Friday, December 22, 2006

The Johnnie Walker Classic in Thailand


The Johnnie Walker Classic will go ahead in Thailand in March after a planned ban on alcohol advertising was lifted, organisers have confirmed.
The new Thai government planned to introduce the ban this month, with organisers threatening to move the event either to China or South Korea.
Top-10 players Adam Scott, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, and England's Paul Casey are among the field.

Organisers of next year’s Johnnie Walker Classic have confirmed that the tournament will be played at the Blue Canyon Country Club in Phuket Thailand between March 1 and 4.

Golfers from Kenya will have an opportunity to play in the Pro-Am in late February. The local participants will be picked at the end of the on-going Johnnie Walker Classic series.

The local tournament resumes early next month. There are only two rounds of the tournament remaining before the finals, which will be staged at Royal Nairobi Club.

Heading the customary star-studded field in the main event of the classic will be three of the world’s top ten players: Adam Scott of Australia and South Africans Ernie Els and Retief Goosen currently ranked fourth, fifth and sixth in the world, plus English Ryder Cup star, Paul Casey.

Scott, although relatively young, has already established himself as a truly international player with wins in major competitions across the world.

In 2004 he became the youngest winner of The Players’ Championship on the US PGA Tour, considered by many to be the games fifth ‘major.’

Adam climbed to number four in the world this year after victories in the Barclays Singapore Open and The Tour Championship, his second place finish behind Tiger Woods at the American Express Championship and his nine top 10 finishes on the US PGA Tour.

Ernie Els, is a two-time winner of both the US Open, in 1994 and 1997, and the Johnnie Walker Classic, first in 1997 in Queensland, Australia and in Perth, Western Australia in 2003.

Locally, there will be low-key action at Kiambu, Thika and Nakuru Golf Clubs this weekend.

Meanwhile,Ian Woosnam has revealed he was on the verge of quitting as European Ryder Cup skipper after Thomas Bjorn criticised his wildcard picks and captaincy style.

The 48-year-old Welshman upset Bjorn by opting for Lee Westwood instead of him.

The Dane launched a withering attack on Woosnam but later apologised and was fined £10,000 for the outburst.

In an interview with the Independent, Woosnam, however, said the row was the "lowest point" of his career and he was "prepared to resign" over it.

Woosnam was furious about Bjorn’s reaction to being left out but was deeply concerned that his feelings were shared by others in the European team.

As well as criticising Woosnam’s decision to choose Westwood over him, Bjorn criticised the captain for a "lack of communication" during the qualifying period and poor man-management. He also suggested that others were "uneasy about this man’s captaincy".

"That’s the bit that worried me most," Woosnam told the newspaper. "Not all the personal stuff, although that obviously hurt, but that members of my team might be uneasy with me."

The 1991 Masters champion and former world number one brought the issue up with half of his team on a pre-Ryder Cup reconnaissance trip to the K Club.

Woosnam took the six players that were not either competing in the European Masters or taking a break — Paul Casey, Darren Clarke, Luke Donald, Padraig Harrington, David Howell and Jose Maria Olazabal — to the County Kildare course for a low-key practice and bonding session.

The first item on the agenda was Bjorn.

"I sat them down and said, ‘If anyone’s got a problem with me being captain and agrees with Thomas in any way, then speak now’," he said.

"Fortunately, there was a silence and to a man they backed me, as did the other boys I spoke to on the phone.

That was the vote of confidence I needed.

"I could move on and concentrate on the match. Thomas Bjorn was forgotten then."

Forgotten, perhaps, but not entirely forgiven.

"Some of what he said about me was actionable and I did consider suing. But in the end I didn’t want to put a shadow over the competition," Woosnam continued.

"A few weeks later, I did bump into him at the Dunhill (Links Championship at St Andrews).

"He apologised, we shook hands and I said, ‘Don’t worry, it’s all water under the bridge’.

"But when people ask me if I’m OK with him now, I always refer to something he said in his rant against me, ‘Things will never be the same between us again’. He’s right. They won’t be."

Woosnam’s wildcard selections were vindicated, of course, when Westwood, and Darren Clarke, made significant contributions to Europe’s crushing 181⁄2-91⁄2 victory over the Americans.

The European Tour veteran has since spoken of his desire to qualify for the 2008 team that will travel to Louisville to defend the Ryder Cup and to captain the team again in 2010 when the event comes to Wales for the first time.

source : pga.info , eastandard.net

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