1 July, Smurfit European Open, 2nd Round 74 (+2)
Started off my second round in a good mood with a birdie
on 1. Bogied the the par-3 3rd when my tee shot went long and did
not get up and down. Bogied 4 after a three-putt, then holed a 35
foot putt for birdie at 5, before 3-putting 7 for bogey. Birdied 10
despite putting my tee shot into the trees. I hit a 9-iron out on
the to 11th fairway and then a 6-iron to 9 feet. Dropped more shots
at 12 and 13 after going in the water at both holes. However at the
last I got a much needed eagle at 18 after reaching the green in two
and holing a 45 foot putt. 74 leaves me tied 24th, but only five shots
out of the lead. Looking forward to playing again tomorrow! Niclas
2 July, Smurfit European Open, 3rd Round 72 (Ev)
Played very well today in the very strong conditions. Level par for
the round as well as for the tournament. Started off with my third
birdie in a row at the first with a 15 foot putt. Had a good chance
to get to 2-under on 8 after a putt stopped short, dead on line. On
11 my tee shot landed in the right hand bunker and the next landed
in the thick rough next to the green. I managed to chip to 12 feet
and saved par from there. Found another bunker with my tee shot at
12 and I hit an excellent bunker shot to six feet for another save.
On 15 my tee shot landed in the thick rough to the left, chipped it
out and had 120 yards left. Played a good third shot but didn't manage
to save par. My game was much better today and I'm tied 13th, two
shots off 4th place and hoping for an even better finish tomorrow.
See you, Niclas.
3 July, Smurfit European Open, 4th Round 76 (+4)
A miserable day when nothing really went my way. Started off with
a bogey on 1 from the middle of the fairway when I took the wrong
club to the green and three putted. That pretty much was my day. Birdied
3 after a good 3 metre downhill putt then did not get up and down
5 to save par and bogied 6 as well after a bad tee shot. I continued
to drop shots at 9, doubled 12 after hitting my tee shot in the water
and three putted 15 from 20 feet. I was 6-over at the time but had
a decent finish with birdies on 16 and 18. Tied 25th is not what I
was hoping for and I will go home to Ascot now before going up to
the Scottish Open on Tuesday. See you then, Niclas
6 July, Barclays Scottish Open
I’m preparing for the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond today, one
of my favorite tournaments during the year. The course is in magnificent
shape and it will be really fun to play. Haven’t much to say
about today though, didn’t play in the Pro Am which probably
is because of my bad ranking from last year's Order of Merit. Practiced
pretty much all day on the range and everything is good. I’m
off the 1st tee tomorrow afternoon at 2 o’clock together with
Jose-Filipe Lima and John Bickerton. See you! Niclas
7 July, Barclays Scottish Open, 1st Round 69 (-2)
Played alright during my first round, but not brilliantly. It was
a bogey free round though, which is always nice and also a little
while since I last had one. Had many good birdie chances that I didn’t
make something out of, except in two cases at 9 and 13. On the par
four 9th, my driver landed in the bunker, so wrong club. I had fifty
yards left to the flag, a quite tricky distance. Took a nine iron
and put it to ten feet and I was rewarded with a birdie in the end.
On the par five 13th, I missed my driver and could therefore not reach
the green in two. Hit my third shot to 12 feet and made birdie though.
Had very nice up and downs on 5 and 18, both from the bunker to save
par. -2 as a start is OK but not great. Practiced a little bit afterwards
and will now go back to the hotel to rest. Will tee off for my second
round at 09.00 am tomorrow so am going to get an early night. Bye
for now, Niclas.
8 July, Barclays Scottish Open, 2nd Round 70 (-1)
This was really a great day for golf with incredibly good weather.
Played all right, but never scored. Started off the 10th tee today
and bogeyed 12 after a missed nine iron to green. Made straightforward
pars on 12 and 14 and birdied the par four 15. Got a nice birdie on
18 after a five iron from 180 yards up till two feet from pin. Made
the turn on par for the round and then birdied 3. Bogeyed 4 after
a wedge to green that went too long. Then finished off with a nice
birdie on 9 after a sand wedge to four feet from the pin. -1 for the
day and -3 in total, tied 54 at the moment. Finished the day with
some barbeque outside the players lounge together with some other
Swedish players. Niclas
9 July, Barclays Scottish Open, 3rd Round 69 (-2)
Was looking forward to moving up a bit on the leaderboard, but average
play only gave me -2 for the round. Made a nice eagle on the par-5
3rd after a five iron to ten feet. Drove into the hazard on 7 and
made double, but birdied 9 after a lob wedge to 10 feet. Got the other
shot back with another birdie on 13 after a pitch and putt from forty
yards. There was a very nice hole-in-one prize on 17 of a BMW M6 and
I made a good effort with a five-iron that finished right on line,
but ten feet short. I will try harder tomorrow! Niclas
10 July, Barclays Scottish Open, 4th Round 69 (-2)
Got off to a good start in my final round with a birdie on the 1st
and another on the 3rd after a brilliant 4-iron out of a hanging lie
in the rough to the back fringe. A bad wedge on 7 plugged in the bunker
costing me a bogey. A three-putt on 10 and the mood reached rock bottom,
only to bounce back after holing a multi-breaking 40-foot putt on
11 for a birdie 2. Another birdie on 15 and I finished on 2-under
par and tied 30th after a less than brilliant day on the golf course.
I am not playing the Open next week so I will be back again at the
Deutsche Bank event the week after. See you then, Niclas.
20 July, Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe
Have had a well needed week off last week and spent time with the
family at our summer house in Sweden, near Gothenburg. I'm really
relaxed now and my batteries are re-loaded. I'm now in Hamburg and
will play this week's tournament, the Deutsche Bank at Gut Kaden in
Germany. My parents will join me tomorrow when I start my first round
at 07.50 in the morning from the 10th tee, together with John Bickerton
and Carlos Rodiles. Spent most of the day on the practice facilities.
My swing works really great right now. I hope to get some feedback
tomorrow during my first round. See you then, Niclas.
22 July, Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe,
1st Round 68 (-4)
Thursday's play was suspended due to heavy rain and today I played
alright during my first round, especially my first eleven holes.
Started off the 10th tee and birdied 13, 15 and 17 with three straight
forward birdies. On my back nine, my second shot on the par four
4th, landed in the greenside bunker. Made a bad bunker shot and
I had a 12 feet putt for par, which I made. Didn't hit the green
with my tee shot on the par three 5th and had a difficult second
shot from the rough and then a 25 foot breaking putt for par. On
6, a par five, I reached the edge of the green in two but my chip
shot stopped 12 feet short, but still made the birdie. Had two more
chances on both 8 and 9, but finished off with a three putt on my
last hole for the only bogey of the day. -4, not too bad and I hope
to score even better tomorrow. See you then, Niclas.
23 July, Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe, 2nd
Round 66 (-6)
Played brilliantly today, as a matter of fact, the best I have played
since I won in New Zealand earlier this year. The statistic is 17
greens in regulation, 12 out of 14 fairway hits and 29 putts. Didn't
really score on my front nine, but had a lot of chances. Birdied
3 and 6 and was really close on 9, 10 as well as 11. Birdied 12
and 13 and was close again on 14. Got a really nice birdie on the
par-5 15th after a huge drive and a five iron and two putts. Ended
up really close on the par three 16th, about six feet, after a good
tee shot for a 2. A very bad tee shot on 17, played my second shot
only to get out of the rough and didn't score better than par in
the end. A very nice drive on 18, eight iron and a fifteen foot
putt for birdie finished off my second round. I'm in the lead right
now and everything feels OK for tomorrow. It will of course be a
very tough task tomorrow, as we will play 36 holes. I will tee off
around 08.00 am with Bradley Dredge and Peter Lawrie. See you tomorrow!
Niclas.
24 July, Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe, 3rd
Round 72 (Ev), 4th Round 68 (-4)
A long day but a very successful one! During my first round on Sunday
I played well but missed lot of short putts from 3-4 feet. Despite
that I still managed to shoot level par and I finished strongly
with birdies at 13, 14, 15 and 17. I said to my caddy Dave afterwards
that the finish had got us back into contention and I was really
looking forward to the afternoon. I was still leading during the
front nine after birdies at 5 and 8, but lost the lead after that
when I three putted 11 for bogey. Angel Cabrera was playing really
well and he and a couple of others got ahead of me. When I birdied
the par-3 14th for the second time that day I was back to 12-under
and I felt that it could be my day again, but then I looked at the
leaderboard and saw Cabrera at -15. However I thought to myself
that it was possible to birdie three of the last four holes and
that Cabrera could bogey 18, which was playing tough. I hit a great
second with a 5-iron hoping that the wind would take it on at 15
and just finished short of the green and holed a great 10 foot putt
for birdie. At this point Cabrera had bogeyed the last and I now
needed one more birdie to tie. Had a good chance to birdie 16 but
missed and then at the par-5 17th I got to the fringe of the green
in two and chipped down to the edge of the hole and made a 2-foot
putt for birdie which seemed longer. Going down the last I knew
a birdie would win it and with no-one at 13-under I thought ‘why
not go for the win?’ I tried to hit a draw in there, pulled
my second long and left into the bunker. I had a good lie and nearly
made it but I was pleased to save par and get into a playoff. On
the first playoff hole at 18 I hit a very long drive for me which
Cabrera hit 20 yards past me but into the rough. I had a birdie
putt from 20 feet or so to win but missed. Second time around I
pushed my second to the right of the green. It was a surprise shot
as I was feeling pumped up, but maybe inside I was getting tired,
but I did not feel it. I made two putts to keep the playoff going
as Angel made a sand save for par. Third time down 18 and after
another long tee shot I said to Dave that someone was going to need
a birdie to win this and wanted to be the first to get it. We both
hit it into about 12 feet and I was not thinking of him making his
putt, I just wanted to make mine. My putt was identical to the one
I holed in New Zealand in February to win a playoff so I had the
picture in my mind of what it would do. After Cabrera missed I hit
it exactly the same as before and it went in right centre as before!
I am delighted to win a big event in Europe and I felt it had been
coming over the last few weeks. Afterwards I did 1-2 hours of interviews
and then had a celebratory champagne dinner in the Deutcshe Bank
hospitality with my parents who were there to see me win for the
first time. I am heading back to Stockholm tomorrow to see my family
and have a really big party tomorrow night! This win has lifted
me to #6 in Europe and 61 in the world so I have to re-organise
my schedule now as I am in the NEC Invitational rather than having
a few weeks off! Thanks to everyone for your support and messages
of congratulations. Speak to you later this week. Niclas
27 July, Scandinavian Masters, Stockholm, Sweden
Have had three quite hectic days since last Sunday, but fun! We
had a nice dinner with friends at Bistro Jarl in Stockholm, Monday
night. A lot of champagne and really nice food. Today, Wednesday,
I have done some practice. The course is still very wet, so we were
only allowed to use the putting greens. Have also done a lot of
media since I came here. I’m confident about my game and hope
that this week will be as fun as last week… you never know!
I’m off the 10th tee tomorrow at 08.30 together with Adam
Scott and Robert-Jan Derksen. See you then, Niclas.
28 July, Scandinavian Masters, 1st Round 69 (-2)
Got off the 10the tee today with a good start and birdied both 10
and 11. Made a third after a nice up and down from the green bunker
on 15. Reached the green in two and two putted for my fourth on
17. Then continued with a birdie on 2 after a putt from 15 feet.
I got some trouble on the par four 3rd when I hit a bad tee shot
and couldn’t reach the green in two. Ended up with a chip
and three putted for a triple bogey in the end, which was really
disappointing as I had a really low score coming up. The momentum
was gone for a little while, but I recovered with my sixth birdie
of the day on 5. Then hit my tee shot into the water on the par
three 6th and had to use the drop zone. Got double in the end and
was at the time back at -1. Finished off with a nice birdie on 9
and -2. Not really what I was hoping for, but hopefully a better
second round tomorrow. See you then, Niclas.
29 July, Scandinavian Masters, 2nd Round 70 (-1)
Sorry for being late with my report from the second round. I left
the course right away after my disappointing round and went out
to have dinner with my sister and her boyfriend. Then took my family
with me to Öland, an island outside the south east coast of
Sweden to have a week’s vacation before we are heading to
the States and the US PGA championship. I'm really happy to have
qualified to both PGA and NEC Invitational, thanks to my victory
in Deutsche Bank. About my second round? Well, my main impression
of that round is that I probably couldn't have scored worse no matter
how much I tried. Didn't play bad at all, my game is still there,
but it wasn't my day at all. Birdied 2nd after a putt from ten feet
then bogeyed the 4th after a tee shot in to the water. A birdie
on the 5th after a chip and putt from the fringe and then birdies
at the 10th, after pitch and putt from 40 yards and the 11th after
a wedge up till four feet. Bogeyed 12 after chip and two putts from
the fringe, but then birdied the 15th after chip and putt from the
fringe. I then had a disastrous double bogey on the easy par five
17, after a second shot way right of the green in to a small stream.
Managed to hit the ball, but it landed on the other side of the
green in the rough, and it took me four more shots to finish. -3
in total, one shot behind the cut mark. Disappointing also because
I really like to play in Sweden, the crowd is great. I have also
had a lot of friends and family here to support me, and of course
it would have been nice to play all four rounds then. I'm really
looking forward to the week’s comming, but first some time
off! See you, Niclas.
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