2
June, The Memorial, Ohio, USA
Played two practice rounds so far and my game feels alright, especially
the putting which is good news since the greens are very demanding.
They are very fast and undulating and the course is amongst the very
best I've ever played. It's in beautiful condition. However it's very
soft from all the rain they've had. A fantastic place and a great
tournament. Only 105 players will start and I am happy to be one of
them. My family is with me this week and we are having a good time,
though we are all still a bit jetlagged. I am off at 11.40 local time
with Tim Clark and Aaron Baddeley. Talk to you tomorrow, Niclas.
3 June, The Memorial, 1st Round 75 (+3)
I didn't score well today but in general my game felt rather good.
Of course, a couple of bad shots which cost me on holes 2, 3, 8,
11 and 17, but also a quite decent play which gave me a lot of chances
and birdies on hole 6, 7 and 15. My statistics were good today,
I hit 11 out of 14 fairways and 13 greens. So, it didn't feel good
to shoot three over par. I have some work to do out there tomorrow,
but I'm really looking forward to it and hope to make the cut for
the weekend. I am off at 08.50 tomorrow morning from the 1st tee.
Talk to you soon, Niclas. 4 June, The Memorial, 2nd Round 70 (-2)
Finally something went right! After 5 missed cuts in a row, I managed
to put my game together and I played alright today. I had a solid
start with pars on my first 5 holes and then birdied 6 with a good
5 metre putt that was in all the way. I then parred 7 through 11,
but bogeyed the tricky 12th hole after a bad tee shot that landed
in the greenside bunker. I had four great up and downs in a row
from the 13th that included a birdie on 15. It felt good finishing
with a birdie on the last for a decent score of 70 to make the cut
by 3. I will spend some time on the practice ground this afternoon
and then just relax during the rest of the day with my family. looking
forward to the weekend! Niclas 5 June, The Memorial, 3rd Round 71 (-1)
Today was an up and down day with 6 bogeys and 5 birdies. I started
with 3 good pars and a bogey on the 4th after a bad tee shot followed
by a bad chip. After birdies at 5 and 6 and a bogey on 9 I made
the turn in level par. I felt like my game is slowly heading in
the right direction, but after bogeys at 11 and 12, I had to come
back with birdies on 13, 15 and 16, only to bogey 17 and 18. It's
disappointing, but I will try again out there tomorrow. Did some
practice after the round and then went to the nearby Lakes Club,
which is one of the courses where the qualifying for the US Open
will take place on Monday. It's looks tough, but first it is the
final round tomorrow! Niclas 6 June, The Memorial, 4th Round 71 (+3)
Last day of the tournament and trying to make up some ground today.
I got off to a good start and on the 5th I hit a 3-wood to four
feet from a very tight pin and holed it for an eagle. I kept playing
well but dropped shots on 9 and 10. On the back nine I birdied 12
and 15, but bogeyed 14, 16 and 18 for a disappointing 73 and tied
51st. Not the finish I had hoped for but one more step in the right
direction for me this week at least. Tomorrow I will play in the
US Open qualifier on two nearby courses. It will be a long, tough
day with some 190 players competing for around 20 spots. The game
is slowly getting better though so I have great hopes! Niclas 7 June, US Open Qualifying
Unfortunately I didn’t play well enough to make it. I shot
69 (-3) on my first round and a level par 72 on my second round.
Of course the game was there but I didn't score well and didn't
hole the putts when I had to. Now my focus is on the Buick Classic
this week. I am heading to New York tomorrow and will play a practice
round in the afternoon. Catch up with you later this week. Niclas 10 June, Buick Classic, New York, USA
Had a good 2 hour practice session today at the course and the swing
is feeling good. I was mainly trying to rest after 5 rounds in four
days and I went with the family into Manhattan on a rare tourist
trip. I'm off early tomorrow from the 10th at 7.20am with Pat Perez
and Tjaart Van der Walt. Talk to you then, Niclas 11 June, Buick Classic, 1st Round 70 (-1)
69 was a decent score but I played well and was hoping for more
out on the course. I made a few unfortunate bogeys at 3, 7 and 16
and only made par on the par-5 9th which was my finishing hole.
All of these hurt the scoring a bit, but five birdies made up for
a lot. Anyhow a good start to the week, with decent play and only
two missed fairways. I am currently tied 28th and am hoping for
more tomorrow! Niclas 12 June, Buick Classic, 2nd Round 71 (Even)
71 today and still on -2, not what I expected. Played OK but couldn’t
get the putts to drop at all. Only two bogeys at 4 and 11 and two
birdies at 9 and 12. A bit frustrating as I feel my game is really
starting to come together but still I’m not scoring well.
Two more rounds to go, though and a good weekend will see me jump
considerably on the leaderboard as it is tightly packed and I am
only 3 shots of a top-20 place. Practiced a couple of hours after
the round and things were getting better. Will play together with
Billy Andrade tomorrow, our starting time is 09.36. Niclas 13 June, Buick Classic, 3rd Round 75 (+4)
I played better then yesterday but my scoring went the other way.
After a bad start with unfortunate bogeys on both the 2nd and the
4th hole I was coming back slowly thanks to a 2 at the 6th and a
3 at the 10th. Level par after ten but I hit it long on 13 with
a resulting bogey. On 14 I hit it close to about three metres, missed
the putt and as I set up for the tap in the ball moved giving me
a penalty stroke. This was the second time in three weeks, unbelievable
bad luck. I made two more bogeys at the next 2 holes before regaining
my composure. I got home in two at the par-5 18th, but three putted
that one for par and a horrible 75. Better luck tomorrow hopefully.
Niclas. 14 June, Buick Classic, 4th Round 72 (+1)
I had a decent start of my round and was two under after nine holes,
making birdies on hole number 5, 7 and 9 and a bogey on 8. At the
time I was expecting a low score for the day as my game felt really
good, but I was still struggling with distance control though. On
the tree lined Westchester course the wind kept changing and playing
tricks on us, making it even harder. I played bad coming in and
bogies on 17 after a three putt and on the par five 18 for tied
66th made me feel I left quite a few shots out there. Flying back
to London tonight and looking forward to a two week break. My next
tournament will be Smurfit European Open on the K-Club and I will
have time for practice and preparation before that. Take care, talk
to you soon, Niclas
28 June, Open Championship International Qualifying, Sunningdale
I played really well over the Old course in the morning and a 4-under
par 67 was a decent score. I was striking it nicely and playing
very solid without really burning it up. In the afternoon on the
Old course I started bogey, par on two very easy par-5s and effectively
lost 3 shots to the field there. I was still playing well but had
a bit of a dry spell until the turn when I birdied 9, 10, 14 and
just missed another at 11. I started to miss a couple of fairways
after that and bogeyed 16 after driving in the woods. At 18 I dropped
another after I misjudged my approach from the rough, missed the
green and could not get up and down. These two holes and the 1st
and 2nd really cost me dear as I missed the 12 man playoff by one
shot. I am playing better each day, but just not getting the breaks
right now. I still have a couple of chances to qualify for the Open
in the next two tournaments, so I am off to Ireland for the European
Open at the K Club and hopefully my luck will change this week.
Niclas
30 June, Smurfit European Open, K-Club, Ireland
Back in Europe for a few events starting this week with the Smurfit
European Open. We are playing at the K-club that has been hosting
the event for several years and for the first time on their south
course. Today I played the pro-am under tough, windy conditions
and I think the course will be very demanding for us if the weather
stays. I’m looking forward to play and hopefully I am now
having a good week coming up! I’m off tomorrow from the first
tee at 1.05 pm with Gary Murphy and David Howell. Talk to you then,
Niclas
Next
Month
Back to Tour Diary
|