Soaked at Songdo

In Songdu, Korea this week covering the Songdo Championship on the US Champions Tour for Golf Channel. Sodden is the right way to describe the week so far, including yesterday where I managed to stay half dry until a monsoonal downpour on the final hole that finished me off properly.

Day 1 was windy and wet, and the scores reflected the difficulty of the conditions, with Fred Funk, Jay Don Blake and Michael Allen shooting 3 under par 69's to lead.

I was on course for the day, and spent it with the group of Tom Watson, Fred Funk and Jay Haas. Great to see Tom Watson playing up close and personal. At 60, he still hits the ball beautifully and with a precision that would still be the envy of many half his age. Not his best day on Friday with a few wayward drives on the back nine but he has nothing left to prove to anyone and appears to be enjoying himself regardless.

Today out with the three leaders from the first round after the seeded draw has taken place. On air from 2pm Korea time.

Thailand Open , OneAsia 2010- Post Mortem

Playing catch up at the moment, and just about to head off to Korea next Wednesday for the Songdu Championship, a US Champions Tour event that I will be working on for Golf Channel.

There are a bunch of interviews that I did last week posted on the OneAsia website. Check out them out on the following links,

Andre Stolz
Simon Yates
Day 4 highlights
Pariya Junhasavasdikul

Final Round preview, 2010 Thailand Open

It was a long day today. At the course at 9am, on air at 12pm, but in the interim did five interviews with various players. Then four hours on air, a rain delay, and forty minutes to finish off the broadcast just in case someone made a few birdies to close and changed the story after all the camera's had been turned off.

As it turned out, Liang Wenchong leads by one from Terry Pilkadaris and the 23 year old Thai, Namchok Tantipokakul.

It is a good looking leader board, with one of the key sub-text's to tomorrow's action being the story of Terry Pilkadaris, who this week was banned from playing on the Asian Tour, a tour where he has full playing status.

Pilkadaris has been fined by the Asian Tour for playing in OneAsia events, but has challenged the legitimacy of those fines in court. Even though no final ruling has been made, the Asian Tour have chosen to ban him from playing further on their tour.

Should he win tomorrow, it will doubtless be a very emotional Pilkadaris who steps up to make his victory speech in light of what he has been through recently. With regard to his case against the Asian Tour, further hearings are still in the pipeline before a conclusion is drawn on the matter and I'll report on the results when the matter is finalised.

Nonetheless, it looks like another fantastic finale is ahead of us tomorrow. It will be shown in 260 million homes around the world, check your local guides for dates and times.

Chicks on the Sticks

This month, a look at the world of female caddies in professional golf in Chicks on the Sticks

Thailand Open ,Round 1, OneAsia 2010

Made it to Thailand in one piece after a day of flying from South Africa, and now firmly ensconsed in the commentary box as round 1 heads into the afternoon.

As you might expect, Liang Wenchong leads after the morning round at 5 under. He is playing so impressively at the moment, and after finishing in the top 10 of the US PGA Championship it would be a brave man who would bet against him winning here.

Others who played well this morning are Brad Kennedy, Matt Millar and Matt Griffen, all at 4 under par. Perfect conditions for scoring today, with a light sea breeze in, soft greens and immaculate fairways. It looks like a great week for golf in Thailand

Thailand Open , OneAsia 2010

Just a few days left in South Africa before heading home, and then jumping a flight to Bangkok for the next OneAsia event in Pattaya. Another $1 million up for grabs, fantastic money given the relative strength of the fields at this stage of the OneAsia journey and chances are those that have made the commitment to OneAsia this year will remember it as golden time in their careers. There has never been such a thing as easy money in pro golf but some great opportunities await on OneAsia this year and pretty soon that story is going to get out.

The event is telecast again on ESPN Star and the ONE network in Australia, amongst other new outlets.

Quiet on the Golf Front

Things have been ridiculously busy on the home and business front of late, so blogging has fallen by the wayside. And it is likely to be that way for a while really, I'm heading off to Sth Africa to Haskell Vineyards to do some work for a few weeks so the schedule is flat out for the forseeable future.

After Sth Africa though I am off to Thailand for the Thailand Open, held in Pattaya this year, and then the last part of the ONE Asia season kicks off in earnest with a lot of action through September, October and November.

I'll keep my eyes and ears open for anything that is happening in and around the game in the meantime.