Sometimes, the best laid plans come crashing down because of the smallest of factors. That’s what happened to Lee Westwood and Chubby Chandler in Turkey this week.
Chandler, the ISM boss who has played a significant role in the career of Westwood, was understandably delighted when his long-time client and friend opened the Turkish Airlines Open with a sublime round of eight-under par 64.
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Westwood hasn’t been having the best time on the golf course this year and has dropped down to No46 in the world rankings. He is in the process of getting a divorce and has recently announced he is moving back to England after two frustrating years in the USA to concentrate on the European Tour in 2016.
..a big thanks to @McIlroyRory for coming to play the @T_A_Golf open …it showed that it Turkey is not in the state it’s being reported ..
— chubby chandler (@chubby6665) November 1, 2015
They have started the Final Series with high hopes, with Chandler calling it Westwood’s ‘third coming’, a reference to the time when he rose back from 186th in the world rankings in 2002, a couple of years after winning his first European Tour Order of Merit in 2000. He then overcame another dip in form and a winless period of three years to become the European No1 again in 2009.
However, Chandler did not factor in something that is so small, it is actually invisible to human eyes – virus. Westwood caught cold that evening, and played the next two days with a blocked sinus that affected his concentration and putting.
But the good news obviously is that despite finishing tied 11th, Westwood is looking in very good form. He is playing five of the next six weeks, and one gets a feeling that some more silverware might get added to his display before the end of the year.
Chef Rory concedes defeat
71 for @McIlroyRory. He’ll finished tied for 6th. #TurkishAirlinesOpen pic.twitter.com/7X0Ys3c9bw
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) November 1, 2015
One thing Rory McIlroy absolutely doesn’t lack in is self-belief. But even he is isn’t sure he should have been named winner of the Gourmet Golf Challenge against Charl Schwartzel.
On Wednesday of the tournament, Turkish Airlines hosted the challenge between the two golfers, where they were given a number of ingredients and asked to cook a dish in 10 minutes. McIlroy decided to make Mediterranean Chicken, while Schwartzel opted for a South African beef dish.
The judge found both dishes to be extremely tasty, but announced the result in favour of McIlroy because of the Turkish touch to his creation.
McIlroy has been asked about the face-off at every press interaction, and he said on Sunday: “I am not much of a cook and I can’t believe they named me the winner. I thought Charl’s dish was much better than mine.”
And when asked what was the one must-eat McIlroy dish, the world No3 was quick to reply: “Poached eggs on toast”.
The name’s Stenson…Henrik Stenson
The European Tour conducted an interesting online poll to coincide with the worldwide release of the new James Bond movie, Spectre.
The poll asked: Which European Tour player would make the best James Bond?
And after almost 3,000 votes, this is how the result stands – Henrik Stenson leads the way with a whopping 44.15 per cent fans voting for him, followed by German Martin Kaymer (19.95%) and England’s Lee Slattery (15.43%).
Spain’s Alvaro Quiros, a die-hard Bond fan, is fourth at 14.63 per cent votes.
