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Darren Clarke Seals Open Triumph At 20th Attempt

Jul 182011

Open Champion: Darren Clarke (Image courtesy of Reuters)

Darren Clarke held off spirited charges from Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson yesterday to claim the 151st British Open and with it, his first victory in a major.

The 42-year-old Northern Irishman took a one-shot lead into the final day over Johnson, who started sloppily with bogeys at both the 4th and 6th holes. Mickelson, however, set off like a train with birdies at the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 10th, alongside an eagle at the Par 5 7th. All this, meant Clarke could not afford to sit back and wait for those around him to fall away and responded with some strong golf, rescuing a great opening par at the first and a birdie at the 2nd before bogeying the 4th.

Clarke then matched Mickelson’s eagle on the 7th to take him to 7 under, before Mickelson missed a short par putt 11th and followed this up with further bogeys on the 13th, 15th and 16th as he fell away from contention. However, Johnson came back at Clarke with birdies on the 7th, 10th and 12th but when a layup attempt on the par 5 14th went horrendously wrong, drifting out of bounds to the right, it was as if the title was destined for Clarke.

Clarke, who had his share of luck, twice fortuitously bouncing over hazardous pot bunkers, strung 9 pars together after his eagle at the 7th to leave him with a comfortable lead with two to play. Despite bogeys at the last two holes, he held on for the win and admitted:

“The last couple of holes, I was trying not to make any really stupid mistakes”.

Clarke dedicated the win to his two sons, Tyrone and Conor, who began their day playing a round at Royal Portrush back in Northern Ireland, before watching Dad secure his biggest career victory in the afternoon. Clarke said afterwards, “If it hadn’t come off and I hadn’t won, I could still have said I did my best. I ask my two boys to do their best and that’s what they do, so I think their dad should try do the same.”

Clarke, a man noted for his extravagant celebrations, is meant to be joining Weight Watchers this week and admitted it could well be “a bad week” for him to start as “there’s five points in a pint of Guiness.”

Clarke is next scheduled to be in action at the Irish Open later in July, but urged caution against any high expectations, saying: “I may not be sober… but I will be in Killarney”.

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A Super Matt finish that rewrites history…

Oct 282010

Inspired by Seve, The European Tour’s youngest winner shows them how it’s done in Sunny Spain.

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon just like every other at the Club de Campo del Mediterraneo and the golfing history books were out, not for reference, but to be rewritten.

Host to the Castello Masters and the place where Sergio Garcia learnt his trade, Italian golfer Matteo Manassero finished strongly and was crowned a European Tour tournament champion, becoming the youngest ever winner on Tour at 17 years and 188 days, beating the previous record held by New Zealander, Danny Lee, of 18 years and 213 days.

This victory has seen Matteo become the youngest full European Tour Member – beating the previous record of his golfing idol Seve Ballesteros who achieved this feat in 1974 aged 17 and 200 days. Optimal caught-up with Matteo recently at the Dunhill in St Andrews and he was quick to tell the Seve Ballesteros Golf Academy, how much of a hero and an inspiration he is to him and was happy to “swing for Seve” and pass a message to the golfing great.

2010 has been a fantastic year for the young Italian. From becoming the youngest player ever to make the cut at the Masters, and finishing inside the top 50, to turning professional in May, he has amassed €641,000 from 15 tournaments and moved into 43rd position on the ‘Race to Dubai’, giving him the chance to play in the illustrious Dubai World Championship presented by DP World, played around the Jumeirah Golf Estates on November 25-28. A win here would give him a 5-year Tour exemption and a healthy pay cheque of €1.125 million. All that stand in the way, are fellow supporters of the Seve Academy: World Number 1 contenders, Martin Kaymer (the current leader of the Race to Dubai), Lee Westwood (defending champion of the Harry Vardon Trophy, and US Open winner, Graeme McDowell!

However, if Manassero performs as he did on Sunday, this might present very few problems. Rounds of 68,66,67,67 saw him haul-in and overtake overnight, leader, Gary Boyd, to win by a convincing 4 strokes.

The young Italian achieved this feat by hitting fairways and greens and vitally, holing putts. He achieved this through steady performance in all disciplines. Although not the Tour’s longest or most accurate hitter – some way down the official European Tour’s stats list, with the eyes of Optimal’s launch monitor, he managed an average driving distance of 287.3 yds, with 64.3% accuracy, the 5th best in the field over the weekend. He hit 79% of greens, and was very high up the putting stats with an average of 1.646 putts per green!

Standing proudly behind Matteo is Alberto Binaghi, former European Tour player, a member of the Italian Golf Federation coaching staff and all-round advocate of performance analysis technologies. Binaghi has several of the world’s best and up-and-coming players under his wing, including the Molinari brothers and even finds the time to carry the bag for Manassero for the bigger events!

Coaching aside, this amazing achievement has signified Matteo Manassero’s arrival, proper, on the European Tour, and made many of his colleagues look up and notice the wonder-kid they label as the next Seve.

For more information on the Seve Ballesteros Golf Academy, including a chance to view Matteo Manassero’s support for Seve, alongside that of other top European Tour players, please visit www.SeveAcademy.com.

For further information on Optimal Analysis, performance analysis, video analysis, launch monitor technologies and online academies, please visit www.OptimalAnalysis.co.uk or call 0131 510 0210.

Hugh Grant advises Seve to watch and learn as he tees it up at the Dunhill!

Oct 132010

Celebrities and pros alike, pay homage to golfing legend Seve Ballesteros on a blustery day at St. Andrews, the scene of his famous 1984 British Open victory – you know the one, that magical celebration on the 18^th green!

Decked out in Seve Ballesteros Glenbrae golf shirts and tops, the Optimal team embarked on to the Dunhill practice range to film the swings of some well-known faces of sport, entertainment and even victorious Ryder Cup stars. The purpose of our mission was simple; capture swings in order for users of the Seve Ballesteros Golf Academy to compare their swing with those of superior quality such as Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Francesco Molinari (make sure you don’t get the brothers mixed up), Ruud Gullit, Jamie Redknapp, Sir Bobby Charlton or Hugh Grant! This was, however, only objective #1.

In order to raise awareness for the Seve Ballesteros Academy and thus the Seve Ballesteros Foundation, we also asked those who were willing to send out a message of goodwill and/or a memory to the legend himself. A particular highlight and favourite of mine was the hugely amusing Hugh Grant, adorned in Sunningdale Golf Club clothing, showing Seve how to hit a lovely little fade with an 8-iron:

“I wish you the very best… you are a great hero, and that is how you hit a soft fade with an 8-iron…”

Sky Sports golf presenter Di Stewart and Number-One-spot-chasing pair, Lee Westwood and Billy Foster, who delivered a very personal and quite hilarious joint message, direct to the golfing legend. Billy only associates himself with the best golfers; as those in the know will remember that it was Billy who carried Seve’s bag for many successful years.

Confident and fresh off the back of two Tour victories AND the Ryder Cup, we also captured the swing of the eventual Dunhill Links Championship winner, superstar Martin Kaymer, who blew away the field with a flawless display over 4 rounds. Not only does this victory cement his place at the top of the Race to Dubai rankings, but brings in a new element to the world number 1 mixing pot.

Unbeknownst to many, if Kaymer is successful at the Andalucía Masters on Halloween, he could possibly leapfrog Tiger Woods and Lee Westwood into the number 1 spot! Regardless of who wins that, Kaymers’ swing will be available for comparison alongside Seve’s to members of the Seve Academy.

The amount of support shown to Seve’s cause, was quite breathtaking and when golfers (of all abilities) realise what the Seve Ballesteros Academy is and what it achieves through the Foundation, they are only too willing to lend their support to the cause.

Lee Westwood

The Seve Ballesteros Golf Academy harnesses the spirit of natural golf to deliver the most advanced online golf instructional and golfing entertainment platform on the web.

The combination of exclusive Seve and Ballesteros Family instruction videos, rare and insightful footage from throughout Seve’s career, active one on one involvement from PGA professionals and an integrated creation of world-leading technologies including the iPhone, deliver a unique, meaningful, engaging and fully interactive golf improvement platform for players of all abilities.

The Seve Ballesteros Golf Academy exists to also support the efforts of the Seve Ballesteros Foundation and its focus on providing opportunities for disadvantaged golfers and to find a cure into brain cancer research.

For more information on the services available, Vertex Golf, Sports Coach Simulators or FlightScope technology, click here to contact Optimal

www.OptimalAnalysis.co.uk

Tel: +44 131 5100210

Seve Inspires a New Generation

Oct 012010

Golfing legend and Optimal partner, Seve Ballesteros, yesterday delivered an inspirational speech to this year’s European Ryder Cup Team.

Despite being unable to accept captain Colin Montgomerie’s invitation to speak to the team in person, Seve addressed the team as a whole and spoke at length about his many Ryder Cup experiences over the years.

Skipper Montgomerie said “The whole team spoke to Seve for about 10 minutes and that was very motivational, very passionate and also very sad to hear him, to hear the way he is… but it was a real inspiration, especially for the rookies in the team, to speak to Seve and have Seve speak to them.”

He went on to say: “We were just honoured to have him, have his presence in the room. It’s always nice to not ever feel that Seve is forgotten by us or by European golf in any way, shape or form.”

“It definitely bonds a team, if it needed bonding, together, very close, when Seve, our legend, speaks to us.”

Seve Ballesteros has become entwined with the magic of the Ryder Cup. As a mainstay in the European side throughout the 80’s and 90’s, he scored 20 points out of 37 matches against the United States; his partnership with fellow Spaniard José María Olazábal being the most successful in the history of the competition.

While Seve was a member of European sides that won the Ryder Cup in 1985,1987, 1989 and 1995, the pinnacle of his career in the competition came in 1997, when he captained the winning European side at Valderrama Golf Club in Sotogrande, Spain.

Seve recently launched the Seve Ballesteros Golf Academy. The Academy is a unique golf coaching platform, developed by Edinburgh-based Optimal Analysis Solutions, allowing users to interactively learn the characteristic, instinctive “Natural” play, made famous by the five-time major winner.

The Academy will provide a unique online and mobile phone offering and become a key part of a golfer’s personal tuition. Through the academy, Seve hopes to raise significant funds for his foundation, which aims to progress the battle against brain cancer and help golfers from under-privileged backgrounds.

So, join Seve now! – Learn, improve, share and enjoy – and all for a great cause!

De Vere Golf & Gala Dinner Showcase Event

Sep 282010

Optimal Analysis played a key role in the De Vere Golf and Gala Dinner Showcase event, in conjunction with The Variety Club, at Oulton Hall on 14th September.

Optimal demonstrated its market-leading technology to provide a bespoke event package for the day, including: a fully-integrated micro-site and customised emails for pre-event communications, video capture of golfer’s swings on the day, side-by-side swing comparisons with European Ryder Cup star Rory McIlroy and a further fully-integrated post-event micro-site with customised email correspondence.

To achieve this, Optimal combined the best-of-breed of market-leading technologies, including: Vertex Digital Sports, FlightScope radar tracking technology and our own fully-customised, online, golf events platform.

Despite the blustery conditions in Yorkshire, a fabulous day was had by all. De Vere wowed their guests with a stunning showcase of their flagship location, whilst delivering outstanding levels of customer care and raising large amounts for the Variety Club, a truly worthwhile cause.

Amongst the celebrities taking part in the golf event were former footballers Dean Windass, Paul Jewell and Peter Beagrie, as well as former GMTV presenter and tennis star, Andrew Castle.

The event also heralded the announcement of the exciting partnership between De Vere Hotels and the Seve Ballesteros Golf Academy.

In the coming year, De Vere Hotels will host several unique Seve Academy golf events and functions, whilst offering several exclusive De Vere offers to Academy members.

Keith Pickard, Golf and Leisure Director of Oulton Hall and Slaley Hall said of Optimal’s involvement and the launch of the new event platform,

“Absolutely fantastic….you’ve exceeded my expectations with this!

We look forward to using this ourselves alongside the Vertex platform, to better engage our customers and drive new revenue streams through the value-add of the events”.

Optimal Analysis provide bespoke events packages, supplemented by our fully-customisable, online platforms and targeted pre/post-event electronic communications. These elements, combined with our cutting-edge technology, enable us to deliver unbeatable corporate marketing solutions.

Optimal has a wealth of experience in golf, tennis and football events, having worked with a huge range of clients, large and small, including HSBC, De Vere, Instalec and Thern.

For more information on the event services available, Vertex Golf, Sports Coach Simulators or FlightScope technology, click here to contact Optimal

www.OptimalAnalysis.co.uk

Tel: +44 131 5100210