball in my pocket. It was not until I got on the next tee that I realised that the ball I finished with was not my own. It was my mistake which of course was too late.

I played on for the next three holes until we could find a marshall. I explained that I thought I should be disqualified and he confirmed this.

Not one of my best golfing days but a serious lesson learned.

All the Best

Richard

Silver Medal Winner

Hi Guys,

Just wanted to put up a short post to congratulate young Rory McIlroy on his exploits so far in the Open Championship (Currently two over par) and of course on the achievement of winning the Silver Medal for the highest ranking amateur at the Open Championship.

We should also mention Drew Weaver from the US who yesterday fired a great round of 72 and finished just two shots outside the cut mark.

Going back to McIlroy, it will be interesting to see how his putting goes over the final two rounds because he could easily have been the leader after day one but missed two short birdie putts which would have got him to -5

He also missed a couple during the second round as well.

I am sure however he will be going into the weekend to try and win and we wish him the best of luck.

Follow all the live scoring at EUROPEAN TOUR.COM

All the Best

Richard

Take your hats off to Seve!!!

Hi Guys,

As we go into Open week, today we heard the sad but probably not totally unexpected news that the great Seve Ballesteros is retiring from the game of competitive golf.

I for one want to remember Seve for his truly swashbuckling style of play and his pure magic at conjuring shots only the golf gods can bestow.

I think that many a young golfer has been touched by Seve, a few older ones as well.

We wish him well in his retirement and look forward to seeing him maybe commentating on this great sport sometime soon in the future.

Below you can read a factfile of Seve's achievements

1957 - Born April 9, Pedrena, Spain, the son of a greenkeeper

1965 - Uncle Ramon Sota finishes sixth in Masters. Ballesteros learns to play with rusty three-iron on the beach near his home

1974 - Turns professional. Eight days after 17th birthday, scores 83 in first-ever round on European Tour at Spanish Open. With second round 76 finishes 118th out of 135, but in October finishes fifth at Italian Open

1976 - Leads the Open at Birkdale for the first three days before finishing second to Johnny Miller. Four weeks later wins first European Tour title at Dutch Open and tops Order of Merit - with £21,494 total earnings!

1977 - Wins seven times around the world and wins Order of Merit again

1978 - First victory in America at Greater Greensboro Open, plus seven other wins. European No 1 for third successive year

1979 - Wins Open Championship at Royal Lytham, earning title "car park champion" from beaten American Hale Irwin for one particular shot. Makes Ryder Cup debut

1980 - Wins Masters at Augusta, the first European ever to do so. Was 10 ahead with nine to play, but wins by four

1981 - Wins first of five World Match Play titles at Wentworth. Left out of Ryder Cup team in dispute with European Tour

1983 - Wins second Masters by four again, firing last round 69 while co-leaders Ray Floyd and Craig Stadler score 75 and 76

1984 - Stops Tom Watson achieving Open record-equalling sixth title, closing birdie at St Andrews the sweetest moment of his career

1985 - Helps Europe to first Ryder Cup victory since 1957. With four more wins on European Tour has already captured 27 titles

1986 - European No 1 again with record six victories, but misses chance of another Masters after hitting into the water on the 15th. Nicklaus win instead aged 46. If there is one shot Ballesteros would like again that is it

1987 - Part of European side that wins on American soil for first time. Start of partnership with Jose Maria Olazabal that brings 11 wins, two halves and only two defeats

1988 - Last round 65 brings third Open victory and second at Royal Lytham. Tops Order of Merit for fifth time. Marries banker's daughter Carmen Botin.

1989 - Europe triumph at The Belfry again. Ballesteros and Olazabal unbeaten on first two days, but he then loses in controversial fashion to Paul Azinger

1990 - Becomes father to Baldomero

1991 - European No 1 for sixth time. Involved in more controversy with Azinger at Kiawah Island "War on the Shore" cup match. Does Wentworth double of Volvo PGA (after play-off with Colin Montgomerie) and fifth World Match Play

1992 - Second son Miguel is born

1994 - Daughter Carmen is born

1995 - 50th European Tour win at Spanish Open proves to be his last, as does his eighth Ryder Cup cap in dramatic win at Oak Hill

1997 - Non-playing captain as Ryder Cup is successfully defended at Valderrama in first-ever match on Spanish soil, but drops to lowest-ever 136th on Order of Merit

1998 - Last top 10 finish on European Tour comes at Dubai Desert Classic

2001 - Falls outside Europe's top 200

2002 - Cuts back schedule to just nine events in Europe because of back trouble, but still beats Montgomerie in the Seve Trophy for a second successive time

2003 - Fined and reprimanded by Tour after calling them "PGA Mafia", having refused to accept slow play penalty. Loses heavily to Montgomerie in rematch and does not play again for two years

2005 - After break-up of marriage comes out of retirement at Madrid Open, but shoots 77-73. Does not play again for eight months, but is involved in ugly clash with a Tour referee at his home club

2006 - Scores 81-81 for last place on return at French Open, then 74-77 in first Open appearance since 2001

2007 - Returns to Masters after four-year gap, butshoots 86-80 in what turns out to be his final European Tour rounds. 50th birthday three days followed by US Seniors Tour debut in May, but on 16 over par he finishes joint last with 67-year-old Lee Trevino. At Carnoustie on July 16 announces retirement from golf.

Enjoy your Golf

Richard

The Open Championship...."What a 3 Ball"

Hi Guys,

And here we go with THE greatest major of them all, THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP.

I am really looking forward to this years event as it is taking place once again at Carnoustie or more infamously called "Carnasty" after the 1999 championship won by Paul Lawrie.

And "Lawrie" is back at the place of his finest hour where he triumphed in a play off after the enigmatic Frenchman Jean Van De Velde let go of the championship on the last hole.

You can check out the TEE OFF TIMES at the European Tour website and please scroll straight down to group number 15 which includes"

Tiger Woods,Paul Lawrie and Justin Rose

Now of course Tiger is going to be mighty hard to beat as his preparation has been geared to this week. As for Justin Rose, well the young Englishmen came to the fore in this championship some years ago at Birkdale and this season has come on in leaps and bounds.

It really is only a matter of time before Rose wins a major championship.

But what about Lawrie................ Is he the forgotten Major Champion?

Lawrie had a great start to the Barclay Scottish Open last week but then trailed in with two rounds of 74 for the weekend which put him out of the hunt for a possible top 20 finish.

But is Paul Lawrie Finished?

I do not think so, I am sure he had Carnoustie on his mind after playing well in the first two rounds at Loch Lomond and we could see a double open Champion emerge on Sunday evening, it is unlikely but it is a posssibility and they say lightning always strikes twice.

I am out playing on Friday so will check up the scores when i get back to the clubhouse.

Whoever you are rooting for enjoy the golf

All the Best

Richard

Burning Golf Problems

Hi Guys,

Not had a chance to post over the last 10 days but just wanted to try and get afew of you involved in helping me get some questions together for a set of GOLF PRO interviews i am doing for the blog.

I need you guys to leave your comments on any golfing question or problem you are facing right now and we will try to get them answered during the interviews we do with the golf pros.

I cannot tell you who we have but it will include some very high quality teaching pros.

All the Best

Richard

Phil Mickelson does a backflip

Hi Guys,

You will not believe this video, just take a look at something i found on You Tube and thought you should see this for yourself.



I hope you try this out because i sure am next time i am on the course.

Go get em Tiger....... Oops I meant Phil

All the best

Richard

Phil Mickelson teaches you how to play

Hi Guys,

Following on from yesterday with Tiger Woods. Today I am bringing you a video lesson from Phill Mickelson which will really show you that this guy really does play golf for fun.



I hope you enjoy the video and please post your comments and questions on the blog

All the Best

Richard

Learning the Chip Shot "Tigers Way"

This is the infamous chip shot from Tiger Woods at the 2005 Masters........

Take a look, I have added my own instructional and fun comments to the video



Enjoy and please post any comments you have on the blog

All the Best

Richard