Ahead of the second World Golf Championships event of the year - the WGC-Cadillac Championship - europeantour.com stats man Steve Doughty picked out five to watch out for at Trump National Doral.
Ernie Els
Twice a winner of the WGC – Cadillac Championship in 2004 and 2010, with the latter played over the Blue Monster layout, although the Gil Hanse-designed course has been re-vamped for the 2014 Championship and is now called the Blue Monster, Trump National Doral. In 2010 he beat fellow South African, Charl Schwartzel by four shots with a total of 18 under par. Also won the 2002 Genuity Championship on the US PGA Tour, was third in the 1999 Doral-Ryder Open and tied seventh in the Ford Championship at Doral. His last three victories on American soil have been in the state of Florida. The wins were: 2008 Honda Classic, 2010 WGC – Cadillac Championship and 2010 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. Showed strong signs of a return to form when he reached the semi-final of the WGC – Accenture Match Play Championship two weeks ago.
Sergio Garcia
A man in form. Defeated Mikko Ilonen in a play-off to win the 2014 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters and has placed inside the top 20 in all four of his European Tour events in the 2014 season. Was tied second in the Nedbank Golf Challenge, tied 19th in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, first in Qatar and tied ninth in the WGC – Accenture Match Play Championship. In addition, Garcia tied eighth in the Honda Classic on the US PGA Tour last week. He is a total of 45 under par for his last four stroke play tournaments worldwide. His last 16 stroke play rounds has seen him break par in 13 of them. His best finish over the Trump layout was tied third in the 2007 WGC – Cadillac Championship and he finished in the same position last year. Is he finally going to win his first WGC title at the 41st time of asking?
Graeme McDowell
Like Sergio Garcia, finished in a tie for third place in the 2013 WGC – Cadillac Championship. This was the third time he had finished third in a WGC event with the previous two the 2011 and 2013 WGC-HSBC Champions. Has played in WGC – Cadillac Championship on six occasions at the Florida venue and was also tied sixth in 2010 and 13th in 2012. Out of his last 16 rounds on the Blue Monster he has produced rounds at par or better on 12 occasions. Has recorded two top five finishes in his last two WGC tournaments: third in the 2013 WGC-HSBC Champions and tied fifth at the 2014 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.
Rory McIlroy
Will try to banish the disappointment of losing out in a play-off for the Honda Classic last week on the US PGA Tour and win his first WGC event. Returning to some more consistent form of late. His three stroke play tournaments in 2014 have seem him finish tied second in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, tied ninth in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and tied second in the Honda Classic. Is 33 under par for those three events, with ten of these 12 rounds being under par. Another player with a fine recent record in the WGC – Cadillac Championship, he finished tied tenth in 2011, third in 2012 and tied eighth respectively in 2013. Is 32 under par for his last 12 rounds at the Blue Monster course. Matched his lowest 18 score at the Blue Monster in the final round last year, a seven under par 65. Although yet to win one of the four WGC events, he has produced 12 top tens from his 20 career appearances.
Charl Schwartzel
Although yet to win the WGC – Cadillac Championship, he has become a recent specialist here on this course. Was second behind compatriot, Ernie Els in 2010 and tied fourth in 2012. Was a very creditable 16th tied last year and shared 24th in 2011. His overall stroke average for these four years is an excellent 69.56. Already a winner on The European Tour on The 2014 Race to Dubai after making a successful defence of his Alfred Dunhill Championship, his last seven stroke play competitions have yielded four top six finishes. Should he prevail he would become only the second South African, after Els, to win a WGC title.
Will these chosen five make your team for this week’s instalment of the Fantasy Race to Dubai game? If you haven’t yet signed up for the competition, which offers weekly, monthly and season-long prizes, head over to create your team now…
