Just Reward for Joost at Wales Open

Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements

Joost Luiten won the Wales Open at Celtic Manor, but left the venue for the 2010 Ryder Cup cursing the fact that his best form came too late to secure him a place in the European team to face the USA at Gleneagles.

Last year he won the Lyoness Open and, under huge pressure as a Dutchman, the KLM Open on home soil. He followed that with a third-place finish at the Volvo Golf Champions in January, sixth at the Abu Dhabi championship, fourth at the Spanish Open and third at the Lyoness Open, where he was defending his title. He also enjoyed top 30 finishes at The Masters and at the US PGA championship.

At the beginning of the year, he appeared to be a shoo-in for the European Ryder Cup team, and the 28-year-old is exactly the sort of player any captain would want in his side. He is passionate, fiery and one of the best long-iron players in the world. Now firmly established in the world's top 50, Luiten surely expected that he would qualify for Paul McGinley's team. Perhaps he even tried too hard to make it.

He only missed two cuts all season, but they came at the US Open and at The Open, where he shot rounds of 81 and 76. Luiten has played a fair amount of his golf in America where he failed to make much of an impact. Nevertheless, had he managed a victory during the summer he would have made the team. It wasn't to be.

And so he arrived at Celtic Manor for the Wales Open. His Ryder Cup dream was over, the pressure had been lifted from his shoulders. So what did he do? He opened with rounds of 65, 69 and 65 to take a two-shot lead into the final round.

https://twitter.com/GolfChannel/status/513723231183056896/photo/1

What of Warren? It may have passed you by, but the Scot is enjoying the season of his life. He should have won the Scottish Open before fading to finish third; he was in contention at The Open until a final round of 76 saw him slip to a tie for 39th; he finished 15th at the US PGA thanks to closing rounds of 66 and 67; then he turned his good play into winning form with victory in the Made in Denmark; and followed that with a tie for 13th at the Omega European Masters, where he shot a second round of 63.

In 2013 he finished second at the BMW PGA championship and tied 12th at the US PGA, where he had three rounds in the 60s. Unfortunately, there were also 11 missed cuts last season.

Rounds of 70, 67, 67 at Celtic Manor saw him start the final round five shots adrift of Luiten, but he picked up birdies at the fourth, fifth and sixth and reached the turn in 33, while Luiten dropped two strokes to par in his opening seven holes. From nowhere, the pair were level at 12 under par. And now the unthinkable became a reality. Warren could finish the day as a two-time winner in 2014 who was never considered by Paul McGinley for a Ryder Cup wild card.

On a day when Warren was ripping the course apart, Lee Westwood, who did receive a wild card, was stumbling to a 76 that featured a front nine played in 41 shots. Westwood finished in 60th place, with just 10 players behind him. Thomas Bjorn, who will also be at Gleneagles, was just one shot better, while Stephen Gallacher, another wild card, missed the cut.

There was some good news for McGinley. Jamie Donaldson, playing in front of his home crowd, continued his brilliant run of form. Having begun the day six adrift, by the time he reached the 11th, Donaldson had progressed to 11 under par and trailed by a single shot.

Thus began a game of ping-pong, with Warren moving to 13 under before dropping two shots. Then it was the turn of Edoardo Molinari, Luiten and Gregory Havret to share the lead at 12 under.

Robert Rock fired a superb 65 and set a clubhouse target of 11 under par, but he knew that he was going to come up a couple of shots short.

When Warren birdied the 12th to move back to 12 under, he joined Luiten, Havret, Molinari, Nicolas Colsaerts and Shane Lowry in a logjam at the top of the leaderboard, with four more players on 11 under.

Colsaerts, who hit a drive measured at more than 430 yards at Celtic Manor, has bene in the doldrums this season. He played his part in the Miracle at Medinah

Luiten burst out of the pack with birdies at the 11th and 12th and although he dropped one at the 14th, he was still one in front.

Tommy Fleetwood was next to reach 12 under, thanks to an extraordinary run. He birdied the 10th and 14th, eagled the 15th and birdied the 16th. And still he wasn't finished. The Englishman also birdied the 17th and 18th to come home in 30. His 67 moved him to 13 under par, one adrift of Luiten, who still had two holes to play.

The Dutchman came to the 18th, a par five, requiring a par to win. He hit a poor drive and was unable to go for the green in two. His second shot left the ball in the rough and Luiten hit his third shot onto the green but a long, long way from the hole. He had to get down in two to avoid a playoff, and did so. A birdie at last allowed Lowry to tie with Fleetwood at 13 under in second place.  Warren finished two off the pace, alongside Donaldson.

Derek Clements is a sports journalist with a particular passion for golf with over 12 years of experience covering golf and other sports including Chief Sub-Editor on the sports desk of The Sunday Times. To contact Derek email direct via [email protected]