Brothers Molinari Are Augusta Bound

THIRTEEN PLAYERS HAVE QUALIFIED for the 2011 Masters based on their Official World Golf Ranking, including Italian brothers Francesco and Edoardo Molinari, both members of the winning European Ryder Cup team at Celtic Manor in Wales. The Masters invites players who are in the world top 50 at year’s end. Francesco is No. 15 and big brother Edoardo is No. 18. It will be Francesco’s first trip down Magnolia Lane. Edoardo has played at Augusta National twice, in 2006 and 2010, missing the cut on both occasions.

(Photo: Tiger practicing, patrons gawking. / Keith Allison, Flickr)

Rickie Fowler can also expect his first Masters invitation after finishing his rookie season on the PGA Tour ranked 28th in the world. Other players who have qualified are Robert Karlsson of Sweden (No. 17), Charl Schwartzel of South Africa (No. 34) and Ryo Ishikawa of Japan (No. 36). A total of 92 players are in. Additional players can qualify if they win an early-season PGA Tour event or slip into the top 50 by late March.

It’s only 105 days until Phil Mickelson defends his title. The 2011 Masters will be played April 7 through 10.

As AP reported, Tiger Woods will attempt to end his longest stretch without winning the Green Jacket or a major. By April, it will have been six years since Tiger’s last Masters title in 2005. Tiger has also come up empty in his last 10 majors.

The 2011 Masters field, so far

−The Armchair Golfer

Graeme McDowell in Four-Way Dubai Dogfight

Editor’s note: Brian Keogh is a golf correspondent for The Irish Sun and a regular contributor to The Irish Times, Golf Digest Ireland and other golf publications. The following piece is excerpted from his blog, Irish Golf Desk. 

By Brian Keogh
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

GRAEME MCDOWELL RECKONS THE Race to Dubai has become a four-way dogfight following Francesco Molinari’s wire-to-wire win in Shanghai. The Ulsterman goes into this week’s megabucks Barclays Singapore Open €531,806 adrift of German ace Martin Kaymer in the battle to become Europe’s No. 1.

But with Molinari seeing off Lee Westwood in the WGC-HSBC Champions to go fourth behind in the world No. 1 in the money list, McDowell knows he’s got a battle on his hands. Disappointed to finish in the pack in the WGC event in China, he’s hoping for better against Kaymer and the in-form Italian in this week’s $6m (€4.3m) battle at Serapong Golf Club.

A poor 34th last week, McDowell groaned: “World Golf Championships are massive events and unfortunately I didn’t take advantage of that with a good week in Shanghai. I hoped to catch Martin a bit more but it wasn’t to be. And with the excellent performances from Francesco and Lee we have a real race on our hands.”

The top four in the Race to Dubai are separated by just €1m with an incredible €11.5m in prize money up for grabs at the last three events in Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai. The winner of the season-ending Dubai World Championship will take home more than €800,000. But with the runner up set to pocket over €550,000, McDowell knows he will have to cut Kaymer’s half a million euro lead in half over the next two weeks.

GMac said: “There is still a lot of money to play for so anything can happen. All I can do is try and play my best and if that means I still have a shot at winning the Order of Merit, great. I want to get to the Dubai World Championship knowing that if I were to win that tournament I can also win the Race—that’s the chance I want to give myself.”

While Westwood is resting this week, McDowell will be keeping a close eye on playing partner and world No. 14 Molinari. But there are other big fish looking to gobble up the €713,165 top prize with Masters winner Phil Mickelson and defending champion Ian Poulter also teeing it up.

Ireland has 10 men in action with Padraig Harrington gunning for his second win in the space of a month after ending his two-year drought in Malaysia just three weeks ago.

Harrington said: “The form is good. I’m looking to win. If I hole the putts, I’ll be competing on Sunday.”

The Race to Dubai - Top 4

1. Martin Kaymer €3,207,229

2. Graeme McDowell €2,675,423

3. Lee Westwood €2,362,143

4. Francesco Molinari €2,201,614

Brian Keogh covers golf for The Irish Sun and contributes to a variety of golf publications. Pay him a visit at Irish Golf Desk.

2010 WGC-HSBC Champions TV Schedule and Tournament Notes

THE 2010 WGC-HSBC CHAMPIONS is underway at Sheshan Golf Club in Shanghai, China. Francesco Molinari is the first-round leader after shooting a 65. Lee Westwood trails by one after a 66. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson opened with 68 and 69, respectively.

Purse: $7 million
Winner’s share: $1.2 million
Defending champion: Phil Mickelson


The field
Tee times
The course
Tournament news
Video
Photo gallery



2010 WGC-HSBC Champions Leaderboard


TV SCHEDULE

All TV coverage on Golf Channel.

Thur, 11/4
12am – 4am ET (live)

Fri, 11/5
8am – 12pm ET (replay)
11pm – 4am ET (live)

Sat, 11/6
7am – 12pm ET (replay)
11pm – 4am ET (live)

Sun, 11/7
7am – 12pm ET (replay)

−The Armchair Golfer