Snedeker Defeats Weather at Torrey as Grace Reigns Supreme In Qatar

Successful Defence for Grace in Qatar

BRANDEN GRACE continued his rise up golf's world rankings as he became the first man to successfully defend the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

Grace, the world No11 and the highest ranked player in the field, shot a final round of 69 as Paul Lawrie, the former Open champion and himself a former winner of this event, slumped to a final round of 78 at Doha Golf Club.

Grace finished fourth at the US Open last year and was third at the US PGA Championship, and will be playing much of his golf on the PGA Tour in 2016. He came into this event off the back of five consecutive top 10s, and his 69 saw him finish on 14 under par, two shots clear of Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Dane Thorbjorn Olesen, who closed with rounds of 70 and 71 respectively.

Having started the day two behind Lawrie, Grace made steady progress in windy conditions, holding off his rivals with a flawless back nine and signing off with a birdie at the last hole to capture his seventh European Tour title.

Welshman Bradley Dredge and Englishmen Andrew Johnston and Lee Slattery shared fourth spot. Lawrie's challenge came to end after a couple of wayward drives and an argument with the water, which he lost.

Grace was delighted with his performance. “I’m pretty much at a loss for words. It’s a big thing to come to a week defending – you’ve got a lot more pressure and a lot more things going on," he said. "But to get the first proper defence under the belt is something great, and something I've been dreaming of. 

"It was brutal out there. You can’t really force things to happen. You just need to stay patient and let it happen. I did that really well yesterday and it worked to my advantage and did the same today. I think maybe it went my way a little bit, as well. I enjoy tough conditions. I’m a grinder, and the patience was a big key. I really had to grind it out and let it happen.

“Anything can happen on the 18th, especially with that pin position; you get the guy going for it, and making eagle. It’s happened before. It’s one of those holes where you can’t really get too comfortable that you’ve done it, but I thought when I hit the green in two, this is done for. I had to take it on, and I would put that down as the best swing of the week. A three-iron is not the easiest club in the bag to hit, and I just flushed it straight at the middle of the green and that took care of the rest.

“I feel privileged to be able to get my name on the trophy twice in a row. It’s great to be in the winner’s circle again.”

At one stage, Cabrera-Bello threatened to catch Grace and had he holed an eagle putt on the last green then it might have been a different story, but he had to settle for a birdie, which was later matched by Grace.  “I had a very strong finish and I'm very pleased with the result," said the Spaniard. "I made a bad mistake on the eighth. It was a tough day and many of the guys were also making mistakes, so I just told myself that there was still a lot to play for, still a lot of golf to play, and I just stayed patient and waited for my chances and they came in the end. It’s just nice to be feeling that I’m playing good at the moment and feeling in control of my game.”

Thorbjorn Olesen took the positives from another good week. “At the start of the week, you’d take tied second – it’s pretty good," he said. "I had a lot of chances today but nothing really went in. I missed that short putt on the tenth which hurt a lot. I never really got the pace on the greens. But I gave myself so many good chances, and that’s always nice. I've tried to change my mental side a little bit, and I’ve really enjoyed this week from the start. Even though I hit a few bad shots, I was still very good mentally. That’s a good sign and that’s what I have to keep working on. This is a very good start and I’m looking forward to next week in Dubai.”

Snedeker Overcomes Weather at Torrey Pines

Brandt Snedeker won the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines on Monday without hitting a shot. The American finished his tournament on Sunday, recording a miraculous round of 69 as the rain poured down and the wind howled. 

His round saw him complete the tournament on 282, six under par, before play was abandoned for the day with Snedeker one shot behind Jimmy Walker, who still had eight holes to play. Snedeker must have thought that Walker would return to the course and hold on to his lead. But that is not how things turned out.

The West Coast Swing is meant to be played in glorious, unbroken sunshine, with little more than a gentle cooling breeze. Somebody forgot to tell the weather gods - the wind was so strong at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines on Sunday that Colt Knost looked on in disbelief as a birdie putt at the third, which was fully six feet off target, was blown back on line and into the hole.

Walker dropped four strokes as he stumbled to a 77 and a tie for fourth place with Sweden's Freddie Jacobsen. KJ Choi's 76 was good enough to see him finish as runner-up, one behind Snedeker, with Kevin Streelman third on four under par after a 74.

Given the weather on Sunday, Snedeker's round was simply astonishing. While most players on the PGA Tour struggle when the wind gets above a gentle breeze, Snedeker loves to manipulate the golf ball, is able to hit low shots when required and has the sort of short putting stroke that is never going to be affected by the weather. He played the back nine in 32, without dropping a single shot. He was the only player in the field to break par in the final round.

His play at Torrey Pines was astounding - especially when you consider that the average score for the field was not far short of 80. Among those whose hopes were blown away were Dustin Johnson, whose high ball flight meant he was always going to struggle, Scott Brown, Gary Woodland and Ireland's Paul Dunne, who had been going along rather nicely. Brown, who started the final day in contention, finished with an 87.

Highlights: Farmers Insurance Open

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzH8qTCa9g8