08 Feb 07Stenson wins Dubai Desert Classic
Sweden's Henrik Stenson shot a four under par final round of 68 to post a one-shot victory over South African Ernie Els to win the Dubai Desert Classic.
Stenson finished with a 19 under par total of 269 in winning the European Tour event. The victory moved Stenson into fourth place in the Order of Merit.
World number 1 Tiger Woods finished tied for third after his final round 69 saw him finish at two shots behind Stenson.
Stuart Appleby finished best of the Australian contingent finishing in a tie for 15th place at 11 under the card.
Woods saw his seven tournament win streak come to an end after back-to-back bogeys at 10 and 11 while Els struggled to reel in Stenson after dropping a shot at three of the opening six holes.
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30 Jan 07Woods wins Buick Invitational again
Tiger Woods won his seventh straight PGA Tour event after firing a 6-under par round of 66 to win by two shots from Charles Howell III.
Woods shot rounds of 66, 72, 69 and 66 to finish at 15 under the card and collect the $936,000 first prize cheque.
Woods jetted off for Dubai on Sunday night where he will play the Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour, an event where he is defending his title won last year.
Tiger Woods is now a $2.50 chance in Iasbet.com betting markets to win the US Masters at Augusta National, GA.
Big hitting lefty Phil Mickelson is the second elect at 10/1 odds while South African Ernie Els is on the third line of betting at $15.00
First round leader Brandt Snedeker finished third after shooting a 71 in his final round while Bubba Watson, Mark Calcavecchia and Australian rookie Andrew Buckle finished tied for fourth place.
The 24-year-old Buckle led the tournament before a double bogey at the 12th and another bogey at the 14th saw him fall out of contention.
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18 Dec 06Tiger Woods wins Target World Challenge
WORLD number 1 Tiger Woods won his own golf tournament overnight when he fired a six-under-par 66 final round to finish four shots clear of U.S Open champion Geoff Ogilvy.
Woods claimed his third victory in eight years at the Target World Challenge after he finished on 16 under 272 at the Sherwood Country Club.
Ogilvy went into the final day with a one shot lead over Woods but quickly found himself one down after the second as Woods Birdied while Ogilvy recorded a bogey thanks to a clump of mud on his ball.
It was the 11th tournament victory of the year for Woods who said it was a better year than his all-conquering 2000 season.
"I think if you compare the two years, I think this year would have to be better because of, obviously, things I've been dealing with off the golf course," said Woods.
"In 2000, I didn't have to deal with that. Hey, life is full of mysteries and you've got to deal with things as they come.”
“Who's to know that if Dad didn't struggle and end up passing that I wouldn't have played that well in the summer."
John Daly finished last in the 16-man field after finishing at 9 over 297. He closed with a final round 80 that included a quintuple-bogey 8 on the par 3 third hole
FINAL LEADERBOARD
-16 T Woods
-12 G Ogilvy (Aus)
-11 C DiMarco
-9 H Stenson (Swe)
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30 Nov 06Els Favourite for the NGC
SOUTH African Ernie Els will start equal $5 favourite on IASbet when he makes his record 15th appearance in the 2006 Nedbank Golf Challenge (NGC) starting at Sun City on Thursday.
Els shares IASbet favoritism with last year’s winner, American Jim Furyk.
The much-heralded local will be joined by three other fellow countrymen in the 26th edition of the NGC, Retief Goosen ($5.50) and NGC debutants Trevor Immelman and Charl Schwartzel.
Goosen will be seeking to avenge last year when he was part of a thrilling record four-man playoff that went the way of Furyk after a dramatic chip-in at the 18th.
The other two men in that playoff, Adam Scott and Darren Clarke, aren’t playing this year.
Immelman earned his place in the NGC with a maiden victory on the US PGA Tour in the Western Open on his way to a world ranking of 15.
The Western Open triumph was against a field that included a charging Tiger Woods, with the youngster $10 on IASbet and $2.80 each-way.
Schwartzel topped the Sunshine Tour’s order of merit to snare his invitation and is the longest priced player at IASbet on $41.
Among the big names returning to Sun City are 2003 winner, Spaniard Sergio Garcia, 1996 champion Scot Colin Montgomerie, and Irishman Padraig Harrington, who in 2001 carved up the Gary Player CC course with a record 61 in the third round, which still stands today.
Others in the field are Ryder Cup players, Englishman David Howell and Swede Henrik Stenson, consistent American Chris DiMarco and Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal.
For the latest odds on the 2006 Nedbank Golf Challenge, check out IASbet . More...
28 Nov 06Ames wins Skins
42-year-old Canadian Stephen Ames skinned them when he picked up $590,000 and the championship at this weekend’s Skins Championship in La Quinta, California.
Ames took out the tournament after a 3-foot birdie putt on the third playoff hole earned him $270,000 to clinch the title from five time champion Fred Couples.
Ames said, "I forgot about the golf swing and just started playing golf. I made some nice putts and hit some good shots where I made some skins early on."
Couples who was making his 13th appearance took home $385,000 after taking nine skins, one more than Ames.
Fred Funk who won $925,000 in taking the title last year couldn’t win one skin this time around while John Daly claimed just the one skin and $25,000.
The final hole was a "Super Skin" worth $200,000 added to the $70,000 which went unclaimed on the 17th.
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26 Nov 06Rose leads Mastercard Masters
Englishman Justin Rose leads the MasterCard Australian Masters at Huntingdale by two-stroke over Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin and Australian’s Greg Chalmers and Aaron Pike.
Rose shot a third round 68 with a tap in eagle at the 555 metre par-five 14th giving the Englishman hope of claiming his first tournament victory in four years.
Amateur Aaron Pike who went into the third day with a two stroke lead battled back with a birdie at the last to post a 72 after the 21-year-old started with a double-bogey at the first and quickly followed it up with another bogey at the second.
The birdie at the last will keep the dream alive for Northern Territorian who is aiming to become the youngest-ever and only amateur to win the gold jacket.
LEADERBOARD
203: Justin Rose (Eng) 69 66 68
205: Raphael Jacquelin (FRA) 66 72 67, Greg Chalmers (WA) 70 67 68, Aaron Pike (am, QLD) 64 69 72
208: Paul Casey (Eng) 71 70 67, Peter Lonard (NSW) 68 71 69, Carl Suneson (Esp) 68 71 69
209: Marcus Fraser (Vic) 74 69 66, Adam Bland (SA) 72 70 67, Peter Senior (Qld) 72 70 67, Richard Green (Vic) 70 71 68, Craig Parry (NSW) 68 72 69, Aaron Baddeley (Vic) 68 71 70, Tony Carolan (Qld) 68 69 72, Simon Khan (Eng) 71 66 72
210: Peter O'Malley (NSW) 74 68 68, Jarrod Lyle (Vic) 72 69 69, Nick O'Hern (WA) 73 68 69, Andrew Butterfield (Eng) 70 70 70 More...
24 Nov 06Pike leads Australian Masters
Amateur Aaron Pike heads the leaderboard at the Australian Masters, having shot a course record-equalling eight-under-par round of 64 at Huntingdale yesterday.
The 21-year-old Queenslander, who won a seven-way play-off to qualify for the Masters, is one shot clear of Nick Dougherty of England and Victorian Peter Wilson while Raphael Jacquelin of France is a further shot back in outright fourth.
Steven Bowditch, Craig Parry, Peter Lonard, Aaron Baddeley, Tony Carolan and Carl Suneson are all tied at 4-under the card with defending champion Robert Allenby one shot back at 3-under.
Allenby struggled throughout the day but managed to get his title defense back on track picking up five shots over the final six holes. More...
24 Nov 06Woods wins another Grand Slam title
World number one Tiger Woods won his seventh consecutive PGA Grand Slam of Golf when he finished the 36-hole tournament with an 8-under par total of 136.
Jim Furyk picked up $300,000 after he finished two shots behind the fast-finishing Woods, who closed with a 6 under par 66 to take home the $500,000 winners share.
Tiger has now amassed more than $3 million in career Grand Slam prizemoney.
Australia’s US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy struggled through the final day and finished six strokes back to take home $250,000. More...
21 Nov 06Harrington Beats Woods
Irishman Padraig Harrington defeated World Number 1 Tiger Woods in a playoff to claim the
Dunlop Phoenix tournament played in Japan.
Woods presented Harrington with the winner's jacket after Harrington tapped in a two-foot birdie putt on the second hole of sudden death.
It was only the third time in 17 tournament playoffs that Woods had been beaten, the other two occasions both happened in 1998.
Woods lost to Billy Mayfair at the Nissan Open which was played at the Valencia Country Club course in California.
The world’s number one only other playoff loss as a professional was at the hands of Zimbabwean Nick Price at the Gary Player Country Club course Sun City host of the Million Dollar Challenge in South Africa.
Harrington, the 2006 European Order of Merit winner said, "I definitely got lucky but sometimes fortune favors the brave." After defeating the 12-time major winner.
Both players carded final rounds of 67 with Harrington shooting 4 under for the back nine while Woods threw away a two-stroke lead with three holes to play.
Meanwhile, Spains José Manuel Lara finally broke through for his maiden European Tour title with a wire-to-wire victory at the UBS Hong Kong Open.
The Spaniard shot a final round of 69 for a 15 under par total of 265 and a one-stroke win over Juvic Pagunsan.
The European Tour continues this week with the MasterCard Masters at Huntingdale Golf Club in Melbourne where Victorian Robert Allenby will be defending the title when he chases a third Gold Jacket.
IASbet offers Golf Betting with Futures Markets already available on the NedBank Golf Challenge next week in South Africa, the 2007 US Masters and the 2008 Ryder Cup.
Novelty bet type: When will Tiger Woods win his First Major in 2007 is also available? More...