Latest
A final round of three under par 68 sees Padraig finish in 5th place with a thirteen under par total. Ashun Wu won the event with a sixteen under par total. He made six birdies on the day but three bogies let him down for the chance of winning but a crucial birdie at the last took him out of a logjam to finish alone in 5th. Swing changes that he has been making are starting to pay dividends as his last two events testify! Only a couple of weeks to the Ryder Cup!
For the second tournament running Padraig has a chance of winning as he shoots a fine third round of six under 65 at the KLM Open. His ten under par total only trails by three shots and he will be full of confidence after his previous showing in a final round. He got off to a great start, with five birdies in his first seven holes but dropped a shot at the par three 8th hole to be out in 31 shots. He again went on the birdie trail with three birdies on the back nine before an excruciating final hole bogie put paid to a fabulous day. He tees off at 12.19pm local time and will fancy this as he is the man in form and a Major winner!
Padraig fires a second round of one under par to sit at four under par for the tournament going into the weekend. Twelve under par leads. He got off to a poor start with an early dropped shot on the par four 3rd hole but had a deuce on the par three 8th hole to be out in level par. Another deuce on the par three 16th hole was his only deviation from par on the back nine and he will tee off at 10.45am local time on Saturday!
Padraig opens his account at the KLM Open with a very pleasing round of three under par 68. He got off to a nice start playing the back nine first and turned in three under par but two dropped shots early on the front nine were erased with two strong birdies to finish. He is currently in a tie for 27th place with seven under par leading. He tees off Friday at 1.15pm local time!
Padraig is back on the European tour after his near miss a couple of weeks ago! The same could be said of one of his playing partners, fellow Ryder Cup vice-captain, Lee Westwood! The third player in the group, Ross Fisher, is a former winner of the event. The trio tee off from the tenth tee at 8.15am!
Preview
After a two week break, I’m am back playing in the KLM Open in the Netherlands. I was ready for my break as it had been a busy summer and I spent the time at home which was great – no travel and my own bed! However, it wasn’t all relaxing as I did, as you would expect, a lot of practice.
I played here last year and enjoyed The Dutch course, so I am looking forward to playing here again. I played nine holes with Paul Dunne on Tuesday – we had a good game which ended in a half and also had a few games on Trackman afterward. I have to say you can’t beat competitive practice – no matter how much good work you do on your own, it just isn’t as good as when you are competing against someone else.
I played the pro-am on Wednesday. It was a 12 pm shotgun start so I got my work done before we teed off. I spent about 30 minutes practicing my putting and then about 45 minutes hitting some balls. I was happy with how I played – I made a few birdies which is what you want as its good to see the ball going in the hole on a Wednesday. It makes you feel good about your putting!
The course is in very good condition as it was last year. This year the weather forecast is a lot better, after getting the wind out of the way on Tuesday and the rain on Wednesday. The rest of the week looks pretty good.
After a couple of days of playing, I am feeling good about things. I was a little ropey on Tuesday as I had hit a lot of balls over the last two weeks, so it was good to get some holes under my belt.
I’m playing early tomorrow with Ross Fisher and Lee Westwood and looking forward to getting back into competitive mode. After coming close at the Czech Masters I am itching to get another win. I liked what I saw there when I was under pressure and know that if I can get myself into contention here then I have a great chance.
Talk soon,
Padraig.