3 February, Heineken Classic, 1st Round 71 (Even)
After 36 hours of rain the course was expected to be wet and soggy, but it had recovered fantastically well and we just had a little delay and nothing else. I had an early start this morning at 08.50 and was a little bit taken back after my first hole where I made a double bogey. However I recovered right away with an eagle on the second and turned in level par. Starting back I bogied 10, 12 and 15 and I was very disappointed to be +3 with three holes to play, especially as my game was much sharper after the 12th hole. I played great in the finish and made three birdies to finish level par for the day and got a lot of confidence that will help me a lot during my second round tomorrow. I had a lot of fun out there today, despite the number of bogeys. My tee time for tomorrow is 13.40, but as not all players were able to finish there round today, it might be a little bit delayed. Speak to you then, Niclas.

4 February, Heineken Classic, 2nd Round 70 (-1)
My second round, that started from the 10th tee, is probably the best round I have played for over a year - one that felt really great. The scoring wasn’t fantastic due to some bad putting and setbacks on the greens, otherwise it could have been very low. My tee shots were very good - according to the statistics I hit 11 out of 15 fairways. Of the remaining four, three were in the semi-rough and the last one was on the par four 12th where my tee shot landed in the greenside bunker and I made birdie. I finished off my round with a birdie on the par five 10th and I probably needed it to be able to play during the weekend. Will go out tonight and have dinner with some friends from Sydney, people I met for the first time two years ago when I played one of the tournaments there. Great to see them again. See you tomorrow, Niclas.

5 February, Heineken Classic, 3rd Round 72 (+1)
+1 for the round today, despite better putting than yesterday. Had some problems from the tee with only 7 hits out of 15. I made a few other mistakes during the round that cost me a lot. Started with two nice birdies, but on my third hole I hit a seven iron towards the green that was heading straight to the pin, but landed a little bit long, rolled over the green and stopped in the rough. It was impossible to make par from that position and I dropped a shot. On my 15th hole I got an unexpected flier with my wedge on my second shot and made another bogey. I rounded off the round with two very nice birdies on 16 and 17 and par on 18. Played alright today but of course you have to score as well to get anywhere in a tournament and I am tied 60th. Hope to shoot a decent score tomorrow. Talk to you then, Niclas

6 February, Heineken Classic, 4th Round 69 (-2)
Started my round today by missing the fairway on hole 1 and made bogey. Nice birdie on 2 and had some good chances on the next four holes where I made par. On hole 7, my second shot landed in some thorn bushes next to the green and I needed to put on my rain jacket to be able to go in there and knock it out - bogey. A very bad bogey on 10, should have been par. On the par four 16th I had 111 yards left to the pin with a sand wedge and I nearly holed it twice. First, the ball landed and passed the hole, then it spun back again and both times it was very closed to dropping. It stopped 1 feet from the flag and I made an easy birdie. -2 for the round and tied 39th in total. Despite that, it has been a good week for me with a lot of positive answers about my game for the future. It really feels good! I’m now off to New Zealand for next week's tournament. See you then, Niclas.

9 February, Holden New Zealand Open
Arrived safely last Sunday in Auckland, New Zealand, for my first tournament ever on this beautiful island. Have had some really good practice days since I arrived and I also played in the pro-am today and I had really nice company. We are playing at Gulf Harbour Country Club and the course is a Robert Trent Jones design. It’s a wonderful view over the ocean from the course and we are also overlooking Auckland city. I’m off the 10th tee tomorrow morning at 07.40 together with Paul Sheehan and Mahal Pearce. See you then, Niclas.

10 February, Holden New Zealand Open, 1st Round 65 (-7)
My first round of this tournament was one of the best in terms of scoring for a long time, even though I played much better yesterday during the pro-am. My putting was really good and I had 24 putts in total. Hit ten out of fourteen fairways and saved three out of three bunker shots. I gave myself many chances, but had few easy birdies. I started on hole 10 and made the turn on -4 after some good putting. I nearly did the same on my back nine, but had one bogey on the par three 8th after my approach plugged in the bunker. I made a great birdie on the par four 5th where I holed my third shot, a wedge, from the bunker. 65 leaves me in tied 2nd, one off the lead and as you can imagine, I had a lot of fun out there today. I practiced for five hours afterwards and look forward to playing again tomorrow. Talk then, Niclas.

11 February, Holden New Zealand Open, 2nd Round 63 (-9)
Played great today and scored as well, even though the weather conditions were tougher today with a lot of wind. -9 for the round and no bogeys equals my best round ever on the European Tour, so, I’m happy. Started with my first birdie on hole 2, an easy par five where I had a chip and a short putt. I also made three eagles. On 6 I hit a 5-iron that landed 15 feet from the pin and I had a really difficult putt that I made. On 11 I hit a 5 iron from 205 yards that landed in the middle of the green and I holed a 35 foot long putt uphill. On 12, reachable from tee, I hit a bad driver that landed in a bunker. Had 33 yards left uphill and my bunker shot landed 2 yards short and dropped. Quite alright! I then birdied 15 and 17 to come home in 30 to equal the course record and I am leading by two. Practiced for an hour and a half after my round. Looking forward to tomorrow, of course. See you then, Niclas.

12 February, Holden New Zealand Open, 3rd Round 75 (+3)
The third round was very different in terms of scoring compared to yesterday. I slipped back with a 75 which was 12 shots worse than my second round. We had a very strong south west wind, that I guess was the strongest I’ve played in nearly two years. My swing was working very nicely though and I played most of my round quite alright. But I never got my momentum going and made nothing on the greens with 34 putts in total. On the 11th hole, a par five that I eagled yesterday, my 2nd shot was a 9 iron that never got in to the wind as we predicted, the ball landed long and I’m glad I managed to make bogey from there. Three putted 15, missed my second shot on both 17 and 18 to make three more disappointing bogies to fall back to tied 4th, four off the lead. Every part of my game that gave me a low score yesterday is still there and I hope to work my way up on the leader board tomorrow instead of down. I’ll start playing at 1.22 pm. Wish me luck! Niclas.

13 February, Holden New Zealand Open, 4th Round 63 (-9)
Wow, what a fantastic day! What more is there to say? My first win since the Madeira Island Open back in 2000 and I am so happy! I played fantastic today and shot another round of 63 to finish -22. I started off with a birdie on holes 2 and 4 to get my momentum going right away. Hit a really long drive on the par five 6th hole and hit my second shot with an 8 iron to 15 feet and holed it for eagle. On the 9th hole my shot towards the green landed on the knee (!) of an elderly woman, I called for the referee and the situation was sorted out. Managed to save par from there and made the turn on -5 for the round. Birdied 10 and on 11 I made a great bunker shot and after short putt for birdie I was back in the lead for the first time. Made birdie on 13 and also on 17 after hitting two great shots to the green. A little bad luck saw the ball end up in the bunker, but I hit a great shot out to 8 feet and holed the putt. That gave me a one shot lead going down the last but I was forced to a play off after Miles Tunnicliff birdied his 18th hole. On the first play off hole, number 18, Miles approach hit a spectator but he managed to make par from the rough. My putt for birdie from 18ft was very good, but just missed. On the second hole, 18 again, I hade the same distance to the pin as the first play off hole, and this time I choose to play 8 iron instead of 9 and the ball landed closer to the pin. I then holed from 12ft to seal my second win on the European Tour. We are now heading for a restaurant to have a great dinner and some champagne. A very warm thank you to everybody that have helped me to achieve this! I will now try to re-group and get some new energy for next week’s tournament in Malaysia. See you then! Niclas

16 February, Carlsberg Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Thank you to everyone that has sent me greetings through my website - they made me really happy. I haven’t had time to answer them all yet, but will try to do so in the near future. After the final round we had a great celebration party at a restaurant where I had most of my evening meals during the tournament week. We drank champagne and had a really good time. I’m now focusing on the next tournament, the Carlsberg Malaysian Open. It is a totally different setup from last week, narrow fairways and the grass is different as well. Have done some practice rounds and also spent a lot of time on the driving range. Played the Pro Am yesterday and everything feels good and I hope to keep my good form going from last week. I’m off the 10th tee tomorrow at 8am together with Paul McGinley and Thaworn Wiratchant. See you then, Niclas.

17 February, Carlsberg Malaysian Open, 1st Round 65 (-7)
Didn’t play too well today, but scored alright. -5 for the round, four birdies, one bogey and my sixth eagle for this season. If I can keep the eagle count up for the rest of the year, this could be really fun! This round it happened on my fourth hole, the par five 13th, where I reached the back of the green in two and made a successful chip from the green rough. Made another birdie on 17 and turned at -3. Birdied number 4 and made the only bogey for the round on 5, which actually was one of the best shots for the day towards the pin but landed long - wrong club. Had a good day on the greens, 27 putts in total, but did not so well from tee where I hit only 6 out of 14 fairways. I am tied second, three off the lead so I hope to score good tomorrow as well. See you then, Niclas.

18 February, Carlsberg Malaysian Open, 2nd Round 70 (-2)
Started off in good mood today and my long play felt much better, despite hitting only 8 out of 14 fairways. Made birdies on 4 and 6, the later turned out to be the shot of the day when my four iron landed 1 foot from the pin.
Felt like I was getting somewhere after my third birdie on 13, but was a little bit taken back after bogies on 15 and 16. Birdied 17 and was fighting for par on 18 after my second shot landed in the bunker. My third shot stayed in there as well and I had make a good up and down for a par 5 and a 70, which left me in a tie for 9th. Practiced for 1.5 hours afterwards and everything feels OK for tomorrow. Niclas.

19 February, Carlsberg Malaysian Open, 3rd Round 71 (-1)
I really mixed good and bad today with seven birdies, four bogeys and one double bogey. Started off with two nice birdies on holes 3 and 4, followed by an unfortunate bogey on 5 and two more birdies on 7 and 8. On my ninth hole I just missed the green and made a chip and three putts from there for double bogey. Back to -3 for the round after birdies on 10 and 12. On 13 I had a 5-iron left to the pin after a good drive, the ball went into the water. Bogey. Another three putt on 14, bogey. A very good 5 metre putt on 17 gave me birdie number seven for the day. Tried to finish off with another birdie on the par five 18th, but my second shot landed in a tree and stayed there! I was unable to identify my ball and finally had to go back and drop. Played my forth shot from there which landed in the rough. Made up and down for bogey and it felt like I lost two shots instead of one. My putting was very good today and still I’m only one under for the round and in tied 13th. Practiced a lot afterwards. Hope to make a decent score tomorrow and a good finish for the tournament. See you then, Niclas.

20 February, Carlsberg Malaysian Open, 4th Round 68 (-4)
Scored a 68 today, -12 in total and tied 4th for the tournament. Started with a bogey on 2, played much better after that and made birdies on 5 and 6. Made my seventh eagle of the season came on the par five number 7, a good drive and a heavenwood to three metres from the pin. Birdied 9 and was very close to make three more on 10, 11 and 12. Saved par on 13 and made a bad bogey on 14 after a three putt. Birdie on 17 felt like a good finish of the tournament. I’m now on my way home to Ascot, England, to enjoy a week off with practice and spend some time together with my family. My next tournament will be the Dubai Desert Classic, a tournament that brings back many good memories. Last time I played there was in 2002 when I finished 2nd. See you then, Niclas.

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