Finally!

Tim Clark, who in recent years has knocked on the door more than any other golfer I know, has finally broken through for his 1st PGA Tour Win. And in doing so, he beat the other guy who has been knocking on the door all season, Robert Allenby. But for the grace of God, a couple of Allenby's putts were in, and he would be holding the most coveted trophy outside the Majors.

You've got to like Tim Clark. In terms of his guts & persistence, he is South Africa's answer to Jim Furyk. Whilst Els & Goosen have a nice game to watch, and plenty of power to boot, Tim Clark finds the fairways & greens more consistently. This win has been long overdue and we Long Reef Fantasy Golfers congratulate the Yarpie!

I really love the drama of The Players and I think Pete Dye created a masterpiece. The course was purpose built for this tournament and Dye, the genius, gradually builds the pressure throughout the round, culminating with the knee knocking 17th island Par 3, and the beast of a Par 4 to finish. You will often hear the players talk about starting to think of the 17th on about the 6th hole. And the 18th is just a Bogey or worse waiting to happen. When they let the greens get quick, as they did on the weekend, this course becomes a real monster. Like the Masters, this tournament is played at the same place every year, and I think that players and fans start to develop a relationship with the place, in the back of our minds. It really is the 5th Major - just look at the Honour Roll of past Champions.

Anyway, a quick phone call from me to Lee Westwood last night, made sure that Rick got fucked over. As a result, the Skinny jackpots to $72, the overall to $104 and we all owe $95. Rick & Tony, get your shit together and book that restaurant (or we can wait to the end of the year, all winners put back in, and have a night out somewhere special??? - use the comment link at the bottom of this post to give me your feedback).

This week, we move on to the Valero Texas Open. I have to say, I much prefer it when the Tournament Sponsors keep the name of he tournament in the title. Some of these old events like the Los Angeles Open, have so much history, they deserve to keep their name in the title.

You will remember from a previous post that I spoke about Texas courses being a lot like Australia's best layouts - e.g. hard, fast & windy. Well the TPC in San Antonio is no exception - recent winners have all been regarded as good wind players, such as Texas native & British Open champ Justin Leonard, who has won this event 3 times. Zach Johnson is the two time defending champion having won in 2008 and 2009. So clearly familiarity is a bonus here.

Recently, this tournament was part of the "Fall Series" and big names were absent. With the demise of the Atlanta tour stop, the vacant slot has been given to this tournament and it becomes one of the Fedex Cup main events. As such, we can probably expect to see some good players turn up, but the really big guns will most likely be taking the week off after The Players.

This week may be harder than you think......

Good Luck All

The LRFG !!!