Turkish Delight for Olesen

Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements

ISN'T it strange how some golfers slip under the radar? Thorbjorn Olesen is a case point. Ahead of the Turkish Airlines Open at Antalya, how many times do you think the 26-year-old had won on the European Tour?

It may surprise you to learn that the answer is three. He won the 2012 Sicilian Open, the 2014 Perth International and the 2015 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews. Those are pretty impressive statistics, and he improved them with a superb victory in Turkey, beating a quality field in this Final Series tournament by three shots.

So he has now won in three consecutive seasons, and four seasons in five. By anybody's standards, that is golf that comes right out of the top drawer. So why is it that his name is so rarely mentioned when talk turns to potential Ryder Cup golfers or when there is a discussion about the very best players in Europe?

Make no mistake, Olesen is one of the very best. But he misses an awful lot of cuts. When he is good, he is sensational, but when he is bad he is just awful. Apart from his victory in Turkey, which is the biggest of his career to date, the Dane has had five top-10 finishes this season, including two runners-up spots. On the other hand, he has missed 11 cuts. And that's the difference between Olesen and the very best in the world. It is something that he is going to have to work on.

For now, however, he doesn't care a jot about that. He went into the final round at Antalya with a seven-shot lead and there was never any question about who was going to win. Except that David Horsey, of England, had other ideas. He birdied the first, third, fourth, seventh and ninth holes to reach the turn in a scarcely credible 29 shots to slash the deficit to just two shots. And when he picked up another birdie at the 12th he was only one behind.

Olesen responded as champions do with birdies of his own at the 12th, 14th and 15th, and when Horsey dropped a shot at the 16th, his race was run. A closing 69 saw Olesen finish on 20 under par, with Horsey dropping into a share of second with China’s Li Haotong three shots further back.

Sleeping on a large overnight lead can be disconcerting as players go to bed and start thinking about the things that can go wrong and about how stupid he will feel if he throws it all away. Not Olesen. “I actually slept alright the last couple of days," he said. "It was a weird feeling – I knew the guys today were able to shoot a low number so I had to make a few birdies. After nine holes guys were shooting really low numbers so all of a sudden there was a lot of pressure on. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnfAm6c8cYY

“I felt like I kept it pretty steady. Obviously the last four holes were tough mentally.” Olesen won the Dunhill Links Championship last year after a run of missing 13 cuts in 18 events, and it was a similar story in Antalya after making just three of his past 12.

“It means a lot,” he added. “The past couple of months have been pretty poor and I haven’t played well and all of a sudden you’re leading by a big margin and it was difficult when you haven’t been playing well for that long.”

Olesen's winning formula ???? pic.twitter.com/UK0aSZR3Wi

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) November 7, 2016

Horsey started the day as part of a five-way tie for second on 11 under, but three birdies in his first four holes took him to within four of the lead. Olesen had his first birdie of the day on the fifth, only for Horsey to increase the pressure with those birdies on the seventh and ninth.

Olesen dropped a shot at the ninth after a poor drive but once he had birdied the 12th he was back in control. His victory takes him into the top 10 in the Race to Dubai and gives him the chance of pocketing a sizeable chunk of the bonus pool.

Shriners Hospitals for Children Open

ROD PAMPLING putted the lights out to record a sensational and highly unlikely two-shot victory in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas, fighting off a gallant challenge from Lucas Glover and the talented young American Brooks Koepka.

It has been a while since Glover figured in the closing stages of any tournament - the last time he finished inside the top 100 in the FedEx Cup standings was way back in 2011, which was also the last time he won a tournament. For 47-year-old Pampling, the wait has been even longer - he hadn't won on the PGA Tour since 2006, when he beat Greg Owen in  a playoff to win the Bay Hill Invitational.

So nobody really expected either man to remain in contention on the final day, but they both defied the odds.  Pampling began the day with a one-shot lead and appeared to be in complete control when he birdied the fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth holes to make the turn in 31. But he then dropped shots at the 10th and 12th as he began to realise that he might be heading towards a victory.

Glover, playing with Pampling, reached the turn in a two-under-par 33  and trailed the Australian veteran, but when he birdied the 12th and 13th he moved to 18 under and led by one. But Pampling wasn't finished. He also birdied the 13th and holed a bomb at the 14th to draw level with Glover.

The 15th is a 321-yard par four and Pampling's drive rolled over the hole before finishing behind the green. He then fluffed his chip but, incredibly holed another long putt for a birdie. Glover had hit his drive into a greenside bunker but played a wonderful recovery shot and he also birdied the hole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZBaLz0zgLE

They were now tied at 19 under and the only other man in contention was Ryder Cup player Koepka, who made up the final threeball. He was struggling to hang on to their coat-tails but when they reached the tee at the par-five 16th he was only two adrift. Koepka was the only one of the three to find the fairway. Pampling had a dreadful lie and could only move the ball 30 yards and was unable to make the green in three, while Glover was lucky to find a decent lie and was able to get close in two.

Pampling had to find a way of making a par, but knew it would probably depend upon him draining another long putt as the flag was tucked away next to a lake. However, he found a terrific wedge shot that left him with a six-footer to save par. And in it went. Glover also parred the hole.

Koepka, who is one of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour and a certain future major winner, birdied the hole to go to 18 under. Now we had a big finish on our hands, starting at the par-three 17th, with water to the left of the green and the flag located at the top of a ridge. Koepka and Pampling both found the green, with Glover hitting his ball into a bunker on the right, leaving a horrible downhill bunker shot that would test his nerve to the full. He hit it well past the hole and missed the putt. Koepka and Pampling both made pars, so they went to the 18th with the Australian leading the two Americans by a single shot. And you can be certain that Pampling's stomach was in knots.

Pampling and Koepka duly found the 18th green in two. Glover struck what appeared to be a glorious approach but it toppled off the right side of the putting surface, only the rough preventing the ball from running into the water. Advantage Pampling.

Glover had to hole his pitch, but left the ball four feet short. Next it was Pampling's turn, knowing that if he holed the 30-foot putt then the tournament was his - and in it went! His final round of 65 gave him a 20-under-par winning total. 

Koepka couldn't match him and Glover ended on 17 under with a bogey on the last.

Francesco Molinari, of Italy, tore through the field with a wonderful final round of 61 that took him to 16 under and a tie for fourth with Harris English and .

Pampling was thrilled. "This is huge for me. I always believed it was still in there somewhere and grinding it out on the Web.com Tour to get my card back really helped me," he said. "My family have been great through all my trials on the golf course and I owe them so much."