10 August, USPGA Championship, Baltusrol, New Jersey
Travelled last Monday to Madison, New Jersey to play the 87th PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club. I'm really glad to be here and am enjoying every moment. Have got rid of the jetlag pretty quick, but it has been some really early mornings on the course so far. Baltusrol is brutal, extremely long with thick rough and I have never before played a 7400 yard course with a par of 70. Have changed my nine iron for an extra heavenwood to be able to move the ball out of the rough. Practiced both Tuesday and Wednesday, but the weather makes you tired though as it's very hot and humid. I'm off the 10th tee tomorrow morning at 09.05 together with Bob Estes and Tim Fleming. See you then, Niclas.

11 August, USPGA Championship, 1st Round 73 (+3)
Started off the 10th tee today and really had a tough day on the course. Missed too many fairways and putts wouldn’t drop. And as the course is very demanding and extremely long, that really didn’t help. Got a bogey on my first hole after a bad tee shot. Good par on 11. On the par three 12th my tee shot landed on the back fringe of the green, took my three wood and rolled the ball in to the hole for an excellent birdie. I made pars all the way, including a good chance for another birdie on the par three 16th after a tee shot to seven feet. On the very difficult 17th I made bogey after a bad tee shot that I never really recovered from. On my back nine I played a little bit more stabile, but got bogey on the difficult par four 7th. Then played better again on 8 with a birdie. +3 for the round is of course not what I was hoping for as I am tied 81st, but I am staying positive and looking forward to play again tomorrow. I’m off the 1st tee at 2.05pm. See you then, Niclas.

12 August, USPGA Championship, 2nd Round 74 (+4)
Played better today compared to yesterday, but it just wouldn’t happen today either. Started off the 1st tee and made five straight pars, including two really good birdie chances on 3 and 5. On the difficult par four 6th, I was just off the fairway from tee and made bogey. On 7, also a very tricky hole, my seven iron tee shot landed in the middle of the green and rolled up to four feet for birdie and back on level par for the day. Got my next bogey on 9 after a tee shot that landed to the right of the green, pitch and two putts from there. Bogeyed 10 after an eight iron that went through the green and stopped in the rough. Bogeyed 11 and 13 then birdied 14 after a wedge to five inches. Bogeyed 15, but made a nice birdie on 17 and I knew at the time that I needed an eagle to make the cut. Didn’t hit a good tee shot and got bogey in the end for 74 and +7 in total. Disappointing of course, as I know my game is still there. I will practice at Baltusrol all Saturday and then go with my family to Cleveland in the evening. Hopefully the NEC will be a better week for me. See you then, Niclas.

17 August, WGC NEC Invitational, Ohio, USA
I am now in Akron, Ohio for the NEC Invitational. It's the 5th year in a row that I am playing this event and this year I qualified thanks to my victory at the Deutsche Bank. We are playing at Firestone, one of my top 5 golf courses in the world. It's in great shape and condition, but tough. I have practiced Tuesday and Wednesday and played 18 holes each day. My game feels a lot better compared to last week, so hopefully something good will come out of that. I am off the 10th tee tomorrow with Tiger Woods and Marc Cayeaux. Hopefully the crowd will take notice of more than one player as it's not easy to play with Tiger as people tend to move as soon as he has finished each shot. Hopefully it won't be a problem. See you tomorrow, Niclas.

18 August, WGC NEC Invitational, 1st Round 72 (+2)
This was a day when I didn't control the ball the way I would have liked to. Played well on my first nine holes, even though it didn't show on the scorecard. Started off the 10th with a par and a birdie after a 279 drive and a nine iron to 12 feet. Bogied 13 after my nine iron carried seven yards too long and I needed a chip and two putts from the back fringe of the green. Bogied 16 and then made a nice birdie at 17 from 10 feet to turn in level par. Hit the fairway bunker on 1 and couldn’t do more than just chip it out from there and made bogey. Birdie on 3 to go back to level par, but then made two more bogies on 5 and 7, the latter after a three putt. Had a good birdie chance on 8 but didn't make it. Tied 33rd with +2 today and I hope to achieve more tomorrow. See you then, Niclas

19 August, WGC NEC Invitational, 2nd Round 72 (+2)
Played brilliantly the first 13 holes today with nearly as many birdie chances. Birdied the par-3 7th after a six iron to 2 feet. Hit a 343 yard drive on 8 followed by a 2nd shot to 14 feet for another birdie. Bogied 9 after driving into the thick rough right of the fairway. Was a little bit unlucky with my 2nd shot as I hit some trees and was hitting my 3rd shot from the semi-rough. I made the green and two putted from 26 feet. Had a run of 3 pars to after the turn and then another run of 3 bogies. On 14 and 15 I did not get up and down from the greenside bunker and on 16 I hit a wedge left that carried the green. Finished off with a birdie putt on 18 from 8 feet that I missed. Currently tied 32nd and I practiced for an hour and a half afterwards to sort things out. Due to a bad weather forecast for tomorrow afternoon, we have an early start in 3 balls from two tees, which means 7.20am start for me, Sean O'Hair and Chad Campbell! See you Niclas.

20 August, WGC NEC Invitational, 3rd Round 70 (Ev)
This was a day when nothing happened, despite many really good chances. I was +1 for the round after 9, following a birdie on the par-5 2nd and bogies on 4 and 9. Made a nice birdie on 10 after a nine iron to 20 feet. Then had a run of five pars including some really nice bunker shots to save par. Finally got things going my direction on the par-5 16th when my third shot pitched 10 feet from the flag and rolled up to 4 inches. Made another nice birdie on 17 after a long putt, but was really angry after my double on 18 that took me back to par for the day. My tee shot landed in a big pine tree and I couldn't do more than just chip out. My third shot fell short of the green and it took a chip and two putts to get down from there. Disappointing of course, but I will try to go out there tomorrow and make a decent finish.
Niclas

21 August, WGC NEC Invitational, 4th Round 71 (+1)
Started my fourth round in a very disappointing way with two straight bogies. My first after a three putt and the second after a number of poor shots around the green. I then parred every hole until 14 where I hit a 6-iron up to 30 feet and holed for birdie. Bogied 17 after a bad tee shot to the left of the fairway, then finished with the year's most spectacular birdie. Drove it well into the tree on the left and found a very small one foot square opening in the trees. Hit a perfect 8-iron up to 12 feet to a tight pin and holed it for 71 and tied 33rd. Amazing! I will now fly back to Europe for next week's BMW International in Munich. See you there, Niclas

24 August, BMW International, Munich, Germany
Arrived in Munich on Tuesday from Cleveland and the NEC. A journey that started Sunday evening with delayed flights and ended with one extra night in a hotel apartment. Unfortunately this meant that there was no time for a planned 24 hour stay in Sweden between the two tournaments. Played in the Wednesday pro-am and on the front 9 I felt OK, but on the back 9 I was tired and had a bit of a lack of concentration. Hope to get rid of the jetlag before the tournament starts tomorrow. I am off the 10th tee at 8.20 am with Stephen Gallacher and defending champion Miguel-Angel Jimenez. Speak to you after my round, Niclas

25 August, BMW International, 1st Round 71 (-1)
Had a little bit of a special round today. 1 double, 4 bogies, 5 birdies (including three 2s) and an eagle at the 9th! Started my round on the 10th with 2 straight bogies. Played alright after that but nothing dropped. Missed a few putts, including a five foot putt for birdie on 18. Was back to level par with a birdie on 4 and was really focusing hard to get my game going. Was then of course really disappointed on the 5th where my spoon fairway wood landed in the fairway bunker. I never recovered from that and made double in the end. But on the par-3 8th things started to happen. My 5-iron tee shot landed one foot short left of the pin and stopped two inches long to the right. How could it not go in is a really good question! Finished off with an eagle on 9 after a nice drive and a spoon from 230 yards to 18 inches. I am tied 75th, but after that finish I am positive about tomorrow's round and hopefully I can shoot as many birdies without so many mistakes. Niclas

26 August, BMW International, 2nd Round 68 (-4)
Everything felt much better today and I made a bogey free round. Four under with birdies on 4, 5, 11 and 16. My birdie on the par-5 11th was the result of reaching the green in two and two putted. The remaining three birdies were all wedges in to the green and one putt. I should have been even better as I hit 16 greens in regulation and almost every fairway. I played safe on 18 and aimed for the bunker with my 2nd shot as I thought at the time that I needed at least a par to make the cut and I didn't want to risk anything with the water in play close to the green. Made par in the end and -5 in total for tied 42nd to make the cut by 2. Off at 9.19am tomorrow so hopefully I can shoot a low number and get up the leader board. Niclas

27 August, BMW International, 3rd Round 64 (-8)
Had a good round of golf today; 64 and -13 in total. It was quite easy, though the course is still wet after a lot of rain. Had 17 greens in regulation and hit every fairway, but two finished in the semi-rough. Got off to a good start with three birdies and one eagle in the first 6 holes. Bogied 7 and 8 to turn at -3. Birdied 11 and 15 and then made my second eagle of the day on 16. Hit a spoon from 275 yards to 16 feet - got a nice Rolex for that! Finished off with a nice birdie on the tricky 18th after a putt from 15 feet. I am tied 8th, four off the lead and hoping for another low score tomorrow! Niclas

28 August, BMW International, 4th Round 64 (-8)
Started nicely as yesterday with birdies on 1, 4, 5 and 6. After a dry spell I was struggling on 11, but a chip-in from about 18 feet really got things going again. Then I birdied 12, 14 and 16 as well. A huge effort on the back nine culminated in a very aggressive drive over the water at the par-5 18th. From there I hit a Heavenwood that just covered the flag and finished forty feet past the hole on the green. I gave it a good effort but missed my change to tie for the lead. I then proceeded to lip out the birdie putt from 5 feet as well, but still a very good effort all day long. Two 64s on the weekend for -21 and tied 4th is a good week. My next event will also be in Germany at the Linde German Masters, but now time for one week off in Ascot with the family. See you then, Niclas.

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