Silent

Legend _O_

He will be playing Oman to defend his title.

Still here occasionally, just pretty busy nowadays. But yes, he's playing very well coming back after half a season being injured. Because of that he qualified for the WGC Mexico Championship. Good to see him back on that level so quickly.

Interesting discussion. In my opinion, if Garcia and Stenson lost their matches, Bjorn would be called a bad captain for making ridiculous picks (players not in form, back from injury etc.). But surprise surprise, Garcia played very well and honestly much better than expected looking at how he played this entire season. Does that make Bjorn a great captain, or does it make him a (slightly) lucky one?

Yea... agree. At first glance I look at the pants. USA in white, Euro in dark.

Luiten will be operated, and unable to play for at least the rest of this season...

Unfort. Luiten his wrist injury, which cost him 1-2 seasons in the past, is back. He didn't play in any tournaments for 2 months now, and today made public he can't say when he will be back and there will be further investigation in the hospital next week. This must be extremely devastating for him, hopefully there will be full recovery in the future...

Crap, Luiten withdraws form the Match Play Championship due to an wrist injury :(

Even though just outside the top 64 on the OWGR, Joost is confirmed for the WGC Dell Match Play championship. Very cool, looking forward to it!

Right now not playing; two young boys at home, third on its way, promotion at work and just moved to a new house and city a couple of months ago. Hard to find the time....

Luiten scores -16 (-4 final round) in Oman to win his 6th European Tour event. Great performance.

Finally again a (really) good tournament from Joost. Battling for victory until the final hole, coming up one shot short against Garcia to get a second place. Which raises him right back into the top 100 of the OWGR. Hopefully a good finish of the season in The Final Series, good points and money to earn there.

Not much happening? Because the court works in slow motion.... The motion for a new trial including a load of documents with 'proof' of planted evidence has been filed months ago already. For now the only thing to do is wait for the court. Also two higher courts judged Dassey has to be released, (last one already 3 months ago) but the appeals from the state take ages. Btw I can read all her Twitter, including the links to massive pdf's which claim to tackle a lot of the 'evidence' as presented in court. She did 'expose all the stuff', there's just no way for me (and you) to really judge how solid that proof is. It's in the hand of the appeal court now, and they take and need their time to rule on the motion......

Still here, just have been very busy the last few months (my second son was born, and we bought a new house and just moving in now). OT: Alex Noren has been playing very good in the last 1,5 year or so. Couple of victories and some other good results in big tournaments. Very impressive play, unlike *cough* Luiten this year.

Despite a top 10 in Austria a few weeks ago, Luiten is not playing his best golf lately. However, he did qualify for The Open. A good time for a turn around, hopefully he'll find his good form again.

Bredan Dassey won his appeal in federal court http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/06/22/533983565/brendan-dassey-of-making-a-murderer-wins-federal-appeals-court-case

Luiten is not playing his best golf at the moment, as a result he failed to qualify for the US Open. Yesterday after a good final round he did end up in the top 10 of the Austria Open, a European Tour tournament he won a few years back. In two weeks time the Open de France, with a extended purse. On that course the Ryder Cup will be played next year.

Apparently earlier this month Zellner finally filed a motion requesting a new trial for Steven Avery, claiming that his conviction was based on planted evidence and false testimony. She claims that after intense testing the results show that the bones in the pit were planted, the key in the bedroom was planted, the blood in the car was planted and the bullet was planted. On her twitter she links to the documents. I have read some highlights, but I have no way to judge if it's believable or if they are jumping trough hoops. At least it's interesting. Curious how this will continue.

Luiten added another tournament to his schedule: this week he will play the Torphee Hassan II in Morocco. A small tournament (he will be the second highest ranked player), but on a beautifull course. And let's be honest, the trophy for the winner is awesome:

After two games Luiten is already eliminated at the World Match Play tournament. I can make a nice story about it, but the truth is he doesn't play very well at the moment... This also means no top 50 and no participation in The Masters.

Luiten lost the first game 2&1 against the top seed in the group, Paul Casey. According to himself he 'didn't deserve to win', even though it was a close match going all square at the 14th. Basically all his drives went right, so his strongpoint (tee to green) wasn't there yesterday. Today Luiten has to play former Masters champion Schwartzel.

Luiten will play in the Match Play Championship this week, a format he really likes. Hopefully he can get a result here, if he wants to play The Masters he will need it. If he doesn't qualify for the Masters his schedule will be: - Shenzhen International, 20 t/m 23 april, Genzon GC, China - Volvo China Open, 27 t/m 30 april, Topwin GC, Beijing, China - BMW PGA Championship, 25 t/m 28 mei, Wentworth Club, Virginia Water, Engeland - Nordea Masters, 1 t/m 4 juni, Barsebäck GC, Zweden - US Open*, 15 t/m 18 juni, Erin Hills GC, Wisconsin - HNA Open de France, 29 juni t/m 2 juli, Le Golf National, Parijs - Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, 6 t/m 9 juli - 146th Open Championship, 20 t/m 23 juli, Royal Birkdale, Southport, Engeland

Thanks for posting @ScottishGolfer. I think your analysis is spot on. In my opinion, from tee to green, Joost Luiten already is one of the best in the world. Even though you might say he misses just a tiny bit of distance, his stats in that area are very good. Last week at the WGC it was also impressive, especially the last day. He got 17/18 GIR, yet his scoring of that day was +1. Only one birdie and a double bogey after his only missed green; a double touch chip, from a position that wasn't plugged or anything (in other words: he messed up). On and around the green is basically where he loses his shots. If his putting and short game is just 'good' he will be in contention in almost every tournament he enters, if it's perfect he's the favorite for the win. It will be hard to get to that level consistently ofcourse. So for me I have no doubt that the answer to your question what's holding him back from making it as an elite player, is generally his short game and putting. With 5 wins (and probably more coming) on the European Tour he proved he's a very good player, but to take the final step and show himself in the really big tournaments also he needs to step up his game in that area, if possible.

He needs a good result at the Match Play champ. to qualify for Masters.