Editor's Weekly Word

There are now only two tournaments left to decide the automatic qualifiers for the USA Ryder Cup Team and they both look to be interesting events. The PGA Championship next week is the last major of the season and with the form Tiger Woods showed last week, despite not winning, he has to be one to watch out for. But more about that next week.

This week we have the International. Taking a break from the normal stroke play format, the International uses a modified Stableford scoring system to decide the outcome. The system encourages and rewards attacking play. Let's face it, if you stand to pick up three points for a birdie but will only drop one point for a bogey, you'll be more likely to aim for the pin than the middle of the green. The full points scale is: Albatross 8 pts, Eagle 5 pts, Birdie 3 points, Par 0 pts, Bogey -1 pt  and double-bogey or worse -3 pts.

At the beginning of the year the European Tour International Schedule ran a tournament, the ANZ Championship in Australia, using the same system. England's Brian Davis picked up 17 points on the final day to overcome a 12 shot deficit at start of play and lift the title. Davis is playing this week and I'm sure his victory of six months ago will be fresh in his mind. Last year at the International, Davis Love III picked up 36 points in the first two rounds to give himself a commanding lead which he protected well at the weekend, picking up ten more points to win with a twelve point margin. The tournament record is 48 points which has been achieved by Phil Mickelson in 1997 and Ernie Els in 2000. Mickelson isn't playing this year but in-form Els will be there, looking for more world ranking points to close the 0.86 point gap between himself and world number one Tiger Woods. The one I'll be watching out for is Kevin Stadler who has won twice on the Nationwide Tour this year and seems determined to earn his PGA Tour card one way or another.

Have a good week.

Regards

Andy Smith
Founder/Editor
www.golfing-weekly.com

Buick Open Report

Vijay Singh held off challenges from John Daly, Tiger Woods and Carlos Franco to win the Buick Open with a 23 under par total of 265. This was Singh's fourth victory of 2004 and returns him to the top of the money list with earnings approaching $6million for the season. After a brilliant spell earlier in the year when he got to within a point of Tiger Woods at the top of the world rankings, Singh's form dropped off. He showed at the weekend that anyone who thought his season was over, needs to think again.

John Daly, who won the Buick Invitational in March, started the day two shots behind Singh but took the lead early in the round with an eagle and three birdies in the first four holes.  He held the outright lead until Singh birdied 12 to join him and then took the lead back with another birdie on 14. After that they match scores coming in and Daly had to settle for the runner-up spot.

Tiger Woods admitted to being frustrated that he was unable to win despite posting 22 birdies and only one bogey in the four days of the tournament. This is certainly the most consistent play we have seen from Woods for quite a while with rounds of 67, 68 and a pair of 66s at the weekend. If what he says is true, we may not yet have seen the best that he is capable of and he certainly seems happy with the progress he is making with the changes to his game that he is working on.

Carlos Franco followed up on his win in Milwaukee the previous week with another excellent performance. Having also posted four rounds in the mid sixties, he took a share of third place with Tiger Woods on 267, just two shots behind the winner.

Jim Furyk's tied sixth place on 271 confirmed his inclusion in the USA Ryder Cup team while Stewart Cink strengthened his claim by finishing fifth. Jerry Kelly, tied in eighth, moved up into the tenth qualifying place in the current Ryder Cup standings, nudging Jeff Maggert down into eleventh spot with only two weeks to go before the ten automatic selections are decided.

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Buick Open Results

Par 72 - 7,127 yards

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PGA Tour Money List

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Scandinavian Masters by Carlsberg Report

England's Luke Donald kept his cool on Sunday and posted him fourth sub-70 round to take the Scandinavian Masters by five shots from the Swedish pair, Peter Hanson and Henrik Stenson. Having bogeyed the last two holes on Saturday, Donald carried a three stroke lead into the start of the final round and retained control throughout the day. This was his first win on the European Tour and should go some way towards making this young player's case for inclusion in the European Ryder Cup Team.

The local spectators in Malmo, Sweden, saw many of their home players in contention throughout the week and were rewarded by joint runner-up finishes by Hanson and Stenson as well as top ten performances from Jesper Parnevik and Niclas Fasth who shared eighth place with five other players.

Ian Poulter's final round 65 would have equalled the course record set by Luke Donald earlier in the week if it weren't for the impressive 64 carded earlier in the day by Irishman Peter Lawrie (T8). Poulter's score was sufficient to give him a share of fourth place on 279 with Colin Montgomerie who finished with a 67.

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Scandinavian Masters by Carlsberg Results

Par 72 - 7,365 yards

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Volvo Order Of Merit

Earnings on the European Tour are paid in Euros. The equivalent value in US$ is for information purposes only and was calculated at the rate which was current at time of publishing. Earnings from the majors are included in both the European & PGA Tour Money Lists.

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Weetabix Women's British Open Report

England's Karen Stupples, who plays most of her golf in the USA on the LPGA Tour delighted her British fans with a five stroke victory in the Ladies final major of the season, the Weetabix Women's British Open. Coming from behind, she posted a final round of 8 under par 64, which included an eagle-albatross start on the first two holes, to give her a 19 under par total of 269. Overnight leaders, Australia's Rachel Teske and Texan Heather Bowie finished second and third respectively with final round scores of 70 and 71.

Of the other 2004 major winners, Annika Sorenstam and Grace Park finished eleven strokes back in an eight-player tie for 13th place, while Meg Mallon failed to make the cut.

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Weetabix Women's British Open Results

Par 72 - 6,308 yards

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ADT Money List

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U.S. Senior Open Report

Rookie Peter Jacobsen recorded four sub-par rounds to win the U.S. Senior Open on Sunday. In doing so, he became the third consecutive debut winner on the Champions Tour this year following Mark James (Ford Senior Players Championship) and Pete Oakley (Senior British Open) and all three tournaments are majors on the Champions Tour schedule.

In a gruelling 36-hole marathon on Sunday, (Friday's play was washed out), Jacobsen came from three shots back of Tom Kite with 12 holes to play. Kite's round fell apart in the last four holes where he dropped four strokes to finish tied in third place with Jay Haas. Hale Irwin came with a late charge to take the runner-up spot, one shot behind the winner.

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U.S. Senior Open Results

Par 71 - 7,117 yards

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Champions Tour Money List

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"Off the Cart Path" - weekly cartoon strip by Roy Doty

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Ryder Cup Points

Current standings based on latest information available.

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Official World Golf Rankings