Rants, Rookies and will it be Rose or Fleetwood in Dubai?

I’m getting fed of seeing these guys playing on pristine golf courses with short sleeves on topping up their tans and bank balances while I’m sat here freezing in an office, testing out every single layer we have to offer in our warehouse……I can definitely recommend them all! For the latest range of outfits, all of which have met my approval, visit our website here 

This week on tour, unfortunately, Tom’s Top Tip didn’t quite prevail. Alex Noren was up there for a large part of the event down in Sun City, however slipped back to finish tied for 12th. Congratulations go out to Branden Grace for winning on home soil, just pipping Scott Jamieson (much to the annoyance of the Scottish contingent in our office here at Bunker HQ). Race to Dubai leader Tommy Fleetwood could have all but wrapped up the season long event, but looked tired in clawing his was back to finish in the top 10, extending his slender lead over Justin Rose ever so slightly.

Warning…rant time!

Champions Tour. Charles Schwab Cup.  7 wins. 16 top 10s from 22 starts. Bernhard Langer has dominated the Tour this season. He is undoubtedly the standout performer of the year. Yet, somehow, he was knocked down to second in the year end standings by this week’s victor, Kevin Sutherland. Now I don’t want to take away from Sutherland at all, any win on tour is a great achievement. But this was his only win of the season. He’s had less top 10s. His scoring average is over half a shot more per round than the German. Yet now he will go down as the year-long champion. How on earth is that even fair?! Langer must feel absolutely deflated. He may well be a true gentleman, but deep down inside he has got to be gutted not to have a nice piece of silverware to take pride and joy on his mantelpiece this Christmas. Somehow think Sutherland might not be getting a Christmas card from him this year….

That’s enough of that; did anyone catch the Hero Challenge last night?! I think every tournament should kick off like this with a fun Pro-Am followed by an evening challenge under floodlights. It’s nice to see that human side of these guys that appear week on week just to be robots focussed on one things – themselves. The fact that Poulter rocked up wearing his flip-flops sums up the more relaxed feel, while the standard of golf was incredible as always. I think the best thing of all was Haotong Li (maybe not quite a household name just yet) beating some of the world’s greats to shine under the lights at the Nasimi Beach Club.

Let’s look forward to this week. Its season end time for the European Tour. Party time in Dubai! It’s a big shame that McIlroy and Stenson are missing our through injury, but it does mean spots for Bunker favourites Paul Waring and Ian Poulter, who it seems is sacrificing his 9 week winter holiday to play (fair play to him because 8 weeks just isn’t long enough).

In fact Poulter may not be a bad shout for this week, it would just about round off his topsy turvy season quite nicely. Another Bunker fan, Andy Sullivan, has had an up and down end to the season; he’s also fared well in previous outings on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Estate though and could be a very dark horse at the weekend. It’s difficult to pick a winner to be honest; the standard of elite European golf is so high that literally any one of the 60 players could win. But Tom’s Top Tip for this week is Rafa Cabrerra-Bello. This Spaniard will be overshadowed by Masters Champion Sergio Garcia and new-kid-on-the-block (AKA Rookie of the Year) Jon Rahm, but he is just as talented as his compatriots. His length and now his experience on the world stage stand him in good stead. 33/1 is going to give me a nice bit of spending money for my Christmas gifts 

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