KLM Open 2014 Discussion Thread

[Silent]

Only 29 days left and the KLM Open will be played again. This year it will be played on the Kennemer Golf & Country Club, same as last year. A beautiful links course nearby Zandvoort, at the North Sea.

KLM Open, also known as the Dutch Open, is played since 1912. Since 1981 it is called the KLM Open (except for a ten year periode when Heineken and TNT were the main sponsors). Several big players have their name on the cup, like Ballesteros, Langer, Olazabal, Jimenez, Montgomerie, Westwood, Fernandez-Castano, Dyson, Kaymer, Hanson en offcourse Joost Luiten in 2013 (being the first Dutch winner in 10 years).

Winners this century:

2001 - Bernhard Langer

2002 - Tobias Dier

2003 - Maarten Lafeber

2004 - David Lynn

2005 - Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano

2006 - Simon Dyson

2007 - Ross Fisher

2008 - Darren Clarke

2009 - Simon Dyson

2010 - Martin Kaymer

2011 - Simon Dyson

2012 - Peter Hanson

2013 - Joost Luiten

The entry list for this year is not yet available. It might be a nice tournament to prep for the upcoming Ryder Cup just accros the North Sea 2 weeks later? The KLM Open will be played from 11 - 14 september.

[FarawayFairways]

I remember Zandvoort as a racing track, a bloody dangerous one too, given the amount of sand that could blow onto it, but also a highly entertaining one with hideous adverse cambers and difficult corners. Now as I recall, the race track had some pretty impressive dune systems, but the Dutch coast is on a latitude with Suffolk & Norfolk. Assuming that your coastline looks like ours, I wouldn't have thought this was particularly conducive to impressive links, albeit I can certainly imagine that Zandvoort would have had potential

[RJH999]

Come on Super Joost.

[Silent]

Both players who last year were responsible for the most exciting finale ever at the KLM Open, will this year come again to Zandvoort. Also we already know that Robert-Jan Derksen, Matteo Manassero and Robert Karlsson will play in the KLM Open 2014.

Ambassador of the KLM Open and title defender Joost Luiten will be the most important name on the list of contenders for Dutch golf fans. He won three times on the European Tour, and on the KLM Open he was runner-up in 2007 at the Kennemer and won the title in 2013. Since his victory last year he was part of the European team in the Seve Trophy (4 wins, 1 loss) and the EurAsia Cup (2 wins, 1 loss). This season Joost gained five top-15 places, including T-13 in the WGC Cadillac Championship. His amazing last round at The Masters (lowest score of the day) gained him a respectable T-26. On the European Tour Luiten didn't miss even one cut this season.

It's exactly 20 years ago when Spaniard Miguel Angel Jiménez won the KLM Open. In 1994 he was the best at Hilversumsche Golf Club, leaving players like Howard Clark, Colin Montgomerie, Ernie Els, Ian Woosnam, Sam Torrance and José Maria Olazábal behind him. This year will be his thirteenth performance in the Netherlands and he will want his revanche. Last year he lost in a play-off against Joost Luiten. But his season 2014 is one of his best ever. He already won 2 tournaments (HongKong and Spain) and came close to victory at The Masters (T-4). Also he won at his debut on the Senior Tour in USA. Jiménez found time to get married this year as well.

Robert-Jan Derksen will play in 2014 his 20th and last KLM Open. Earlier this year he announced his retirement from the European Tour at the end of this season, and many golfers, golffans en journalist are wondering every week why. In 2013-2014 he only missed the cut once, and in 11 tournaments his score is in total -49. In HongKong and Sweden he only missed a play-off for victory by one stroke, and with a couple of better sundays, title number three on the Tour might have been a fact. Derksen and the KLM Open was not always the best match, but what would be more beautiful if that can be settled once and for all in september?

Just 21 years old, Matteo Manassero has in his 4 years as professional written history at the European Tour. In 2010 he became the youngest winner on the tour ever at age 17. Since then he won a tournament ever year, three of them while still be a teenager. Last year he won one of the biggest tournaments on the ET, the BMW PGA Championship on the difficult course of WentWorth. He played in the KLM Open in 2010, 2012 and 2013. He made the cut every time, and out of 12 rounds he scored 7 in the 60's.

The most succesfull Swedisch player on the European Tour, is 45 years old Robert Karlsson. The former number 1 of Europe won 11 tournaments, including great titles like the Players Championship, Dunhill Links Championship and Dubai World Championship. In 2008 he was the best of Europe, gaining 12 top-10's including 2 victories, 2 second places en four 3rd places. 2009 was lost because of an eye-injury. In 2010 he came back winning the Dubai World Championship. Karlsson played on the PGA Tour the last couple of years and will participate on the KLM Open for the 9th time. Recently at the Nordea Masters he played a final round of 63 (tied course record) and ended on T-6.

~Traslated by me from klmopen.nl, you'll have to excuse me for any errors ;)

[Silent]

Hole 17, hole in one price. 17 days to go :)

[taxgolf]

I remember Zandvoort as a racing track, a bloody dangerous one too, given the amount of sand that could blow onto it, but also a highly entertaining one with hideous adverse cambers and difficult corners. Now as I recall, the race track had some pretty impressive dune systems, but the Dutch coast is on a latitude with Suffolk & Norfolk. Assuming that your coastline looks like ours, I wouldn't have thought this was particularly conducive to impressive links, albeit I can certainly imagine that Zandvoort would have had potential

There are two better links courses out there. The Haagsche (the oldest course) and de Noordwijkse (Dtuch open was held there in the past as well.

[Silent]

Entry List has been made public. Besides Luiten I see Manassero, Jimenez, Olesen, Ilonen, Koepka, Hansen, E. Molinari, Horsey, Howell, Bourdy, Larrazabal, Jaidee, Warren, Siem, Casey and Harrington. Looks like a nice entry list, without the absolute top of the world ranking (as expected).

[Silent]

[Silent]

Last wildcards went to Blixt and Fernandez-Castano.

[Silent]

4

"Home Hero Luiten targets historic week at Kennemer"

Joost Luiten (Getty Images)

• Dutch hole in one prize out of this world

Joost Luiten has targeted a happy homecoming this week as he bids to become the first Dutchman in the modern era to win the KLM Open on more than one occasion.

Luiten, who narrowly missed out on qualification for The Ryder Cup, also has another milestone in his sights at Kennemer Golf and Country Club this week, as no Dutchman has ever successfully defended a European Tour title.

But having played himself into form with a top five finish on his last appearance in Italy two weeks ago, Luiten will have high hopes of keeping his hands on the trophy he secured in such dramatic fashion 12 months ago.

Having gone into the final day with a one shot lead, Luiten saw his advantage eroded by an early birdie burst from Miguel Angel Jiménez but he battled back bravely to force a play-off with the evergreen Spaniard, which the home hero won courtesy of a par on the first extra hole.

The victory sparked scenes of jubilation amongst the success-starved galleries, who had endured a ten year wait for a home victory since Maarten Lafeber’s triumph in 2003.

The only other Dutch winners of the tournament are Gerry del Court van Krimpen (in 1915), Joop Rühl (1947), Dirk Oosterveer (1919) and his brother Jacob, who became the first – and so far only – Dutchman to claim his national Open title twice when he followed up his win in 1917 with another victory in 1930.

Now Luiten will seek to add to his tally of three European Tour titles and emulate the feats of the 1977 and ’78 champion Bob Byman, who is the only player to claim successive KLM Open titles since the tournament became part of The European Tour International Schedule in 1972.

“Winning in my own country was very special, and for it to happen early on in my career was a dream come true,” said Luiten.

“So it will be a proud moment for me to return as defending champion, and I can’t wait to play in front of the home crowds again – their support last year was unbelievable.

“This tournament is definitely the fifth Major for me. Having another Dutch winner was great for golf in Holland, and showed that the game here is moving in the right direction.

“It’s nice to come into the tournament after a good result in Italy. I’ve been in contention quite a few times this year without managing to quite get the job done, so this week would be the perfect place to put that right. I’ll give it my best shot.”

Meanwhile, Luiten’s compatriot Robert-Jan Derksen will be teeing up in the KLM Open for the 20 ^th and last time.

At the start of the year, Derksen announced that the current campaign would be his last, and the 40 year old would dearly love to sign off with a maiden victory in his national Open, with a tie for 11 ^th place in 2011 his best effort to date.

He said: “I’ve played the tournament three times as an amateur, and this will be my 17 ^th time as a pro. It’s special every year but this year it’ll obviously be extra special, as it’s my last appearance. You always want to do well in your home Open, but this time I’ll be trying harder than ever because it’s my last chance.

“It was the one tournament I’ve always wanted to win above all others, but of course there’s always extra pressure and extra focus on you this week, so it’s not easy. It would be a fairy-tale to win the tournament in my last appearance – let’s hope fairy-tales come true this week!”

Lafeber, who has been plying his trade predominantly on the Challenge Tour this term after finishing in 180 ^th place in The 2013 Race to Dubai, returns to European Tour duty this week aiming to roll back the years with another vintage display in his homeland.

Of the ‘foreign’ contingent, Simon Dyson will feel confident of ending his three-year trophy drought at a tournament in which he has excelled down the years.

Three of Dyson’s six European Tour titles have come at the KLM Open and, should he triumph again, the Englishman would become the first player to win the event on four occasions since it became part of The European Tour in 1972, and only the seventh player in European Tour history to win the same official event four or more times.

Also amongst those trying to prevent Dyson from creating history is Sweden’s Jonas Blixt, who will make his first appearance on The European Tour since the US PGA Championship

From: http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2014/tournamentid=2014072/news/newsid=235063.html

See also: http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2014/tournamentid=2014072/news/newsid=234709.html

One of the hole-in-one-prices is a trip trough space!

[Silent]

Joost Luiten and Miguel Angel Jiménez launched the 2014 KLM Open in style on Monday by recreating their memorable ‘Dutch duel’ of 12 months ago at Kennemer Golf and Country Club, with Jiménez coming out on top this time.
The pair fought it out to the wire in last year’s KLM Open after Spaniard Jiménez caught the Dutchman, who had held a one shot overnight advantage, before Luiten eventually prevailed on the first hole of a play-off, much to the delight of the Dutch supporters who had waited ten years for a home winner.
Their fun rematch took place over seven holes at Kennemer Golf and Country Club, with Jiménez winning 1up, although it was a somewhat more laid back encounter than their tense tussle of a year ago, with the players even allowing lucky spectators to take their final few putts.
“The match today was very nice and it showed the people watching that golf can be fun,” said Jiménez. “We had a good battle last year which was good for the tournament, but not so good for me.
“Today there were some jokes and we put the smiles on people’s faces again, so it was nice.”
Luiten scontinued: “It was good fun. There were a lot of people there for a Monday and we both enjoyed playing in front of them. It’s always good to show people what we do. I tried some of Miguel’s stretching too, although it’s more like dancing. Maybe next time I won’t do that on the first tee, but a couple of hours before instead.”
The pair were also part of sponsor KLM’s Champions' Flight, with Luiten flying to Geneva, Switzerland, to pick up Jiménez and the other players travelling from last week’s Omega European Masters to Amsterdam.
Unsurprisingly, Jiménez has his eye on another flight this week, with the prize for a hole in one on the par three 15th a trip into space courtesy of XCOR Space Expeditions.
“I like to fly and I’ve been flying around the world for 26 years now anyway, so it would be interesting to see the view from up there instead,” said Jiménez.
“The flight from Geneva was good fun too. We had a little putt in the sky and it has been an interesting start to the tournament already.”
Luiten added: “If you have KLM as the sponsor it is great to do thing. It’s different for the players and it showcases the brand, so it is win-win.
“This is a special week for me as defending champion so I’m trying to enjoy it and hopefully it will be another exciting tournament. I’d love to be up there again and maybe even battling it out with Miguel again.”
Luiten, who finished fourth on his last European Tour appearance in Italy a fortnight ago, is now bidding to become the first Dutchman in the modern era to win the KLM Open on more than one occasion, and only the second player after 1977 and 1978 champion, Bob Byman, to claim successive KLM Open titles since the tournament became part of The European Tour International Schedule in 1972.  Returning to the scene of his most cherished victory, Luiten said he had fond memories of his contest down the stretch last year with the European Tour’s oldest champion.
“It came down to a match play situation last year and we both finished with par-bogey-par and then it was a play-off,” said Luiten. “In a play-off you know it can go any way. It’s like flipping a coin and this time it went my way. The 18th was playing really tough and I just made a really good par.
“I can’t really even remember the moment I won. I threw my putter in the air, because I’ve seen that on TV, but it took a while to sink in. It was great to see all the people going crazy though and my family being there. That was special.
“The win really helped grow the game of golf in this country, so it was a great thing to do.”
Both Luiten and Jiménez just missed out on a place in the European Team for this month’s Ryder Cup, but Jiménez, who has face the United States four times, tipped his younger rival to be part of the biennial contest at some point in the future.
“Joost is 28 years old and I played my first Ryder Cup at 35 years old, so he has plenty of time,” said Jiménez. “He has a good character and I think he will definitely play in the Ryder Cup.
“He played very well this year and didn’t quite get in the team, but I think he has the game and the character to play in it more than once.”

Read more at http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2014/tournamentid=2014072/news/newsid=235074.html#P52fXksiZ0C6DwDu.99

[Silent]

The KLM Open provided a storyline to captivate the Dutch fans 12 months ago when home favourite Joost Luiten defeated Miguel Angel Jiménez in a play-off, and Robert-Jan Derksen hopes it can be his turn to take on the role of protagonist this year.

The 40 year old is playing in national Open for the 20th and final time this week, after announcing at the start of the season that he will retire at the end of the 2014 campaign.

Kennemer Golf and Country Club would therefore provide the perfect stage for him to bow out in style, as he targets one more European Tour title to go alongside his victories in the Dubai Desert Classic in 2003 and in Madeira two years later.

Derksen’s best performance in the KLM Open was a share of 11th position in 2011, and an first top ten finish, or more romantically a fairy tale victory, would be the ideal way to bring the curtain down on two decades of competition.

He said: “I’ve played the tournament three times as an amateur, and this will be my 17th time as a pro. It’s special every year but this year it’ll obviously be extra special, as it’s my last appearance. You always want to do well in your home Open, but this time I’ll be trying harder than ever because it’s my last chance.

“It was the one tournament I’ve always wanted to win above all others, but of course there’s always extra pressure and extra focus on you this week, so it’s not easy. That would be the ideal outcome to win on my last tournament, but hopefully I can make it to the weekend and have a good tournament.”

Since announcing his impending retirement at the start of the season, Derksen has recorded some strong performances on The 2014 Race to Dubai, with three top ten finishes to his name including a share of fourth in both the Hong Kong Open and the Nordea Masters.

Those displays have further strengthened his belief that there could be one last twist in his European Tour narrative.

“It has been a good year so far,” said Derksen, who is 84th on the Race to Dubai. “I’ve finished fourth twice and on both occasions I just missed out on being in a play-off by just one shot, so I’ve been pretty close. I’m running out of tournaments to win one more time. It would be nice to be in the position to be in contention on the back nine here. Last week was a good warm up for me and it would be great to carry it on in my last KLM Open. It would be a fairy-tale to win the tournament in my last appearance – let’s hope fairy-tales come true this week!”

Read more at http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2014/tournamentid=2014072/news/newsid=235125.html#rvJES6X55eRyep8e.99

[Silent]

Some interesting flights tomorrow:

Manassero - Jimenez - Luiten

Lafeber - Green - Olesen

Derksen - Fisher- Gonzalez-Castano

Huizing - Lawrie - Quiros

[tomvk77]

@silent Welke fl ight ga je kijken? of zit een bezoek aan de kennemer er niet in?

Lovely to finally write in Dutch on the sand trap. haha

[Silent]

@silent Welke flight ga je kijken? of zit een bezoek aan de kennemer er niet in?

Lovely to finally write in Dutch on the sand trap. haha

:)

Eventueel dat ik er vrijdag heenga, maar dat ligt aan een (potentiële) afzegging van een collega van mij. Heb zelf dit jaar geen kaartje gekocht; net vader geworden dus om nou een hele dag op stap te zijn is nu niet heel ideaal. Áls ik vrijdag kan gaan wil ik eventueel met Huizing lopen want wil wel eens zien hoe hij nou eigenlijk speelt. Daarna hole 17 kijken of er een mooi plekje is. Dat heeft denk ik mijn voorkeur. Ga jij erheen?

[Silent]

Thomas Björn returns to the KLM Open for the first time since 2010 looking to get his competitive juices flowing ahead of The Ryder Cup later this month.

Björn qualified for Europe’s Team at Gleneagles to earn a third appearance in the biennial contest against America and first since 2002.

The 43 year old Dane is keen to ensure he is at his best when Captain Paul McGinley calls on him, and feels the best way to sharpen his game is to get into contention come Sunday at Kennemer Golf & Country Club.

“It is an event that you always really want to come and play in,” Björn said on his return to The Netherlands.

“It has such great tradition and a great place within the tradition of The European Tour, for the amount of years it has been running and the players who have won it.

“It’s not fitted in my schedule for a few years but this year I felt like I’m in a position where I need to play a bit of tournament golf and get myself ready for a couple of weeks’ time. I didn’t play particularly well last week but my game is improving and I’m using these weeks to get my game ready.

“You are playing a golf tournament and you are trying to get yourself in there on Sunday. It’s a process at the moment for me, but I’m glad to be here and I’m looking forward to it. It has been a while, so it is nice to be back.”

Björn always looked on course to qualify automatically after his Nedbank Golf Challenge victory in December, but as a host of players made late surges only a top-five finish at the Made in Denmark on home soil guaranteed the 15-time European Tour winner his return to the team after a 12-year absence.

“It’s brilliant,” he added. “You go through the qualifying process and there is so much going on in your head. You obviously try to put it at a distance but it is always there.

“You are always asked questions. Once that is over you have to come down a little bit and then build yourself up again. It’s a mentally tough time because the last few events of qualifying are big events.

“It’s draining so you have to come down and build yourself up to the level again. I’m using these weeks to get myself ready and hopefully in the process of that I can play some decent stuff. There’s always a balance of how you do that. Some guys take the time off and go in fresh. I like to be on a run of tournaments and I normally play well on the back end of a run. I felt like I needed to play some events and get out there and be competitive. That’s always my problem after a break - I might play well but I don’t feel competitive.

“The mind might not be competitive enough, so I felt like I wanted to play events. The danger is if you don’t play well you can play yourself out of confidence. It is there at the moment as it has been a good year. I’m just trying to get in there with a chance to win tournaments and have that confidence going into the Ryder Cup.”

Read more at http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2014/tournamentid=2014072/news/newsid=235179.html#2l9PG2hg2waiLQTr.99

[Silent]

So far a lot more player over par than under. Luiten at level par after eight holes. Stal is leading the pack at -4 at this point.

[Silent]

78 players on the course right now, only the top 5 is under par. Ah well, we have a long day ahead of us.