Stenson joined by Coetzee at top of BMW International Open leaderboard

Henrik Stenson maintained a presence at the top of the leaderboard in the BMW International Open, but was forced to share top spot with South African George Coetzee.
Stenson, starting the day with a one-shot lead after an opening 64 signed for a second round 70, while Coetzee put together a second successive round of 67. In contrast, Stenson bogeyed his final two holes while Coetzee birdied 2 of his last 3 holes.

Swede Stenson has dropped to 124 in the world after ranking fourth just two years ago, but might have been clear of the field but for those closing bogeys. Starting from the 10th hole and turning in 1-under par, Stenson arrived at the 8th – his 17th hole – with a three shot lead after an eagle on the 6th was followed by a birdie on the next.

Those dropped shots allowed Coetzee to close the gap as he made birdies on two of his last three holes to tie Stenson.

Coetzee has yet to win on the European Tour and let slip a golden opportunity at last week’s St. Omer Open where he was handily placed to challenge heading into the final day. To date he has never contested a Major Championship either – but he came through qualifying to earn a place in the Open Championship next month at Royal St Georges.

The pair are one shot clear of Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal who carded a bogey-free 67, including an eagle on the 16th hole, and he opened and closed his round with birdies on the 1st and 18th as well as adding another gain on the 9th. After losing to Coetzee in a play-off to book a place in the season’s third major, Larrazabal needs a top two finish to make the Open Championship field.

A packed leaderboard saw five players tie on 8-under par, two shots off the lead. The group included Welshman Bradley Dredge and former BMW PGA Champion Simon Khan, while former US Open champion Retief Goosen was among a group of players a further shot back on 7-under.

World number 3 and US PGA Champion, Germany’s Martin Kaymer moved into contention on 6-under par alongside former Open champion Paul Lawrie.

The tipster challenge is spearheaded by in-form Dutchman Joost Luiten, who despite turning in level-par after starting out 2-under, birdied three holes without reply on the homeward nine to move into a group on 5-under par which included defending champion David Horsey and Italian Francesco Molinari.

Ross Fisher meanwhile shot a round of 70 to move to 3-under par and share with the likes of Dustin Johnson and Ryder Cup team-mate Miguel Angel Jiminez.

Anders Hansen, who had enjoyed a rich vein of form prior to this event, let the tipster side down by adding a 75 to his opening 76 to comfortably miss the cut. He kept some good company, however, as golf legend Bernhard Langer also missed out following rounds of 76-79, as did Paul Casey.

The Englishman, ranked 12th in the world was largely expected to contend strongly this week but added a 73 to his opening 72 to miss the cut by 3 strokes.

Stenson takes first round BMW International Open lead

Sweden’s Henrik Stenson showed he still had all his old skills with a blistering eight under par 64 to take a one shot lead after the first round of the BMW International Open.

Stenson, a former Ryder Cup player, has slipped dramatically down the world rankings from a lofty fourth place to outside the top 100 in the last two years. However, after a spell in the doldrums it appears as if the Swede is finally recapturing some of his best forma and he featured on the leaderboard for much of last week’s US Open before posting a T23 finish.

And he carried that form to Munich, Germany by shooting seven birdies, one eagle and one bogey to lead England’s Gary Boyd by one shot amid some torrential afternoon downpours, and still sporting a bandaged figure after suffering a cut during his final round at Congressional.

Boyd might have been tied for the lead had it not been for a bogey on the last hole, but the Englishman turned in 5-under par 65, before adding a further three birdies on his homeward nine holes.

Little-known Dutchman Tim Sluiter shot 66 to take a share of third alongside much more recognisable names in England’s Danny Willett, South African Jbe Kruger and former British Open champion Paul Lawrie, with Engand’s Lee Slattery and Markus Brier posting 67s to lay one shot further back.

Defending champion, England’s David Horsey began with a solid 2-under par 70, the same score as American Dustin Johnson who is making a rare appearance on the European Tour. Spaniard Miguel Jiminez and Martin Kaymer also opened with rounds of 70, as did Colin Montgomerie.

The tipster picks had solid if unspectacular starts to their challenges. Dutchman Joost Luiten twice battled back from 2-over par to card a 2-under par 70, while England’s Ross Fisher posted a round of 71. But Dane Anders Hansen endured a poor homeward nine to post a 4-over 76 and leave himself sweating on making the cut.

Paul Casey was left to rue a quadruple-bogey eight on the par-4 seventh hole. After starting out on the 10th, world number 12 Casey had turned in 2-under par before adding two further birdies on the homeward nine. Then calamity struck as he racked up an eight before dropping another shot at the next. Casey birdied his last hole to post a level par 72.

Jiminez, Stenson to be fined for club throwing

European Tour stalwarts Henrik Stenson and Miguel Angel Jiminez are expected to be hammered with fines by the Tour’s ruling body, over recent incidents involving the throwing of golf clubs.

Jiminez broke the head off his putter at the recent Volvo Champions event in Bahrain during his second round, forcing him to use a lob wedge for the remainder of his round. Jiminez had grown frustrated by his lacklustre putting during the round and threw the club to the ground during a moment of rage.

Stenson’s incident happened at last weekend’s Qatar Masters during his second round; the Swede tossing a wedge over his head and into a water hazard after running up a nine at his final hole of the round.

Tournament officials have said they will review footage of the respective incidents before coming to any decision, but the likelihood is that both players will be fined for ‘conduct unbecoming of a professional player’.

Good start for Kaymer, but Karlsson leads Race to Dubai finale

Martin Kaymer began his quest to win the Race to Dubai and be crowned Europe’s number one with a round of 67, but still found himself trailing the lead.

Kaymer got off to an excellent start in his opening round, carding a birdie and an eagle in his first three holes. A bogey on the fourth hole was cancelled by another birdie at the par-3 sixth hole, and the German added a pair of birdies on the homeward nine to come home in 5-under par.

However, he still found himself two shots behind Sweden’s Robert Karlsson, who carded a 7-under par 65, and Seung-yul Noh of South Korea who shot a 66 for 6-under par.

Only Kaymer or Irishman Graeme McDowell can win the Race to Dubai, and while the German was enjoying himself on the course, McDowell had a less enjoyable time but still managed to finish with a level par 72 after finding himself two-over par after 12 holes. But as is typical of the Irishman, he dug deep to claw his way back.

McDowell needs to finish in at least third place and hope Kaymer fails to make the top-20 if he is to have any chance of wresting the Race to Dubai crown away.

“He kind of left me in the dust literally out there, so it’s great to get away from him and the distraction tomorrow.” McDowell said afterwards. Having been paired with Kaymer for the first round, McDowell will partner big-hitting Spaniard Alvaro Quiros in the second round.

Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee opened with a 4-under par 68 to take fourth place, while it was a welcome return to form for Spaniard Sergio Garcia and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, who both went round in 69 to share fifth place with Alejandro Canizares, Charl Schwartzel – who hit a hole-in-one during his round – and Ryder Cup pair Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, the current world’s number one.

Kaymer could even overtake Lee Westwood with a win this week. The prize purse of £777,00 for winning the tournament is supplemented by the Race to Dubai winner receiving an additional £934,024 bonud, and should Kaymer win, he could leapfrog Westwood to the top of the world pile as well, depending on where Westwood himself finishes.

Qatar Masters Preview

Qatar is the next stop for the European Tour after an exciting finish in Abu Dhabi and this week it’s the Qatar Masters. Alvaro Quiroz will be bidding to defend the title he won in 2009, and with seven of the world’s top 14 players in the field, including last week’s winner, Martin Kaymer the scene is set for another top event on the Middle East swing where Doha Golf Club provides the venue for this week’s event.

Read more

Next Page »