Quad hike
John Pargiter reviews the weekend's golf and some disastrous driving and betting
It’s not often you see one of the best golfers in the world card a 8 (known as a quad) let alone 2 but Ricky Fowler and Dustin Johnson managed this over the weekend. Fowler was playing in the Irish Open where one of its sponsors Rory Mcilroy bagged a 80. Dane Soren Kjeldsen came out on top in a playoff. All 4 rounds were played in testing windy conditions. As ever I followed Steve Palmer and when I saw Fowler shoot an eagle I thought aye, aye he is going to emulate his 5 birdies in his recent US PGA win … but he followed this with 8s at the 17 and 18th.
Over at Dallas Steve Bowditch, an Aussie married to a Texan and now resident in the Lone Star State, won the Byron Nelson comfortably. Incredible to think that Byron T Nelson won 11 consecutive tourneys. Here I was backing a Dustin Johnson win, so much so I lumped another £15 on DJ before the final round. DJ made 2 birdies in the first five holes. Then he hit his drive out of bounds to the left. He followed this by hitting the next replacement drive out of bounds to the right. He could not hack out and eventually made an 8. The reactions was interesting. DJ is not one of life’s tactical thinkers, more point to him in the direction and fire. This type of golfer can dismiss negative thoughts quicker and he shot a birdie next hole but the damage to the card was done.
What with 2 specialist Cup Final bets on Aaron Ramsay as man of the match and Jack Grealish as first card failing, it was not a spectacular Pargiter success this weekend. My only hope Danny Willett was edged out of 5th place at the 18th by Tyrell Hatton. Bad weather may let England off the hook in the Test and more failure with my 1-1 series prediction and Root to finish top scorer. My salvation is Stefano putting me on Juventus each way at 28-1 a few months ago in the Champions League. The each-way element of the bet is already home and hosed so I might must lay off with a little tickle on Barcelona. The US Open comes up in 3 weeks time and an ante post tickle on Dustin Johnson 33-1 looks juicy provided those 350 yard drives stay on the fairway.