Category: Other

Ernie Els claimed his third European Tour victory of 2005 and his 21st career European title Monday morning as he shot a final-round 65 to win by 13 strokes over Simon Wakefield and the rest of the field.

Els went wire-to-wire to claim the BMW Asian Open and set the Asian Tour record for largest margin of victory. He also stands in second for the largest margin of victory in a European Tour-sanctioned event, trailing Tiger Woods and his 15-stroke victory at the 2000 U.S. Open. This was Els’ tenth wire-to-wire victory on the European Tour.

Wakefied shot a final-round 73 and didn’t offer much competition to Els, finishing at -13. Thomas Bjorn shot a 72 to stand alone in third place. Wakefield’s second-place finish has all but secured the Englishman his European Tour Card the 2006 season.

Continue reading “Easy Peasy for the Big Easy”

Ernie Els must wait until Monday morning to claim (most likely) his third victory of the year at the BMW Asian Open. A three and a half hour delay on Sunday morning due to the threat of thunderstorms left 24 players on the course and in Shanghai for another day.

At the end of play on Saturday, Els had a five-stroke lead over Simon Wakefield and was able to open up his lead in his limited play on Sunday. The Big Easy is eight strokes in front of Wakefield and his lead is likely to go to nine first thing Monday, as he has a five foot birdie putt waiting for him on hole seven.

Els has carded two birdies on the six holes he’s completed while Wakefield has carded one bogey to fall eight strokes back.

Continue reading “Darkness Postpones Inevitable for Els at BMW Asian Open”

Ernie Els followed up Thursday’s 5-under par, 67 with a 10-under par 62 on Friday to take a four stroke lead in the BMW Asian Open. The World Number 3 had eight birdies and an eagle to shoot the lowest round ever at Shanghai’s Tomson Pudong Golf Club in Shanghai, China. However, since the players were allowed preferred lies, his round will not be counted as a course record.

Ernie’s nearest competition lies four shots back and is a virtually unknown Kiwi, Eddie Lee. Lee fired a second round 66 to get to 11-under. Raphael Jacquelin of France shot consecutive 67s to sit at 10-under and all alone in third. Thomas Bjorn, Simon Wakefield and Jean Van De Velde (yes, that’s the guy who so infamously choked at the British Open) sit tied for fourth at 8-under par.

Continue reading “Els Goes Low to Lead the BMW Asian Open”

The European Tour heads to Shanghai this week for the BMW Asian Open at the Tomson Pudong Golf Club. Last year, Miguel Angel Jimenez claimed his third victory of the year at this event. Jimenez is joined by World Number Three Ernie Els and other members of last year’s victorious European Ryder cup squad.

At this event last year, The European Tour made its first visit to China. Since then, the Tour has sanctioned other events there and the BMW Asian Open is the fourth tournament in China this year.

Continue reading “BMW Asian Open”

Adam Scott fended off a late charge by Retief Goosen to claim a wire-to-wire victory at the Johnnie Walker Classic. Scott fired an even par 72 to finish at 18-under par for his first victory at the Classic. Scott defeated Goosen by three strokes for his ninth career title.

The majority of the players were finishing their third rounds on Sunday morning after heavy winds on Thursday forced play to be cancelled. Scott was one of the players who had to finish his third round on Sunday, and he let his seven stroke lead dwindle to five after a double-bogey at 18.

Continue reading “Adam Scott Wins Johnnie Walker Classic”

Adam Scott fired an opening round 63 on Thursday to take the lead of the Johnnie Walker Classic in Beijing, China. Retief Goosen, Michael Campbell and Peter Hanson also share the lead with Scott; however, their nine-under par total is after two rounds, while Scott has only completed one round due to a weather delay. He is scheduled to compete his second round on Saturday morning.

Scott’s 63 set the course record at the Jack Nicklaus designed Pine Valley Golf Resort and Country Club. He finished his first round with birdie-eagle-birdie to get to 9-under.

Continue reading “Johnnie Walker Classic Round 1 and 2 (Sort of)”

The Johnnie Walker Classic will visit mainland China for the first time this week, as Ernie Els and Retief Goosen lead an impressive field.

Goosen is the current leader of The European Tour Order of Merit and World Number Five. He looks to continue his success after a third place finish at the Masters two weeks ago. Els on the otherhand, looks to regain some of his success from earlier in the year when he had back-to-back wins in Dubai and Qatar.

Other players joining Els and Goosen include Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Luke Donald and defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez. Donald is looking to continue his good play as of late, finishing tied for third (with Goosen) at his first trip to the Masters in Augusta, Georgia.

Continue reading “Johnnie Walker Classic Preview”

It seems the European Tour has the same problems that the PGA Tour has: rain delays. Three groups of players were forced to finish their third rounds Sunday morning at the Estoril Open. Paul Lawrie held the third-round lead, but England’s Paul Broadhurst went on to win the Portuguese Open after fellow countryman Barry Lane gift-wrapped the victory for Broadhurst.

Lane needed par on the last hole to claim the winner’s check; however, the events of his final hole can only be described as a golf nightmare.

Continue reading “Barry Lane Broadsided at the Estoril Open”

At the half-way point of the Estoril Open, England’s Paul Broadhurst and Portugal’s own Jose-Filipe Lima share the lead. Both players are at -8 and one shot ahead of Barry Lane and Simon Dyson, both of England. Dyson set a new course record shooting a second round 64.

On Thursday, the players met heavy winds as Markus Brier of Austria shot 65 to take a two-shot lead over Titch Moor, Stephen Schahill and Mads Vibe-Hastrup. Brier executed some brilliant shots in his opening round, hitting his long and mid irons close. Brier hit a six iron to five feet on the sixth to begin a string of three consecutive birdies.

Continue reading “Estoril Open: Round 1 and 2 Recap”