WEEK THREE and we already have a rather magnificent seven teams through the €700,000 earnings mark, their fortunes to date somewhat in contrast with those of the stragglers on our leaderboard, nine of which have yet to break through the five-figure barrier.
But this Golf Masters’ managerial business, as most of you now know, can be a bit on the exasperating side, not least when you make what seems like a shrewd and highly informed transfer decision, and then sit back and watch it go belly-up. YE Yang is as good an example as any.
It’s with a very joyous heart that I return to my home town, he said last week when he arrived on Jeju Island for the Ballantine’s Championship, having just won the China Open. By the time he left his heart would only have been marginally heavier than those of the 26 new managers who hired him just before his homecoming.
It was the place where he grew up, it was a course with which he is intimately familiar, so it’s probably beyond the 26 how he ended up missing the cut. Mind you, it’s probably beyond the comprehension of a man we’ll only call Stephen how Marcus Fraser triumphed at the Ballantine’s having not won a tournament for seven years. Yes, Stephen fired Fraser just before the Australian ended his drought.
Sixty-one managers in all benefited from Fraser’s success, with considerably more – 551 to be exact – collecting €75,000 for Gareth Maybin’s share of second place. Among that group is, we’re fairly sure, our first ever Dutch weekly winner, Tammy Becker, our leading manager in week three after GM won an impressive €235,900 at the Ballantine’s and the Classic of New Orleans.
The only member of Tammy’s line-up not in action last week was Tiger Woods, but he might just make up for his absence when he appears at Quail Hollow this week. Jason Bohn, though, more than compensated, the man from Pennsylvania, who features in just 28 Golf Masters teams, winning in New Orleans. Maybin and Greg Chalmers, who finished fifth in Louisiana, were Tammy’s other big winners, winning her a fourball at Druids Heath.
She should be able to find her way to the Wicklow course too, seeing as she was only trying out their driving range last week. Tammy, who works for eBay in Dublin, is a Golf Masters newcomer, and sounded more than a little stunned when we passed on the good news yesterday. There’s bit of work to be done, though, before she troubles our overall leader who GM, down in 802nd place, trails by over €400,000.
Robert Webster held on to top spot in week three despite having three players resting up and another missing the cut. Thongchai Jaidee was his leading man, winning €33,200 for a top-10 finish at the Ballantine’s.
Stephen Kearns, the one manager to hire Miguel Angel Jimenez last week only to see him miss the Ballantine’s because he couldn’t get a flight, will trust the Spaniard is well rested and ready to become the first home winner of the Spanish Open since 2002.
Meanwhile, several of the big guns will be out in force at Quail Hollow, including Woods, Phil Mickelson and Pádraig Harrington, the fifth most popular player on our list.
