Scott Ends Two Year Drought on PGA Tour

Australian Adam Scott has ended a form slump dating back more than a year to claim his seventh PGA Tour victory, the Texas Open at Greg Norman designed TPC San Antonio. On the 36-hole Sunday Scott went 11 under to beat Swede Fredrik Jacobson by one shot. It was almost disaster for Scott when his only bogey of the final round came at the 18th hole, but Jacobson missed a long put to tie the tournament.

It was a long awaited comeback victory on the PGA Tour for Scott who burst onto the scene when he became the youngest ever winner of the Players Championship as a 24 year old in 2004. Scott reached a career high number 3 ranking in the world before a long form slump. He was helped into a bit of form last year by his childhood idol, Greg Norman, who picked him for the President's Cup as his captain's selection.

When asked if there was any significance in winning at a Greg Norman designed course, Scott had this to say, "I was amazed how much it looked like some of the courses back at home. A lot like the Mornington Peninsula. I even saw some of the Brisbane courses too. Felt like the landscape looks very similar to back home, kind of harsh, scrub land off the fairways and I had a feeling I knew Aussies would do well here this week. Greg's greens are a lot like some of the sandbelt greens back at home, you know, that design and the bunkering. I felt comfortable on it and I think a lot of the other Aussies did, too."

The victory is the confidence boost Scott sorely needed and has catapulted him into the top 20 (17th place) in the FedEx Cup standings. He will be looking to capitalise on this victory with an improved showing at the remainder of the year's major tournaments. In 35 major starts so far Scott has 4 top ten finishes which is unusually low for a player of his calibre, but he is confident that statistic will change soon, "wins are huge for momentum.. there is nothing quite like winning."

Manassero Shows That You Are Never Too Young

The story of how Matteo Manassero learnt the game of golf is quite similar to that of another young prodigy. He, like Tiger Woods, began his love affair with the game from the moment he could walk and talk, "I started at 3 years old. My parents brought me to a small driving range in the city, in my hometown, Verona. So from there, actually I never stopped. I always forced my parents to bring me to the golf course, so that's my strange life."

Since then the game has seemingly come easy to the young Italian. In his only two major starts he has finished T-13 at the 2009 British Open and T-36 at the 2010 U.S Masters. Both times he took out the title of best amateur. At the British Open he was part of a special pairing with Tom Watson and Sergio Garcia for the first two rounds and became the youngest recipient of the silver medal since it was first awarded 60 years ago, but it was Manassero's performance at the Masters that was particularly special as he became the youngest player ever to make the cut, at 16 years and 11 months.

By early 2010 Manassero had a stranglehold on the number 1 amateur ranking, and on the back of that special run of form he decided to turn professional. It is an exciting prospect that will now see him compete regularly against the world's best, and it will be interesting to see how he performs in the rest of the majors this year, which will at least include an invitation to the British Open at St. Andrews.

Tom Watson said that "golf is a game for life, you are never too young to start and you are never too old to play." Manassero has shown that he is certainly not too young to show up his older competitors with the maturity and precise drone play of a player twice his years.

Texas Open Set for Exciting Finish

After two rain-soaked days, we are set to witness 36 holes on the final day of competition to decide the winner of the Texas Open. There is a four-way tie at the top of the leaderboard between James Nitties, Matt Jones, Jimmy Walker and Brett Wetterich who are all at 7 under par for the first two rounds.

Two time winner this year, Ernie Els, is two shots back after a bogey-free 5 under day, and looms as a huge chance to extend his lead in the FedEx Cup standings. The big South African is wary of how tough the long final day will be but spoke confidently to the media after his round, "it's going to be a long day but I'll be up for it".


Precise drone play has been required to navigate the rain-soaked Greg Norman layout that has been critisized by many players this week. The weather bureau has predicted a high 40 percent chance of play tomorrow and tournament organisers may be forced to extend the tournament to Monday for fear of dangerous storm clouds and lightening.

Former U.S. Masters champion Zach Johnson is the two-time defending champion of the Texas Open but shot a woeful first round 80, never recovered and missed the cut by three shots despite a second round 68.

Despite a lack of many big names at this years tournament, a logjam at the top of the leaderboard makes for an exciting final day where it is anyone's tournament.

Who is the Bashful Prince?

It is well documented that 18 year old Japanese player Ryo Ishikawa is among the best young players in the world. But is he the best? Ryo's final round 12 under par 58 to win The Crowns Tournament on the Japan Tour last week was the lowest score ever shot on a major tour. This was some three years after winning his first tournament on the Japan Tour as a 15 year old. This kid's got game.

In 2009 Ryo became the youngest winner of the Japan Tour money list and won the tour's MVP award. This year looks to be no different. Ryo missed the cut at the Masters by a stoke but has bounced back from that disappointing setback to continue his dominance of the Japan Tour.

His best performance is a tie for 59 at the PGA Championship last year, which lags behind the more impressive performances of fellow young guns Anthony Kim and Rory Mcilroy. Having said that, Ryo is a lot younger than those two players, and has shown that he has the mettle for high level competition by posting a 3-2-0 record for the Internationals at last years President's Cup.

I suspect that it won't be too long before we see Ryo, nicknamed the 'Bashful Prince', challenge for victories on the PGA Tour.

Tiger's Diagnosis: Rest and a New Swing Doctor

An MRI has revealed that there will be no long term problems resulting from Tiger Woods' neck injury. The injury caused Woods to withdraw from the Tournament Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass last week and brought more troublesome media attention on the world number 1. Some had speculated that the neck injury may have been connected to the car crash Woods was involved in last December, which opened the flood gates on a series of marital infidelities and caused his extended absense from the game. This neck injury, however, will hopefully have Woods back in the game sooner than the last one did.

Rest will be the best medicine for Woods, and it is unlikely that he will tee up at the Memorial Tournament, his next scheduled start. That tournament is two weeks out from the U.S. Open and would have been good preparation for the second major of the year. Now it is anyones guess whether Woods will be there at Pebble Beach, a venue where he has won the U.S. Open before.

The most analysed man in sport needs some good news, and although this is little consolation from the previous weeks of stress and frustration, it is good news nonetheless. Now Woods and his minders must set about finding a replacement for his swing coach Hank Haney, who severed ties with Woods on Monday. There is a possiblity that Woods will go it alone for once. Coaches are not essential in golf like they are in other sports, and Haney has described Woods as the most knowledable golfer he knows, "he knows what he needs to do and he'll be able to figure it out".

If Woods only knew how to fix his personal life like his golf swing, then we might see the old Tiger back sooner than we thought.

Woods Needs to Win Back Fans, and Tournaments

I was watching a program on the history of the British Open this morning, during which Greg Norman was interviewed. Norman said of the millennium tournament at St. Andrews in 2000, that Tiger Woods' performance that week was the best he has ever seen anyone swing a golf club. In four rounds Woods did not hit his ball in a bunker once, and went on to win by eight shots. It made me think of how much I miss that Tiger Woods.

We all have different opinions about what we should expect from our role models and sporting heroes. In their eyes maybe they feel unfairly dealt with by the media, and an adoring but equally scorning public. It comes with the territory though I guess. If a player is brilliant enough to win the support of fans throughout the sport, the fans will inevitably turn one them when they betray their faith.

It is not the first time this has happened in sport. But you would be hard pressed to find someone who has let down more people in such a short period of time than Woods, and with each week of his 'comeback' it is increasingly difficult to imagine him at the top of the sport again.

It is almost ten years since Woods took apart the Old Course at St. Andrews as a 24 year old, and five years since he repeated the feat at 29 years. Imagining him doing the same this year is not impossible, but it is by no means the near certainty it looked merely six months ago.

I sincerely hope we see those heights again from the Woods this time, as unlikely as it seems now that he is battling injury weeks out from the U.S. Open. With that, the British Open is increasingly looking as though it will be Woods' next realistic opportunity to win a major. It would be the first really positive step on a long road back to winning the support of fans he has lost the world round.

Woods and Coach Go Seperate Ways

"In coaching and teaching Tiger, I have also learned a lot, not only about golf, but about people and life in general" Hank Haney.

Tiger Woods' golf coach, Hank Haney, announced that he was severing ties with the world number 1 following a failed tilt at the Tournament Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass on the weekend. While it is hard to decipher the exact reasons for Haney's departure, Woods' recent personal troubles have undoubtedly had an effect on Haney.

It is another setback for Woods who has come under heavy scrutiny for his mediocre performances since a fourth place finish at the 2010 U.S Masters. He is struggling with a neck injury, swing troubles, the seperation from his wife, and now the search for a new coach. A return to form soon becomes increasingly unlikely with every additional setback. Woods and his sponsors must be aware of this.

Many golfing greats still believe Woods will overcome these setbacks to break Jack Nichlaus's all-time majors record. But now it is more a case of if rather than when for Woods. All of this must put Woods in a low place right now. Golf should be his sanctuary - the crowds love him and the game's administrators treat him with the utmost respect. Instead of helping him put his life back together as hoped, his comeback has hardly gone to plan.

So where to now for the 14-time major winner? Another indefinite break from the game beckons and it is likely that he may miss the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, a venue where he has won numerous times. It is not panic stations yet for Woods, but if he endures another lengthy break from the game he may never reach the heights we have come to expect from him.

One thing is for certain, Woods will lose his number 1 ranking sooner rather than later. Phil Mickelson's rise in the same period as Woods' demise has been somewhat of a triumph for karma. His ailing wife and mother are both suffering from breast cancer, and Mickelson has deserved his recent success.

Whatever the case may be with Woods' injury, golf faces as very interesting finish to the season in which as much as any other year, anything could happened.