Tag: European Tour

After 11-year drought, Ross McGowan wins on European Tour

Ross McGowan won his second European Tour event, and his first in 11 years, at the Italian Open with a birdie on the 72nd hole.

This year isn’t all bad — especially if you’re Ross McGowan.

After 11 years and 15 days, McGowan finally snapped his winless streak on the European Tour Sunday at the Italian Open. McGowan shot rounds of 66-64-67-71 at Chervò Golf Club in San Vigilio di Pozzolengo, Brescia, Italy, to win his second Euro Tour event at 20 under.

Laurie Canter and Nicolas Colsaerts finished one shot behind McGowan at 19 under. Sebastian Heisele finished in fourth at 18 under while five others including Martin Kaymer finished T-5 at 17 under.

“I can’t believe it,” McGowan said after his win. “Hit the ball terrible today. Luckily the putter kept me in it again.”

Italian Open: Leaderboard

McGowan, 38, last won the Madrid Masters on Oct. 10, 2009, a tournament he won by three shots.

The 2006 English Amateur Championship said he was lucky to have success when he did today because he was “hitting it all over the place.” McGowan began the round alongside Canter with the lead at 19 under, but a rollercoaster of a start to his final round cast some doubt on snapping his winless streak in Italy.

On the front nine, McGowan went bogey-birdie-double bogey-eagle on Nos. 3-6 before adding another bogey on No. 8 to finish the front nine 1 over, but still square with Canter with nine holes left to play.  McGowan added another birdie and bogey on Nos. 13 and 14 before ending his round with a birdie on 16 and one on 18 to slam the door on any chance of a playoff, something McGowan called “magical” after the round.

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Why this 12-under 60 on the Euro Tour won’t count as an official course record

Laurie Canter’s 60 is good enough to lead the Italian Open by four but it’s not going down in the record books any other way.

Laurie Canter shot the lowest round of his European Tour career, the lowest round in event history and matched the lowest score to par ever recorded on the that tour.

But his 12-under 60 does not count as a course record because the European Tour restricts such rounds going into the record books if lift, clean and place is in effect.

Canter started on the back nine in the opening round of the Italian Open on Thursday and posted five birdies to make the turn at 31. He then birdied the third and fourth holes and eagled the sixth to bring 59 into play. And he almost got there, closing with birdies on Nos. 7, 8 and 9 to shoot a 60 at Chervò Golf Club in Brescia, Italy.

Italian Open: Leaderboard

After rain soaked the course, lift, clean and place was put into effect. But on the European Tour, record scores do not count as record scores if they are recorded under such conditions. Thus, Canter’s 60 is good enough to lead the Italian Open by four over Dean Burmester and Joachim Hansen, but it’s not going down in the record books any other way.

In fact, the European Tour has never had an “official” 59 because of the rule. Golfers have broken 60 on the European Tour but each time it has happened, it was under lift, clean and place, which is also sometimes called “preferred lies” or “placing on the fairways.”

So bummer for Canter, but that’s still a heck of a round.

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Adrian Otaegui earns unique win at Scottish Championship for third European Tour title

Adrian Otaegui earned a unique win at the Scottish Championship at Fairmont St. Andrews for his third European Tour title.

Adrian Otaegui is no stranger to winning golf tournaments.

The 27-year-old Spaniard now has three titles on the European Tour after Sunday’s Scottish Championship victory. What makes this one at Fairmont St. Andrews unique? It’s Otaegui’s first 72-hole stroke play win.

His previous triumphs on the European Tour came in 2017 at the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play and the 2018 Belgian Knockout.

“Stroke play is my favorite way of golf, I think it’s the proper way,” said Otaegui despite a stellar match play record. “You have to play very solidly and very consistently all four rounds, which I think I did. I’m very happy to be able to win stroke play as well, my third win on the European Tour.”

Scottish Championship: Leaderboard

Otaegui began the tournament with a 62 on Thursday and ended his title pursuit with a Sunday 63, overcoming a four-shot deficit thanks to eight birdies over an 11-hole stretch to finish atop the leaderboard at 23 under, four shots ahead of 54-hole leader Matt Wallace (-19).

“I had no expectations this morning, really. I just wanted to go out there, play well and shoot as well as possible. I mean, if you told me I was going to shoot 63 this morning, I wouldn’t believe it,” added Otaegui. “Everything went well, I played very well, I felt very well, I was very focused and I holed some good putts. It’s been a very good week and especially today was a very good day to finish that week.”

“I feel so happy. To be able to win in Scotland, especially here in St. Andrews, the home of golf, it means a lot to me.”

Aaron Rai finished third at 17 under, with Chris Paisley and Garrick Porteous T-4 at 16 under.

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Tommy Fleetwood forces playoff with dramatic putt, but Aaron Rai takes Scottish Open

Tommy Fleetwood pulled off some late Sunday drama at the Scottish Open, but ultimately Aaron Rai had the last word.

Tommy Fleetwood pulled some late Sunday drama at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, but ultimately Aaron Rai had the last word. When Fleetwood, the European Ryder Cupper, holed a 20-footer for birdie at the closing hole to catch Rai at 11 under, it meant a playoff between the two Englishmen.

Fleetwood fell to Rai on the first playoff hole. Even though Rai hit it in a bunker off the tee to give Fleetwood the early advantage, Fleetwood three-putted from just off the green to give Rai the title.

For Rai, it’s a bit of redemption after finishing runner-up at last week’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open. His win at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland, also moves him inside the top five in the Race to Dubai Rankings and into the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Scores: Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open

“It’s incredible,” he said. “I played a lot in Scotland growing up, dreamed of playing in a European Tour event in Scotland. To be able to play in it was incredible a couple of years ago and to be able to go still further is an incredible feeling.

“I didn’t really see many leaderboards all the way around. I knew we had to play well and knew we had to cope pushing forwards but luckily I had a good couple of breaks and also played very well, so I’m very pleased.”

Rai moved up the leaderboard on the strength of a final-round 64. It followed previous rounds of 70-69-70. Fleetwood was under 70 all week (69-68-69-67) and was one of only two players to do that. The other was Marc Warren, who finished in a tie for fourth with Lucas Herbert at 9 under.

Robert Rock, another Englishman, was alone in third at 10 under.

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Former Open winner Paul Lawrie calls it quits after 620 European Tour starts

Longtime European Tour player Paul Lawrie is hanging it up on the European Tour.

Longtime European Tour player Paul Lawrie is hanging it up on the European Tour. The 51-year-old Scotsman missed the cut at this week’s Scottish Open and after his 620th career start, will call it quits.

Lawrie was the winner of the 1999 Open Championship, memorable in part because he outlasted Jean van de Velde in a playoff after van de Velde’s stunning collapse on the final hole at Carnoustie. Lawrie also won seven more times and made two Ryder Cup teams.

He remains active through is Paul Lawrie Foundation, which focuses on growing the game.

“My back is not very good, I’ve got a herniated disc and I struggle to practice enough,” Lawrie told the BBC. “I’m not able to hit the amount of balls I need. I’m not particularly talented so I lose my game quite quickly.

“I’m also very busy off the course and I enjoy that more than the golf these days.”

Lawrie said he did intend to occasionally tee it up in on the European Tour’s senior circuit. As a past Open champion, he also will be eligible to play that event until he turns 60 and his exemption runs out.

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John Catlin logs second European Tour win in a month at Dubai Duty Free Irish Open

John Catlin birdied three of his final four holes on Sunday to win the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.

It has been a fine fall for John Catlin. The former University of New Mexico player birdied three of his final four holes on Sunday to win the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open. He rose seven spots on the leaderboard with his final-round 64 at Galgorm Golf Resort in Northern Ireland on a day when the players he was chasing couldn’t seem to get anything going.

Third-round leader Aaron Rai finished second after a closing even-par 70. Jazz Janewattananond and Maverick Antcliff tied for third at 7 under.

Catlin then joined Rai at the top with an 18-footer for birdie on No. 15. He stuck his approach to four feet at the next and made the putt to get to 9 under.

The third birdie, the one that sealed the win, came at the par-5 18th, where Catlin hit the green in two and two-putted as Rai bogeyed the 18th from a tough lie on his second shot.

Scores: Dubai Duty Free Irish Open

Catlin, 29, also won the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters earlier this month. He had to hold off two-time major winner Martin Kaymer to do so.

He also made headlines in August when he was removed from the English Championship field after he and his caddie dined outside of that week’s tournament bubble.

Catlin is a four time winner on the Asian Tour but entered this season without full playing privileges after finishing 155th on the 2019 Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex. Now, only Catlin, Rasmus Hojgaard and Sam Horsfield have won multiple European Tour titles in 2020.

Interestingly, only two other Americans have won this event before Catlin. Ben Crenshaw won in 1976 and Hubert Green followed with his title the next year.

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Liam Johnston leads Portugal Masters with career-low 61

Liam Johnston has the lead at the Portugal Masters after carding career-best 61 in the first round.

The sun was shining upon the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course Thursday for the opening round of the European Tour’s Portugal Masters in Vilamoura. Liam Johnston shined just as brightly.

The 27-year-old Scotsman carded a career-best 61, finishing 10 under on the day. Johnston came within two strokes of matching Oliver Fisher’s groundbreaking round of 59, which he achieved in 2018 during the second round of this very tournament.

After missing a 30-foot eagle putt at the par-5 17th, Johnston would have needed an eagle at the final hole to match Fisher’s European Tour record. Although he fell short of doing so, the former Scottish Stroke Play champion wrapped up his excellent day with a par on 18th, demolishing his previous European Tour best of 67 at last year’s Czech Masters. Fisher, meanwhile, was unable to recapture the magic of two years ago as he sits T-66 with an even-par 71.

“I told my coach (James Erskine, the PGA pro at Dumfries & County) back home that I was swinging it as good as I have,” Johnston said in an interview with The Scotsman. “My game feels as it is really trending in the right direction and, more importantly, I have really improved mentally.”

LEADERBOARD: Portugal Masters

Johnston finished the first round with a one-shot lead on Julien Guerrier and his 9-under 62. The 35-year old Frenchman impressed in his own right with nine birdies, including on four of the last five holes. England’s Laurie Canter shot 64 to grab third and Northern Ireland’s Jonathan Caldwell finished fourth with 65.

Four more players currently find themselves in a tie for fifth: Thorbjørn Olesen (Denmark), Goerge Coetzee (South Africa), Matthew Jordan (England) and Sebastian Soderberg (Sweden), all of whom shot 66. Tommy Fleetwood, the highest-ranked golfer in the field, finds himself tied for 21st with a 3 under 68, seven shots back of the lead.

The Portugal Masters will resume early Friday at 2:35 a.m. ET. Johnston will begin his attempt to maintain the lead at 9:50 a.m. as he tees off with a pair of Swedes, Kristoffer Broberg and Anton Karlsson.

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Thomas Bjorn on why he’s doing 130-mile charity walk next week

Bjorn, the European Tour captain in 2018, is set to walk from Wentworth in England to Celtic Manor in Wales to raise funds for good causes.

Thomas Bjørn, Team Europe’s winning captain at the 2018 Ryder Cup, plans to do a 130-mile four-day charity walk from #Wentworth2Wales to raise funds for Unicef UK’s Save Generation Covid appeal and the Golf Foundation as part of the European Tour’s #GolfforGood initiative.

Bjørn will carry the Ryder Cup from the European Tour’s Headquarters at Wentworth Club in Surrey to the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, which will host two consecutive European Tour events as part of the new UK Swing.

The 49-year-old Dane will set off from Wentworth Club on Aug. 13, the first day of The Celtic Classic, and plans to arrive at Celtic Manor on Sunday, Aug. 16, the final day of the tournament. He will then compete in the second tournament to be held at the Celtic Manor Resort, the ISPS Handa Wales Open, on the Twenty Ten Course where Europe memorably defeated the United States 14½-13½ ten years ago.

Bjørn was one of Colin Montgomerie’s vice captains on that occasion and the 15-time European Tour winner went on to lead Europe in another memorable Ryder Cup victory in 2018 when his 12-man team won 17½-10½ at Le Golf National in France.

Captain Thomas Bjorn holds The Ryder Cup following the singles matches of the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National in Paris, France. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Bjorn is raising money for Unicef UK and the Golf Foundation, two causes which have special significance for Bjørn, while he also intends to raise awareness of the health and wellness benefits that can be achieved through golf.

Donations for the #Wentworth2Wales walk can be made here.

“Like so many fundraising ideas, this all started as a throwaway comment which quickly grew into something which is now very real and, to be honest, quite scary,” Bjørn said. “During lockdown I had started going on some long walks to regain a bit of fitness and also because I find it relieves a lot of mental stress for me. It was around the same time that Captain Tom, now Sir Tom Moore, was doing his incredible walk for the NHS and someone called me ‘Ryder Cup Captain Tom’.  We had a bit of a laugh about it but the more I looked at Sir Tom the more I was genuinely inspired by what he was doing so we came up with the idea of doing a fundraising walk of our own.

“We looked at potential routes and Wentworth to Wales made a lot of sense, although I have to admit I didn’t realize it was over 200 (kilometers)! It’s going to be very tough to do it in four days but I suppose the whole point of doing it is that it’s not meant to be easy. If I am going to ask people to donate their hard-earned cash then I need to earn that donation. For me, walking between 10-12 hours a day for four consecutive days will push me to the limit.

“As a Dane who has lived most of my adult life in the UK I wanted to give something back both globally and locally and I feel that UNICEF’s Save Generation Covid appeal and the Golf Foundation are a perfect fit for that.

“Obviously I want to raise as much as possible but no matter how much it is, hopefully it can raise awareness and help kids around the world.”

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Watch: European Tour’s Joel Sjöholm takes boat to hit shot from island

Jojel Sjöholm pushed his second shot to an island off to the right of the green and rather than taking a penalty, he went for a little ride.

Swedish golfer Joel Sjöholm had an interesting moment during Sunday’s final round of the European Tour’s Hero Open at Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel & Country Club, Birmingham, England.

Sjöholm pushed his second shot on the par-5 17th hole to an island off to the right of the green. Rather than take a penalty, he went for a little boat ride. This included a number of hairy moments in which both Sjöholm and his caddie nearly fell into the drink.

For context, Sjöholm had been right in the thick of the leaderboard through the first nine holes on Sunday, but had already posted three bogeys on the previous half-dozen holes before this amazing series of events.

Leaderboard: Hero Open

Before hitting his ball, Sjöholm had to clear away some signs, but he managed to hit the ball just over the green and save bogey.

Sjöholm finished T-22 at 9 under for the tournament. Sam Horsfield won the event, beating Thomas Detry by one stroke.

It’s official: Ryder Cup postponed to 2021

The Ryder Cup will not take place in 2020 because of the COVID-9 pandemic. The PGA of America and European Tour jointly announced that the Ryder Cup will be postponed to 2021. It will still be held at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. This pushes the 2021 Presidents Cup in Charlotte back to 2022. It also means the 2022 Ryder Cup in Italy will slide back to 2023. Starting in 2021, all Ryder Cups will shift to odd years.

The Ryder Cup will not take place in 2020 because of the COVID-9 pandemic. The PGA of America and European Tour jointly announced that the Ryder Cup will be postponed to 2021. It will still be held at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. This pushes the 2021 Presidents Cup in Charlotte back to 2022. It also means the 2022 Ryder Cup in Italy will slide back to 2023. Starting in 2021, all Ryder Cups will shift to odd years.