Archive for the ‘Golf’ Category

Greenkeeping staff repair the greens at Hilversumsche

The start of the KLM Open near Amsterdam was delayed due to overnight vandalism on several of the Hilversumsche Golf Club greens.

Parts of the putting surfaces on the fourth, fifth, sixth and ninth holes were dug up, leading to a 45 minute delay on Thursday morning as greenkeeping staff went about repairing the damage.

Play will still be possible on the affected putting surfaces with the repaired areas on all the greens being treated as areas of Ground Under Repair under the normal rules of golf.

KLM Championship Director Daan Slooter said: “Early this morning we ascertained damage to four of the greens here at Hilversumsche.

“At this moment we do not know who caused the damage. All has been restored and the tournament will resume.

Increased security

“For this evening and the rest of the tournament we have increased security substantially.

“I’m very disappointed for all the people here at the club who worked so hard over the past few days, through challenging weather conditions, to ensure the course was in playable condition.

“However, having said that, the same professionalism of the greenkeepers has ensured that the damage has been repaired so the tournament can go ahead.

“They are all due a huge vote of thanks.”

Martin Kaymer: Looking to win here for the second year running

German Martin Kaymer knows it will be tough to defend his title at this week’s KLM Open in the Netherlands – but he’s confident he can pull it off.

Kaymer was on cloud nine when he pitched up here last September. He had just scored a thrilling victory in the USPGA at Whistling Straits and, riding the wave of confidence, he posted a four-shot win.

The German returns to Hilversum having gone over seven months without a win after a near-miss in Switzerland last week when he led with four to play before being overtaken by the fast-finishing Thomas Bjorn.

The 26-year-old also has a tougher field to beat this year with Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy in opposition but he feels he has every chance of going ‘double Dutch’.

“It definitely feels like I will win again in the next couple of weeks,” Kaymer told the European Tour website.

“I’m hitting the ball very well. I like the golf course and I can drive there from home – it’s only two hours away and it’s nice to have your own car.”

McIlroy has something he likes having around him too. His Twitter site has a picture he took on the flight over of the US Open trophy in its own seat, complete with safety belt on.

“It has to go everywhere with me these days,” the Northern Irishman tweeted.

He came third in the European Masters after leading early in the final round, but was encouraged by the fact that he had no problems with the right arm he injured against a tree root at the USPGA Championship last month.

“I’ll probably still get a little bit of physio this week just to make sure,” he said. “I’ve got a long stretch coming up and it was nice to start it on a positive note like that.”

McIlroy moved back up from sixth in the world to fourth as a result and he admits he has Kaymer, Westwood and then number one Luke Donald in his sights.

Goal

“I’m not desperate, but it’s definitely a goal that I’ve set for myself and I feel as if it’s very attainable,” he said.

“It might not be this year, but definitely into next year. I can give myself a very good platform if I end the season well.

“Luke’s got a little bit of a lead at the minute and it would be nice to get closer to him.

“But at the end of the day winning golf tournaments takes care of that, so I want to just concentrate on trying to play well and give myself chances to win every week that I play.”

Westwood also had a share of top spot for a while on Sunday, but then fell back to sixth and with Donald finishing joint-third in America the gap between them at the top widened a bit further.

Back in action this week after injury lay-offs are France’s Thomas Levet and Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts.

Levet fractured his shin and needed surgery after jumping in the lake celebrating his French Open victory at the start of July and two weeks later, just before The Open, China Open champion Colsaerts was in a scooter crash and hurt his elbow.

He plays with Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal on his return, while Levet is paired with Kaymer.

Rookie Klara Spilkova will be hoping for a big performance on home soil

The Ladies European Tour will make history this week when it stages its first tournament in the Czech Republic.

The Euro 200,000 Raiffeisenbank Prague Golf Masters begins on Friday at the prestigious Albatross Golf Resort, on the outskirts of the city.

The par-72 course was designed by Keith Preston and the full 18 holes opened in April 2010. In a Golf Digest poll, Albatross was voted as the course that provides the best services and as the second best golf course in the country.

Rookie Klara Spilkova is the Ladies European Tour’s first and only representative from the Czech Republic and its youngest ever member. The 16-year-old joined the LET in January after tying for ninth at Final Qualifying School.

She has already demonstrated her talents with three top-20 finishes from eight starts, in between high school studies. She tied for seventh at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco, 11th in Turkey and 17th last week in Austria.

Although Albatross is not her home course, she has played at the facility several times and is full of confidence heading into the tournament.

“I’m very, very excited because this is my home. I live just 40 minutes from here so I’ve played here a lot of times and I know this golf course. It’s a very nice: it’s new and I really like it,” she said.

Spilkova will be targeting her first victory as a professional and should that occur she would become the second youngest ever winner on the LET after Amy Yang, who won the 2006 ANZ Ladies Masters as an amateur aged 16 years, six months and eight days.

“In my head, I’m thinking of first place but we will see. I think a top 10 would be great. I played well last week in Austria so I think it will be good this week.”

Spilkova lives in down-town Prague and will sleep in her own bed this week, while the Lalla Meryem Cup champion Zuzana Kamasova from neighbouring Slovakia is another player who feels close to home.

Perfect shape

“I’ve never played here before but I really like the course and it’s in perfect shape,” said Kamasova. “I’m super impressed because I know there are a lot of nice golf courses in the Czech Republic but this is really nice.

“We have a lot of courses in our area that are opening up but you don’t always get the super shape, the good greens, the hard greens and tip-top condition.

“I would like to play well. I’ve been struggling for the last couple of weeks, but I would like to put it all together and just enjoy the week and go from there.”

Other high-profile players in the field include Diana Luna, Laura Davies, Caroline Masson, Ashleigh Simon, Lee-Anne Pace and Becky Brewerton, who is feeling confident after a tie for 12th in Austria last week.

“I had not a bad week last week in Austria. I didn’t play very well on the last day in the breezy conditions but I’m pretty confident after that and I like the course,” Brewerton said.

“It reminds me a bit of Killeen Castle with the wide fairways and big greens with slopes on. I’m looking forward to it.

“I felt like, after the Evian and British, that my form was coming back. I finished 14th in Ireland, 16th in Scotland and so I’m steadily getting back to where I wanted to be.

“It was just a shame that I finished with a double last week on 18 otherwise I think I would have finished fifth or sixth.”

Davies will make her first visit to the Czech Republic as one of 108 players in the field, but will play the course blind on Friday.

The inaugural Raiffeisenbank Prague Golf Masters will take place over three rounds with a cut to the leading 50 and ties after 36 holes.

Rory McIlroy: Tees off at 1320 local, 1220 UK

Tee-off times in the first round of the European Tour’s KLM Open, Hilversumsche GC, Hilversum, Netherlands

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, all times Local, BST 1 hour behind):

(x) denotes amateurs

Starting at hole 1

0755 John Parry, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), Richie Ramsay

0805 David Dixon, Stephen Dodd, Oliver Wilson

0815 Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Bradley Dredge, Michael Jonzon (Swe)

0825 Phillip Price, Ross McGowan, Marcel Siem (Ger)

0835 Reinier Saxton (Ned), Joakim Haeggman (Swe), Lloyd Saltman

0845 Soren Hansen (Den), Shane Lowry, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha)

0855 Damien McGrane, Christian Cevaer (Fra), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra)

0905 Marcus Fraser (Aus), Anthony Kang (USA), James Morrison

0915 Niklas Lemke (Swe), Jamie Elson, Markus Brier (Aut)

0925 Ralph Miller (Ned), Joel Sjoholm (Swe), Manuel Quiros (Spa)

0935 Fabrizio Zanotti (Par), Tano Goya (Arg), Christian Nilsson (Swe)

0945 Lorenzo Gagli (Ita), Sven Maurits (Ned), Rikard Karlberg (Swe)

0955 Nicolas Nube (Ned), Matt Haines, Daniel Gaunt (Aus)

1005 Elliot Saltman, Daan Huizing (Ned), Taco Remkes (Ned)

1250 Niclas Fasth (Swe), Simon Khan, Scott Strange (Aus)

1300 Kenneth Ferrie, Oskar Henningsson (Swe), Barry Lane

1310 Johan Edfors (Swe), David Horsey, Paul Lawrie

1320 Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Rory McIlroy, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa)

1330 Lee Westwood, Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Peter Hanson (Swe)

1340 Ross Fisher, Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Robert Rock

1350 Todd Hamilton (USA), Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Michael Campbell (Nzl)

1400 Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe), Rhys Davies, Gregory Bourdy (Fra)

1410 Lee Slattery, Jochen Lupprian (Ger), Thomas Norret (Den)

1420 Shiv Kapur (Ind), Jeppe Huldahl (Den), Sven Struver (Ger)

1430 Carlos Del Moral (Spa), Wade Ormsby (Aus), Ramon Schilperoord (Ned)

1440 Rowin Caron (Ned), Simon Wakefield, Stuart Manley

Starting at hole 10

0750 Robert Dinwiddie, Mark Tullo (Chi), Victor Dubuisson (Fra)

0800 Rafael Echenique (Arg), Seve Benson, Robert Coles

0810 Scott Jamieson, Thorbjorn Olesen (Den), Tim Sluiter (Ned)

0820 Edoardo Molinari (Ita), Simon Dyson, Anders Hansen (Den)

0830 Joost Luiten (Ned), Martin Kaymer (Ger), Thomas Levet (Fra)

0840 Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel), Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa), Thomas Aiken (Rsa)

0850 Paul McGinley, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa), David Lynn

0900 Michael Hoey, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind), Stephen Gallacher

0910 Bernd Wiesberger (Aut), George Murray, Dodge Kemmer (USA)

0920 Marc Warren, Robin Swane (Ned), Florian Fritsch (Ger)

0930 Ben Collier, Alexandre Kaleka (Fra), Magnus A Carlsson (Swe)

0940 Steve Lewton, David Law, Benjamin Hebert (Fra)

1235 Richard McEvoy, Richard Bland, Steven O’Hara

1245 Matthew Zions (Aus), Mark Brown (Nzl), Gary Orr

1255 Alastair Forsyth, Jin Jeong (Kor), Liam Bond

1305 Peter Whiteford, Peter Lawrie, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa)

1315 Jason Knutzon (USA), Matthew Nixon, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor)

1325 Steve Webster, Graeme Storm, Gregory Havret (Fra)

1335 Dylan Boshart (Ned), Shaun Norris (Rsa), Romain Wattel (Fra)

1345 Alfredo Garcia-Heredia (Spa), Robin Kind (Ned), Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind)

1355 Gareth Maybin, David Howell, Alvaro Velasco (Spa)

1405 Ignacio Garrido (Spa), James Kingston (Rsa), David Drysdale

1415 Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa), Chris Wood, Nick Dougherty

1425 Brett Rumford (Aus), Danny Willett, Alejandro Canizares (Spa)

1435 Mikko Korhonen (Fin), Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Inder Van Weerelt (Ned)

1445 Julio Zapata (Arg), Oscar Floren (Swe), Michael Kraaij (Ned)

Lee Westwood: Will be able to aid four rookies

World number two Lee Westwood will spearhead Great Britain and Ireland’s challenge against a strong Continental Europe featuring the in-form Thomas Bjorn in next week’s Vivendi Seve Trophy following confirmation of the teams for the biennial contest.

GB & Ireland, again captained by Irishman Paul McGinley, will defend the title they won two years ago at St-Nom-La-Breteche in Paris from September 15-18, and the team is further strengthened by the presence of Open champion Darren Clarke and world number 18 Ian Poulter.

English trio Simon Dyson, Ross Fisher and Robert Rock, who were part of that 2009 victory, return to the team, while Welshman Jamie Donaldson, Scotland’s Scott Jamieson and English duo David Horsey and Mark Foster will make their debuts in the event.

McGinley’s side will have to cope without four of the world’s top 20 however. Number one Luke Donald’s absence was almost inevitable given he is still in the FedEx Cup play-offs in America, but Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Paul Casey have turned down the chance to play.

So too have Martin Laird and Justin Rose because of the play-offs

Continental Europe boasts six players in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking, including Bjorn who completed back-to-back European Tour victories with his Omega European Masters triumph on Sunday following success at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles. The 40 year-old Dane, who captained Continental Europe in 2009, has won three times this season to rise to world number 28 and secure a playing role this time around.

Italian teenager Matteo Manassero will make his Vivendi Seve Trophy debut, as will Alex Noren of Sweden, Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts and Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal. Manassero, at 18 years and 152 days, is the youngest player in the history of the competition, beating the record held by Sergio Garcia, who was 20 years and 96 days in 2000.

Italy’s Francesco Molinari, Alvaro Quiros of Spain and Dane Anders Hansen were debutants two years ago and return to the team, while 47 year-old Miguel Angel Jimenez will make his seventh appearance in the competition, hoping to add to his success in 2000. Sweden’s Peter Hanson completes the line-up for his fourth appearance.

Missing for Continental Europe are world number three Martin Kaymer – he wants to rest between his defences of the KLM Open and Dunhill Links Championship – and FedEx Cup survivors Robert Karlsson and Sergio Garcia.

McGinley will be aiming to maintain his 100 per cent record in the event, having won it twice as a player in 2006 and 2007 and as captain in 2009.

Boost

He said: “It is a huge boost for our team that players of the calibre of Lee, Darren and Ian have opted to play next week. These are players with big worldwide reputations and impressive Ryder Cup pedigrees.

“I think we have an extremely strong side with a good blend of youth and experience and I am certain that our four rookies will learn an enormous amount from playing with the likes of Lee and Darren, who have performed at a very elite level for many years.

“It is certain that many of the members of our team will go on to represent Europe in The Ryder Cup, so this experience of team golf cannot be underestimated.”

Van de Velde commented: “I would like to thank my Continental side for making the effort to play. We have a very strong team and GB & I will also benefit from having Lee and Darren in their line-up. It has the making of a very exciting and close contest.

“It is great to see so many great champions in the field and so many fantastic young prospects like Matteo Manassero. With eight rookies in the two teams, it means that 40 per cent of the sides are newcomers to the Vivendi Seve Trophy and this will be great preparation for the day they step up to play in The Ryder Cup.

“We have Miguel Angel Jimenez playing in his seventh Seve Trophy and Thomas Bjorn his sixth. However we are 5-1 down in the series and I hope we can reverse the trend.”

The strength of the event is evidenced by the fact that six players from the European Ryder Cup team which beat the United States last October are playing – Westwood, Poulter, Fisher, Jiménez, Molinari and Hanson.

The teams play fourballs, greensomes, foursomes and singles over the four days. Qualification for the teams began at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in December 2010 and finished after the Omega European Masters last weekend.

The Vivendi Seve Trophy, instigated by the late Seve Ballesteros as a team competition to be contested in non-Ryder Cup years, has been played six times, with Continental Europe winning the first edition at Sunningdale in England and Great Britain and Ireland claiming the last five matches.

Teams:

Continental Europe: Francesco Molinari, Anders Hansen, Thomas Bjorn, Matteo Manassero, Alvaro Quiros, Alex Noren, Pablo Larrazabal, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Nicolas Colsaerts, Peter Hanson.

GB & Ireland: Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Darren Clarke, Simon Dyson, Ross Fisher, Mark Foster, Robert Rock, Jamie Donaldson, David Horsey, Scott Jamieson.

Donald: Edged further ahead at the top

Luke Donald cemented his position as world number one this weekend as Tiger Woods slumped further down the list.

Donald finished in a tie for third place at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston on Monday, extending his advantage over compatriot Lee Westwood.

The winner of the FedEx Cup play-off event, Webb Simpson, is up to a career-high 14th after his second victory in three weeks.

Thomas Bjorn’s victory in the Omega European Masters in Switzerland on Sunday – his second in as many weeks – lifted him from 59th to 28th.

However, former world number one Woods – who did not qualify for the play-offs – is down another six places to 44th in the list.

Latest top-10 rankings1 Luke Donald 10.412 Lee Westwood 8.163 Martin Kaymer 7.034 Rory McIlroy 6.885 Steve Stricker 6.846 Dustin Johnson 6.75, 7 Jason Day 6.098 Phil Mickelson 5.849 Matt Kuchar 5.8410 Adam Scott 5.83

Poulter: heading to France to represent Great Britain and Ireland in Seve Trophy

Ian Poulter has confirmed that he will take part in next week’s Seve Trophy match in France.

The biennial event, named after the late Severiano Ballesteros who was one of the tournaments key instigators, sees Great Britain and Ireland take on a Continental Europe team.

This year’s match has been hit by some high-profile withdrawals with the likes of Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer having opted not to play at the St. Nom La Breteche course just outside Paris.

“Looking forward to some team atmosphere again can’t beat that vibe.”Ian Poulter on Seve Trophy Quotes of the week

However, Poulter – a key member of European Ryder Cup teams in the past few years – has now confirmed his intention to take part.

The Englishman failed to qualify for the third leg of the FedEx Cup play-off series after missing the cut at the Deutsche Bank Championship this week and has now decided to head to France.

“I will play in the Seve Trophy next week in Paris,” he wrote on Twitter. “Looking forward to some team atmosphere again can’t beat that vibe.

“Seve was a massive inspiration to everyone in golf & was someone Who I followed closely as I grew up. Looks like a good turn out in Paris.”

Poulter qualifies for the GB & Ireland team as he is ranked fifth on the points table. The team will be captained by Paul McGinley, while Jean Van de Velde leads the European team.

While McIlroy and Kaymer have pulled out, Poulter joins the likes of Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke in committing to the event, while Graeme McDowell could also feature after he, like Poulter, crashed out of the FedEx Cup play-offs this week.

Harrington: Couldn’t find any inspiration in the final round

Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell both failed to progress to the third leg of the FedExCup playoffs.

The Irish pair needed strong performances on the final day of the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston to progress to the third leg of the series in Chicago in a fortnight’s time but both came up short.

Three-time major winner Harrington went down the leaderboard with a 75 to finish on three over and that left him in 89th on the FedExCup rankings and outside the top 70 who went through.

Harrington’s Ryder Cup team-mate McDowell also failed in his bid to qualify for the BMW Championship.

The Ulsterman was just inside the cut-off mark when he birdied the 13th, but a bogey on the 17th and a missed six-footer for birdie on the last meant he signed for a level-par 71 which saw him just squeezed out in 73rd.

But there was better news for fellow major winners Geoff Ogilvy and Ernie Els.

Experience

Both were right on the bubble playing the final couple of holes but they showed their experience to get the job done.

Ogilvy scrambled a par on 17 before getting in with a birdie at 18 and Els also calmly rolled in a birdie putt on 18 to qualify.

Els qualified in 68th, Ogilvy in 69th while Chris Stroud sneaked the final place, knocking out Kevin Na.