Golf.com.au and its affiliates will broadcast the match globally over the internet. The live broadcast will be a totally interactive, social media experience including live chat, Twitter and Facebook updates. The syndicated broadcast will be delivered by Australian company RivusTV (www.rivustv.com) using its unique video distribution platform to multiple partner websites globally.

In Australia/NZ, the event is to be broadcast by the News Limited network of major online websites – News.com.au and state based titles belonging to News Limited as well as FoxSports.com.au
Woods, 36, won three times on this year’s PGA Tour and is currently number two on the Official World Golf Ranking.

McIlroy regained the number one position in August with his eight-stroke victory in the PGA Championship and the 23-year-old stretched his lead at the top in September with back-to-back wins in the Deutsche Bank Championship and BMW Championship.

Woods, a 14-time Major winner, believes the Northern Irishman will be one of his main rivals in the coming years and is now looking ahead to their 18-hole contest at the prestigious Jinsha Lake Golf Club in Zhengzhou.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun going head to head with Rory. We’re going to go out there and hopefully play well, give it a go and entertain the gallery,” said Woods, who played against McIlroy last week in the Turkish Airlines World Golf Final.

“We’ve all seen how talented Rory is. It’ll be fun to battle him for the next decade or so and hopefully we’ll have many battles to come.”

Woods’ 100 career wins include 74 PGA Tour titles, second only to Sam Snead, and the American will be a massive draw as he appears for the first time at Jinsha Lake, one of the host venues in last October’s widely televised China Golf Challenge, which McIlroy competed in.

“I enjoy head-to-head events, so it’s great to do this in China. I’ve played in China many times over the past decade, but it will be a first time at Jinsha Lake and in Zhengzhou, so I’m looking forward to the experience. I’ve heard the fans get pretty excited,” Woods said.

“China’s a growing market and what they’ve done in golf over the past decade or so is incredible. China is young in golf terms but rising fast, especially with the sport joining the Olympics.”

Woods has great experience of head-to-head events and one-day contests. The American competed in annual events from 1999-2005 comprising the ‘Showdown at Sherwood’, ‘Battle at Bighorn’ (three editions) and ‘Battle at The Bridges’ (three editions). He also won the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship three times on the PGA Tour.

The Duel at Jinsha Lake is owned and promoted by Infinite Ideas International (i3), promoters of last October’s seven-day, seven-city China Golf Challenge.

Raymond Roessel, Managing Director of i3, is excited to bring together two such famous sports personalities, a year after working closely with McIlroy on the pioneering China Golf Challenge.

“It’s such a rare opportunity to work with two such famous players and personalities as Tiger and Rory, and put them together in a head-to-head format,” Roessel said.

“Doing this in China adds an extra layer of interest, especially as both players have competed there before and also because they’re doing so much to promote the game in Asia and across the world. We hope the Duel at Jinsha Lake will inspire youngsters and golf fans in Zhengzhou It should be a spectacular day.”

About Golf.com.au

Golf.com.au was Australia’s first golfing portal – established in 1995.

From the outset, Golf.com.au has had strong links with elite players and coaches on the world’s professional golf tours – specifically PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia and other leading tours worldwide.

Enquiries:

Visit: www.Golf.com.au

Contact: Aidan Montague, Golf.com.au

Mobile: +61 (0) 410 604615

Email: am@globevista.com

3 Bann Lynch Golf players played in the St.Jude Classic presented by Smith & Nephew which concluded on Sunday at the TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.

Cameron Percy of Australia (coached by Darren Cole) finished tied for 25th place at -3 for the week after rounds of 70, 68, 67 and 72. Percy finished 7 shots behind eventual winner Lee Westwood of England.

Mathew Goggin (coached by Dale Lynch) finished tied for 37th place at -1 after rounds of 69, 69, 69 and 72 at the par 70 layout.

Stuart Appleby (coached by Steve Bann) shot an excellent 3 under par 67 in the second round but failed to make the cut as a first round 75 left him with too much ground to make up.

It was a bizarre end to the tournament as American Robert Garrigus seemed to have the tournament wrapped up with a 3 shot lead coming to the final tee on Sunday. Unfortunately, the pressure of chasing his first PGA Tour win seemed to get the better of him as he yanked his tee shot left into the water. He proceeded to make a mess of the hole and had to hole a 3 footer just to make triple bogey and get into a playoff with Westwood and Robert Karlsson of Sweden.

Garrigus was the first to perish in the sudden death playoff, and Westwood and Karlsson matched each other’s shaky putting until the Englishman finally holed a 6 footer to grab the title on the 4th playoff hole.

The golf world’s attention now turns to the US Open being played this week at Pebble Beach. Bann Lynch Golf has 8 players competing in this year’s event. Watch this site for up to date coverage on all our players.

Thanks to Yarra Bend Golf for this article.

Aussies Stuart Appleby and Aaron Baddeley were among the 15 players who have successfully qualified for the 2010 US Open from the Sectional Qualifying event in Columbus, Ohio.

The Down Under duo came through the 36 hole qualifier played at the Lakes and Brookside courses along with major winners Tom Lehman, Davis Love III and Ben Curtis.

Meanwhile, India’s Arjun Atwal has also qualified for the US Open, being played this year at Pebble Beach, by coming through qualifying in Rockville, Maryland.

Thanks to Pure Golf Blog for this article

6 players coached by Bann Lynch Golf coaches competed at The Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio which concluded on Sunday.

It was a case of what might have been for Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy who shared the lead after the 1st round thanks to a blistering 7 under par 65 which could have been even better if not for a missed 2 footer on the par 3 8th hole. Unfortunately for Ogilvy, a 77 in the second round put paid to his chances for the week.

He got back on track with a 3 under par 69 but a 4 over par 76 on Sunday meant he could only finish T41 for the week at -1, well behind England’s Justin Rose who shot a final round 66 to capture his first PGA Tour title. Still, Ogilvy is sure to take plenty of positives from his first round in which he matched his superb ball striking with deft touch on the fast greens, needing just 26 putts despite the 3 putt on hole #8. The former US Open Champion is showing some good signs heading into Pebble Beach.

Fellow Aussie Aaron Baddeley finished T47 at even par while South Korea’s KJ Choi, a former winner here, finished T52.

Thanks to Pure Golf Blog for this post.

Bann Lynch Golf players K.J Choi of South Korea and Geoff Ogilvy of Australia can both take plenty of positives from their respective performances in the US PGA Tour’s Crowne Plaza Invitational which concluded today at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

Choi and Ogilvy both finished in a tie for 13th along with 7 other players at 12 under par, 9 shots behind winner Zach Johnson of the United States.

Choi and Ogilvy are coached by International Institute of Golf co-Directors Steve Bann and Dale Lynch respectively.

Yarra Bend Golf team member Ogilvy followed rounds of 70, 67 and 67 with a blistering final round 64 on the par 70 layout to vault up the leader board. He made 6 birdies against no bogeys and this performance will surely give the 2006 US Open Champion plenty of confidence with the 2010 event just a few weeks away.

While Ogilvy shot a stellar final round, Choi can probably lay claim to the strangest round of the week- his 66 on Saturday is probably one round of golf he won’t forget for a while. The South Korean birdied 3 of his first 4 holes, then recovered from a bogey on the 5th with a stunning eagle on the par 4 6th. He parred into the turn to score 4 under par 31 for the front 9. K.J then caught fire again birdieing 4 of the next 5 holes to get it to 8 under for the round. After parring 15 through 17, Choi teed off on the 18th hole tied for the lead with Bryce Molder at 14 under par and needing a birdie to match the course record.

That’s when it all went wrong.

After hitting his tee shot into the left rough, KJ couldn’t get it out on his first attempt, and then compounded his problems by hitting the next one into the water next to the green. After dropping, it took him 3 attempts with the wedge to get it onto the green and he had to make an 8 footer for a quadruple bogey 8 that left him with a 4 under par 66 which while impressive could have been so much better.

Still, both Ogilvy and Choi have shown some very encouraging signs this week that their games are peaking at the right time for the second major of the year. The US Open will be played at Pebble Beach Golf Links from June 17-20.

Thanks to Yarra Bend Golf for this article.

Cameron Percy & coach Darren Cole

Note: We previously reported that Cameron Percy had qualified for the US Open. He has in fact qualified for the British Open Championship. We apologize for this error.

Australia’s Cameron Percy has qualified for the 2010 Open Championship by defeating Charley Hoffman and Bubba Watson in a playoff at the qualifier in Texas.

Percy birdied the third playoff hole to defeat the American duo and grab the final spot available from the qualifying event being played at the Gleneagles Golf Club in Plano, Texas.

It will be Percy’s 2nd start in a major championship, having previously competed in the 2003 Open Championship where he missed the cut.

Having earned his PGA Tour card after a stellar 2009 season on the Nationwide Tour where he finished 8th on the money list, Percy is still finding his feet on the big stage with 5 of 12 cuts made this season and one top 25 finish to his name.

Playing in his second major should be a huge boost for the Aussie who is coached by Bann Lynch Golf coach and Yarra Bend Golf team member Darren Cole.

It has been a good week of qualifying for the Bann Lynch Golf/Yarra Bend Golf stable with Paul Sheehan (coached by Denis McDade) qualifying for the US Open Championship via the qualifying event in Japan.

Australia’s Aaron Baddeley notched his best finish of the season by far by finishing 3rd at the Valero Texas Open on Sunday.

“Badds” as he is popularly known bounced back from an opening round of 75 to shoot 66 in the second round. After poor weather had forced a 36 hole Sunday finish, the Aussie fired rounds of 67 and 68 on the marathon final day to finish at 12 under par for the tournament, 2 shots behind eventual winner and fellow Aussie Adam Scott.

While it was the end of a long victory drought for Scott on the US PGA Tour, Baddeley would be encouraged that he too is not too far from winning form and ending a drought of his own (his last victory came at the 2007 FBR Open). Going through swing changes while competing at the highest level can be tough for even the most talented players in the world, however with his performance this week Baddeley seems to have turned a corner.

Baddeley returned to his childhood coach Dale Lynch earlier this year after having experimented with other swing methods. The pair had plenty of success early in Baddeley’s career as he lifted the 1999 Australian Open as an amateur and retained his title the following year having turned professional. He has been looking to return to the same principles in his game that brought him all that success, the basis of which is taking a holistic approach to golf as outlined in Dale Lynch and his coaching partner Steve Bann’s Pure Golf Training program.

The numbers:

Baddeley was typically strong on the greens this week ranking T4 for Putts Per Round (26) and 3rd for Putts Per Green In Regulation (1.574). He also bombed it off the tee ranking 2nd in driving distance (averaging 310.5 yards). Driving Accuracy (57.1 %- T25) and Greens in Regulation (65.3%- T24) might be two areas in which he did quite well but might look to improve a bit to get him over the line for that win.

With Baddeley’s putting talent, more greens will surely mean more birdies. More birdies ought to lead to that breakthrough win sooner rather than later.

Thanks to the Pure Golf Training team for this article, and well done Badds!

In this video, Ross Perrett from Thomson Perrett Golf Course Architects introduces us to the firm’s latest venture: Yarra Bend Golf.

Thomson Perrett Golf Course Architects are a well established and respected firm in the golf industry with numerous golf course design projects around the world, particularly in Asia. They are excited to join forces with Bann Lynch Golf as part of a consortium that is going to build and manage this wonderful new facility, just 4 kms from the Melbourne CBD.

Over the coming weeks and months, we will provide you with updates on the progress of this project, which will include a brilliant new floodlit driving range with up to 60 hitting bays, state of the art golf coaching academy, golf course renovations to the Yarra Bend Golf Course, a mini golf facility, wellness center, cafe and much much more.

Stay tuned for more from the Yarra Bend Golf team!

Marcus Fraser has completed a 7 year journey back into the winner’s circle on the European Tour by winning the Ballantines Championship on Deju Island in South Korea.

The Victorian shot a final round of 69 to win the weather-shortened 54 hole event by an impressive 4 shot margin at 12 under par. He beat an impressive field which included the likes of Ernie Els, Anthony Kim, Y.E Yang and some of the best players on the European Tour.

“It’s unbelievable, I don’t know how I did that today. It has blown me away,” said Fraser. Clearly emotional and relieved after finally closing the deal, Fraser admitted he has had his fair share of struggles and doubts over the last 7 years or so:

“Probably three or four years ago, I thought about giving it away,” he added. “I was playing terrible. Golf swing wasn’t improving and everything wasn’t really getting any better.

“I thought I was wasting my time and you really start to question yourself, whether you think that you should be out here or whether you deserve to be out here. I went through a patch like that and luckily I went back and saw my old coach that I used to see when I was an amateur, and we got things moving in the right direction.

He was quick to give credit to his coach Denis McDade of Bann Lynch Golf:

“It’s been a lot of hard work over the last couple of years to get back to this position. My last win was when I was coached by Denis McDade, and I’ve had another win today, still being coached by him. So I think we’ve done a lot of things to keep things moving in the right direction.”

We will have more on this story soon. Congratulations to Marcus from all of us here at Bann Lynch Golf!

(Thanks to bannlynchgolf.com for this article)

Australia’s Marcus Fraser finished an impressive week in Korea with a 4 shot victory at the Ballantines Championship on the European Tour here on Sunday. After the win, the Victorian Institute of Sport, Golf Program graduate credited a return to coach Denis McDade of Bann Lynch Golf for his win.

“…It’s all thanks to a lot of hard work back home with my coach Denis McDade…you always feel like you’re working towards something with all the practice that we do together, and its a big confidence boost this week, long overdue.”

McDade coached Fraser through the VIS Program and the early part of his professional career, when he earned his first European Tour win at the Russian Open in 2003. After a break of a few years from McDade in which he struggled with his game to the point where he contemplated quitting it altogether, Fraser decided to return to his old coach and get back to what he knew worked for him. The result is the biggest victory of his professional career to date, over a field that included major champions Ernie Els and Y.E Yang and some of the best players in the world including Henrik Stenson and Anthony Kim.

Fraser mentioned how a return to his old coach with whom he had enjoyed so much success as an amateur revitalized his game and gave him the confidence that he was on the right track:

“I had 4 wins in my first year as a professional and I expected a lot of myself…for some reason I stopped seeing him (McDade), don’t know why I did that..but it’s all water under the bridge for us now and we’re working hard to get another win.”

Bann Lynch Golf coach Denis McDade

McDade was understandably thrilled with Fraser’s performance: “It’s just incredibly satisfying for me to see Marcus break through this way…we all know he’s got the talent to compete on this level and it was just a matter of working together to build his confidence up and keep putting himself in contention. A lot of hard work has gone into this, including via Skype this week! Absolutely over the moon.”

You can listen to the full audio clip of Marcus Fraser’s post-victory interview on the European Tour site by clicking this link: