The DP World Tour Thread

abff

Disappointing bogey at the 18th for David Higgins. Still, 69 was a decent enough round and a 67 or 68 tomorrow should see him secure his card for next season. It must have been distracting for him playing with someone who needed to birdie the last for a 59.

sydneybound

Great round by Thornton, -6 for the day and now joint leader on -14. A putt for birdie coming up too.

sydneybound

Davig Higgins & Paul McGinley both -5 at T48. Still a very good day tomorrow could get Higgins a top 20 however that may be unlikely.

abff

Another bogey on the 18th for David Higgins today. Level par 71 leaves him tied for 60th and likely to drop 2 or 3 places to 116 or 117 in the Race to Dubai rankings. He will move ahead of Lorenzo Gagli who missed the cut, but will be passed by Richard Green and will also be passed by Justin Walters (if he finishes top 10) and Simon Thornton (if he finishes top 5). His position relative to Mark Tullo is also going to be very close, with Tullo only a few hundred euro behind Higgins based on his current placing and could move slightly ahead if those around his score drop shots.

Likely scenario going into next week is Lawrie 115 and Higgins 116 with cards on offer for top 114 as there are four players in the top 110 who have played in 8 tournaments or less.

RikkFlair

The language out of some of these pros is shocking at times, Sky commentator has had to apologise 3 or 4 times now. When you have a tournament with smaller crowds you can hear the F bombs being dropped all over the place.

John Divney

RikkFlair wrote: »

The language out of some of these pros is shocking at times, Sky commentator has had to apologise 3 or 4 times now. When you have a tournament with smaller crowds you can hear the F bombs being dropped all over the place.

I threw a 6 iron at a golf buggy on Friday, so I'm loathe to judge.

Rikand

RikkFlair wrote: »

The language out of some of these pros is shocking at times, Sky commentator has had to apologise 3 or 4 times now. When you have a tournament with smaller crowds you can hear the F bombs being dropped all over the place.

Tiger woods has to be excused by the commentators at least 3 to 4 times every round!

SnowDrifts

Rikand wrote: »

Tiger woods has to be excused by the commentators at least 3 to 4 times every round!

3/4 times every round.... exaggeration.

Also - I wonder if other payers were getting 80+% of the TV coverage would we start to realize that in fact, most of them do swear occasionally.

PARlance

Shame Keopka blew up on the final stretch at the Frys Open, would have been a nice boost for the Euro Tour.

It might be the best way forward for the tour, getting some more up and coming talent like Uilheim & Keopka over to play.

ssbob

abff wrote: »

Likely scenario going into next week is Lawrie 115 and Higgins 116 with cards on offer for top 114 as there are four players in the top 110 who have played in 8 tournaments or less.

Don't you have to play in 12 tournaments? Higgins now at 115 with Lawrie at 114, the four I would be excluding now based on events played would be:

Dawie Van Der Walt - Only 9 tournaments and not likely to qualify for enough of the RTD series
Carl Petterson - Only 8 tournaments, may qualify for WGC & BMW but may not make enough money to get Top 60
Tim Clark - Only 7 tournaments so not enough tournaments left for him
Jonas Blixt - Only 4 tournaments and not enough tournaments left for him

Speak Now

Unfortunately the rules have changed this year

"Affiliate and/or Category 15 Members do not have to play a minimum of 12 as they do not have the right to enter tournaments and can only play on invites or qualification"

Petterson,Clark and Blixt are all affiliate :mad:

ssbob

Jerry Seinfeld wrote: »

Unfortunately the rules have changed this year

"Affiliate and/or Category 15 Members do not have to play a minimum of 12 as they do not have the right to enter tournaments and can only play on invites or qualification"

Petterson,Clark and Blixt are all affiliate :mad:

Do you have a link to these rules? I would guess that these do not count when making up the top 110?

abff

ssbob wrote: »

Do you have a link to these rules? I would guess that these do not count when making up the top 110?

You'll find it here http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/racetodubai/raceison/

It's the second last bullet point, but I think it refers to eligibility to play in the season finale. Whether those with less than 13 tournaments will be considered part of the official top 110 is not clear.

Incidentally, Lee Westwood will need to play in all four final events if he's going to reach 13.

ssbob

abff wrote: »

Incidentally, Lee Westwood will need to play in all four final events if he's going to reach 13.

I am pretty sure he will get one of those honorary life memberships if he has not done so already if he needs it, tbh he would qualify based on career money list aswell.

abff

ssbob wrote: »

I am pretty sure he will get one of those honorary life memberships if he has not done so already if he needs it, tbh he would qualify based on career money list aswell.

I'm sure Westwood will have no problem playing in any tournament he wants to. My comment was made in the context of whether or not you needed to complete 13 tournaments to be in the official top 110.

Also, the eligibility criteria for the season finale are pretty claer about needing to have played at least 12 tournaments before the finale, so he needs to play the first 3 events if he wants to play in the final one. It would be a bad time for him to get injured.

TRS30

Tough finish for Lawrie, bogeyed last three holes to finish +1

abff

TRS30 wrote: »

Tough finish for Lawrie, bogeyed last three holes to finish +1

Actually, he started on the 10th, so he was 2 over at the turn, but had 8 pars and 1 birdie coming home. Higgins also started on the 10th and birdied 2 of his last 3 holes to also finish 1 over. Both tied 49th at present.

TRS30

abff wrote: »

Actually, he started on the 10th, so he was 2 over at the turn, but had 8 pars and 1 birdie coming home. Higgins also started on the 10th and birdied 2 of his last 3 holes to also finish 1 over. Both tied 49th at present.

I did look and didn't see the * beside his name so assumed he had started on the 1st.

Good finish then

abff

Both Lawrie and Higgins are out early tomorrow. Hopefully, they can both make the cut and then take it from there.

abff

abff wrote: »

Both Lawrie and Higgins are out early tomorrow. Hopefully, they can both make the cut and then take it from there.

Looks like they will both make the cut. Lawrie definitely through after a 70. Higgins had a 72 and should also be safe. He's on +1 and the cut is currently +2 and likely to stay there or even go out to +3.

ssbob

abff wrote: »

Looks like they will both make the cut. Lawrie definitely through after a 70. Higgins had a 72 and should also be safe. He's on +1 and the cut is currently +2 and likely to stay there or even go out to +3.

TBH its nearly a shootout between the two of them to see who will get the last card?

Speak Now

Higgins almost needs a top 10 at this stage.

Lawrie is a great position to sneak it.

110,112 and 113 aren't playing.

107,108 and 111 have missed the cut.

109 (Bland) is on the cut.

Of those at the top Hedblom has to win.
Hansen and Finch would need top 3 and probably top 2 if Lawrie holds his position. Similarly a top 4 for Andersson-head.

ssbob

Jerry Seinfeld wrote: »

Higgins almost needs a top 10 at this stage.

Lawrie is a great position to sneak it.

110,112 and 113 aren't playing.

107,108 and 111 have missed the cut.

109 (Bland) is on the cut.

Of those at the top Hedblom has to win.
Hansen and Finch would need top 3 and probably top 2 if Lawrie holds his position. Similarly a top 4 for Andersson-head.

See this article:

http://www.golfcentraldaily.com/2013/10/pic-whats-that-skip-peter-hedbloms.html

Lawrie needs solo 45th and Higgins needs solo 27th based on the people that will drop out aswell due to not playing enough events. As things stand Lawrie is safe and Higgins is losing his card.

Speak Now

ssbob wrote: »

See this article:

http://www.golfcentraldaily.com/2013/10/pic-whats-that-skip-peter-hedbloms.html

Lawrie needs solo 45th and Higgins needs solo 27th based on the people that will drop out aswell due to not playing enough events. As things stand Lawrie is safe and Higgins is losing his card.

Yeah the guys in 107 and 110 are the non affiliate without the required events. Big pressure on Hedblom, all or nothing. Would be amazed if he won after the year he had, multiple tour winner though!!

Speak Now

Heard sports news on 2 different radio stations this afternoon and not a mention of the plight of these 2 guys. They had no bother telling us how someone who is out in Korea for the appearence money is getting on though.

abff

This clarification appeared on the European Tour website yesterday http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/news/newsid=209604.html I know I can't reproduce it in full because of copyright issues, but the key elements are that:

(a) Tim Clark (78) and Carl Pettersson (103) are not taking up 2014 ranked membership so they will come out of the Race to Dubai published at the end of this week.

(b) Jonas Blixt (46) and Dawie Van der Walt (107) will both be in the Race for Dubai next year, even though they will not have not competed in 13 or more tournaments. In Blixt's case, it's because he was an affiliate member this year; in Van der Walt's case, it's because he won a tournament this year.

They go to on say that because of (a), other members will move up two places. What they don't make clear is whether the other two in (b) above will count towards the top 110 who retain their card. By implication, it appears that they will, but this was not the case in previous years.

Therefore it's not clear to me (maybe I'm just being thick) whether the target for Lawrie and Higgins is top 112 or top 114. If anyone can provide a definitive answer, I'll be most grateful.

abff

Following on from my previous posting and not knowing if it's 112 or 114 that's the target, here's the standings based on positions at the half way cut:

Rank Player name Played Current Perth Revised Ranking
179 HEDBLOM Peter 20 €56,504 €245,438 €301,942 93
109 BLAND Richard 25 €237,866 €3,957 €241,823 109
108 LEVY Alexander 23 €240,540 €0 €240,540 110
114 LAWRIE Peter 27 €217,107 €14,873 €231,980 111
110 BHULLAR Gaganjeet 12 €228,355 €0 €228,355 112
111 KINGSTON James 14 €225,150 €0 €225,150 113
112 GREEN Richard 21 €218,463 €0 €218,463 114
115 HIGGINS David 21 €210,987 €6,921 €217,908 115
113 KOEPKA Brooks 12 €217,762 €0 €217,762 116
116 TULLO Mark 24 €210,421 €3,957 €214,378 117
119 KALEKA Alexandre 28 €196,980 €14,873 €211,853 118
117 GAGLI Lorenzo 28 €209,227 €0 €209,227 119
137 HANSEN Soren 21 €139,411 €64,796 €204,207 120

So, as things currently stand, Peter Lawrie will hold onto his card, while David Higgins will lose out by either 1 or 3 places. If Peter Hedblom finishes 2nd on his own, he will fall to 113th, behind Lawrie, but still ahead of Higgins. If he falls to tied 2nd or worse, he will fall behind Higgins.

In order to finish ahead of Green, Higgins needs to finish 47th, while he needs to finish 27th to finish ahead of Kingston and 20th to finish ahead of Bhullar. If in a tie (which is more likely) the above are the average positions he needs.

The wild cards are how Hedblom does, how Soren Hansen does (he's currently tied 3rd) and whether the target is top 112 or top 114.

Speak Now

Good work abff, I would be sure it's top 112 now myself.

Is Bhullar out of the equation now as well as he is 1 event short, he's not a winner or affiliate. (Entered in BMW and Turkey but almost no chance of getting in)
Really he is only there on the back of the 200K he won for being runner up in the Avantha Masters.

Hansen could be the fly in the ointment as he doesn't have the same pressure as Hedblom due to his position in the top 40 career earnings list.

abff

Jerry Seinfeld wrote: »

Good work abff, I would be sure it's top 112 now myself.

Is Bhullar out of the equation now as well as he is 1 event short, he's not a winner or affiliate. (Entered in BMW and Turkey but almost no chance of getting in)
Really he is only there on the back of the 200K he won for being runner up in the Avantha Masters.

Hansen could be the fly in the ointment as he doesn't have the same pressure as Hedblom due to his position in the top 40 career earnings list.

Good point about Bhullar. It looks like he will fall short of the minimum 13 tournaments required. Strange that he didn't play this week.

I agree that Hansen could be a threat. As you say, the fact that he is in the top 40 career earnings list takes a lot of pressure off him. Almost makes you wonder why he bothered travelling to Australia, but maybe he fancied his chances of picking up another title.

Anyway, fingers crossed for both Lawrie and Higgins and let's hope they both make it.

sydneybound

abff wrote: »

Good point about Bhullar. It looks like he will fall short of the minimum 13 tournaments required. Strange that he didn't play this week.

I agree that Hansen could be a threat. As you say, the fact that he is in the top 40 career earnings list takes a lot of pressure off him. Almost makes you wonder why he bothered travelling to Australia, but maybe he fancied his chances of picking up another title.

Anyway, fingers crossed for both Lawrie and Higgins and let's hope they both make it.

Lawrie T25 on -1. Had bogeys on 17 & 18 to finish, kicker...

Higgins T58 on +3. A nervous night of sleep awaits. God knows what's going through his mind, the thought about another trip to your school must be making him sick. Let's hope it's not necessary.