×

Top Links:

Get A Golf Handicap

UK Golf Guide

Golfshake Top 100s

Find Golf Travel Deals

Golf Competitions

Search

Community Forum

Course:

Tee Times | Search | Reviews

News:

Gear | Tour | Industry Insider

Tuition:

Video Library | Tuition Sections

Community:

Join | Log In | Help | Useful Links

×

Tour Wrap-Up: Willett and Day bounce back from Open disappointment

By: Golf Shake | Mon 27 Jul 2015


Post by Sports Writer, Derek Clements 


European Tour

DANNY WILLETT closed the gap on Rory McIlroy in the Race to Dubai by winning the Omega European Masters at the beautiful Crans-sur-Sierre in the shadow of the Swiss Alps.

The man form Sheffield landed his second title of the season to add to his victory in the Nedbank Challenge at the end of 2014, a tournament in which the top three all came from England. Coincidentally, precisely the same thing happened here, Willett coming out on top, just ahead of Matthew Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton. And in a further coincidence, Fitzpatrick, in his debut season on the European Tour, also hails from Sheffield.


Danny Willett

Danny Willett


Willett is in superb form. He finished sixth in The Open at St Andrews, playing the final round alongside Zach Johnson, the winner. He continues to grow in stature and it is no surprise that he has won again. Fitzpatrick will be disappointed not to have won, but will take consolation from a performance that secures his card for 2016. The 20-year-old turned professional last year after playing in The Open, which he qualified for as a result of winning the US Amateur Championship.

He is a modest, understated young man with a fantastic temperament and he can take great consolation from a final round of 66 in which he refused to flinch. His score was bettered by one shot by Willett and that was the difference between the two at the close of play.

Hatton, who is looking for his maiden win, keeps getting closer, and it is surely only a matter of time before he lands his first title. He roared through the field with a sensational final round of 62 to finish two behind Willett. Hatton's round included six birdies  and an eagle. His playing partner, Pelle Edberg, had a 63.

Willett and Fitzpatrick were the 54-hole leaders, but the younger man fell behind straight away when he dropped a stroke at the opening hole before recording four birdies in the next eight holes. At the turn, he was one ahead, but Fitzpatrick dropped another shot at the 11th to fall back into a tie with Willett, who clinched the title thanks to three successive birdies from the 13th. The pair came to the 18th with Willett one in front. He almost put his drive into a bunker and then left his approach a long way from the hole. He two-putted for a par, a bogey-free final round of 65 and a 17-under-par total of 263. Fitzpatrick was unable to birdie the 18th.

Sergio Garcia, who barely made the cut, finished seventh after a 64.

Willett said: " I played some really good golf. Matt  was snapping at my heels all day, so I’m delighted to get the job done. He played some great golf and really kept the pressure on me. But it probably made it a bit easier to be honest, because it meant I couldn’t lose concentration even for a minute. With a bigger lead you can take your foot off the gas a bit, but today I knew I had to keep attacking and committing fully to shots, and luckily enough it turned out well in the end.
“Winning is always tough, and the heart rate on 18 was pretty high. Having a lag putt is almost trickier than trying to hole one sometimes, so I was very relieved to see it stop a foot or two from the hole. The season has been very, very good. Two wins and good performances in Majors and World Golf Championships is more than I could’ve hoped for really, but I’ve worked really hard so it’s nice to get the rewards for it.”   

And Fitzpatrick enjoyed his experience. “I played to win but Danny just went one better, so you have to take your hat off to him," he said. "I don’t have any regrets whatsoever, and that’s all you can ask of yourself. I gave it everything, but Danny was very impressive. There were a couple of turning points which decided it, but I matched him birdie for birdie for the most part. I know Danny very well, he’s also from Sheffield so I’m very pleased for him. It has been coming from a while now. Hopefully I can cross the line soon."

European Seniors Tour

Colin Montgomerie's dream of qualifying for next year's Open Championship, to be played on the Royal Troon course where he learnt to play the game, was thwarted by a brilliant final round by Marco Dawson, an unheralded former PGA Tour player.  The winner of the Senior Open Championship receives an automatic invitation to play in the following year's Open, and it will be Dawson who takes that place.

On a miserable day, during which the field had to finish the third round before setting off on their final 18 holes, Dawson mastered the conditions better than anybody else, and quickly took control of the tournament at Sunningdale's Old Course. He birdied the first and second, but gave those shots back thanks to bogeys at the sixth and eighth holes. Just when his rivals thought that he might be cracking under the pressure, Dawson eagled the par four ninth to reach the turn in 33.

And there were more fireworks. Another shot was dropped at the 10th, but he birdied the 11th and 12th and slammed the door shut with another eagle, this time at the par-five 14th. Dawson came to the 423-yard 18th and was 15 under par, one shot ahead of Bernhard Langer, the defending champion, and two in front of Montgomerie. He finished the job off in style, with a birdie at the final hole. His total was 264, and this was the biggest win of his career at the age of 51.

Monty will have regrets. The Scot raced to the turn in 31, thanks to birdies at the first, fourth, seventh and ninth holes, and at that point he looked liked winning. But successive bogeys at the 11th and 12th derailed his hopes, and did little for his disposition. Nonetheless, he had a final round of 67, and ultimately finished three adrift. Langer also birdied the 18th and matched Dawson's 64, ending the tournament one behind.

If Montgomerie is to play at Royal Troon, he will have to do so via the qualifying system, something he failed to do for this year's Open.

PGA Tour

Apart from landing a major, nothing matters more to a golfer than landing his national title. And nowhere is that more true than in Canada, where they have waited an awfully long time for one of their own to bring home the bacon - 61 years, to be precise.


Highlights of Jason Day's victory in the Canadian Open 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBcxVkF-dRQ


 

For much of the final round of the Canadian Open it looked like David Hearn was going to deliver, but 26-year-old Jason Day overcame the disappointment of coming up one shot short at The Open by producing a great finish to pip the Canadian and Bubba Watson.

Day birdied the 16th and struck a 386-yard drive at the 456-yard 17th to set up another and progress to 16 under par. He then came to the 18th, a par five he had played in four under par over the first three rounds.  When he hit his tee shot into a bunker, the title was up for grabs again.

Hearn hit a wayward drive at the par-five 16th and had to settle for a par, and he also failed to birdie the 17th. He was 15 under, tied with Watson after the left-hander birdied the 13th, 15th, 16th and 17th. Jim Furyk, who is a former champion, was safely in the clubhouse at 14 under.

Day had to lay up from the bunker, was unable to get close to the hole with his third but holed the putt for a birdie, with Hearn and Watson standing in the fairway watching him. It was identical to the one he had missed on the 18th green at St Andrews and it took him to 17 under. The Australian then had to wait to see what Hearn and Watson did.  Both men knew that only an eagle would be good enough to force a playoff.

Hearn was first to play and put his approach into a greenside bunker while Watson, with an eight iron in his hands, hit what he thought was a great second, only to see the ball fly over the flag and roll off the back of the green.  Hearn played a decent bunker shot but came up short, ending his chances. Watson chose to chip with a seven wood but finished 12 inches away. His birdie took him to 16 under and it gave him second place on his own when Hearn's birdie putt lipped out.
 


Be part of the action with a selection of unique golf tournament experiences, from playing in a pro-am with the stars to watching the action at golf’s most illustrious events. Whether it’s the Masters or The Open, The Ryder Cup or WM Phoenix Open, build your own bespoke package with the experts at Golfbreaks.com.


What do you think? post your thoughts and feedback on the Golfshake Forum: https://forum.golfshake.com/


Tags: Seniors PGA Tour PGA Tour european tour



Scroll to top