2 September, Deutsche Bank Championship, Boston
I’m still in the US for another week on the PGA Tour, the Deutsch Bank played at TPC at Boston, Massachusetts. Different from other weeks, the tournament starts on Friday and finishes on Monday the 6th. Today, Thursday, I have been practicing all day long on the practice grounds and everything feels all right with my game. Hope to score a little bit better this week. And as the team for the Ryder Cup was announced last Sunday, many congratulations from me to the guys that are in the European team for 2004! All the best of luck! Niclas

3 September, Deutsche Bank Championship, 1st Round 75 (+4)
Report from Niclas to follow.

4 September, Deutsche Bank Championship, 2nd Round 70 (-1)
Gave myself a lot of chances during the second round, but I didn't score at all. Changed back to my old driver after the first round, and the accuracy from tee was much better today. Instead I had problems on the greens, and I didn't make any putts except the birdie I had on 2. Started off good though and was -3 for the round after four holes. Made eagle on 2 after a chip from around 25 feet. Bogeyed 9, 11 and 17 and finished with a birdie on 18. Needed par to qualify for the weekend, so +3 meant that I'm now packing my bags and will go straight back to London for a couple of days rest before heading to the Linde German Masters in Cologne next week. Still hoping for a good finish of the season though. See you next week! Niclas

8 September, Linde German Masters
This will probably be my last week on the European Tour this season. I have played this tournament for many years now and it is always nice to come back to Gut Larchenhof where I finished 3rd last year. I practiced early in the morning and played in the pro-am after lunch yesterday. I will start from the 10th tee tomorrow at 12.30pm with Paul Lawrie and Nick Dougherty. Talk to you then, Niclas

9 September, Linde German Masters, 1st Round 73 (+1)
Started off the first tee and played very well. Made birdie on 1 and 3 and had a good attempt on par-3 4th that just missed. I bogeyed 7 after hitting my tee shot into the thick stuff on the right of the fairway. I made two more bogeys on 10 and 12 and by then I had lost all my momentum. I birdied 15 though, only to bogey 18. I wasn't as solid off the tee today as expected and I only hit 8 of 14 fairways. The statistics for greens in regulation tells a lot too - only 9. However a little better focus tomorrow and things should improve! Niclas

10 September, Linde German Masters, 2nd Round 71 (-1)
I played much better today. My total score for the round wasn’t too low, but it was decent due to very strong winds and tougher conditions than yesterday. Started off the 10th tee with bogey, birdie and five straight pars after that. Birdie on 17 after a very good eight iron that stopped five feet from the pin. Three putted 18 for bogey and had four good birdie chances before I holed on 5. Bogey 6 and another birdie on 7, par on 8 and 9. Felt very good about my game today. Have a lot of inspiration for the two remaining rounds and hopefully I can keep my momentum going from today. Niclas.

11 September, Linde German Masters, 3rd Round 71 (-1)
I played magnificent during my third round and had many birdie chances right from the beginning. Two straight birdies on 3 and 4 seemed to set the picture for the day, but after a three putt on 5 for bogey I had lost the momentum, though I continued to hit the ball very well. Unfortunately I missed all birdie chances until the par five 13, where I two putted for birdie. My frustration continued with further missed putts, especially after missing a four foot putt for par on 16. I’m very disappointed today, of course, but my game feels promising for the future. I did practice some putting after the round though so hopefully things will be better tomorrow. Niclas

12 September, Linde German Masters, 4th Round 72 (+2)
Played average today and I was of course disappointed with my result, +3. Everything felt OK when I practiced before the round, but for some reason it didn’t work out on the course. I hit many nice putts but none of them dropped. The two birdies I made today were very close to the pin and the five bogeys were mainly a result of bad putting. I will take next week off and of course I will cheer for the European Ryder Cup team in front of the television at home. I think we have a pretty strong team that will be able to repeat the success from 2002. Good luck! I'll be back at the 84 Lumber Classic on the PGA Tour the week after. I have five events left over there before I end the season 2004. Niclas.

22 September, 84 Lumber Classic of Pennsylvania
I arrived to the USA last Monday to play the 84 Lumber Classic at Nemacolin Woodlands, Pennsylvania. This is the first tournament in a run of two that I’m playing over here; I will stay also next week for the Southern Farm Bureau Classic. Had last week off and tried to rest as much as I could, but still did a lot of exercise at the Gym. Of course I watched the Ryder Cup a lot and was very happy for the European Team - very well done!!! To see them winning made me think a lot about 2002 at the Belfry and I’m already looking forward to 2006 when the matches will be played in Ireland. To play in the Ryder Cup is an honour and something I would love to do again. I’m playing from the 1st tee tomorrow with Brian Gay and Danny Briggs. Hopefully I will have a good finish now for the 2004 season, I have five tournaments left and my main goal now is of course to keep my card for the 2005 PGA Tour. See you later, Niclas.

23 September, 84 Lumber Classic, 1st Round 75 (+3)
+3 for the round and to summarize the day, every part of my game felt alright except the putting, which was, again, the reason for my bad scoring. I had 34 putts in total for the round. My driving accuracy was 79% and the greens in regulation were 72%, not too bad, though not excellent. Started off the 1st tee with six straight pars, then bogeyed 7, 8 and 10. Made my only birdie of the day on the par five 11th and made my fourth bogey for the round on number 12. I am of course disappointed and spent a lot of time after my round on the practice green, despite the late hour. Hopefully a better score tomorrow so I will be able to play during the weekend. Niclas.

24 September, 84 Lumber Classic, 2nd Round 70 (-2)
Started off the 10th tee today and had a bad start with a bogey on 10. Got a little bit of confidence back after two birdies in a row on 11 and 12 and felt like things were heading in the right direction for the round. Three putted the 14th hole to drop back to par for the round, which was very disappointing. I hung in there and made birdie on 16, missed a few birdie chances after that and made another birdie on 1 to go +1 in total. Missed a very short putt on 3 and lost a little bit of focus. Finished off with a bogey on 7 and birdied 8 and 9 to miss the cut by two. It is still the putting that causes me problems and I’m of course practising a lot. I’m now looking forward to the tournament next week, Southern Farm Bureau Classic. See you then, Niclas.

29 September, Southern Farm Bureau Classic
I’m still in the States for the Southern Farm Bureau Classic, played at the par-72, 7199-yard Annandale Golf Club outside Jackson, Mississippi. Have been here once before, but it was a long time ago. A nice course, but the grass is a little bit different, they are using Bermuda grass and that is a lot different to what we Europeans are used to. Have been practicing a lot, most of the time on the putting green. Everything feels ok so far and hopefully I will play better this week than the last. I’m off the 1st tee at 07.35 am together with Gareth Willis and J.J Henry. Take care and talk to you tomorrow. Niclas

30 September, Southern Farm Bureau Classic, 1st Round 71 (-1)
Finally I had a round where my putting wasn’t too bad, 29 putts for the round in total is ok. I had a quite bad start though on hole number 2, a difficult par 3 with bunkers either side of a narrow green and a creek running just right of the greenside bunker. My tee shot landed in the creek and I managed to “only” make bogey on that hole. Overall my first nine was bad or almost ok - I made birdie on 3 and bogeys on 8 and 9. After making the turn on +2, I thought I had another bad tournament coming up, but I managed to putt my game together and played the back nine much better. Birdied 11 and 13 and had an unfortunate bogey on 17. On my 18th hole my tee shot landed in the ruff which normally makes it very difficult to reach the green in two. But I had a good lie and reached the green with my second shot and holed a 15 metre putt for eagle! A good finish and I’m much more positive now to go out and practice the rest vof the day. Looking forward to tomorrow! Niclas.

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