Genworth Acknowledge Player Support of Putts4Charity

Genworth Financial, the European Tour Statistics Sponsor, has made a donation of $50,000 to the Tour Players Foundation – the Tour’s charitable arm – in recognition of the support they have received during the 2013 season from all the European Tour Members who participated in charitable activities.

Genworth, in partnership with the Tour Players Foundation (TPF), have operated the incredibly successful and popular Putts4Charity initiative since 2007 and the company’s donation acknowledges the fact that 18 different Tour professionals were involved in nine separate activities over five tournaments in 2013.

Putts4Charity was present at the Ballantine’s Championship, the BMW PGA Championship, the Italian Open, the BMW International Open and the Turkish Airlines Open with funds being raised for the initiative’s chosen charity, SOS Children’s Villages, via the on-course performance of the players and the participation of spectators and players alike in the activity on Genworth’s specially constructed stand at each event.

Since 2007, the Putts4Charity initiative has involved a total of 89 different professionals, who have made 180 appearances over 35 different tournaments, with the funds raised and other donations reaching a grand total of €1,126,327.

Mark Roe, Tour Players Foundation Chairman, said: “On behalf of the TPF we would like to thank Genworth for their donation, which will enable the TPF to continue to support charities at and away from our events, and furthermore for their commitment to charity through the Putts4Charity initiative. We are proud to have partnered Genworth in raising such an amazing seven figure sum since 2007.”

Friends Reunited

The 2013 season may not have been a Ryder Cup year, but it is likely to find a footnote in the annals chronicling the history of golf’s greatest team competition as the year that five of Europe’s captains, and most successful players, reunited on the European Senior Tour.

Colin Montgomerie’s ‘coming of age’ in June not only represented the next episode in the illustrious career of the victorious eight-time European Tour Order of Merit winner, it also heralded an exciting new chapter in the 22 year history of the Senior Tour. 

In 2010, the Scot had followed Mark James, Sam Torrance, Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosnam in presiding over Europe’s Ryder Cup hopes, successfully leading his team to victory against the United States at the Celtic Manor Resort.

Three years on from that career-defining moment, Montgomerie retraced the spike-marks of the same quartet again when he joined the Senior Tour, aiming to follow their ground-breaking accomplishments once more as he entered his sixth decade.

Montgomerie played under the stewardship of all four in The Ryder Cup from 1999-2006, with the quintet having been central to Europe’s cause together as teammates for three consecutive matches from 1991-1995.

Those unforgettable shared memories irretrievably unify a quintet whose influence on the higher echelons of European golf spans more than five decades, and who continue to promote and support the game globally.

It took Montgomerie just three events to find his feet and join his esteemed peers in the Senior Tour winners’ club, when he dominated the Travis Perkins plc Senior Masters at Woburn Golf Club in early September.

Having eased himself into life on the Senior Tour with top 30 finishes in the US Senior Open and The Senior Open Championship, Montgomerie carded consecutive rounds of 68 followed by a closing 70 to finish six shots clear of Spaniard Miguel Angel Martin and Englishman Paul Wesselingh, claiming his first tournament victory for more than six years.

“Joining the Senior Tour has been a new chapter in my life,” said Montgomerie. “I feel very lucky. When I turned 50 I became a member of three tours; the Senior Tour, the Champions Tour in America, and The European Tour. How often does that happen in life? How often is it that when you get older, you have more opportunities available? It’s a fabulous time.

“It is like a new lease of life turning 50 in golf. I can’t think of any other sports where you take a new step on in your career at such an age and to have such a fine Tour, such an excellent brand, as the Senior Tour as part of that is brilliant.”

Rookie Montgomerie finished tied fourth in the Russian Open Golf Championship (Senior) and sixth in the MCB Tour Championship in Mauritius to end his debut campaign in 11th position on the Order of Merit.

His Senior Tour career may have started brightly, but he has some way to go in order to match the considerable achievements of James, Torrance, Langer and Woosnam on the over 50s circuit.

Both James, who led Europe at Brookline in 1999, and Torrance, the victorious captain at The Belfry three years later, celebrated their 60th birthdays in 2013, marking a decade on the Senior Tour in which they continued to enjoy success around the world.

After 18 victories on the European Tour, James has triumphed twice on the Senior Tour, but perhaps his most notable win after the age of 50 came on American soil in 2004, when he claimed the Ford Senior Players Championship, defeating Ryder Cup teammate José Maria Cañizares in a play-off.

Torrance’s proud Senior Tour legacy is undoubtedly his three John Jacobs Trophy victories, earned for topping the Order of Merit in 2005, 2006 and 2009, which is equal to Carl Mason’s tally and only bettered by Tommy Horton’s record haul of five.

The Scot’s enduring appeal, both as a captain and a player, was in evidence in 2013 when he was chosen by the current Ryder Cup Captain Paul McGinley to lead the Great Britain & Ireland team in the Seve Trophy by Golf+, just seven weeks after he just missed out on a sentimental victory in the SSE Scottish Senior Open.

Torrance finished one shot behind rookie Santiago Luna over the Torrance course at Fairmont St Andrews, coming up agonisingly short in his bid for 12th Senior Tour title.

There was frustration too for Woosnam and Langer in 2013, although like Torrance both can be immensely proud of their accomplishments thus far on the Senior Tour.

Woosnam, who led Europe to victory in The 2006 Ryder Cup in Ireland, became the first former European Tour Order of Merit winner to repeat the feat on the Senior Tour when he won the John Jacobs Trophy in his rookie campaign in 2008.

Having won 29 times on The European Tour, the former World Number One and Masters Champion has triumphed four times so far on the Senior Tour, and threatened to add to his collection on several occasions during the 2013 season.

The Welshman was unable to convert a final round lead into a popular victory on home soil in the Speedy Services Wales Senior Open, succumbing to a magnificent closing 66 by Philip Golding at Royal Porthcawl, the host venue for next year’s Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex.

He also had opportunities in Germany, first in the Berenberg Masters – the tournament where he secured his last win in 2011 – where Danish newcomer Steen Tinning, the 2013 Rookie of the Year, claimed his maiden title, and then, following a superb opening round of 65, in the same country at the WINSTONgolf Senior Open, where Gordon Brand Jnr ended three winless years.

Langer’s heartache was perhaps more dramatic still, the 2004 Ryder Cup winning captain taking a two shot lead down the final hole in The Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex at Royal Birkdale, before leaving his third shot in the greenside bunker and then carding a double bogey when he failed to get up and down second time round.

That slip meant a play-off with Mark Wiebe and after two attempts in the fading Southport light, the pair returned the following morning for three additional holes, with American Wiebe eventually prevailing following the longest play-off in the Championship’s 27 year history, and its first Monday finish.

Gracious as ever in defeat, two-time Masters Champion Langer has enjoyed more than his fair share of success as a senior golfer since turning 50, topping the Money List on the US Champions Tour for a fifth time in 2013. He also won back-to-back Majors three years ago when he captured The Senior Open Championship at Carnoustie followed by the US Senior Open a week later at Sahalee in Seattle.

In 2014 The Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex visits Wales for the first time, meaning Montgomerie will return to the country where he led Europe to Ryder Cup glory in 2010.

That will give him another chance to finally land the Major championship he craves, while the winner of a record eight European Tour Order of Merit crowns will undoubtedly hope to follow Woosnam’s example at some point by also lifting the John Jacobs Trophy.

It remains to be seen whether Montgomerie can emulate the success of his Ryder Cup predecessors on the Senior Tour, but for now it is a case of so far, so good, Monty.

Number Crunching 2013: David Howell

Ranking/movement: +91 (No. 173 to No. 82)

Why the rise? Howell gives credit to his work with a new coach, Jonathan Wallett, which began in 2011.

Howell, 38, had won four times on the European Tour from 1999 to 2006 and played on Ryder Cup teams in 2004 and ’06. Then things started to go south. Howell’s game deteriorated during the next six years, with no victories and three years of finishing outside of the top 100 in the Race to Dubai.

From 2006 to ’07, the Englishman’s scoring average ballooned from 70.84 to 73.47.

“It’s been a two-year process,” Howell said. “Last year, I was 62nd after three or four horrendous years, so that was the start of the journey, really, and I have to put a lot of it down to changing coaches two years ago, working with my new coach, Jonathan Wallett. He’s helped me look at my game from a very different angle, and this is the hard work and the change of approach paying off.”

Playing golf versus focusing on technique was Howell’s biggest issue and one that Wallett stressed. The changes were not immediate, but Howell has climbed in the Race to Dubai during the past three years: 103rd (2011) to 62nd (’12) to 21st (’13).

Of course, winning the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in September helped.

Howell says: “Obviously, it’s a very technical game, but all my efforts were on it, and I was just stifling what little talent I might have, paralysis by analysis, all that kind of stuff. Jon just got me playing golf again and bit by bit working out what my own swing is all about rather than trying to change my swing. I spent years trying to change my swing and improve it – forgot who I was. And I think what Jon has had me do is understand my own swing rather than actually try and change that.”

European roundtable: Rory, Ryder Cup, more

From Rory to the Ryder Cup, European golf has plenty of big storylines around the corner for 2014. Golfweek senior writers Adam Schupak and Alistair Tait take a look at five big questions that await some of the European Tour's best players, its businessmen and its fans.

1. What does 2014 hold in store for Rory McIlroy?

Schupak: I think Rory will be better than in 2013. How much will depend on whether he puts in the time and can improve his short game or if the distractions continue to prevent him from doing so. He ranked 147th on the PGA Tour in scrambling, 158th in sand-save percentage and 122nd in strokes gained putting. That’s a recipe for mediocrity.

Tait: Let’s hope it holds a lot more than 2013. Hopefully the win in Australia at the end of this year means Rory’s put his troubles behind him. As Adam pointed out previously, Rory’s game is a little more “fragile” than previously thought. That was obvious from his 2013 campaign. I’ve been watching Rory since he was 14. I’ve often thought of him as mercurial. He’s unstoppable when he’s firing on all cylinders. He’s middle of the pack when he’s off. He’s more Seve Ballesteros than Nick Faldo.

2. The European Tour has a new chairman. David Williams comes from a commercial background. How significant is that appointment?

Schupak: It’s about time. Professional golf is big business and a sophisticated one at that. In George O’Grady, you have leadership that understands the relationships with players and the value of the brand. The key for the European Tour is for the economy at home to improve; otherwise, the talk of the PGA Tour taking over the Euro Tour, which surfaced in 2013, will build.

Tait: It’s a significant appointment. Neil Coles was chairman for 38 before Williams was handed the role. No disrespect to Coles, but he was a golf man. Williams has vast experience of the commercial world, which should help enormously. The European Tour has done well to survive the European financial collapse thanks to its global reach. Hopefully Williams can build on the Tour’s ties with Continental Europe. Chief executive George O’Grady has given Williams a sound base from which to work, with recently renewed TV contracts with Sky Sports and the Golf Channel. The Race to Dubai has been extended until 2017, while Rolex has signed up for another 10 years. Williams will hopefully bring a commercial outlook to add to those successes.

3. What can we expect from the Europeans in the majors? Will this finally be Lee Westwood's year, or Sergio Garcia's?

Schupak: I think quite good. Justin Rose broke through in 2013 and has the game to build off that. Both Westwood and Garcia made strides with their putting woes. To win a major, I think they will have to come from behind on Sunday. The Euro I'd like to see in the hunt for a major is Matteo Manassero. He won't be 21 until after the Masters, so he has plenty of time ahead of him; but it would be something to see him have a shot at a major on Sunday.

Tait: It’s hard to look into the future and say who will win which major, but expect a continued run of success from European players in the tournaments that really matter. I’d love to see Westwood win one of the blue-chip events to get the “best player never to win a major” monkey off his back. He just needs one hot week and things to go his way for that to happen. I’m not so sure about Sergio. He’s always projected this “life isn’t fair” attitude that seems to hold him back. Seve Ballesteros believed it was his destiny to win majors. Sergio seems to think just the opposite. Aside from these two, this could be the year that Luke Donald, Ian Poulter and many others come into the frame. Pay particular attention to Paul Casey. He’s been close before, has the belief and is over the personal and physical obstructions that held him back.

4. Can Henrik Stenson build on an excellent 2013 and become the first Swedish male major winner?

Schupak: The short answer here is yes. The trickier questions are: Can Stenson sustain his brilliance? Will he continue to have the same level of drive after winning both money titles in 2013? I think his pursuit of a major will motivate him in 2014, and he has the game to win any of the four majors.

Tait: It’s time for a Swedish man to get his hands on a major trophy after years of watching Swedish women attain major glory. Stenson’s the man who could do just that. He’ll be hoping the end of 2013 is an indication of things to come. He has the game. He now has the belief. It’s going to be interesting to see how he performs in the four marquee events.

5. Is it a forgone conclusion that Europe will win the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles?

Schupak: Forgone conclusion? No way, says Tom Watson. The U.S. captain will choose his picks wisely and bring a team to Scotland that is tired of losing. I expect another tightly contested match that will hinge on a putt here, a putt there. The Ryder Cup will be the highlight of the golf season, and I can’t wait for late September.

Tait: No, but Europe will enter the tournament as favorites, despite what the respective rankings say when the teams are announced. It’ll be close, and a good putting week can see either team win, but if all things are equal then Europe will win. Why? Hunger. American golf fans, players and officials can argue all they want, but Europe just want to win Samuel Ryder’s trophy more than the United States. They can thank Seve for that. He instilled a desire to win that survives to this day. In Paul McGinley, Europe has a great man manager. I think he’ll out-captain Tom Watson and lead Europe to its sixth win in seven matches. I’m a huge Watson fan and I hope he does well, but the appointment smacks of desperation. I’m not sure he’s going to have the same bond with his team as McGinley will have with his. So the U.S. players will need a hot week with their putters.

Expect a Rory McIlroy rebound in '14

Which version of Rory McIlroy should golf fans believe in, the one who played the first 10 months of the season without a victory and often looked hopelessly lost on the golf course? Or the one who battled Adam Scott down the stretch in Australia to deny the reigning Masters champion the Aussie Triple Crown?

And what kind of season looms for the young, two-time major winner in 2014?

Our scribes dive into those topics and more in the latest edition of Four-Ball.

1. Over/under of 2 on McIlroy PGA Tour wins in 2014?

Michael Collins, ESPN.com senior golf analyst: Over. He'll have three wins, including a major, but will lose player of the year honors to Tiger Woods.

Farrell Evans, ESPN.com senior golf writer: McIlroy should win at least two times if he plays a full schedule.

Bob Harig, ESPN.com senior golf writer: Over. The 2013 season was the exception, not the norm. Rory looks to bounce back in 2014 and get back to his winning ways.

Kevin Maguire, ESPN.com senior golf editor: Over. With a strong finish to the 2013 season, I'd expect at least three wins, if not a major title, for McIlroy. He epitomizes the streaky player, so don't be shocked if he knocks out at least a couple of those wins prior to the Masters.

2. Fact or fiction: McIlroy will seriously contend for a major title in 2014.

Collins: Fact. See Question 1. Haha! He will have two other top-10s in majors as well.

Evans: Fact. McIlroy might have struggled in 2013, but he is still one of the two or three top players in the world, regardless of what the world rankings say.

Harig: Fact. If he is to get back to winning, it makes sense that he will contend in majors as well and perhaps even win one.

Maguire: Fact. Now that he's got that first victory out of the way with his new Nike clubs, he'll stop hearing questions about when he'll win again. It's time the Northern Irishman gets back to doing what he does best: showing up big in golf's biggest tournaments.

3. Are you buying or selling Rory stock in 2014?

Collins: Buying. Now that he has found a ball that he can trust, expect him to start the climb back to fight for world No. 1.

Evans: Buying. It's always a good idea to invest for the long term in smart, youthful companies that have a growing market. And Rory will pay dividends next year and for many years to come.

Harig: Buying. Rory is too good for his lackluster play to continue. He played better at the end of the year, won in Australia, and now has some momentum to take into the new year.

Maguire: What's that phrase ... buy low and sell high? Well, McIlroy's stock hasn't been much lower since before he turned pro, so now might be the time to jump on the bandwagon. Considering how he finished the season with a victory in Australia, expect that stock to rise and continue going up in the new year.

4. Fill in the blank: By the end of 2014, Rory McIlroy will _______.

Collins: ... be one win away from the career Grand Slam.

Evans: ... have three majors and a Players Championship.

Harig: ... have done a good bit to make 2013 seem like an aberration.

Maguire: ... have won his third major championship. Who knows if it will be by 8 shots like his first two, but a major triumph will be squarely in his sights for the entire season.

Rory McIlroy Returns To Australia With Books & Not Australian Open Winning Clubs.

Reigning Australian Open champion Rory McIlroy has returned to Australia without his golf clubs and in this occasion accompanying his girlfriend, Caroline.

The Danish tennis ace is competing in the Brisbane International and the first two tournaments ‘Down Under’ ahead of next month’s Australian Open in Melbourne.

And unlike the fuss created by her arrival in the Queensland capital a year ago, Wozniacki was not sporting any engagement ring.

As well, McIlroy arrived without his 14 golf clubs and instead packed three books to read during the long fight to Brisbane.

He also Tweeted: At the start of my journey to Australia today… Looking forward to reading these 3 books on my travels!

McIlroy had been in Sydney earlier this month where he came from behind with a birdie at the last hole to defeat overwhelming hometown favourite Adam Scott to capture the Australian Open at the Royal Sydney Golf Club.

Wozniacki did not travel to Sydney but instead caught up with her beau a week later at the Tiger Woods hosted World Challenge.

McIlroy will spend New Year’s Eve in Brisbane and is expected to then head to Dubai for practice at The Els Club ahead of his first event of 2014 – the 25th anniversary Omega Dubai Desert Classic commencing on January 30th at the Emirates Club.