PGA Punter

So the analysis was completely wrong then? It wasn't all-round performance. It wasn't driving accuracy. It wasn't even that great fall-back, a competitor in the previous week's Masters. Put simply, it was God. Now why didn't I see that? Flush from his little Easter ceremony at the course early Sunday morning, Aaron Baddeley strode out with the fanfares of the heavenly hordes ringing in his ears and powered his way to victory.

If you think I am kidding, get hold of his post-match interview; where he declares how comforting it was "being a Christian and having God on my side". So is that it then? If you are a non-Christian don't bother playing in the PGA Tour? If I was a non-Christian player I would be deeply insulted by that sort of comment. What self-righteous twaddle. No wonder there's religious wars and terrorism everywhere if even supposedly intelligent people go around with that sort of attitude.

Anyway, back in the devil's lair I can report a very entertaining day's punting. because the lead chopped and changed pretty regularly and there was even some money to be made on the Ernie Els punt, although not a huge amount because his threat was very short-lived and quite suddenly ended. Did his knee troubles affect his putting? Didn't seem to affect the rest of his game, which seemed in excellent shape.

Putting was what did for Jim Furyk too. It was a day when even the best of them refused to go in - tickled by the hand of God perhaps to give Brother Aaron the tiniest of helping hands? Certainly Furyk afterwards said he couldn't believe his last putt on the 18th didn't go in to force at least a playoff.

I think it was very unfair of people on the forums to accuse him of bottling it - the sounds of a lot of empty pockets I suspect. I have to admit I lost a bit at the end. I was sure Furyk would at least level it over the last two holes and, in honesty, he should have done.

I also had a little punt on Vaughn Taylor when he looked like mounting a credible charge at one point but it fizzled out. So my earnings were a little more modest than they might have been but not bad even so.

Perhaps indeed God did win it, in that the whole Easter Sunday thing gave Baddeley that extra line of confidence that helped him tough it out. You can say what you like about his beliefs, but his control on the course was quite something for someone chasing his first win. It's a pity they don't have a tournament on Christmas Day. He'd be a shoe-in!

It's interesting how some players emerge practically out of nowhere to latch onto a tournament as if to the manner born. Aaron Baddeley had some interesting results last season without shaking the tree, while

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Spot the odd man out. At the top of the leaderboard I mean. Is it Jim Furyk, if for nothing else than

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The one and only time I layed Vaughn Taylor was last year under the "defending champion rarely wins" rule in the Reno-Tahoe Open. Unfortunately no one else wanted to succeed him that week and he ended up costing me

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You only have to look back a year to realise there's not too much point pouring over the stats to choose likely candidates for the Heritage. The only meaningful stat about Peter Lonard last year was on his birth certificate. He should

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A new sponsor but a familiar lineup for The Masters anti-climax. Last year Peter Lonard shot from nowhere to beat Darren Clarke in a final round of mind-boggling ineptitude by both players. Does a consolation prize await those like Ernie Els disappointed last week, or is another mystery man set to emerge from obscurity? Or, indeed, is Mr Lonard up to defending his title? All this and more as the week unfolds. In the meantime, some links:

- - Verizon Heritage coverage on the web
-  -  This week's leaderboard
- - Heritage leaderboards 2000-2005
- - Last year's Heritage comment