Review
It was another solid week. Over the course of the four rounds I left a few shots out there, but I’m not sure there is any week when you don’t feel that. I thought the course played really well for us, we had a couple of days with some decent wind which made it quite tricky. If you were coming off the fairway it felt like you had a good chance to make a birdie but if you missed the fairway then the greens had you thinking about your approach shot.
My first two rounds should both have been a lot better. During my first round I got to three under through seven holes but then stalled after that. I made three bogeys and one birdie coming in to shoot 1 under. It was disappointing as we had the best of the weather and the scoring was good from my side of the draw. A couple of loose shots stopped all my momentum and I wasn’t able to get it back. I was playing nicely in my second round – I made a birdie on the 5th and was two under for the tournament playing the 9th hole. I hit a good drive and a 6 iron to 25 feet and then three putted. I made birdies on the driveable 11th and also on the 15th, after hitting it in the greenside trap in two. I was three under total and cruising along. The 16th was playing into the wind; I hit my drive down the right over the water but as it turned out, it was too windy to make the carry and I had to go back to the tee and play a second ball. I ended up making a double bogey which dropped me to one under par and a shot outside the cut, which left me having to make a birdie on the last hole to make it. For the last while when I have been in that position I have ended up making a par and missing by one so I have to say it felt good to play the last hole well and make a solid birdie. A good drive, a four iron onto the green and then two putts. I’m sure from the outside it looked stress free but I can assure you it wasn’t that way!
My weekend rounds were solid, four under and three under par, respectively. Both could have been a shot or two better but I can’t complain about them. I missed a few chances but holed a couple as well. What I like about the week and also the previous week is that I have played nicely and have given myself plenty of chances. I was only saying to Ronan on the course on Saturday that I felt there were plenty of chances to score on this course but when I looked at it, it was because I was generally putting the ball in position off the tee to give myself the opportunity to attack the flags.
I am very happy with where my game is. I’m doing all the right things, being patient and letting things happen. To be honest I would love if it was the start of the season and not be as late into it as we are. However I know that as long as I keep doing what I doing that my results will only get better.
I enjoyed the KLM Open as always. It was great to be able to stay in another great city to play a golf tournament.
Talk soon,
Padraig.
A final round of three-under-par sees Padraig finish in a tie for 15th. He got off to a nice start with a couple of birdies and turned in one under par. He added more birdies on the par-four 11th and 16th holes before dropping a shot on the par-three 17th hole. He finished in style with a birdie four at the last hole. He now heads for the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth!
Third round of four under par 68 sees Padraig vault up the field. He recorded five birdies in all with just the one dropped shot on the par-three 4th hole. He played solidly after that and will be hoping for more of the same on Sunday!
A consecutive round of one under par 71 sees Padraig make the cut at the KLM Open. Ten under par leads in a tightly packed field. He got off to a par start before picking up his first shot of the day at the par-four 5th hole. But he dropped a shot on the 9th to be out in level par. He again dipped under par when he birdied the par-four 11th hole and added another on the 15th hole to be two under par for the day. Disaster struck at the next, the par-four 16th hole where he recorded a double bogey but to his credit, he picked up a final important birdie at the last hole to play at the weekend!
Padraig opens his account at the KLM Open with a pleasing round of one under par 71. Six under leads. He got off to the perfect start with a birdie three on his opening hole, the par-four 10th. He then quickly added two more to race to three under before a dropped shot on the par-three 17th saw him out in 34 shots. He started for home with a bogie but picked that shot up on the par-five 3rd hole before a final dropped shot on the par-four 6th hole saw him sign for 71. He has been playing some nice golf in recent weeks and if he can eliminate the mistakes, he can contend! He tees off tomorrow at 1.15pm local time.
Padraig is playing this week at the KLM Open in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The International golf course plays to a par of 73 and nearly 7,000 yards and has five par fives. It is the 100th edition of the KLM Open and a star-studded field has been assembled. Fellow Major winners Martin Kaymer, Sergio Garcia and Patrick Reed all tee it up alongside Padraig. Ashun Wu is your defending champion!
Padraig tees of at 8.15am Thursday and 1.15pm Friday with Thomas Detry & Sebastian Soderberg.
PREVIEW
This week it’s Amsterdam for KLM Open. Ronan and myself drove here from Hamburg on Monday. It was nice to be driving rather than flying for a change and a great way to spend a day off.
We are playing a new course this week, The International. It’s beside the airport and only 20 minutes from the city centre. I have to say it has been nice playing back in Europe these last few weeks, especially as we have visited some great places.
On Tuesday I did a small bit of practice in the morning and the played 11 holes with Dunners, Grant Forrest and Wilco Neinabar. Dunners and myself had a chipping contest for the 11 holes and it pains me to say it but he took the money off me again – whilst it was a sore loss it was great practice.
The course this week is quite links like in its look and how it plays. We only played 11 holes as there was a pro-am on the course in the afternoon. It’s quite tricky as the greens are big and have a lot of slope and run offs on them. The tee shots are very different to last week as you have to lay up on more holes here, whereas last week it was pretty much driver everywhere. I like the way the course plays; you have to think your way around and be prepared to have a few tough chip shots during the round.
On Wednesday I played the pro-am. I had planned to do some practice before it but the weather was so bad I just warmed up and then played. It was a shotgun start – we started on the 7th and by the time we got to the 18th green my playing partners and myself had had enough so we decided to retire to the bar. It was really miserable out there so I was very happy to finish up, especially as been out on the course was of no benefit to preparing for the tournament.
I’m looking forward to playing the tournament on the course as I am interested to see how it plays with a card in my hand. It’s amazing how different we pros play a course when it matters. It’s a really good layout and if you hit good iron shots you should have plenty of birdie chances. It’s one of those courses that if you play well you can score, but if you are slightly off then you could struggle.
I’m playing early on Thursday and thankfully the forecast is for all the rain to be gone overnight – hopefully they are right.
Talk soon,
Padraig.