2 June, Celtic Manor Wales Open, 1st Round 68 (-1)
Played very well and scored badly. Only had 4 bad shots during the entire round and hit 14 greens, so I could have got 10 birdies out of those. Unfortunately I made very few short putts and couldn't buy any long ones. Make long game was great and my only bogey came after a 3-putt on 12. I made birdies at the 2nd from 18 feet and 6 from 7 feet but apart from that it was a bit of a disappointing score. I am tied 48th, but the field is quite bunched so a good round tomorrow should jump me up the leaderboard. Niclas

3 June, Celtic Manor Wales Open, 2nd Round 69 (Ev)
Got off to a nice start with a birdie on 3 after a fine up and down from the left greenside bunker. Hit a sand-wedge up safe to 20 feet right of the hole and holed a good putt for birdie. Birdied 4 and kept playing well with lots of chances. I came up short on 8 and a bogey set me back one shot, but I got it back with a nice birdie 2 on 11 after hitting a 6-iron to 10 feet. I three-putted 12 for the second day running for bogey which was very disappointing. A terrible scoring day hit rock bottom when I bogied the par-5 16th. I am tied 40th, but the long game is fantastic though and I feel the putting is going to come along soon. Bye for now, Niclas

4 June, Celtic Manor Wales Open, 3rd Round 67 (-2)
A tough day with a lot of wind and rain coming in at short intervals. It makes this course demanding as the target areas on the green are very small. The long game was very good with really only a few poor wedge shots to complain about. Putting was again very average, although not quite as bad as previous days. I had a low score in me today but it never took off. Flashes of brilliance were nice to see though, alongside very steady game.
Most notable were a 45 foot putt on 7 for birdie and a phenomenal 4-iron to 6 feet for birdie at 16. 67 moved me up to tied 17th and maybe another good round tomorrow could get me a good top ten finish. Niclas

5 June, Celtic Manor Wales Open, 4th Round 73 (+4)
35 putts during my fourth round really set the score for the day, +4, and +1 in total. I am of course very disappointed as all other parts of my game feel great. Missed many short putts, on the 1st, a 7 footer for par. Bogey. On 3 I missed a birdie putt with the same distance. A wrong club decision on 4 gave me the next bogey. Hung in there and birdied 8 after a fifteen foot, text book birdie. Was really frustrated after a three putt on 13, bogey, and after that it was impossible to get things going again. Double bogey on 14 after my lob wedge second shot landed short in the water. Parred the rest of the round to finish tied 44th. Spent a long time afterwards on the putting green and hope that will give some result tomorrow, when I’m qualifying for the US Open at Walton Heath. See you then, Niclas.

6 June, US Open Sectional Qualifier, 1st Round 73 (+1), 2nd Round 71 (-1)
Going to take a break (well needed!) for two weeks and then be back for the French Open again. The main problem during the US Open qualifying was a big P. Putting. I putted very badly during my first round. It improved during the second round but not enough to get me through. I was also quite tired after last week and therefore couldn't find all the energy needed. Will now go to Sweden to spend a week or so there and then have a quite long run of tournaments, hopefully with The Open included. Niclas

22 June, Open de France, Paris
Went down to Open de France last Monday, played at Le Golf National outside Paris. I have played this course three or four times before and it is great. This year also in a very good condition and I really like playing here. Didn’t play in the Pro Am today, so I started early at 7am with nine holes. Took a little rest just before lunch and spent the rest of the day until 7pm on the practice facilities. Everything feels alright, including my putting. Have done a lot of practice lately and my technique feels a lot better now. I’m off the 1st tee tomorrow at 1pm together with Paul Lawrie and Eduardo Romero. Speak soon, Niclas

24 June, Open de France, 1st Round 69 (-2), 2nd Round 68 (-3)
Played very well yesterday until the thunderstorm halted play when I was on the 10th. I was putting well and there was good rhythm in my swing as I birdied 3, 5 and 9 to get to 3-under when play stopped. Came back today and I was not as settled and my putting has gone a little. However I parred in and apart from a dropped shot at 15, it was pretty good. I started my second round at the 10th and made a great par there after hitting my approach in the water and then making a 25 foot putt. My putting was back and I birdied 14 after hitting the green in two and then birdied 15 from 15 feet. I birdied 1 after a wedge to 6 feet and then made a big birdie at 3 after another wedge from heavy rough to 5 feet. I birdied 5 too to get to 7-under, but by now the heat and sunshine was taking its toll and I was beginning to struggle. I hit a 3-wood fat at the 7th, but still hit the green only to 3 putt from 90 feet. Then at the par-5 9th I made a bad strategy call and hit 3-wood from the tee into the rough and could not get up to the green in 3 and dropped a shot. I was glad to get in after 27 holes and the wind and the sun was making the course very hard. I am in the top 10 and my game is feeling in great shape so and I am going to take it easy tonight and hopefully catch up with the leaders tomorrow! Niclas

25 June, Open de France, 3rd Round 75 (+4)
Well, it wasn’t really my day today. +4 for the round and I dropped well down the leader board to tied 27th. I mixed good and bad, but didn’t take the birdie chances that I got. I’m not worried though, my time with four good rounds in a row will come, sooner or later. Started with two somewhat unfortunate bogeys on 2 and 5. Made the turn on +3 for the round after another bogey on 9. Made my only birdie for the round on 11 after a nice tee shot. On the par four 17, where they also measured driving distance, I hit a 350 yard drive. Despite that, my nine iron second shot towards the green landed long behind the green and I made bogey. Same on 18, a huge drive, a bad second shot and bogey in the end. Well, not much to say. I’m looking forward to my fourth round tomorrow, though. Hopefully a nice finish for the weekend. See you then, Niclas.

26 June, Open de France, 4th Round 71 (Ev)
Didn’t really get the start I was hoping for. Three putted both 2 and 4 for bogey, frustrating. Recovered a little bit in between on 4 with a birdie, only to face a disaster on 7 where I blocked a three iron out of bounds and made double bogey. I then had a really good run and birdied 9, 10, 14 and 17 to go to -1 for the round. On 9 I hit a 45 yard bunker shot to six feet which was excellent. And on 17 I had an eight iron from the rough up till six feet. Finished off with a bogey on 18 after a tee shot in to the water. -1 in total and tied 21, not exceptional but OK for now. I feel my game is not far off now, and if I stay patient I hope to get some result out of it in the end. I will now go home to Ascot for a short night's sleep and then tee off tomorrow morning at Sunningdale for the British Open qualifying. I’m tired, but hopefully I will be more successful this time, compared the US Open qualifying. See you! Niclas.

29 June, Smurfit European Open, Ireland
Today, Wednesday, I’m in Dublin for the Smurfit European Open at the K-club.
Didn’t make the qualifying for the British Open last Monday. Had a reasonably good first round on the most difficult of the two courses, but didn’t score at all on my second round where it was supposed to “happen”. Finished off with three straight bogeys and a 1-under total of 70, 71 wasn’t even near to making it. Sad, as The Open is my favorite tournament during the year. Of course, there is still a slim chance if I play very well the next two weeks, I will never give up! Have practiced most of the day, but took some time off in the morning and tried to rest as I’m quite tired. I will tee off the 10th tee tomorrow morning at 08.20 together with Peter Hanson and Paul Broadhurst. See you then, Niclas.

30 June, Smurfit European Open, 1st Round 70 (-2)
Started off the 10th tee and played very well. I hit every fairway in my first ten holes and created lots of chances. Only average putting still got me four under par through 10. The best shot of the round was a 129 yard 9-iron on 17 to a foot from the hole for an easy tap-in birdie. Hit the 18th in two and had two putts for birdie, then birdied the first for three in a row. I three-putted 3 to drop a shot but got it back at the par-5 fourth when I hit the green in two again. Unfortunately over the closing holes I bogied 6 and 9 after a couple of bad drives. However I am tied 13th and everything feels alright and I hope to score better tomorrow. Niclas

Next Month
Back to Tour Diary