Archive for August, 2009
Peter Hedblom fired a five-under 67 to win the Johnnie Walker Championship on Sunday, holding off fellow Swede Martin Erlandsson by a shot to capture his third European Tour title.
Hedblom, who lost a playoff at last week’s KLM Open, finished four trips around the Gleneagles course at 13-under 275 for his first victory since the 2007 Malaysian Open. The hard-charging Erlandsson, chasing his first tour win, made nine birdies in one 11-hole stretch Sunday and set the course record with a 10-under 62. But he fell one stroke short of his countryman at 12-under 276.Gregory Havret, last year’s champion from France, closed with a 67 to share third place with 1999 British Open winner Paul Lawrie (69) at 10-under 278. Gary Orr (64) took fifth place at nine-under 279.
Hedblom carried the lead into the final round for the second week in a row after posting the lowest 54-hole score on the European Tour this season at the KLM Open last week. He managed only a one-under 69 last Sunday, however, and lost to Simon Dyson in a three-way playoff. Hedblom said the difference this week was his confidence, which was high at the beginning of the round. He went birdie-bogey-birdie over the first three holes.
“I thought that was the key,” he said. Still, with Erlandsson scorching the course in front of him — he made nine birdies between Nos. 2 and 11 — Hedblom found himself playing catch-up. He birdied four consecutive holes beginning at No.7, capping the rally by holing a putt from off the green at the 10th, and pulled one shot in front of Erlandsson. Hedblom later bogeyed the 15th hole to fall into a tie with Erlandsson, who was already in the clubhouse at 12-under.
Knowing he needed a birdie, Hedblom took aim at the pin on 16 and spun his approach back to four feet.It was the shot that won him the tournament, setting up the go-ahead birdie. All that remained were two pars — including a knee-knocking four-foot putt at the 18th that was left when Hedblom ran his birdie try too far past the hole. He pumped his right fist after rolling it in to secure the win.
“It was so tough. I thought last week was tough, this one was even harder, especially since I had the lead,” said Hedblom. “I had to dig down so deep,” he added, “but I’m so happy now.”
Erlandsson made 10 birdies in a flawless round, breaking by one shot the previous 18-hole course record of 63 set by Pierre Fulke in 2000 and matched by Adam Scott in 2002. “What a round,” said Hedblom, who added with a chuckle: “He should have won.”
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August 30th, 2009
Here’s the latest round up on this week’s auto racing courtesy of Bookmaker.com.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is off for the final time this season, but there is still plenty of racing action this week, as the Nationwide Series heads to Montreal. The IndyCar Series and the Camping World Truck Series run under the lights at Chicagoland this weekend, while Formula One revs it up in Belgium.
NASCAR Nationwide Series NAPA Auto Parts 200 – Circuit Gilles Villeneuve – Montreal, Quebec, Canada
The Nationwide Series heads to Montreal for the second and final road course event on the 2009 schedule. Watkins Glen, NY was held earlier this month, with Marcos Ambrose defending his race title there. Montreal is now the only NASCAR national touring series event held outside the United States, since Iowa Speedway replaced Mexico City on this year’s Nationwide calendar. Canadian Ron Fellows returns to his home turf to defend his race title. Last year, Fellows endured wet track conditions on the 2.709-mile, 14-turn course and capitalized on an early-race pit strategy to claim his fourth career Nationwide victory. NASCAR ran its first-ever national series points event in the rain, but weather conditions deteriorated to the point where the race was cut 26 laps short of the 74-lap distance.
“I did just one race last year with JR Motorsports and Rick Hendrick in the 5 car,” Fellows said. “It was obviously a successful one. It was a wild day with certainly the threat of rain, getting an opportunity to actually race the Nationwide cars in the rain.”
Fellows will drive the No.5 JR Motorsports Chevrolet at Montreal once again this year. Patrick Carpentier, from nearby Ville Lasalle, Quebec, has finished second in the first two races at Montreal. Carpentier will drive the No.99 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota. He drove Waltrip’s No.55 Sprint Cup car at Watkins Glen and Sonoma, CA this year.Ambrose, Carl Edwards and Brendan Gaughan will pull double duty at Montreal. The trio will make their debut in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. The Grand-Am race runs Saturday, the day before the Nationwide event. Edwards and Ambrose will share driving duties in the No.77 Doran Ford Daytona Prototype (DP) car, while Gaughan and Grand-Am regular Andy Lally will team up in the No.66 TRG Porsche GT3 (Grand Touring) entry.
Ambrose finished third in last year’s Nationwide event at Montreal. “I’ve got a chance to win two races this weekend at Montreal, and that is what I’m going there to try and do,” Ambrose said. “The racing at Montreal is always really good, and I’ve been so close to winning that Nationwide race for the past two years.” Kyle Busch is looking to rebound after he finished a disappointing 28th at Bristol. Busch, who was involved in an early-race crash with Chase Austin, saw his lead over Edwards shrink from 339 points to 248. Edwards finished second to his Roush Fenway Racing teammate David Ragan.Edwards finished 30th in the inaugural event at Montreal in 2007 and sixth there last year.
“Montreal is one of the most fun events of the year,” Edwards said. “I love going to places that are out of the norm. It was an adventure last year racing in the rain, and it was one of the neatest events that I have been a part of.” Busch has yet to compete at Montreal. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has hosted Formula One, CART/Champ Car and NASCAR Canadian Tires Series events. The circuit, on lle Notre-Dame, a man- made island on the St. Lawrence River in Montreal, was named after the late Canadian driver Gilles Villeneuve, father of Jacques Villeneuve, who is driving the No.32 Braun Racing Toyota this week. Forty-five teams are on the preliminary entry list for Sunday’s NAPA Auto Parts 200.
Camping World Truck Series EnjoyIllinois.com 225 – Chicagoland Speedway – Joliet, IL
Despite his winning streak of five races coming to an end last week at Bristol, Ron Hornaday Jr.continues to hold a sizeable points lead in the Camping World Truck Series. Hornaday has a 211-point advantage over Matt Crafton with 10 races remaining in the season.Chicagoland kicks off a two-week stretch of an inaugural race at a track new to the series.Iowa is scheduled for Labor Day weekend. Chicagoland has been on the Sprint Cup and Nationwide schedules since 2001.Kyle Busch, who snapped Hornaday’s streak at Bristol, won last year’s Sprint Cup and Nationwide races at Chicagoland. He is looking to complete the track’s national series triple.”The biggest thing I learned last year was the track didn’t change much,” Busch said. “It just got cooler and gained grip. Winning both races at Chicago last year – it was just a great weekend.”
Busch has victories in all three of NASCAR’s national series at five different tracks (Atlanta, Bristol, California, Dover and Phoenix). Hornaday has won nine inaugural races in the Truck Series since its inception in 1995. He has also competed in two Nationwide events at Chicagoland, finishing fifth in 2002 and 10th in ’04.”I’m really excited to go to Chicago,” Hornaday said. “We tested there some last year, and I really liked the track. We have run pretty well at the 1.5- mile tracks this season.” Hornaday has won two of the last three Truck races on 1.5-mile tracks. He took Kentucky last month and Charlotte in May.Busch and Roush Fenway Racing driver Colin Braun will attempt the Chicagoland- Montreal combo this weekend. Braun will make his first Nationwide start this season, and he’ll compete at Montreal for the first time. He has practiced there several times.”I feel like there’s definitely enough time in between to kind of transition in between those two different types of vehicles and types of racetracks,” Braun said.”I could see it would be really difficult to do it on the same weekend.” Forty teams are on the preliminary entry list for Friday’s EnjoyIllinois.com 225.
INDYCAR SERIES Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 – Chicagoland Speedway – Joliet, IL
Three races to go, and three title contenders remain in the show.After finishing second in last Sunday’s race at Sonoma, CA, Ryan Briscoe from Team Penske reclaimed the championship lead in the IndyCar Series. Briscoe holds just a four-point advantage over Dario Franchitti, who led all 75 laps at Sonoma for his fourth victory of the season. Briscoe won earlier this month at Kentucky and the season-opener in April at St. Petersburg, FL, but has finished second in seven other races this year.”We just have to keep getting these points,” Briscoe said. “Coming in second gets a little old after awhile, but we’ll win one of these someday.” Scott Dixon, also a four-time race winner this season, came to Sonoma with the points lead, but after a 13th-place finish there, he has fallen to 20 points behind Briscoe and 16 back of his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Franchitti.
Dixon was one of those involved in a seven-car pile on the opening lap. He got caught in a jam and drove into the back of Tony Kanaan, sustaining damage to the nose of his car. Dixon remained on the lead lap and worked his way back to 10th before Marco Andretti spun him out on the final lap. “Hopefully, we’ll take this as our bad weekend and just move on and get a good result on our next three,” Dixon said. With Chicagoland, Motegi, Japan and Homestead, FL remaining on this year’s schedule, Dixon is confident he can repeat as the series champion. “We have a great run coming up with the three tracks at the finish,” he added. Dixon has finished second in the last two races at Chicagoland, which has been the site of the season-finale the previous three seasons. Last year at Chicagoland, Helio Castroneves nipped Dixon in one of the closest finishes in series history. While Castroneves captured his second win of the season, Dixon clinched the series title by 17 points.In 2007, Franchitti, who drove for Andretti Green Racing at the time, entered the season-finale at Chicagoland with just a three-point lead over Dixon. The two drivers battled all the way to the final lap, with Franchitti taking the checkered flag and the series title. Dixon held the lead on the last lap, but Franchitti passed Dixon, who suddenly slowed when he ran out of fuel. He managed to coast home in second.”It’s just so competitive that you can’t afford mistakes,” Franchitti said. “We’ve all made them this year. Actually, we’ve all had bad luck as well. When you get the chance, you got to score the points.”
Castroneves saw his championship hopes diminish significantly after an 18th- place result at Sonoma. The Penske driver got slightly airborne after he made contact with Kanaan heading into a corner late in the race. Shortly after, his right front suspension failed, causing him to run off course and into the dirt. He now trails his teammate Briscoe by 126 points.
FORMULA ONE Belgian Grand Prix – Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps – Spa, Belgium
Brawn GP’s Rubens Barrichello revived his Formula One world championship hopes afterwinning lastSunday’s European Grand Prix in Valencia, Spain. Barrichello, who recorded his first grand prix victory since 2004 when he drove for Ferrari. The Brazilian moved to within 18 points of leader and teammate Jenson Button, who finished seventh at Valencia.Barrichello, who is the oldest current F1 driver at age 37, benefited from Lewis Hamilton’s costly pit road mistake to take the European GP. Hamilton started on the pole and led early, but was delayed during his final pit stop when his McLaren team was not properly prepared for a tire change. The defending world champion made steady progress in the closing laps, but settled for a second-place finish. After the conclusion of the ’08 season, Barrichello and Button’s future in F1 were uncertain after their Honda team pulled out of the sport due to the world-wide economic slowdown. Ross Brawn acquired the former Honda team and has since revitalized both drivers’ careers.”Last year, people seemed to think that was it for me, but now I can show that it wasn’t. I have always thought I had it in me. I think I have just reached the peak of my speed, so I have more on me. I hope I can carry on,” Barrichello said.
Barrichello could very continue his march towards his first F1 title in Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix. The Belgian GP is held on the famed Spa-Francorchamps, one of the oldest courses on the F1 circuit. The track has also been good to Ferrari the last several years.Michael Schumacher drove a Ferrari to consecutive wins at Spa from 2001-02. Kimi Raikkonen won the Belgian GP back-to-back from 2004-05 and then again in ’07. Felipe Massa recorded the victory in last year’s race there. The event was not run in 2003 and ’06. One year ago, Hamilton crossed the finish line first in the Belgian GP, but Massa was credited with the win after race stewards penalized Hamilton for an infraction during his late-race battle with Raikkonen. Hamilton was originally declared the winner, but was later handed a 25-second time penalty after stewards decided he gained an advantage by cutting the final chicane during his duel with Raikkonen. The McLaren driver dropped to third place as a result, with Nick Heidfeld from BMW Sauber moving up to second.Hamilton said he is skeptical about his team’s chances of winning in Belgium this year.”I don’t think we’ll be as competitive as we’ve been at the last few races, because Spa is a circuit where you need a lot of downforce,” he said. “I think Brawn, Red Bull and even Ferrari will be fast there.It’s a high-speed circuit, and Ferrari has always been very quick there, so I’m expecting Kimi to be quick. It should also suit the Red Bulls, because it’s very high-speed and flowing and they have great downforce.”
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August 27th, 2009
Here’s the round-up of golfing betting action this coming week courtesy of top US sports betting site Bookmaker.com
PGA TOUR – THE BARCLAYS, Liberty National Golf Club, Jersey City, New Jersey
The 2009 FedEx Cup Playoffs begin this week in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty and the skyline of New York City. The top 125 players in the FedEx Cup standings — Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson included — will be at picturesque Liberty National Golf Club for the $7.5 million Barclays, the first of four playoffs events. Those staying in Manhattan will arrive to the course by boat, an experience described by LPGA Tour player Morgan Pressel on her Twitter feed as “Truly amazing.”
This week’s Barclays will be the first big-time professional tournament hosted by the three-year-old course, which was built on a piece of contaminated land in Jersey City.Tom Kite, the golf Hall of Famer who was one of two course architects, “hated the site, but loved the location” when he first visited. The task of building the course included covering the property with something akin to a plastic bag, then several feet of sand on top of that. It’s a one-of-a-kind setting for the tournament that kicks off the third year of the PGA Tour’s playoffs.
Steve Stricker won the Barclays in 2007, the first year of the playoffs, but finished second to Woods for the inaugural FedEx Cup and its $10 million annuity. Last year, with Woods sidelined by knee surgery, Vijay Singh beat Sergio Garcia and Kevin Sutherland at the Barclays and went on to win the FedEx Cup.
The four-tournament playoff swing will take five weeks this year. Next week is the Deutsche Bank Championship, also won by Singh last season, followed by the BMW Championship beginning Sept. 10. After a rare one-week break in the PGA Tour schedule, the playoffs conclude at the Tour Championship beginning Sept.24. Camilo Villegas won the BMW Championship and Tour Championship last year. By the time the Tour Championship begins, the playoffs field will have been whittled down to the top 30 players in the points standings — a truly elite field of golf’s hottest players. Golf Channel and CBS will split coverage of The Barclays this week.
EUROPEAN TOUR JOHNNIEWALKER CHAMPIONSHIPS AT GLENEAGLES, The Gleneagles Hotel (PGA Centenary Course), Perthshire, Scotland
Gregory Havret will defend his title this week at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.Havret closed with a three-under 70 last year to beat hard-charging Graeme Storm (68) by a shot for his third European Tour win. The Frenchman sealed the victory with an up-and-down par save from a bunker beside the 18th green, celebrating with a right-fist pump and a customary champagne shower from his countrymen. Havret will be joined in the field this week by fellow Johnnie Walker champions Marc Warren (2007), Emanuele Canonica (2005), Miles Tunnicliff (2004). But because the first event of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs is also on the docket this week, many of Europe’s top stars will be in the United States.
Golf Channel has coverage of all four rounds beginning at 10 a.m. (et) on Thursday and Friday and 9 a.m. on both weekend days. Next week is the Omega European Masters, where Jean-Francois Lucquin won last year.
LPGA TOUR SAFEWAY CLASSIC, Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, Ghost Creek Golf Course, North Plains, Oregon
All 12 members of the victorious U.S. Solheim Cup team are scheduled to play in this week’s Safeway Classic, including defending champion Cristie Kerr. The players woke up Monday morning in Illinois, their 16-12 win over Europe only hours old, and immediately began preparing for the three-day tournament in Oregon.
“First class is going to be loud this morning!” Christina Kim said on her Twitter feed, preparing to take a flight to Portland with Kerr and some of her other teammates. Kerr fired a seven-under 65 in the final round last year, then beat Helen Alfredsson and Sophie Gustafson — two of her opponents at the Solheim Cup — in a playoff.She birdied the first extra hole to claim her 11th LPGA Tour victory — her first since the 2007 U.S. Women’s Open. Kerr picked up win No. 12 this season at the Michelob Ultra Open.World No. 1 Lorena Ochoa, the 2007 champion, headlines the rest of the field.
ESPN2 has coverage of the first two rounds, while ESPN will broadcast Sunday’s final round. Next week is the CN Canadian Women’s Open, where Katherine Hull won last season.
CHAMPIONS TOUR BOEING CLASSIC, TPC Snoqualmie Ridge, Snoqualmie, Washington
Tom Kite won the Boeing Classic for the second time last year, shooting a six-under 66 in the final round to beat Scott Simpson by two shots. It marked the 10th win in Kite’s Champions Tour career, but first since he also captured this tournament in 2006. This will be an interesting week for the Hall of Famer.Not only will he defend his title at the TPC Snoqualmie Ridge, but the PGA Tour playoffs begin Thursday at a course (Liberty National) that Kite helped design. Kite will be joined in the field by fellow Boeing Classic winners Denis Watson and David Eger. It is the first time since July 10 that the Champions Tour will begin a non-major event.
Golf Channel has coverage of all three rounds beginning at 6:30 p.m. (et) the first two days and 7 p.m. on Sunday.Next week is the Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, where Jeff Sluman won last season.
NATIONWIDE TOUR NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA CLASSIC, Elmhurst Country Club, Moscow, Pennsylvania
Last year, Scott Piercy shot a six-under 64 in the final round of the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic to win for the second time in three weeks. Piercy, playing this season on the PGA Tour, won’t get a chance to defend his title this week. But 15 of the 19 winners from this season will be on hand.This is the second time that Elmurst Country Club in Moscow, Penn., will host the tournament, which is the only PGA Tour-sanctioned event in the state.
There is no television coverage this week. Next up for the Nationwide Tour is the Mexico Open, where Jarrod Lyle won last season.
CANADIAN TOUR SEAFORTH COUNTRY CLASSIC, Seaforth Golf Club, Seaforth, Ontario
The $125,000 Seaforth Country Classic is on tap this week. Last year, Kent Eger fired a seven-under 64 in the final round to beat a trio of hard-charging players — Wil Collins (62), John Ellis (63) and Daniel Im (63) — by two shots. Eger, who captured his first win, finished at 26-under 258 to set a Canadian Tour record for lowest overall score. Next week is the Canadian Tour Championship, where Tom Stankowski won last year.
August 26th, 2009