Looking At – 2011 Arnold Palmer Invitational

During March 21-27, the Arnold Palmer Invitational being held at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida, which will bring together one of the strongest fields of the year as most golfers use the event as a tune up for The Masters in early April.

Tiger Woods will attempt to find his swing on one of his favorite golf courses as he has committed to the event this year. Woods now plans on stepping it up a notch in the Arnold Palmer event as he finished tenth in his last event, the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship. In PGA odds, Woods will no doubt be near the top of the favorites.

As Ernie Els won the event, Woods, a six time winner of the event, watched from home and as he looks to reclaim his No. 1 golfer in the world status, he has hopes of taking home his seventh trophy.

Ernie Els will be one of the favorites heading into the event as he will return as well to defend his title. Jhonattan Vegas and K.J. Choi will be the other golfers to watch on the Bay Hill course.

Jhonattan Vegas’ season has been magical to this point as he ranks third in the FedEx Cup standings. Vegas has a first and a third this early in the season as he has scored four top 25 finishes in eight tournaments.

Even though K.J. Choi is coming off of a seventh place finish in the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles he ranks 46th in the FedEx Cup standings. Although Choi has been better than average scrambling to save his shots, he has struggled with accuracy this year.

U.S. Open Preview: Ian Poulter

Ian Poulter is an English professional golfer who has established himself on both the PGA Tour and the European Tour. To date, he has nine wins on the European Tour (which he joined in 2000) and one win on the PGA Tour (which he joined in 2005).

Starting June 17 at the US Open, Poulter will be playing for his first US major championship at the US Open at Pebble Beach.

Poulter, a relatively new golfer on the PGA Tour, has yet to win a US major championship. The closest he has come to winning one was in 2008 when he finished second at the Open Championship. He has played in six US Opens but has not fared very well. Most recently, he is coming off of a 10th place finish at the 2010 Masters.

The first US Open Poulter played in was the 2004 Open. Poulter’s first US Open experience was not great. He missed the half-way cut. The following year yielded slightly better results. He finished in a tie for 57th place.

Poulter had his most successful US Open in 2006 at Winged Foot. He ended up in a tie for 12th place, marking the only time Poulter has finished in the top 15 of the tournament.

Poulter’s only other top 20 finish in the US Open came last year at Bethpage. He finished in a tie for 18th place. It came a year after he withdrew from the 2008 US Open.

Although Poulter has not had substantial success at the US Open in years past, he is the sixth-ranked golfer in the world who has gained valuable experience playing in the tournament.

Essentials to Qualify the British Open

A professional golf tournament is the Open Championship played in the United Kingdom. The British Open or simply the Open is another name used for it. It is the longest running of the 4 major tournaments in betting on golf and it is the only major tournament held outside the United States. It is played in the third week of July and is the 3rd of the 4 major tournaments to take place each year with the Masters and the US Open coming before and the PGA Championship falling after.

1860 is the year when the British Open was played for the first time with the event happening in October. The golf betting online players allowed to play were only professional golfers and the field consisted of 8 Scottish Professionals. Three rounds were played on the 12-hole course.

An official stop on the PGA Tour is the British Open and has been since 1995, thus the PGA Tour Members prize money won in the Open goes toward their total on the money list.

With the interruption being that every 5 years the Open is played at the Old Course at St Andrews, the British Open rotates alternately between Scotland and England.

Records of the Open include:
Youngest winner: Young Tom Morris (17 years, 181 days), 1868
Oldest winner: Old Tom Morris (46 years, 99 days), 1867
Lowest 72-hole score in relation to par: -19, Tiger Woods, 2000
Most victories: 6, Harry Vardon (1896, 1898, 1899, 1903, 1911, 1914)

Some of the ways to qualify for the Open include:
Be among the top 30 in the previous season’s PGA Tour money list.
Being ranked in the top 50 on the Official World Golf Rankings.

Any player who has won one of the other 3 major is the previous five years.
Anyone from the top 10 from the previous year’s Open Championship
Any previous Open Champion who will be age 60 or younger on the final day of the tournament.