May 11 2011

5:02 PM

A push to use Seve's image

By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.com Correspondent PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- It's a grass roots effort that's getting a lot of buzz. Twitter's all a-tweet with the idea of changing the image on the European Tour logo to that of the late Seve Ballesteros fist-pumping at the 1984 British Open. The current logo image is Harry Vardon, which is nice, but . . . Seve . . . . "It's iconic,'' three-time major champ Padraig Harrington said. "Seve IS the European Tour. It's not belittling the guys who put a lot of work into the tour behind the scenes. But Seve is iconic. He's the emotional heart of the European Tour. "He drove the European Tour. He inspired the players who came up in the '80s. He inspired the players playing now." Paul Lawrie, Sir Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam and Colin Montgomerie are among those players not here who have been campaigning to have Seve's image and a number of players  have been tweeting about using the image of him pumping his first after holing the winning putt at St. Andrews in 1984. Absolutely, said Australian Adam Scott, who played the European Tour for several years before joining the PGA TOUR. "It's a fantastic tribute. I'm not out of place saying that he built the European Tour into what it is today.'' Added Englishman Luke Donald, who, like Harrington, plays both tours,  "I think it's very fitting. He did a lot to put the European Tour on the map.'' Ballesteros, who was memorialized at a service in his hometown of Pedrena Wednesday,  was one of only two European players in the field at the 1980 Masters, which he won. Sandy Lyle was the other. Ballesteros opened the door for European players to compete, not just in the Masters, but in PGA TOUR events in the early 1980s. "He put Europe on the map going traveling around the world," Woosnam, a fellow Masters champ, told Associated Press. "The Ryder Cup is one of the biggest events in the world and that's thanks to Seve." Lawrie, the 1999 British Open champ, has been one of the most vocal advocates of the change. "There is quite a few players who believe that it should have been a logo featuring Seve in the first place," he told Setanta Sports. "Of course, it's not for me to tell the Tour what to do. The current logo is a nice logo and it's been very well done. But everyone knows and agrees that it was Seve was the player that really started it all for the European Tour. He was the difference. "We shouldn't be changing the logo just because he's gone but that's always been the case so maybe it could have been a Seve logo from the word 'go'." European Tour chief executive George O'Grady told Associated Press, "We will look at it nice and calmly, and if we do consider any single player's image at the moment it would be Seve's.''

March 30 2011

4:18 PM

Ryder Cup captains paired in Houston

Getty Images
2012 Ryder Cup captains Jose Maria Olazabal and Davis Love III will tee it up together in Rounds 1 and 2.

HUMBLE, Texas -- No bragging rights. Really. None.

That’s what European Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal said about his Thursday-Friday pairing with U.S. captain Davis Love III. Just fun and golf. Nothing else.

What will he be paying attention to at this week’s SHO? Just about everything.

Slowly but surely, Olazabal is returning to form after being sidelined much of last year with a recurrance of his rheumatoid arthritis and a back problem.

“Well (I’’m) not a hundred percent,’’ he said. “Still the right arm hurts a little bit, but the rest of the body is feeling better.

“At this point it's more down to, you know, practice a little bit and play a few events, you know, to, again get the feel of competition, playing in tournament conditions which are completely different to what we practice on, obviously tougher conditions being in a tournament. Just get back to the playing rhythm of competition. I think that will help as well, first of all, to know where my game is and to improve from there.’’

Nothing specific, he said. Rather everything in general.

“I would say pretty much everything needs a little bit tuning up,’’ he said. “Kind of really, you know, one day could be the driver, next day could be the putting. That's how it's been last three, four weeks. It's not one particular area that is really weak. I think overall it's everything is a little bit off.’’

As for the current world rankings? With Europeans in the top four spots and five of the top seven? He grinned, but said it’s all cyclical. It wasn’t long ago, he pointed out, that he, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle and Nick Faldo were all in the top.

Plus, he said, the Ryder Cup is a year and a half away. He still grinned. -- Melanie Hauser


February 27 2011

12:44 AM

Europeans claim top 4 spots in world

MARANA, Ariz. – For the first time since 1992,  the top four players in the Official World Golf Ranking are all from Europe.

Martin Kaymer officially took over No. 1 when the rankings were released on Sunday night. Luke Donald, who beat Kaymer to win the  World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, rose from ninth to third, the highest ranking of his career.

Lee Westwood, who was eliminated in the second round at Dove Mountain, fell to second. He had held the top spot for 17 weeks, after ending Tiger Woods’ reign at 281 straight weeks.

Graeme McDowell, who lost in the Accenture quarterfinals, remained at No. 4 but he is now ahead of Woods, who has dropped two spots to fifth. The last time Woods was ranked lower than third in the world was April 6, 1997 prior to his first Masters victory.  A week later, Woods had climbed 10 spots to No. 3 behind Greg Norman and Tom Lehman.

The last time four Europeans led the way was on March 15, 1992 when Ian Woosnam of Wales was No. 1, England’s Nick Faldo was No. 2 and Spain’s Jose Maria Olazabal was No. 3 and Seve Ballesteros was No. 4.

Here is the new top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking:

Rank Player Country
1. Martin Kaymer Germany
2. Lee Westwood England
3. Luke Donald England
4. Graeme McDowell Northern Ireland
5. Tiger Woods United States
6. Phil Mickelson United States
7. Paul Casey England
8. Rory McIlroy Northern Ireland
9. Steve Stricker United States
10. Matt Kuchar United States