Anthony Kim has joined the European Tour for next season, leading what is expected to become a migration of high-profile American golfers to spend more time playing in lucrative tournaments overseas.

The 23-year-old Kim, who has shot up to No. 8 in the world rankings, paid the mandatory 2,000 British pound (C$3,998) fee for membership but will depend on invitations for any event he plays in, the European Tour said Wednesday. He is scheduled to play at the HSBC Championships in Shanghai from Nov. 6-9.

The tour said Camilo Villegas of Colombia had also paid the dues to become a member, meaning both players can feature in next season’s Dubai World Championships, a US$20-million tournament that will replace the Volvo Masters from 2009 as the season finale to determine the tour’s leading player.

“Anytime you get players from the calibre of Camilo and Anthony into the tour, it’s great. It’s an asset, it’s good for golf, it’s good for the European Tour,” Sergio Garcia said.

Mike Weir of Bright’s Grove, Ont., and Phil Mickelson and have also talked about playing more in Europe next season, and Garcia said he expects several other PGA Tour players to seize on the moneymaking opportunities offered overseas.

“Some of the tournaments we play in the Middle East … are bigger than the ones they play in the U.S. You get good players there, so world rankings points increase,” Garcia said. “At the end of the day, that’s what the big players do it for.”

Over the last six months, Kim has emerged as one of golf’s brightest young prospect with victories in the Wachovia Championship and AT&T National at Congressional, along with a starring role in the United States’ victory at the Ryder Cup. Kim had begun the year at No. 75 in the world.

The 26-year-old Villegas is ranked seventh, meaning eight of the world’s 10 best players will feature in Europe in 2009.

“If you want the tour to grow and get to the level that it deserves, there’s no doubt that you need those big players,” Garcia said from the Volvo Masters.

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Sergio Garcia has spoken of his delight at the fact that both Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas have agreed to join the European Tour next season.

Kim and Villegas have now confirmed their intentions to play on both sides of the Atlantic by paying their European Tour joining fees.

Garcia revealed he had played a part in convincing the duo to take up their membership and feels they will prove to be huge assets.

“It’s great,” said Garcia ahead of the Volvo Masters where he will be looking to add to his triumph at the Castello Masters last week – an event at which Villegas made his European debut.

“I think any time you can get players of the calibre of Camilo and Anthony into the Tour, it’s great.

“It’s an asset and it’s good for golf. It’s good for the European Tour and it’s nice to see those guys move around a little bit and not only play in the US.

“We’ll welcome them with open arms and we hope they can enjoy it as much as we do.”

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There absolutely is no truth to the rumour that Mike Weir predicted a 58 in yesterday’s final round of the Frys.com Open at the Grayhawk Golf Club’s Raptor course.

That number would have put Weir into the history books and won him the tournament for the second year in a row. His lighthearted remark described the way he was feeling, combined with the spectacular conditions in the Valley of the Sun.

“I didn’t predict it,” Weir said with a grin. “I said: ‘I’m going to go after it.’ I didn’t predict anything, but I was going to try.”

Weir’s style all along never has had anything to do with boasts. When he has hit the peaks of his career, it’s always his clubs talking and they were doing just that after Weir came into the last round seven shots off the lead and tied for 24th.

Yesterday, he recorded six birdies and an eagle against just one bogey to finish with a seven-under 63. It wasn’t enough to successfully defend his 2007 Frys.com championship, but it was enough to send him into the off-season in a positive frame of mind.

“(Yesterday), the conditions were right to go after it. The greens were fairly soft. It was a day, from the position I was in, I really needed to try to attack,” said Weir, who tied for fourth.

“I had plenty of opportunities to even be lower. I missed probably four or five putts inside 10 feet. It really, really could have been a special round, but it was still a great round, a good way to finish on the last hole with a nice 25-footer (for birdie).”

Weir won’t play again until the Chevron World Challenge, hosted by Tiger Woods, just before Christmas.

“After this week, I’m off until Tiger’s event in California, but I’m just going to try to be at home,” said Weir, adding that he isn’t tempted to try one more event after the 63.

“I’m tired,” he said. “I put everything I had into this week and practised hard. I’m ready for a break and my family’s ready for me to be home for awhile.”

His performance yesterday did provide a spectacular finish, but not as spectacular as last year when Weir came down the stretch with a win against Woods at the Presidents Cup and the victory in Scottsdale, which ended a winless streak of three-and-a-half years.

“I think it definitely restored some confidence. I still was confident in my game and I was playing well,” recalled Weir, who had gone 87 starts without a win before tying the late George Knudson for most victories by a Canadian on the PGA Tour with his triumph in Scottsdale.

“When you’re able to do that, come through, it just reminds you that you can still do it when you need to and have to do it.

“It was a much nicer off-season, finishing with a win like that. I did go overseas and play and represent Canada in the World Cup in China last year, but outside of that, it was a nice, relaxing, very satisfying off-season with the way I finished the year with the Presidents Cup and winning here,” he said.

It appeared that Weir would bolt from the gate in 2008 when he finished fourth at the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship at Kapalua, but that was his lone top-10 until the beginning of June when Weir tied for second at the Memorial.

That finish illustrated that work on his short game was starting to pay off. While the latter stages of this year didn’t include a tournament win or a victory against the No. 1 player in the world, it was sprinkled with some sugar as Weir now has seven top-10s since the Memorial, including four in his last five events.

While the final stages of last season, when he recorded just four top-10s all year, was all about wins, the latter part of 2008 is all about consistency, especially in the FedEx Cup playoffs in which Weir tied for seventh at The Barclays, was runner-up at the Deutsche Bank and tied for sixth at the Tour Championship.

It’s enough to send him into the off-season into a positive frame of mind, especially since dialing in his wedges and improving his putting over the last few months of the season.

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Defending champ Mike Weir tees off the par three 8th hole during the final round of the Frys.Com Open held at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.

]]> http://medicusgolf.org/?feed=rss2&p=111 0 http://medicusgolf.org/?p=110 http://medicusgolf.org/?p=110#comments Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:12:03 +0000 admin http://medicusgolf.org/?p=110 The Mike Weir Foundation and Children’s Miracle Network supported by the National Golf Course Owners Association Canada have joined forces to create something never done before – a concerted national effort to raise $10 million for children’s health care through golf and related activities.

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Charismatic Colombian Camilo Villegas, one of the most exciting young talents in the game, will bring his own brand of swashbuckling golf to the fairways of the Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai from November 6 -9 when he lines up in the field for the HSBC Champions.

The 26 year old with the movie star looks will supplement the galaxy of stars already confirmed for the fourth staging of the US$5 million tournament which is co-sanctioned by The European Tour, the Asian Tour, the PGA Tour of Australasia, the Sunshine Tour and the China Golf Association.

It will not be Villegas’ first taste of the special HSBC Champions atmosphere, however, having made his debut in the tournament which heralded the start of the 2007 European Tour International Schedule, and where he finished in a tie for 23rd place in the event won by Korea’s Y E Yang.

“I know what to expect because I played in Shanghai two years ago,” he said. “But I am so glad that I didn’t miss out on it this year.”

The inclusion of Villegas in the field further strengthens what is already a superb line up; headed by defending champion and World Number Two Phil Mickelson of the United States and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington, a winner of two Major Championships in 2008. In addition, reigning Masters Tournament Champion Trevor Immelman will tee up alongside players of the calibre of Sergio Garcia, Anthony Kim, Geoff Ogilvy, Adam Scott and Henrik Stenson.

Villegas has, of course, already illustrated he is more than capable of winning in the most exalted of company having done just that on no less than two occasions in the United States last month.

There, he won the BMW Championship at Bellerive Country Club in Missouri before, three weeks later, he captured The Tour Championship presented by Coca Cola at East Lake Golf Club in Georgia. Those two events were, of course, the final two counting events in the US PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Series, victories which saw Villegas take second place in the Series behind Fiji’s Vijay Singh.

“I’m in the form of my life and I can’t wait to take on all the other top players in Shanghai, he said. “Obviously Phil Mickelson is there to defend his title but I’m definitely going there to win.”

Of course, the HSBC Champions also heralds the start of the inaugural Race to Dubai on The 38th European Tour International Schedule, a global journey which will comprise some 53 tournaments in 26 destinations before reaching a thrilling crescendo with The Dubai World Championship on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai in November 2009.

Playing on The European Tour International Schedule and, hence, vying for The Race to Dubai has captured the imagination of all the top players across the world and Villegas is no exception. “The Race to Dubai is going to catch a lot of players’ attention and it will be nice to see some of the US guys come across the Pond,” he said.

“I am joining The European Tour for the 2009 season because I’ve always wanted to play around the world but if you’re not in the top 50 (on the Official World Golf Ranking) then that is almost impossible.

“But I’ve had a great finish to the year and managed to crack the top ten and once you do that and are guaranteed a place in the Major Championships and the World Golf Championships, then the maths becomes a little easier. I haven’t mapped out my full schedule for the year just yet, I’m still working on that, but I’m looking forward very much to getting under way in China next week.”

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It was Mike Weir’s last round of the 2008 season, so he was going to go for it.

Weir was even throwing around the number 58 on the practice green before Sunday’s final round of the Frys.com Open at Grayhawk.

“I didn’t predict anything, but I was going to try,” Weir said.

The defending champion equaled the best round of the day with a 7-under-par 63. His four-round total of 266 had the Canadian finishing tied for fourth place.

“I had plenty of opportunities to even be lower,” Weir said. “I missed probably four or five putts inside of 10 feet. It could have really been a special round.”

Weir made eagle on the short par 4 15th hole when he chipped in and capped the tournament off with a 27-foot birdie putt. Now he’ll spend time with the family and preparing for ski season at Robert Redford’s Sundance Resort in Utah.

EXPIRED EXEMPTION?

Despite his woes on No. 18, Davis Love III improved his standing in the PGA Tour’s money list thanks to a strong finish. Love entered the week at No. 125 on the money list and has to stay there or improve to be fully exempt on the tour next year. His exemption for winning the 2003 Players Championship has expired.

Love bogeyed the final hole in both the third and fourth rounds. During Saturday’s third round, his tee shot buried itself in the edge of a bunker and he had to dig into the sand to find and identify his golf ball. With the unplayable lie, Love was forced to take a one-stroke penalty and drop his ball farther back in the fairway sand trap.

BABY ON BOARD

Like Weir, this was Aaron Baddeley’s final tournament of the season and with a 66 on Saturday and a 65 on Sunday, Baddeley had his ninth top-25 finish of the year.

Now it’s preparation time for Baddeley and his wife Richelle at their home in Scottsdale. They are expecting their first child in two weeks. He will spend the time at home learning how to be a dad.

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With a goal of qualifying for the PGA European Tour, Medicus Golf Development Player Peter Appleyard has successfully completed the first step in achieving this goal.  Peter qualified for the 2nd stage of tour qualifying school by grabbing one of the coveted spots at Chart Hills Golf Club by shooting 8 under par.

Peter began working with Medicus Golf Instructor Quintin van der Berg earlier this year.  He has credited Quintin, trained by Executive Director of Instruction for Medicus Golf, Chuck Evans, with not only helping him to qualify for the 2nd stage but also in qualifying for this years British Open.  Peter, who turned pro in 2003, beat a field of over 3,500 professional and amateur golfers to gain one of the coveted places.  After holding the joint lead at one stage of the British Open, with Australian superstar Adam Scott, he missed the halfway cut by only one shot.

Peter, who plays out of the Wildernesse Golf Club in England, has been extremely impressed with Quintin and Chuck.  “I found Quintin and Chuck to be very, very good coaches.  They are really up to date with the latest technological innovations and can provide expert analysis of the technical information.  I am delighted with the progress I have made with the instruction and it undoubtedly has helped me to raise my game.”

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