Youngest Noh Toasted at Asian Tour Gala

Following the conclusion of the 2010 Asian Tour season at the Black Mountain Masters on Sunday, Noh Seung-yul will enter the record books as the youngest Asian number one at the age of 19 years and 204 days.
He also earned the respect of his peers after a spectacular season which saw him claim victory at the Maybank Malaysian Open in March and four other top-10s. He only missed one cut in Asia all year and also enjoyed solid performances at the Majors finishing 40th in the US Open and 28th in PGA Championship.
“I am honoured to receive the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit trophy and becoming the youngest ever champion in history. It is also special for me to win the Players’ Player of the Year Award as this is nominated by my fellow professionals taylormade burner 2.0 irons,” said Noh in a video message as he was unable to attend the evening after undergoing corrective laser eye surgery.
“The Asian Tour has done so much in my career and I am thankful for the opportunities that I have enjoyed since coming through from Qualifying School in 2008. My game has become better over the years through the high level of competition on the Asian Tour and I will continue to represent the Asian Tour proudly,” added the young Korean.
Thai legend Boonchu Ruangkit was honoured with the prestigious Asian Tour’s Special Achievement Award 2010 for his remarkable accomplishments this season.
Qualifying School graduate Rikard Karlberg of Sweden, who sensationally won twice at the SAIL Open and Hero Honda Indian Open to finish third on the Order of Merit, took home the Rookie of the Year award.
“It has been a good year and for the last couple of months it has been unbelievable. It felt like you took one step forward in your career because you’re playing on a good Tour. This is like the third biggest Tour in the world and it makes you feel good,” said Karlberg.
The magnificent Black Mountain Golf Club, which successfully hosted the just concluded Black Mountain Masters, was voted by the players the Host Venue of the Year.
Australia’s Scott Hend earned bragging rights when he finished atop the Driving Average list with a driving average of 309 yards while Thailand’s Udorn Duangdecha was the straightest driver of the ball throughout the season with a 74% fairway hit rate.
13-time Asian Tour winner, Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand swept aside the Lowest Stroke Average with 68.97% and Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant claimed the Birdie Leader award after snaring a total of 261 birdies throughout the 2010 season.
The European Ryder Cup team have been named Team of the Year at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards in Birmingham.
Europe were recognised for their achievement in regaining the trophy from the USA in October in such thrilling fashion at Celtic Manor.
Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie said: “It’s an honour for me to pick this up for 12 great, great men of golf.

Euro Schedule Not Impressed Westwood

With England now boasting the world’s No. 1 player in Lee Westwood himself, and other English golfers like Paul Casey, Luke Donald and Ian Poulter all riding high in the rankings, Westwood believes now is the time to make most of their success.
“I can’t get my head around it,” Westwood said according to the Daily Express. “English golf has never been so strong, we have 10 world-class Englishmen and we should all be getting together and playing an English Open or a European Open in England, even if the European Tour has to fund it.
“If the Tour want me to be an ambassador for an English Open then I am quite happy to do that,” he said.
Westwood believes more active initiatives are required to keep fans interested and in touch with the game.
“We have to do something with golf or else it will become staid and people will get bored with it,” he said. “Matchplay, round-robin, speed golf where you are on the clock to play your shot – anything that jazzes it up should be considered. You don’t want speed golf in the Masters, but there are points during the year where we need to think outside the box.”
With the wintery conditions in effect in his native Worksop, Westwood has had some time to think about golf’s future, though the bad weather has not stopped him from working on his game with taylormade r7 cgb max irons.
“This is the time of year fortunately when I am generally in the gym working on my fitness. I won’t hit balls until January,” he said. “But I have stood on the range when the rain is coming in sideways and done the same on the chipping area when I haven’t really wanted to. Why? In order to get better.
“They all want something that I’ve got. So to retain it, I’m going to have to work harder. Besides, while being world No. 1 is great, the defining thing in golf and what everyone is judged by is majors, and I still haven’t won one.”

Poulter Fight for Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Champonship

After narrowly missing out on victory last time around, this Englishman Ian Poulter will return to play in the Abu Dhabi in January.
Poulter has had a great year so far, and will be eager to start 2011 with a bang when he takes part in the Championship from January 20 – 23.
Earlier this year at the National Course at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club, Poulter was within inches of forcing a play-off with eventual winner Martin Kaymer when a long putt came agonizingly close to going into the hole. Kaymer went on to lift the coveted Falcon Trophy, and the German will also be back to defend his title.
Despite missing out on the win, it was still a good week for Poulter, as his second place finish vaulted him into the top 10 of the world golf rankings, a position he still holds today.
In 2010, Poulter claimed his first win on US soil, the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona, and followed it up with victory at the UBS Hong Kong Open. View ping g15 irons at okgolfclubs.com
Most recently, Poulter won the Shark Shoot Out in Florida, teaming up with Dustin Johnson in the scramble format to edge out Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell.
Poulter is one of the best ever assembled in the Middle East, which includes the likes of Kaymer, Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Paul Casey, Louis Oosthuizen and Graeme McDowell.